Halloween 2008

We're finally back from a very successful candy haul. We really did not go to many houses, maybe 15 total, but the kids got more candy tonight than Meva and I have ever gotten for them before. If only the economy was doing as well as my kid's candy sugar fortunes!

The kids were very excited about getting their costumes on. They'd all worn them at least once before and tried them on in addition to that, so they were very familiar with what they were. The boys were especially excited to get dressed up and if it weren't for the promise of candy afterwards, they would have thrown a bit of a fit I'm sure.

The warmer than usual weather was nice, especially with the kids all having head colds. We once again received more looks and comments about the train than anything else. I guess I'm going to have to get used to that, I just never thought it was that uncommon.

The kids enjoyed getting in their train and being pulled to each house so that they could get out and walk to the door. I'm very proud of them for saying "Thank You" as much as they did, many times without prompting. Overall though, they were very confused about the whole "Trick or Treat" process. Ryan wouldn't open his bag for anyone unless I held both of his hands, instead he just took the candy from their hands directly and either said Thank You or just Goodbye! Sarah and Perrin just didn't seem to understand what was going on, but they knew they were getting good things to eat. Ryan kept saying "Papa," thinking he was going to see his grandpa everywhere.

Well that's enough of my yammering, here are the pics! Remember to double click on them to see a larger version with more detail.

Look in the back of the train, it's Bat Ryan! He was usually first to the door and would yell "Open" much of the time before the door was answered.

Next as our Supergirl Sarah. She's too young for a Wonder Woman Bustier, so she went with this super alternative. Along the way she tripped on some Kryptonite and cried for a bit, but otherwise she was a trooper.

Perrin was the worlds happiest superhero dressed up as the Flash. He absolutely loves this costume. I really thought he'd have a problem wearing the mask, but he loves it!

I dubbed the train The Justice League Express during our Halloween trick-or-treating. This was one of our first stops.

I would supply the muscle and pull the train while Mommie often took the kids to the door for their treats. They especially liked the fact that their bags had pumpkins on them (They can't easily say Jack-O-Lantern yet, so every gourd is a pumpkin)

Here the kids are holding up their favorite treats from the night. Ryan has a sucker, Perrin has a candybar, and Sarah has a stick and a leaf. Yeah, that's ones trouble for sure!

Here is most of their haul from Trick-Or-Treating. By the last houses they were having trouble holding their bags due to the weight of what was inside. This should hopefully last until the New Year. Too bad it's not accpetable to give out fruit any more.

One of the houses in our subdivision goes all out every year with their Halloween decorations. There is no way to possibly get everything into one picture, but the kids were excited to see all the pumpkins lit up and hanging from trees and all over the lawn. Meva and I think this will be the last year they won't be scared of the display. Next year should be pretty interesting.

Here's the middle of his front yard. If you click the photo to enlarge it, you'll see he has almost 20 small kid figures who have jack-o-lanterns for heads standing in some kind of witching circle. Behind them is a cauldren with a fog machine in it to add to the mood.

This is a shot from the house's driveway. I think you can see the cauldren here. This house has so much all over the roof, trees, and side. He even has a small museum like room in front of the house that you can look at from the inside.

One of first things they got to eat were M & M's. They kept expecting to find a different letter on the candy and they called out the color of each piece before they put it in their mouth. Meva was in charge of feeding them this while I made dinner. She said they ate about 5 little bags of them together in addition to 4 or 5 candy bars each and some other assorted stuff. They may never sleep again.

Bat Ryan enjoys his chocolate, even while hiding in the shadows.

All the kids wore a onsie under their costume even though it was warm. When we took Sarah's off, she looked like a Mexican Le Libre wrestler in her red onsie and Supergirl boots!

If Halloween is any indication of how they are so much older and aware of things, Christmas is going to be a month of fun.............and stress!!

Long Overdue

Since Meva has said I am the one who needs to update and post on this blog, I will take the author's liberty and blame her for the lengthy delay in posting!!

I can't believe how long its been, and how much we've been up to, since our last post. The kids have gotten to meet their new cousin, go to Grandma and Grandpa's House, Have Grandma come visit them, go to the pumpkin farm, and even the zoo. And those are just what I have pictures from.

I know everyone's here for pictures of the kids and not to hear me mumbling away, so let's get right to the photos.

The kids have shown enough interest that we've begun the early stages of toilet training. So far Sarah is the only one who has really gone (#2), but Ryan sorta did one, but it was hit and miss (mostly miss).


My niece Ashley had a baby girl named Sylvia in September. After she was home a few days, we went down to meet her. Sarah wasn't too interested, but the boys were (as was their Daddy). Perrin thought she was one of his "babies" and just wanted to kiss her (and he even spanked her once! That was embarrassing and forced me to change some of the "pretend parenting" games the kids play with their toys).


Ryan absolutely Loved Sylvia and just wanted to hold her and kiss her. He was very gentle and very cute about the entire thing. He cried when he had to stop.



Let's hope Perrin develops a little more fashion sense in the next few years. That whole gloveon one hand thing is sooooooooo 80's!

We then took the kids to Ohio for the weekend. I had a comic book convention I wanted to go to and Meva and the kids hung out with her parents. Grandpa thought it was time to give his grandkids a ride in the tractor!!


Grandpa then told them that apples actually grow on trees and that they were going to go looking for some.


Each kid got to pull their own apple off the tree and have a fresh snack! Grandma says the only thing better than fresh Ohio apples is eating fresh Ohio apples dressed in Ohio State outfits!


Perrin says that sometimes his mommy takes too many !@#*(&% pictures and won't let them be! Can't a kid just eat his apple?

Perrin got upset when she wouldn't stop and warned her that he would eat the camera if she didn't leave him alone.


Ryan thought that was funny and he said he would eat the camera too!! And we're not sure how it happened, but Sarah got out of the tractor and left her legs and feet behind.

Well it is Halloween, so that means we need to get our candy ready and our costumes because as soon as Meva comes home, it's Trick or Treat Time. And yes, I promise to have costume pictures up tonight!!

E-mails from home

Every now and then Chuck sends me an e-mail that paints a picture as to how things have been when I am at work for 14 hours on Mondays. This was just such a day.

Meva…..

Here’s a little math for you to explain what you’re coming home to:

[(3 toddlers x 1 dog x diarrhea) + (3 loads of baby clothes x 2 rounds of baby baths x 2 crib bedding changes) + (1 tent x 1 snake x 1 snake bite) + (100 mosquito bites x 1 wasp sting) + house chores/ zero patience] + 1 sore back = ordering pizza for dinner!!!!!

I’m going to have you pick it up at Aurelio’s in Lockport. It’s in the Jewel shopping center near Quiznos.

I sincerely hope you haven’t had half the day I did!

MM

Ellie and Maggie

I can't believe how behind we are in getting info posted. I think it was about a month ago, our good friends the Shively's came to visit. Little Ellie is also two and such a sweet kid. Her verbal skills are just amazing, and I think she inspired a little verbal spark in our kids. Little Maggie is 6 months old, and was fascinating to our kids, especially Ryan.

Ryan LOVES babies. He spent a lot of time cooing and holding and attending to Ms. Maggie. You can see in this picture, just how seriously he took his responsibility, and ever since then he's been into baby dolls a lot more.

We all took a trip to the Children's Museum and wet and wild fun was had by all.

Camping

Last weekend we went for our first overnight camping trip. We didn't go far. Just a local forest preserve about 5 miles away. We figured, that way if things weren't going well, we could pack it up pretty easily. To the left is Sarah, who is taking better pictures now that she can say the word, "cheese".



Here is Perrin peaking out of the tent's vent. Peak a boo is still a ton of fun with these guys.


The kids had such a great time, and were real good campers. Evidently, no one knows you can camp at this forest preserve because we had the entire place to ourselves. So, we let the dog roam free, and the kids really enjoyed themselves. They liked eating their little half sized s'mores. They loved running around with the balls we brought. We sang little bunny foo foo and their favorite songs around the campfire, which I was please to see they respected by saying, "Hot." every time they came near it.

We kind of did this by the seat of our pants, and so packed for the warm 90+ degree weather the next day... not being prepared for the 60 something degree weather in the morning. So, the kids just wore their footy pajamas with tennis shoes over them.







They ended up looking so cute going on their first hike in their PJs.

They came to a bridge, and loved the sound it made by stomping on it.



Here's a hollowed out tree that was very interesting and scary. It took a lot of attempts to just get them to put their hand near it but once mastered, you can see Perrin had no fear.

Sounds from the monitor at 4 am

I have to share with you what I regularly hear in the middle of the night on the baby monitor.
Perrin, who has learned his colors and loves to tell you what colors he is seeing... in the middle of the night says, "Blaaaaaaaack."

He kills me.

Two year old pictures

A while back we had the opportunity to get the babies' pictures taken at Dellwood Park, where we were married. The photographer is a fellow triplet mother, and she did a fantastic job. Here's a bit of her work.

Perrin Update

We've had a few inquiries from lots of different people about how Perrin is doing and whether he is doing well. I went straight to the source and asked Perrin if he felt bad.

As you can see, he is feeling fine and in good spirits. You can also see the very very early stages of actual communication developing with him. Both he and Ryan are very good at using the word "NO" when you ask them questions. At this point it hasn't gotten to be the aggravating bratty version that you see in many toddlers, and hopefully it doesn't get that far. Luckily all three of the kids are working real hard on developing a larger vocabulary and Meva and I are encouraging them to use many words by asking them the appropriate questions.

As of right now, I feel safe in saying that each on of the kids can consistently identify all the letters of the alphabet, basic shapes, basic colors, and the sounds of each letter. I think I spend half of my day affirming them as they bring different objects to me and tell me what it is, what color it is, or what shape it is; it's actually all very cool. But what I think is probably the coolest thing that they are doing now is trying to say the ABC's in order with me. They are no where close, but I think I am getting about 20% accuracy overall as I lead them and try and get them to either say the letter along with me, or immediately follow my letter with the correct letter (an often it's sound). The fact that they all really enjoy this and get excited about it is just icing on the cake.

Back to Perrin, he had his follow-up appointment with his neurosurgeon yesterday and he was given a very good bill of health. He should be able to resume his physical therapy within two weeks and get back to full normal activities, which means taking a regular bath and going swimming (which the boy absolutely loves!!) For now, that's all we have to say. I am way behind on photo's of the kids, so I am just going to put a bunch on here for everyone.

Yummmy, Bananas!!

Ryan is so funny he even has a Jester's Hat

Sarah with pigtails running from bedtime!



The triplets at a water exhibit at the local Children's Museum



Sometimes you just don't want to wear pants, no matter how embarrassing it's going to be when your Dad show's this to your friends and prom date!

We'll post more as we have time, but if you want to see bigger images, just click on the pictures.

Normalcy

It has been a while since we last posted. Perrin came home last Monday. We were really just so happy to have him here, blogging took a back seat. He was let home a little early as he was suppossed to get an MRI before discharge, but because that meant just sitting in the hospital for a few more days, we asked the doctor if he could just come home and we would come back for the MRI as an outpatient. So we were all thrilled to have him come home earlier than expected. When he saw the van pull up at the hospital, he was so excited. After arriving at home, Ryan and Sarah ran up and hugged him. He was still a little sore at first, crawling more than walking, but he's pretty much back to normal now, and it's a nice feeling.

This video is actually from the week before Perrin's surgery, but it captures a lot of what they do these days. I'll update more soon.

Perrin Update

It is amazing to me how well Chuck can function and write despite sheer exhaustion. I am not gifted in this way. Chuck is spending the night in the hospital tonight with Perrin, and has stressed how important it is to him that I update the blog today. So bear with me that this is short and sweet, as I have already turned into a pumpkin today.






Perrin is doing amazingly well. His pain seems to be much less, and as a result he is more mobile. We were able to hold him for the first time since the surgery today. He had been crawling around in his crib, and giving his Perrin bursts of joy jibberish today, so we were thrilled to see him doing so much better. He still is very leary of any nurse or doctor who walks in the room, and shoots them this look that says, "I'm watching you. You cannot be trusted." The staff I have come across have been nothing short of wonderful. They even gave Perrin's baby an IV.


He is now out of the Pediatric ICU (PICU) and in a regular room, off all wires and tubes except his IV which isn't hooked up anymore. This move is good in so many ways. There is a phone in the room, rather than having to leave the room and scared child to go a considerable distance to talk to anyone. There is a fridge in the new room, which is also nice as the PICU has a no eating in the room policy. There is a reclining chair and second bed in the room, as opposed to the chair with a leg lift in the PICU, and a great improvement over the tile floor I slept on last night. And Perrin, as you saw from the last post is our escape artist, so imagine how he feels with a pulse ox on his toe, blood pressure cuff on his leg, three leads for cardiac and respiratory monitoring, an IV with tubing, and hospital gown with multiple ties to work with. I think he is thrilled to be untethered in multiple ways now. Though you can see in the picture below with the little tear in his eye, he is ready to go home - despite him doing so well, he cannot be released until the MRI is read, and he won't be getting his MRI 'till sometime Monday.

Our Hero Without Pants

I just wanted to take a little bit of time out to let everyone know that Perrin has pulled through his surgery very well. For those of you who weren't in the know, Perrin's medical team (which consists of his pediatrician, 2 neurosurgeons, physical therapist, and one orthodist) began to suspect that he had tethered cord syndrome and a series of tests were started.

I think it is important to note here that nothing was ever able to clearly indicate that Perrin was suffering from TCS, but there were indicators from different areas and different people that lead us to believe that surgery was the best option for him. Meva and I both trusted Perrin's medical team, especially his neurosurgeons, that after talking it over we agreed to go through with the procedure.

Medical jargon isn't my strongest language, but I feel I can speak it passably if I am forced to. As it is 3am and I still have work to do, I'll leave the technical aspects for Meva to use as she bedazzles and illuminates you with $75 words, I will talk like an actor who's played a doctor on TV.

Basically Perrin's spinal cord should be free at the bottom, hanging inside the vertebrae and ending before they curve into the tail bone. His wasn't. There was some type of fatty fiber connected to it and pulling it down and stretching it. Think on how it might feel to have your spinal cord continually stretched everyday. That's what he went through. It became much more problematic once he began walking (which in retrospect is amazing) and contributed to his unusual "gait."

So, the medical team only suspects it and wants to cut open his spine and check it out. On Thursday afternoon they made an almost 4 inch incision in his back, removed that pesky "back bone" that was in the way and then opened a flap to reveal the spinal cord and a mass of nerve endings. Using some type of electrical system that is much more complicated than I am smart they identified the "live" nerves and created path to this tethering fiber. Basically they turned my little boy into a living game of operation, DON'T TOUCH THE SIDES!!

Once they cut the fiber, they were able to see an immediate release on tension, similar to pulling your shirt out in front of you and then leaving go. This was confirmation that he did indeed have tethered spinal cord syndrome.

Right now we've spent the last two days with Perrin laying on his stomach and he might have one more such day to go or less. To his credit he hasn't tried to wriggle around or move too much because it causes quite a bit of pain to him. Even picking him up to hold him on my chest gives him discomfort. I believe the plan is for him to begin working on sitting and then walking. For me the hardest part was just watching him lay there and not want to move with a tired and kind of sad look in his eyes. But he's such a tough kid that it didn't last long and he was laughing and giggling, playing peek-a-boo, and trying to punch my head off. He was also very interactive and talkative, which I think shows how strong he really is and that poking around in his head and his spine aren't enough to keep him down!

As of Friday night there was no definitive word on when he might be coming home. Current thinking is anywhere between Sunday and Tuesday, so I would imagine that alot has to due with how he responds tomorrow.

I just want to say that I am floored with all the kind and wonderful words that so many people kept Perrin and us in their thoughts and prayers. That meant a great deal to both Meva and I.
Hopefully tomorrow I or Sunday Meva and I will bring in another update and some photos from the hospital. But for now, enjoy the shots I have put throughout this post of our Man of the Hour. He doesn't know it yet, but he is already my hero, even if he doesn't always wear pants.

The most recent morning I was greeted by the Au Natural Club. This one didn't end as nicely as the previous ones. This time it got dirty!

That's not Chocolate!!


Of course this is usually what I get from him, so I guess the adventures of Naked Hippy Cowboy are worth it!