The Boys on TV!

Today, the boys were on the local Decatur TV News. Okay, so technically, Grandma Carol was on the news. But the boys were there while she did her interview so there are some cute shots of the boys too!

Before I post the video, I want to explain what it's for... and mention how proud we all are of Grandma Carol!!! Back in September, mom was selected to participate in the Central Illinois Biggest Loser contest sponsored by the local TV station. There were 10 people selected from her town and a total of 30 people competing. So far, she's lost 20 lbs. Keep up the good work mom!

To help mom up the incentive/motivation, my brother Brandon decided to try and loose some weight too. So far he has lost 23 lbs. We're proud of you too! I'm so jealous of both of them. They are doing great and we want to support them however we can... Keep it up!

Here's the video:


Or go to the WAND TV Web site for the video

Blocks

Let's just say... It's harder than you'd think to get three 1 year olds to sit still for a pictures. They're all too eager to walk everywhere. But we liked the blocks!

Aloha and Mahalo!

Aloha and Mahalo! Adam and I have spent the last week here in Hawai'i on Waikiki Beach and had a very nice time.
We arrived on Saturday and spent our time familiarizing ourselves with the hotel. We ate at the Italian restaurant on site and had our first price shock. The food was great, but extremely expensive for pasta. Sunday we tried the breakfast buffet here at the hotel. $60 for breakfast buffet... and about 1/2 of it was more Japanese style (sushi, etc.). Yeah, I'm not so exotic with my eating habits. Okay, so we obviously need to eat places other than the hotel property... We spent the rest of the day exploring the Waikiki Beach area. We found some nice shopping malls and the International Marketplace. We also found the ABC stores. There are hundreds of them (and I'm not exaggerating) on the island. It's kind of like a Walgreens with souvenirs too. They are almost on every block (or two). Sunday night, we ate at Benihana of Tokyo. Here they cook your food right in front of you. I actually ate all of my food (except the salad) with chop sticks! I've never used them before and I'm not usually adventurous with my food. I ate/tried everything and was very proud of myself (granted, I did get a steak for the main course - not real adventurous there).

Monday we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center on the north side of the island. It was about an hour drive through scenic Oahu (although all of Oahu is scenic). We got to see how the islanders used to live and live today on the different Polynesian islands (before and after the missionaries). We also went to a luau and watched them unearth the (big) pig. They finished the night with a show - lots of dancers and even some fire throwers!

Tuesday we went to Pearl Harbor and toured the USS Arizona Memorial - very somber but very nice. After that, we boarded the USS Missouri (aka "Mighty Mo") and toured the decommissioned battleship that served as the signing spot for the treaty that ended WWII.

Wednesday through Friday, Adam had conference sessions in the morning then we spent our afternoons by the pool enjoying the sun and our books! Wednesday and Friday we had conference sponsored dinners. Thursday night we went on a ghost walking tour around downtown Honolulu. It wasn't bad, but we've been on better.

Adam earned the trip by completing his ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant) certification from The American College. Friday they had the commencement ceremonies where he walked across the stage to get his certificate. (This isn't him walking across the stage - those pictures turned out blurry. But they displayed the certificates on the big screen.) It was a nice ceremony, but very, very long. There were about 500 people that walked! Thankfully, I sat next to a nice gal from Ohio that was also a mom of 2 year old twin girls. Made the 2 1/2 hour long ceremony go much faster! After the "luau" (that was moved indoors because of the potential rain), there were fireworks on the beach - lots of them. Very impressive to see!

Today it rained, a lot. We were going to go to the Waikiki Aquarium, but the rain put a hamper on our travel plans. Instead, we went to the major mall near by. Tomorrow we head home... which brings me to Mahalo...

Mahalo is the Hawaiian word for Thank You. And that is what I need to say...

Mahalo to our parents (and brother and sisters) for watching our children while we've been here! Without you, we would have not been able to come on the trip. Mahalo for giving up your free time to let the boys take over your lives for days at a time.

Mahalo to my husband for working so hard to complete the certification that earned this trip to Hawai'i. Without your hard work, we probably never would have come here!

Mahalo to the boys for having a great time with grandma and grandpa and grandma and grandpa and Aunt Audrey and Uncle Brandon! Hopefully you're not having so much fun that you forget who we are! We miss you bunches! And Mahalo to Brandon and Grandpa B for the pictures and the web cam... it's been nice to see the boys walking and playing from this far away!

As nice as it is here, it will be very nice to be home with our family! Aloha!

13 Months Old

Hey Everyone! This is Alex, Logan and Nick coming at you! Mom and dad have been busy packing their bags this week, so we thought we'd update the blog and let you know all the cool new tricks we've been perfecting since we turned 1...

We are all walking now. Yes, Alex, we know you have been walking for a while now, but now we are too. It all happened right around Halloween (that was fun) and since then we've only gotten better and faster!

Have you guys noticed the difference in our meals? Yeah! So long bottles, hello sippy cups. I'm not so excited about the sippy cups, but the whole milk is so much better than the formula. Although why do they give it to us cold? I think I liked the warm a little better. I think that's why they still give us one bottle at bedtime with warm milk, so we have a little bit of the old as we adjust to the new. And then there's the goldfish! Yes, Nick, we know you have learned to love the goldfish. Alex, you like the crackers better but I, Logan... love it all! And Nick and I have even started to tell mom and dad that we want more (and sometimes that we're finished) using signs.

Speaking of talking with our hands... Do you notice how excited mom and dad get when Nick moves his hand back and forth at them? Guys, I think they call it waving. When ever some says Hi or Bye, we're supposed to look out the window and wave. It takes a little practice - at first I shook my whole body with both hands, but now I can wave with just one hand (and sometimes both). They think it's great... you should try it sometime.

Forget about the waving, I'm usually too busy trying to climb over the silly gates. Yeah Logan, you are often told No when you are doing it, but you keep trying. (I don't like that word No, so I typically ignore it - Logan) It's fun to try and climb the gates, but have you tried climbing the boxes? Mom and dad got us these awesome gifts after our birthday - diaper boxes! We've been pushing them all around and climbing up on top of them. Sometimes, if it's just right, we can climb from the boxes to the couch! It's also pretty cool when we get in them and someone pushes us around in them.


Nick, you totally missed out the other day! Logan and I broke down the gate and climbed upstairs to find mom and dad. Again, they were packing so we thought we'd come up and help. They looked like they weren't expecting us or something. It's so fun to climb the stairs though. And breaking free is of course what we aim for all the time!

Peek-a-boo! I love that game! I think it's funny when Alex stands around the corner, peeks around and Logan, you bust up laughing! It makes me laugh too. And when mom and dad play with the blankets... I don't know where they go under those things, but they are funny when we pull off the blankets and find them - or one of you.

Hurry up and finish! Mom just realized we were all together plotting. She's bound to come in and figure out what we're doing. Well, that's it for now... we'll post more next time we can get some computer time. Bye!!!

Note: Okay, so obviously this is a little late in posting. I had it started before we left for vacation, but didn't get to finish it before we left. Either way... enjoy!

Logan & Uncle Brandon

Because this was just so cute... Logan has such an awesome laugh! Here is a video from fun time with Uncle Brandon...

1st Haircuts

Shortly after their birthday, we took them to get haircuts. It was long over due! They were all starting to get shaggy and mullets are NOT back in style! We took the boys to Cookie Cutters here in town. They specialize in kids' cuts. They are set up with different stations that all have TV screens and DVD players. They have a couple with PS2s at them even! The boys got to sit in a car (with a working horn) and watch Baby Einstein. They did great! The only time they really got upset was when she blocked their view of the screen (definitely my kids). It was so different seeing them with their short hair at first. But now as I look back at pictures and see their old hair, I like their new cuts even more!



Also, don't forget to check out the new pictures on the slide show (right hand pane of the blog). So much has been going on over the past 3 weeks since their birthday. Now it's time to catch up the blog!

1st Birthday Party

On October 18th, 2007, we brought home 3 healthy baby boys from the hospital. It was only fitting that one year later, we were able to celebrate the day with all our friends and family. And we have such great friends and a wonderful family. We could not have made it through this past year with out everyone that helped us out. Thanks!!!

The boys had a good time at their birthday party. The weather was very cooperative so we were able to be both inside and outside. We moved their highchairs out into the garage for their second attempt at cake. This time I only gave them cupcakes and they seemed to be much cleaner! They still weren't very excited to try it. I even tried putting Cheerios on it, but Logan was the only one that fell for it, and he didn't like it.

The boys enjoyed all the people and attention. Thanks again to everyone who was able to make it! And thanks for helping us make it through this first year.

Here are some pictures from the day...

The Bennington Outdoor Adventure

This weekend, we took advantage of the awesome fall weather by taking the boys outside to play. On Saturday, we went over to State Farm park to walk around. There was almost no one there and when we found a play area, we actually took the boys out of their strollers and let them play on the equipment. This is probably the first time we've let them loose in the wild before. They weren't sure about the mulch stuff that they were standing on. Alex quickly took off while Logan had to taste the mulch to make sure it was safe. While Alex was over petting/smacking the rocking chicken (?), Logan and Nick enjoyed going down the slide. Logan liked riding the chicken, but kept sliding off to one side or the other.
Eventually, we got them all up on the equipment. They loved to go through the tunnel or stand at the bars and stare at the "big blue room". Adam and I each took an end/exit and the boys would do laps through the tunnel and around the walkway. Alex especially liked to do laps, although one time he tripped and banged his head into one of the bars. He now has a huge purple welt on his forehead!




Sunday, we stayed closer to home and went out in the back yard. We raked up a big pile of leaves so the boys would be able to play in them. When they first sat down, they weren't so sure about it. In fact, Nick never really did warm up to them, unless he was sitting with me. They did like to kick at the leaves, kinda like splashing the water in the bath. They looked so cute buried in the leaves! And of course, Logan had to do a taste check. It seems some of them tasted different than others so he had to do a fair sample. Nick decided he'd had enough, so he went with Adam up onto the porch. There they examined the leaf blower and grill. Keep in mind, this is the first time we've taken the boys out into our own back yard and let them crawl/walk around on their own for more than 30 seconds!




The boys has a great time and we had fun with them. Fall is by far the best season!

Happy Halloween!

Last night we dressed the boys in their Halloween costumes and handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. They really enjoyed looking out the window at all the people that walked by and came up to the door. They even didn't mind the costumes too much (although I think after a while they got hot since the weather was so nice!). Some kids even came up to the windows to talk to the boys. At one point, we mentioned to one of the moms that we had triplets inside and she said something like "Oh, you're THAT house!" Seems our triplet stroller roaming through the neighborhood is a bit of an eye catcher.



Hope everyone else had as great of a Halloween as we did! We look forward to being able to take the boys out next year. Should be an adventure all of it's own!