Hope everyone had a blessed holiday. Chris' parents were in town so we had a great time with them. They babysat for us so we could go on a long awaited date night, as well as a hike the next day. Chris' dad also cooked dinner for us every night and it was wonderful! We can't wait for them to come back at Christmas!














Chris' dad made us some clams one night. Alex was very excited about them and took his clam shell to school the next day to show it off.














We also made trips to Atlanta and Summerville to see the great- grandparents. The girls did really well on their trip to Atlanta (we drove during their normal nap times).
Here is visiting Mamaw in Summerville














Natalie and Nana














Elisabeth and Papaw














Gaga














Alex helping me out while I ran to get something!














Thanksgiving dinner with my family














Elisabeth and Grampka














Anna and Grammy














Chris watched the girls while us grown up girls planned our Black Friday shopping














Elisabeth is checking out the Kohl's ad for Black Friday














Here are two really cute videos (at least I think so)
One is Anna blowing rasberries while visiting Mamaw
The other is Alex making Elisabeth laugh

We finally decided to take the girls on one of our family's favorite things to do... hike!
That is the great thing about the stroller- it is able to go off-road really well, too. It basically has bicycle tires.














It is not too easy to push up hills, though! I definitely get a work out pushing it around the block.














Anna is now able sit up fairly well for a little while at a time.














Anna has also discovered her feet and finds them pretty tasty.














Natalie sitting pretty














We are feeding them daily rice cereal and then also have tried bananas and sweet potatoes so far. So far they all enjoy eating. Anna gets really messy because she always wants to hold the spoon, too and that doesn't work too well. Elisabeth is by far the cleanest and does the best at eating. Natalie after every bite needs to suck her fingers or bib, so that ends up being a huge mess as well.
As excited as I was to introduce the girls to solids- I'm realizing this is also a lot more work- feeding them the food, cleaning everyone and everything, plus still having to do their bottles!














Natalie














Anna














Elisabeth

Happy Halloween!

My mom made the girls their three peas in a pod outfits! They were so cute! We made it half way around the block trick or treating, but it was raining and Anna was not in a good mood. These were the only pictures she was not crying in.











































Elisabeth














Natalie














Anna














The week of the Toe















As many of you heard, we had the craziest thing happen this week when a piece of my hair wound its way around Anna's toes. It really worked itself in good on the middle toe, cutting into her toe, and cutting off her circulation. On Tuesday I spent a few hours working on it and got most of the hair out, and then my neighbor worked on it for a while, and then her daughter, and then Chris. On Wednesday my mom soaked it and worked on it but it still looked bad (swollen and purple) so we went to the pediatrician. He thought he cut the hair, but it was so hard to see and know for sure. On Thursday morning it still looked bad so the pediatrician referred us to a surgeon who would have the tools for the job. We went Thursday afternoon and they verified the hair was finally gone, and just needed to heal. What a crazy thing!!! Fortunately Anna will get to keep her toe. I know she will appreciate that later in life :)

Our new ride!














We finally decided to go ahead and get a triple stroller. I decided I have to be able to get out and walk, etc... It is such an awesome stroller! It is so easy to push. I took it to the mall the other day and we have gone on many walks with it. The only problem with it is it tends to draw a lot of attention to us- the trip to the mall was pretty crazy! Most popular sayings: "Bless your heart" (thank you, I am blessed!), "You really have your hands full", and "I hope you have a lot of help". Have you ever noticed, also, that even when your babies are in full pink people think they are boys?! My sister has the same problem even when her baby has a pink ribbon in her hair. I think we decided that people may forget that girls are not born with long hair! I think it must be the short hair that throws them off :)

Alex and Mommy time!














During Alex's fall break my mom watched the girls and we spent the day together. We had a fun ride on the train!















Our first sitter!














Elisabeth is determined to be the first to do everything. She was the first to roll over, she also is the best at standing while supported, and she is starting to sit up as well.














My sweet kids














I think someone is distracting her daddy from the Georgia game!















Our first family outing to walk around Chattanooga and ride the carousel. We had a lot of fun!




























My rock star son serenading Chris for his birthday














Happy Birthday, Chris! You are such a wonderful husband and father!

6 month check up

The girls had their 6 month check up yesterday. I can't believe they are already that old. This time is so precious with them. They are doing so well!

Anna is 16 lbs 15 oz and 26 1/2" tall- she is in the 75 %ile for a 6 month old!
Natalie and Elisabeth are both 15 lbs 7 oz and 25" tall. They are both in the 50 %ile for 6 month olds. The doctor was impressed with their size... he had told us in the past that most babies that premature on average do not catch up until they are 18 months old or so. What an amazing blessing!

They also hit most of the milestones for 6 month olds, except they are not rolling over yet. Natalie and Elisabeth have both rolled over a few times, but Anna shows no interest yet. He was pleased that they are doing so well on their development as well. That is a wonderful thing!

We are finally developing a bit of a schedule, which makes life so much easier for me! I've moved them over to a 4- hour schedule which is so much nicer not to be feeding them all the time, and they seem to nap a lot longer. Anna eats 8oz at 7:30am, 11:30am, 3:30pm, 7pm and then will sleep all night! The other two eat about 6 1/2 oz at those same times, plus wake up about 4am for one more feeding. I haven't tried to push those two to go all night as they are just now getting to be able to go the 8 hours. They nap well during the day also- really just after that 3:30pm feeding until bedtime is our fussy time.

After I did the same thing consistently for a few days they seemed to get the hang of it which is a big praise. I was starting to go crazy keeping up with the girls all being on different schedules and Alex! Alex is a big help with girls, but he still requires a lot of attention- which can be hard to give at times. We are trying to make it a priority to spend time with him by himself. He still talks nonstop- just imagine what our house will be like with him and three girls talking all the time. Poor Chris... :)

Anna looking a little nervous at her first bit of rice cereal

We decided it was time for the girls to try a little rice cereal- they are 6 months old now (can you believe it!!) and are so big and the 32 oz a day of milk/formula just does not seem to be enough.
It was a lot of fun and they did really well.
Anna tried it first and she really did well- most of it she did swallow. Elisabeth also enjoyed it- she even smiled and then tried to eat the extra off her bib after she was done. Natalie on the other hand was not too into it. She cried the first time and the following time she just sat there with her mouth open and everything we put in just came back out. Of course she was the slowest to learn to bottle feed, too, but she'll catch up!

Elisabeth














Enjoying her bib afterwards














Natalie- not too happy



















Anna feeding


Here are some videos of the girls laughing
I am trying so hard to catch them talking to each other on video, but usually the second I bring out the camera they stop and just look at me and the camera. I'll keep trying!
Elisabeth


Natalie

I am finally getting to post- sorry it has been a while. The girls have been battling their colds- ear infections and coughs for a few weeks and it has been tiring for all of us. I think they have turned the corner on their sickness, though- at least I hope so!

Here are some cute pics of the girls after their baths. ( I don't know why all that was underlined, but I couldn't fix it.
Anna














Elisabeth














Natalie














Our friends Missy and Mark came with their boys to see the girls for the first time. We had a great visit.














Aunt Laura and Uncle David also came from North Carolina to see the girls (and Alex!)














My dad and Elisabeth














Which reminded me of another picture I took of them only 3 months ago. You've come along way Elisabeth!














Elisabeth and Daddy cheering on Georgia! Go Dawgs!!



















A funny picture of Anna. They don't actually hold their bottles yet of course, but she was at the time.














We borrowed some bumbos so the girls are having fun practicing sitting up them. When I took this picture Elisabeth and Natalie were talking away to eachother. It was soooo cute!














Here they are in their bumbos! -I know they aren't supposed to be on a raised surface in them- this was only for the picture :)














Elisabeth also enjoys the exersaucer. She is the only one that can enjoy it so far. They are just starting to have really good head control.














Here is Natalie and the "happy apple" that was mine when I was little. Did any of you have that, too?














We are having a lot of fun together. Elisabeth may have started behind but she is now the first to roll over and does better at sitting up, etc.. They are all so fun as they talk and laugh- my favorite is when they do it with each other.
The colds set us back a little on the sleeping in the night- for a week someone was waking up every hour! They all still only go 5-7 hrs at a time. Anna was my great sleeper- sleeping 8-10 hours but now she won't anymore either I can't figure out why! I've increased her food and even tried rice cereal when the pediatrician recommended it. I feel like my 15 lb girls should be going longer, but we'll see- maybe soon! I try very hard to keep a schedule with them during the day, but it is very difficult! I've also starting separating them for their naps as they wake each other up constantly. We'll just keep figuring stuff out!!