First Camping Trip

Every fall we take a trip up to beautiful Lake Jocassee in up state South Carolina to gather with friends and camp. Last years trip was when we first shared with our friends that we were expecting and that it was triplets. Our friends were really excited to hear our news and we had a great weekend. As we were packing up to leave, we made a commitment (as we always did) to come back next year. Jennifer and I said that we would make it - babies and all. We typically all tent camp on hike in sites with no water or power. This year our friends tent camped, but we decided to stay in a camper. I just could not imagine roughing it with 3 Seven month old babies - not to mention the hike in and out with all the stuff! The camper alone would present challenges. Try going from a spacious house to less than a 3oo sqft trailer. How would we do it, how would the babies do? These questions haunted me the whole week prior. I kept thinking this could be a wonderful memory created or a disaster in the making. I can tell you now that the weekend is over that the memory bank is full to the brim and so is the camera. We had the best time ever and I hope the babies feel the same.

Packing, Packing, and more packing. Here's a shot of just some of the stuff we crammed into the ford.

Can't forget the precious cargo. Just arriving at the campsite.

Grandmother and Granddaddy were already there. They went up a couple days earlier and got the camper set up. It is their camper that we borrowed.

We brought the 3 summer seats. They made great feeding chairs. When it was not too cold this is where we fed them.

Here's the happy family - the weekend just getting underway. Miles of fun ahead of us!

Me and Charlotte checking out the scenery.

Ellie with Kat and Evan with Allison

Evan with Stephen and Allison

Ellie chilling with her shades on with Kat

Mom and Ellie soaking in all the fun.

Evan dressed for camping.

Charlotte with Dad sitting near the fire.

The baby Bus - all aboard!


Evan gives me a hand building a fire to cook our boiled peanuts.

Ellie getting cozy with mom.

Ready to make Smores!!! Maybe next year.

Changing table - who's next?

The sleeping arrangements.

Evan was in a bassinet in the the kitchen.

The girls shared a pack-n-play.
I gave them all to Jennifer to snuggle in the mornings while I got the food ready.

This is Calvin - He joined the party Saturday afternoon and just loved the babies. He had Ellie laughing from the second he got there. They had a blast.

Ellie out in the sticks.

Evan

Charlotte

Charlotte asking Evan, "Did you have fun camping this weekend?"

What a wonderful end to a great weekend!!!

Just as always we ended with a commitment to doing it again next year. We did hear the word cabin this time. I can't wait to make more memories with my family! Now I have to go unpack!

Saturdays are Daddy days

Jennifer does a wonderful job taking care of the babies all week, while I am at work. I have claimed one day a week for myself - Saturday! As weeks go by, I feel the need to spend more and more time with them when I can. Saturday presents the best opportunity.

Here's my typical Daddy Day schedule.
I lie in the bed and hear baby noises. They usually start around 6 am. My first instinct is to get up and grab'em up and start feeding, but Jennifer always stops me telling me they are not ready yet. Wow, she's right they go back to sleep and then really get up around 7:45-8:00. Morning time is the easiest, they take their time getting up - typically not all at the same time. Jennifer has mastered the morning wake-up. She rarely needs help starting the day. I do my best to get them all up changed and fed before Jennifer gets up. It's now 9:30 and all babies are ready to play. This is what I do best.

They play for awhile and then start getting sleepy. I take them one by one back up to the nursery to get an AM nap. They will sleep about an hour or 2. Charlotte is usually the last one to go to sleep and the first to wake up, but she rarely cries - mostly just talks to herself. The lunchtime process gets cranked up around 12:30. Jennifer usually helps me out since they are usually all up at the same time and get a little more eager at lunch. After they have all had lunch, it is back to playtime.

Evan in Johnny jump-up seat - he loves it!

Ellie in jump-up seat - she likes the change of scenery but is not in love with jump seat. She would rather be in an exersaucer or her Elmo Car

Charlotte likes the jump seat, but she could spend hours in her exersaucer.

Jennifer uses the rest of the afternoon to get out of the house. She needs the time out and the more she goes the easier it will be to relax and enjoy her day. The babies play hard until about 3 and then it is off for another nap. Depending on how sleepy they seem - they either go back to the crib or into a swing. This gives me time to do some things and spend time with my other babies.

Can't wait until next Saturday!

Sick Days & Floods

And it Rains!
I got up this morning to the sound of heavy rain. I was concerned but it seems my concern would be for the wrong reason. We have just recently plowed up the front yard and re-seeded. I was fearing that our hard work would have been washed out by the down pour. Knowing there would not be much I could do about the yard, I went on about my morning. I took the dogs down to the basement to do their business and eat and I hear water. The sound was not obvious so I figured it was outside, but why are my socks all wet? It drove me to investigate the reason why my basement was soaked. I then find where the water noise was coming from - the new water feature that I did not plan on having in my basement. The hole in the wall were the waterline comes in from the outside is pouring right out on the the floor. I got a bucket and started to get it under control - mean while Charlotte was left upstairs (strapped into her high-chair) waiting on me to feed her breakfast. I quickly got back up stairs and fed her. I got her bottle ready and took her upstairs to Jennifer. I calmly handed her to Jennifer and told her I had a minor issue to handle in the basement and that she was not allowed to come down there - absolutely off limits. She handled the babies while for the next 2 hours I tried to stop and clean up the water. I could not leave to go to the store to get any supplies because the water would fill the bucket in 5 min. I called my brother and without hesitation he was on his way to Lowes and then to my rescue. His plan worked. We both realize it is only temporary and that we will have to completely repair the line, later.


Through this whole process I had noticed that the creek in our back yard (which is usually out of site) was rising higher and higher. It was never a threat to adding to my flood misery but was interesting to watch throughout the day. Here's a picture of the back yard at High Tide.




Now Sick Babies!

We have been extremely blessed with healthy babies - even thought they started their journey so sick. But it seems like we have a little bug going through the house. It started early in the week with Ellie running a fever. We were not sure if she was teething or if she was just getting sick. Her fever continued for a couple days but was controlled by Tylenol. She then developed a cough. Evan started in with similar symptoms - fever and cough. He was also controlled with simple meds. Both babies are just plain pitiful! They whimper and are much more needy. They have been getting a good bit of sleep. I hope they kick this and get back to being happy babies!

Mom with her sick babies

Sick Evan

Sick Ellie
Charlotte has, to this point, missed out on the sickness. We have been doing our best to keep her away from the others. She has her own toys and her own play saucer. We also try to wash our hands before switching from sick baby to well baby. We might be just prolonging the inevitable - one of the joys of having multiples!

Charlotte smiles as she plays in her saucer!

1 year ago

1 year ago today we went for our 1st ultrasound after finding out that we were pregnant. At this visit, we got the shocking news that we were going to have triplets. It was still very early, only 6weeks but in all our trouble, we had never seen a heartbeat. Imagine our surprise to not see one but three. We then got to see our babies for the very 1st time.

This is Ellie's 1st picture

This is Evan's 1st picture

Here is Charlotte's 1st picture

"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be."
Psalm 139:13 - 16

God is great, God is good! Show Him love, that's all He is showing YOU!

What a wonderful day!!!!

7 months old