Pumpkin Picking

On a windy Friday afternoon, all the girls plus daddy ventured out to the Pumpkin Peddler to pick the most perfect pumpkin. We had grown pumpkins in our garden this year but didn't want to give up the annual hayride to the pumpkin patch. By the way, do you know how hard it is to get 3 girls to look at the camera?!?

Cecilia 9 months

Hadley 9 months

Mommy, Cecilia, Elise, Daddy, Hadley

We boarded the wagon for our bouncy ride out to the pumpkin patch. All the girls enjoyed the tractor ride. Plus to was fun to have a family outing together! It's hard to find a time that isn't a nap time or a meal time but we did get the stars to align...

Cecilia and Me

Elise loving on Daddy and Hadley

Elise was on a quest to find the best pumpkin. I find it interesting that she didn't want the biggest pumpkin in the patch. She was more excited looking around for the pumpkins hidden among the brush rather than the ones that were already cut and placed next to the tractor's path. It was all about the adventure, I guess!

In the end, Elise settled for a cute little guy. It was a pumpkin that she could even carry with her bandaged hand.

Elise, Mommy, Cecilia

..and Hadley too

8.5 Months

The babies are getting so big! We are moving into such a fun yet busy time with them. Having 2 active babies is definitely more fun than having 2 newborns. Hadley and Cecilia are crawling machines! Sometimes they travel as a pack and sometimes they take off in completely different directions. We are at the point that we have to make sure the dog toys are off the ground and that we close some doors (especially the laundry room where the dog water bowls have been discovered!) in order to contain them. And even though I already vacuum all the time, I sometimes now vacuum twice a day. But then again, that may be more for me than them!

Hadley and Cecilia

Hadley 8.5 months

Cecilia 8.5 months

They have been pulling up to standing on almost anything. Granted this has sometimes resulted in horrible results when they slip and fall (ie- black eyes, bruises, tears, etc). But with a lot of practice, they can usually hold on to something to keep them steady and play with a toy in the other hand. Hadley has mastered sitting back down but sometimes Cecilia still cries out when she gets stuck in the standing position.

Elise and Cecilia helping with laundry

First all-girl bathtime together!
Elise, Hadley and Cecilia

We've also ditched the 'baby' bathtub and upgraded to the real bathtub. While the girls love splashing around together, it is all hands on deck for the adult on bath duty as the babies like to try and practice their standing. Elise is happy to join the girls even though we barely have an inch of water!

Hadley

We are finally phasing out our 3rd nap of the day! Yippee! Three naps can definitely keep one housebound. Now we can finally venture out as a family over dinner time. And what baby/child doesn't love over stimulation at BW3? We are also introducing some real food in addition to baby food. It's so nice to plunk down some cooked vegetables or Cheerios. I feel like we are coming out of the fog of babyhood!!  

Cecilia

Out to dinner at BW3
Notice that we are eating dinner so early that no one else is there!

Go Buckeyes
Hadley and Cecilia getting silly

Hadley- what a ham

It truly is a joy to have 3 girls. Yes, there are a lot of tears during the day mixed in with some drama, but the highlights of a regular day are fun and can put a smile on your face. Just lay on the ground and call the whole gang over. You will have Cecilia and Hadley crawling so fast with smiles plastered on their faces, Elise hugging you and and two dogs leaning over with wagging tails. We definitely have a lot of love!

A Bad Day

We officially had a very bad day. It didn't start off as bad. The day began with a daddy and Elise shopping trip followed by some fun at gymnastics.

That's where the fun ended. This afternoon Elise slammed her finger in a hallway door.. right below the door hinge. It cut her left hand middle finger to the point where we needed to take her to the emergency room. Now Jeff and I are not easily stressed or upset over wounds and blood but let's say that this wasn't the case today. We never knew that a finger could literally bleed this bad- but then again it was visually cut in a way we won't forget.

Luckily we had neighbors outside who rushed over to watch the babies as we sped to the hospital. I held pressure on Elise's hand as Jeff (think NASCAR driver) drove us to the St. Lukes. They took us directly back- where they attempted to numb it for xrays and then suturing. Apparently it is hard to place a block to the finger as we had to do it a couple of times to get Elise comfortable.

Three sutures later and an appointment with a plastic surgeon first thing Monday morning, we were on our way. The xrays revealed no breaks but a friend who read the films said there is a 'lot of soft tissue damage'. We are hoping that Monday's appointment reveals that she is healing fine and that Elise doesn't have to lose part of the finger.

Popsicles do help!

The stress of suturing and pain can cause sweaty heads!

Here we are all smiles... notice the 3 bag technique for bathtime!

The dogs didn't mind donating some 'poop' bags for the occasion!

I think today was one of those days where you wish you could change places with your child. The worst part was seeing Elise in pain. Mommies and daddies want to take the pain away but this time we couldn't.  It was heart wrenching. Hours later, Jeff and I were just as stressed and shaken. 

On a side note, I told Elise that she now can tell her friends that she went to the hospital over the weekend. She was perplexed and then said that she never went to the hospital. The sweet girl thought she had been at the doctor's office. I guess in the end the severity and stress of the situation was lost on her. All she knows is that she's feeling better. We hope that as the numbness wears off tonight, she sleeps well and doesn't wake up with a throbbing hand. Why can't we trade places?! Pray for good news on Monday....

Gladys

Aside from juggling two crawling twins, a preschooler going to school, working, cooking, cleaning, laundry-- we don't have too much going on at home. So, it makes perfect sense to get a new dog, right?! Actually it only makes perfect sense to get a new dog if we were getting another perfect dog!

So, meet Gladys. She's a 7.5 year-old German Shepherd who just retired from her seeing-eye program. Yep, another service dog! I can't believe that she's our third service dog! Her previous owner suffered a stroke and no longer needed her. We also learned that he had grandchildren so we knew that she would possibly do well with our gang of girls.

She is not only fabulous with Elise and the babies but also has become Demi's best friend. The dogs like to romp around the house together-- but we occasionally have to dismiss the play to outside if the babies are up and crawling around. Two large wrestling/playing dogs are a bit oblivious to little babies! Of course we don't encourage little babies crawling on our dogs, but sometimes it does happen. Gladys is patient with them or chooses to walk away should she want some quiet time.

Already after a few weeks, she has settled in nicely. I suppose she's happy to be spending her retirement years at our house. She's super smart too-- I keep her off leash when I'm with her in the yard and she stays nearby. However, we will train her soon on the invisible fence so she can romp in the backyard with Demi without fear that she'll chase any geese through the neighbors yard. Afterall, she may look intimidating. What people don't know is that she's a sucker for belly rubs!