I've been sitting on these shots for over a week now because I just haven't been able to sit down and upload them! With all the nice weather we've been having we have just been way too busy running around outside! We also haven't been getting much good sleep lately...as usual. (Maybe one day I'll actually take time to write about that too!)
Here are some of our favorite shots from the shoot!
a sweet snuggle moment with Ellie
flying with Mama
more snuggle bug time...this time with Grandma
seriously examining his stick
(this boy seriously has the most beautiful lips & lashes!)
checking back in
flying boy!
playing chase!
our little speedster
I caught her!
running!!!
wow!!!
someone decided that walking around the fence was the boring way!
a cute sibling moment
and another one
I LOVE this one of our little thumbsucker!
a boy & his boat
hugging a bunny statue
family shot with my mom & dad
spontaneous group hug
family tulip watering
playing in the water
love watching them learn & explore...
and be ridiculous!
Our one attempt at getting all three to sit for a pic...
(note the outfit change post water play!)
In hindsight although I love their black & white outfits I wish we'd had them in
these outfits from the get go because it doesn't wash them out as much. Oh well!
The "real" pictures should be back any minute now, but before we get the professional shots I thought I'd post a few pics that my mom took during our photo session last weekend at the Penn State arboretum & botanical garden. We have been getting pics taken every six months or so and were planning to do pics in April, but after talking with Emily (who also took their six month photos) we decided the weather would be better and the backgrounds prettier if we waited until May. And since my parents were coming in May I thought we'd wait until they were here so we could get some nice shots with the kiddos and their grandparents too. Unfortunately, the timing of their visit wasn't great in that it coincided with PSU graduation weekend and Mother's day which meant the arboretum which is usually very low key and fairly empty was jam packed with grads and their families all wanting to take pictures! Just like when we did their one year shoot we were lucky and a little unlucky with the weather because it was a beautiful sunny hot day, but sunny days are not good for the lighting for pictures. And since the garden is only about a year old there aren't many, if any, big trees to provide shade, so we left the garden for a bit and hung out in a field surrounded by tall pines that we think is part of the grounds of where the president of PSU lives, but we really aren't sure. =)
Here are some shots my mom took. It was hard for me to do, but I left my camera at home. Stay tuned for the professional shots later this week!
getting all gussied up. Ellie was adamant about her shoe choice!
Here's a quick compilation of a few seconds of video of us trying to get a shot of us all walking together...
triplet refueling after all that running around
we also found a field of dandelions behind the arboretum
After a while we headed back into the garden...
beautiful double tulips
this was way too tempting & I think 2 or 3 tulips bit the dust during our time here!
Avery with her "will anyone notice if I rip off just one petal?!" look...
I knew we wanted some pics by the water pump in the children's garden, but we also knew those needed to be at the end because inevitably they would end up soaking wet...
I love that they have these little watering cans for kiddos to use...
they LOVE filling them with water
and watering the flowers...
At this point they were already wet so I figured "what the heck, let's go wade in the water too!"
checking out the little cork boats they have for kids to play with (have I mentioned how much I LOVE this children's garden?!)
more fun with boats
yup, that happened! good thing we waited til the end!
After all that fun in the water we stripped everyone down & changed clothes. We debated about which outfits to have them in for pictures and now that I look at their coloring in the candid shots I'm not sure we made the right choice, but their little black & white outfits are so cute it was hard to decide! Oh well, I'm sure we'll get some great shots anyway...
getting dirty in the sandbox in the cave (Isaiah would probably stay here for hours)
Grandpa & Isaiah headed out to find a spot for lunch round two
I can't remember what was cracking Ellie up, but I just love this series of her laughing and had to put them all in! I also like seeing Avery's expressions throughout the series...
And one last shot of us all packed up and headed home...
My mom & dad arrived last Wednesday night. I told them I needed their help with a big project...potty training triplets, round one. As you know we've been putting these three on the potty since they were six or seven months old and a good friend of ours swears there is a potty training window at 18 months. Well, we are now 18mo adjusted and with extra hands and eyes on board I figured we might as well give it a go. We did a version of the 3 day potty training method that another triplet family we know used which basically has the kiddos naked from the waist down and you just catch them in the act and swoop them to the potty and then celebrate like crazy if they even get a little in the potty. It is harder than you might think to keep your attention focused on these bodily functions even when you are focused on them one on one and not trying to do anything else! And with three the challenge is certainly magnified! I'll skip the suspense and just tell you that we are far from being done with diapers around here. =) Well, Avery is well on her way and basically diaper free except for naps & nighttime now. Ellie is showing more and more that she isn't too far behind, but I think it'll be a little longer for Isaiah. We cleaned up quite a bit of pee (and a couple poops), but we also spent a lot of time outside which helped minimize the mess. In the end, the kids had a few fabulous days of nakey-time and had a great time playing with Grandma Rae & Grandpa Mark. Here are some pics of day one
too chilly in the morning for all out nakedness so we compromised
water table fun with G&G
one gone rouge...likely on a mission to destroy a tulip...
post nap potty & water...
Grandpa was sharing his ice water...once he got wet though Isaiah was done...
Avery kept going back for more even though she kept getting freezing cold
ice water all down her belly!
They were all pretty fascinated with Grandpa's nipples & the fact
that they were always accessible. Avery decided to see if they worked like
Mommy & Mama's...she was disappointed when she just got a taste of sunscreen! =)
nakey in the swing
fly!!
Ellie getting a little snuggle time with her baby, who unlike her,
is wearing a diaper! (Thanks Grandma Stephen!)
How's
that for alliteration?! Last weekend we had a gogreous sunny and suprisingly sunny
Saturday so we took the triplets to the beach. (There I go with the S's again!)
About 25 minutes from our house there is a little lake with a small beach that
we have heard people talk about, but never actually been to. It was so sunny
and nice that Michelle decided to play hookey from PhD Land and just spend the
day with us. We wanted to do something fun and outside so we decided to check
out Whipple Dam. We left a little after nine and hoped that the kiddos might
take a little car nap on the way. Naturally they fell asleep about ten minutes
before we got there! We folllowed a handful of other cars into the park and
thought that was odd, but we were blown away by how packed it was. We got out
of he car and at first glance it looked like the entire lake was surrounded by
fishermen standing practically shoulder to shoulder and we were ready to bail.
But we were meeting a friend there so we decided to stay and after a little
investigation we found out that it was opening day of trout fishing season!
Thankfully, there was no fishing from the beach so it worked out just fine.
While we were
playing in the sand I stumbled on a fun and super easy balance activity for
toddlers and thought I'd share. You know how toddlers just LOVE to knock down
block towers, and basically destroy just about anything?! Well, they also LOVE
to stomp on and destroy sandcastles! Their initial instinct was to just squat
down and smash them with their hands, but with a bit of prompting and just a
little support at first they got the hang of stomping on them and then that was
all they wanted to do. I just used one of their little stacking cups that we
brought to the beach and kept scooping up sand and making mini castles and they
would just follow me around stomping on them left and right.
Oops, he missed...
And Avery jumped in & stomped it before he could
Why do I like this
activity? Well, in order to stomp on the castles they have to briefly stand on
one foot. And while most of us don't spend much time each day standing like
flamingos, we do stand on one foot at least a few times most days. If you stand
up to put on your pants or your socks or shoes, you are standing on one foot.
By the age of three most children should be able to stand on one foot for at
least three seconds with a stable trunk and hands on their hips. If you don't
get to the beach as often as you'd like you can also work on single leg balance
by having kids kick balls, knock down block towers with their feet, try to pop
bubbles with their toes, or stand up to put their feet in shoes (even if you
have to help a little.) Just being at the beach is great for working on balance especially for toddlers who have been walking for a few months because just walking on the uneven sand and in shallow water is a great balance challenge!
