Mommy goes away again

I tried "swimming" with them by myself. Everything went fine until they all decided to evacuate the pool at the same time

Baby Einstein still has its mesmerizing effects

Helen evens laughs at it now

Another attempt at swimming but this time with an extra set of hands

Alex is so regal

"I'm not sure how I got in here....and I'm not so sure I want to get out. I don't think Ella and Helen have figured out where I am yet...." -- Alex

What's the point of eating squash if we can't smear it around a little bit?

Go Gators!! Ella, Alex, and Helen wearing their new Gator shirts

Helen can't be expected to sit still for too long without trying out this climbing surface

Thursday I went in to get Ella up from her nap and was stopped in my tracks when she was standing up in her crib for the first time!

Ella is still trying to clear the top of the coffee table

"Mom, you are not seriously going to leave us, are you?" Helen right before I had to leave to go to Chicago this weekend

There may be a million toys out, but inevitably everyone fights over the same one

"Hey, did you guys know this fence moves???" -- Helen

My friend Jean watched them while I was gone. And she introduced them to Barney :)

The kids "helped" put up the welcome home sign for Daddy - who comes home this week!

Helen wants to wear the rope as a crown

Alex just likes chewing on it

Ella thinks it tastes pretty good too

Our sign is all ready for Daddy!

"Look, whatever it is, it wasn't me!"

Jean with Alex, Ella, and Helen

Jean and her godson Alex

I went to Chicago to be in one of my best friend's wedding. Here I am with the beautiful bride, Robyn.

The bride and bridesmaids (I'm in the back row, just behind Robyn's right shoulder)

Robyn and me

A law school friend, Emily, and me

Another law school friend, Jean, and me

As always, it was hard to leave the kids but I had a great time in Chicago seeing my friends and hanging out with the girls. It was exhausting too but I was very lucky to have wonderful help taking care of the kids for me. Stay posted - pictures of Cecil coming home are coming soon!!

Mobility Increases

We are too big to sit in the bouncy seat anymore but it is perfect to play with as we learn to sit on our knees and pull up

"OK people, sitting on my knees is no problem now. I need something stable so I can pull all the way up." -- Helen

"What? You never said we COULDN'T play with this...." -- Alex and Ella

Helen is so pround of herself for being able to reach all sorts of new things now

Just so you don't think they are always so sweet and cuddly, here's Ella having a melt down.

There she goes! Helen can now pull herself up in her crib

Ella is just happy someone has finally come to save her

Ella still enjoys crawling over things rather than around them

Alex is happy and hanging out

The DVD player is no longer safe

Attack of the babies! They all descended upon me at once.

Even though Helen cannot crawl with something in her hands, she's figured out another way to carry stuff across the room

Nothing on the coffee table is safe either. We used to keep all the books up there but now Helen loves to throw them on the floor one by one and her siblings are more than happy to lay at her feet and wait for the gifts from above.

This week Helen went from only pulling up when she was holding onto someone to being brave enough to pull up on other things like her crib and the coffee table. She is very excited about her new skill and loves to try it out at every opportunity. Ella and Alex are very proficient crawlers now and sitting back on their knees too. Thankfully Alex's two top middle teeth are starting to come in so hopefully his fangs will even out soon. Either that or he will be a vampire for Halloween.

Cecil is officially making progress towards being home. Last week he left his base and is in another base in Afghanistan. He will probably be there for at least another week while he gets "processed." We're still hoping he will be home before the end of the month!

Growing Fangs and Pulling Up

Ella loves bouncing in the bouncer

Helen is put in the exersaucer when we need her to stay in one place for more than 30 seconds

Alex has not figured out how to get out of the sitting position (other than getting pushed over by a sister) so he's happy to just sit

Ella is not one to take the easy way out - she has not figured out that it is easier to just go around than just go through

On Saturday we went to the park with the multiples group - lots of twins and triplets everwhere! Here's Helen, Alex, and Ella. While they are chewing toys in this picture, as soon as I put Alex down, he reached over and got a handful of dirt and grass and shoved it in his mouth. Yum!

I know I am biased, but how cute is Helen???

Ella is adorable!

Alex - in his toddler size hat because the "baby" ones are too small for his head!

It has been a busy busy week! Helen is pulling up at every chance she gets and is getting very good at it. I keep reminding her of the rule - no one walks until Daddy gets home. Ella is speed crawling and Alex is just trying to keep the girls from taking his toys away. The two teeth that are growing in on top for Alex are not his two middle teeth - they are the ones beside his middle teeth. Which means he looks like he is growing fangs. I hope those middle ones come in soon!

Cecil is "scheduled" to leave his Afghanistan base this week. I say "scheduled" because nothing is guarenteed with the military. He has about 5 or 6 stops on his way back home so it will be awhile before we see him. Hopefully it will still be before the end of the month. I keep telling him to prepare to leave one war zone and come home to another :)

9 months

This past weekend I went to California for a college friend's wedding. We had a great time! Here I am (in the middle) with two of my college friends - Chace and Mary

Helen is now pulling up and will climb on anything (including me) that she can reach


And she does not let a little thing like her sister get in her way

Reading time! Which really just consists of chewing on books

Happy Ella

Happy Alex

While I was gone, April came down to help and my mom came down to stay with the kids. Here's April entertaining the crew

Grandma doing a feeding

Helen getting fed

Ella loves playing with the ball

Alex in the new pool April bought for them

Helen is enjoying the pool too

Lots of fun things to play with in the pool

Poor Alex. I leave him alone with Grandma and she puts him in a speedo suit instead of his regular swim trunks

Ella has acquired a new habit of wrinkling up her face and snorting through her nose. Here she is in the act.

Helen thinks Ella's head is just as good as any other toy

Another snorting Ella (she's especially amazed when she realizes I can do it too)

Grandma and her babies

Ella sleeping

Playtime on the floor

Everyone is pulling up and getting vertical

While it was hard to be away from the kids for four days, once I got to California, I realized it was a much needed break. I knew the kids were in good hands with April and my mom. In fact, I was more worried about the kids running them over the coals than I was worried about the kids being OK! They all did fine and in fact, the kids got much more mobile while I was gone. It is amazing how much they can change in just a few days. Helen is pulling up on anything she can get ahold of. Ella is doing the fastest combat crawl I've ever seen. She has been discovered quite a few times all the way out in the kitchen (the gates are going up this weekend). Everyone has teeth and is otherwise getting much too big much too fast.

We had our 9 month check up at the doctor this week and everyone is very healthy. Helen and Alex are about 18 and a half pounds; Ella is about 15 and a half pounds.

Cecil is packing up and getting ready to come home. He comes home THIS MONTH!!! I've waited a long time to say that and it is very exciting. We don't have a firm date and probably won't until the last minute. Let's hope for a quick and uneventful trip home!