Our Chill Girl

I remember the NICU nurses saying, "those boys are going to give you a run for your money, but Charlotte is very chill." Turns out they were right! For the most part Charlotte hangs out, dozing in and out of sleep. She chirps and squeals once in a while, but mostly relaxes in your arms, rests on the napper, or kicks and plays on the mat with little complaints. Just make sure her binky is close by and all is good!!

He's a Dancin' Machine!

I was in a meeting yesterday and received this on my phone from my mom. VERY difficult to keep a straight face, but this workin' momma loved seeing dancing Baxter show off his moves.

Smiley Joe

There's nothing more rewarding these days than getting a big 'ole smile from one of the babies. Alton seems to feel happily relieved after a little burp in this video!

A Little Note From Kreg

this was found in the newspaper...

Cousins

I absolutely needed to post this picture of my nieces and nephew with our babes.
Like my own, I remember the day each were born like yesterday.
It was in New York when our first grandbaby, Sarah, arrived. I was laying on the lawn of Madison Square Park with my friend Keren exclaiming "it's a girl!". The first feeling of our mortal selves passing through to another little being was so new to me.
Then Elise arrived. Like myself, she was the second "Stimson sister" and immediately took to her.
Shannon came along and I marveled at how distinctly "Stimson" she looked and cried at the sight of her 2 sisters peering through the nursery window with balloons in hand, welcoming her into their world.
Finally, little Scotty arrived. I remember the late night phone call from my parents exclaiming "it's a boy!". We all piled into the small hospital room to hug my exhausted brother and sister-in-law and meet the new little prince.

Sooooo....I spent many years watching my brother's beautiful family grow up, he and Nancy, showing me what parenthood could be. At first Scott lightheartedly said, "we need cousins!", and then it was a taboo subject... There were whispers and quiet conversations of past doctor's appointments and failed IVFs, but today I am pleased to post my additions to the family. I'm pleased to announce the "COUSINS".

Reaping the Benefits

SURVIVAL MODE
Since the babies were born we've been in survival mode. First, we survived the emergency C section, then we survived the fears of the NICU, and finally we're beginning to see glimmers of surviving newborn triplet at night. We've been feeding, burping, changing, swaddling, and binkying for about 9 long weeks with all 3 babies at home….and it's been hard. There were moments when I thought that Kreg might not make it through as I looked into his glassy eyes as he mumbled to me at 3am. Whether it's having a baby's body slowly go limp as you shushed them to sleep and closing the nursery door with a celebratory dance or watching them turn their heads towards your voice as you enter a room …. we've been gathering every tiny nugget of parenthood rewards to replenish our spirits through this survival mode.

THEN IT HAPPENED
It was a sudden change of events and it snuck up on us. Our little preemies started becoming BABIES...active, cooing, rolling, smiling babies! Best of all, I'm pretty sure they recognize us since they are smiling right at us…at things we are doing…not just gas bubbles. And so it begins; we're reaping the benefits of parenthood and basking in the moments of smiles and gurgles. We're watching developments beyond the physical and into the mental and emotional and we're thrilled.

SMILES
Alton: Alton is the leader of the smiles; after all, he IS the first born. Each day the smiles seem to get brighter. This morning I lifted him out of his crib; Alton looked directly into my eyes and granted me a GIANT SMILE as if saying "good morning mommy, I sure do like you and I'm so excited to start my day!"
Baxter: Baxter is the sleeper smiler. When you least expect it, BAM, Baxter hits you with a sly little grin paired with his big baby blues. If it happens to you, you're bound to exlaim "Baxter just smiled at me!!!" They're not frequent, but they're powerful.
Charlotte: We used to joke that it seemed like Charlotte wanted to talk…we were right. Though she's always chimed into conversations with her squeals and squeeks, Charlotte has just begun to form gurgle cooing sentences with a little crooked smile. Kreg was floored after she took a third of a bottle, stopped, chirped and smiled in approval of her meal, and continued on eating.

Our little schmoopies are growing up.

Sunday Morning

I thought I'd post this image as it is pretty representative of our Sunday mornings. The babies all want our attention to be settled after their morning bottle and it's usually just Kreg and I which means only 4 hands. This morning I held and swayed a fussy Baxter and Alton until they were quiet enough for me to put them down and grab a sip of coffee.

Sooo Sleepy

I ran out to go grocery shopping and when I came home I could not find Kreg or Charlotte. Cleo was poking her head into the office so I checked it out. This is what I found on the office floor.

Freedom!!!

Well...kind of. I came home from work on Friday to find my mother-in-law and Kreg pushing Alton around in our (drumroll please) NEW TRIPLE STROLLER! This thing is great because we can snap our Graco carseats right onto the frame. It was nice enough yesterday to take it for a test-drive... which was our first walk together as a family. The walk was VERY good for mommy and daddy as it gave us a glimmer of spring. The daffodils were in bloom, trout fisherman lined the stream, and the klinck of little league baseball bats rang out in the distance. What a nice day....thanks doubledeckerstrollers.com.