Happy 2nd 1st Birthday...

The girls would have been one yesterday had I been able to go full term... Although there is very little chance that I would have been able to go full term, it's still a milestone worth mentioning. I often find myself comparing the girls at their adjusted age to Declan when he was their age. It's silly really since all kids are different, but what I will say is that I think they are almost on track. They are definitely smaller than Declan was, but Aven is walking more than Declan had at this age (adjusted), Bria is about where he was (taking a few steps) and Stevie is still just crawling (but also cruising). None of them are talking much besides baby babbles, although we are pretty sure that Aven has said "momma" and "bye," Bria has said "bye" and today Judy said she said "momma" clear as day and Stevie hasn't said anything that we can recognize yet. I'm usually one that doesn't really count words until they repetitively say them and you can clearly tell what they are saying, but i'll take these :-) All of them love to dance - must be a girl thing because I don't remember Declan ever wanting to dance (until now of course). But one thing all of our kids have in common - they are happy, health, sweet kids!

This weekend I tried taking a few pictures of all the kids. It's basically impossible now given their mobility and a toddlers lack of interest of letting me take a picture of him. But this is as good as I could get :-)

L to R: Aven, Stevie & Bria

Love Declan's face - he's giving Aven the stink eye because she's choking her sister Stevie. Bria doesn't seem to care...

Declan has given up, Aven continues to beat up Stevie who is now crying and Bria, well she's just thinking this whole thing is hilarious...

And tonight we had our ritual dance party... Which is normal in our household. Here's a video of Aven dancing - not very clear, but you can get the jist. Aven definately has the best moves of the bunch and it's just so cute how she shakes her booty...

Here's another video from tonight. I love this video... The girls love their brother and think he's pretty funny... But tonight, all of them got the giggles. Declan was just throwing the cheesehead off of his head, and they thought it was pretty funny :-) It's the little things...

15 Months!

Where has the time gone... It's absolutely crazy that the girls are 15 months... I've had to count it a few times, but it's true, they are that old! Every day they amaze me and for all the times that I thought about what it would be like with just one baby, Now I can never imagine it without all 3 of them. We took the opportunity to have a photo op, just to celebrate their turning 15 months :-)

L to R: Stevie, Bria and Aven

Also, this past Thursday marked one year since Aven and Bria have been home. For as much as I can't remember what I did 20 minutes ago, I vividly remember a year ago. I remember brining Declan to the hospital to pick up the girls. I remember all the nurses hugging all us as we took 2 of 3 home. I remember having to leave Stevie there all by herself. I remember getting home and seeing the sheer joy in Declan's face now that he had 2 of his sisters home. I remember that first night and it not being that bad. I remember the next day telling Andy, "we got this" because it really wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected. I remember thinking, wow these girls are the best babies I've ever seen. Then I remember 10 days later when we brought Stevie home, which changed all of the above statements :-)

Here's the picture from a year ago and a picture from today... How the girls have changed... (L to R: Aven, Declan & Bria)

So long ago...

As my folks and I were sitting at dinner tonight (while babies crawled and whined all over us and Declan was on the iPad), it dawned on me that it's almost a year that 2 of the 3 girls have been home. I honestly couldn't remember the exact date that Bria and Aven came home, so I opened up my trusted blog journal and found that it was February 7th that the two came home. While saving the new blog address as a favorite on my dad's computer, that you can see from outer space, I read through a few posts...

Here's what i discovered... I was way funnier, more clever and creative when I got more sleep. I think this time last year, the only thing that caused me not to sleep is my middle of the night wake ups for pumping. That's nothing compared to where we are today :-) Now when I write these posts I silently say, "please stay away, please stay awake." Reading the posts also seemed like a million years ago... Where has the time gone? Oh, I know where, it's in 1,534 dirty diapers, 2,201 bottles of milk, 2,000 hours of missed sleep and 456 gray hairs.

Here are a few pictures of the girls from today... they are still not back to 100% health, but they are getting closer...

And in the spirit of nostalgia, here's a post from when we brought Stevie home... She was the last to arrive and was about 10 days after Aven and Bria were already home...

Return Policy?
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012

It's nice to not have a number in the title, although maybe we should put day 1 and count upward to when Andy and I are admitted to a psych ward... There should be an over under on us somewhere...

So I have to admit - I take back part of what I blogged about last night... The part that said I would enjoy the lack of sleep. What was I thinking? Needless to say, Stevie's homecoming was a little challenging... There was a lot of screaming and crying and swearing - all of these by Andy and I. Stevie just wanted to make sure we knew she was pissed about being the last one home and that she missed out on all that snuggle time. We knew it would be a challenge bringing her home, mostly because she was on a different schedule than the other two girls (and also because I've known from day 1 that she is going to be a feisty little trouble maker). So starting today begins "operation same schedule" - our goal is to get Stevie up to eating every 4 hours like her sisters... Not sure how we're going to handle the feeding 3 at once in the middle of the night, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.  I was about 2 minutes away from calling NICU last night and asking them about their return policy - I was beginning to think Stevie should stay there a bit longer (KIDDING!)

Today Declan had his first bout of being a little stinker about the girls... He wasn't jealous per se, but I think he was just a little annoyed. I wanted to say "welcome to our world buddy," but I didn't... He's going through a lot and it's amazing to me how well he has taken having three sisters at once. So this weekend he's going to go with my mom to my Aunt and Uncles house (Grandpa Jim's) - he'll get to run outside, play with his cousins and just get out of the house. Should be good for him (and us :-))

What's Happening!!!

I can't believe it's February 1st... And I have very valid reasons as to why it's been weeks since I've blogged. But don't worry - I will get you all caught up with what's been going on in the Lawry household. First and foremost... EMILY GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, you heard me right! Em got engaged to Jeff (aka Declan's best friend). I'm not sure who is more excited, Emily or Declan :-) So that is the really big news and so exciting! It is way more fun to help someone else plan their wedding than planning your own (even though I barely remember ours since it was so long ago)... They'll be getting married at the end of the summer, so we have a lot to do!

Here's a pic of Em and Jeff surrounded by our kids - I wonder if he knows what he's getting into :-) insert evil laugh...

Although pale in comparison, here's what else has been going on... We are in the middle of crazy travel right now... Last week Andy and I took Declan with us to a friends wedding in Puerto Rico. Declan had a blast. Swam a ton, dealt with crazy adults and enjoyed some mommy and daddy alone time. My folks came out and watched the girls and got to spend some 3 on 2 time (which is also a rare thing :-)) Then the day after we got back, I traveled to Tampa for work and got back yesterday, Andy left for boys weekend in Wisconsin today and then I leave again Sunday night for a work trip to Buenos Aires (and Andy gets back Monday). Wow, I'm exhausted just writing all of it down. Lucky for us, my Dad and Judy will be here through the whole thing holding down the fort.

Here are some pictures from the wedding weekend... Dec ready for some swimming!

At the beach...

Family time :-)

My men...

Ham...

Family time - Declan was much happier than he looked!

Good friends :-)

Other big news is that Aven is walking more and more! She took about 11 steps for Andy and my parents the other night and then tonight she took a bunch of steps for me. Although she can still get to things quicker by crawling, she is walking more. Honestly, it's adorable! Here's a video from tonight. And this is her with a fever, it will be fun seeing her when she isn't sick (they are all sick AGAIN!).

Big butts don't lie...

Well the girls are finally feeling better... They started to act like themselves again by this past Saturday. And so far Declan still hasn't gotten it... We'll see if it misses him completely - but I'm not sure we are fully out of the woods yet :-) Regardless, I'm happy to have Stevie's smiley little face back! While they were sick, they turned 14 months. 14 months... I can't even believe it. It's been a while since I talked about what they are up to... so here you go...

Aven:
Aven is nuts. That's all there is too it. She gets the biggest kick out of herself and I'm pretty sure she thinks she's the funniest person she knows. And I thought Joy and I were the only one's that thought that. She is built like her brother and is probably the strongest of the three. She crawls crazy fast, gets up stairs before you even notice that she's missing and can cruise around furniture like no one's business. Although Bria was the first to take a few steps, Aven has taken her sisters lead and is now taking a few steps (we've seen her take as many as 2 at a time). She also has the best balance. She'll just stand there in one stop - sometimes even clapping because she is so proud of herself.

We think she has said "momma," but I'm one of those mom's that doesn't really count every word, but rather I really want to wait until I know that's what they are saying for sure.  She's also our best eater - she will eat anything and everything. She likes to shovel it in, which also makes her the messiest. Aven has been clapping for a while and recently started doing high fives - it's really cute. She also likes to play patty cake and recently started playing the "give-take" game where she gives you something and then waits for you to give it back, etc. Oh, and she is our climber - again like her brother. You gotta keep your eyes on her at all times... She likes to climb all over her sisters and just recently started sitting on her sisters. She will seriously go out of her way to sit on her sisters. It's hilarious. Here are a few pictures of her doing just this... First she's sitting on Bria and then she's sitting on Stevie. Hence the title of the blog :-)

I almost forgot one of the funniest things about Aven, she loves to dance. But it's like a booty shake dance... As soon as she hears music she will shake her little tush. It's so funny... I'll get it on video and share it later...

Bria:
Bria is still our princess... The good and the bad :-) She's often been called "needy." She loves to sit on our lap, like seriously, she can smell Andy or I walk into the house or room and she will scope you out until you sit down and then she'll make a bee-line for you. She also crawls like crazy, goes up stairs, cruises, stands and takes a few steps. She hasn't done much more walking than a few weeks ago, but I think part of the issue is that she was puking her brains out for the past week. That will make anyone not want to walk.

She is our most curious. She always discovers new things and new places she shouldn't be. Usually it involves something of Declan's. But luckily since she is Declan's "favorite," he get's over it pretty quickly.  Strangely enough, even though she's our most curious, she's also our biggest scaredy cat. The vacuum or other loud noises really freak her out, but her sisters are like 'I'd like to climb that vacuum, while it's running.'

I'm pretty sure she says "dada," and tonight she said it while copying Andy saying it. So her speech is coming along too... Her and her sister Aven are partners in crime... They literally get into everything and at times have been called bullies to their little sister Stevie :( Here are a few recent pictures of Bria.

Bria and Aven, partners in crime...

Sweet smile...

Stevie:
Stevie is still our angel. The least "needy" or the most independent. She likes playing with us, but will also do something on her own. She has started to crawl and is getting pretty good at it. She hasn't quite figured out how to go over stairs, but that should happen any day now. She is getting more and more curious as well and has found her way to the areas of the house where she shouldn't be. It's nice now that she is mobile because she can hold her own with her sisters (at least when Aven isn't sitting on her).

She is still getting PT and speech therapy once a week (2 separate sessions) and I think that is helping her. She's still got a bit of work to do, but as she gets bigger I think that will help. If you look at all the things she has done, I don't think it's been that she can't do it at the same time as her sisters, I think it's just her size that's holding her back.

She absolutely loves her brother and thinks he's so funny. She could be entertained by him for hours, versus the other two could care less. She just laughs and laughs and laughs at him. It's very sweet.  So she's chill, likes to smile and laugh, is happy doing her own thing and is content. I've never known a child like her :-) Here are a few more pictures - again, Stevie our angel just hanging out being a good girl...

L to R: Stevie, Bria and Aven

L to R: Aven, Stevie and Bria

Declan:
I figured I should update everyone on D-man too... Declan is doing well in school - as in we haven't had any parent teacher conferences requested of us yet :-) He continues to be the social butterfly and loves making new friends. He still has his "gang" that he hangs out with from last year and often does play-dates with them... Since he's a summer birthday we need to figure out if we will send him to Kindergarten next year. We haven't made up our mind yet, but if we don't send him, I hope he can meet friends that have just as cool of parents as the ones he has now :-) And the kids of course :-)

He started learn to skate a few weekends ago and seems to like it. Now that the girls are older and it's manageable for one person to watch them, we are getting him more involved in activities. He's still going through a bit of attachment issues, but am hopeful with getting him involved in more stuff, he'll figure out that we aren't going anywhere and we don't have to be around him 24/7.  I think I mentioned before that he gets to take a mini-vaca with us at the end of next week when the three of us go to Puerto Rico for a friends wedding (also Declan's godfather). It should be fun and will be nice to be with him one on one.

I don't have any recent pictures of Dec, mostly because he rarely let's me take pictures of him. And those that I do have are him in his underwear :-) I'll get some good ones when we go on vaca!

Puke, Puke and more Puke...

That about sums up what our house has been like this past week... And I'm not sure I see an end in sight... It all started this past Saturday, first Stevie, then Bria and then Aven. They puked all day on Sunday... Then Monday, just Bria and Stevie. Tuesday, it happened to be Andy and I, but the girls seemed they were out of the woods... As a side note, there is nothing worse than being sick yourself and having to take care of 3 sick babies... Nothing worse. Then Bria and Stevie got sick again on Wednesday, then again Thursday morning, then again tonight... Honestly I don't know what else we can do. We've cleaned every single toy, piece of furniture, bedding, carpet, body part that there is - every night - and still the puking continues... So far Declan has been unscathed, Aven has been fine since Sunday and Andy and I just had the one day for the most part. But Bria and Stevie just can't kick it. Our poor babies...

We took them to the Doctor on Thursday and they basically told us what we thought, they have the flu... It's just one that is sticking around and with the three of them, it's hard to get rid of all the germs... Yuk...

Here is a shot of the sick girls :-) They would get so tired, they would just fall asleep anywhere. After too much puke on the carpet, we got smart and put a sheet down :-)

A little sisterly love between Bria and Stevie...

Happy New Year!

My mom and I rang in the new year without even drinking and were in bed before midnight :-) However, Declan and I did watch the ball drop and made it to midnight - we were just snuggled in Andy and my bed... Declan couldn't quite understand the concept of it being a new year... He thinks for some reason that since it's a new year that he is going to get to go to Disney Junior (I know, he refers to Disney World as Disney Junior - the TV Channel)...

I'm not going to lie, it's been a long couple of days... Although I worked a few days last week, I feel like we've been cooped up in the house for like a month. And I'm definitely ready for Declan to go back to school tomorrow. I'm off one more day until Andy comes home tomorrow night. Unfortunately the badgers lost so his trip was a bust on that front, but I'm sure he had fun being with some old friends... But I can't wait till he gets home!

Declan has been pretty bored and pretty much driving us nuts. It's a fine line between him figuring out that he can't be the center of attention, all the time, because he has 3 baby sisters and us spending 1:1 time with him. Andy and I are taking him to a friends wedding in Puerto Rico at the end of the month, so I'm hoping a few days of 1:1 time with us will help him. The girls are getting a bit "easier" as well, so hopefully we can have more daddy and Declan days...

I can't believe it's 2013... I can't believe that a year ago we didn't even have 4 kids at home with us... I can't believe how much has changed in just one year.... And I can't imagine all the changes that are to come in this next year. The girls will be 2 this time next year and Declan will be 5. THANK YOU JESUS! I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel - we'll be in toddlerhood with the girls and Declan will hopefully be out of his challenging 4s :-)

Here's what we've been up to in the Lawry household the last few days.. Declan really likes to play with the girls. His struggle is that he wants them to be like him, big and strong and he sometimes forgets they are babies... But when he does play nice with them, it's really cute. He likes to create forts and play centers for them. Here are a few pictures of the ones he did today :-)

Both Aven and Stevie were on the other side and Bria was breaking out...

Stevie is like "get me out!? And Bria is like - later sister!

Cute video from this morning... I know, the boy is always in his underwear. What can I say, he would sleep naked if we let him and would go to school in nothing but his underwear. There are times during the day that he does have clothes on - I promise!

The girls fighting over the chair and play cell phone they got for Christmas this year from Grandma Mary... The girls are interacting a lot more now, but not so much playing with each other and loving each other, more like fighting with each other. Over toys and over my lap is causing the biggest tension. It's pretty funny to watch Bria and Aven go at it. Stevie is starting to hold her own as well.

Us trying to find stuff for Declan to do, so why not push your sister in the grocery cart?

Not only are the girls interacting more, but they LOVE their brother. Stevie especially... They get the biggest kick out of him and he honestly is helpful at times.  Here's a video of Stevie cracking up with what Declan was doing. She has the exact same laugh he did when he was a baby... So cute...

And in celebration of the game today (which didn't have the outcome we wanted), all the kids dressed in their red and white... The girls (L to R: Aven, Bria and Stevie)

Despite my best attempts, this is as good as I could get with all the kiddos... Either Declan wasn't looking or the girls were crawling away... (Girls L to R: Stevie, Aven and Bria)

Lastly, I was able to get a shot of Bria taking a step... She hasn't been able to get past the 2 steps yet, but it's coming... Aven has also been taking a step as well.