Hallelujah!!!!

Tonight the moment we've been waiting for finally happened!!! Griffin FINALLY pooped on the toilet!!!!

Those of you who know us well will know how hard we have tried to convince him to do it... we tried every bribe and trick in the book possible.

Well tonight we knew he had to go so I locked him and I (and Sunny in the sling!) in the bathroom and told him we weren't leaving till he went on the toilet.  It was kinda tough love I guess and it finally worked.  He said to me afterwards: "you happy mommy??" and boy, oh boy, he had no idea how happy I was!  Had to hold back tears actually!  After that, he told Troy and I that he needed to go pee outside... I have absolutely no idea where this came from but I was ready to let him do anything he wanted to at that point.  So we watched him go out the back door with nothing but a T-shirt and a pair of rubber boots on.  Then he stood right there on our deck and peed.  It must have been his way of celebrating because I swear he has never done that before!  Troy took him to Canadian Tire and let him pick out a new toy.  Here's a picture of our very proud little boy.  Lets cross our fingers that he'll be using the toilet from now on and I'll only have 3 stinky bums to change :)

Success!!!

This past weekend was our first family trip and I'm happy to report it was a success!

My good friend Tara planned a surprise weekend getaway to Canmore for her hubby Zeke's 31st birthday and she bravely invited all of us.  Troy was pretty hesitant to go, but I insisted we'd be just fine (although in my head I was secretly worried that the weekend would be a whole lot of work and end up a disaster). 

I spent most of Thursday carefully packing and making sure I didn't forget anything... then Friday morning we all got up and packed up the mini van, fed the kids, and hit the road.  I'm proud to report that of the 5 couples, we were the very first to arrive in Canmore!  I think everyone assumed we'd run very late and so took their time getting there ;)

All of the kids slept almost the entire way and when Troy said he needed a bathroom break outside Cochrane, I urged him to wait until Canmore so that we didn't wake anyone up.  Here's a shot of our over-stuffed mini van... Griff waaaaay in the back with his headset on!

We stayed in gorgeous condos and the babies were all very content there.  I think the fresh moutain air and the elevation helped keep everyone happy.  It could have also seemed relaxing since we had so many extra hands to hold babies ;) We got all the kids to bed before 9pm both nights so I was able to enjoy a nice glass of wine and visit with friends.  It was heaven!

Here's a pair of helpful hands... it was Dean's first time meeting the triplets and they really seemed to like him!

Especially Fletcher...

Us girls even ventured out shopping and it was soooo nice to be able to do that... they all helped push strollers/carry babies and I am so very grateful for that.  While we shopped, the boys went skiing - it was Griff's first time and Troy said he was fearless.  I so wish I could've been there to see it for myself, but atleast he managed to get a couple pics for me!

The trip home was just as smooth and Troy has admitted that I was right and it was worth going... he hasn't exactly come out and said that yet, but the fact that he didn't say "I told you so" admits defeat if you ask me.

Shower, Shots, and Skating!

It's been a pretty eventful past week around here! Last saturday Tara and Natalie threw me a beautiful baby shower... they were very crafty and I wish I had snapped more photos of it cause nat's house looked sooo pretty! Thanks to everyone who came out!

My camera skills are not so great... sorry about the lighting... I tried to get a shot of each of the baby's names that the girls did.  So cute!

And the spread... mmmmm!

 My mom made these baby cake pops... yummy cake inside each one.  Aren't they cute??  Just a little something she whipped up late one night... you know, after she spent the entire day at my house helping with babies first!!  See why she's super mom/gramma??!

Also this week, the babies had their 2 month shots.  They each got 3 so I had to sit through a total of 9 needles and it was not fun at all!!  They all survived though and although we had some sleepy babies, some with fevers, and some a tad bit fussy, all is good now.  Glad we got it all over with at once!  Now that they are two months old (boy does time fly!), I thought I should share a new photo of each one:

GIBSYN ~ 9lbs 1oz

She's our star sleeper right now and often sleeps anywhere from 6 to 10 hours in a row at night time

FLETCHER ~ 9lbs 6oz

Poor little man has a stuffy nose again and it makes me terribly nervous.  So far he seems okay though aside from requiring some extra TLC :)

SUNNY ~ 8lbs 7oz

I've been nursing Sunny more and giving her some special formula (which happens to smell exactly like Elroy's old perscription dog food - barf!!) and this seems to be helping her tummy troubles.  She's been much more "sunny" lately!

Today we all trekked out to the mall and registered Griff for Soccer.  It was our first time using the stroller and I think things went quite smoothly... although Troy pointed out that it would have been much easier to go without the babies.  Thank you captain obvious... but I needed out of the house!  :)

After that we all went to the rink for public skating. Griff got new skates and needed to give them a try.  Here's a video I took of his skills!



Happy St. Patty's Day!

Today we celebrated St. Patrick's day with lots of green!  Griffin had green eggs for breakfast, green jello, green apples, and green pears for snack, and we had green (spinach) fettucini for supper.  We also made sure we all dressed in green.  Here are some pics from today!

Griffin and his green eggs:

Me and the kids in green! (L-R: Griffin, Sunny, Gibsyn, Fletcher)

And now a few of my favorite shots of each of the kids:

Miss Gibsyn giving me a bit of a scowl... how dare I take her picture when I could be cuddling with her!

Peaceful little Sunny... and she can get very un-peaceful at times! Poor thing gets pretty bad tummy aches

Fletcher and big brother Griffin looking at a sticker book.  Fletcher went to the doctor yesterday for an 8 week checkup (since he missed his 6 week checkup when he was in the hospital)... turns out he weighs 8 lbs 12 oz now!!  It's crazy cause he was less than 7lbs when we first got admitted to the children's hospital.

Griffin hanging out in the snow fort that papa made for him!  Cool dude!

I tried to catch a quick video of Fletcher and his sad little cry... he has the funniest little puppy dog cry when he's feeling sorry for himself.  This video was taken after my mom gave him a bath.. I was holding Sunny while I took it so you have to tune out her cries/grunts to hear Fletcher!

Back to Life at HOME!

Fletcher has been doing great and at some point while we were in Calgary he became a red-head... now he's our little 'ginger' boy!  He ended up with 3 IV's in his head during his hospital stay (hence the little shaved spots you can see in the pictures!).  It's sooooo nice to be home and to be able to snuggle with him without any tubes attached.  I just love his bushy little red eyebrows  :)

Here are a few more pics from the past little while....

Auntie Natalie and Gibsyn napping in the kitchen

Duane and Kevin stopped in for a visit the other day... Fletcher really seemed to like Duane:

To celebrate Fletcher coming home, I had promised Griffin that we'd all go bowling.  He hadn't been since his 2nd birthday... and boy did he have fun!  He played two full games and would've done more, but it was getting pretty late.  It was a great family outing even if it was a little hectic getting out the door!  We need to do these things once in a while to feel somewhat normal!  The babies did great... and the senior's league seemed to enjoy seeing so many babies all at once!

Home Sweet Home!

Just thought I'd do a quick post to let everyone know that Fletcher got to come home yesterday!  His chest x-ray was cleared up and his RSV test came back negative!  I was so excited to sleep in my own bed last night but the babies decided to take turns getting me up the majority of the night... so I'm going to make this short since I'm more than ready for bed!  Thanks to everyone who kept him in your thoughts and prayers and sent positive energy our way!!! 

STILL in the hospital :(

We made it back to medicine hat hospital on Tuesday night after the doctors in Calgary agreed Fletcher was stable enough to go... And I got to stop in at the house for a very short hour of cuddles with the kids. It was such a tease to only see them for a bit!
I really had my hopes up that we'd be going home today cause yesterday was supposed to be the last day of antibiotics Fletcher needed via his IV. However, our doctor tells us that his chest X-ray showed a pretty nasty case of pneumonia (likely contracted while he was intubated).. Almost half of his right lung is collapsed so the doc wants to continue the antibiotics for three more days. And I'm really hoping he is greatly improved by then! He really does look good though - he's put on weight and is at 7lbs 6oz now! The girls are both over 7lbs as well! It's nice being in the same city as the kids but it's tough too cause the hospital here expects you to stay 24/7 so it's tough for me to get home. Luckily, I'm very lucky and have had great friends who have come and stayed with Fletcher for a few hours while I go home to be with the other kids. Thanks Jade for coming so quick when I was desperate to see the kids and for bringing my family dinner and for hooking Griff up with Jansen; and thanks Seigharra for taking vacation time off work to snuggle with Fletch the past few afternoons (and for the giant bag of snacks)! Even the nurses have commented on what great friends I have :) while I'm at it, thanks mom for being this amazing super hero gramma and keeping my house running and kids happy; to my dad for being griff's best buddy and keeping him entertained, and for being a real softy for my girls; to Natalie for visiting me on your breaks and helping mom at the house (even pulling the night shifts!) when you aren't working; to tara and Zeke for having griffin over and laughing when he declared your supper as "very gross" lol; to Annabelle and Lenore for helping my mom and cooking for us; to Deb for helping mom during the crazy evening bath time/supper time and for getting Griff out of the house; to krista for taking Griff (and attempting to make him poo on the potty - haha); and to all my friends and family who have offered to help and sent sweet encouraging messages... I just love you all! And I know I've probably forgotten to mention someone but please know everything has been muchly appreciated!! And if you have babies of your own at home, I'm purposely not asking you for help because I'd feel terrible if your little one caught this virus! And to those of you who are sick with colds yourselves, thanks for staying away so that the kids don't catch anything else (wink, wink Mila!).
Well, I've tried to post this twice now and have lost what I painstakingly typed on my iPhone, so I'm not proofreading this one, I'm just gonna post it!