12.29.10 ~ 18 months

Camille

Brelynn

Avery

A year and a half...wow. I'm not sure how each day can seem to last a lifetime yet the months just keep flying by. Not that I'm complaining. I love being home with the girls, it's just that at times they can form a superhero sister trio to do battle with mom. It may look like simultaneously asking to go to the bathroom, bonking a head on the table, and stealing toys, and wanting a cracker. They definitely know what they want now and aren't afraid to ask (demand) that mom to get it for them! Their saving grace is that they are incredibly adorable and charming and know how to come give a hug and kiss while flashing a cute smile just at the right moment. They are getting to be good little sharers and will often give their sister a cracker/water/toy without me having to ask them to share. It warms my heart to see them play together and share with each other. The girls are very concerned if one of the sisters is missing or injured and have been known to cry just because another one is crying (not that I like all the crying, but the compassion is wonderful).

Milestones just continue to get refined...more talking, better walking, pretending. They have dropped the morning bottle so now they just get one bottle at bedtime. I'm sure the pediatrician will want us to drop that, too, but it's a really easy way to get 8 ounces of milk into them (and right before bed) so I'm not ready to give it up. They are the world's best sleepers...sleeping 14-15 hours straight at night and taking one 60-90 minute nap at about noon. If they're cranky in the afternoon then they have 'quiet time' in their cribs where they can look at books and play with quiet toys. I leave the lights on and they've been doing a good job actually playing or resting during that time. Teeth just keep popping through randomly. I think Avery and Camille each have 12 teeth and Brelynn has 10 teeth with many more just below the surface for each of them. They go to the pediatrician for their 18 month appointment next week so we'll see how they're growing. Avery seems to be catching up with Brelynn a bit but Camille still feels tiny to me.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I can't wait to see what the new year brings!

 

12.25.10 ~ Christmas

Like many people we celebrated Christmas several times. Christmas Eve was at our house with my family and Christmas day was at Dan's Aunt and Uncle's house with his family. The girls got to open lots of presents, we ate some really yummy food, and we all had a great time catching up with loved ones. The girls got the hang of opening gifts right a way and were good helpers for all of us. Bows continue to be a big favorite, although they love their new toys. Pretending toys are fun right now...they got a kitchen and a tea party set and they are adorable sharing 'tea' with each other. Action toys (aka noisy toys) are also a favorite. The toy that shoots balls up in the air and plays music is really funny and makes them laugh. A certain rocking/singing cow has been known to cause one girl to push/pull the other off to get to said cow. The last few days have been filled with really fun new things and lots of practice sharing :)

Chelsea, Kim, Steve, Avery, Brenda, Camille, Dan, Stacey, Brelynn, Tyler



Top: Dale, Jenn, Brelynn, Brenda, Dan.
Bottom: Linda, Camille, Dave, Avery



Merry Christmas to all!

12.16.10 ~ Updates

We are doing really well this month. The girls love the Christmas tree and lights and will ask to have them turned on if I forget to do it in the morning. Our routine is becoming established and the girls are gaining independence which is both a blessing and a curse! They can navigate the stairs fairly well although we still stay close when they go down the stairs to make sure they don't get distracted and fall. Binkies are gone and the girls are all still sleeping through the night. Yay! They do occasionally wake up at night but put themselves right back to sleep. We are so fortunate to have such great sleepers again. They typically go to bed around 6:30pm and wake up at 8:30am and they take at least one nap during the day. The second nap is a 'quiet' time where they have to be in their cribs, but I've started giving them toys and leaving the lights on since they haven't been napping during this time for a few weeks now. Practice potty training is going well and the girls are starting to ask to go potty and then actually going when we get in there which is new. They used to ask to go potty and then ask for a marshmallow right away or just ask to go after one of their sisters went. I think they are starting to understand how this works. The last two days have been exceptionally good potty days and Brelynn has asked three times and had success each time (with our first poop yesterday!). They may be ready for this sooner than I thought. That's what's new with us. I hope everyone else is having a good month so far and Merry Christmas if I don't post before then!

12.10.10 ~ Deck the halls

We love Christmas. We love the traditions, the sights, the smells, and the food! But, just how do you decorate for Christmas with 17 month old triplets? We still have a big, live tree and it's decorated with all our beautiful ornaments...but, surrounding the tree is a giant corral to keep the kids away :) The stockings are hung by the...bookshelf up high...because the girls can pull them down from the fireplace.  Most of the other decorations are the same but I had to sharea picture of the tree with the corral around it. Jealous, aren't you?

11.29.10 ~17 months

Each month that goes by continues to be my favorite with the girls. They are so smart and are learning every minute. I love to watch them experience something for the first time...the initial fear and uncertainty then the sheer joy that follows. A first this month was snow, and lots of it. We had about 6" here for a few days and although it was really cold, I took the girls out to play in it for a few mintues. Avery's cheeks are still chapped from the cold. It took about 30 minutes to get them bundled up (Dan was at work so I was flying solo on the snow adventure) because each time I got one dressed and moved on to another one, the first one was undressing faster than I could dress the next one. Trying to get on the coats, hats, mittens, and boots you can imagine me running around like a chicken with my head cut off! They loved the snow and tried to eat it, roll in it, and really enjoyed it for the five minutes I let them play on the deck. Then it was time to come in, undress, redress in warm dry clothes, and have a little hot cocoa in sippy cups (another first). Surprisingly, Camille didn't like cocoa but the other two sure did!

We're back to sleeping at night for the most part and I would really like that to continue. Teething is rough on Avery especially, but the last two weeks have been better. They're routinely combining words and signs to say 2 word/sign phrases. We have very occasional luck using the bathroom, usually about one of them every other day or so. A fun thing to report is that Dan & I are playing in a volleyball league on Sundays. The Grandmas have come to watch the girls for the few hours that we're gone and it has been wonderful to have a break and do something that we used to do together.

Other than that, we ventured out into the woods of Index for a Ray Family Christmas Photo and you won't be disappointed! Dan has such an amazing ability to think of a photo and then capture it. I was very reluctant to put the girls in their Christmas dresses, tights, and black patent leather shoes, then get myself dressed up and hike in the cold, damp woods just to get a picture. Dan convinced me it would be fun...and adventure, and I caved in. I have to admit it wasn't bad until the girls got cold and then got cranky. Christmas cards are on the way but below are some other photos we got that day.  

Avery

Brelynn

Camille

11.3.10 ~ Quarantine

As we head into cold and flu season we are preparing for our second, and hopefully last, quarantine period. Here's some information to hopefully help answer some questions you may have.

What does 'quarantine' mean? Quarantine basically means that we will be trying to keep the girls healthy this cold and flu season. We will do this by avoiding anyone that is sick, has been recently sick, or has even been in close contact with someone who is sick. Even if you think you 'just have allergies' we ask that you stay away until you are feeling better. We need to keep the girls away from other kids, especially kids that are in school or daycare, since they are little germ factories even without knowing it. We will also be avoiding large gatherings, possibly even family holidays depending on the above factors. If we are around people or having visitors, we ask that you wash your hands either with soap and water or use a gel based sanitizer like Purell (which we will have in abundance) as soon as you enter the house. Even if you don't touch the girls, you touch their environment and then we touch the girls. The few colds that we had last year came after visits with people who "weren't sick."

Why do we have to do this? Since the girls were born eight weeks premature, their lungs haven't fully developed. Even now at 16 months old their lungs are still immature. Even a seemingly mild illness could have serious consequences for the girls. The main concern is a respiratory virus called RSV. For premature babies, RSV can often lead to pneumonia, hospitalization, the need for a ventilator, and in extreme cases death. I don't mean to scare anyone, I just want you to understand why we take this so seriously. The other issue we do this is because I don't want to deal with one sick child, let alone three at the same time. And I'd end up with it, too, so I'd be sick and taking care of three sick kids. To learn more about RSV, visit http://www.preemiecare.org/rsv_resourceshtm.htm. 

When does quarantine start? This is a tricky question. I watch information provided by Seattle Children's Hospital about the number of cases of RSV and different flus each week. As the numbers start climbing, we will get more serious about isolating the girls. As the numbers drop down in the spring, we'll become more adventurous. We have already started avoiding most children and asking if people are sick before they visit.

Thanks to everyone for understanding how important this is for us and our girls. As long as they stay healthy and out of the hospital this year we shouldn't have to do this again. At least nothing as strict as this. I still don't want to deal with three sick kids :)

11.2.10 ~ Brelynn's walking

I told you in the 16 month post that it wouldn't be long until Brelynn decided to walk...well, tonight she did. She stood up in the middle of the room (a first) and took 7 steps. She's very proud of herself and has been standing and walking a few steps for the last 30 minutes. She laughs when she falls, and sometimes falls deliberately and then laughs. I got a video, but of course I don't know how to post it. I'll try after the girls go to bed. Yay, Brelynn!

Now we're really in trouble...three walkers!

11.1.10 ~ Potty Training?

What? Potty training already? The girls are only 16 months old!!! No, we aren't officially potty training yet, but the girls are starting to ask to have their diapers changed throughout the day and are becoming more aware of their need to go potty. So, I got the crazy idea to pull out a little potty chair on Friday. They took turns sitting on the potty and playing with toys while I read books about using a potty. They were a little timid at first (okay, Camille was downright scared of the thing), but I tried to make it fun and they get a mini marshmallow for just sitting on it. I take them up to use it once a day right now just to get them used to the idea of this pink chair and to teach the vocabulary of going potty. I'm not expecting much at this point except that they sit and then we wash hands. If they sit and wash hands then they get a marshmallow.

Well, wouldn't you know it on Saturday (just the second day of sitting on the potty) Avery decided to pee in the potty! I know it's a total coincidence and she didn't know what she was doing, but she was pretty excited at my reaction. Plus, if they pee in the potty they get TWO marshmallows. Sunday they all sat. Then Monday Brelynn peed in the potty. Yay! We are a long way from being out of diapers, but this lets me know that they may be a little more ready to get started than I thought. Now, how to potty train three at once? Three chairs and have them all sit at once or one after the other? For now we're going one at a time. I can't keep them on the potty and entertained if there's more than one. But as they get better at this, we may go gang busters and do all three at once. Pray for us!

10.29.10 ~ 16 months

Another month has flown by...We had a jam packed October so far. Dinner with friends, a visit with new twin friends, photo shoots with Amy (http://www.amybphotography.com/), the Heart Walk in Seattle, playing at the park with friends, lots of walks when the weather was nice, and some minor house projects on the one weekend we were home. We didn't make it to the pumpkin patch, but we have some around the house so that's almost as good. The girls seem to be growing a bit as I can actually fit Camille and Avery in 9-12 month clothes and Brelynn in most 12-18 month clothes. Other highlights:

Our monkeys, one of Dan's shots

Communication: the girls are amazing communicators and are beginning to combine two words or two signs. They will say things like 'bye dada', 'more cracker', 'milk please', 'more please' and many more when they're prompted. Brelynn is a parrot and will say practially anything you ask her to say. Her favorite word today is 'pumpkin' and it is adorable how she says it. I quit counting how many words they each have but my best guess would be between 60-75 that they use and then they'll repeat many more. Of course, it's not easy to understand them most of the time but they're really good talkers. Wonder where they got that from?? They also know about 10 body parts and can point to dozens of pictures in books. Yay!

We wish!

 Motor: They are starting to climb and become more adventurous. Brelynn is still hesitant to walk more than a few steps on her own but she can walk holding on to just one of our fingers and still cruises along all the walls and furniture. She's taken up to three steps on many occasions. I know I say it every month, but she's so close to walking! Avery and Camille are running around, usually in opposite directions. Avery likes to climb on tables, couches, ottomans, and pretty much anything else that she's not supposed to climb on. She is so proud of herself when she gets up on the coffee table :)

Camille giving Brelynn a kiss...awwww

 Teeth: The teething front has been a bit of a battle this month. Avery is now up to her 8 front teeth, Brelynn has 6 (her front four and two molars), and Camille has 7 (her bottom four, top two, and a molar). So odd to me how they are all coming in differently.  

Avery plaing peek a boo

 Sleep: All these teeth coming in caused quite the sleeping mess in the first part of the month. Especially for Avery. She was waking 2-5 times a night again and some of them were what we think were night terrors. She would run away from me when I went to console her and she would be really confused when she finally calmed down. I didn't know it, but night terrors usually happen in the first hour or two after falling asleep and are due to a lack of sleep. Huh? My girls not getting enough sleep??? Well, it makes sense actually because they are in the midst of dropping their afternoon nap (I know kids are supposed to drop the morning nap, but someone forgot to tell my girls) so they are a bit sleepy in the afternoons now. Now we're just trying to break the habit of waking up I think. She's made it two nights...here's hoping for many more.

10.16.10 ~ Photo Shoot

Today we had the pleasure of having the lovely Amy of Amy B Photography take some pictures of the girls. We went to the Arboredum and the girls did wonderfully. There were dresses, tutus, jeans, hats, oh and monkey constumes. Amy brought some barrels and I brought bananas. The girls had a great time. Amy posted a small sneak peek on her blog www.amybphotography.com/blog (scroll down until you see the girls) and there should be more to come soon.  Here's one of our favorites...a barrel of monkeys :)

10.4.10 ~ Eagle Falls

Sunday we ventured out to Eagle Falls just past Index. This is a beautiful spot just a few hundred feet from Highway 2. Dan always jokes about kayaking through here because someone finally did it a few years ago. During the summer there are always people cliff jumping into the deep pools. The girls really wanted to explore the rocks and puddles but the uneven ground was still more than they could handle and there were a few near falls. Luckily, my mommy radar was sharp and I managed to catch most of the tumbles. The river has carved these amazing pools and curves into the rock. And the river is such an amazing green color. Isn't it beautiful?

Brelynn, Avery, Camille (all looking at a dog nearby)

Avery, Brelynn, Camille

Beautiful

one of the falls and pools

A shot upstream

9.29.10 ~ 15 months

The fun never ends here at the Ray house. Avery and Camille are walking (and running) everywhere, Brelynn's cruising on all the furniture and walls, and everyone is a parrot with lots of words and signs. Avery and Camille have about 35 words/signs and Brelynn has about 45! They can point to body parts and items around them (where's the light, fan, etc.). They are sleeping like champs at night, usually 13-14 hours (please don't send hate mail...I know I'm very lucky!) and are taking 2 shorter naps a day which usually combine to total 90 minutes. On the teething front, Avery now has her front 8 and sports a very cute 'toothy' grin.  Brelynn has her top two and bottom two and is very close to cutting molars. Camille has cut a top tooth and is working on her 3rd bottom tooth. They are starting to refuse the bottle and we've been having some struggles with drinking enough milk throughout the day, but their growth continues to hold steady. Camille is still a tiny peanut, but she's gaining weight right along with her sisters. If only we could get her above the 3rd percentile for weight I'd be happy. Here's their growth as compared to other 15 monthers:

     Avery~19 pounds, 1 ounce (5th %ile), 30" (25th %ile)

     Brelynn~20 pounds, 13 ounce (20th %ile), 30.5" (50th %ile)

     Camille~17 pounds, 12 ounces (<3rd %ile), 30" (25th %ile)

Here are the girls enjoying ravioli...
Brelynn

Camille

Avery...she really did like it!

 

9.11.10 ~ Remlinger Farm

Dan's company picnic was at Remlinger Farm this year. We took the girls and let them run wild in a grassy field with a fake heard of cows :)

Avery playing peek-a-boo

Brelynn speed crawling for the camera, not sure what Avery is doing in the background...dancing? boxing?

Camille's making a run for it

All the girls with the herd

 

9.1.10 ~ Dan Ray Photography

Well, it's official. We started a business to sell some of Dan's amazing photos. People tell him all the time that he should sell his pictures (so do I, but I don't count), but he never really thought much about it. He just loves taking great pictures. Well, a few weeks ago his sister suggested that he put his pictures on the wall at Starbuck's and try to sell them. He was interested, but that meant we had to get in gear to actually form a business. We made business cards, applied for a business license, registered our trade name, got tax ID numbers, printed and framed pictures, and made a website all in three weeks time. I'm very happy to say that Dan Ray Photography is now a legit business! Check out http://www.danrayphotography.com/ for some of his incredible pictures and to see how things are coming along. If you're in the Lake Forest Park area, stop in to Starbuck's by Third Place Books to see some of his work during the months of September and October.

8.29.10 ~ 14 months

We've had a busy month. Some highlights were my brother's wedding and our sea kayaking/camping trip to Saddlebag Island (without the girls!). The warmer weather at the beginning of the month was been nice. The girls liked splashing in the pool and playing in the little sprinkler. Oh, and in our free time we started a business... more on that later.

Some milestones:

communication: I have counted about 27 words and signs that the girls can say. Brelynn says all of them, and Avery and Camille are only missing about 5 each. The girls are little sponges now and seem to learn something new everyday. They are all able to follow simple one step directions (sit down, get the ball) and will sometimes follow a two step command (get the doggy and give it a kiss).

motor skills: Avery started walking on 8/19 and Camille is occasionally running now. Brelynn doesn't scoot anymore, she crawls really fast to try to keep up with her sisters. All the girls love to crawl up the stairs at bedtime and naptimes. Brelynn learned how to pull to a stand on 8/15 and I often find her standing in her crib. She is hesitantly cruising on furniture, but only when mom or dad are really close by.

teething: Avery has 4 top teeth and just cut her third bottom one. Brelynn has 2 top and 2 bottom. Camille has 2 bottom.

sleeping: the girls are still sleeping about 13 hours at night and taking two naps a day. The morning nap is usually 2 hours and the afternoon is usually 1 1/2 hours. I'm such a lucky mommy!

We went for a walk and slightly tresspassed to get into this cool field with the giant hay bales. The girls did well and sat eating animal crackers, but I thought for sure they would fall off these bales and hurt themselves. You gotta do what you gotta do to get the photo, right?

8.22.10 ~ Kayaking

We left the girls overnight for the first time last weekend and headed off for an adventure. The girls were safe and sound with Grandma Kim and Auntie Chelsea and by all reports they were on their best behavior. Great Aunt Kris and cousin Tori came for a visit, they went for a walk, had ice cream (or maybe that was just Grandma and Auntie?), and played at the park.

Dan and I took off with our friends Ryan and Kim on a sea kayaking adventure to Saddlebag Island. We drove to Anacortes, took a very small ferry to Guemes Island, and then kayaked to Saddlebag Island where we camped overnight. We saw a few starfish and caught 3 yummy crab. Luckily Kim doesn't eat crab so we each got one :) We saw seals and seal pups and lots of heron. On the way back we had a bit of a head wind making the water a bit choppy and paddling harder than on the way in, but all in all we had a wonderful time.

This was the moonlight!

8.7.10 ~ Dale & Jenn's Wedding

Dale and Jenn's wedding was Saturday and it was beautiful despite a little rain. Dan had a real challenge trying to keep the girls happy and clean before the wedding and during pictures while I was doing other bridesmaid tasks. They walked in the rain and looked at ducks and ate a lot of snacks. The girls were getting pretty crabby as the wedding approached, but when it was time to walk down the aisle they did wonderfully (with a few animal crackers to keep them happy). They didn't like to keep their hair bows in and that became a game during pictures, but we didn't fight it after that.

Playing on the dance floor in their dresses prior to the wedding.

Avery posing for the camera

Brelynn...I don't want a bow in my hair!

Camille posing in the rain. Such a cutie.

Hey, look...we can pull these flowers off :)

The girls just before the wedding...Brelynn found her bow...again! Isn't the wagon cute?

After the wedding...

...and in their comfy clothes finally.

The beautiful bride and handsome groom. Congratulations, Dale and Jenn! We love you! Thanks for letting us be a part of such a special day.

7.29.10 ~ 13 months

Many more milestones and updates this month. The girls are showing us more and more of their personalities...fun at times and not so fun at times :)

Communication: language skills are exploding and this speech pathologist couldn't be prouder of her girls. They are picking up a new animal sound, sign, or word almost daily now. Avery and Brelynn are a bit more verbal and Camille is a bit quicker to pick up the signs, but they're all doing extremely well. One or more will sign: eat, milk, water, more, all done, bye bye, sleep, and bird. They will say: bye bye, done, up, mama, dada, grandma, more, night night, num num, dog, and banana. They will make monkey sounds, dog panting sounds, cow sounds, and horse sounds. I'm sure there's more but I can't think of them now. Even more impressive than their communication is their comprehension. It amazes me the things they understand (and sometimes the things they'll do on command). To recap first words for prosperity's sake...Brelynn's was 'ball', Avery's was 'banana', and Camille's was 'dogdog'.

Teeth: Camille has her bottom two teeth, Brelynn has her bottom two and the top two are just through the gums, Avery has her bottom two and she has three top ones through the gums now. They are getting toothy little smiles :)

Motor: Camille has taken up to 6 steps independently and will frequently take 3-4 steps now before diving out in a superman style dive.  Avery is cruising on furniture and is starting to stand up in the middle of the room on her own. Brelynn is mostly scooting on her bottom and is surprisingly mobile this way. She's starting to crawl a little bit here and there in the last few weeks. She will often roll over now and is able to get herself into a sitting position (on Father's Day for the first time).

Feeding: still going strong on the eating front. They drink 2 bottles (morning and night) and eat 3 meals and a snack or two during the day. Watermelon and avocados are favorites right now. They can all now drink from a sippy cup and a straw independently.

Sleeping: With all the fun of vacation, the girls started going to bed earlier, about 6:30 now. They are sleeping all night and getting up between 6 and 7 usually, but we do get the occasional 7:30 wake up which is heavenly. They are down to only 2 naps now during the day. It's a great schedule.

The big excitement is that my brother is getting married on Saturday, August 7th and the girls are flower girls. We're going to pull them down the aisle in a wagon. It may be the cutest thing in the whole world. Or it could go horribly wrong and still be cute. Either way, more to come on that...

Finally, we tried to get pictures of the whole family yesterday, but didn't get many in focus. Here's the best one we got. I don't know why I'm being such a dork...just imagine my eyes are open and I'm looking at the camera instead of off in la-la land :)

7.26.10 ~ We have a walker!

Camille has been close to walking for weeks now, but she finally took her first steps today! We were playing with our friend, Ben, when she took 4-5 steps several times in a row. The trick...holding on to green onions (maybe she felt like she was still holding on to us? Who knows.) Now we'll have to wait to see how long it takes her to realize it's much faster, and easier on the knees, to walk instead of crawling!  Way to go, Super Cam!

More Sunriver

the girls got to watch the annual baseball game from the sidelines this year. They all liked to hold the frisbee, but then it turned into the dinner plate and we ate lunch :) Yum!

July 10-17 ~ Sunriver 2010

We had a great time at Sunriver again this year. The girls really did well on the 10 1/2 hour drive and we made sure to stop every few hours to let them play. They ate well and slept well, putting themselves to bed at 6:30 each night (and I'm happy to say the earlier bedtime continued once we got home).

We went on walks, played in the house, floated in the hot tub (cooled off of course!), ate yummy food, and enjoyed time with amazing people. One of the girls' favorite things was the swimming pool at Mavrick's and we went most afternoons to wear them out :)