New Toy!

We are just loving summer here in Roseville! We get to take daily (if not two) walks every day and of course no bundling needed. Walks at night during the "witching hour" (come on, parents, you know when the witching hour is, right?) comes in great handy, especially since it's not too hot or sunny for a good walk.

Sofia is only 11 lbs 2 oz... her weight gain is still slow and it's just a little worrisome. Her babbling bottles are cute but talking won't put on weight! At night, she frequently is just overtired I think and cries if we want to bottle her. Besides that, she is doing great. She babbles, giggles, and just loves to be social.

Madeline is doing great at 12 lbs 6 oz! She, along with Josie, rolled over from back to tummy for the first time this past Sunday. She does it more consistently than Josie. She's also pretty social but not as much as Sofia.

Josephine is 12 lbs 8 oz now- still the biggest. She's very social and loves to show off her dimples. This past weekend we tried them all out in the Baby Einstein Exersaucer and they all love it! We have to put a little booster underneath so they can fit, but they really love checking out the toys on it. It's crazy how they keep changing!

Here is Josie wide awake during a walk.

Sofia and Madeline lounging with Dad outside.
Sofia practicing her rolling over.

Josie's irresistable smile!

This picture of Madeline kind of sums up how they are lately- very in-tune and intersted in the world. She kept grabbing onto the camera string!

Josephine playing in the Exersaucer! Notice this is how we are using the game "Cranium" lately instead of actually playing.


I had to show a couple of videos of them enjoying the Exersauser. The first one is Madeline's hilarious reaction to one of the toys.


Sofia shows how exciting the new toy is!


Hope everyone has a good week and 4th of July! We're heading up north to Dan's family's cabin and Duluth- our first real trip! Should be interesting but FUN!

The Answers

In case you were curious, the order was Madeline, Sofia and Josephine!

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy First Father's Day, Dan! I am so lucky to have you as the father of our girls! What a great dad! We aren't doing anything all that special today, but we did have a fun little day trip yesterday at a friend's (parent's) house on a lake in Wisconsin. It was a nice day to be on a lake and it was fun to bring the girls out. It was practice for when we go on our first up-north trip. It's a lot different going places with three babies. So much to remember! The girls did very well yesterday being held by all of our friends. I'm glad there's no stranger fear yet (and hopefully never!) We also went to a reception for our good friends, Jake and Michelle, who got married in Florida over Memorial Weekend. Congrats again, guys! Michelle, you looked beautiful! It was weird but great to have a night out. (Thanks for baby-sitting Dave and Mary!)

This past week our girls had their 6 month check-up at the doctor. Yay for the girls being healthy but boo for shots and drawing blood! The doctor thought the girls were very strong and advanced for their adjusted age. They are doing some things at the 6 month level (like passing an object from one hand to the other). He was pleased with the progress and answered all of my questions. We won't see him (hopefully) for 3 months and no shots until 12 months.

Sofia weighs 10 lbs 15 oz . The doctor did comment that she isn't gaining as quickly as her sisters. This isn't concerning to him, luckily, but we probably should fortify her milk/formula even more if she continues to not finish her bottles. Sofia is really showing more personality these past couple days. During some of her bottles, she totally just wants to talk instead. It is hysterical! I think she just wants to hear herself make noise. She'll probably be the first one to talk for real and will always be a chatter box. We'll see!


Madeline weighs 12 lbs and getting a little chunkier! We are still so impressed with her bottling, almost always finishing. What a little super star. She's probably the most active physically. It's so funny; sometimes it looks like she's tap dancing on the changing table. Also, she seems to be more content than before... perhaps less dramatic except when she doesn't get her bottle quickly enough or if we take it away half-way through. Madeline also seems to be the most consistent napper now! Weird how things change!


Josephine weighs 12 lbs 1 1/2 oz. I'm so glad she's gaining weight just as nicely now that she is bottling. It shows we're doing something right! The nurse at the doctor's appointment said Josie was the strongest (she had to hold down each girl's arm while another nurse drew blood). She's doing wonderfully with the bottle and we even gave her the same flow nipple as Madeline (Sofia uses the fastest one because she seems to handle it very well). Personality-wise, she is definitely the most laid-back one still. She can be so serious, but also so silly sometimes.


When we were out at the reception Dave and Mary took the girls out for a walk in our triplet stroller for the first time! We were so excited that the girls fit in it finally (although needing some blanket propping). Once we heard they used the stroller we couldn't wait to try it out for ourselves!

Happy Dan on Father's Day!


We got these adorable outfits from the Purdy's. Who is who? Leave me your answers in the comments!
This is an adorable video of Dan making Josie giggle. Makes me so happy!

Happy Belated 6 Months!

This past Wednesday they turned 6 months! I cannot believe it has been half a year already! Crazy.... I was reminiscing the birth with Dan's mom, Deb. We talked about how unprepared for how little and sick they were. Pictures of other preemies cannot prepare anyone to actually seeing one in real life. They just looked so fragile and tiny. It seemed like an eternity until we would have "real" babies. Now it seems so distant where I was worrying about their survival. I think about our lost baby boy, James, every single day, and I know Dan does too. I always wonder what he'd be like if he escaped those terrible brain bleeds and lived. Would he be a spitting image of his father? I just have to believe he is watching over his sisters- and wow, what a good job he has done! How beautiful and healthy they are now!

Anyways, life is still exciting with our girls! We decided to just let them go at night instead of waking them up to feed (sometimes they would wake us up but other times we'd wake them up). The first night they woke up at 5 am and the second night I woke up THEM up at 6:30 am! I don't know if they'll keep it up or even if we are "supposed" to let them go, but I like it so far! The number of feedings through the whole day won't be changed, which I feel is the more important factor. I'm also proud to say I have still been pumping milk for them (not enough but still a good amount). I never thought I could pump for the full year but I'm half-way there! A year isn't necessarily my goal, but it's not all that inconvenient yet, so I might as well keep on going.

Group shot of the girls. (L to R Madeline, Sofia, Josephine)


Dan's mom, Deb with the girls! Thanks for your help this past week!

Sofia! She is up to 10 lbs 9 oz and gaining at a good rate. She is the little peanut, but maybe she just always will be! She is doing pretty good at feeding lately, knock on wood. She goes up and down but for now she's great! (Sometimes beating Maddie!)


Josie is up to 11 lbs 8.5 oz! Her bottling adds much desired work to our day! She is doing such a great job and shows no signs of any feeding aversion. Now she's to the point where she is mad if she doesn't get to drink milk when she's hungry! We have only tube fed her a couple times since the weekend. I think we can start that four month waiting period soon!


Madeline is Madeline! She is spunky but so sweet. She is actually the same exact weight as Josie the last we checked! 11 lbs 8.5 oz! She loves to talk to her sisters! Nothing much to report besides that!
All for now! Have a great weekend!

New Cousin!

Big news! We are happy to report that our girls have a new cousin! Peter Charles was born on June 1 to Lara (Dan's sister) and Charlie at a whopping 9 lbs 2 oz. Lara had been a little bit past her due date and when she went to her doctor's appointment they decided it was time for him to come out! He came pretty quickly! What happy family news!!

Lara, Charlie, Dane and Peter

Dane is a big brother!
As I mentioned in the previous post, Josie can swallow safely! After the swallow study, I brought Josie to a feeding clinic. It was a team consisting of a child psychologist, OT, nurse practitioner, and a dietitian. They were all impressed with how healthy she looks and how happy and strong she is. That's a good feeling! Josephine has been practicing her bottling ever since we got the green light. She usually gets in 2/3 of her feeding, and has even finished a couple bottles. It is a big adjustment, so we have to be very patient. When she doesn't finish a bottle, we just tube feed the rest of the feeding. Once we haven't used the G tube at all for 4 months, we can finally take the G tube out. I was shocked at how long this waiting period is, but apparently once you take it out it is hard to put it back in. I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to bottle her. When she's crying out of hunger we can finally give her that feeling of instant gratification instead of her having to wait to feel full from the tube.

Me feeding Josie.


Josie grasping a rattle!
Madeline is doing great as usual! She is still such a character. Even though Madeline and Josie are technically identical, they are so different! Even their smiles are different- Josie's is full of dimples and Madeline opens her mouth wide with her smile. All three of the girls love to hold the rattle when we put it in their hands. They bring it to their mouths and everything. They bat at the hanging toys under the Einstein mat and their coordination is improving enough to actually grasp the toys (where as before they'd miss a lot!) Before we know it they will be stuffing every item in sight into their mouths!

Madeline eating her rattle.
Sofia is great too! Another fun milestone is their giggling. When they are in the right mood we can get REAL giggles. There is nothing better than a baby's giggle. Also, when we have them face each other they really love to make noises and smile at each other. This is only the beginning; we're going to have so much fun watching them interact and play together.

Sofia with her phone rattle.

I had to get a pic of daddy with his girls. I took a bunch, but this one is so cute because Sofia and Madeline are enthralled with Odin (who looks huge, by the way). Odin is really good with the babies. Speaking of Odin, yesterday (Friday) was his birthday! He turned 2!! I wonder if the saying "Labs chew 'till they're two and shed 'till they're dead" will hold true. I doubt it- he hoards and chews sticks and raw hides like none other. He didn't really do anything too special yesterday besides getting a nice family walk. A lot of times on family walks, he attracts more attention than our babies!

Dan with Josie, Sofia, and Madeline...and don't forget Odin!


Odin is 2 yrs...98 lbs of craziness!All for now! Enjoy the weekend!

Good News!

Josie passed her swallow study!! I'll update about it all soon (maybe tomorrow??)