Happy Halloween!!

As luck would have it, there is no snow this weekend.  I can't remember a time when we haven't seen one snowflake in Colorado by November.  What a strange year it has been.

We were able to get some great shots of the girls outside in their costumes today.  I know it's a day early, but we're not planning on taking them trick-or-treating this year.  Plus, the weather is so nice today, and tomorrow is football day!  They loved being outside in the grass.  I bought the girls 0-9 month costumes, but they certainly vary in size!  Maggie barely fit in hers.  I didn't want to dress them all the same, but I did want some sort of a theme.  I guess the theme ended up being plants - they are all very organic!


Katie - the flower:

Maggie - the chili pepper:

Izzy-B - the pea:

All three:

Katie seemed really confused because her sisters looked different:

Outside:

Katie kept eating the leaves:

Maggie's costume was so tight, I finally had to unbutton the top:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Fall Pictures

In Colorado, you never know when the snow will begin to fly.  We've been known to have blizzards in early September.  So far this year - nothing!  That makes me nervous.  The mountains have just been hit hard, which is good.  All of this commentary leads me to the real reason for my post - fall pictures.  We've been debating when to take them.  Today I bought a pumpkin, the weather was nice and the leaves are falling.  What a perfect day for pictures.  I was afraid if we waited until next week, the lawn would be covered in snow.

The girls don't get outside too much.  It makes me sad, but it's a lot of work to get them ready to go out.  Next year, we will be out on the town a whole lot more than this year!  When we took them outside today, Katie just started laughing.  She laughed, and laughed and laughed.  It was so cute!

I'm excited that all three girls are able to sit up on their own (sorta).  It made setting up the pictures a lot easier. Maggie needed a little help - she used the pumpkin to lean on, but there is nothing propping them up from behind.

Here are some of my favorites:

A great big thank you to my former co-worker and friend Kathy who bought the bibs for the girls.  And, a great big what were you thinking to my husband for putting Maggie behind the pumpkin stem.  I couldn't see how much it was blocking her face from where I was standing.  In his defense, he was trying to hide the blue bumbo, the girls were getting cold and I was nagging him to hurry up!

Update: I'm almost afraid to type this, as I fear I will jinx myself, but Izzy has been going to bed without any problems for a few weeks now.  :-)

Maggie is sitting!

This is a very short post. 

After our weekly visit from the PT, Maggie sat for the first time today.  She can only stay sitting for less than 1 minute before she falls over, but she did it!  Every other time that I've tried to prop her up in a sitting position, she has fallen backwards.  I was so excited to see her progress.

Katie is VERY close to being able to get into a sitting position on her own.

8 Months

I can't believe it has been eight months already - two thirds of a year.  The girls are so amazing.  Every time they laugh, I can't help but laugh too.  Over the last month, they have started eating solid foods once a day, and they are all up on all fours rocking back and forth - crawling will be any day.  Margaret is always a little behind her sisters with meeting milestones, but she always gets there.  Despite this, sometimes I think she will crawl and walk first.  Katherine and Isabella have been rocking on all fours for a couple of weeks now.  Margaret just started doing it about 2 days ago, but I bet she'll actually crawl first.  She is my tortoise - slow and steady wins the race.  She's was the smallest at birth and she was the one who caused them all to be born so early, but she was the first one to come home from the hospital.  Earlier this week, I took Katherine to the dermatologist to check out the red mark on her cheek.  It is most likely a hemangioma, which should disappear in a few years.  Here are some pictures from our 8 month photo shoot.  The tutus and the shoes were made by my sister-in-law in France.

Katherine is very independent and observant, but loves to laugh.  She can sit unassisted.

Margaret is very smiley and happy, and also loves to laugh.

Isabella is very serious and cuddly.

Babies

The theme this week at the Trendy Treehouse is "Babies."  What an easy one for me!  Babies are abundant at my house.  This picture was taken in mid-May; the girls were almost 3 months old.  They're my three peas in a pod - the Usagani Triplets.

Check out the other entries here:

Sleeping Issues

The girls have always been good sleepers, and they continue to be - once they actually fall asleep.  They are in bed no later than 8pm every night, and they wake up at 6am when Robin gets them up for their morning bottle.  They then go back to bed for several hours.

Over about the last week though, Isabella has had a hard time falling asleep.  Once we put her in her crib, she screams and screams and screams.  Sometimes it goes on for over an hour.  I usually let her scream for about 10-15 minutes, then I go in and hold her for a few minutes.  As soon as I pick her up, she stops.  I get her calmed down, put her back and she screams again.  Last night it went on for 1.5 hours.  I just don't know what's wrong.  The good thing is that the other girls can sleep right through it.  They fall asleep easily, and don't mind listening to Isabella scream.  I hope this phase ends soon. 

Any suggestions?  She's not teething.

Why? Because they're preemies

Today the girls had a 7.5 month check-up.  Here are their stats:

Katherine:
14lbs 11oz - 8%
25.75in - 20%
41.8cm - 10%

Margaret:
14lbs 1oz - 4%
25.5in - 10%
41.3cm - 3%

Isabella:
13lbs 5oz - <3%
25in - 5%
41.7cm - 10%

Isabella is my little peanut.  She's so small!!

Look mom - I'm sitting up!

My former co-worker and friend brought us dinner and was visiting with us tonight.  I have been working with Katherine trying to get her to sit, but she always falls over.  She has the best coordination of the three, and I thought she was just about ready for sitting.  My friend was holding Margaret, and I had Katherine.  I decided to plop Katherine down on the couch in a sitting position, and to my amazement she stayed there!  For a long time!

I called Robin and told him to bring the camera.  He then grabbed Isabella and sat her down across from Katherine.  Again, to my amazement, she sat there - for a long time!  They sat and stared at each other for awhile.  It was several minutes before they both fell over - at the same time! 

It was such an exciting day.  Margaret is not quite ready for sitting yet.  Both Katherine and Isabella, when on their stomachs, get up on their knees and rock back and forth.  It's only a matter of time before they start crawling.  YIKES!

I've been trying to get them to eat solid foods for awhile.  Yesterday the PT/OT helped me with a feeding.  She taught me so much.  They ate about 1oz each of bananas and oatmeal.  Today I gave them each about 1oz of sweet potatoes and oatmeal.  Yummy!