A new little guy?!

So I haven't blogged in quite a while!  We haven't had a lot going on, but we did take a little trip to Brown County a few weeks ago!  I was getting stir crazy, to say the least, and needed to get out of the house!  Since my sister is home during the day and my mom is home in the evenings, I decided it might even be a bit of a break to go home (ya right-a break, with triplets?!).  Nikki was here over the weekend, so I followed her home on Monday and stayed home until Thursday.  Monday morning, after the boys ate at 5:30am, I stayed up and started packing and getting myself ready.  Here is a picture of most of the stuff that had to go with us!  We also took the 3 bouncy seats since the boys LOVE their bouncy seats!  Oh, and I took the triple jogging stroller because we were hoping to go for a walk, but it wasn't quite nice enough.  boo!!  Now you see why we had to get the dreaded minivan! 

It definitely helped knowing that I had my sister in her car in front of us in case we needed to stop (I have a tiny bladder-imagine me trying to take all 3 boys inside somewhere for me to use a restroom!!). Well, I was able to hold my bladder, but by the time we got packed up and left, I realized the boys were going to be due to eat during the 2 1/2 hour drive.  So about an hour into our trip, Noah was screaming because he was hungry.  I pulled over, climbed into the back seat, and fed him in his carseat.  Of course, about halfway through his bottle, Cooper woke up too!  So I fed Cooper too, pulled them both out to burp them, and we were back on the road.  I was hoping Mason would sleep until we got back, but no such luck!  about 45 minutes later, he woke up screaming, so I pulled over AGAIN and fed/burped him!  I heard Noah tooting, but I hoped it was just gas and decided to press my luck and wait to change them until we got to Brown County.  Bad decision......by the time we got to my sister's house, Noah and Mason had both pooped out of their diapers!!  So here is the result of those explosions.....their clothes were packed up in the back, behind the stroller, so we had naked babies for a little bit!  By the way, look how similar they look now!  Noah is on the left and Mason on the right-you can tell Mason is bigger but not by much anymore!! 

Anyway, Dusty made us all dinner (yumm!!) and then I headed out to my parents' house!  My parents have one regular sized crib and one older crib that is huge, so I decided to put the 2 little guys (Cooper and Noah) in the big crib together, and Mason in the other crib by himself.  Well Cooper didn't sleep very well and kept squirming and kicking Noah in the head.....bad idea!  Mason's crib mattress had a liner on it that he apparently didn't like (it was kinda noisy) so he also squirmed most of the night!  I think I got about 3 hours of sleep total!  I decided the following night they were sleeping in their bouncy seats!  While I was home, we also made a trip to Aunt Kim and Uncle Jeff's house for dinner!  It was the boys frist time at their house and we had fun!  That night was also the first time Mason put his binky in himself-big accomplishment!!  We also got to visit with Brooke and her mom while we were home!  And I CAN'T forget, we ate Benny's pizza-the BEST pizza ever!!!  yumm!  On Wednesday I suddenly developed a cold, and by Wednesday night, I noticed Cooper was starting to show symptoms of it as well.  I am a paranoid first time mom of preemies, so I decided to drive back first thing Thursday morning in case he needed to go see his pediatrician.  The trip home was much smoother, although Mason cried from about Alton to home (30 minutes probably)! 

Going home was fun, but it made me realize how much help RJ really is!!  Just having him (or someone that knows our routines) around, even if it's only in the evenings, is a huge help!  I also realized how much I love having a changing table (thanks to my brother for making it!) and how much it helps that we have things organized/laid out in ways that allow us to function so well at home!  I was glad to be home for sure, but an occasional trip is necessary for my sanity! 

So all 3 boys ended up getting my cold, but none of them developed croup or RSV, which was what I was really worried about!  As soon as we got back, I called their nurse to come give them their Synagis (RSV vaccine) that I'd been putting off-I had thought about not getting it anymore, but decided maybe it's worth it!  When she came out, she had to weigh the boys to get their dosages.  My goodness, these boys are growing like weeds!!  Mason weighed 16lbs 3.5oz, Noah 14lbs 7.5oz, and Cooper 14lbs 2.5oz.  That's right, we have a new little guy!!  No, the title of the blog does NOT mean we are HAVING a new little guy!!  Noah and Cooper have switched nicknames!  I think Noah's going to catch up to Mason soon too!!  Mason was actually so big that they didn't send enough medication for him!  The nurse had to use the leftovers from Cooper and Noah to give Mason his dose! 

We haven't had much else going on lately.  We've had ridiculously warm weather for February so the boys and I have gotten out for several walks lately.  We got to catch up with Mary and Grace (former coworker/friend and her daughter that live in our subdivison) and go for a walk last week!  I CAN'T wait to be able to walk every day-the boys really seem to like it!  Maybe one of these days I will attempt taking the dogs too-I think they are feeling left out  :( 

We had lots of visitors this past weekend!  My parents and Nikki and Conner came down on Friday night.  Saturday morning my mom, Nikki, Conner, the boys, and I all went to the MOMMES sale!  We didn't get a lot, but a few things!  My dad and RJ stayed home and worked on installing the new garage door!! yay!!  It's almost done-I can't wait to park in the garage again (the previous owners had backed into it so it was bent anyway, and then a wind storm further damaged it to the point where it wouldn't open).  RJ's dad, his significant other, Linda, and his brother Gabe, all came down on Saturday afternoon and stayed until Monday.  We loved having lots of visitors! 

Just a few updates on the boys....they are getting so fun!!  They are "talking" more and more!  They also giggle and scream (mostly Cooper).....super cute!  Everyone is still teething, but no teeth yet.  The boys turned 5 months old on March 4th-I can't believe it!!  The next day (right after all the visitors left and after daddy went back to work), Cooper rolled over from his back to his belly!  He was the last to roll from belly to back, but first to roll onto his belly!  He is rolling all over the place now!  I can't leave him unattended for long!  He even does it in his crib-makes me one nervous mama!  A couple times I've found him sleeping flat on his face-I almost had a panic attack!  He just LOVES to practice his new trick!  The little guys are also starting to have fun in their exersaucers and jumpers now-it's adorable!  I think they are starting to notice eachother more too!  They just kinda stare at eachother and smile a little bit, but it's a start! 

I'm still job searching-who knew it had become so hard to find nursing jobs?!?  They filled all of the positions I have applied for-I didn't even get calls or interviews for any of them (since the L&D interviwe).  I've applied for 5 more jobs, including medical oncology at MoBap-I planned to get out of oncology, but since I've been so specialized in that area, it might be my best/only option.  I'm hoping to hear something soon, but in the meantime, we've picked up insurance through RJ's work, so at least that relieves that stress!  It's more expensive, but I'm just glad we are covered!  As RJ put it, "maybe God doesn't want you to work right now"  Maybe he's right, caring for the boys is a full time job, and I'm hesitant to trust anyone else with them for extended periods of time, even RJ!!  :)  I just haven't been unemployed since I was 15 years old-I'm not used to it!  Plus, I'm the worrier of the two of us, so I constantly worry about money!  Hopefully RJ's job will provide enough for us until I get a job!

The boys have started sleeping SO well lately!!  They go to bed around 7:30-8 and sleep through the night, until 5:30-6, sometimes later!  After they eat, they go back to bed-usually for about 2-3 more hours!!  And they STILL nap several times throughout the day!  I feel like they are sleeping too much, but I guess I should just enjoy it while it lasts!!  Plus, if I try to keep them up, they just get cranky and fussy, so it's not worth the effort!  Yesterday I FINALLY attempted napping in cribs instead of bouncy seats!  They slept from 11:30-1:30 and then ate when they woke up, and then we played until it was time for RJ and I to eat dinner.  I couldn't keep them entertained, so they fell asleep for about 15 minutes in their bouncy seats, and then it was time to for them to eat, get baths, and go to bed!  Yay!  Hopefully they keep doing well with it, because they are starting to get too big for those bouncy seats already!!  Plus, I will be able to get SO much more done around the house now!  yay!! 

We have a few outings planned in the next few weeks-maybe my next posting will be more interesting.....or maybe not!  ha!  I was going to post some pics from my phone, but realized they are saved on my phone, not my SD card, so I'll work on that for next time....