MoreThanWeExpected.com

Things have started to get a little more tolerable on the terrible triplet and toddler front as of late.  Tony and I were able to get out of the house for his cousin Jen's wedding last weekend which was fun; I wasn't sure what to do with myself while we were kid-free for 8 whole hours.  I got drunk; a fine way to spend the evening in my opinion, LOL.

Back at the homestead, Gwen spent last week sick with a cold she picked up at day care.  She started feeling badly on Saturday with a temp of 101.  The next day her fever spiked to 103.7.  On Wednesday her temp was still hitting 103+ so we brought her in to the professionals.  Turns out she developed her first ear infection (in both ears!) and needed her first course of antibiotics.  We never even knew it; she wasn't tugging at her ears or anything typical, just acting sick and miserable.  The pediatrician said that the fever probably started with the cold but lingered as a result of the growing infection.  When I brought her in, the infection had just started and the doctor advised getting in her two antibiotic doses for that day before bedtime as she speculated the infection would hit its peak that evening.  The next day, since Gwen was on antibiotics, we sent her back to day care.  I was afraid her staying home would make all the rest of us sick, never mind the fact that when she was home on Monday I was by myself with all four kids and had to do shots of tequila that evening to keep from losing my mind, LOL.  Tony and I both started Zicam to no avail... he came down with symptoms around the same time Holden did.  I started with the sore throat and dry burning cough on Monday; Nora started with it on Tuesday.  Today I woke up with no voice and a horrible cough; by this afternoon my ass was dragging and my head was stuffy.  Tess seems like she'll be next to get this virus as she's been increasingly stuffy.  Great...

Other than the whole family fighting a cold, things have been going well.  Tess had her CF sweat test which came back negative, a result we were sure of in our hearts but are happy to have on paper.  All of the kids started sleeping for a 6 hour stretch, on their own, without any sleep training.  We modified their daily schedule so that they're eating more per feeding but at fewer intervals; their last feeding is at 6 pm and then they go off to bed, in an attempt to get them sleeping through the night (this technique was developed for multiples and was taken from the book The Baby Sleep Solution).  Right now they are having trouble actually falling asleep at bedtime because they're used to going to bed much later (we eliminated an 8 pm feeding) but once they drift off they're managing to sleep through until around 2 am or so.  Excellent progress!!  We have a light at the end of the tunnel!  And while Gwen was home and I was juggling four kids it dawned on me that in another month or so they will be able to hold their own bottles at feeding time, saving me about 4 hours a day.  WOO HOO!!!!  This revelation was another glint of hope for an easier child rearing future.  That was until Gwen climbed out of her crib tonight, giving us (and herself) quite a scare.  I guess moving her to a big girl bed will be for the best since we'll be needing her crib for one of the little kids sooner than later (Holden is sleeping in the bassinet basket in the Pack N Play).  Our main concern is that the staircase going up to her room is in her room, making us nervous that she'll get out of her crib and fall down the stairs.  We're working on making things as safe as possible but can only work so fast.  Jeez, these kids need to slow down and cut us some slack!  LOL

The kids are growing so fast, and filling out quite bit; they're starting to lose that "newborn look".  Nowadays Holden's tipping the scales at 11.8 pounds, Nora at 11.4 and Tess at 11 even.  On top of that, I measured Nora last week and she was 22.5 inches, which means she grew almost an inch since last we checked.  Wow!  Here are some pictures (about 30 out of the 300 we took):

Tess (forefront) and Nora (background); Gwen wants to be part of the gang:

Tess:

Nora:

Holden:

Tess, passed out in the swing; Nora, screaming in Gwen's arms:

(L-R) Nora, Tess and Holden, who are starting to take up a little more room in their car seats:

Holden, doing anything he can to watch the race, having tummy time, learning to suck his thumb, and sleeping like an angel:

Nora, smiling and cooing at the toy bar:

Poor Gwen, during her sick stay at home:

Nora, smiling and cooing at the ceiling light and Mommy:

The girls (Tess in purple, Nora in pink), having fun together time.  These pictures crack me up because they look like those boardwalk photo-booth pictures.  LOL

Tess, Nora, Holden & Gwen... Last look until we update again!