A few quick pics

We had a busy week with a few outings and I actually made it into some of the pictures! Usually, I am the one behind the camera, but nanny Mariya helped get some pictures of mama and the girls this week.

We made a trip to Auntie Ly's on Thursday to enjoy the pool and water park area near her house! The girls enjoyed splashing around in the water and absolutely LOVED the big pool.

This is the best picture of the girls together! Either they can't sit still long enough or they rarely are looking in the same direction at the same time.

Riley trying to "catch" the water with her tongue

Lissy...trying to figure out how she can escape

Mama splashing with the girls

Mama & Lissy

Last but not least, I had to include a picture of the youngest kiddos in the play group. Baby boy Calum and Baby girl Alani are getting so big!

Mom & the girls at Funtastic Playcenter

Earlier in the week, we took a trip to Funtastic Playcenter. What a cool place this is! The girls loved it and they were able to get so much exercise climbing on all of the soft play equipment and I didn't have to worry about them falling and getting hurt. We will be visiting this place often as the weather starts to hit 100 degrees!

Too much excitement for one day!

We had the girls first dentist appointment this morning at 9:30, so my plan was to be out of the house by 8:45 since the dentist office is 30 minutes away. The girls were up, fed, had clean diapers and clean clothes on by 8:30. Finally, I'm getting good at this.

I go into the garage and open the garage door, put the strollers in the back of the Tahoe, close the garage and come inside to pack the diaper bag. Luckily, I have help with the girls during the summer, so our wonderful nanny, Mariya, arrives at 8:30 to help with the dentist appointment.

But there's one problem....

Mariya informs me that the garage door is broken. I walk into the garage.....and the top panel has fallen off the track on the left side. Great. I have a small panic attack as I realize that the car is trapped in the garage. Steve has already left for work and we have to be out of the house in 10 minutes. Must find a man! Surely, they instinctively know what to do right?

I have no luck tracking down a capable man to help me out of my situation...all of the neighbor's husbands have left for work. Best friend Jessica comes over to try and help because 3 women are better than 2 in this situation. I call Steve and he tells me I can pull on the red rope that is hanging down, which will take the door off of the electrical track. Then we can manually open it up. Then he starts rattling off instructions of who I need to call to get it fixed because he won't be home tonight. Staying overnight for a work project remember? UGHHHH.

So that's what I did. Pulled on the red rope. Best friend Jessica, Nanny Mariya and me. We made it to the dentist in time and below is a picture of our broken garage door.

Best friend Jessica's hubby came over tonight and put the door back on it's track. BF Jess kept bragging about how handy her hubby is. Says he can fix anything. He is now called "Bob the Builder." Lucky for me that "Bob" got here first, since my brother was on his way over and since I'm his sister, I can say that he is not very handy. Probably doesn't know where his dipstick is in his car. He pulled up right when "Bob the Builder" was done. I could see the relief in his eyes. He admitted that he probably would have taken a hammer to the door to get it back on the track. Note to self...always call "Bob the Builder" first, not-so-handy brother last.
(Dad, stop laughing)

Now to the dentist. My first fear for this visit--being told that we had to get rid of the binkys. I was gearing up for a schpiel about how bad pacifiers were for their teeth...yada,yada,yada. In our situation, our girls have atleast 2 strikes against them teethwise. With daddy's bad teeth genes and their premature birth, which included ventilator support for several weeks, I KNOW we have orthodontist bills in our future. Throwing in a severe addiction to the binky can't make this situation any worse.

Dr. Vicki was great. She gave me no grief about the binkys. She has no problem with them and believes they are a great self-soothing tool for little ones. She's my new best friend.

The girls each had their turn letting Dr. Vicki look in their mouths. Makena was up first, but by the death grip she had on me, I knew this wasn't going to go well. Girlfriend was holding on for dear life and clearly wasn't going to set a good example for her younger sisters.

I swapped her out for Alyssa and she did great. No crying, but still a little apprehensive.

Riley was up next. We had some crying and I had to hold her arms down so that she didn't grab Dr. Vicki by the bangs and show her who's boss. Riley was able to bite her a few times though, so she probably felt vindicated in some small way.

Makena lived through her exam, although she wasn't too happy about it. We all broke out in song singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and she seemed to enjoy that. The assistant blowing bubbles helped distract her also.

All 3 of the girls have high, narrow palates. Although this happens in children who are "term" babies, the fact that they were on the ventilator didn't help. Their palates most likely formed around the ventilator tube, so now they will need a palate expander to help widen their mouth. We have a few years to go before that happens...around 6 years old. Dr. Vicki also believes they will need braces (big surprise). Two of them have scissor bites, which means their upper jaw fits inside of their lower jaw when they bite down.

Our parting instructions were to continue brushing their teeth (darn, thought I might get out of that one). This has become part of our bedtime routine, although the girls go from cooperative to downright testy some nights. We have to start flossing, ideally every day, but Dr. Vicki, bless her heart, realizes that our house is very busy and she's happy with 1-2 times a week in the beginning.

Did I tell you she's my new best friend? Hopefully, she doesn't lower the boom on me in 6 months when we go back for our next visit.

Makena(in purple), Alyssa(in pink), and Riley(in blue)

What was I thinking?

This is what I used to do on summer vacation! Despite the fact that I will probably only get through 1 book (maybe) this summer, I wishfully bought 7 books last week in 2 totally separate moments of weakness. I love to read and stockpiling books is a favorite obsession of mine! I didn't even need these 7 books since I have 2 boxes of unread books sitting in my closet. But the books in the boxes aren't the latest releases, which has brought us to the current purchases. These weren't even books I wanted and I haven't even heard of some of the authors. DAMN that Borders store for putting the display OUTSIDE so that people walking by can get sucked in by the cheap books on sale for $4.99. Mission accomplished. They found their sucker.

Nature's Miracle

Does Nature's Miracle work on removing stains and odors left by my
three miracles? Haven't used the stuff in over a year, since we had to move our dogs outside, but it came in quite handy yesterday when I was getting the girls ready to go swimming over at Aunt Jodi's. I took Riley's diaper off to put on her swim diaper...and in less than 5 seconds, girlfriend walked over to the carpet, squatted and started peeing. Couldn't believe my eyes. Are they being raised in a barn? Or is the saying, Were they born in a barn? Either way, the answer is NO. The least she could have done was squat 6 inches to the right and pee on the tile. I know they are starting to discover all their various body parts, but when she stuck her hand in the stream of pee, I almost *passed out.

It also doesn't help that our carpet is super absorbant and sucked up the pee in nanoseconds. Haven't been on my knees spraying Nature's Miracle and blotting the carpet so quickly in quite some time. Luckily, we still had some underneath the kitchen sink...better go buy more.

*didn't really almost pass out, but it sounded good for the dramatic effect

Our new look!

I am SUPER excited about the new look of our blog. Lindsay over at

Splat Designs hooked us up with a custom look and I am really happy with how it turned out.

What do you think? Like it, love it, hopefully you don't hate it....I'd love to get some feedback from any Quilao blog fans out there.

Thanks for all the comments lately, I've had a few new commenters and I LOVE hearing from you. It makes a girl happy to know that you are enjoying our blog. Don't be shy...stop lurking and give us some love!

Time flies when you're 22 months old

I can't believe that my girls are going to be 2 years old in just 2 months. Everyday, I notice how much they are growing and changing. They are getting so tall and are starting to show some independence and stubborness by wanting things done THEIR way.

For example,

Mommy: "Lissy, can I have a kiss?"

Lissy: Shakes head and says "no" (but often gives me one anyway) She's already getting satisfaction just by telling me no!

The girls are starting to be more caring towards each other. Giving each other bites of their food or a drink from their sippy cup, offering up their pacifier, and starting to give hugs and hold hands. We have started to play "Ring around the Rosie" and the girls are getting the hang of holding onto each others hands to do it. Riley and Makena were running through the kitchen holding hands just yesterday. Nothing sweeter than to see your babies lovin' on each other. They are also starting to point at each other and say "sissy."

We are starting to hear more words from the girls and they are trying to imitate words more often. A few people have asked me what words the girls are saying and I always seem to draw a blank so I am going to document for the record what we are hearing in the house (Tracey, this is for you!)

mama
dada
more--sounds like “mo”
no
night-night
sissy
cracker--sounds like cra-ca
please--sounds like “me”
cat--sounds like “ca”
eyes
nose--sounds like no
nana for banana
up--sounds like “bup”
hi
bye-bye
shhh-(they put their finger up to their mouth when someone is crying)
poo-poo
boo-boo
choo-choo
go
ball
baby
spoon--sounds like “poon”
bubble
down

They know sounds for cow, monkey, elephant, dog, cat, pig, sheep, horse, duck
They will also point to their eyes, nose, mouth, head, feet, ears

Still using baby signs regularly for milk, drink, eat, please, bath, more, sleep, baby, love, blanket

They enjoy hanging out in the loft upstairs and will pile into the glider chair and sit together (until someone hits or bites or pushes them off) and watch their "Wiggles" video. Pretty scary when I find myself walking around the house singing "Hot Potato"

Bath time is a favorite activity and we can usually spend a good 45 minutes to an hour in there just watching the girls splash around.

All is good in the house right now. Everyone is sleeping great. Naps have been a little off this week. The girls have still been going down for a morning AND afternoon nap, but would only go down for 1 nap 3 days this week. Mom is cool with that as long as it is for atleast 3 hours...we'll see how it goes this coming week!

I am on VACATION for 4 weeks until school starts again in late July. I'm trying to get some fun activities planned for the girls, so we'll post some pictures of what we're doing. Their first "peek-a-boo" dentist appointment is next Wednesday. Should be fun!!!!

Bone Marrow Donor needed

A 4-Month Old Triplet Urgently Needs Your Help!

Elyse Yu is only 4 months old and the first born of triplet girls.

Elyse has been diagnosed with HLH disease, a rare and life-threatening blood disorder which occurs in only one in a million people. She is currently receiving chemotherapy until a matching bone marrow donor is found. The most likely match will be from a donor of Korean descent. Can you help save this little girl's life? MOST is encouraging all families to consider registering to become a donor today. Registration is free for Asian and other special populations

from which donors are especially needed.

You can visit Elyse's website http://www.elyseyu.com/ to learn more about her story.

Follow this link to find out more information about registering with your local donor center.

****Please help get Elyse's story out. If you have a blog, consider posting her story and information about becoming a donor****

Our new toy

Our choo-choo wagon has arrived and it has been a big hit so far! From what I have read and heard from other moms, the availability of this product has been hit or miss over the last couple of years and I was lucky enough to buy it at the right time. The difficulty is that the first 2 cars (purple & green) come together...those are available all the time. The orange car is sold separately and goes in and out of stock quickly...so for a triplet mom or a family wanting to pull more than 2 kiddos, we're stuck without the dang orange car. I actually called the company on a Friday and was told they were out of the orange car and they didn't know when it would be available again. I went into a panic thinking I would never find one, but heard from another triplet mom the following Monday that the orange car was available again. You can attach up to 3 orange cars to pull 5 kids total.

The girls love it and Lissy says "choo-choo" when we go for a walk!

A new talent discovered....

Yep, Riley is now snorting her fruit (and then eating it) and couldn't be more proud of herself.

Happy Father's Day

Daddy, we love you for all that you do.

We'll kiss you and hug you 'cause you love us, too.
You feed us and need us to teach you to play.
So smile 'cause we love you on this Father's Day.

Thanks daddy for all your hugs, kisses and love

You light up our days

And to my daddy......

Thanks for always being such a strong presence in my life!

You are the best dad a girl could ask for

I have fond memories as a little girl driving around in your little yellow porsche

We'd honk at strangers--wave and laugh!

Playing baseball, hotbox, and basketball

Taking naps on the couch in the afternoon

Waking up in the morning to music in the living room

(Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind, & Fire...you name it)

Dancing for us (Bus Stop, Electric Slide)

Going for bike rides on warm summer days

Going to the movies on HOT summer days and daddy would always fall asleep

You'd snore and wake yourself up (ha-ha)

I inherited your love of anything chocolate

You always have such a great sense of humor and we love to laugh

I always feel safe with you dad and am so lucky to have you

BIG HUGS AND KISSES ON FATHER'S DAY

They're Here!

We picked up Riley's glasses this morning! She's doing really well with keeping them on and her sisters haven't tried to pull them off her face once this afternoon, which is really surprising me. Here are a couple of pictures I took today...we had to upload them so daddy can check her out. He is enjoying a Father's Day weekend with my dad and brother in Monterey.

Enjoy your golf boys!

A day of "firsts"

We had our "first" 100 degree day on Wednesday, which no doubt means that we are in for a long, hot summer. We have some other fun "firsts" going on in our house.....

Riley gave herself her "first" strawberry facial

The "first" day mom made us wear our "Little House on the Prairie" hats

Our "first" hammock ride

Our "first" popsicle

The "first" time Riley decides to ditch the indoor plumbing for the bush in the front yard. The "first" time Alyssa stands guard to make sure nobody's looking.
(kidding of course, just making sure you're paying attention and staying entertained. I'm not sure what these 2 were up to...planning their escape, probably.)

The many faces of Makena--part II

One of my little monkeys can be quite the ham for the camera. For some reason she hams it up best while eating in her highchair. Don't mind the oatmeal on her face! Check out part 1 from a previous post.

This is just a bonus picture of monkey girl that nanny Mariya caught on camera. Needless to say, there is no shortage of entertainment in our house!

Come on over

It's $1 drink night at the house and ladies 2 and under get in for free!

Entertainment includes a wet diaper contest

AND

A mechanical bull (okay, that's a stretch, but the 2 year olds don't know the difference)

Don't get caught with your pants down because hidden cameras are EVERYWHERE!

A courtesy shuttle is available for the hardcore party animals

Strawberry shortcake and other random pics

What better way to start a post than with a delicious looking dessert? You are looking at my husband who has developed an obsession for strawberry shortcake and has eaten it almost every night for the last 2 weeks. He's kinda weird like that....he'll hit something hard for a few weeks and then get sick of it and won't eat it again for years. So, if you are coming over to our house anytime soon, be ready to eat some strawberry shortcake. The boy has some Martha Stewart in him somewhere...he made the beautiful creation himself! Sorry for the big hair....that's the untamed version.

On to the girls...I have some random pictures from the last couple of weeks. The little stinkers continue to get into everything, including squeezing into small, cramped places. Riley thought it would be fun to try out the storage area underneath the stroller. That unhappy face is because she can't figure out how to get herself out of there. I had to take off one of the seats and pull her out from underneath like an auto mechanic.

As usual, Miss Makena has managed to climb her way into the stroller...mom's heart is beating a little more quietly since we are on the carpet and not looking at hard tile down below in case she falls....these girls need helmets and kneepads! That's Riley in the storage area below having a serious "conversation" with Lissy.

Here we are on Saturday night, fresh out of the bath. Daddy is working out in the backyard, momny runs back upstairs to pick up the wet bath towels...I'm gone for 2 minutes. My 3 darling daughters somehow manage to get the fireplace open and Riley climbs in to check it out. Imagine Steve's surprise when he walks in the house and the girls are downstairs by themselves with Riley in the fireplace and two jealous sisters clawing at each other trying to get in with her. The fireplace is now toddler proof!

The "after" picture. They know they got it open once and are putting their heads together to do it again. They know mom and dad are NOT smarter than three 21 month olds.

The girls playing with Evan in his sandbox...this is a rare picture of Evan smiling for me because he is so shy! At times, the girls can be quite overwhelming for poor Evan as they come over and try to play with all of his toys and get in his space. Hmmmm....I wonder if he'll mind so much in about 16 years?

Auntie Jessica (Evan's mommy) with Lissy. It's so great to live right next door to my best friend who I have known since I was 13 years old! Luckily for us, her backyard has grass, a sandox and a baby pool so we love to make ourselves at home until daddy finishes our yard.

Riley and Makena are modeling their new play shoes. Apparently, "crocs" are the hot item for toddlers this year, since they are selling like crazy at Babies R Us.

My dad and stepmom came to visit last weekend and helped us take the girls to the park. Riley and Alyssa enjoyed the swings with Grandpa and Nana!

My niece Katie was lucky enough to get a kiss from Lissy. She has started to give kisses away more readily these days. Melts my heart everytime!