3 Walkers!

I've been waiting for this moment and now we have 3 walkers! I LOVE it! They are such different babies, they love their new found freedom and skill and think they are SO clever.

Back when they were little tiny babies my nanny, Anita, had a dream that Dylan would be the first to walk. We laughed about it at the time because Dylan has always been Mr Cruisy and Chilled and the other 2 are so firey. Talk about a dark horse! He did his first 'real' walk on the 16th October. I don't class walking as 'real' until they have taken a few steps together.

Only 6 days later on the 22nd October, Miss Ailah began walking. And I'm not talking about: walk a few steps - fall over - get up - walk a few steps - fall over - style walking. I'm talking get up and go. Dylan was pretty much the same. Although Ailah hasn't been walking as long as Dylan she soon caught up and surpassed his speed and dexterity. I was amazed. Both Jordan and Amali were the: walk a few steps - fall over - get up - walk a few steps - fall over - style walkers - I had never seen babies do what Ailah and Dylan did. In this video this was about the 4th time she had walked, I was left gobsmacked!

And then we waited. Isaac was always the strongest, even though Ailah had the best balance, so we actually thought he would be the first to walk. In the end, 12 days after his sister, he stood up while we were camping - and on my birthday - and walked, to his favourite thing - a ball!

I really do love this whole walking thing. With triplets it's practical! Now I get them out of the car and put them down onto the front verandah - and they walk to the door! No more 2-3 trips to get babies and bags from the car. They walk out to their play area. They walk to the bath. They walk to their bedroom. They walk, and walk and walk. With all this comes harder times, I'm sure.....but not yet. For now I will revel in this new stage and enjoy it! Jordan and Amali were never runners so I'm hoping that these 3 will be just as good!

13 Months

Time is flying by and they are growing, growing, growing. They have all taken 1-2 steps each when encouraged and are so close - I honestly can't wait for them to walk. Some may find that strange but life will be so much easier! (Insert laughter from other mums of older triplets here).
We went off to the Gold Coast to visit Dan's family again, which included a trip to Dreamworld and visits to other triplet mums down there. Of course the day we went to Dreamworld ended up being the hottest day since last summer........

Dylan and Isaac

Ailah

 Isaac on the carousel - Dylan had fallen asleep by this stage

So we came back to where we were staying and jumped in the pool. The trio had their first float in their rings and loved it - although a little apprehensive at first.

It was so relaxing until Amali decided that attempting to drown herself would liven up the party. Never again will they be allowed to play in the rings. I know it looks like I just sat there and took photos but the camera was on rapid fire to get the shots and it was only 2.5 seconds. I was sitting back from the pool edge and was about to throw the camera when I realised what had happened until I saw Uncle Matt run across and jump in the pool.

 Needless to say she was shaken but perfectly fine. 

I obviously don't feed Isaac enough....

With the weather heating up there has been quite a bit of nudity.....which in turn comes with splashing in each others wee and the gross inevitable - sampling each others poo when mummy wasn't quick enough. Ooops.

With the warmer weather brings 'outside dinners' which the big kids love (and I'm sure the babies do too). It is also a great way to introduce eating from bowls and plates to the trio as the mess gets left on the grass for the dogs to clean up - bonus!

There has also been a lot of climbing. This girl is crazy and tries to climb everything! We have since changed the set up of the TV cabinet!

 

The boys love climbing too but not as much as Ailah

 

And we now have 2 walkers! Dylan, then Ailah. Intersting. Isaac sat up first, Ailah walked first and now Dylan was the first to walk. Sharing is caring! Next blog post hopefully I'll have 3 walkers!

Isaac managed to come down with a fever that was intense but only lasted 48 hours. Here he is passed out on my bed. Awwwwwwwwww

And another cute sleeping one - don't you love it when you're pushing a pram around and don't even know they've fallen asleep?

We also went camping for my birthday weekend. Pre children - and even pre triplets - we used to camp a lot.People thought we were crazy! Camping with 1 year old triplets?! My reply was that they're not old enough to be naughty yet!

I was very proud of Dylan! He slept in the big kids tent all night without a fuss. What a clever chook!

Dylan found the plates and spoons that hadn't been washed up after my birthday Pavlova - yum!

Jordan and Amali had lots of fun - they even set up their own tent!

We had a great time and it won't be the last trip we do! Can't wait for the next.

Birthday Thank you

I know. It's been AGES! Hi there!

I'm going to back up a bit here. The day after their birthday party I got SO sick. My body said 'STOP!' And I could not refuse it. I couldn't really do much of anything. I did as little as possible for the next week. For two days I was on the couch all day. My mum was sick. My nanny was in New Zealand. I was by myself and it was horrible! I have never felt so sick. Pure exhaustion after a full on pregnancy and 12 months of triplets plus everything else I do. Yes, I know, it was my fault. And no, I won't learn, but I won't let it get to that extent again! 

Five and a half weeks later I was better. I'm fairly sure I had a chest infection. I didn't go to the doctor - for me. I went countless times over those five weeks for the babies. We really went through a bad run with illness with them. In 3 months in total we maybe had 2 weeks all up that we weren't sick. But it's all gone, we are well and our immune systems are stronger now. Phew! After that I really toned it down and did the bare minimum. I've done that now for a few months and am now getting back into the swing of things - including cleaning this house!

This is the awesome play center we got them for their birthday. It's a Step 2 Clubhouse. Many people put in for this and they LOVE it. I took these photos a few days after their birthday with the intention of turning them into thank you cards. I never got around to it. So, here you are! Thank you so much to the following people: The Quinns, The Hennigs, Linda, Taz, Kel O, Nana, Erin, Mum and Kerry, Vicki, The Meyers, Jenni, Val, Jaz and Matt and Col. Your generosity warmed our hearts.

 Ailah

 Isaac

 Dylan

 Peek-a-boo!

I had to put this pic in, Ailah is my little firecracker who generally sleeps less than the boys. So to find her like this one morning was soooooo cute!

We also celebrated my mums birthday with a surprise picnic in the park. Check out the mulberry cheesecake!!! The mulberries were picked by the kids from our tree (and a few were eaten too).

Do you think Isaac liked his?

1 Year Old!

Crazy to think this was a year ago. Our lives were changed, blessed and thrown into chaos! You can read all about their birth here. Before I get into the party, here's some pics of the last month before my babies turned 1.

11 months shot - Isaac, Ailah and Dylan

Playing in water. Splish splash splosh!

They LOVED going into Amali's room and standing up on her little couch......but they also liked pulling her already messy room to bits so I had to put a gate on it. I also have found all 3 at various times up on top of her toy box (white one that Ailah is leaning on) so I thought I needed to put a stop to that!

First time drinking out of sippy cups. I have no idea why I did it on carpet.....??

Walker races! Dylan was the first to start using these but it wasn't long before they all got into it. Funny though, if he is about to run into something/someone, Dylan stops and cries! He loves it!

Finger painting. Before.

During.

This does NOT taste nice mum.

I do NOT like this mum!

After.

Garden cart rides around the farm.

And their BIG day! (And my big day!)

It's a tradition in our house to serve pancakes on birthday mornings, and they of course need a candle in them. It was so lovely that Jordan and Amali were right into this as it made it even more special. I tried to video call Dan but it was playing up.

I love the looks on Isaac's face!

Happy Birthday Isaac!

Happy Birthday Ailah!

Happy Birthday Dylan!

Yum yum! Buttermilk pancakes with a teeny bit of Maple Syrup and a dollop of cream!

Now, I had been cooking for WEEKS. Cooking, freezing, cooking freezing, cooking, freezing...you get the picture. I did have approximately 100 people (babies-adults) coming. Yes. I know. I'm a little mad. But it was also a huge thank you to those people. At some point in the last 2 years they had been there for me, our family or our children. It was a fantastic day. It was busy. I didn't get to talk to people for half as long as I would have liked. But I did get to talk to everyone!

Now, like most people, this time I kept telling myself 'I will not be trying to finish decorating the cake as people are arriving'. And you know what - I had it finished the night before! That's a first for me. My first tiered cake. My first fondant cake. My first time ever at creating fondant figurines. I was damn proud!!!!

Did I mention that I made the fondant myself too?

I tried to make the figurines look like the babies (or children, they looked a little older). Dylan on the right with a few little curls and a higher forehead/slimmer face.

Ailah in the middle and Isaac on the left with straight hair and a rounder face. Their outfits give you a sneak peek into what they were wearing too!

Party morning arrived and I was feeling really organised. Not stressed at all. I had a list of things that needed doing and I wasn't afraid to delegate to anyone who turned up early! Mum arrived early to help out, Dan had flown in the night before, Emily Black (you remember my birth photographer?) was arriving on a 12 hour fly in fly out trip (aren't I lucky?!) and my bestie, Taryn and her mum also arrived early. I had them blowing up helium balloons, attaching name badges, putting table cloths out, putting food onto plates, setting up the jumping castle, picnic rugs, chairs, tables, play pens.... you name it - we did it!
I growled at Dan a few times. Seriously, I'd already told him to please just say yes if I asked him to do things. But no, he had to add in his 5 cents worth each time. Or say no. So quite a few expletives got thrown his way.
Of course the only thing that I hadn't done by the time people began turning up was myself! No time for a shower, just a quick change and some make up and away I went!

The invitations said 'follow the dots', so the big kids and I made these signs and I put them out Saturday morning.

This is our driveway. Mum and all the kids put coloured dots along the fence line too!

We had the newspaper come to take pictures of us, I'd done a phone interview the day before with the same reporter that had interviewed me after their birth. You can view the article here. We didn't make front page this time, only page 5, but you can see the cool biscuit display with all the kids names on them too. These were given out instead of party bags. It took so many takes to get the pics as all they wanted to do was grab the figurines off their cake!

Happy Birthday to you....

 

Here you can see the inside of the cake! It worked out great, I wanted to show off the dots on the inside so I cut a big piece out of each layer - trouble was I didn't have any idea where the colours were....and of course all 3 layers showed blue and green dots! Hence why you can see I spun the top layer around and cut it again! 

Isaac loved the cake - as did everyone I spoke to. I was stoked that it was so moist, and stoked the huge bottom tier was perfectly cooked in the middle - it took 4 hours on 120 degrees!

And the cake smash!

There was about 30 people watching this behind Emily, I was surprised that they didn't get shy. I had to encourage them to smash up the cakes, Ailah only took cream (coloured whipped cream smashes better than buttercream icing) from Dylan's cake for ages! I was a bit mean in the end, I smooshed a bit onto their heads - they did not like that!

We asked our guests that if they wanted to, they could put in for this awesome play cubby, or they could buy presents. We were so blessed! Here they are with all their pressies, so many gorgeous ones! Thank you all so much guys xxxx

What's all the fuss about mum?

I wanted to take the time to thank people. I KNOW I'm going to forget someone. I'm apologising in advance for that now!

My husband. For being with me on this crazy journey (maybe I should say 'dragged along by me'), for (mostly) supporting all that I do/want/ask, and for sacrificing so much working away in Melbourne.
My mum. For everything you have done and will do. From the texts 'pls get milk' to babysitting, to yard work, to taking Amali to ballet. There is so much!
Kerry. For all your hard work you do around here. For watching/holding/playing with babies.
Nana. For always asking 'what can I do?' Even though I always say nothing!
Dad. For all the work you have done around here!
Anita. My amazing nanny. What I would do without you I have no idea. You know x
Taryn. For forgiving me, for putting aside your tough times, for being with me, for chats, for baby sitting, for all of it x
Erin. For the countless times you have picked Jordan up, dropped him home, made me dinner, taken Jordan to soccer training/games, for bottles of wine. x
Karen and Katy. For also picking Jordan up/bringing him home many times x
Laurie, Mel, Sky, Bernie. For being great friends who I love!
Aunty Jenni and Aunty Vicki. For cleaning, baby holding, washing up, bringing washing in. x
My HOMmies. You know who you are and you GET it!
The NASS mums and dads. For cooking me dinners, offering assistance and always a smile.

I KNOW I've forgotten people - I'm sorry!!!!!!


Did I mention that the day after the party I got really sick? Of course. That's what happens when you burn the candle from both ends for weeks. I'm still sick, getting better but it really knocked me flying.
But you know what - the party was great and the food was awesome! So it was all worth it in the end.