Aven...

This weekend Andy had a fun opportunity to go hang with some good friends from high school and have a guys weekend in DC. So after Declan's learn to skate on Saturday he headed out. The kids and I have been doing the usual and then had a friend (Mr. Justin) come up for a visit today. The girls were their usual self and very shy with their stranger danger radar up, but sure enough Aven perked right up and let her guard down first (hence the title of the blog). She was a smitten kitten with Mr. Justin. Further confirmation that we are going to have our hands full with her!

The girls have been cracking me up lately... Between Aven and Stevie having both nap and bedtime gigglefests (of course Bria is always out cold), to Bria waking up in either just her diaper or like the other morning, with her unzipped pj's on but no diaper (seriously probably the funniest thing I've ever seen). They are just hilarious. Declan has been cracking me up too. With Andy being gone, we've been having some deep conversations - like last night he told me that he was never going to get married because "he doesn't want to kiss strangers." He also informed me that we should start making necklaces and selling them for extra money. All very good ideas from our brilliant 5 year old.

Here are some pictures from the weekend... Declan skating - he is now officially better then i am, which doesn't take much, but he is only 5...

The skating place was great because on each side of the rinks there was a dead end. I love anything that keeps these crazy girls confined to one area...

The girls "watching" Declan and having a snack...

The girlies waiting for their big brother to get off the bus...

Bri Bri...

And my all time favorite picture of the girls to date... I'm pretty sure that in the almost 2 years, this is the only picture that I have of all the girls smiling. Melts my heart and makes the other 1,347 pictures so worth it!

Pumpkin Patch!

The whole family went to our favorite pumpkin patch this morning (and we met Em and Jeff there). It was a great time and I think all the kiddos liked getting outside. Here are a few pictures from the day...

Auntie Em and Andy...

Plus Declan...

Daddy and Declan

Hay ride!

Ham...

Stevie..

Aven...

Yet another attempt at getting the girls all together - good think my sister was there because she is a much better sport then Andy ;) (L to R: Stevie, Aven & Bria)

And they are off!

And then there was one (Aven)...

Milking the cow...

A good one of Declan! (and Aven) We had to remove the kids to fit the pumpkins :-)

Triplet Pumpkins :-)

The one at the top with the baseball nuk is actually Andy's :-)

Declan and all the pumpkins!

Brother love...

Our day started great at the grocery store this morning (with me and the girls)... We got our usual comments, that are always somewhat annoying, but about halfway through the store a woman stopped us and said "are those triplets?" and my dull response "yes." She then said, "oh you are soooo lucky!!!" I said "THANK YOU! Oh my gosh, that's so not the typical response that we get - thank you so much, we are lucky!" Those types of things just make my day...

Bria and Declan were BFF's tonight as you can see from the pictures below... She loves her some Declan!

This picture is actually Aven and Declan on Daddy's back, but Bria and Daddy are having a deep conversation...

Bria and her bro...

Declan was entertaining everyone tonight :-)

Melts my heart...

Declan teaching Bria how to do a headstand...

Here's a video of the Bria/Declan love fest...

Daddy attempting a short lived nap, Aven discovered him!

Aven prepping for the winter...

And Aven's newest thing when she gets into the car - she likes to sit in Declan's seat...

Where is Stevie? Did I leave her at the store today? Ha, just kidding, I didn't - just must not have snapped any pictures of her today :-)

Where's Dada?

All weekend when the doorbell rings (yes, I've already started buying Christmas presents) or the phone rings, Aven points, runs and yells "DADA"! I think they all miss having their Dad and big brother around... Luckily they are coming back tonight and they will have Dad back with them all day tomorrow :-) It's been nice to have my girls all to myself. A few things I've discovered being with them this weekend...

1. They are getting more teeth. They went from temper tantrum central each 20 minutes on Friday to normal almost two year old triplets every 45 minutes by Sunday. I saw one of Stevie's eye teeth coming in and she's usually the first to get them. And I also feel like there are 2-year molars - am I right? Regardless, it would explain a lot about their attitudes this last week or so...
2. They talk to each other and know absolutely what the other is saying. It goes a little like this... Aven - "hey Bria, you run one way and I'll go the other," Bria - "yea okay, hurry, she's on to us, I gotta get to the neighbor's door before she sees me so that you can run out into the street!" Stevie - "hey guys, wait for me." They seriously are out to get me, and it's only going to get worse.
3. You have to master the loading and unloading of the car... I think I have the loading down pat, but the unloading gets a little squirrel... The loading part is pretty easy as they all walk to the car and want to get in (basically so they can run around in the car). You just have to make sure to open only one door, not both sliding doors - I made that mistake and almost lost one! The unloading gets to be a bit like point #2 above and they really don't want to go inside, which it makes it more challenging.
4. They think me telling them "no" is funny. This also goes to point #2 in them being out to get me. They think it's funny when I tell them no, and then they do it and then they all laugh about it. It's not funny (usually) and I'm not a fan. This too, will only get worse. I don't think they are quite there with time outs yet, and honestly I haven't quite figured out how those are going to work - because now when Declan has to go on one, they all laugh and mess with him... It's going to be a challenge for sure.

So those are my life lessons for the day... I also took the opportunity to take a bunch of candids of the girls - I just love taking their picture... I just wish they loved it as much as I did :-)

Aven is a hugging machine... It's hilarious... She just hugs and hugs and hugs... Here she is hugging Bria...

This was Stevie's reaction to my "no" to her spilling her gold fish and then me telling her to pick them up - this is her attempt to pick them up :-)

And her still mocking me...

Aven is crazy...

And this tantrum was brought to me by her taking her barrette out of hair and her hair kept going into her face... If she would actually leave something in her hair, then we wouldn't have this problem, now would we???

Bria stuck...

Happy Bria!

Happy Stevie!

Bria looking innocent...

Bria is really into putting clothes on (like in this picture) and taking them off... Last week I went into their room to get them and I noticed that Bria was sitting there smiling in just her diaper. After I had the moment of "oh crap, did we put clothes on her before she went to bed," I noticed her PJ's in a nice pile at the foot of her bed... She is really into zippers these days - let's just hope I don't wake up to her with poop all over her one morning...

Bria doing her best to create a double chin...

They are such big girls now, they don't even want to sit on anyones lap for their night bottle... I've also come to the realization that after this weekend, they really don't need a nighttime bottle... It's time, they are too big now and don't like it as much as they used to (sniff sniff)...

Bria stealing Stevie's snack - typical...

Our girls!

Avie...

She cracks me up... Her attitude and facial expressions kill me...

Sweet Stevie pie...

This is them milk-drunk... They are crazy! They do this every night before bed now - it's like their second win...

Bria is obsessed with the car lately - here is all of them saying their goodbyes :-)

Girls Weekend!

Andy and Declan went back to Wisconsin this weekend so it's just the girls and I hanging out. It's been a while since I've just had the girls and it's fun! Besides the temper tantrums every 20 minutes, it's been good bonding time... And I'm serious about the temper tantrums, it's like clockwork - tantrums about not wanting to eat something, tantrums about wanting to eat something, tantrums about one sister getting the cup that the other one wanted, tantrums about coming inside, tantrums about one sister climbing something that the other wanted, tantrums when yo gabba gabba ends, tantrums when one sister is sitting in the other sisters chair, and the list goes on and on... I was trying to remember back to Declan at this age and I think it just seemed more manageable because there was only one. Now with 3, it's 3 times the tantrums. No wonder Andy looks like he's lost his soul every day I get home from work :-)

Besides the tantrums, there are moments of adorableness and sweetness... Today I dressed the girls in their Badger gear (which I happened to find in some of Declan's old clothes - plus I found some bonus 3 pairs of shoes for them!) and we had fun at the grocery store (where we saw one of their old daycare teachers) and had some good outside play (which ended with tantrums :-))

Here are some pictures from the day (and last night)... I was looking for new things to do this weekend so I brought up my old doll house. I played with this doll house when I was their age - my grandfather (my mom's dad) made it and we've kept it all these years... I love this doll house. The girls seem to too :-) I am not putting any furniture in it until they are a little less destructive :-)

Aven wanted a turn too :-)

Bria in a box...

Don't worry, she didn't do this herself, this was my remedy to one of Aven's tantrums :-)

Stevie was being creative with her pegs...

And Aunt Em discovered that the girls could use the baby links as bracelets - brilliant!

Mommy let's them eat a lot of meals on the floor when Daddy's away - sshhhhh, don't tell him :-)

Although it's rare that I can get good picture of the 2 of them (or never), here was one from yesterday...  (L to R: Stevie, Aven, Bria)

Aven ready for her day today - love, love, love her shoes! I completely forgot Declan had these when he was little :-)

Bria loving being outside in her car...

Stevie and her wagon...

And Stevie again...

Aven trying to be like me blowing bubbles... The whole allowing them to blow bubbles was an epic fail - note to self, do not do that again...

Avie...

Bria and Aven on their teeter-totter...

Happy Stevie!