Hiking (2yrs+8mo!)

CET 2 yrs + 8 mo old!
(Eli and Thomas are saying 'cheese' which I guess doesn't necessarily produce a smile)

I'm gonna getcha!

 FYI I uploaded 3 more pictures onto my last post in case anyone is interested, I forgot to include them in the original post : )

Here are more pictures from our super fun weekend...

We told the boys we were "hiking" so they all started chanting "iking, iking, iking!"

We decided to check out the Columbia River Gorge from the Washington side then loop around to the Oregon side on the way back.
We got to see some of the same scenes from a different angle and they were spectacular!

Thomas (top) and Caleb looking glamorous!

The boys really enjoyed Aaron and Jonny's visit!

Other than a few sprinkles here and there the rain held out for us most of the day : )

We decided to hike up a short trail but turned around 1/3rd of the way up because it was too scary with the boys in tow. You can see the trail in the corner, scary! I'm sure the view was even better up top!

We found a cute playground to eat lunch at.

At Multn. Falls

Updates

The boys were weighed and measured exactly on their mirthday:
Caleb        26.0 lbs, 34.5 inches
Eli             25.0 lbs, 34 inches
Thomas     26.0 lbs, 34.5 inches
Not totally out of the normal but a bit of a coincidence that they were all exactly 26 or 25 lbs! And that Caleb and Thomas are exactly the same weight and height! Even for identical triplets they are freakishly alike (except in looks, says I).

In other news Eli has been demonstrating his counting skills and has been counting everything he sees. He says a few numbers but mostly he shows me with his fingers. He's so cute and smart : )

We all have pesky colds right now so we are looking forward to a low key weekend and especially because Phil has his last and final test on Sunday! Looks like I'll be planning another party soon : ) Have a good weekend everyone!

It's Potty Time!

I didn't have the time or the resources to "go all out" for this but I think it turned out quite lovely : )

I made invitations but mostly just for fun since I think I only passed out 2 : )

It was supposed to rain so we started off inside but quickly took it out side when the weather turned for the better

I made this bad boy from scratch (no box mixes or canned frosting), I started early because it was the trickiest thing I had to make that day. I set the cakes outside to cool (like I did my practice cake), and two hours before the party was set to start I went out to get my cakes and start frosting them. Only to find that my cakes were destroyed by stupid crows! I ran to the grocery store for more ingredients and whipped up another one! I mostly wanted the potty cake for the novelty since I also made plenty of cupcakes just in case my cake was a bust, it was close!

My buttermilk vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting!
Yes, I'm not a chocolate girl, I'll pick vanilla over chocolate any day : )

Party Time! The boys loved getting bonked over the head by Oscar

I let the boys pig out on cupcakes, I figured since I made them from scratch that they're not all bad : )

Eli's cake face

Caleb

Our cute little guests : )

The dirty stairwell was just so much fun!

We played a couple of games, first was a frog hunt and then pin the tail on the donkey. The frog hunt was a bit of a bust since they didn't quite get the concept (except for Oz).

Pin the tail on the donkey went a little better but still I think they are a bit young for this : )

Prizes!

Checking out their prizes : )

Caleb taking a break from the frog hunt (I told you they didn't "get it!")

It was quite the challenge to get everything ready by noon, like I told you, I had to make a second cake but also in the process of making it I burnt my beans! I had Phil run to the store 30 min before the party to buy cans of beans because there was no time to start from scratch! Anyways, we had a yummy lunch of bbq'ed chicken, mex rice, beans, and homemade roasted salsa. It was quite handy to have our out of town friends visiting because they helped out a lot, they bbq'ed the chicken and blew up balloons among other things, hats off to them : ) The boys had a blast playing and pigging out on cupcakes, we even let them skip their nap. They were fine till about 7 pm and then started having melt downs from being so tired, it was nice for us because we put them to bed early, ha! 

I should also update you on the boys potty trained status, I had been steadily seeing less and less accidents before our trip to California, they weren't having very many at all really. I definitely saw some regression when we went on vacation to California, I don't recommend big trips soon after potty training (we had already planned this trip before I even thought to try potty training). It took a little while after we got back, but all the boys are now doing better then before we left. Eli has the most accidents, maybe one every other day and its usually when he's having a lot of fun and doesn't want to stop what he's doing to go to the bathroom. Thomas has maybe one a week. Caleb doesn't have accidents, I can't remember the last one he had, it's been weeks, in Cali he had maybe one max! They all don't stay dry at night but that's still a bonus in my book, I don't really care, it'll happen someday but until then I'm working on eliminating the cost of disposable pull ups. 

Let's face it pull ups are pretty much diapers only more expensive, the cheapest I've found are 26 cents each but they average about 30 cents a piece. That's almost $1/day for us or $2/day if we also used them at nap time. We switched over to them because I told the boys that diapers where for babies and that the pull ups were night time underwear. They go on like underwear and are easier to put on than traditional diapers. I also figured the pull ups would buy some time while I researched cloth diaper pull ups. I still feel strongly that one of the reasons my boys potty trained so early (for American standards anyways) was that they always wore cloth diapers. Since pull ups, like diapers, suck away moisture I wonder if they are doing the boys a disfavor in not letting them feel wet and thus no connection in the brain is being made to stop this. Maybe it's developmental and it will happen when it will happen but since we can't say for sure it's definitely a variable that I would like to eliminate. 

My SIL introduced me to Bummis Training Pants:

which I like and are perfect for nap time but don't have enough absorbency to go all night. Also, if you have a poopy accident there is no clean way to take them off, if it's not real solid it will probably smear all over their legs as you take them off. A plus, they are on the cheaper side ($11-13 each) and since our poopy accident's are few I'm willing to invest in a few of these for nap time. But for night time I found Kissa's Training Pants an excellent fit for what I need. It has snaps so a poopy accident is easier to clean, and two snaps to accommodate growth and elastic in the back that makes it easy to pull on and off like underwear.  

These are essentially a pocket cloth diaper (like the all in ones), the 2T runs in between a medium and a large cloth diaper cover (so this might be a better buy than buying a large all in one if your kid is close to potty training). It comes with a layer that can absorb (which for us, sadly isn't quite enough for nap time) but you can buy a separate insert to add enough absorbency to go all night (it goes in the pocket so it stays in place)! I bought Thirsties Hemp Inserts which I also recommend. Cloth diaper pull ups/training pants for triplets is quite the pricey investment, $15 each plus $4 for one insert (so about $19 each), but I think it will pay for it's self before long! Better for your wallet, better for your kid (no chemicals and they will feel wet), and better for the environment! It's a win win in my book : )

Mississippi Pizza!

We had quite the FUNtastic weekend, not only did we have friends visiting but we also had our potty party! We have lots of good pictures so I'll have to cover the weekends proceeding over three separate blog posts. Friday night we all went out to my favorite pizza place in Portland, it's the most perfect place to take toddlers because of the fact that they serve one of the most kid friendly meals, PIZZA! And because they have live music to entertain and mask any screaming or tantrums that might happen. Thankfully no one even got a smidge upset, the boys had a great time!

As a side note, I realize that today the boys turn 2yrs and 8mo old but I forgot to take a picture. I'll try to take it tomorrow since we've had a busy morning : )

Dad and Caleb with the all too common hand in the mouth, are we reverting back to 4 months old! 

Eli, you can't see it because I cropped the picture but I'm holding down his hand because he had it in his mouth, what the heck! Why won't they stop doing that! (ok so they don't always have a hand in the mouth, just when I want to take a picture!)

Thomas eating raisins and waiting like a good boy for the pizza : )

I taught the boys to eat their pizza like this since it's less messy and easier than trying to pick it up : )
Doesn't that pizza make your mouth water!

Bravo! Bravo! Caleb loves the music!

Caleb playing with our friend Johnny
A slice of sausage, artichoke, & sundried tomatoes anyone?

Checking out the band

Decided to get a closer look

Eli was inspired to play his guitar

The boys started a dancing circle with a little boy who befriended them : )

For being such good boys we went out for ice cream!

Next post, the potty party!....

Expressions

The boys have very expressive faces, maybe it's just because it's more obvious from their pronounced dark eyebrows : )

Caleb loving his kitty

Very rare but a group time out was needed!

I wish I could remember what they were watching

Eli eating strawberries

Caleb

Hey! Where's my strawberry!?
This is a very common expression on Thomas' face, he always looks like he's in agonizing pain!

Thomas looking like a Pittsenbarger. He reminds me of someone here, any wild guesses?

C

Bubbles!

arm in arm

I love it!

story time

I keep trying to organize my triplets but they keep jumping out!

Eli

It's the end of the world! My banana broke in half!
(toddlers have it so hard)

Caleb is getting way too comfortable in the bath tub. I hope that's a good sign that swimming lessons will go well!
With all the money we are saving on diapers we can soon sign up the boys for swimming lessons but we have to wait till they turn 3 so you don't need a 1:1 parent child ratio...can't wait!

One of Phil and I's favorite things to hear the boys say, "mama guck, baby guck, papa guck."

I love the boys' sweet high pitched baby voices, I think I'll miss it so much when it's gone. Just listen to the way I'm greeted frequently by Eli in this video, it melts my heart each time : )