Merry Christmas from the Klopps!

Three Years Old!

We recently celebrated the girls' third birthday! Around the time they were born there was a storm, there was a big storm on their 1st birthday (the Metrodome collapsed from all the snow), nothing last year, then another huge storm this year. Most of our family drove from Duluth before the storm, but some had to brave it! It was beautiful to look at, though. I think we got around one foot.
At our little (extended) family party, the girls did well this year- no meltdowns and no crying when we sang to them. Before we started presents, we noticed that they were awfully quiet in the sunroom. It turned out they had started opening presents without any of us there! Stinkers! We caught them early enough so they didn't get very far.

The girls had their 3 year check-up with the pediatrician. No vaccines this year! They are pretty darn healthy- especially for preemies- and nothing much to report besides weights...

*Sofia- 24.8 lbs and 34 1/2 inches tall. Her percentiles were: less than 5th and 5th
*Madeline- 26.6 lbs and 35 inches tall. Percentiles: 10th and 10th
*Josephine- 26.2 lbs and 35 inches tall. Percentiles 10th and 10th

The good part about Sofia's weight was that she was closer to the 5th percentile than before! Woohoo! They attempted to check hearing and sight but the girls weren't cooperative. I would not have imagined they would be, though!

Here are some "interview" videos: Sofia, Madeline, and Josephine. It would be fun to do this each year to get a taste of what they are into. It's so funny, because some of their answers would change from take to take. For instance, Sofia has never said her favorite color is blue (she gravitates towards orange and pink).

Here are some pictures... I included a bunch I took while trying to get a decent "3 year pic" for each girl. Then of course some party pics too. Oh, I am 37 weeks pregnant today and still doing well. I am so happy to reach 37 weeks because that is considered "full-term" (whereas some 36 weekers don't always automatically go home immediately). I could go any day now and he would be healthy (knock on wood- I'm not trying to be too confident!) We are really close to being all ready before he comes. I'll have to post some pics next time of our paint jobs!

Hope all is well!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Wednesday was the early meal with my parents and brother Andy and sister-in-law Aimee. It was held at my house but I didn't have to do any of the cooking! Not a bad deal at all! The girls LOVE turkey and pumpkin pie. (If they didn't love pumpkin pie I would question whether they are really mine...) Thursday morning we drove up to Duluth for Dan's side of the family's meal. This get-together included a lot more people and the girls ate well again. We are not a "Black Friday" family, so the day after Thanksgiving we hunted down our Christmas tree. Dan is a perfectionist so our tree is pretty nice. It's not up yet and I'm hoping it fits in our house!

Duluth actually got a good snowfall while we were there and the girls had an absolute blast playing in it. I was so happy because last year they were always less than thrilled in their snowsuits trying to maneuver  around. The biggest bummer with winter-time fun is getting them all ready to go play outside. Especially with me being not too agile with my belly. It's totally worth it to get some fresh air, though.

I'm 35 weeks today and feeling just fine. I just had another appointment a couple of days ago but I didn't learn anything new. Regular prenatal appointments are boring (in a good way). I'm big enough now where it's not easy to get off the floor but I'm still up and down all the time. The girls take no pity on me! I am still lucky with pregnancy being good to me. I'm not even sure if it's hitting me how close I am. The painting is done in the nursery so the girls' room is up next. Hopefully this weekend we can finish since it would be nice to finish before their 3rd birthday on December 9th.

Nap is so hit-or-miss right now! I HAVE to be in the room if I want them to fall asleep and lately it takes about 45 min or longer for them to all fall asleep. Then, they'll sleep for too long and will have a big party at night until 9 or 10. They seem to be on the cusp of how much sleep they need and it seems like I have to choose: a break during the day or an earlier bedtime. If they skip a nap I still need a break, but they get into total mischief if I leave them alone in their room for "quiet time". (Clothes/nap diapers off, mattresses off the cribs, making a total mess with toys and clothes.)

Tidbits of the girls...

-Lately, they have been asking about all their toys and books and who bought them. It's good practice for me to remember, but the funniest one was when they asked who bought them! Ummm, isn't it too early to be asking these kinds of questions!? Haha!

-They totally are into Santa, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, etc. I'm pretty sure if we go meet Santa again we'll have the same reaction as last year, however (all-out bawling?) It's fun to relive being excited about Santa coming and just the magic of Christmas again. It's so different as a parent, but so fun!

-One time I couldn't find one of their favorite books at bedtime. Dan was at the cabin hunting so I told them that daddy took it to the cabin because he wanted to read it at night (Dr. Seuess' The Thinks You Can Think). It's pretty humorous picturing Dan reading it at night in bed with a flashlight. So now, any time we can't find something they think daddy took it to the cabin or to work. Oooops!

Blogger told me that I ran out of room for photos. I'm not sure if this is a glitch or really true, but here is a link to Flickr to show the pictures I was going to include.

This is all for now... have a great rest of the week, everyone!

Checking in!

It's been too long since I last updated. Not much has been happening around here besides my tummy getting bigger. I'm already 31 weeks and still feel pretty good. I passed the gestational diabetes test at my 28 week appointment! The last couple of days it has been getting harder to breathe deeply and after a long day I feel sore. Sometimes I feel painful twinges that I'm assuming is sciatica (nerve pain). Nothing I can complain much about though. I'm so much smaller than last time still.

The guest bedroom set is already out of the nursery and in the bedroom downstairs, so after we paint (hopefully soon!) we will put one of the girls' cribs in there and swap in a toddler bed borrowed from cousin Peter. We also want to paint the girls' room too. The next three weekends are deer season, then it's Thanksgiving, then we're into December! Looks like painting will be a weeknight project, not a weekend one. THEN, I have to start washing/organizing baby boy clothes! (Lara has lent me a ton of clothes...I won't really have to buy much at all)

The girls still enjoy their weekly ECFE class. Of course they are more the observers than the participants when it comes to circle time (songs, movement/dances, etc). I really like their teacher, and the teacher loves to observe them. They are starting to warm up to the teachers and will actually talk to them a little. She said that when it comes time for songs or dance games, they look at each other as if to decide whether they will participate or blow it off. They really operate as a unit. This can work to my advantage or my disadvantage. If I see one run off in public I know the others will follow (big disadvantage unless they all run the same way then it's not too bad). A positive from this is if one is trying a new food or doing really well at dinner, the others will usually follow suit. They have such a special, unique bond at such a young age. Another example is when one gets hurt, the others will ask the hurt one if she's OK and if she needs a kiss. I cannot even imagine how their bond will grow even more in the future!

Josie

Madeline

Sofia

Halloween was fun! The girls have worn their costumes a lot in the last couple of weeks. Josie as a cat, Madeline as a cow, and Sofia as a dog. (The cat costume is actually a jaguar and it dates back to Dan's toddler years! Dan's grandma Peterson sewed it and siblings and cousins all wore it for Halloweens!) It has been hard to get them to take off their costumes to eat, sleep, play outside, etc. Last night as we were finally getting them dressed to go trick-or-treating, Josie decided she wanted to be a dog! All this time she has been obsessed with wearing her cat costumes and cats in general. All of a sudden she wants to be a dog!? Sofia protested at first, but then just gave her costume to Josie on her own free will. Thank you, Sofia, for keeping the peace!

Sofia, Josie, Madeline (they all chose a pumpkin face from a bunch of pictures on Google images...) Don't mind Dan in the reflection in the window.

     Last year for trick-or-treating, we pulled the choo-choo and they walked a little, but this year they walked the whole way. We even got to more houses than last year! It just cracks me up watching them. This is how it went most houses:
*Attempt to ring door bell- NOPE still too short!
*Say a "trick or treat" that is actually audible- too bad no one has opened the door yet...
*When the door opens, Josie usually quickly turns around and tries to bolt...
*Sofia and Madeline slowly back up giving no regards to potentially falling off the front step (luckily we were there there to catch them if they got too close)...
*Refusal to let them put candy in their bag- they HAD to take it and do it themselves...

*Awkward leaving... Love this age- too funny! 

        At one house, the husband and wife were sitting on their front porch wearing masks of the dwarves from Snow White. You couldn't see any of their face. We were like, "Oh, this will go over real well!" There was no crying (surprising!), but they would NOT take candy from them. I guess that's kinda smart of them! The "dwarves" ended up just handing me the candy to give to them. I can't imagine if they were wearing actual scary masks. We probably would have had to skip that house.

On a mission! Those bags are getting heavy!

One their way to candy!

Sofia, Madeline, and Josie after trick-or-treaing.

I just had to go to Target today to see what they had for clearance costumes. I was hoping to find another cat costume because I don't want Josie's cat costume to get too warn out since it is basically a family heirloom. :)   I found these and I'm afraid I created monsters! I've never been one to want to encourage the whole princess culture, but oh well! As long as they still like tromping around in the woods, all is good! When they put these costumes on, they were positively giddy. Twirling and bouncing around the house. I'm afraid they won't want to ever take them off...

Hope you all have been well!

Sofia is a mermaid, Josie is a fairy, and Madeline is Snow White!

27 weeks and 1 day....

I made it through the early AM without my water breaking! No, of course I'm not expecting it to break, but that's when it happened with the quads. I cannot imagine delivering today. It's really bittersweet thinking about that day with my last pregnancy. It's weird because last time my water broke during a big (weather) pressure change and there's a big pressure change in Minnesota today too. My body just knows it has a long way to go, thankfully.

27 Weeks 2012

27 Weeks 2009!

Happy belated birthday to Dan this past September 21st (he's the big 2-9!) and to my sis-in-law, Lara this past October 1! We celebrated Dan's birthday with cake and Buffalo Wild Wings- his favorite.

Last weekend I had a weekend away for my friend, Kelly's wedding in Colorado. It was so great seeing some friends and having no responsibility. Thanks again to Dan's parents, Mike and Deb for watching the girls on Friday. (And I'm sure Dan appreciated help/company over the weekend!!)

Steph, Liza, and I after Kelly's wedding- old CU friends!

Lindsay and Hailey- I got to hang out with this babe a lot!

The girls have had some great playground days and we even made it to an apple orchard with Lara, Charlie, Dane, and Peter over Dan's birthday weekend. This weekend we're up north again for a wedding. I do love Duluth in the fall!

Madeline in the hay maze at the apple orchard

We couldn't get 5 to look at the camera in the same pic, but here they are! (Madeline, Josie, Sofia, Peter, and Dane)

Charlie, Lara, Peter and Dane after the exciting hayride!

Our family at the end of the hayride. 

They got a kick out of the goats! (Sofia)

Since my last entry, the girls have started up ECFE (Early Childhood/ Family Education). It's one day a week and half the session the moms are separated for a discussion. It's kind of a  pre-preschool and I love it! The girls are really quiet during circle time and don't participate in the songs or dancing. Maybe they will over time. During playtime they keep to themselves and the teachers say they are quite independent. I bet it's common for multiples to stick to each other but hopefully they will branch out at some point.

Sofia, Josie, and Madeline! They thought it was fun standing on the back of the couch. Whatever it takes to get smiles!

Madeline and Sofia sitting with the bear

Normal occurrence now (J, M, S). (At the Teddy Bear Park)

They were quite excited when the UPS delivered their new turtle booster seats. They are still too short for the table, though!  (J, S, M)

The next 3 weekends of October we have to reserve for getting the nursery ready (and painting the girls room finally). November is deer hunting and obviously Thanksgiving and December is just plain crazy! It seems like January will be here too soon! Since we know this baby will be our last (our plan) I am really savoring this pregnancy. I have loved it so far. (I know, I know- farther along I may not be so enamored.)

25 Weeks!

This is what I was doing at 25 weeks last pregnancy. Yikes, huh? I still feel good here at 25 weeks. And do you know what? Those prenatal appointments are so boring and fast! I was used to a big production every two weeks. Now it's in and out once a month! My next appointment, though, I have the 1 hour glucose test for gestational diabetes, which I'm really hoping to pass since I had GD last time.

    So many people say to me "Wow, this pregnancy must be such a breeze!" Technically, yes, it is easier in the fact that I am not worried about the babies' lives/health, easier on my body, don't look full term by 23-ish weeks, I don't have to move into the hospital at 25 weeks, or deliver at 27 (knock on wood). BUT, last time my only responsibility was eating and resting. Now I have responsibilities! Any second time mom knows this or first time moms who have a lot on their plate (school, work, etc). I'm sure I will be really exhausted when I get bigger.

25 Weeks

I know that I have to put some limits on what I do while pregnant even if it's "only" a singleton pregnancy. An example of overdoing it would be last week when I brought the girls on a walk around the wooded paved trail, which turned into a run down the non-paved trails in the woods (which normally I'm ALL for, being a runner). It's not easy to keep up with them while pulling an empty choo-choo and handling two dogs. At one point I had to leave Sofia and Madeline halfway up a hill in the woods to chase Josie who got way too far ahead. By the time I made it back, Sofia and Madeline were bawling because their mom ditched them in the woods!! After that walk at home, I was having pains or contractions in my tummy.

We are working on sleep habits here in the Klopp household. For this last month, Sofia has made her way into our bed on most nights OR one of us stays with her until she's sleeping again- which can take a long time. She also started to need me to fall asleep initially too. I know that I made it worse by caving in, but Dan and I decided we need good sleepers before the baby comes. The last couple nights have been better. I am not in the room and she hasn't slept in our bed. It was rough the first night, but we were diligent about putting her back in her bed when she came in our room. The one thing I said to her that finally seemed to work was that she could keep her dogs if she stayed in her bed and didn't cry. I love this new age where sometimes I can negotiate with them.

I think I say this each blog post, but the girls are talking more and more. I especially LOVE to listen in on their conversations with each other. At night we talk about what we did that day. They are getting better at recalling the day's events. I'm also starting to get funny quotes...
* When I was putting warm vests on all the girls. Josie did NOT want hers on, but I finally got it on her when she saw her sisters had them on too. Then she looked up and me and said "Where's mommy's life jacket?" Haha, no wonder she didn't want to wear it! We weren't even around water!
*This morning Josie said to Dan before he left for work, "Daddy don't take Josie's car. Take Daddy's car!" (There wasn't even talk of him taking my car or anything.)
*On seeing an old, rusty car: "Car dirty. Wash it!"
*After nap each day, I hear "Good morning!" I'm also starting to get "thank you" without reminding them!
I know there are others but that's all I can think of right now.

Josie!

I mostly get stare-downs from Sofia.

Can I get a smile like this every time, Madeline?

The girls got popsicles a couple days ago because they spontaneously cleaned up their toys in the sunroom. I thought, "Hey, maybe they'll do this more often after such praise". BUT, no, it only taught them to try to work the system. Yesterday they "cleaned up"- not much at all- and they asked for popsicles since they cleaned up! Uhhhh, NO!

I have to post good smiling pics when I get them!

Quality cuddle time while watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.

During this bath, the girls' dolls were "going potty". The dolls were getting great praises and pretend gummy bears!

The girls got some great quality time with my brother Ben! He's in town for positions at hospitals as he is in his last year of residency in Portland. (He might be in the twin cities, maybe Duluth- either way, Yay!) The girls kept calling him "Uncle Jon" or "Uncle Andy"since they see those two more and have the same hair color. I was happy that the girls felt comfortable with him once they knew he wasn't a stranger. They loved jumping on him and feeding him grass and sticks. (Sorry 'bout that, Ben!)

Uncle Ben

The girls and uncle Ben!

All for now! Hope you all have a great weekend.

Connecticut and Maine

WARNING- long blog post ahead. Not for the busy to read!

  
My family, along with my mom and dad, just got back today from almost a week out in New England. I swear, if I wasn't living in Minnesota, I could live out there for sure. Just love the area! My mom is from Connecticut/Massachusetts so we have a lot of family out there and of course I used to travel there once a year growing up.
    We started out the trip in Glastonbury, Connecticut to see some family. We wanted my grandma to spend some time with the girls since it's hard for her to travel to Minnesota. It was great to see her! It was the second time the girls met her. The first time was when the girls were 8 months old. My uncle David and aunt Jane were gracious hosts- we stayed there two nights. Great hospitality! Thank you so much! We were also so lucky that my cousin Emily was able to spend the weekend with us too, back from NYC. My uncle Carlton and aunt Carol were able to join us for dinner one night too. I missed my other cousins but it's so hard with timing.
    One of the fun activities we did was go to a big park in the city of Hartford, CT, which also had an old fashioned, restored carousel. The girls were OK to get on the horses, but once the ride started, they weren't thrilled.

The girls just LOVED the carousel, like I thought they would. NOT. It was fun for the adults, though! (Emily has Madeline and I have Josie)

The girls were fine once we got off. (Josie is with me, Madeline with Emily, and Sofia with my uncle David)

Josie and Sofia checking out the ducks at the park. (" 'Fia Ducks!")

Madeline chilling with Emily- she was quite content.

Four generations! (girls L to R: Madeline, Sofia, and Josephine) I am the only one to have more than one daughter!

Our Goodbyes... Thanks for the hospitality, uncle David and aunt Jane! (S, J, M)

    At the end of the weekend, we made our way to Kennebunkport, Maine, where we spent the bulk of our trip. My mom spent some family vacations there when she was growing up. (They stayed at her aunt Effie's house, which is now an art gallery.) I have been there before, but briefly. It is such a quaint, beautiful town. There are no Walmarts or McDonalds in sight (or a Target, for that matter), instead, cute little shops and restaurants (and lots of ice cream shops, much to my happiness in my state). We ate lobster and/or seafood every night. Most of our activity was playing at a couple of different beaches. We also went on a "lobster cruise", which was fun. When I went to Boothbay Harbor, Maine as a kid we went on a whale watching tour, but it's 3 hours- much too long for the girls at their age. Someday!

We had to get to the ocean right away! This is the second time ever seeing the ocean for the girls. 

Beautiful scene.

Grandpa, Madeline, and Daddy walking a rock pier. 

Love!

Overall, the girls seemed to have a lot of fun. We didn't have a designated nap, but they all took one at some point every day, usually in the car. It was refreshing not to have to carve out a couple hours to spend in the hotel in the middle of the day! I think their favorite part of the trip was at the beach- running in the sand, building sand castles, looking for shells and hermit crabs- and avoiding the water. The waves weren't big, but it was no lake! They can even handle Lake Superior, but the ocean is another level.

Day 2 at the beach- we mean business now!

Making foot prints! (Sofia and Madeline)

Daddy showing a hermit crab to Josie

I thought this was a pretty cool picture of Josie holding a hermit crab...

 

Josie showing Madeline the crab

This is a way to get Sofia to smile for the camera... Have her show hermit crabs to me!

Only the second time we have brought them out to eat- it was pretty smooth but we didn't have to wait too long for food (S, M, J).

Family picture (M, J, S)

Grandma, Madeline, and Sofia working on a sand castle.

   
When we ask about what they did on the trip, they recall:
 "Madeline sleep on the beach!"Madeline did take one of the naps on grandpa at the beach. Why is it always she who takes naps at the most random places?

Madeline sleeping on Grandpa

 "Seal- seal sick. Seal went to the doctor"At one of the beaches there was a lone seal laying there. A life guard was making sure people were keeping their distance, but he told us it was "probably just resting". OK.... Later, my mom saw animal rehab take it away, so we told the girls that it was going to the doctor. They were concerned!

Sick (?) seal :( I wish we knew if it made it back to the ocean.

"Lobster. Ow!!" On the lobster cruise, the guy driving the boat stopped at his lobster trap and pulled up the cage. There was a handful of lobsters and he showed them to us up close. No, the girls did not get pinched, but they saw those claws- ouch!

Daddy holding a lobster- Madeline is NOT going to touch it!

Group pic (Sofia, Madeline, and Josie). We're so lucky we got them to sit still... next step, 3 smiles!

In the airport! Byebye East coast!

I think that is all! Have a great Labor Day weekend!