Evacuating for a Hurricane with Triplets

Ella, Helen, and Alex hanging out on Saturday

Alex wants to know if you are snugglicious - if so, he wants you to call him

"Alex, that is quite the belly you are getting there - you might want to cut back on the bananas." - Helen

Playing after church on Sunday

My how our ballerinas have grown - Helen can barely fit into hers

Alex likes to laugh when he's got a full belly

Helen and Alex

With Tropical Storm Fay heading our way, we headed out of town on Wednesday. We went back up to Georgia to stay with family. Here we are having our "Hurricane Party" with Ella, Helen, Alex, and cousin April

Without our high chairs, we used our car seats for feedings

While the girls fight over a toy, Alex stays out of it

Helen manages to get my camera strap before I can get her picture

My leg is as good as anything for Alex to chew on

Helen's favorite sleeping position - knees tucked up under her

Alex may have a future in yoga with that kind of flexibility -either that or he'll need therapy for chewing on his foot

The Hurricane Party gets to be a little too much for Ella

Helen is such a big girl in her big girl pajamas - no more baby sleepers for her!

Helen can flip herself out of her car seat if she's not strappped in

Helen still loves doing Ella's hair

And she's off! Helen can crawl across the room in no time at all

Alex, Ella, and Helen waiting out the storm in Georgia

It's been a busy week. Tuesday night I got a message that my office was going to be closed for the next two days because of the storm - Fay - heading our way. At that point, they were not sure if it was going to turn into a hurricane or hit Jacksonville directly. I decided that if I stayed, this would be the year that a tree falls on the house. If I leave, then everything will be fine. At the very least, I did not want to be in the house with no electricity - which is almost a guarantee when any kind of storm comes through. So I stayed up late Tuesday night packing everything and we headed out early Wednesday morning. The storm was not predicted to hit until Thursday so the trip up was fine and uneventful. It did not even start raining in Georgia until Thursday night. Then we got a lot of rain on Friday and Saturday. Saturday night there were tornados in the area but thankfully we did not get hit. The babies did pretty well on the trip. They were a little tired but once we got settled in, it was life as usual - eat, sleep, chew on everything in sight. We came back home Sunday morning and everything was fine. No damage to the house - thank goodness!

Big milestones - Helen is gaining speed on her crawling and is even pulling up now. She can crawl over to me and then pull herself up on me. Scary!! Ella and Alex are getting closer to crawling - probably within the next week or so. Alex has two teeth on top coming in. Ella has been really fussy today and I think she has one coming in soon too (thank goodness for Tylenol!).

We've still got a projected return date of the end of September for Cecil. We don't have a specific date and probably never will since there are so many variables to his travel. I expect that one day I will get a call giving me his arrival time for the next day. That's fine with me - only one more month to go!!

Getting Bolder and Braver

Sitting up - Ella, Helen and Alex

Helen has perfected her disdainful look for the paparazzi

"Hey mom, did you know there's some weird stuff under the couch.....besides me?" - Ella

"Ah! These sisters! I was playing with that ball and she just took it away from me!" - Alex

"Here Ella, let's play like I'm the mom and you are the little baby. Lay right here in my lap..." - Helen

Helen still loves those fingers

How cute are we?? Helen, Alex, and Ella

"What's the big deal about Helen crawling? I can still eat more than she can." - Alex

Yeah! Helen is crawling!

And then sitting up when she gets where she is going

It has been another good week. We have started getting braver going out by ourselves. On Saturday, I had to return some diapers so I took them to Walmart with me. I put the girls in the double stroller and Alex in a carrier on my chest. There are always interesting people to see in Walmart and for once I think we were that interesting site. I was kind of in a hurry because I did not want to run into their nap time and risk a meltdown. So as we moved through a wave of gasps and oohs and ahhs, I just kept my head down and tried not to make eye contact. If you do make eye contact, then I'm sure to get at least one if not all three of the following questions: Are they triplets? How do you do it? Two girls and a boy? We made it out OK and got home in time for naps - score one for mommy and the babies!

On Sunday, I usually have a friend who goes to church with me but could not go this time. Feeling emboldened by our Walmart experience, I decided to try church on my own. We did the 7:30 AM mass - which normally is way too early for me- but since they get up at 6:45, it was just a matter of getting them dressed and then putting them in their car seats instead of their high chairs. Once we got there, I put Alex and Ella in the double stroller and Helen in her car seat. I pushed the stroller with one hand and carried the car seat with the other. Thankfully people held doors open for me and then I sat in the wheelchair section so I could have the stroller next to me. It was not a very crowded service so we attracted a lot of attention. Many very nice people came over to admire the babies and offer to help. One asked if my husband was coming too. I explained that since he was in Afghanistan, it was unlikely that he would be making it. Well, then they told the priest about that and the next thing I knew, at the beginning of mass he did a special welcome to the family of Major Cecil Cauley. It was really nice and I was very touched by how kind everyone was. The babies did great too. They ate their bottles for the first half of mass and while they wanted to "talk" during all the quiet parts, they did not fuss or cry. Then we got a special blessing from the priest on the way out. I think I am going to push my luck and try it again this weekend.

Big developmental news: in a fit of exasperation this week, I finally forced Helen to learn how to hold her bottle. I knew she had the ability to do it, I just kept propping her bottle because it was easier than struggling with her to hold it. Well, after picking up her bottle for the 15th time one morning because she kept knocking it off her blanket, I quickly made her see that no hands means no food. She caught on like a champ and is now holding her bottle like a pro. Alex is cutting two top teeth and Helen is cutting two bottom teeth. Helen can now crawl across a space and then push herself up to a seated position. It still amazes me to see her do this - I keep thinking these are the same helpless babies who could not do anything for themselves. Please just don't let them start walking before Cecil gets home!

More Milestones

Alex is such an expert bottle holder now that he can do it one handed

Playing instead of napping finally caught up with Ella

On Sunday morning we went over to Shawn's for pancakes - here's Helen playing on the floor (after she got over her "I'm crying because I'm scared of new places" episode) being supervised by Shane

Shawn helping Alex with his bottle

Hi Helen!

"What? What did I do?" - Alex

Helen and Ella playing together like loving sisters (I wonder how long that will last)

Everyone can sit up now! And if we fall over, it's no big deal.

Ella

Ella got herself all wrapped up in the snail but she did not seem to mind

Helen is now up on her hands and knees - and rocking back and forth! I think we are about a week away from her crawling. I'm glad Helen is the first crawler because she is usually content to play with whatever is in front of her. I don't see her taking off around the house right away - although I have been wrong before!

Our first try at chewing solids. I gave them teething crackers to see how they would do. I think it was a lot easier for Alex and Ella because they have teeth. Here's Alex exploring the new sensation of something crunchy

Ella acted like an old pro and started gnawing right away

Even Helen did not let her lack of teeth stop her from gumming it

Ella has graduated from pulling off the edge of the mat to just pulling up whole tiles. I think mommy is going to get more practice putting the puzzle back together than they will.

It was a big development week for the Cauleys! Helen is very close to crawling and I've even seen her transition from her tummy to sitting. I now feel comfortable sitting them up and walking away - and they are still sitting when I come back! And we are trying out new foods and trying to get used to chewing. All big milestones and they make me equal parts happy and sad. I'm thrilled that they are developing normally and doing all the things babies are supposed to do. But I'm sad that they are growing up so fast. I'm not ready for it to happen so soon (especially the crawling/walking part!) And I wish Cecil could be here to see all these little steps.

This week I also took Ella in for her six month follow up EKG. Right after she was born, they diagnosed her with a heart condition called Wolf-Parkinson-White where her heartrate is higher than it should be, but not dangerously so. We just continue to monitor her for a dangerously high heartrate. But if it never goes any higher than it currently is, she will be fine and not have any side effects. The EKG this week showed that her heart is exactly the same as it was 6 months ago. While I was hoping that it would go away, the good news is that at least it did not get any worse. There is a good chance that she could go her whole life and not exeperience any side effects from this. So we'll go back in a year for another EKG and continue to keep an eye on her. I assured the doctor that this is certainly not affecting her development - she is eating well and giving out as much sass as she can muster.

I'm back at work full time now and everything is going fine. I get the kids up in the morning and feed them, then our wonderful nanny Krista comes at 8. I'm usually home around 4 to play with them before dinner and get them ready for bed. It is not as hard being away from them all day as I thought it would be. I really like working and it is so nice to come home every day to three faces who are very excited to see me. Then I get to hang out with them all weekend and we try to do fun stuff then. Now we just need daddy home and we will be all set!

8 Months

Helen laying out by the pool

On Sunday, Freddy and Nikki came over to help me take the kids to the pool. This was their first time in a real pool. They did not seem all that impresed but they still had a good time. (And I hear that if you take them in the pool in regular diapers and not swim diapers, the diaper will explode from being super saturated with water. But this is just what I hear, not from personal experience or anything.....yes, I was cleaning diaper filling off of Helen for two days).

Ella hit a road block on one of her rolling expeditions

There is no denying who this child's daddy is - Helen

Alex

I leave them alone for a few minutes and they decide to recreate their positions in the womb

Our future triathletes! Helen, Ella, and Alex

Ella and Alex

Precious Helen

Gotcha! After several attempts to get Ella to hold her own bottle, I figured she just could not do it yet. Then one day she lost her bottle and got tired of waiting for someone to get it for her. That's when we caught her holding her own bottle! I should have known - Ella can do pretty much anything she wants - the key is whether she wants to or not. Now when I give her her bottle, she whines for a little bit to see if I will prop it for her. And when I just stare her down, she takes her bottle and puts it in her mouth with a defiant look in her eye. Attitude at 8 months!

Helen is enjoying her bath

Alex likes the new bath toys

Ella thinks they are pretty cool too

Alex is such a big boy holding his own bottle

Ella can sit up now

So can Helen - better watch out, Helen, you are about to lose that toy!

Helen and Ella sitting up

Playing on the floor (notice how the edge is missing off of the red tile next to Helen - that would be because Ella loves rolling herself to the edge of the mat and pulling up the edges to chew on them. Apparently she did not get the memo that all the Baby Einstein toys are supposed to be more interesting).