Milestones

The babies have been making lots of progress making their milestones.  It's funny.  Because they're preemies, I don't even know what they're supposed to be doing & when.  I'm just staying laid back (I know...so unlike me) and not worrying about things and believing that they'll do what they need to do when they're ready to do it (again, very unlike me).
So they're 3 months now and things are starting to pick up.

Ben
head control is the best of the 3
pushing up when on his belly
most eyecontact/most alert of the 3
not rolling
smiling more and more
started cooing the last of the 3

Nate
still a bit of a "rubber necker", but head control is much improved
pushing up when on his belly
some eye contact/alert times increasing
has rolled 2x (not sure if it was purposeful) belly-back
smiling more and more
1st coo-er

Sam
also a "rubber necker", but head control is improving
pushing up when on his belly
some eye contact/alert times increasing
has rolled 2x (not sure if it was purposeful) belly-back
smiling more and more
2nd cooer

Also, a big gift for their mommy & daddy was when they slept 8PM-2AM.  Love it!!!  Now they're going 9PM-5AM.  Yippee!!!  I attribute this to also not freaking out and letting them do it when they were ready.  We do go back a bit, but it's still better than being up every 3 hours!  The bags under my eyes are vanishing little by little.

First Christmas

The babies' First Christmas was rather uneventful, but extremely busy.  We had my mom, brother, aunt, cousin, & Dave's mom over for Christmas Eve to do Christmas & my brother's birthday (I'm not the only one unlucky enough to have a December birthday).  Dave, Eli, & Dave's mom went to mass while my  mom and I got dinner ready.  We ate, had cake, and opened presents in record time.  We shooed everybody out at 8 so we could get ready for Santa.  After feeding the boys, pumping, reading "'Twas the Night before Christmas", putting out cookies & milk, putting out Santa's key, and getting into our PJ's, Eli was in bed at 9:30.  Dave and I were up a bit later...

Christmas Eve

Dave, Ben, Nate, Eli, Renee, Sam

There's just something about a naked baby in a Santa hat...

Sam

Ben

Nate

 

Christmas PJ's

Eli

Ben, Nate, Sam

Before the Destruction

Stocking Stuffers

Ben, Nate, Sam

Eli

Christmas Morning PJ's

Dave, Ben, Renee, Nate, Eli, Sam

Eli loved getting his new MP3 player/karaoke/radio thing.  His favorite song of the moment is "I'm Bad" by MJ.  He also loved his new underwear (I know it's strange).  The babies loved their books and car seat toys, and of course their new clothes!!!

Santa's Visit

Every year, we have a "Friends" Christmas party the Sunday before Christmas and we get a special visit from special guy.  Eli looks forward to it and we love taking pictures with him.  Here are this year's:

Eli-Nate (in shock), Sam, Ben

Renee, Eli, Sam, Ben, Nate, & Dave

& of course, Santa (the guy in the red in the middle w/ the beard)

We Survived Santa!!!

We ususally go see Santa in early November.  We have a routine.  We go early. We avoid crowds.  We're in and we're out.  This year, we thought we'd skip it because the babies shouldn't be out in crowded places.  Well...my guilty conscience got the best of me.  I felt guilty that this was a break in the tradition and I'm trying to keep everything as "normal" as possible for Eli.  So on a spur of the moment, we decided to just go and do it.  Our weekend wouldn't work so Dave took a 1/2 day so we could go at a less crowded time.
My mom, Dave, and I got the babies all dressed.  Our fantastic helper, Katie, came over.  We went to pick up Eli from school (he had no idea we were going).  Then we headed down to Burlington to go see the best Mall Santa ever.  We picked the entrance closest to Santa.  Dave headed in to check on the line.  While he went into the mall, Eli got changed in the car.  He called to tell us there was no line.  Then he came out to the car.  We loaded all the babies into the stroller, grabbed Eli and headed in.
When we got to Santa, he and Eli chatted while I took pictures.  Katie & Dave were unloading babies.  Santa and the photographer wanted to get things started and I told them we had to wait for Eli's brothers.  I told Santa that they were 3 infants and I don't think he was too happy.  He kept telling us that one of us (mom or dad) would have to be in the picture.  We came dressed for it just in case, but I did not want to start that tradition.  Anyway, here's how it turned out...I just can't believe how smoothly it all went...

N-B-S

...until we were leaving the mall and the alligator at the Rainforest Cafe roared and Eli got scared.  We'll see how it goes next year...

Note the sock situation on the babies...I think we need tights...

3 Months Old!!!

It's the boys' 3 month-mirthday!!! 

Nate-Ben-Sam

Then & Now Stats

Ben at birth was 3lbs 4oz

Ben now is 8lbs 8oz

Nate at birth was 3lbs 3oz

Nate now is 8lbs 4oz

Sam at birth was 3lbs 4.3oz

Sam now is 9lbs 2oz

They've almost tripled in size!!!  These outfits are our first attempt at wearing 0-3 month clothes.  I don't think we're ready to completely abandon the Newborn stuff yet!!!

Photo Shoot

We had Dave's work friend, Jean Wozniak, come over to take some pictures for us.  We needed pictures for the announcement, Christmas card, and family shots. 

Here's the announcement photo: B-N-S

 Here are some Christmas shots:

We chose the 3rd one for our Christmas card this year.  It's gotten such rave reviews, I'm already worried about what we're going to top it with next year!!!

Food for Thought

I recently found out that producing breast milk burns 20 calories per ounce of milk.  I produce 60+ ounces per day.  This means I'm burning 1200+ calories additionally per day.  No wonder why I'm always hungry!!!  As I sit here attached to a machine that attempts to turn me inside out 6x/day I have to remember that this is like the best diet ever!!! 
P.S.  I sure hope I can kick my McDonalds addiction once I'm done pumping.