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