Yummy!!!!

Avocado...Yumm...





















Rice Cereal (aka wallpaper paste)...ick...
















Donuts...you better back the heck up, dad...
















This has been a hoot! They absolutely LOVE bananas, are undecided on the avocados, and hate the rice cereal. We will try sweet potatoes this weekend - I have a feeling they will love them!

Oh, and to all you nay-sayers who thought I couldn't possibly make my own baby food :)...I've been doing it, and it really is as easy as I thought it would be! I have about a month's worth in the freezer already, and will be adding to it as soon as I can get back to the Whole Foods to get organic fruits & veggies! Piece of cake! I even bought myself a Magic Bullet - now I'm armed and dangerous!!!

Translation...

We figured out the reason Elli can't keep quiet any longer. She's fed up with a few things and can't take it anymore. Here's what we've been able to translate from her so far...

AAAHHHHH..."Quit talking about my fat thighs!!!! Have you looked at your own thighs lately?"

YYYEEEEEEAAAAAHHHH..."Tell those two roomates of mine to keep their mouths shut at night! Do they seriously think they're going to starve if they don't get a snack at 3:00 am?"

OOOOHHHHHHHAAAAAHHH..."How many times do I have to tell you two that I HATE this swing? I hated it the day you brought it home and I still hate it today! Got it?"

EEEEHHHH..."I LOOOOOVE playing patty-cake! Do it again...NOW!!! OK - do it again!!! And again!!! AGAIN DADDY!!!!!!

WWEEEEAAAA..."He's touching me!!!!!!!!!"

WWEEEEAAAA..."She's touching me!!!!!!!!"

OOOYYYAAAA..."I'm the Queen of this castle!!!!" (said with arms outstretched and head back)

What happened?!

Ellison is our quiet baby. When she talks, it's usually so soft that you can barely hear her over Haley's loud mouth! She mostly just coos and smiles. And she usually waits for us to initiate a conversation with her before she says anything. Too sweet.

Well, I guess she got tired of not having her opinion heard, so last Friday, she decided things around our house needed to change. She voiced her opinion. Loudly. And she hasn't shut up since! She stands up in our laps, puts her arms out and yells at the top of her lungs...and boy does she have some lungs! Wow! It was like someone flipped a switch and our quiet little baby disappeared and this wild, opinionated creature took her place!

So now it's a battle of the lungs and I'm not sure who's winning! All is know is that Ellison will not have a problem being ignored or left out - she's making mighty sure of it! You go girl!

On the charts!!!!

Haley and Elli are on the growth charts!!!! Tyler is SO close to being on the chart - he'll be there in no time - pretty amazing growth in 6 months!!!!

We had our 6 month check-up today and they all are doing great! Elli weighs 14-8 and is 25 in tall, Haley weighs 13-5 and is 24.5 in and Tyler weighs 12-8 and is 24.5 in. We have been given the go-ahead to start solids, and the girls no longer need to have the high calorie formula. The thought of starting solids is a little daunting since we have the bottle thing mastered, but we're up for the challenge! Every new challenge brings new rewards and usually lots of laughs, so bring it on!!!

Everyone who knows us well knows that our kitchen is basically a staging area for the preparation of take-out food. That being said, we have decided to make their baby food - organic. Crazy, huh?! Really though, how hard can it be to steam carrots and mash them up? Even we can do that! It really will save us a ton of money, and it will be so much healthier for them. Who knows, maybe we'll get adventurous and actually cook for ourselves, too!

Here's some updated photos - thank God for my friend Regina - our trip to Greenville to have their photos taken was a total nightmare! Plus, her photos are so much better!

Bedtime ritual

Ever wonder how you get three babies to sleep at night? We've finally got it figured out. OK, I'll admit it - we've got it more than figured out. We've got it mastered - imagine that! We start at around 6:15. We line up three boppies in front of the TV (yeah, yeah, I know) and grab 3 bibs, 3 propping blankets, and 4 burp cloths (one for backup)!! We start warming up the bottles, then one at a time they get into their jammies. Once dressed, that baby goes to the family room to sit in the boppy and watch "Finding Nemo", then it's on down the line until all three are lined up and engrossed in the movie. Oh yeah - the movie is the critical part of this scenario. No movie = three hysterical babies. No joke.

By the time they are dressed, the bottles are usually warmed up enough (Elli can't stand it if it's anything but warm). We have to be careful not to mix the bottles up - Ellison eats more than the other two, Tyler and Ellison get rice cereal in theirs, and Haley doesn't. Tyler and Ellison get reflux meds and Haley gets probiotics, so we have to grab all that stuff, too!

From there, it's on with the bibs - and we have to be fast with this part - they know what's coming next and usually start screaming if we're too slow! Then the bottles go in and the blankets go under and we're underway! Half way through, Elli and Tyler get their medicine and Haley gets her probiotics. When they're done, they get burped and then it's time to wind down. Tyler likes to swing for a few minutes, and the girls like to be held or sometimes they are content to stay in their boppies. Once they start to get quiet and their eyes get heavy, it's off to bed! We have the Rainforest music and lights crib doo-hickeys, so they watch them, hold on to their blankies and drift off to never never land. It's that easy!!!!!! HA!!!! Oh yeah - I almost forgot! Every couple of days we throw bathtime into the mix - always an adventure!!



As long as all of this is completed by 7:15, we rarely hear a peep from them. Miss it by 10 minutes and it's a whole other ballgame. It can take hours to settle them down if we aren't on time, so we rarely mess with this ritual. Would you?!



That being said, Jeff and I are looking for a babysitter the next time we take time off work, and we're going very far away. Any takers?! :)