The Texas Sun

As of today, July 30th 2011, the boys have been at home for exactly one year. Yes, it was one year ago today that we brought them home. I had no idea what to do with them. I remember that. I also remember that back then they were much quieter and they stayed where you put them. This is not the case now. While they can't quite walk yet, they are definitely mobile. For example, here is what happens when Dad forgets to pick up the dog water when the boys hit the floor.


This is a picture of the boys looking out the back door. They are fascinated with the outside world.


None of the boys can do anything without crawling on top of one of their brothers. With all this floor space, they have to be right on top of each other.


Under the end tables is a favorite hang out. Sometimes that don't do very good with the dismount.



Texas has been extremely hot and dry. We try to get the boys outside and doing stuff as much as possible, but past 10:00 am it's really just too hot. We have been taking them down to Town Lake here in Austin in the mornings for a walk and to watch Tess swim. They love to be moving. It will be nice when the weather gets a bit better out and we can do more things outside. Unfortunately, until then we are all relegated to the inside of the house for the majority of the time. I swear these boys have not seen rain. The first time it rains they are going to think it's the end of the world.

Here are a few random shots. They boys are still quite fascinated with guitars, and they also like to wear hats.




At this point, the boys use the walkers, but they run around as if they aren't there. This is Zane intruding on Cade's territory. Retaliation is expected. They may be only 14 months old, but these boys use force.

After the excitement is over, they are back to being buddies again.


Things have been extremely busy this summer. Carrie and I are very busy with our new business CTK Entertainment. The great thing is, we work from the office right here in the house. Thankfully Carrie's mother has been coming by and watching the boys during the day while we work.

This is Zane, and I'm not to going comment.


As far as food is concerned, we have the boys off of bottles and onto sippy cups. This was a relatively easy transition. Cash was the only hold out, and that was only for about a day. He wasn't real impressed with the whole sippy cup thing, but he learned. The boys will pretty much eat anything. They like spaghetti a whole lot. Carrie makes most of their food. However, one thing they don't like is avocado. Here is a picture of them trying it for the first time.


For some reason they just didn't like it very much. Cash will pretty much eat anything that won't eat him first. Zane is the picky one, and Cade is somewhere in between. They are still on the same strict eating schedule. They do take a "nap" during the day. A "nap" around here means Zane stands in his crib and beats the blinds against the window, while Cash beats the wall with his fist and Cade yells.

Since we have had about 50 days of over 100 degree temperatures here in Austin, our garden completely failed. We did get some Okra. Okra by itself is fine, but that's all we got. I was watering some plants in the front yard and we had the boys out there with us for that. We didn't dare keep them out for longer than fifteen minutes because we were afraid they would burst into flames.



We have a very patient dog. It doesn't matter what these boys do to Tess. She doesn't care. She is the best dog on earth. The other day we rewarded her by getting her a large bone. She was extremely excited.


These are the absolute latest pictures. We here at Rolling For Trips try to keep you up to date with the most recent pictures.

Here is Cash:

Here is a video of Cash. We need to take a lot more video.



Here is Mr. Zane:


Here is Cade:


Here is a picture I found from one year ago today. The boys just got home. You can see the wire for Cash's heart rate monitor.


Here is one from just a few minutes ago. We got them to sit still on the couch for a couple of minutes.


I don't have much insight or wisdom to offer after having the boys home for a year. Things are so busy around here that we don't have much time to reflect. I know we try to enjoy every moment. We sure laugh a lot at the boys and their antics. I know one thing for sure, I have never been more busy. Between playing music, running a business, and raising three boys, there isn't a lot of extra time in the day. That's why I haven't been able to keep up with the blog as much as I would like. We do appreciate everyone checking in and watching the boys grow. We sure are having fun.

Now if it will only rain.

A Note From Carrie

Hi everyone! I hate to disappoint you all, but this is a post from Carrie, not Mike. As you can imagine, we have been really busy since the boys' first birthday. Mike is swamped with several things so I thought I would add a post here to keep everyone updated. The boys had a great first birthday! My dad and step-mom came to visit us from Illinois. The following day, four of my closest friends from Illinois flew in for the birthday festivities. It meant so much to me to have them all here. A few months back we had entered the boys in a "Diaper Derby" photography contest which we won! Thank you to all of you that voted on Facebook. We had the pictures taken on their birthday. It was so special to us to get pictures done on that day, as well as having some pictures taken while they experienced their first cake. Mollie Kendall did an amazing job at capturing the moment. You can view the pictures on her blog at the following link:

http://molliekphotography.com/blog/2011/06/triple-goodness-austin-multiples-cake-smash-photographer-mollie-kendall-photography/

The boys were in a great mood and were excellent little models. As we were finishing up the last shots, we noticed that the boys were breaking out in a rash. We did our best at washing them up while we were still at the photographer's house, but as more time passed, the rashes got worse. We rushed out of there and headed for home. I have to admit, I was freaking out! I was just praying that they wouldn't swell up or have trouble breathing. This was our first allergic reaction so I didn't know what to expect. As soon as we got them home we put them in the bath. It wasn't a few seconds later and the rashes were completely gone. We were very thankful that it was only external. From the research that we have done, it was from the dye in the cake. That all made for quite a memorable first birthday. We did give the boys cupcakes with white icing at their birthday party and luckily, they didn't have any sort of reaction. One of the most memorable times of their birthday party was watching them eat those cupcakes. They each had a plastic ring with a sea creature on them. As we were cleaning the boys up after they demolished their cupcakes, we noticed that Zane had put the ring on his finger. We couldn't believe it!

The boys are absolutely out of control. None of them are walking yet, but they are crawling everywhere they possibly can. Zane and Cash are pulling themselves up on people and furniture. If I were to guess, Zane will be the first to walk, and it won't be long. We have to have a "play yard" (which is a plastic fence) set up in the living room to confine them to one area. They all three go in different directions and will find something to do to get in trouble. Zane's favorite thing to do it lay across the back of his brothers. As you can imagine, this really makes his brothers mad. Although, Cade has also started doing it. We try telling them "no" and they just laugh at us. We're going to have to look into military schools for these boys. Is 12 months too young for those schools???

As Mike has mentioned before, he had stopped touring with his band after the triplets were born. They have continued to play shows in Texas as they were working on a new CD. They just finished their fifth record, Life is Now. I am so proud of Mike, Joe and Ryan. This CD is excellent! I believe this is the best CD they have ever released. You can pre-order the CD now at www.backporchmary.com. It will be released on July 19th and available to download on iTunes at that time. Go check it out! You won't be disappointed.





Mike and his band did go out on one run up to Oklahoma and Missouri over Father's Day weekend. The boys and I missed him so much. While he was gone we decided to make a coffee mug for his Father's Day present. I had bought porcelain paint and put the boys' "hand prints" on the mug. We had a lot of fun. Since I don't get the opportunity to write on here, I would like to tell you all what an unbelievable dad Mike is to our sons. I couldn't have picked a better father to have triplets with. Since the day we found out we were having triplets, Mike has been so strong and supportive. There was no doubt that this family was going to come before anything else. He was the best partner to have while I was uncomfortably pregnant. He always looked out for the health and well being of myself and his unborn sons. He never missed any doctor's appointments. He took care of me and our home no matter how busy he was with other things. As I said before, the boys and I always have come first. Since we have brought the boys home, Mike has been there just as much, if not more. He helps with every single thing that the boys need. We never have fought, or even mentioned, who's "turn" it is to do something. If anything needs done, one of us is doing it. No questions asked. He hasn't been out without me, other than to play his shows with his band. Mike is the most supportive, loving, dedicated father and husband a woman could ask for. The boys and I are so lucky to have him in our lives. He's what every husband and father should be. I can't thank him enough for that. We will try to make it back here more often to post pictures and updates on the boys. I hope to get the boys out and take some new pictures of them soon. I just can't believe how fast they change. It seems like one of them is doing something new every day. I just can't imagine our life without them. The boys are such a blessing. I can't imagine having any more fun!

Here are a few pictures that we have. Most of them are taken with my phone so they're not high quality photos.

This is the boys in their swim trunks. They LOVE playing in the pool!


This is what I was talking about earlier. Zane has to be on top of one of his brothers.


Zane

Cash

Cade

This is their favorite thing to do, crawl on the end table.


They are also pretty up to date on their news.


Here is Zane waiting for us to get him up in the morning.

One Year

A year is 365 days.

The last year consisted of the following:

13,140 Diapers

4,380 Bottles

1,460 Feedings

These are averages of course. They may vary a bit one way or the other, but it's a pretty good estimate.

One thing to think about is that there are 8,760 hours in one year.

That is 1.5 diapers per hour for a whole a year.

On one hand, the year that has passed since June 2nd, 2010 seems like the longest year of our lives.

On the other hand, it seems like it went by in the blink of an eye.

That's the more overpowering feeling. The blink of an eye thing. This has gone very very fast.

This is Cade Richard on the day he was born:


Here is Cade Richard after breakfast on his first birthday:



This is Zane Chad on the day he was born:


Here is Zane Chad after breakfast on his very first birthday:



This is Cash Dean on the day he was born:



Here is Cash Dean on his first birthday:



What a difference a year makes.

One year.

365 days.

I can't get over it.

I don't care who you are, that's a miracle.


We have another family member that was born in June also. This is Tess Riley around the time she came home:


Here is Tess Riley Krug on June 2nd, 2011. She is pretty excited about the fact that her little brothers are turning ONE.


Summing up the last year is pretty difficult. It's hard to put a neat little bow on it and wrap it up. I have to say, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. We are pretty lucky to have three really good babies. They never got sick. We didn't have any of those crazy stay up all night long dealing with screaming babies episodes that I was convinced would happen all the time. After we got home from the NICU, the worst thing we have had to deal with is diaper rash.

Yep, we are very lucky.

Memories of the NICU are tough. Looking back at the pictures of the boys the day they were born is pretty rough. At the time, we thought they were the most beautiful things on earth. And they were. However, compared to what they look like now, they look like little purple aliens. The time in the NICU seems like a blur. I think back on it, and I remember a lot of it, but it just flew by in such a rush of stress ridden days that it's hard to think about. I have never experienced such extreme highs and horrible lows as you do in the NICU.

Once again, and I'm sure they are still reading this, to everyone at Scott and White Hospital in Temple, Texas....Thank You.

Of all the changes that have taken place over the last year, I know one thing for sure. These kids have really changed the way Carrie and I spend a night out on the town. Last night was our two year Wedding Anniversary. Yes, the boys were born one day after our first wedding anniversary. Anyhow, we went out to dinner last night. As we were coming home, I couldn't help but think of the massive difference between a night out before triplets and a night out after triplets.

Let's take a look.

Before Triplets:

Head out around 8:00 p.m. Find a parking lot for the car that doesn't mind if we pick it up the next morning. Head to a restaurant. Grab a starter cocktail and tell the waiter to keep 'em coming. Have dinner while we talk about work. I might tell Carrie about a book I've been reading. She might tell me about a song she heard on the radio and ask me who sang it. I would probably bore Carrie with some historical fact about the building we were in or the neighborhood. We would talk about getting a new cool car or I would describe the perfect guitar that I want. Towards the end of dinner we start figuring out where our friends were going to be. Next we would head out on foot to find them. Find the bar everyone was at and start ordering shots. This is when drinking was considered an Olympic Event for both of us. The music was loud. We had loud conversations with friends, and we didn't stop until the lights came on at 2:00 a.m. Next, it was time for to find a sober driver or to call a cab. If a sober driver was available, a stop at What-A-Burger was mandatory. If not, the cab ride home. Once we were home, I hate to say it but there was usually a night cap. After that bed at around 4:00 a.m. The next morning wake up at noon and try to piece together the night and figure out how to retrieve the car from its parking place downtown.

After Triplets:

Dinner at 7:00. Maybe have one beer with dinner and then a second one if things are going well. Talk about nothing but the triplets. What they need. How they act. What we think is coming next, and so on and so forth. 8:20 finish dinner and think we should at least hit a bar since we are downtown. Find a bar, order a beer, continue to talk about the triplets. After one beer, take a look at the clock, see that it is 9:20 p.m., and decide to head home. Home by 9:45 and in bed by 10:30.

It's all good with me, cause I'm old and tire easily.

Besides, one thing I have noticed is that by 7:00 a.m. the boys want to eat no matter how many beers I have had. After breakfast they go into their walkers and slam them around the house like bumper cars. They yell at the top of their lungs and try to break things. They chase the dog and cat around. Everyday is a pretty crazy Triplet Rodeo, and I guarantee that you don't want to show up to one of these things with a hangover. After they get bored with the walkers they crawl around on the floor. They grab everything in site and try and destroy it. Someone always wants held. It's pretty serious.


As you'd expect, we wouldn't change a thing. I can't believe the boys are one year old. That's crazy. We made it through the first year. Everyone said that the first year was going to be the hardest. Well, here we are.

Happy Birthday to our little boys.

Last of the Jump Jump Days

There are so many things about having triplets that you just don't think about. We had one pop up recently, and I'm embarrassed to say that this scenario hadn't really occurred to me. I was working in the studio the other day and Carrie was home with the boys. There was a prescription for Zane we needed to pick up. There was a lull in the action where I was, so I had some time to run and get Zane's medicine. On the way home I got a call from Carrie. Someone had rang the doorbell and then ran off. The reason that this was alarming is because of the recent smash and grab robberies that have been happening in and around Austin. These people ring your doorbell, wait for you to answer, and if you don't, they kick the door in, grab whatever they can and leave as quickly as they came. We do have a sign on our door that says, "Please do not ring the doorbell." This is because our dog Tess is very protective and barks if anyone rings the doorbell, which in turn wakes up three boys who are horrible at napping during the day. While this behavior is annoying at times, I have always appreciated how protective she is. If someone is in the front yard Tess goes nuts. I figured that a salesperson or whatever had rang the doorbell before they saw the sign, got freaked out and ran. I came up the street and saw a guy walking with a clip board. He looked like a door to door guy to me, so I stopped to talk to him.

Me: Hey, I see you are going door to door, did you ring the doorbell on that house up there with the Tahoe in the driveway?

Him: Umm....No, I didn't.

Me: Are you sure? My wife is home with our kids, and it freaked her out a bit.

Him: I didn't do anything.

Me: Well, who are you with?

Him: I'm with G.E.

Me: Can I see some identification or something?

Him: I don't have to show you anything.

Me: Fine, you can talk to the Police.

The areas around our neighborhood aren't the best, and I don't even mess around anymore. I just call the Police. The Austin Police are very quick to respond, and I have spoken to them at length about the problems in our neighborhood. They tell me to call when I see anything out of the ordinary. The Police came and dealt with him. Why he wouldn't show me any ID is pretty strange.

This whole little scenario brings up two things about the reality of having triplets. First of all, picking up a prescription wouldn't be a big deal for a lot of people. However, with three it becomes a real chore. How convenient is it to load up three babies in this contraption and go to a pharmacy?



It's not convenient at all. This is the boys' new stroller. The stroller itself weighs 70 pounds. Add around 65 pounds of triplet to the thing and it's pretty heavy. It makes what normally would be a quick trip to the pharmacy into something that could quite possibly turn into an Olympic Event. I can hear the play by play announcer now:

Announcer: We are here at the Triplet Moving Event at the Summer Olympics. Carrie has to get the stroller out of the back of the Tahoe, unfold it, and set the parking brake. Next, she has to get all three boys into the stroller. After that, it's into the pharmacy to get the prescription and back out to load everyone up again. Let's see if she can beat the four minute and 36 second record she set during the preliminaries. Hopefully this time she won't get into a fist fight with another customer in the pharmacy. That got her disqualified the last time and really cut into her time.


This whole day got me thinking about a lot of things. What if someone did attack the house when I wasn't at home? It would be impossible to pick up the three boys and run to the neighbors. What do you do in this situation? Call 911 for sure, but then what? I realize that a full frontal assault on our house is unlikely, but it gets you thinking about how absolutely helpless and venerable you are with three kids all at the same stage of helplessness.

In other news, the days of the Jump Jumps are over. We were down to using two, with one boy in a walker. Zane is our resident master of the walker. He goes everywhere with it. The other two are pretty good themselves, so we made the decision to get two more walkers and sell the jump jumps. No more Jumperoos. It's the end of an era.

That's right sports fans, these boys are now mobile. I'll look down and one of the boys will have crawled into the kitchen. One second they are in the middle of the living room, and the next second they are doing this:

Yep, checking out the outside world. We have taken some steps in child proofing the house, and more will be needed. We have already figured out how to get into the dog water. They also find each other very interesting.


Here are some various crawling around pictures. This one happens to be of Cade.


Here is Zane:

Zane again:


Here is one of Cash under a Jump Jump.



These next pictures are of the boys taking a nap. Top to bottom are Cade, Zane, and Cash.

Needless to say, they don't look very tired.

They would rather be moving around and destroying things than taking a nap. Makes sense to me. I was never much of a nap guy myself. We have passed a lot of milestones recently, and we will pass many more in the next six months. Walking comes to mind. A friend of mine recently told me this:

"You spend the two years teaching them how to walk and talk. After that you try to get them to sit down and shut up."

No matter the trials and tribulations, one things is true:

Having triplets is a blast.

Here is a video of Cade and Cash in their Jump Jumps. Oh the memories.