Say Goodbye to the Morning Nap!!!

That's right...no more naps in the morning.  I'm sure I will enjoy that later on down the road when we have activities planned in the mornings, however, right now I AM NOT LIKING IT!  When we would put them down at 8:30 for their morning nap it gave me a chance to drink my tea, clean and of course check my Facebook!!  But now I only have 2 hours during their afternoon nap to do that stuff.  You know you want to have a pity party for me! We knew it was time to get rid of it when they weren't sleeping during that time and just stayed up playing in their cribs so we're on our second week without it.  They're struggling a little bit come 11:00 and I have to work hard to keep them awake during lunch but they're slowly adjusting to it.  Our daily schedule is:

7am: Wake up, breakfast, get dressed, playtime

9:30: Small snack

11:00: Lunch

12:00: Nap time (Woohoo)

2:00: Wake up and snack

3:00: Daily walk

4:00: Some sort of activity outside, drawing or flashcards

5:30: Dinner

6:15: Baths start

7pm: Bedtime

The hardest part of this schedule is in the morning during that big window of time before snack.  They're not quite at that age to do arts and crafts, coloring, etc yet (they still want to eat everything) so I'm exhausting all of my creativity skills (ideas greatly appreciated please).  We recently moved the playroom upstairs where the office was because they had a little too much freedom upstairs and were constantly getting hurt climbing all over the highchairs, dining room table, etc.  It is MUCH better now and I'm not having nervous breakdowns by the end of the day anymore!  Hopefully they'll be entering a stage soon that open up the options of "things to do"...

Boxes always entertain them

Pretend play with bowls!

We bought some outdoor carpet for our porch for some fresh air!

Being silly on the kitchen floor

The result of playing with the highchairs!

Their new ball pit that Meme bought...a lifesaver!

Their new playroom upstairs...much bigger!

What They Eat!

Since Gavin, Ava and Brayden have been eating solids I've been getting the question "so what are some things that they are eating"?  Their feeding schedule has changed a lot since I last posted the daily schedule.  They no longer have 10:00 or 3:00 "snack" bottles.  We knew that it was time to get rid of these because they weren't finishing their bottles and they were starving come time for lunch and dinner.  Here's an example of their daily feeding schedule these days:

7am: Breakfast (cut up pears, pureed fruit mixed with cereal and yogurt, graham crackers, 3 oz milk)

(nap from 8:30-10)

10am: Snack (cut up mozzarella cheese, cut up carrots, 3 oz milk)

12pm: Lunch (cup up vege burger, mandarin oranges, 3 oz milk)

(nap from 1-3)

3pm: Snack (cottage cheese mixed with pureed fruit, vanilla wafers, 3 oz milk)

5:30pm: Dinner (cut up turkey burger, peas, cut up peaches, 3 oz milk)

6:30pm: 6 oz bottle of milk during bed time routine

Some other foods that they like and are eating are:
mango
asparagus
green beans
squash
mashed potatoes
apples
bananas
lima beans
broccoli
sweet potatoes
blackberries
blueberries
strawberries
cherries

Turkey burger

They were  holding hands (or stealing eachother's food)!

They LOVE to eat!!

Most of the foods we are just steaming to soften and cutting them up for them to eat.  Fruits like blackberries or any others that have a tough skin we're still pureeing and combining with yogurt or cottage cheese.  There's really not any food that they don't like yet.  We love using the Morning Star Vege Burgers.  They're all organic and have a ton of protein in them.  We buy as many fruits and veges fresh but we haven't had the best experience up here with finding good quality produce so we also buy a lot that are frozen and some canned.  So hopefully this gives some ideas for all you Mommy's out there that are beginning the solid food stage.

We did a ton of research on when to begin solid feeding.  Our doctors were telling us to begin around 4 months but I found a great book as well as asked another mom of triplets (who is also a nutritionist)  her opinion on this.  Between the two there were a lot of statistics showing that it's better to wait until 6 months of age to avoid any increased links to childhood obesity.  Rice cereal is always the first "food" that doctors tell you to start with; however, a lot of people make the mistake of using it as food.  If you look at the nutritional content there is none! It's just empty carbs.  Really rice cereal should be used to teach them how to eat off of a spoon...NOT IN A BOTTLE! Putting it in a bottle can cause them to aspirate!  If you do start rice cereal at 4 months make sure you don't use it to replace a milk feeding so that you don't lose any nutritional value.  Everyone is of course entitled to their own opinion on this topic but this is ours based on lots of research, professional guidance and now our own experience. 

Great book full of research and sample menus!

New Schedule...Yes, it's changed AGAIN!

So our daily schedule has yet again changed! G, A and B are now eating solids for breakfast and dinner so it's affected their schedule.  They still are supposed to consume between 24 and 32 oz of milk/formula a day until the age of 1 since it has guaranteed nutrients in it, so we've kept bottles as the base of their diet.  Their day still starts at 7 am in which they get stripped down to their diapers and eat breakfast in the highchairs.  Joe gets up at 5 am while I get to sleep a little longer (what a great husband I have).  He unloads the dishwasher, sets out the bottles for me to make, cleans up around the house and gets ready for work.  Lately the boys have been waking up earlier than 7 so we try to let them "quietly play" in their cribs but sometimes they get too loud so Joe will bring them downstairs to play while the others sleep.

Ready to have breakfast!

Joe also gets their breakfast ready by choosing from the fruit shelf (usually bananas, apples or pears) 2 cubes for each baby (4 oz total each baby) and thaws them out in the microwave.  He adds a little cereal and done!
Once they're fed we clean them up and get them dressed for the day. This has been quite the challenge now that they're crawling because they do NOT want to lay still!  We let them have some playtime with each other on the living room floor before we give them a 4 oz bottle at 8.  By 8:30 they're ready to go down for their morning nap.  This nap they're aloud to stay downstairs and sleep since we're slowly transitioning upstairs for nap time!  During this time I put together the days bottles, start laundry, get dressed, clean etc.

Days worth of bottles! I put them on a tray to carry upstairs!

We store them in a mini 'fridge and warm them when it's time

Gavin's ready!

Ava likes to throw temper tantrums at the beginning of nap time and ends up falling asleep like this!

They sleep for about an hour to hour and a half and then get a 5 oz bottle at 10.  Once they've digested that bottle and there's less chance of spitting it up (about 30 min. after) playtime begins!  We go into the play room and we do different stations such as reading books with me, tummy time, the exersaucer, walker etc.  This time has become much easier now that they're a little more independent and can entertain themselves.  I get a chance to have one on one time with each of them while the others play. 

Gavin playing with the kitchen

Ava "reading" a dog book

HMMM...so many choices!

Brayden loves to try and get the fish/boats in his tummy time water mat

One side of the play room where we have stations

Brayden jumping in the exersaucer

We play until about 11:30 and then change diapers and get ready for the next nap which is upstairs.  YUP! That's right as a lot of you know we've been having a hard time getting them to sleep in their cribs for nap time.  Not sure why because they sleep great at night in them!  So during the Christmas break while I was showering one day Joe decided to give it a try AGAIN and they went down great.  Since then we've been putting them up there for one of their naps.  So Brayden and Ava sleep up there while Gavin sleeps downstairs because the swing is the most comfortable for him with his helmet on.  And we really want him to get good naps since he's not sleeping great at night. 

They sleep until 1 when they get a 6 oz bottle.  We have more playtime after this for now but hopefully once this snow melts this will be our time when we go for a walk!  They go down for their third and final nap of the day around 3 and wake up at 4 for another 6 oz bottle.  After this bottle they have playtime with each other again in the living room or they walk around in their new walkers.  At 5 I begin making their dinner for them to eat at 5:30.  They get 4 oz of vegetables (broccoli, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, cauliflower, potatoes, avocado) mixed with grains again.  As soon as they're done they start to unwind with each other on the floor while Joe and I prep OUR dinner.  I get the bath and their bedroom ready at 6 and begin Ava's bath at 6:15 while Joe watches the boys and cleans Gavin's helmet. 

Joe then brings Gavin up when I'm done with Ava so I can give Gavin a bath while Joe puts Ava's PJ's on and gives her, her last 6 oz bottle (bottle prop).  Once I'm done with Gavin, Joe takes him to put his PJ's on and I give Brayden his bath.  Once I finish Brayden (Joe gets Gavin started on his bottle) Joe gets him dressed and I finish feeding Ava and Gavin.  Joe feeds Brayden and they all are in their cribs by 7pm! 

Joe feeding Brayden before bedtime

Me feeding Ava and Gavin before bedtime

Once we're done with the babies we make our dinner and try to eat by 7:30/8 as well as feed Brody and Sadie.  That gives us about an hour to an hour and a half to spend together watching TV before we head to bed around 9/9:30.  Right now the babies are doing great sleeping through.  Occasionally they'll wake but they've been really good at putting themselves back to sleep.

On certain days of Joe's schedule he comes home at lunch so I can go to the gym for an hour or so.  I haven't worked out since I was 4 months pregnant so it feels so good to get back into it.  Hopefully I'll be ready for the beach this summer!

We're hoping to add solid food at lunch time around 8-9 months of age so their schedule will be changing drastically then.  I'll be sure to post the new one!

New Schedule

So we're introducing the babies to a new schedule that will, I'm sure, change again soon!  We're really trying to get them to get through the night without a feeding but they're waking up around 2 am every night starving so as long as they're eating we don't want to take that away from them!  So we start our day around 7 am with some rice cereal as their breakfast.  We then change diapers and get dressed followed with some boppy pillow time until about 8:30.  I then put them in their swings/lamb seat for a little nap.  They're still not comfortable sleeping in their cribs upstairs during nap time.  But we've ordered those blackout shades to hang up so hopefully they'll like it more when it's dark in their room.  They sleep for about an hour and then have a 5-6 oz bottle at 10.  We then load up in the triple stroller and go for a walk (sometimes to the grocery store which takes us a lot longer because of all the people that stop us).  Once we get back they're ready for another small nap until lunch at 1 with another helping of rice cereal.  After 1 we have play time on their gyms or bumbo seats until nap time at 2.  This is the time when I normally update the blog or read my baby books.  At 4 they get another 5-6 oz bottle.  I then work with Gavin and Brayden on their physical therapy for Gavin's Tortacollis and Brayden's tight hips.  Ava normally has tummy time or practices rolling over. 

While they're playing independently afterwards I take this time to begin dinner.  Around 6 we have "story time" and rotate babies on our laps to read to while the other sit next to us. 

Joe having story time!

Brayden's not sure about the book about The Yankees!

After story time we have bath and PJ time!  They get one last rice cereal bottle and are in bed by 7.  We just let them go from there.  Lately they've been waking around 2 am on their own for a 4 oz bottle but hopefully that will drop off soon and they'll sleep from 7-7! 
We kept hearing about this "4 month fussy stage"...and didn't really believe it...however, we are definitely experiencing it now with ALL of them.  More so with Gavin! I know, you gasp because Gavin has always been the quiet easy going child.  Not any more...his cry will pierce right through you and once he gets going there's no getting him back!!! Hopefully this will pass in a couple of weeks (prayers needed please)!

We're still going through about 25 diapers a day and a whole lot of wipes!  I'm stopping pumping this month so we're going through a lot more formula now...about 216 oz of formula a day and 8 oz of rice cereal every 3 days!  Just some stats!!!

Daily Routine!

Many of you have asked us what our typical day is like so I thought I would humor you with our daily schedule now that all 3 babies are home!

Beginning in the morning:
7:30: Change, dress, and feed Ava first, put her in her lamb seat. Change, dress, and feed Gavin, put him in his lamb seat. Change, dress, and feed Brayden, put him in his lamb seat.

8:30: Pump and prepare the afternoons bottles
(Entire days worth of washed bottles that are ready to fill with milk)!

9:30: Eat breakfast and get dressed (ME)

*Lately we've had various doctors appointments for the babies in the late morning

11:30: Change and feed all 3 babies again

12:30: Pump

1:00: Eat Lunch and possibly take a nap, laundry (about 3 loads a day)

2:00: Play time for the babies


3:30: Change and feed all 3 babies again

4:30 Pump and prepare night bottles
(We put a small refrigerator with the bottle warmers in the room upstairs for easy access to all the prepared bottles)

5:30: Start cooking dinner

6:00: Joe gets home from work/ Eat Dinner

7:00: Feed dogs

7:30: Give each baby a bath, change diaper, put PJ's on, feed, put to bed.

8:30: Pump

9:00: Time for bed for us too!

11:30 My night shift begins. Change and feed all 3 babies and put back to bed.

12:30 Pump and go back to bed

3:30 Joe's shift begins. Change and feed all 3 babies and put back to bed.

5:30 Joe goes to work

7:30 OUR DAY BEGINS AGAIN!!

So that's our day in a nutshell minus the little things that have to be done throughout the day! We're going through about 42 ounces of milk a day, 30 diapers a day, 6 changes of clothes a day, and lots of baby wipes!! We can't ever say that our days are boring!!