Monday Morning Update

Yes, that is Logan who fell asleep standing up on the couch and Jessica covering him with her silkie and saying - "nite, nite"! LOL

It was a quiet week and I am still working on the 22 month post. It will be up sometime this week. I want to get better pics of the kids before I post.

This weekend was anything but quiet. Saturday morning we had a play date with another set of triplets! The Russell triplets are 2 1/2 years old. Aidan, Brooke and Corissa came over from Rhode Island to bring me 3 crib tents and play with the crew. It was so much fun to see all the kids playing and having fun. They were so busy and crazy running around that I did not get many photos, but here is a pic of the crew enjoying a mid-morning snack. How cute are they?


Jess has wanted to be with her dad even more than usual. She loves to sit on his lap just like this and watch TV. Doesn't Jess look comfortable? I know Dave loves it!


Sunday was another busy day. We got up and out the door to church for 9am. Lucas had a meeting with the Bishop after church and he will be ordained as a deacon in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints next week! This is a huge step for him in our religion and we are so proud and excited for him!

After church it was back home for a nap before we headed out to Mackenzie's 1st birthday party! The triplets had a blast running around and eating lots of good food. The bonus was that they went right to sleep last night!


Mackenzie really seemed to enjoy her cake!


All in all it was a great weekend! Now to get those crib tents up! LOL

Monday Update 8/24/09

Another week has come and gone. We drove down to Yale in New Haven for Jessica to see a pediatric GI specialist. It was a big disappointment. The doctor went through her chart with me and asked lots of questions. His decision - Jessica is just not getting enough calories! We all know that the triplets are very, very active, but I feed everyone the same diet and Logan and Will seem to be gaining weight. What gives! He told me basically to go see a nutritionist, add 3 cans of Boost instead of whole milk to Jess' diet and see him again in 4-6 weeks! I was very frustrated at how rude he was and how he tried to make me feel stupid. Obviously Jess' pediatrician was concerned so that is why we had the appointment! I told him all the different things we have tried, but he was not impressed since the ideas did not come from a nutritionist! I have a visiting nurse here every week to weigh them and I have been pretty good at trying all her ideas with no luck. So I will add the boost, see a nutritionist at the base and see what happens next month when we go back for our follow-up appointment.

Lucas and Dave went camping with the boy scouts on Friday night into Saturday afternoon. The Boyers came over to keep me company Fri night and they even brought dinner! I was as always very thankful for the help!
The boys had a blast even though it was one of the hottest weekends of the year. A few boys had to go home early sick due to dehydration. Lucas worked on many different skills, but his favorite - getting the fire built and burning!


Saturday night after dinner, we took Lucas to get his dragon. He was so excited! So please meet the newest addition to the Dudley house - Commando the bearded dragon! Lucas is head over heels excited to have him!


This weekend was extra hard for me. The guys were gone camping and it was 1 month since my mom died. I think I am handling it, but at certain times I just want to cry. For example, Jess is starting to talk on the phone to Aunt Jen and Aunt K - how my mom would have loved to hear her! Karen and I are stilling trying to get the estate in order and it is very complicated and frustrating dealing with all the paperwork and legal issues. We did get the life insurance stuff taken care of (thanks Dad and Uncle Dave!), went through her house, decided what to do with her car, but still have the IRA and selling the house! Luckily for us, our Aunt EJ and Uncle Dave are helping us out with so much of it! I would be lost without them! Along with all that emotion, a fellow triplet mom whose blog I had been following lost one of her precious babies this weekend. Her triplets were born at 25 weeks 5 days and all three had been doing well in the NICU. I am heartbroken for her and her family and just can't imagine the pain they are dealing with. It made me remember all the stress and worry when I was pregnant with our trio. You can bet Will, Logan and Jess got lots of extra hugs, kisses and snuggles this weekend!


Enough of the tough stuff - Tomorrow the crew turn 22 months old! I can't believe that they will be 2 in two months! I plan to do an update post with all their new skills and things so I will leave you with this - I don't think Logan likes Oreos. What do you think?

Monday Update

It has been another busy week here. I don't know where the time goes, but boy is it flying by! I have changed the triplet's profile pics on the side bar - aren't they cute!

Anyway, Lucas has finished all his day camps for the summer and has two weeks left until he starts school on Sept 1st. I am so not ready to have an 8th grader! Way back in May we promised him a reward for a great report card. He did his best and earned the best report card we have seen in a long time. True to our word, he is getting a reward - a new pet! Any guesses? I won't keep you in suspense - it's a ---

I can't believe that I am allowing a reptile in the house! Lucas and Dave have done lots of research and bearded dragons are great for beginners. We got the cage all set up this past weekend and he will be going next weekend to pick one out. To say he is excited is the understatement of the year. He can barely wait! Lucas will be going camping with Dave this upcoming Fri/Sat, so he will have to wait until Saturday night!


Dave drove down to PA on Friday to get the rest of my stuff from my mom's house. While he was gone, I let Will pick out dinner for Fri night -

They loved the chinese food we ordered! Logan had a hard time with the long lo mein noodles, but otherwise they all ate great.

We are entering brand new territory - Potty Training! I am just starting to introduce the potty to the kids. I usually put everyone on right before bath. The boys sit, but don't really seem all that interested. Jess, on the other hand --

She loves to sit on the potty! She was in the bath and she started to squat so Dave quickly moved her to the potty. No one has actually done anything into the potty yet, so I plan to read up on training and want to start with Jess first in the next couple months, probably near their birthday. Anyone have any good recommendations on training books?

What else? Oh, we recently got back to going to church services now that the triplets are old enough to go to the nursery and play while Dave, Lucas and I attend classes. There was lots of crying the first week, but the boys did much better this week. I hope next week Jess does better, but I also know this is a huge adjustment and it may take a few weeks to get them all used to the new routine.

We are taking the triplets to see the Imagination Movers in Nov.! For those who do not have young toddlers, the Imagination Movers have a show on Playhouse Disney. The triplets are totally obsessed with them! We even have a DVD to watch in the car! I found out about the live concert coming to New Haven and we bought tickets this past Saturday. I am very excited and can't wait to take them!

OK, that about sums up what is new and exciting here at the Dudley house for now. Jess has her appointment with the specialist on Thursday so I will post what we find out!

1st Beach Trip

There is a small lake located on the navy base here in Groton. We finally got around to taking the kids. They had a blast!! They spent the entire time playing in the sand. You know that if I left them in regular clothes they would have been right in the water, but it turns out Lucas was the only one who went into the water!

Our Visit to Aunt K's - Photo Frenzy!!!

I have been wanting to post, but also wanted to leave my mom's tribute up for a bit. However, I cry everytime I look at the pics, so I better post!

We had a visit to Aunt K already planned for the end of July. I talked with my sister after my mom died and we decided that we both needed to be together and taking a break from everything for a few days. We had a blast! We were busy every day with some new adventure! Our first was a trip to Lake Tobias Wildlife Park. It was about an hour from my sister's. We got to ride a converted bus and feed the animals as we drove through several enclosures! Our only problem was that the triplets wanted to eat the animal feed! I had to pass out cereal to keep them from screaming! :) They also have an awesome petting zoo where the goats kept trying to eat the kids clothes! Here are lots of pics from the trip:

Lake Tobias










Our next adventure was a place called Hands On House. It is a totally interactive play area. The kids again really enjoyed themselves!
Hands On House






The other major event was a trip to a place called Bounce U. It is a indoor arena filled with lots of huge inflatables! The boys were a little timid at first, but Jess was the brave one and went right down the huge slide several times. Logan pictured below was miserable the first time down, but then quickly warmed up and they all had a great time bouncing around. Dave and Lucas were getting a huge workout taking the kids through the obstacle courses and down the slides. I was unable to really do much on my newly repaired knee, but had a fun time enjoying the kids and their reactions. It was really hard to get good pics, but here are a few anyway.
Bounce U





One hot night after dinner the kids all jumped into Kayla's pool and had fun swimming.





All in all we had a great time and can't wait to go back! We love you Aunt K and Kayla!!

A Tribute to Grandma

My mom passed away on July 21st. I miss her lots. Everyday.

We had our differences when I was younger, but she was always there for me. She was with me at my wedding and at all my babies births. I get my love(addiction) for Penn State Football from her. I also have her big Italian attitude. She had a great relationship with Lucas and I know he is hurting, even though when I ask he says no. She and Dave also had a great relationship and while he has been my rock through this, I know he is hurting to. It saddens me that the triplets will never really know her, even though she was a huge part of their lives the first few months.

I miss our nightly phone calls and sharing all the boring day to day stuff that no one else would care to listen to.

I am who I am in part because of who she was.

I don't have many photos of her. She was one to take lots of pics, but never liked having her picture taken. At least she allowed these! :)








Mom, I love you very much and will try my best to make you proud!