Triplet updates!

I forgot to post that all 3 babies are teething! Rylie had a bottom tooth poke through on 7/30. Now you can also feel one coming through on the top. So we are going through a lot of Tylenol & Ibuprofen right now. The boys are now wearing 6-9 month clothes & are wearing size 3 diaper. Reese wears 3-6 month clothes & some 6-9. She is wearing a 2 diaper. We go through a regular size can of formula a day & a box of oatmeal & rice cereal a week. The boys take 6 oz at each bottle & Reese takes 5 oz except at bedtime & she gets 6 oz. We feed them at 9:30. It is usually 10:30-11 before we finish feeding everyone. Reese is usually the first to wake up around 8. Sometimes she will sleep till 8:30 or 9, but not very often. Next to wake up is usually Rylie, then Ryan around 10. The are all talking & laughing more & more everyday. Ryan is very observant of everything going on around him. They love to watch Racheal sing & dance.

We are leaving Wednesday for San Antonio. Randall has a CME to go to on Thurs & Friday. We will head back home on Sunday. I have been working on getting everything we need together for the trip. Which with triplets is a lot of stuff: 2 packages of diapers, 5 cans of formula, bottled water, bottles, a ton of clothes, medicine, cereal (well you get the picture).

Thanks to those of you that gave us bottles you had. If anyone else has any Playtex drop in liner bottles 8 oz, we would really appreciate it. I will even pay you for them. We only have enough to make it 24 hrs. If I had a few extras it would be great! Also for our friends that live around here, if you could occasionally give me a call when you are headed to Walmart that would be great. We run out of the bottle liners & formula quite often & they are so much cheaper at Walmart than at the grocery store. It would be a huge help since I don't make it to a Walmart very often.

Medical Bills!!!

Well Randall finally called the social security lawyer. We were basically told that it would be a waste of our time & money to go to court & fight social security. So I guess we will be paying mine & the triplets medical bills for the rest of our lives. It really makes us angry that I tried to take the really good care of myself to make the triplets be as healthy & as big as possible. Now we are being punished for it. Someone is calling everyday saying we are being turned over to a collection agency. I tell them go ahead we have almost a million dollars in medical bills. I can only do so much! So instead of saving for 4 kids for college we will be paying medical bills forever! I try not to let it bother me & try to just think about my 4 healthy kids. But when the phone rings everday with someone asking for money it is hard to not think about it.

I miss you Mom (& Nana)!

It has been 7 years today since I lost my mom. I still miss her so much. I know she would have been a great Nana (that is what she wanted to be called). I often think about how excited she would have been if she had been around to see Racheal & the triplets. She wanted nothing more than to be a grandmother.

Finally new pictures!!!

Rylie, Reese & Ryan relaxing on the couch. Reese is trying to push her brothers off of her!
Racheal, Kaylie, Ryan, Reese & Rylie. Kaylies last day is next Tuesday. We are going to miss you Kaylie!!
Finally the picture of the triplets! Shelley, Jill (the mommy's) Ryan, Reese, Rylie, Aaron, Avery, Adam, Racheal.
Rylie, Reese & Ryan
Ryan, Rylie & Reese in their Mickey & Minnie outfits for Natalies Party.


Ryan, Rylie, Reese, Racheal & Natalie

the stroller

Some people have asked what our wonderful stroller looks like. So in case you have not seen it, here is the picture. The car seats just snap right onto the frame. It is really light & the frame folds in half to store in the back of the van. It is a life saver.

Happy Birthday to Mommy!

Yesterday was Shelley's birthday. We had a great day. Meema & D-dad came and watched the triplets. We went and watched the Mummy & then stopped in Blanket to eat at Katy's. We had not been there in several years and it is a special place for us. It is where we met on our blind date. Racheal sang happy birthday several times in the restaurant.

2 Mom's = 7 Kids

Kaylie and I loaded up the big van this morning and headed to Glen Rose to meet Jill. Her triplets turned 1 last week. They are so cute. Racheal had fun playing with the Power triplets. Thanks for lunch Jill! I am having problems with my computer. I will try to post pictures later.

Triplets first trip to Crockett!!

The babies were great on their first 4 hour trip to Crockett. They had lots of visitors the entire weekend. Saturday was Natalie's 1st birthday (Shelley's cousins' daughter). We came came home Sunday & came back through Corsicana. We stopped at the hospital so Randall could show the babies off. Racheal stayed in Crockett. She has a busy week planned. She is going fishing, swimming, & went to the fire station today. I talked to her last night & she was too busy to talk to me.

eye appointment

The triplets had their last eye appoint yesterday with the specialist. He said he still did not see any signs of ROP (retinopathy) so we do not have to see him again. He did refer us to a pediatric opthamologist to check their eye muscles. Reese occasionally crosses her eyes. He said it would probably be good for all of them to be checked.

They are still sleeping all night usually to around 7:30 or 8:00. I have been by myself today & they have been really fussy. We think they are teething. The boys have been drooling A LOT for several days. This weekend we are making our first trip to Crockett with the triplets. It is my cousin's daughters 1st birthday. It should be interesting. I am sure it will look like we are moving in. We will come back home on Sunday & Racheal is going to stay until Friday. She is so excited about staying.

We also received letters Friday that Ryan was turned down for SSI so now we have to fill out the paperwork to appeal his case. We also received a letter that Rylie was turned down down for the second time. So now we have to hire a lawyer & his case goes to hearing.

Dr appointment

The babies had a check up this morning & shots. Rylie weighs 12 lb 12 oz & is 22 3/4 inches, Ryan is also 12 lb 12 oz & is 22 1/4 inches & Reese is 10 lb 11 oz & is 21 1 /2 inches long. The babies are getting 2 tablespoons of cereal in their bottles at night. He said in couple of weeks we could try making it thicker & feeding them with a spoon. That should be interesting!

Happy July 4th!!!

Racheal, Ryan, Reese & Rylie
Rylie
Reese
Ryan (not happy)
Reese & Rylie holding hands
Ryan, Rylie & Reese playing in the floor.
Look at that smile! (Rylie)
Ryan

Hope everyone has had a great 4th! We have had a great day relaxing at home. I survived my first night by myself on Monday. They woke up at 5:30 & 6:00 the next morning. Which isn't bad, but since Randall has been home they have been waking up at 8 & 8:30. Kaylie is coming around lunch time now & staying until bedtime. They are now eating 5 oz every 4 1/2-5 hours. They go to the dr Monday. I can't wait to see how much the boys weigh.

Reese's cardiology appt

We had a great anniversary. We both had trouble going to sleep that night (I guess it was to quiet!), but we did get to sleep late. It was kind of nice to get away from the craziness of our house.

Friday Reece had a cardiologist appointment. She still has a small hole about 3 mm in her heart. She won't need to be checked again until she is 3. She said by then it might be closed, but even if it isn't a hole that size they just leave it alone unless it is causing other problems.

Then when we got back we began preparing for the big garage sale. We had it at my neighbor's house. Thanks Steph!! We did really well.

Tomorrow we are driving to Marble Falls to meet another family of triplets from New Braunfels. I have really been wanting a triple decker stroller. It is basically a frame that the infant car seat snap onto, but new ones are around $450. So that was out of the question, but I was lucky enough to find this mom on the internet & she is selling me hers along with the toddler seats that attach to it at a great price. I can't wait to get it & use it.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Today is our 9th anniversary & 10 years ago today when we met. Who would have thought then that we would have a 4 year old & triplets!! Randall's mom, sister & 2 nieces are coming to stay with all the kids so we can go to the motel here in town. Can't wait to sit in the jacuzzi & get a full nights sleep.

We slept all night!!!!!

We fed the babies at 10:00 last night so it was about 10:30 when the boys got put to bed & around 11 when Reese got put to bed. Ryan slept until 7:15!! I think we might make it now. I think I forgot to post everyone is now on Regular 20 cal formula, but we still have several cans of the Neosure formula which is 22 cal. Last week Randall suggested we give them the Neosure at bedtime since it was more calories they might sleep longer. They slept until 4:00 the first night. Last night I increased the cereal from 1 tablespoon to 2.

Pictures!

Randall & all his kids on Father's Day!
Racheal going under the water.
Racheal floating on her back!

Sorry it has been a while since I posted. Things are super busy around here. Last weekend was the Abbey Reunion. The triplets had their first trip to the lake. Randall had a great Father's Day. Racheal was so excited about Father's Day. She had made him something everyday for the past couple of weeks. Monday Racheal was crying with an ear infection & Rylie started having a cough. They are both doing better, but today Reese started coughing. Racheal has also been taking swim lessons this week. She didn't learn to swim, but she made a huge improvement from Tuesday. Tuesday she was going down the steps into the pool & missed a step & floated out where I could not reach her. She was floating & kicking, but her head went under for a second & it scared her. So she screamed for 30 minutes that she was not getting back in. Finally the teacher just grabbed her & took her in the water. Today she didn't wear floaties & actually went under the water.
I will try to post some new pictures this weekend.

Medical bills!

We got another bad letter from Social security. They turned down Reese. She is the one that we thought they would actually pay for since she was the smallest & had the most problems. We are appealing their decisions. Please pray that we get examiners this time that will approve the social security. We have finally gotten all of the bills from everyone and for the 4 of us they total $723,000. I will take the rest of our lives to pay these bills if we don't get help from social security.

Eye exam

The triplets had another eye exam to check for ROP. The dr said they all looked great. We have to go back in a month & then he said he would turn us over to a pediatric eye dr. We have to take Reese to Cook's Friday to the cardiologist. They are going to check & see if the hole in her heart has closed.

Our first big shopping trip!

Friday we loaded all the kids in the Barron van & headed to Abilene. We needed a lot of stuff from Walmart & Sams (formula, diapers, formula & did I mention formula!) The babies were actually really good considering they were stuck in their car seats most of the day. We were quite the attraction at both stores & let me tell you some people say the most stupid things. We were leaving Sam's & the lady that checks your receipt said "Did you have triplets or something?" Or something???

Then on Saturday my aunt Barb & cousin Julie came to see us. Barb had not seen Reese since she was 1 day old & Julie had never seen Ryan or Reese. We had a lot of fun with them.

pictures

Josie Brumbalow came to the house & took pictures last Sunday. She did a great job! Here is the link to her website: http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/thumbpage.aspx?e=3842913

Tonight is Racheal's dance recital at 7:00. This should be interesting taking 3 babies with us & trying to keep them quiet!