Sept. 25th Weekend

Finally a relaxing weekend at home. We started Friday a little rough with information on the Fair Play house and some decisions we need to make. They won't be easy ones either. The last renters left just last Tuesday and we were only to Friday. More negative news from John...more child support/daughter visitation issues. Not fun. It really felt as though the ceiling continues to fall in. Somehow I try to see the good, but the negative stuff creeps in like mold.

Ben has been having serious trouble with allergic breakouts this week. A lot of really strange welts. Puffy spots all over his legs, back and butt. Poor kid. We've been giving Benadryl, but it keeps reappearing. I'm fine giving it and it definitely clears up. But seriously, every day? Hopefully we can pinpoint that. The thought is the wash detergent or maybe, just maybe its the weird diapers that I bought. Not sure. I have to call the doctor and schedule the 2 year old appointment so we'll take a look at it then. It just can't feel good for him.

Saturday brought a lot of college football, of course the Michigan game. Chip was in the "zone" with the boys and watching and then as soon as they went up for a nap, out to the "big room" he came to watch on the big screen. He was cracking, sighing and talking to the TV for better than an hour. Pins and needles later, UofM brought it home. The score was a tight 36-33. I thought Chip was going to have heart issues. Lucky for me it turned out alright.

In the meantime, Chip was off to Costco for essentials...soy milk (don't ask), fishies (a.k.a. GoldFish), regular milk, cheese and....anyway, he was too late. So it was get the essentials and try again on Sunday. Sherri was busy seeding like about 101 jalapenos. Not really, but it was a lot. However I needed some extra stuff from the store, so I was waiting. Very mundane, I know.

Boys 2nd Birthday

I'm writing this a little later than the birthday but it's taken me a few days to let it soak in that the boys are 2. I'm proud of and emotional about it.

We celebrated the birthday early on September 7 since the girls were here for Labor Day. I had ordered ice cream cakes from Marble Slam Ice Cream early. Each cake was heart shaped and had their names written on them. So cute. Ryan had chocolate, Ben was strawberry and Gary was sweet cream ice cream. I had also bought another small cake for the rest of us to share. Since the boys love ice cream I thought ice cream cakes would be fun. Kaitlyn and I picked them up on Sunday, September 6 and put them in the freezer.

I had to work Rib Cook-off, so I was gone a good part of Sunday and the girls, for the second year in a row, ran around the cook-off doing whatever made them happy while mom worked in the village. Good for everyone. They had a good time roaming and I enjoyed the company of my clients.

It's so great to live here because it feels much safer with fewer people than Vegas. I also had those girls "tethered" to their cell phones every 30 minutes, with the requirement that I see their faces every hour. Probably anal but hey, it worked for all of us. Everyone had a good day and off we went at 8p to get on home.

On Monday Sept 7 (Labor Day) there was a lot to do. The girls wrapped gifts and Chip did a little last minute shopping. The girls and I had gone to Trader Joes and Toys 'r Us on Saturday after I picked them up at the airport to shop for the little guys. We had fun shopping. Chip wasn't with us so he took the opportunity to go shop a bit on Monday morning. We also needed candles and the paper goods to make it a party. Chip chose Mickey Mouse. A great theme with ears as well as intertwining the Mickey Mouse Club cartoon with a party. The boys really enjoy the song "Hot Diggety Dog" from the cartoon. We celebrated early Monday between breakfast and nap time so that both the boys and girls would enjoy the celebration before the boys nap and the girls departure. The boys had an absolute blast! The cakes went over very well. Each little boy had their own approach. Ryan tried to take Ben's strawberry cake even though he had plenty of his own. Didn't matter. Ryan wanted Ben's cake. Gary dug right in, as did Ben. Each one liked the cake. After the Ryan/Ben struggle with the strawberry cake we cut a piece of everyone's and shared it among the 3. All of them enjoyed the experience. Then it was into the "zone' in our family room to open gifts. Kaitlyn and Gillian started the gift opening showing their brothers how to open gifts. It was a mixed reaction as to what to do with the gifts. Ryan and Gary wanted to hang out. Well Ben did to, but he's far more understated.

We moved on to the gifts. 14 in all. No gifts were directly given to each boy. At this age we thought it would be the best if we set all the gifts in the family room and just let them go. Each gift and opening it was a new experience to the boys.

It has forced me to reflect on the days that have passed since the little boys birth. So much has changed, so much has happened, both positive and negative.

First, the positive: these boys are just amazing. They have grown up so much. I enjoy hearing Ryan say HAP PEE. He says it so succinctly. So warm and true. Ryan is like a parrot who just wants to say everything when you tell him what things are. In his sweet little voice after you read a book to him he says "awwwdon". It's very cute. "glogbaw" (golf ball) is another favorite. He's got his letters down and in particular says the letter "O" with lips in a perfect circle. Loves to call them out. Ben is exploring more and more. Lots of babble, but not nearly as many words as his brothers. He's getting braver every day. Happy little guy for sure. Still in love with the blanket and the bottle. Gary is as curious as ever. His mind is going a hundred miles an hour all the time. All the letters are old hat. He in particular loves to say the "Q". You just cannot believe how clearly he can say that letter. "Car" is still the main word of choice.

No lazy Sunday around here!

Boys to Safeway, playing in the sprinklers, making salsa, garden. Laundry. Talked to Bunny and Bill last night on Skype. It's so good to see them.

Vegas Visit - Dr. Bohman

Vegas Visit - The houses....oh the houses.

Last week I was in Vegas for both work and personal stuff. It was quite eventful, even though I wasn't even there 48 hours.

Tuesday morning started at 4:30a to catch a 6 a.m. flight. In Vegas I picked up the rental car and raced off to a business breakfast. Then over to our former home, which we are renting (Sweet Jewel). The new renter is in the process of moving in (over the last couple of weeks). There was a ton of damage to the house from the former renters. Although our new renter had sever well over 200 pictures of the property, it didn't really do it justice. When I arrived our handyman was there along with the new landscaper who ironically lives around the corner and has lived there for several years. In any case, I walked up and met the two of them and then took the grand tour of damage. The backyard by far was the worst. The landscaper said he'd hauled off over 15 bags of debris and dead foliage. The backyard grass was completely dead. The inside had a lot of damage from being dirty to crayon on the walls to destroyed paint and cracked light fixtures. Very disappointing to say the very least. Truly amazing that human beings can be so inconsiderate of others property.

I had been in the house a few times over the last year but hadn't seen the upstairs. Downstairs was just dirty.

After a quick business lunch I headed over to our other rental house (Fair Play). The renters have been there almost 3 years, so it's a good feeling to know that they take pretty good care of the place. They also put up with the entire plumbing system being redone. Not everyone could live through that! Once over in that community and driving up to check on the house I found the lawn to be pretty crispy, but not dead. It wasn't fun to find it and I wasn't very happy about it. I left a message for the renters and continued on with work meetings.

During the day Chip had called and asked some questions about our computer system. It seems that we have an intruder...someone we know...is downloading documents and photos that don't below to them. It's shocking and a complete violation. It's also incredibly illegal. We've taken action, but who would've thought. People are just amazing.

Quite the eventful week for sure. The one bright spot was more successful business meetings and staying with our dear friends the Tellos.

Curious little boys

The little guys are just as busy as ever! Ryan is catching up with Gary on the letters and can say a fair amount of them. Gary knows all of the alphabet and some colors as well as a few shapes. Ryan can also say some shapes, but hasn't grasped colors yet.

All the little ones are crazy for the computers and ipods and anything else electronic they can get their hands on.

Gary said "mama car" and "bye ball" in the last few weeks.

Ryan is saying more 2 syllable works. Like "W" and "umbrella", "checker", and "hot dog". He definitely knows when he wants to "eat!". Ryan's the best at pointing out his own or others with "caca" and "skinky".


I was thinking the other day that they are just little sponges, doing and learning so much. We're still waiting for Ben to catch up, but he compensates with his climbing and eating. They all eat a lot, but Ben totally chows!

Last weekend we all went to a BBQ at Michelle Engleman's house from Grand Sierra. She's fantastic! Anyway, I've realized a few things. a). God bless anyone who opens their home to triplets who only have 1 child and he's grown. b). It's far more exhausting now than it ever was when they were newborn. Now everything is game since all 3 are mobile. Since they are sponges and learning everything, everything needs to be touched, pulled and/or eaten with no realization that something could be dangerous. c). It's exhausting to run after them and ensure their safety but I still would not change anything...ever.

Little boys update...they're almost 2!

Life has been crazy with so much going on between work, home and everything else that I haven't really had a chance to write an update on the little guys!

Gary - what a kid! He knows almost the entire alphabet! On his way to bed, he stops in front of the Oreck vacuum and says every letter. He follows it up with saying "vacuum!!!". He also greets almost everyone with a huge, very loud "HI!". Or, better yet, when you're leaving him he says "byeeeeeeeee". It's too cute!

Ryan - what a sponge! Ry-Ry is just saying so many words. He's particularly good with 2 or 3 syllable words. He says umbrella really well. He also can identify Ben by name and points to him. He says hi, bye and car. Ryan is all about the remotes and phones too. Once he gets a device he will NOT give it up to anyone for anything. He'll even eat and get it all gooey, but if you take it away, god help you. The screaming begins and takes quite awhile to quit. The phone is really bad. Any gadget he just loves. Daddy tries to sit on the sofa and play with his itouch and boy they come running for it, but Ryan truly wants it. I honestly think that Ryan will be the first one potty trained because he now says cah cah and skinky. Most of the time he's spot on! He's still the most temperamental too. Tantrums are not unusual and he's well aware of time out now. He tends to still be the bully. We're working on that.

Ben - little Ben-Ben. We are a little concerned with his lack of speech. He just doesn't say much. On occasion he'll say car, but doesn't really respond when we ask him to repeat words. He still loves cars and often plays alone. I think he might be an engineer. He checks everything out and loves to buckle stuff. Sweet, sweet little boy. Ryan pushes him around and he cries. In fact he does a lot of sympathy crying when one of the other boys are crying. Ben is the best eater. Oh my gosh, I sometimes cannot believe how much food he can eat at a meal. Ben also still is quite attached to his blanket. Talk about low maintenance. He's such a happy boy. In the evenings sometimes Chip will run back and forth across the family room flapping his arms and saying eeeeeeeeeee. Ben jumps right in, flapping his arms and mimicing the eeeeeee. His giggle is SO funny.

All the boys are now scurreying up the stairs to bed and nap. They also walk down the steps with help when they get up in the morning and after the nap. All 3 are so much more hungry these days. They get up, get dressed and then it's breakfast. Probably within 20 minutes! Right now the breakfast food of choice is Frosted Mini Wheats in milk to soften them up a bit. Daddy is still taking them on walks every day. During the walks Chip tells them the names of things. They all know tree, mailbox and car. Ryan and Gary say them, Ben doesn't. When Ryan and Gary say all these words, it's after one of us ask them to say them. We're not into phrases or spontaneous conversation, but I'm sure it won't be long.