Happy New Year 2013!

After about a week-long hiatus, it's time to acknowledge that it's January and finally time to get rid of my holiday-brain.  Honestly, things still seem too relaxed for it to actually be real life.  It's not that life got any less busy over the holidays, it's just that the corresponding pressure that always accompanies our busyness didn't seem to have the same effect.  It was a great feeling.  It was also great to really get to spend some QT with Meg and the girls.  There is a part of me that feels good to be back at work, but I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't thinking about all of my ladies all day long.

As we enter 2013, I can't help but think about everything we accomplished in 2012.  2011 was a difficult year, but 2012 definitely ranks as one of the busiest in our lives.  Maybe it will always be that way.  Maybe I'll always write that the year just ended was busier than the one before.  For now, all I have under my belt is my first full year of being a father to three baby girls, and everything it entailed, while also trying to be the sole income earner for our family, as well as a good husband.  I'm sure I could improve in all of those areas, but I'll leave that topic for a future post.

There were stressful times (sicknesses and surgeries) and sad times (death of Meg's mom, Sharon), but we also got to experience so many good times (the girls' first vacation, their first birthday, their first steps, the end of bottles, sleeping through the night, Sharon's wedding on the beach, etc).

Meg and I are beginning 2013 with a fresh perspective.  We're adapting, and will always be adapting, to being the parents of growing and changing toddlers.  We still consider ourselves extremely blessed each and every day we get to spend with our girls.  We both know that life can change on a dime.  Every hour, every day, and every week, we are thankful.  Every cry, every tantrum, and every poopy diaper, we are thankful.  2012 proved that innocence and loved ones can be lost in a minute and that even the very young are not immune to the craziness that exists in our world. I WILL do better at cherishing every moment and every experience I'm lucky enough to share with our girls.

The girls begin 2013 with hopes of getting more teeth, trying new food, figuring out what's on the OTHER side of the gate, being photographed less (not going to happen), everyone eating solids TOGETHER (that means you Izzy), getting off of all meds, figuring out what happens when mommy and daddy sit on the toilet, going crazy in their new bounce house, and saying their first "real" words.

For now, I'll leave you with the reason we now need to go buy gates for the staircase, courtesy of Miss Sophia.



Maddy, discovering her love for grilled cheese


Sophie, sharing in her sister's love of grilled bread and fromage


Izzy, taking steps with the walker over to mom (she's getting quite fast!)


All of the girls were sick over the Christmas holiday, which produced an unexpected result.  Izzy, who normally turns her head away from all food, seemed a little interested in this squishy stuff her sisters were eating.  While she was sick, we were able to keep her hydrated, but her gag reflex was overly sensitive and she wouldn't keep her formula down.  So, it appeared that she was quite hungry.  She didn't go overboard with it, but she actually put her mouth towards the food and kind of rubbed her face around in it.  It's not eating, but it's definitely the kind of progress we love to see!









We've been giving Sophie and Maddy some chicken and spinach-filled ravioli lately.  While this picture looks like she grabbed it out of the trashcan and is very excited about it, I can ensure you that she brought it with her.  What I can't tell you is when we cleaned our trashcan last.  Yuck.





Meg, taking care of her tired baby




Sophie is going through a phase where she REALLY wants to see what's happening on the island when we're making dinner.  It's pretty difficult to hold her and cook, so now she has a seat.  Though her legs are getting long enough where she can almost stand up with the her high chair strapped around her waist.  Not sure what we'll do next.



Honestly, it's amazing how she slows from 100 to 0 mph if we left her sit up there with us.  All of the girls have amazing eyes, but for some reason, Sophie's just really seemed to be glowing on that particular day.



Miss Izzy, practicing getting up early on Christmas Eve


Even though we'll occasionally still try to fit them individually in the sink, it was time to move to the big bathtub.



Sophie, just a little excited about bath time


"Rubber ducky, you're the one..."




"Hey, we're naked over here!"




So, it was actually getting cold in our kitchen.  In order to save air vent grate, we had closed it and covered it up with the rug leading out to the patio.  From time to time, the girls would remember it was under there, lift the rug, steal the grate, the proceed to scare us by sticking their limbs down the hole.  Enough was enough!  We opened up the vent and warm air rushed out, immediately warming up the kitchen.  There was only one option to keep our sanity-painter's tape, though duct tape would probably work, too, though it might leave some residue later.  So far, the girls haven't figured out how to peel off the tape and now go over to the grate to let the wind blow their hair around :)

Izzy, analyzing the best way to get the tape off


Maddy, letting the grate work her up a new hairdo


With Miss Izzy, we've started the weaning process from her Sildenafil.  If you recall, she was taking it to help relieve the pulmonary hypertension they were seeing from her lungs not being able to get enough oxygen to her heart.  When we began with the med, the blood vessel wall loosened up, allowed more oxygen-rich blood to get more easily to heart.  Her energy levels jumped and she became more active.  The docs now think she's grown enough to get the oxygen she needs without the med.  We're on a six-week weaning process.  We're already two weeks in to it and there's no sign of her slowing down.  If anything, she seems to be speeding up.  One second she's in the kitchen.  I turn around and two seconds later, she's crawled across the family room and is pulling up on my leg!



Great Aunt Mary got the girls a Laugh & Learn Love to Play Puppy for Christmas.  They love it so much, I was debating on whether to go buy two more.  Then I thought to myself, "at some point, they really need to work on their sharing."  The point is, they love this puppy.  So much so that I find myself singing songs that the puppy sings.  How lame is that?







Lastly, I still have a post from my dad's visit before Christmas that I haven't posted yet, but we had some additional visitors between Christmas and New Year's Day.  Grandma and Grandpa Carrick spent the week with us and got their triplet fill.  Probably enough to last them a couple of months :)

What A Difference A Year Makes!

From our perspective, a truer statement has never been made.  One year ago today, I was driving in to work, fully ignorant to the fact that a few hours later, I would get to meet the three most amazing miracles I've ever known.  I can still remember every single thought and sensation as Meg called to tell me to rush to the hospital because our girls were going to be delivered as soon as I could get there.  Panic.  Excitement.  Fear.  Joy.  You name it, I felt it, and I've been feeling bits of that day every day for the past year, for which I am forever grateful and blessed.

I'm not gonna spend too much time reminiscing about the past, because it's EXTREMELY well documented already earlier in the life of this blog.  What I will do is share some of the cutest photographs I have ever taken of my darling girls.  We actually celebrated their first birthday while we were on vacation in Erie.  For some reason, I decided to hold off on posting these pics until their actual birthday, which has been painstakingly difficult to do.  In case you're interested, we got the tutus from someone on Etsy and Meg and her mom made the onesies.

Well, the day is here.  My little girls turn one today.  Who gets the present?  You do of course--a blog post :)

Before I put you in to a picture-induced coma, it probably wouldn't hurt to give a short update on what's going on with everyone.

Let's start with Miss Izzy, because she has really been making some amazing progress recently.  Ever since we started her on the Sildenafil a few weeks ago, she seems to have a lot more energy which has really allowed her to start pushing her physical boundaries.  Those physical boundaries aren't really boundaries, ie. nothing permanent.  I just think with the c.diff and lower oxygen saturation levels, she hasn't necessarily had the energy/motivation to push herself.  Lately, she's been rolling to her tummy at night and actually sleeping.  Meg caught her "rolling with a purpose" yesterday, actually using her rolling skills to get somewhere.  If we help her stand up, she can hold on to the standing toys and keep herself up.  While seated, her range of twisting motion has really increased, almost owl-like.  She does a lot of rocking and it's so obvious that she just wants to stand up and run!  Even though she can't, it's the will and purpose I can see in her eyes that ensures me that she'll be just fine.  One thing is for sure, she does not want that nasal cannula on her face for a minute longer!  That's good because we're hoping to ween her from the diuretics soon and hopefully the oxgen not too long after.

Unfortunately, she's not making much progress on the eating front.  All of her feedings are still through the G tube and she seems to have no intention of letting anything in her mouth, unless she puts it there.  Sometimes we make her laugh and stick some food in.  It seems to work a little because she stopped gagging, which is something she used to do when food even touched her lips. 

At one year old, she has the most amazing smile and a belly laugh that could draw a smile from a mime.

Next up is Miss Maddy.  Maddy sure had me fooled.  Four or five months ago, I would've sworn that she would be the "difficult" one.  So far, she's proving me wrong and is our most easy-going girl.  Her reflux is improving, but not fully gone.  She spits up less, but it still comes up at the most inopportune times--which is just about every time :)  She's not walking, but she's standing--albeit wobbly standing--she's standing just the same.  I foresee steps in her future.  I'm not exactly sure when, but she seems to be very interested in what Sophie's doing and, for the first time, we caught her actually following Sophie in to the corner to chew on books.  Remember ladies, "Books are for reading, not for eating."

I would say that the only major changes with Maddy have to do with her therapy.  For the first several evals, she didn't qualify for EI (Early Intervention).  She's created a little gap between herself and Sophie around feeding and some development traits, so she now qualifies for speech and developmental therapy, which is a good thing in my opinion.

Other than that, she's an extremely happy baby and loves it when you sing the "Manamana" song to her.  She chews on her hands and fingers in a way that can be viewed as anything except being cute.

Now, Miss Sophia.  She is our attention getter.  I hesitate on using that term to describe her, but she's a lot like her momma.  She's developing a secure attachment to us and really hates it when she can't be a part of whatever is going on.  Meg's mom told me that she never wanted to sleep because she was always afraid she'd miss out on something.   Well, that's Sophie.  It seems a little odd to classify her like that considering she's only one year old, but she wants to be where the action is.

She's still therapy-free and developing as expected.  She's also the first to try and accomplish anything new.  I would say that, at this point, she's the leader of the pack, which makes sense considering she was the largest at birth and had to deal with the least amount amount of physical difficulties from the NICU through now.  There was a part of me that didn't want to write this, because I was afraid of how it might be perceived by my girls years down the road.  But, having a trail-blazer can be a good thing.  It's also good if that person changes over the years.  They end up being short-term role models to developing minds that show them what they can and should be doing.  Who doesn't see the value in that?

I have a separate blog post in mind for this, but all of the girls have teeth.  Some more than others, but not by much.

Together, they make an awesome team.  They each have their own strengths and weaknesses, even at one year old!  I have no doubt they will continue to push, support, and challenge each other (and us) in the years to come.  What more could a triplet dad ask for?

Happy birthday babies!  You deserve it.  Enjoy being one.  The world is your oyster.  Now go find some pearls!

Izzy, warming up to the camera


If I've learned anything during my photography career, you have to keep the talent happy (and fed)!






My three beautiful babies!


As a side note, Sophie choked on this pretzel about two minutes later.  She survived, but we learned a lessson (and so did she).






My beautiful mini-me




HI can barely take it when she squishes up her face :)


Gorgeous!






This lady is sooooo happy!






Kylie, spending some quality time with Miss Sophia




What's cuter than a diaper-butt in a tutu?  If you know, please tell me.






Scott and Chris


Tim and Sophia


Kiel, on guard in the baby plaza




Carolee and Buddy joining the party








The party crew


tThis entire sequence of photos with Meg and Izzy just makes my heart melt.  Izzy was so happy that she could dance and sing with mom.







I'm pretty sure that Meg was telling her the most important secret of the world.  Can you guess what she told her?






Kelsie with Miss Fab, Sophia.


Jo Anne, messing with Maddy's hair.  Just kidding, that was the wind's fault.




I've been waiting for months to capture Sophie's squishy face on camera.  She won't do it on command and it's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time, especially when seen live.


Birthday cupcake time!  Most of the images speak for themselves.  Can you imagine what they were thinking?



















Looks like lipstick


























All the girls promptly needed baths!  Back in to the cage they went, awaiting presents and cards!


We are so thankful for everyone that brought cards and gifts.  Everything we received is extremely appreciated!  We couldn't have asked for a better first-birthday celebration for our little ladies.