The real Halloween

I just thought I would post a few pictures of the girls on the actual Halloween. They had a good time trick-or-treating and really worked hard for their candy! They must have walked a mile or so ... and if you add up and down all the stairs everyone has up to their front doors in our neighborhood then probably more like two! They got lots and lots of candy so we have the "if you eat two more bites of healthy food, then you can have another piece of candy" conversation many, many times a day. Caroline went along for the ride and was really a trooper. She hung right in there and it made me laugh how weirded out she seemed to be to be out when it is dark outside. She kept reaching her hands in the air like she was trying to grab the light coming from streetlamps.

Here are the twins with "their" pumpkins

All ready! Do you like our Happy Halloween sign? It was hand decorated by the twins, their cousin Kate ... and hand crinkled and drooled on by Caroline ...
Until we have more holiday decorating money in the budget, we will stick to kid crafts =) ... they made these little cats at pre-school

Oh, if only ... I already have the twins pretty convinced that it stinks to be a baby (so they would stop wanting me to baby them all the time, too) but knowing that she was not allowed to have any candy sure drove that message home.

comparing candy ...

come on, Mommy, just one dum dum ...

Halloween party and etc ...

We went to the Little Gym (where the girls take dance and gymnastics) for a Halloween carnival this evening and had some good photo ops. I may take some more tomorrow but had time to post ... so, here I am! The carnival was great and the girls loved showcasing some of their talents for Daddy (I go with them to their class every week.)

Mommy and Caroline! The twins would not get a picture taken with me =(

Sara let us borrow this adorable bee costume that was Kate's.
So the girls love to do this move ... at class ... on our kitchen island ... wherever. It, apparently, is called a basket hang and they are pretty good at it! I think their favorite part is letting go and flopping down on the squishy mat!

Dunk!

Wanting to do it "all by myself!"

Fore!

She started on the little circle but then got a bit closer, and a bit closer ... oh, well ... at least she finally got those punkins!

Somebody's a grumpy punkin!

I'll have to get some better, lighted pumpkin pics tomorrow ... this is Meredith and Mommy's finished product!

They weren't about to stick their hands in the pumpkin goo ... amateurs ...

claiming their pumpkins

Caroline ... well, her MD appointment went well. She was all over the exam room. She is 16 pounds 14 ounces (down to about 15%) and 27 1/2 inches (50%) ... but, for obvious reasons (her sisters) I am not worried about her weight. That, and the fact that she is so mobile and has been for months. She had a horrible ear infection and I didn't even know (had been fussy but you remember all about the 7 new teeth.) Other than that, she is healthy and perfect! Seems that I may need a baby gate for the bottom of the stairs ...

Hmmmm ... what do I want to play with?

I used to have the twins put whatever they were doing (coloring .. playing with little things) up on the table so that Caroline would not bother them or get to choking hazard type toys ... hmmmm ... going to have to come up with a new plan! Now she is right there with them ... and loving it!

1/2 way binky free, pulling up & alligators??

Hi all! I have lots and lot of pictures ... mostly of Caroline but it is such a fun age (mostly!) that I feel compelled to document her every move! First things first, the twins are now only allowed to have their binky, aka bee bee, aka pacifier for sleeping times. This has been verrrrrry hard on us all but it has been a week and they are beginning to accept it as a rule. When they get upset about something is really the only time they ask for it anymore. I am trying to teach them other ways of calming down but, really, it probably just takes time for them to figure this out on their own. We have practiced a lot of deep breathing and pillow punching ... I feel like, in a few months, maybe we can be ready to send it off to paci heaven with the paci fairy or something. We will see how it goes! I am happy with our progress though we have had many fights about it this week. It is going pretty much how I assumed it would and that is why I have waited this long =) They are all geared up for Halloween and I am excited for it this year since they "get it" and are excited for it, too. As for Caroline, she is a pulling up champ. She is a climber. You know what this is leading to? Yep, climbed out of her bed ... already! I, of course, freaked out and thought I should take her to the ER but of course, Alan talked me off the ledge as usual. We have since lowered her bed again and hope it will be a while before she is tall enough for a repeat performance. She has 3 teeth and is getting 4 in. I can see them but not quite feel them yet. You can imagine what this does for her moods but who can blame the poor kid. She continues to be a great eater and has been boycotting all baby food for months now. She is on all table food and eats more in a sitting than the twins eat in a day (probably combined!) She has an appointment on Tuesday and I hope she is not huge in the ranks! She is still nursing 4 times a day. She is babbling a lot and loves her big sisters! She wants everything they have and wants to play with them constantly ... which, of course, drives them up a wall! With the sibling fighting ... I guess what goes around comes around ... my parents are probably smirking as I type ... don't even try and deny it.

Well, here is our most recent neighbor. Yes, we have an alligator living in the pond across the street. This makes me crazy but what can ya do?! Animal control says not to worry unless it gets to be 4 or 5 feet long ... I am wondering ... why wait that long ... just come get the stinker right now!? This is taken from our porch then cropped waaaaay in so it is not the greatest ... but you get the drift. He is about 3 feet ... and very elusive ... I only see him every now and then.

On to cuter 3 footers ... awwww ... togetherness, peace and happiness ... for a few minutes anyway.
hanging in the yard ... keeping an eye out for gators ...

Meredith is really into her baby doll (whose name is Meredith, conveniently) ... she takes her EVERYWHERE! The other day we were taking baby dolls for a walk (we all 3 had our strollers ... theirs filled with dolls and mine filled with Caroline) and we were on a little break (one of our many) and they put their baby dolls face down in the grass and said ... "look, baby doll is eating the grass! Grass is not delicious!!!" Looks like their baby dolls and Caroline have a good bit in common.

wouldn't it be nice to be a little kid ... either that or have a super-sized couch that you could snuggle down in however you wanted to ... she looks pretty comfy.

sisterly hugs ...

I look a little crazy-eyed here but I was trying to get a picture of Caroline and myself ... I am her favorite jungle gym.

whose drooling?

this is what happens when you fuss in my house! HA! Before you call DSS ... she slept so hard on her little hand (you can take the measurements and see that it is not mine =) that she made this print ... fingernail marks and all! It stayed there for hours!

irritating Meredith ...

getting into everything ... you can't see in this pic ... but she is chewing on one of the girls little plastic ladybug figurines ... I try hard for our house not to be choking hazard central but she always seems to find that one tiny object lurking under a table or between the couch and chair ...

I will open this fireplace screen if it is the last thing I do ...

her favorite place to crawl ...

I heard her fussing the other day and thought ... good grief!!! what is it NOW?! ... and I went in and she was stuck in her toy bin ... oops ;)

trying to eat the alphabet magnets ... AHHHHHH!

what? ... I wasn't getting into anything!

long time, no post!

Hi! It has been a while. It is, of course, Alan's fault. He went on a trip and took my camera! I don't know what I missed more ...

As for the twins ... not a whole lot has changed. They are cracking me up or ticking me off, daily. They have reached the "but, why?" age and by the end of the day I really need some ear plugs but they also are really fun to have conversations with! They are very loving with Caroline and love to give her kisses. Sometimes when I ask for a hug or kiss they will calmly let me know that they don't have any hugs left ... but they always seem to have a hug for Caroline.

I was trying to get a good photo of the three but Caroline is pretty wiggly these days! She was trying to escape and the twins thought it was hilarious.
Gotta be charmed by the mutual adoration ...

Mmmmmm .... this grass is super delicious ...

Loving to pick flowers in the yard ... I have to work hard to keep them from picking all the neighbors' flowers!

She looks so little in this photo. She has an appointment in a few weeks so I don't know where she is in the ranks but I can say that she is pretty much wearing 12 month clothes though she is only 8 months old. She is wearing some clothes that the twins have pretty recently grown out of! We are going to Disney in a few months and I am wondering if I can get away with saying they are 2 year old triplets so I can get out of buying tickets for the twins ... ha, ha ... those who know me well know that if I did that I would not be able to sleep for weeks ... too much of a rule follower ...

So proud of herself ... she is still pretty much an army crawler though she pops up on the hands and knees sometimes. She loves to climb over things and under things and she is a CHAMP at pulling up now. This was taken when she first started. The twins did not pull up until they were around 10 months or so and they were really good at it when they started ... really cautious ... Caroline is fearless and she pulls up then just lets go! Then, of course, falls on her face and cries. I wish I could follow her around with a pillow all day but sometimes while I am doing something for the twins she sustains a pretty big bonk and I feel terrible! I guess the second kid will have to learn fast! Just today she was standing up at her play table and it was just me and her and she looked at me ... then down ... then at me ... then down ... and I held out my hand to help her and she didn't take it ... then you could see the "bubble" pop up and in it "I'm just gonna do it" and she plopped down from standing to her side then belly ... just sort-of threw herself down ... and it was like that is just what she meant to do ... so I can see that she is trying to learn how to get down ... which will make my life much easier.

pouting ... and new haircuts ... Hannah's ended up a little shorter than Meredith's. Their hair grows pretty fast so I told her to cut it shorter and it was sooooo short! It took me a while to get used to it ... and now it is growing out some ...

The twins are loving to help us cook! It makes it a lot easier for me to cook these days! I just wait for Caroline to go to bed then pop the twins up on the island and they will sit there and have a snack and watch me for as long as it takes! It is so nice! Seems like just yesterday they would get between me and the counter and push me away from it and cry because they did not want me to cook!

photos and firsts

The past few weeks have seen the first day of pre-school for the twins, the first dance class for the twins, the first tooth for Caroline, the first cold for Caroline and Caroline's mobility. Lots of firsts! The twins are doing so well with school that I wonder if I even have the same 2 kids! They seem to really be enjoying it and they go happily and willlingly. A far cry from hauling them screaming down the stairs then holding them down in the carseats while they fought me to get out all the while screaming "I don't want to go!!!! I don't WANT to go to school!!!" Oy! So glad they are liking it this year. As for the dance class, they go once per week to the Little Gym for a combo ballet/tap/gymnastics class. They ask me every day if it is the day for their dance class and they loooove their teacher. It is so cute to see them idolize another big girl (besides me, of course ;) As for Caroline, she had a mean cold and teething all in the same week. Poor thing ... she (and I b/c not only did I have to try and console her all day and night but I also got the cold!) was just miserable! There was no consoling her. It lasted a good week to 10 days but we are both almost better now. I just hope the twins don't get it! She has her first little pearly white ... one of the bottom middle. She is a champ army crawler now and I got a good video but am having a hard time uploading it?! Hopefully I will figure it out in the next few days. She is just all over the place ...

What are you doing over there??

... ahhhh, busted! What is it with babies and electric cords? Or dog food for that matter?!
I had to wake Caroline up to go get the girls from school the other day so I thought I would take a picture since I haven't gotten a sleeping one in a while! Look at those chubby legs!!!

family pic! the twins were grumpy so I couldn't get the pacis out without tears ...

First day of school! I had to snap a quick one while we were getting shoes on.

First day of dance class! I took the girls to a trial class before signing them up for the whole year and I hadn't bought them any dance clothes yet! I did the best I could with what we already had. They look like throwbacks from the 80's but they LOVED the class! They now have leotards and tights and tap and ballet shoes ... the whole she-bang. I will have to get another pic soon!

I got such good pics of Caroline (in the towel) that I was inspired to get some of the twins to replace some baby photos of them in frames. Here are some cute ones I got from our photo shoot (that I got by promising them M&Ms after) ... Meredith

Hannah

... somebody took a silly pill ...