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!

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!