Life after Turning 1...

Since the boys turned 1, life has become a lot more fun--and hectic! Alex started to walk on September 28th and now his little world has no bounds. Jacen began to walk about two weeks later on October 17th. The boys are now into anything and everything. To defend prized possessions, we have been forced to finally babyproof cabinets with magnetic tot locks. They were the only locks that we could find that weren't adult-proof as well as child-proof!

Household objects that before held no appeal are now objects of great fascination. The dishwasher is especially awesome for Alex and Jacen...note that Jacen is toting along a red dog pull toy. These also are wonderful toys for the boys, who greatly prefer them to their own toys!


Alex loved his birthday balloons until they were all deflated. He would grab them and shake them to hear them rustle...


No one thinks that the vacuum cleaner is particularly interesting, however. Jacen and Alex seemed to find it downright terrifying.



The boys also love riding around on their fire trucks. Ty in particular
loves to race around the center island, and laughs if you chase him.



Jacen loves to hold a foam swimming noodle as he races around on his fire truck...he looks as if he is jousting.



The boys love a giant stuffed bear that Jody has had for ages. We recently brought the bear out to see how the boys would react to it. Here are all three posing with Mr. Bear...



Oh no! Jacen has to endure a bear hug!

Alex wants to bite Mr. Bear back...

We've also unearthed some very cute octopus chairs that we bought in Boston while the boys were just home from the hospital. The kids don't seem to really be into the chairs, but the dogs sure think that they are pretty nifty!

Grandma and Grandpa Madeira visited for almost two weeks in the middle of October. In addition to just hanging around the house and outnumbering the boys for a change, we all went to Nashville, Indiana, which is a "crafty" type of town. It gets pretty crowded in the fall because people visit not only shop but to see the leaves at the height of "leaf season." Here is the whole crew, strollers and all...

Jody and Jacen showing off a very cute horse tire swing...


Here's Grandma Madeira playing with the boys...



Alex loves pushing Ty in a wagon...and Ty is all for it!



We also finally upgraded the boys' carseats from the baby Graco SnugRides to "big" Sunshine Kids Radian 80s. These supposedly are the only car seats they will ever need. We certainly hope so...they were expensive! They have a "super cool" fabric on the seat to prevent the boys from getting too sweaty in the car. So far, everyone seems to like their new rides!

We are One!!

On September 15th, Alex, Jacen, and Ty turned one!! Preparations were all set for a groovy outdoor party in a local park with a tot playground, but the party had to be moved indoors because the remnants of Hurricane Ike came through Bloomington. Luckily, the faculty lounge at the law school was free, and it made an excellent party site. With decorations and ribs from Texas Roadhouse, we couldn't go wrong!

Here are a some pictures from the big event!

Grandma and Ty are excited about turning 1!



The party action is hot (but the weather outside is not)...

We ordered a special cake for the day, and it was still cute, although our bug theme didn't make quite as much sense indoors as it would have in the park!

Everyone thought the ribs were yummy...

Jody's fellow professor Aviva and Alex are getting into some mischief...

Alex loves his birthday ballooons.

Time to demolish the cake!

Ty gets his first taste of icing...


Alex just grabs a handful and looks mystified at what it is...

Ty is worn down from all the partying!


Back at home, it's time to unwrap presents...but first, it's time to put on birthday hats!

Birthday hats are more fun when they're OFF your head!


YEAH! Bring on the presents!


Ok, it's time for the smash cake. Everyone ready? What? No one likes to SMASH???



Ty apparently is Mr. Clean!


Then again, Jacen and Alex aren't too keen on mess either.


Daddy shows them how it's done...

A Birthday Around the Corner...

This past month has been action-packed for the boys. All three are now crawling; Ty started to crawl around the time we moved into our new home. Alex and Jacen have been pulling from sitting to standing for quite a while now, and Alex is very good at standing by himself for short periods of time. It won't be very long before these guys are walking!


Here are some pictures from this past month. There sure are plenty of cute ones!!


Ty is sporting some cool new specs...

Alex doesn't look particularly happy with his...

Jacen is reaching up to take his off!

Ty doesn't look thrilled about helping to fold the laundry, does he?

Alex loves his new push toy!

Here's Alex crawling happily around the new house...

Jacen's got places to go, and cool wheels to get him there...

Here's Ty on his wheels...

Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub...

Here is the triplets' composite picture that Matt made for their first birthday announcements...

Babies in boxes!

Alex is trying to put the toy on top of his head like a hat...

Ty looks like he is begging for coins!

Jacen proudly sports a plastic bowl hat as well!

We've Moved!

Meet our new home!

This is the reason that we haven't posted in a while. We moved on August 28th, and it was a very long, very hot day. We did move all of the large items and much of the smaller clutter, however. Since then, we've been going back and forth between the old home and the new home (which fortunately are about 1 minute apart, in the same neighborhood) to move the rest of our belongings. We never knew it was possible to have so much in cabinets and closets!

Jody's fall semester started on August 27th, and we have also kept busy with replacing the carpeting and countertops in the old house and hiring landscapers and fence builderes for the newe house. And then there's the little matter of the triplets' first birthday. We've never been busier, but we continue on our merry way and get a little bit done each day.

"Wagon" Our Tails!

Tonight Matt left for the weekend so Jody, who is taking care of the boys alone (Disclaimer: like Matt, who is SuperDad, has many times before!), got very bored and decided to take strange photos before taking a walk. Luckily, some of them turned out very cute! And yes, all of them involve the Choo Choo Wagon...with some four-legged passengers, too!

Here is Ty...



And Alex the goofball...




Jacen is proudly displaying his four teeth!




All three boys are finally looking at the camera (after lots of strange sounds from Mom).



And here Orc and Hobbit, our Boston Terriers, decided to hop in on the photo fun as well.

Happy Birthday!!

The triplets begged me to post this next photo, to wish Tiffany a fabulous 30th birthday! They wanted me to send her a celebratory bottle of formula, but I nixed that idea. It's the thought that counts though, right?

August Adventures

The triplets have been getting into lots of things lately...standing up, drawing pictures, demanding to be taken for walks, you name it! So I thought I would post pictures of our latest adventures.

Alex has taken to sleeping with his rear in the air...



Alex and Jacen are peering out from the walls of their play yard (a.k.a. "baby jail").



Here are the boys in their Choo Choo wagon, ready to go for a ride...



Ty looks confused, as if he needs to ask directions!