I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

One of things I love about this quaint, small town that we live in is the many community events that are put on in the downtown area. Today was the Country Flavors Festival which may be one of the best festivals in this town. There was plenty of cute booths, a lot of good food, and of course all the BlueBell Ice Cream you can eat. The weather was perfect, I enjoyed some time out of the house and the babies enjoyed trying ice cream for the first time!

We got a lot of looks and comments with our limo stroller but the ice cream was worth it!

What is this stuff? It's cold but I like it!!!

Homemade Vanilla!!!

Ummm....this stuff is good!!!

I want more Momma!!!

I'm really tired but this stuff is good!

Addison fell asleep but has her spoon ready for more when she wakes up!

After our trip downtown we had a birthday party for Landon and Landry.

The balloons were fun to play with

And we really liked the toy trains!

Update on Addison

Well I'm not sure I can call it much of an update but we took Addison to Texas Children's today for her monthly visit to the hemotologist. Since her levels were up (106) two weeks ago we tought this would be a good visit but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Her platelet counts were back down to 58 which Dr. Lakshmi feels is not much different from her counts in the 30's. I think Steven and I were shocked and the first question was "why was it better two weeks ago?" She said it was typical for levels to go up and down when someone has thrombocytopenia. They took about 7 vials of blood from Addison and she was not very happy about it. She screamed when Steven held her tight to keep her still, then she would look at the needle and the lady taking the blood and scream. Of course she was better after it was all done and sported her pink bandaid proudly. They will be running more test on her blood to check for viruses and other causes so we are still in the process of elimination. We will go back in another month and do more blood work and if things don't improve we will do a bone marrow biopsy in a couple of months. The doctor told us to pad any of her playing areas(easier said than done), hold off on any vaccines, and watch for any unusual bruising, nose bleeds, cuts or major falls. We were a little disappointed with the news but we know we are on the right track to finding a diagnosis.   

Addison and her baby doll waiting

Addison thought she was a big girl on the horsey chair!

Giving blood can make you hungry so Mommy and Daddy took me out to eat. I ate a lot of bread, a piece of daddy's chicken, some broccolli, and my yogurt bites.

According to Addison the elevator ride was almost as bad as getting blood drawn. To get to the doctors office we have to take two elevators from the parking garage to the 14th floor. We have taken these elevators many times before but this time was a little different. As the elevators began to move Addison started screaming, when it would stop she was fine, then it would go again and she would scream. I guess she didn't like the pressure caused by the elevator so it was an interesting ride with an elevator full of complete strangers! 

Bluebonnets and babies

Saturday we took pictures in a bluebonnet patch behind Steven's school. Bryce and Collin kept trying to eat the bluebonnets and Addison was so excited, laughing, and smiling.

It is pretty difficult to get three babies to all smile and look cute for the camera at the same time so here are a few individual shots that show their individual personalities!

Adventures in the grocery store!

Thursday I only needed a few things from the grocery store so I loaded up all three babies and went to the store by myself! Although I've thought about doing this several times this was the first time I finally got the courage to actually do it. One of the things I hate the most is being dependent on others to watch my babies while I go grocery shopping. I planned it all out in my mind and packed all the necessary sancks, toys, etc.  I parked close to a cart return so I could grab a shopping cart quickly. I wiped down the cart with a sanitizer wipe and put a blanket in the bottom of the cart. I placed the boys in the bottom with a couple of toys and I put Addison in the top child seat area. As we went into the grocery store I grabed another cart for my groceries and pushed one and pulled one. Overall the babies did pretty good, it was a whole new world of people and sounds to check out. Collin kept standing up so I was constantly sitting him back down. Addison enjoyed her ride up high until we checked out and she wanted to be with the boys. Bryce got a little fussy and rode part of the time in the child seat of the second cart. I got a lot of looks and a lot of questions (are they triplets, are they all yours, oh my you have your hands full, etc.).  When I got to the checkout the employees were very helpful and we survived our first trip. I'm still not sure it is something I want to do on a weekly basis but I know it is possible if I need to.  

Our cart full!

A day in the life of triplets!

The question I get the most is "How do you do it?". My answer is always "I really don't know myself, I just do it". But the truth is I survive by having a routine. There are days that I want to pull my hair out, scream, or just cry but I'm usually pretty patient so I like to think I handle most days fairly well. Its funny to think how much our schedule has changed over the last year but here is an example of what our day is like with three 10 month olds.

6am-7am - babies wake up and take a bottle
7:30 - change diapers and sometimes clothes but I'm bad at letting them stay in their pajamas (its just one less step for me)!
8am - feed the babies breakfast
8:30 - play time
9:30 - babies get a bottle and go down for a morning nap
11:00-12:00 - babies wake up and eat lunch
12:30-2:00 - play time
2:00 - babies get a bottle and go down for an afternoon nap
3:30-4:00ish - babies wake up and get a snack
5pm - babies eat dinner
5:30-7:00 - play and spend time with daddy
7:00 - babies take a bottle and go to bed
7:30 - Steven and I pick up, get bottles ready for the next day, and usually go to bed ourselves at a fairly early hour (sometime around 9pm)

And yes I do this routine by myself until Steven gets home! Sometime during nap time or play time I also do at least one load of laundry a day, wash bottles, make a pitcher of formula, pick up toys several times a day, make beds, clean kitchen and house, and the list goes on. Oh and of course I try to grab some breakfast, lunch and dinner for myself somewhere in the day! Occasionally I have time to shower and get myself dressed but most of the time you will find me in a t-shirt, hair in pony tail, and no make-up.

I would not change being at home with my babies but there are days I miss the communication with adults. The most exhausting days are when we get out of the house. Packing the diaper bag, getting babies dressed, and loading the car can wear a person out so we obviously don't get out much so my communication is limited to the internet and my few opportunities to get out of the house.

10 Months Old

Wednesday and Thursday, Addison, Bryce and Collin turned 10 Months Old. They are so much fun now but also keep us very busy. All three are crawling and tend to follow each other from one room to the next or from one toy to the next. It didn't take long for the babies to wonder off and put me in a panic to what they are into now. Well I learned quickly how to keep them confined to safe places, now the baby gates go up and the doors stay closed. They have also gotten quicker at finding things on the floor before I do! Collin and Bryce have both tried to swallow a leaf, and Collin managed to get a rubber piece off the door stopper and was chewing on it until I found him. They are definitely making me work harder in keeping the house clean and I'm obiviously still not doing a great job.

Addison
     *has 2 bottom teeth and one coming in on the top
     *loves to blow bubbles
     *is chasing after mommy if she is in site
     *can walk along the couch
     *is not happy when Bryce snatches her bottle
     *weighs 18lbs

Bryce
     *has 1 tooth on the bottom and another one coming in
     *loves his new found independence, crawling
     *has figured out how to "steal" bottles from his sister now that he can crawl
     *has the most hair
     *is wearing 9 month clothes

     *weighs 20lbs

Collin
     *has 8 teeth and likes to use them to bite!
     *also likes to use them to eat his bed. I've had to buy crib rail protectors but I'm not sure how long it will stop him from finding another part of the crib to chew on 
     *thinks its funny to hit Bryce or Addison on the head like he's banging on a table   

     *is still bald
     *weighs 17lbs

Collin found the toliet and thought it was fun to play in!

While downloading Easter pictures I thought the babies were playing with some of their toys between the kitchen and living room. When it suddenly got quiet I thought 'what are they doing'? This is what I found....

Puffs everywhere!!!!

Some how they got the lid off the puffs and had them dumped out on the floor eating them! Thankfully the floor was pretty clean so I let them have at it while I snapped a few pictures.

A Good Day!

Yesterday was a good day! Bryce officially started crawling on Monday. As long as the toys or siblings are out of his way he is moving across the room. He's not as fast as Addison and Collin yet but with a little practice he will be out of mommy's site in no time. 

I took Addison to have her routine blood work done and her platelet counts went up to 106! I haven't spoke with the doctors but this is really good news. They tend to only worry about anything under 50 so we are finally out of that range. We are scheduled to go to TCH at the end of the month so we will see what they say then.

Then of course there was the opening day of baseball! Let's go Astros!!!

Easter Sunday

We started the morning with church which is a little challenging. Addison blew bubbles most of the time and only screamed a few times, Bryce was a wiggle worm and Collin was entertained by Brandon most of the time. After an exhausting church service we celebrated Easter Sunday with the Siemsglusz family! We had a lot of laughs and of course more yummy food.

The big bunny and the little bunny!

Collin was not a fan of the bunny ears!

Easter with the Wellmann's

Saturday we celebrated with the Wellmann family. The weather was beautiful, the food was yummy and we had a great time.

Aunt Alison and Stacy with Bryce

Myrna with Collin

Mia and Bryce playing

Mommy and Addison

Bryce would rather stand and jump than be held

Addison pulling the bunny's ears!

Everyone found an egg!

Our first Easter stop

Our first Easter stop was a quick trip to Llano on Friday, my family has a place along the river so we met there to celebrate Easter and a few birthday's! It was a long exhausting 15 hour day but we enjoyed our time with family. I think it will be a while before we try a long trip like that again though!

Serious Addison

Silly Bryce

Upside down Collin

Aunt Jeanie with Addison

Mommy and Granny with some cute bunny's

Collin with Aunt Dee

Out for a walk with Gary and Alyssa

The best little baby sitter!

Our attempt at bluebonnet pictures (we'll try again some other time)!

Two out of three fell asleep on the walk

The birthday girls and Brandon!