The day is here. Steven, Sammy and Amaya are ONE year old today. ONE!
All at once, it feels like we’ve known them forever and also like they were born yesterday. Steven, Sammy & Amaya are amazing individuals and have added more joy, laughter and love to our lives than we ever knew possible.
It’s been both a whirlwind and a marathon and we wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Here are some photos celebrating the big O-N-E!
Thank you to everyone who helped make this year what it was, especially our parents and Megan. Now get ready for the adventures of Steven, Sammy and Amaya’s second year!
Steven, Sammy and Amaya turn ONE tomorrow. It’s almost impossible to believe how far they have come this year, from tiny preemies to happy, healthy one year olds.
Here they are, shortly after they were born, and now. These amazing, amazing kids.
Steven, Sammy and Amaya turn one (ONE!) on Tuesday and we had their birthday party today with a small group of family and close friends. Honestly, I don’t even know what to say. It was wonderful, I don’t know where the last year went, and I feel like the luckiest mom in the world.
We made these birthday boards for each baby and had them on display for the party. They’re a great snapshot of who Steven, Sammy and Amaya are today. (You can click on the photos to make them larger and read all about these wonder babies.)
We had special birthday shirts with our names on them!
Daddy and Steven
Daddy and Sammy
Sammy and Nana Ellen
Steven and Aunt Annette
Steven with Anna, who’s been with us overnight on weekends since April and helped us survive this past year. She was also my intrepid flying partner form Detroit to NY for our Thanksgiving trip.
Steven and Aunt Ouize
Sammy and Aunt Ouize
Grandma Sunshine and Amaya
Grandma Sunshine with both of her granddaughters.
Savta, Amaya and Mommy
Savta, Amaya, Mommy and Nana
Papa Gene and Amaya Jean
Steven and Charlie with Nana and Aunt Sara
Amaya and Charlie singing with Nana and Aunt Sara
Anna, Amaya and Gene chatting it up
Megan and Sammy
Amaya is excited to turn one!
High fives for Grandma Sunshine!
Playtime in the baby jail…
Opening gifts!
Sammy is going to be a drummer like his big cousin Abe
Jason is hoping to be a drummer like cousin Abe, too.
Family
Time for cake!
With Nana & Papa
Grandma Sunshine
GREAT grandmother, Savta Kerry
Aunt Sara and cousin Charlie
Aunt Ouize and cousins Nancy and Abe
Megan
Singing Happy Birthday!
Ready to dig in!
Nancy is also a January 20th birthday girl so she got in on the fun, too! Happy 17th birthday, Nancy!
It was a wonderful day surrounded by people we love. Grandpa Ron, Grandma Betsy, Uncle Todd, Uncle David, cousin Chase, Uncle Austin, Aunt Dena and cousin Lavinia weren’t physically with us but were certainly there in spirit and in our hearts. Plus Poppy Steven, always.
Here are some more photos from the weekend visits and our week. It was wonderful to have so much family here to spend time with Steven, Sammy and Amaya. Visiting were Nana, Papa, Savta, Aunt Sara, cousin Charlie, Aunt Ouize, and cousins Nance and Abe.
This weekend, we transitioned from zip up onesies to two piece BIG KID pajamas.
Bedtime
During the week, Steven, Sammy and Amaya had lots of fun.
I can’t get over how similar the boys look in the 2nd picture here.
Amaya found a standing perch
One big playroom and everyone finds the same corner to play.
Steven!
This week, Steven pulled himself to stand. Go Bobo!!
He’s not doing it all the time but he’s definitely catching on.
We helped Steven stand here but, no doubt, they’re planning their escape.
Sammy!
Like father, like son.
Amaya!
To wrap it up for the week, Amaya has started caring for her brothers. Earlier in the week, she found all four suckies outside of the cribs. These have animals attached and 2 are Stevens, 2 are Amaya’s. Amaya picked them all up and brought Steven his two. In the photos below, Sammy was sleeping late and Amaya went over to check on him. She reached through the bars and started patting his shoulder. It was precious. <3
In the early part of the week Megan took some sick time so both Jason and I had a chance to stay home with Steven, Sammy and Amaya. First Jason on Monday and then it was my turn on Tuesday.
The timing was perfect because Jason had a chance to give Steven, Sammy and Amaya gifts from Aunt Ouize, Uncle Todd and cousins Nancy & Abe. They love opening presents.
Onesies for our National League team! (And isn’t it nice that Jason and I can actually root for the same team. 🙂 )
Steven was excited when he learned I was staying home with him on Tuesday. He loves Megan but Mommy time is fun, too!
Climbing Mt. Mommy!
Don’t dare step away from the playroom or you’ll come back to this!
Megan returned midday on Tuesday and Sammy was very happy to get Megan snuggles. (Unless she wore her glasses. For reasons we haven’t determined, Megan’s glasses make Sammy cry.)
I noticed that Amaya was spending a lot of time climbing our boppies so Mgan suggested that we get Steven, Sammy and Amaya these soft form play shapes to climb instead. They’re awesome! Everyone dove right in and Steven seems the boldest of all. They’re great for him. He’s pulling himself up on his knees and up to his feet. a bit, which he wasn’t really doing previously. I think they’re going to be amazing for his gross motor skills.
I want them in grown up size!
In my cooking adventures, I’m testing out Blue Apron (blueapron.com). Every week they send you all of the ingredients you need to cook 2 meals. This week was fresh pappardelle bolognese & chicken under a brick with roasted fingerling potatoes. The food is delicious but the prep time might be a long term game stopper.
The food
Jason got me in action
Here’s a sample plate of Chicken Under a Brick for Steven, Sammy and Amaya. They ate all of this, then an extra chicken thigh and 3 pieces of cheese. I have hungry growing babies!!
Though it’s really after they eat that the fun starts.
A few other, random photos from the week…
Bath time is stull fun time!
The closet bookshelf is a favorite gathering spot. See that chair? Made for me by their Poppy Steven when I was a little girl. <3
I am on an endless search for the perfect sippy cup. I have bought and returned many. MANY. The ones we’ve been using (munchkin weighted straw cups) worked well but they’re training cups and we needed to graduate to new cups with better flow to get us ready for the transition away from bottles. (Sad! Sad! Sad! Where did my babies go?!?)
So this weekend we tested our our new Lollacups. So far, so good! They’re getting used to the increased flow and the cups don’t spill too badly when they toss them around. Ten days, and the transition off bottles begins! (Sad! Sad! Sad! Where did my babies go?!?)
Here’s Steven this week
He’s so detail oriented that he spent a good 5 minutes just exploring my eyelashes. This kid.
Sammy
He knows he’s got it!
Still loooooooves his donuts
And Amaya
Some bonus pictures! Today, I was out at a first birthday part for another set of local triplets and Jason mixed things up daddy style for 3:30pm bottles.
This was story time tonight.
And here I am getting hugs one morning before work.
This weekend was Sammy’s turn for a special weekend in NY with mommy. Hooray! Everyone’s been sick all week (Steven, Sammy and Amaya, that is) and I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to make the trip but we did it!
I woke Sammy up at 5:30am and we headed to the airport for an 8am flight to NY. Sleepy eyes!
From now one, we’re not doing lap babies so this was my first flight with a car seat baby in a convertible seat instead of a carrier. New logistics! I was very nervous about how I’d get Sammy and the diaper bag and his car seat on the plane and then install it, when I can’t just ask Sammy to stand in the aisle. But we got ‘er done!
So, instead of a stroller, I have a nifty gadget that attaches to the car seat so I can use it as a stroller in the airport. Genius invention. Also, as you can see, I tied Sammy’s donuts to the car seat so they were always accessible. Best move of the trip!
Settled on the plane
Drinking his bottle
Taking in the sights
Eating breakfast. Eggs! Mmmm, mmmm, good.
And, finally, asleeeeeeep.
Together!
And we’re here! Waiting for Papa to pull up curbside and take us to Nana & Papa’s house!
The fun begins! Sammy is sooooooo excited to see Aunt Sara!
And cousin Charlie!
He loves visiting with Chase!
Meanwhile, back in the Land of Cheltenham…
Friday night was extra special because I had a sleepover with Chase. He’s my best big guy forever.
We did art projects, too!
Saturday morning started with happy Sammy
Chase hung with Sammy during breakfast.
We had a fun day together. Lots and lots of cuddles.
Auntie Anita never misses a chance to come by when we’re in town.
And, of course, Savta doesn’t either.
We had a lot of fun FaceTiming with Daddy, Steven and Amaya!!
And, in the afternoon, took a trip to Barnes & Noble.
That evening, Sammy had another opportunity to FaceTime with Daddy back in MI.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Cheltenham…
Grandma Sunshine and Amaya had lots and lots of laughs. We’re so glad that Grandma Sunshine can stay the weekend when Mommy is away!
And, next thing we knew, it was Sunday and time to go back home. After a hearty breakfast.
Sammy had his first visit to the Delta Sky Club
And of we went!
He cried a bit, early on, but I think it was just exhaustion. He slept most of the way home to MI, calm as could be.
And here we are! Ready to go home after a quick lunch of pasta and banana that we brought with us from NY. Nothing like sitting on the ground in the airport sharing lunch with your 11 month old after a mommy/son weekend.
Meanwhile, back in the Land of Cheltenham…
Grandma Sunshine provides endless entertainment!
Backing up a bit, Michigan State won their bowl game thanks to these cool MSU outfits from Aunt Annette. All it takes is a little school spirit from Sammy, Steven and Amaya and the team is golden.
Also this past week, Amaya continued to work on standing unsupported!!
Solo shots!
Steven was determined to get the book he wanted.
And he was able to pull himself to standing from Megan’s lap.
He loves the newest addition to the playroom, courtesy of Chase & Charlie.
And he looooooooves this water bottle.
Smiles!
Sammy and his donuts.
Even during a tantrum.
And sound asleep.
DONUTS.
This was Sammy’s last bottle with rice in it. Along with Zantac, we used it to help his reflux. The Zantac tackled pain. The rice helped thicken his feeds to reduce spit ups. We stopped the Zantac around Thanksgiving and weaned him off the rice over the past few weeks.
Finally, Sammy faces!
Amaya, in cat ears from Daddy. The cutest.
Very into her book.
Cuddly
Happy, happy girl
And, finally, I won’t show their bare butts in the blog but stick a finger up your nose and it’s going to be out there for the world to see. I love this picture so much!
The boy’s had this longsleeve onesie with patches on the elbows and I finally realized that it went with these overalls. Hahaha. How awesome is this? Sammy wears it well.
Oh, this outfit. <3
These overalls are actually amazing, and not at all funny, but Steven didn’t want to be left out.
Playtime in our fun outfits! Brothers!!
Everyone!
Jason bought Steven, Sammy and Amaya new shirts. They were very excited to wear them! Sooooo cute. All we’re missing are cowgirl boots for Amaya. And these boys are little mini Jasons.
Sammy has new jammies! Amaaaaaaazing new jammies. Because he’s getting BIG. Well, really, long.
Sammy liked his PJ’s so much that he demanded some selfies.
And then Steven wanted to join in fun!
Finally, the best apparel of all… pants on the head!
This week, we celebrated the final nights of Haukkah.
Lighting candles on the 8th night.
On the 7th night, Nana was here to open presents from Uncle Austin and Aunt Dena.
Then, this weekend, Grandma Sunshine and Aunt Annette came over for holiday fun times.
Opening presents
Playing with presents!
Aunt Alysia was supposed to be here with cousins Nancy and Abe this weekend, too, but illness kept them in DC. It was sad, sad news and I kept hoping that there’d be a health miracle but, fortunately, we’ll see them all soon!
Some more photos from the week…
A daddy pile-on!
With my boys
My mom got this shot of me trying to get all 3 kiddos in a photo. It’s really hard to get them all to sit still at the same time these days!
Babies at the gate visiting daddy before breakfast bottles. (Check out Steven planking. He’s working so hard to figure out crawling.)
And again after breakfast bottles!
Bedtime babies tonight
Foooooood! This past week we had french toast for the first time. Mmmmm, mmmm good. I’m sure it would be even better with sugar or syrup but they’ll have to stick with cinnamon for now.
Jason got me this beauty for Hanukkah. My mom laughs at me (good naturedly) because it’s hard to believe I’m someone who’s excited about a food processor.
But look at what it does to fresh spinach in less than 10 seconds!
I’m going to be GREAT at adding veggies to food. Like zucchini and spinach lasagna.
And now some solo shots. I’m going to get crazy and mix things up by starting with Amaya this week.
Sassy
Serious Amaya with Serious Mommy
Megan and Amaya
Still sassy
First to find her nose!
Yup, sassy
Amaya has now figured out that, if she pulls a sleep sack to the edge of the crib, she can get the suckie. And she gets the biggest kick out of it!
Sammy!
Sammy loooooooves the donuts. In fact, now he crawls around with one in each. It’s so cute.
He go ahold of his bottle. If only he could do this all the time!
Blurry, but he’s too happy to leave this out.
Donut on his head!
And in his hands. Again. 🙂
Here, Sammy and I are trying out the car seat we’ll use on the plan on Friday when we go to NY together. We’re not doing lap babies anymore so, somehow, with a lot of planning, I’m going to fly alone with Sammy and get him on the plan and in the car seat in the seat next to me.
Steven!
Smiley, smiley Steven.
And also adventurous!
Before I leave you, a video of bedtime playtime with Steven, Sammy and Amaya. I will admit that I baited Amaya with a suckie for the sake of the video. Sorry Amaya!
Last but not least…ME! I went to Nordstrom on Saturday and spend a gift card on ME! It was my first trip to the mall without babies since they were born and, as much as I love being with Steven, Sammy and Amaya (so, so much), it was wonderful just doing something for ME.
Every Sunday, I’m shocked at how much happened the prior week! This week, I’ll start with our first Hanukkah! Obviously Steven, Sammy and Amaya don’t have a clue what’s going on but it’s never too early to start traditions.
We took some photos with gifts from Uncle Austin, Aunt Dena and Lavinia. The boys’ onesies say “My First Hanukkah” and Amaya’s says, “8 Crazy Nights.”
On Tuesday night, Megan had Hanukkah gifts for everyone. Their first to open and they loved them!
Then we lit the candles. It was unexpectedly emotional for me. There’s so much power in tradition.
Thank you to Aunt Sara and Uncle David for the amazing menorahs!
Earlier in the week (Monday), Steven and I had a quick visit to the dr to check out a cut on his finger that we worried might be infected. (It wasn’t.)
Wednesday was Megan’s birthday! Steven, Sammy and Amaya decided to take some photos holding letters that spell her name. Of course, after their great idea, they sure didn’t make it easy to take the photos. Here’s the gift they picked out.
And here’s one of the actual photos. Steven loooooooved that M. He threw his first temper tantrum when I tried to take it away.
So I didn’t.
Megan took this picture during the week and I think it’s perfect. She’s buried in babies! :
We love you, Megan! Happy birthday!
Now, Nana is here visiting! Yay!
Steven really loves his Nana.
Not only does she give great hugs but she’s a great play seat..
It’s story time!
By the way, this is what happens when we get new toys. It’s a pile on! (Thanks to cousins Joey & Nicole for this one!)
We’re still eating new foods. Today we tried blueberries. I cut them in half to make it easier for them to eat. Small round foods are too nerve wracking. They were served for breakfast with raspberries, pancakes and chicken. When we’re out of eggs, we improvise!
This week we also tried grilled cheese. Mmmmmm. They’re eating so well that today I had to make 2 sandwiches for them!
And we also had cod, battered, breaded and cooked up in the nuwave oven. It’s so easy to make and Steven, Sammy and Amaya loved it!
Here’s what the menu looks like this week. I’m still repeating foods for 3 or 4 days. It’s going to suck when they want day to day variety. Making food for a few days at once is so much easier than worrying about new food every day.
This afternoon, Steven and Sammy had some fun with Amaya’s beret. They wore it well!
Right now, baths are on Saturday evenings and Wednesday mornings. In between, we just do wipe downs. On Wednesday morning I decided to see how a bath would go if I bathed them separately without the bath seats instead of together, with the bath seats.
Overall, a big success. SSA are all sitting well enough to make it work but it’s definitely not a situation where I can turn away. I shut the babies I wasn’t bathing out of the bathroom so I could give all my attention to the baby in the bath. It felt more relaxed, though, because I could get each baby dressed outside in the nursery instead of applying lotion and diapering on blankets on the floor of the bathroom.
Here are some solo photos.
Steven first. This week, he figured out how to clap and TONIGHT he crawled, REALLY CRAWLED, for the first time. Yay Steven!!
Mommy & Steven
Wearing Chase’s winter hat
I’m guessing Chase was about 6 months old in this picture. I see a real resemblance between them!
Steven and Daddy.
And clapping! Yay!
Sammy
He’s a yoga star!
Megan and Sammy playing games together
Sammy and Daddy in the middle of the night
Sammy standing! He’s so proud of himself!
Once Amaya and Steven realized I was there, everyone wanted in on the action!
Amaya
Amaya and Megan
Amaya looooooooves her suckies. Steven and Amaya both use them to soothe at night and for naptimes and we only offer them in their cribs. Amaya’s become an expert at finding them on the floor and snagging them from cribs.
I don’t know how it’s possible but Steven, Sammy and Amaya are 11 months old today. ELEVEN MONTHS! It feels both like yesterday and another lifetime ago that I was stuck in bed, uncomfortable, baking these three amazing humans.
Last night, before I went to bed, I was lying on the floor of their nursery in pure amazement that I have three babies and thinking about how lucky Jason and I are. I’m not sure it will ever sink in that this is our life!
Steven is a sweet little mush ball. He can clap, and go from siting to his belly, and he’s still army crawling but rocking on his hands and knees more regularly. Steven is still the most focused on small details. He can spend ages playing with a mountain dew bottle or the snap on a washcloth. He still doesn’t have any teeth! New, Steven claps!
Sammy made huge leaps in the last month. Within a week, he went from doing the worm to crawling, pulling to his knees and pulling to stand. As of yesterday, he can get to sitting by himself, too. Sammy has four teeth and it’s adorable. He’s a big ham and our most sensitive baby.
Amaya remains Miss Independent. She’s first at everything and I’m pretty sure she’s not far away from her first steps. She has 2 bottom teeth. Amaya is determined and focused. When she wants something, she’s going for it!
This week’s blog post starts off with a photo from last Sunday that I forgot to post last week. But it’s an appropriate start. You’ll see why in a minute!
Jason was having some fun with Steven. I’m pretty sure I asked him to put Steven’s pants on him. So he did. Hahaha.
And these pictures were of Jason on Thursday night after he got home from work. Steven, Sammy and Amaya love it when we get home from work. We’re instant celebrities. What we really need in those moments is an extra arm so we can lift all 3 babies into our lap at once.
But Friday morning started Jason’s big adventure. Megan was sick and I couldn’t stay home after being out sick for 2 days so Jason stayed home as solo!dad for the day!
Getting started with the morning bottles.
Playtime in the nursery.
Meal time!!
And here I am having a FaceTime lunch date with everyone!
Steven, Sammy and Amaya are lucky to have such an awesome daddy.
The fun continued on Saturday when Jason took Steven to the grocery store. Our first baby at Kroger!
Heading out. Where are we going, daddy?
There’s so much to see! Does he look like a big boy or what?
Does he know how to live, or what? Jason reports that Steven spent a good portion of the trip blissed out in the cart, hanging on to some mountain dew and staring at the ceiling. Even other customers mentioned how chill he was.
Meanwhile, at home, Sammy decided to pull himself to standing for the first time!
And then the fun continued with daddy.
On Friday night, Jason and I had dinner plans with our friends Doug & Sue Karsch. (Doug was Jason’s best man at our wedding.) Before we went out, the Karsch family came over to give Steven, Sammy and Amaya some gifts. Sports balls!
Each one of the Karsch kids has “adopted” one of our trio. The pairings are perfect.
Solid, steady men.
Goofballs!
Smarty, sassy women.
This week we had many more adventures with food!
Rotini with salmon and broccoli in alfredo sauce.
Steven enjoying a waffle with his eggs
Crab cakes!
This morning we tried raspberries.
And Sammy wore more of his avocado than usual.
For this week, I made feta and spinach egg fritters and I breaded some cod. Not pictured, I also made a turkey & 3 bean chili in the slow cooker. I barely turned the stove on before this fall. Now I’m a cooking machine!
More fun photos from the week.
Morning fun!
We decorated the playroom for Hanukkah!
The kids love it, especially the boys!
Playtime!
Yesterday I stepped out of the playroom for no more than 2 minutes and came back to this. Everyone had been playing quietly when I left.
Today was reasonably warm out so Steven, Sammy, Amaya and I headed to the mall for some holiday shopping. $5 valet parking is my friend.
It’s almost better at the mall when it’s busy because people have less time to stop and talk and there are more distractions to divert attention from “OMG THREE BABIES.” I mostly don’t mind the comments, even the random rude ones, but I do hate when people will walk alongside me to talk about my family. I end up diverting into random stores to escape!
And some photos of each kiddo.
Steven!
Notice the first picture with the brush in his hand and the 2nd picture when the brush was taken away. Someone is starting to throw tantrums!
Fortunately, there’s always someone to make it better.
Hahaha. I love this. Megan calls it Steven’s “Oh, my!” face.
He knows he’s cute. 😉
Sammy!
He spends a lot of time in downward dog.
In one week he figured out how to crawl (vs. doing the worm), how to pull himself to his knees and how to stand. Rapid fire progression!
So guess who else’s crib was lowered!
And Amaya!
Megan and Amaya, making faces.
Sassy, sassy, sassy.
Hahahaha. This outfit. Another amazing hand me down from big cousin Charlie.
