Team Photo

This is the first time we have captured the whole family in a photo. I noticed we were all on the sofa together and luckily Jason was over so I asked him to quickly grab the camera.

Tots

We have been enjoying having friends visit and play now that we are healthy again and the weather has been great. Here is Michelle's mom entertaining all of our children.

Harper and Lucy joining Evan, Lily and Will for dinner.

Lily

David and Lily practicing the word 'mouth' with baby Holden.

Earlier in the day I said that Lily looked ridiculous in this outfit - giraffe shirt, too short flowered pants and purple polka dot socks that she picked out. She understands so much more than I realize, I hurt her feelings and she started to cry. We cuddled and made up. I told her she looked beautiful and said 'cool?' - she said 'cool'.

First Month

Our sweet baby Holden is one month old today.

He is just starting to have more periods of quiet alertness and will look for me and David when he hears our voices. He still sleeps most of the time but is falling into some patterns of consolidated sleep and will sleep three to four hour chunks a couple times a day - at around 6pm, when things start to wind down at our home, and again aound 11pm.

He is also becoming a more adept nurser which means that I can snuggle with him at night and nurse lying down instead of getting up. Lately he has been sleeping in bed with me and David, something his siblings didn't get to do.

Physically I can see a bit of each of his siblings in his features. Holden has Will's big eyes, Lily's full lips and the same furrowed brow she had as an infant and Evan's long fingers and toes.

Happy first month birthday little love. We adore you.

Baby Jogger

David is still taking the kids out jogging in the baby jogger, although not as frequently lately since it has been pretty cold in the mornings. I used to run with them too before getting pregnant with Holden.

Lately Will has also decided to take up jogging with his baby jogger. Appologies for the blurry photo, he is just so fast.

Waiting for Daddy

Birth Announcement Photo Outtakes

The Diagnosis

We have a myriad of illnessess...

Lily has a double ear infection with a fever 102 at the doctor's office.

Evan's ears look good and he didn't give us a diagnosis for the fever/vomitting. I guess he doesn't know and we will just have to hope that this is a 24 hour thing, not a two week virus like last time.

I described Will's sore on his tounge and raised spots on his hands and the Dr. said he has Hand, Foot and Mouth disease which aslo just needs to run it's course, typically 5 to 10 days.

He switched us to our fourth round of antibotic. This time Suprax. Last time they took Suprax they got terrible raw bottoms so they gave me some diaper rash cream samples and told me to call if that doesn't work. I already know that won't work.

It's looking like rough weekend ahead. Having sick babies is the worst. Our normally cheerful and energetic toddlers become clingy and whiney. And we are quarantined from the social circuit. I'm not sure what we can do to stop this cycle of illness. I'll try to disinfect the entire house and all their toys today.

Two Down...

Evan had a rough night, he was feverish and distraught so David let him sleep with him. He ended up throwing up while in bed with David. He is still hot this morning despite alternating doses of Motrin and Tylenol.

Lily was standing up in her crib last night when we went in to go get Evan. I checked her temp and it was also over 101. I let her stay up a bit and gave her a bottle. She seemed in good spirits so I put her back in her crib and seems better this morning.

I'm taking them both in to the doctor this morning to get them checked out. I've seen lots of posts on rotovirus on the AMOM list, it can't be that again, can it? That would push me over the edge. Or maybe it is the flu. Only Will and I ended up getting flu shots this season.

Hanging with Dad

Holden catching a nap while David catches up with some work at the end of a long day.

Happy Valentine's Day

Couldn't capture a group Valentine's Day photo, but here are a few snapshots before bedtime tonight.

The boys.

Will would rather me hold him and read 'Where is Spot' again...and again...than take his photo.

Evan looking a bit glum but still cute as a button. He got a fever for Valentines Day. I thought we were finally getting better, hopefully this will pass soon.

Lily is enamoured with her baby brother. She is now saying 'Hoo-den' and still enjoying showing us his eyes, nose and toes. Holden seems to be warming up to her too.

Will seems less impressed and gives Holden the Heisman.

New Shoes

We packed everyone up and made it out to Sandy's shoes yesterday. The kids don't get out much so it felt like a fun field trip. The had a blast exploring the store and everyone got sized properly and new shoes that fit. It was waaay overdue, everyone went up a size or more.

Will went from size 3 to size 4.5 W

Lily went from size 3 to size 5 R

Evan went from size 4.5 M to size 5.5 M

I found Stride Rights like Evan's old ones for Will and Evan got some cool Eccos. Luckily both were on sale.

Lily got squeaky shoes with pink butterflies. She had a blast dancing in them and making noise. We can take the squeak out when it starts to drive us batty but for now it is just fun to see her enjoy them. David thinks it will be a good way to keep track of her too. I think the boys were a bit dissapointed that their shoes don't squeak.

Weekend

Our weekend routine is to give the kids breakfast then pack the trips in their train and go to Pacha for our morning lattes. Now we also have Holden who is carried by David in the bjorn. It is quite a sight to see David with our entire brood in tow.

I still haven't captured a photo because, well, we have our hands full. By the time we get all six of us dressed and the diaper bag packed I can't seem to grab our nice digital SLR camera. I need to power up my point and shoot and keep it in my bag.

This Saturday after Pacha we met up with some friends at our local Taco Shack for breakfast tacos then off to the park for a couples and kids mega playdate.

It seemed exponentially challenging to keep up with our trio with an infant in tow. And it didn't help that it is a beautiful day and the park was packed. Also our toddlers are getting quicker and can dash away in an instant. We seemed to keep losing track of someone.

At one point they were all playing peacefully with the rocks and shovels and we let our guard down. A moment later David noticed that Evan was missing. We both quicky scanned the playscape and I noticed Evan at the very top of the big red slide.

My heart dropped. The slide is almost fifteen feet tall and has steep metal stairs. I called out 'No Evan!' which in hindsite was not the best choice because instead of flinging himself down the slide hands first he started to back up. David ran to the side to catch him in case he fell off and I dashed up the stairs and grabbed him.

We had enough excitement for the day and packed everyone up to return to the safe haven of our protected yard.

The Schedule

When the triplets were born we lived and breathed by 'the schedule'. They came home from the NICU on a three hour feeding schedule. It was not long before they were eating every four hours at night.

They were getting breastmilk but I was pumping, not nursing, so we knew exactly how much they consumed. We charted every feeding, diaper change, medicine dose and sleep time. It helped us communicate with each other, stick to a consistent routine and probably most importantly gave us the illusion of control. Even though actually we had little control with three infants.

Now the difference is we have one breastfed baby and it is not looking like I will have any chance to get him on a schedule.

He eats on demand which has turned out to be every two to three hours often with 'snacks' in between. In the evenings, right when I finally decide to crawl into bed, he gets insatiable and wants to feed on and off for over two hours.

Last night I decided to pump and supplement him with formula to try and fill him up. He consumed three ounces of breast milk, then topped that off with eight ounces of formula!! No wonder I haven't been able to satisfy him. I was worried he was going to get a stomach ache so I tried to slow him down and give him his pacifier after each couple of ounces. He still wanted milk.

The upside was that after this binge he slept soundly for over three hours.

He is already around nine pounds and at this rate he will catch up with his 22-23 pound siblings in no time.

Caring for Baby Brother

The kids are cute with Holden. This afternoon Evan came up to Holden and planted several kisses on his forehead. At one point Will brought me Holden's clothes and socks while I was nursing him. Lily helped me change his diaper and brought me the diaper cream and even when and put it back in it's place without me asking. It is amazing to see our babies grow up and interact with us on a completely different level. And I'm so glad they already are fond of their new brother.

Point of No Return

We are finally moving forward with our renovations. Our delays cost us three months of extra rent and numerous architecture hourly fees for adjustments to comply to new regulations. But we are ready to put that behind us. There is no turning back now - our kitchen is completely demolished and walls have been removed. It is both exciting and frightening.

The remains of our kitchen. As bad as it looks, we can also start to visualize how open and livable our new floorplan will be.

Bottles

I'm not sure how I'm ever going to get my children off of bottles. We gave them up several months ago, but brought them back when they were sick. Now they are more persistant about having them. Evan now says 'me ba' 'me ba' when he wants his bottle.

We have successfully given up the morning bottle. It took a few days suffering through morning fussiness and thrown sippy cups and then they adjusted. I think nap bottle is next to go, but have been holding off since we have been transitioning from one nap to two. That was enough change for one moment in time. We have recently stretched the nap time to start at 12:30 and the last two days they have slept over two hours. So we may just be about there with the new schedule. So it may be time to try and drop that bottle. But they sure do love their milk, especially the boys.

My mom had to return to Florida this week but David's parents are still able to come and help us out several times a week. We are lucky to have involved family to pitch in and spend time with the kids. It is great to see their eyes light up when they see their grandparents. Will, Evan and Lily have also had a chance to form an even stronger bond with dad these last few weeks. David took two weeks off from work and since I have been up through the night with Holden he has been getting up every morning with the trips, changing them, dressing them and making them breakfast.

I've been spending most of my time with Holden and miss spending as much time with my other children. I find myself nursing Holden in the evening and trying to read them books at the same time. I want to begin to find ways to spend one on one time again with each of my babies in the following weeks.

Buggy

Holden is doing well, despite catching an upper respitory infection from his siblings. He is a bit congested but he is sleeping and eating well and seems content. I was concerned about his respiration rate being elevated - it has been consistently above 60 breaths per minute and it should be closer to 40 - so I took him to Children's Hospital over the weekend. The wait was long unlike our last visit but the news was good. The doctor was fine with his breathing and verified that his lungs were clear and that he does not have RSV or the flu. So we are just letting him sleep a bit elevated to help keep the passage ways clear. He seems to be doing a bit better already.

Will, Evan and Lily were diagnosed with sinus infections last week and are on their third round of antibotic this winter season. They also seem to be turning the corner and feeling and sleeping better. I can't wait for this bug season to end and have happy healthy babies again.

Playtime with Uncle Jason

Lily is impressed with Uncle Jason's coloring skills.

Baby Latte

Evan enjoying Starbucks on a sunny afternoon. Evan kept vying for my coffee. I thought that if I gave him a sip he would realize that he didn't like coffee. It backfired, he loves it.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Many of you may not know, but Groundhog Day is an important holiday for the Freas Family. David's dad grew up in Punxsutawney and his great great grandfather's brother Clymer Freas, editor of The Punxsutawney Spirit, is credited as one of the founders of Groundhog day.

Usually we throw a party and make the secret family ground hog punch recipe. This year we were busy with our new baby and almost let the holiday slip by unnoticed.

Luckily David's parent's decorated our house for us and our neighbors gave us a special Freas Family groundhog.

Phil, aka 'seer of seers' 'prognosticator of prognosticators' saw his shaddow this year predicting six more weeks of winter. If it is six more weeks of weather like today that is fine by me.