Weekend Guests

Here is a little piece of heaven...two men taking care of babies while the girls have a beer. We really enjoyed having our good friends from Richmond down this past weekend. Grammy P. was nice enough to sit with the babies while we enjoyed an evening out on Saturday night. I love being with my babies but it is these outings away from them that are crucial for my sanity. Thanks Grammy P! It was great to see you Shannon and Topher! I think Mia is missing her Uncle Toph already ;)


The kids are starting to give lots of smiles! Of course trying to capture all three smiling faces is a bit difficult but we captured Marcus here. On another posotive, the girls are starting to sleep from 6-8 hours at a time (~7PM-~1AM) during the night. Of course our biggest, Mr. Marcus usually wakes up by 12 AM. Therefore, I'm up to feed him at 12 and then get in about another hour or of sleep before the girls are up. I used to go ahead and wake the girls up to get all three done at once but I want the girls to get in the habit of sleeping longer. Hopefully Marcus will join them VERY soon. Grammy P has been nice enough to take Marcus to sleep at her house a few nights which is a TREMENDOUS help. I'm starting to wonder if I will ever sleep for more than 2-3 hours at a time....

What the Heck?

Marcus makes the funniest faces. This is one of his classics. I call it the "what the heck?" expression.


Just an FYI to anyone who has been intending to visit but hasn't had the chance yet. RSV season is quickly approaching. We will be posting more info on the seriousness of this disease (including death) to preemies as it gets closer. Our babies are considered high risk for contracting RSV and we intend to take every precaution to keep them out of the hospital. RSV season runs somewhere from mid-Oct. to May. If you would like to visit, we would highly encourage making a trip to see us before November (I promise this isn't a secret plea to come help us out one weekend soon :)

They Aren't Going to Stop Us

Courses on raising multiples say you will not leave the house for the first year. Well, we set out to prove them wrong by taking a weekend trip to the beach (with grandparents of course). I wish I could say it was a breeze but as you can see, packing alone was an event. This is just the 3 babies "stuff" and it includes 2 pack n' plays, 2 packs of diapers, 2 boppy pillows, a cooler full of bottles, a breast pump, and the list goes on...


We only took the babies out on the beach for about 20 minutes. The cool breeze and the sound of the waves put them right to sleep. Grandma and Grandpa Gravitt were nice enough to take the babies shopping with them while Max, Luke and I caught some rays and enjoyed the water sans babies!


The kids had a great time playing and exploring their new environment. Of course we got a ton of attention everywhere we went.


Grandma and Grandpa Gravitt let the girls stay in their room on the vacation. They sure were a handful but I know the grandparents had a great time with them. Josie was extremely excited about her new surroundings. She probably slept as little as Grandma Gravitt. They both seem a little tired here.


Although it was a lot of work taking a vacation with 3 little ones, we all had such a great time. A special thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Gravitt for giving mom and dad a great weekend. We know working on 4 hours of sleep a night can be tough. And keeping those babies straight at 4 AM can be a lot harder than one would think ; )

For anyone who knows Josie...

If you've had the pleasure of seeing Josie's "true colors" on a trip to our house, this picture is for you! Our little girl does have a happy side! Here she is having a blast with Max and Uncle Nick.

2 Month Check-up

Mia, Marcus, and Josie

Our trio is 2 months old already! I can't believe it...actually, yes I can but I bet you can't :) Here is a progress report on the kiddos.

Marcus - Weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs, 11 oz, he is now on the growth charts at 10%! Remember, this is for his actual age of 9 weeks, pretty amazing considering he was 7 weeks early. Marcus is our inquisitive child. He has the biggest eyes and could beat you in a staring contest hands down. He is a little fussy right now as he battles a nasty case of reflux. He was just switched to a new medicine that seems to be helping. When he is feeling good, he loves to cue and watch you. We have gotten a few smiles from big man Marcus.

Josie - Not far behind Marcus, she is now 8 lbs, 9 oz. Josie has lived up to her nickname in the NICU, our rockstar. She has quite a personality and does not hesitate to let us know when she is a little angry. The girl has a set of lungs on her that she is not afraid to use. Josie's trademark has to be her strength. She was the first I felt kick at 17 weeks. She has superb head control already and is one tough cookie. Not a surprise, she is a redhead. Josie was also the first to give us a smile although they prove extremely hard to come by.

Mia - Still the tiniest but growing like a weed, Mia is now 7 lbs, 7 oz. If we had 3 Mia's, we would probably think triplets were a breeze. Mia is extremely laid back about everything. She doesn't demand a lot of attention and entertains herself already. She is the only one that is not battling typical preemie issues (reflux, constipation, colic, etc.) Extremely photogenic Mia is often mistaken for a doll. She is precious without a doubt but trust me, the little princess can get angry from time to time. Her biggest complaint, the pacies that just won't stay in her mouth!

The kids can be a handful at times. If one starts screaming about something, they tend to feed off each other and we end up in a screamfest. At the same time, when they are all happy the cuties cue at each other. There are times when they all want to be held which is a real challenge. However, there are plenty of times we count our blessings. They are great sleepers.. We can put them in their cribs awake at night and they will almost always put themselves to sleep. They still eat every 3-4 hours at night but they usually always go back down. I am eagerly waiting to wake up at 5-6 AM one of these mornings and realize the kiddos slept through their 2 AM feeding.

Big credit to my fellow triplet mom Amber for providing some of the following info from her blog (The Hughes Triplets):

We have gone through 1500 diapers

We have used about 2300 oz of formula

We have done ~75 loads of baby laundry

We have run the dishwasher full of bottles 130 times

And it has only been 2 months. Look at those darlings though, gotta love it!