Christmas Pictures

Photos are important. They allow us to document the progress that we make in life. Carrie has an eye for photographs and a definite interest. We decided that she should pursue that interest. We knew we needed a good camera to help us document the progress of our three boys. A couple weeks ago we got the camera. It's pretty complicated as far as I'm concerned. I don't even know how to turn it on. Fortunately Carrie does. So, today we jumped in head first into the world of photographing babies. Despite what you might think, six month old babies are not exactly cooperative. Believe it or not, it is pretty difficult to get them to look at the camera at the same time, or look at the camera at all. I'm not convinced that they even realize that it's the holiday season. They don't seem to be aware of the fact that literally hundreds of friends and family members are excited to view their holiday pictures. They seem very unaware of the fact that they are without a doubt, mildly famous.

We dressed up the boys in their jeans and Chuck Taylor shoes. We combed their hair and put the best shine on them that we could. Next we drove down to a local park where photographing both babies and older people is commonplace. It's a nice park with cool stone structures and good lighting. Why not share some moments with you. Here is one attempt at getting the whole family at once.

Note that 2 out of 3 babies are not happy. Zane isn't crying, but he looks far from happy. Mom and Dad aren't crying either, but we were ready to.


This next photo is when Mom and Dad decided it was best to just throw in the towel. As you can see, 2 out of 3 babies are extremely upset.

We tried some other pictures, and this one would be great, except for the fact that Cade was letting us know exactly what he thought of the whole day.

Some of them turned out pretty good. This one happened to be on a park bench. Carrie's mother went along with us, and being the good sport that she is, laid down behind this bench at one point and offered to hold the boys up for the photo. Unfortunately, the bench has slats and she was easily noticeable in the photos. I'm very sad to say we don't have any with her laying on the ground, but here is one that worked.


I know what you are thinking. Try some individual shots. This made sense to us also. I held them up in the air and Carrie took some pictures. These actually turned out pretty good. These boys smile all the time. They laugh and smile at everything. Except for when these pictures where taken. You would have thought we had canceled their first Christmas.

Here is the family photo from the park that turned out the best. There are definitely things that Carrie would change, but I think all in all we got lucky on this one.

After getting all ready and going to the park, we got our very angry boys back to the house to do the 3:00 p.m. feeding and try and regroup. I put them on the couch and instantly we get something like this.....

It's not really even fair. This is just the couch. No cool park bench. No neat outdoor Austin winter sun. Not even anywhere near what Mom had in mind, but hey sometimes people are just happier when they get to hang out on their own couch.

After the boys ate and we took these couch pictures, we decided to head out again. This time we went to The Domain here in Austin. The Domain is a very cool collection of shops and restaurants near where we live. Carrie had heard that there was a Santa Claus there. Of course, we wanted to get the boys with Santa, but what were the odds of this happening? We figured that one of them would be scared. One of them might throw up on Santa, or they would all scream bloody murder as soon as they hit the old man's lap. I knew we were really rolling the dice, and you could see the looks of shear terror that hit the faces of the people working for Santa. I think they were like elves or something.

Elf #1: Uh...triplets huh?

Carrie: Yes. We want to get their picture taken with Santa.

Elf #1: Uh..Wow...at the same time?

Carrie: If we can, but it's a crap shoot.

Elf #2: Wow. We'll do our best.

At this point Santa gets out of his chair and walks towards us. We had the triplet stroller in the Santa line. I had just resigned myself to the fact that this probably wasn't going to go well. They hadn't exactly been cooperative before, and now we had Santa to contend with. In addition to the stress that the two elves and Santa were adding, we had attracted a gallery of onlookers. There was a whole crowd of people around anxious to see if we could pull this shot off. Santa was a bit nervous. He told the story of the one other time he had posed with triplets and they all started screaming. We assured him that we knew he could do nothing. The whole thing was a gamble. We got the boys out of their car seats and placed them in Santa's lap. The elves all made noise and Mom and Dad both tried to get the attention of the boys and have them look at the camera. The crowd held its breath in anticipation. Then, like a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth, the boys pulled off their first Santa shot. The two elves gave each other high fives as we put the boys back in their car seats. Santa was extremely pleased with himself, and Carrie and I were just stunned.

In the end, Santa Claus makes everything okay.

Six Months Old

The boys turned six months old on December 2nd. That's quite a milestone. At this point we are used to the routine. We are used to the work involved. We are used to being always a bit tired. Personally, I'm not used to babies screaming, and after six months I'm pretty convinced I never will be. All things considered, they don't scream that much. They are generally pretty happy little fellas and they let us now when they need something. All this aside, sometimes they scream for no apparent reason. Last night right before his bath, Cade decided to scream for about thirty solid minutes. After a while, I decided that if you can't beat em, join em. So I decided to scream along with him. I tried to time my screams to coincide with his. I wanted to make him feel like I was on his side, and if he was trying to be heard, I was going to help him. I held him and watched his face to get the timing right and as soon as he started yelling, I did too. I even tried to make the same facial expressions he did. After a few minutes he figured out what the game was, and he ramped up the intensity of his yelling. I did the same. Then instead of me being on his side we had us a real screaming battle going on. If it was a yelling contest he wanted, then I was going to give him all he could handle. I figure my lungs are bigger, and I thought I could out last him. I tried my best to mimic his cries and match his volume. I figured I could be louder, but of course I didn't want to hurt his ears. In the end, I had to give up. Apparently this was a contest he was not going to lose. In the end, he cheated. Somehow, he got his two brothers Cash and Zane in on the game. That was just unfair. I will have a yelling contest with them one at a time, but not all three. That's just not right. During a pause, Cade said something to the other two in their triplet language, and Cash and Zane rushed in to help their brother. They worked hard to fill in any gaps that Cade was leaving by taking a breath. The three of them worked seamlessly in tandem to create a barrage of constant screaming that completely overwhelmed me. I sat on the couch utterly defeated. I have a feeling that's not the only battle I will lose to these three. Apparently they plan on cheating, so game on. I got news for them, we aren't raising a bunch of cheaters around here. Who do they think they are? The Yankees?

We went to the Doctor for their six month check up. Cash weighs 17 lbs 3 oz. Cade weighs 16 lbs 14 oz. Zane weighs 16 lbs 3 oz. They are in the 95th percentile as far as the weight of a premature baby is concerned. On the full term baby scale they all fall into the 50th percentile in all categories except length. They are a little behind there, but it doesn't seem to matter. Cash and Zane have both flipped from their stomachs to their backs and Cade will probably do it at any moment. They smile and talk to each other a lot.

There have been quite a few changes around here. We have altered their feeding schedule a bit. Here is what it looks like now.

7:00 a.m. - 8 ounce bottle of formula

11:00 a.m. - 8 ounce bottle of formula along with cereal

3:00 p.m. - 8 ounce bottle of formula

7:00 p.m. - 8 ounce bottle of formula along with a solid food (last night was green beans)

They now sit in high chairs and eat. I can't believe that we are on to solid food. Very soon they will eat solid food with every bottle. Probably this weekend. I'm not sure.

I ran some numbers which is fun for me for some reason. These numbers are approximate, but I think they paint a larger picture of what exactly has been going on in this house. Since they were born we have done this:

5400 diapers

2700 bottles

Yes, the first two months we had NICU Nurses helping us out. That was a huge blessing. They helped us ease into the transition. Now it runs pretty much like clock work. It's a bit of extra work using cloth diapers, but we just fold them while we watch television. Carrie is now making all the baby food herself, which will obviously help us save money and make sure that the boys are getting good stuff all the time.

The cool thing about being a parent is that you get to make all the rules. They have no idea what is what. They will go by your rules as long as you make them. For instance, we used pacifiers for a while, and then they kind of lost interest in them. We thought this was great. Since then we don't offer them pacifiers. By now, they have forgotten that they even exist. The biggest rule is that nighttime is for sleeping. We make a quiet environment around the house from about 8:30 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. The do very well with this. We have been very strict with maintaining a schedule and that surprises me. Carrie and I are not known for self discipline. However, we know that for our own survival we must stick to our guns and teach the boys that things will run a certain way around here.

The boys are having their first Christmas this year. This is the first year that we will not be traveling to Kansas or Illinois. We have the perfect excuse. If you want to come, then come. We aren't driving anywhere. So we decorated the house. I wanted to get a twelve foot Santa Claus, but Carrie talked me into the seven foot version.


Now for some current photos:



The boys like to play on their mat.




Here they are watching T.V. in their "Jump Jumps". We limit them to 6 to 8 hours of T.V. per day.



They notice each other.



This is with their buddy Alexander Morgan.



They love to hear the bluegrass music. I agreed to shave the beard for Christmas photos cause I'm lame.



I'm not sure what was going on here.



Eating is a messy business.


This is Zane.


This is Cade.


This is Cash.

So, things roll merrily along around here. We are very very lucky that our boys are so healthy. They have had quite the impact as one would expect, but things are pretty much as they were before. Carrie lets me think I'm in charge and I'm good with that.

Five Months

On November 2nd, the boys turned five months old. They are growing at such a rapid rate that I'm afraid to blink because I might miss something. They are now laughing and smiling and it really feels great to interact with them. Their personalities are really coming out and they are a lot of fun.

I haven't written a blog in some time, even after I promised to do so. The fact is, it doesn't seem like there is much to report. The other thing is, I don't want to sound like I am complaining or ungrateful. This is going to sound bad, but we are in survival mode. Trying to survive from one day to the next day. The roller coaster of emotions brings highs and lows at such a pace that your brain is simply pushing your body from one moment to the next. Sometimes I feel like I am watching myself in a movie. I'm playing the part of me. I find myself doing things and moving from one task to another. I see Carrie doing the same thing. You just go. You just do it. You can't procrastinate or put anything off. These things must be done.

Example:

It's 5:00 am. The boys get fed at 6:00 am. One boy starts to scream and you wake up. You lay there for a minute hoping that he falls back to sleep. Soon you realize that he won't. All you want is that one precious hour of sleep before you have to get up. Just one hour. The thing is, he's not going to give it to you. You get up and go into the nursery and look in his crib. You pick him up and hold him and then decide to change his diaper. You turn the light on low, cursing under your breath. Then he breaks into the biggest smile and laughs. He looks up at you and you can tell without a doubt that he loves you. You aren't tired anymore. The adrenaline that kicks in when your boy smiles at you wakes you up and kick starts your day. Sure, you went to bed at 12:45 and haven't had much sleep, but it doesn't matter. The roller coaster just hit a high point. So, you get the other two up and start feeding all three boys. Start the coffee. Throw the diapers in the washer. Finish up and watch the boys jump in their exersaucer units. You laugh as they look like they are running on a treadmill. You smile as they talk to each other in some weird triplet language that tragically they will forget when the learn English. Roller Coaster is still way up high. Then you put the boys back to bed and head to work. Roller Coaster coming down. At first, it was hard to concentrate at work knowing Carrie was home facing all this alone. It's easier now as you get used to being gone, but there is a constant worry that comes with being a parent that simply can't be explained. After work you head home and walk into what is usually a very loud house. Loud. Crazy loud. Bath night is really loud. They hate baths. Hate.

Your life is a balancing act. Work. Home. Work. Home. Work. Home. Home. Work. You learn to make each moment count. 3o minutes to strum a few chords on the guitar is a gift. For Carrie taking a shower is like a trip to Hawaii. Oh yes. Before triplets you were married. Married with just each other. Now, married with triplets. Your marriage takes a back seat to the babies. By backseat I mean that sometimes it can feel like your marriage is being dragged along the highway on a chain that is attached the bumper of the triplet mobile. Personal pursuits? People need to define themselves with alone and leisure time with friends and with their spouse. You just gotta plan these things and make them happen. Thank God for Carrie's Mom. The help she provides cannot be overstated. Family is very important. I forget that we are here seeing the progress everyday, and the majority of both sides of our family don't get to do that.

Carrie and her mother recently took the boys to Illinois. They drove the thousand odd miles there and back. The boys are road warriors. Keep the Guns 'n' Roses cranked up and it's all good. Feedings had to be done in places like Bram's and McDonald's. I was with the band and didn't make the trip with the boys. Being away from them is very unnatural. They left on a Tuesday and I left the next morning. On Tuesday night, the house was deathly quiet. I didn't like it. These boys have integrated themselves into our lives to the point that we don't know what we did before they got here. We simply don't remember and it doesn't matter.

We have a person very close to our organization who said, "Those boys chose you to be their parents."

My response?

"Wow. They must be dumb."

They chose us. Everything in life is a choice. You chose to be a good parent or a bad parent. You chose to be a good person or a bad person. You chose to be married and committed to your family. You chose to serve something larger than yourself. You chose to be a positive force on your immediate surroundings. You might have days when you fail, but you have to pick yourself up the next day and do better. Lately, it feels like I fail a lot at being a positive force. I get down and feel a bit sorry for myself. Okay, I feel a lot sorry for myself. I get tired and feel guilty about being tired. I think of all the things I need to do and I feel overwhelmed. If I think about it all at once the pressure can get to me. Then I come home to my wife and boys and realize that I have everything.

Carrie chose me. I chose Carrie. Those boys chose us.

Then we dressed them up like Elvis for their first Halloween.

Baby Gear

Carrie went with an expectant triplet Mom to Baby's 'R' Us on Saturday. My fellow triplet Dad Ryan said today, "They should have tissues at the entrance to that place. That way all the scared parents can wipe away their tears as they look at the ridiculous expensive crap you don't need." I wasn't allowed to go along on the trip with the expectant Mom. Why? Good common sense on Carrie's part for one. Second, I would have been a very bad influence on the proceedings telling her exactly why she didn't need a baby air purifier for $129.99. This is a message to Keith and Stephanie who are expecting triplets or to anyone who is:

Do not worry. You don't need half the crap people say you need. Baby stuff is everywhere for free. We haven't purchased hardly anything. Swings, clothes, bibs, towels, tubs, rattles, bottles, you name it. Don't let this stuff scare you. Tons of it got passed down to us, and we will pass it on. There is no need to spend good money on stuff they will use twice.

Back to Baby Stuff:

There are plenty of things that I have to complain about as far as baby stuff is concerned. The first thing is the baby monitor. Now, there are plenty of houses where a baby monitor is required. Ours doesn't happen to be one of them. The baby room is nine steps from our bed to their door. How do I know this? I just counted. However, we do have a baby monitor. Why? Cause if you don't have one you are a bad parent or something. I can tell you one thing, we can hear the boys scream without the monitor. It's easy. The monitor simply amplifies the sound. It actually gives you some sort of weird delay on the screams. You get it from the monitor, and from the actual baby at the same time. Why am I mad about the baby monitor? Well, the thing totally screwed me over the other night. Here's what happened.

I fed the boys at their 10:00 p.m. feeding and took the monitor to bed with me placing it on the nightstand on my side of the bed. Now, the thing beeps when one of two things are happening. It beeps if the temperature rises above 79 degrees, and it beeps when the battery is going dead. For some reason, the battery life on ours is getting less and less. Before, you could get a good six hours out of a charge. Now, it's like two hours. Anyway, I'm a deep sleeper. I spent a lot of years on the road with a huge party going on around me and I found a way to sleep through anything. Anyway, the battery was going dead on the baby monitor and it was beeping. Carrie wakes me up and tells me about it. I look over and hear the thing beep. In my sleep addled mind, I thought, "Hey, you better charge it up. If you don't have it in here with you, you are a bad parent." So, I go to put it on the charging base which is in the boys room of course. I open the door and fall over the chair that sits in the room. I crash into the dresser which holds the charger. This of course wakes up all three babies. I place the monitor on the charger, make my way back to bed, and try to go back to sleep. Well, the babies I had awoken were having none of that. I spent the rest of the night trying to get them to go to sleep. The whole night sucked. I basically use the baby monitor to see what temperature it is in the room. The thing is a piece of crap.

The next thing I would like to address is the snap up pajamas that seem to be common place. Snap up pajamas? I mean really. There are like 18 snaps on one of these things. Zip up pajamas are where it's at. Who wants to wake up at three in the morning and have 18 snaps to contend with to change a diaper? I think it's a cruel joke. Furthermore, if you start wrong and snap in the wrong place, you have to start over again. Meanwhile the baby is getting more and more agitated. Babies don't just stick their legs out and allow you to slip their pajamas on with ease. No, they make things difficult by kicking and crying. I completely understand. Do adults have pants with 18-20 snaps on them? No they don't. Half the time when I put their pajamas on, all the snaps don't get snapped, and the bottom of the pajamas is showing a lot of diaper. What if your prom date had 18 to 20 snaps? A teenage boy would go insane.

The next one might get me into trouble, but here it goes. Baby Videos. I happen to think that baby videos are bunk. The boys have several baby videos, and the cinematography on the things is laughable. We have one that looks like a dude with a hand held Sony Video Camera filmed some toys and overdubbed some music. Most of these things just go for big colorful objects. I admit, our boys seem to like them. This is a good way to occupy them for a bit. They stare at the big objects and listen to the music. My theory was that ANY video would work. So, on Saturday, which was my day to be Mr. Mom, I tried a Jeff Beck DVD. For those of you who don't know, Jeff is probably the greatest living guitar player on earth. Anyhow, the boys LOVED the show. Cash was dancing, Cade was smiling, and Zane threw his arms around to keep time with the music. I like the Baby Beethoven DVD. Why? Classical music is awesome and I want our boys to be exposed to it. Some of those other videos are really low rent.

How are the boys? The boys are awesome. We went to the doctor for their four month check-up, and it went very well. The boys all weigh around 14 pounds 10 ounces. They are doing a great job catching up from being born premature. The cool thing is, they are starting to smile and recognize us and each other. Look at this face.

If this is not a reason to get up in the morning, I don't know what is. This is Cash by the way. He is still the biggest weighing in at 14 pounds 13 ounces.

Here we are at the Doctor's Office.



This is Cade and Cash waiting for the Doctor to finish up with Brother Zane.

This is Zane. We found out at the Doctor that Zane may have a hernia that might require surgery. He will see a specialist on November 11th. We are a little worried about him, but if he needs it, this is a minor procedure. However, no one wants their kid to have surgery, but it could be so much worse.


Finally, I have to salute my lovely wife. As I mentioned before, on Saturday I played Mr. Mom. Carrie did some things with friends as well as getting all her hair cut off. I really like it by the way. Anyhow, I did everything on Saturday by myself, or most of it anyway, and it's a job. The boys and I did well on our own, but Carrie does this by herself everyday. I'm lucky to have such a beautiful wife who is a great Mom. Taking care of three babies is extremely difficult. It requires extreme patience and understanding with yourself, your spouse, and the babies. I'm very lucky to have a great person to go through this adventure with.

Extreme Parenting

It's true. There have been no recent blog posts here at Rolling For Trips. I admit that I have been really slacking in the writing department. Why you ask? Well, my dance card has been quite full lately. If you think my schedule has been a little hectic, then we can take a look at Carrie's schedule. We can sum that thing up in one word:

Babies.

End of Story.

If you are friends of ours, you haven't heard from us. If you are members of our family, you haven't heard from us.

If we had an old fashioned answering machine, the outgoing message would say:

"Hello. You have reached The Krug House. We are not available and we won't be for several years. You can leave a message just to humor yourself, but we won't listen to it, and if you think we are going to call you back, you have a better chance of being served an ice cold beer in hell."

This is extreme parenting. You gotta want it.

Two weeks ago, we used to brag to people how the boys slept pretty much all night.

This has changed. Take this morning for instance. We fed the boys and they went to sleep at around 10:30 P.M. We went to sleep ourselves until Cash decided that he was ready to kick start the party at 3:48 A.M. Before, the boys pretty much ignored each other. Now, they wake each other up with their howling. I imagine it goes like this.

Cash: Hey guys. I am a little bored over here and I peed my pants. So, I'm going to start yelling.

Cash proceeds to yell.

Cade: (waking up) Hey! Why are we yelling? Fine. I'm going to yell too.

Cade starts yelling.

Zane: You guys aren't to leave me out.

Zane yells.

All three babies are yelling at the top of their lungs. The baby monitor vibrates across the nightstand as Mom and Dad curse under their breath. The dog buries her head under the covers and wonders why the babies are allowed in the house.

Mom stumbles out of bed and picks up the loudest baby.

Dad puts up his best fight and lays in bed trying to ignore the chorus of baby howls coming from the nursery.

Mom brings a baby to Dad.

Mom: Hold Zane for a minute. I'm going to change Cash.

Zane is handed to Dad so that he can scream directly into Dad's ear.

Dad gives up and gets up with whomever he was handed and heads out.

This is when they get you. You may be tired. You may be annoyed. However, when that little boy looks up at you in his little pajamas and opens up his eyes as if to say:

"Hi Dad. I just wanted to hang out with you."

You can't be mad.

Sleep seems unimportant. The boys are all up. Mom is up. The dog is up. Why not have some family time? Usually we go sit on the couch and start the 6:00 A.M. feeding a bit early. Today it started at 5:30 A.M. which isn't too bad.

After they get fed and changed, they go right back to sleep. Mom goes back to bed. The dog goes back to bed, and Dad throws in the towel and makes coffee.

This triplet thing is not easy. I'm not going to lie to you. I have a very hard time with two things.

Balance and Patience.

Balance. Time management becomes very important. First of all, you have your triplets to take care of. Then you have your work to do. Gotta earn a living. Oh, and by the way you are still married. That's right. Your wife is still that hot girl you met that one night not so long ago. Making time for your marriage is difficult. Finally, if you can work it in, you need time for yourself.

That's why there hasn't been much blogging going on.

Patience. This was not a virtue that I was given. With triplets, patience is essential. Perhaps the most important thing. First of all, it starts with being patient with the babies. They don't understand that when they scream it's like finger nails on a chalkboard while listening to Coldplay, Fleetwood Mac, and The Eagles at the same time on three very loud stereos. You have to be patient with your spouse. Hey, this is all new to them too. Things are going to get done at a different pace. I'm not good at this. I want things done now. I want broken things fixed immediately. I want babies to stop crying as soon as they start.

Not going to happen.

So, we are learning. "We" are learning that you shouldn't be outside beating on metal with a hammer while playing Black Label Society at full volume while someone is inside trying to put the boys down for a nap. "We" are also learning that you can't drink five beers and be effective at the 10:00 P.M. feeding.

Balance and Patience.

We will get there. Everything will fall into place. It has already started happening. I look back on the four and a half months since the boys were born, and things have settled into what they are. I'm sure it will continue to be a battle, but it is a battle that we are committed to win.

So, I leave you with Baby Elvis. The boys are dressing up as Elvis for Halloween. All three of them.

Why?

Cause it's Elvis.

That's why.

Four Months Old

Yesterday on October 2nd, the boys turned four months old. They celebrated this milestone by screaming at the top of their lungs pretty much all day long. In fact, this is how they celebrated October 1st and September 30th. In the past two weeks the boys have taken up yelling as their new hobby. This makes for quite a bit of excitement around the house. The dog tries to stick her head between the couch cushions. The cats take refuge in whatever room happens to be baby free. The other day, I came home to a chorus of screams. I walked into the house and Carrie appeared to be shell shocked. She had the look of a person who had been under interrogation for the past eight to twelve hours. I knew that I needed to pitch in and help out. We tried the swings. The swings work sometimes and usually for very short intervals. Sometimes you have to go with the swing/pacifier combo to get them to be quiet. Holding the baby will generally put them in a tranquil mood. However, it is very difficult to hold three babies at once. In response, I have developed a technique.

They usually like this. It allows them to look around and check out their surroundings which they are really starting to do. This picture was taken last night right after the 7:00 P.M. feeding. I can't hold them like this forever. Despite how easy it may look, this technique is both physically and mentally demanding.

Back to the subject. There are other ways in which to make the boys happy and not scream until they turn purple. One place is in the car. If you are driving in the car and hitting plenty of bumps, this will calm the boys. They love bumps. The rougher the road the better. Stopping is the worst thing ever. Stop signs and stop lights are met with a chorus of discontent from the backseat. Keep it moving. The fact that they like rough roads has led me to believe that we should travel everywhere cross country. Taking a ditch and bouncing the vehicle along the side of the road would no doubt make them extremely happy.

Another place they are happy is in their stroller. Hold on. There is a catch. The stroller has to be in constant motion. Stop the stroller for an instant, and you will hear exactly how they feel about it. If we have to stop, you must shake the stroller or shake an individual seat. I am amazed at how violent they seem to like their method of travel. Most people like smooth sailing. Not our boys. Bumps in the road are welcome.



There is also a sure fire way to get them to be quiet. It is no secret that my favorite band is Guns 'n' Roses. My favorite song is Paradise City. This is also the favorite song of our boys. Play this song, and they instantly become calm and happy. Why? Well, without Guns 'n' Roses, I wouldn't have started playing guitar. If that would have never happened, I would not have been in Central Illinois playing a show. If it weren't for that show, Carrie's friends would not have been able to force her to go to this show where she met me. I believe the boys know on same basic level that without Guns, they would never have been born.

This brings us to one simple fact and I doubt the guys in the band thought of this when they formed, but Guns 'n' Roses equals Triplets.



Carrie has this song on her IPOD and uses it whenever a car ride gets too dull for the boys. It almost brings tears to my eyes to think about my boys loving Rock 'n' Roll. They love to watch this video. In fact, they love to watch music videos. The fact of the matter is, much to the chagrin of their mother, these boys are metal heads. They love it loud and hard. They like their travel rough and their music rougher.

That and each one of them can scream like a banshee. This is important to a metal musician. I have studied the scream and it starts with the face getting twisted up. The eyes closed. The bottom lip starts to quiver. You have about two seconds before total meltdown. Then the scream starts and gets louder. They almost forget to breath as their faces turn purple and they howl with a volume that is so intense, I am amazed that it comes out of such a little body.

Here is a picture of the boys on the couch on their four month birthday.


We are very thankful for the schedule the boys are on. They are sleeping pretty much all night, and they all wake up pretty much every morning around 6:45. I imagine they are around the 14 pound mark. They are awesome, and Carrie and I can't imagine life without them. I don't even know what it is I used to do. It doesn't matter. This is what we do now.

In other news, we had a couple come over to the house that are expecting triplets of their own. They were very nice people who looked like they were scared out of their minds. The Dad looked like a deer who was about to be run over by three cement trucks. I hope we made them feel better. It reminded me of when we went to meet the Britton Family here in Austin while Carrie was pregnant. After we left, I almost threw up. Anyhow, Carrie and I have decided to write a blog specifically about having triplets and what worked for us up to this point. We have been getting e-mails from people expecting triplets from all over and it's pretty cool that we can help people out in some small way.

Anyway, I leave you with another photo from yesterday. This is the surprised look that they usually have while they are trying to figure out the world. I hate to tell them that the world will continue to shock and surprise them long after they are babies.

Stronger Than All

There were many amazing people that we met during our time in the NICU. For those of you just joining us, that stands for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Our particular unit was located in Temple, Texas at the Scott and White Hospital. I have always meant to write a bit more about the eight and a half weeks our boys spent there. Carrie went to the NICU everyday, and I made it as often as I could, never going more than two days between visits. This was a very tough time for Carrie and I, and perhaps one of the reasons that I haven't written more about it, is because I really don't like to think about it too much. Looking back, our time there went by relatively easy. Sure, there were some tough days, and a couple that were very scary. All in all, we were very very fortunate to have three tough little guys that were taken care of by the very best people on earth. As I write this, Cade is sitting on my lap and staring at the computer screen. Someday, I will tell him all about those special people and how they made sure that we get to sit here today.

Back to the point. What I meant to tell you is about the most amazing people that we met during our time in the hospital. First of all, let me describe the unit a bit for you. When you ride the elevator up, you come to the baby floor as I called it. To your right is Labor and Delivery. Take a left and you walk through the waiting room and up to the nurse's station to get into the NICU. You have to be buzzed in. Only parents and grandparents are allowed. No siblings. Next, you walk down a long hallway and on the left are the doors leading into the rooms with the babies. Outside each room is a sink you used to wash up. Next to the sink is a closet filled with gowns that you must put on. Inside this room were all the babies. There were several stations with babies in different stages of development. Those in the incubators were brand new, while the older babies were in cribs. Moms and Dads came and went. Since we were all so concerned with our children, a smile and a nod was all the communication that passed between us. The nurses were not allowed to talk to the other parents about any of the other babies. As a parent, you were not allowed to venture out of your area. Since the room is very large and open, you could get a good idea about what was happening around you. You knew when someone had a heart rate drop or when someone was screaming. Our boys took up quite a bit of space in the room. We were all along one wall. Behind us was a sort of island with computers and all the equipment that the nurses needed to take care of babies. On the other side of that island, in a crib, hooked up to all sorts of devices, was baby Chloe. She was the rock star of the NICU. She was born in January, and by the time our boys were born on June 2nd, she had been in the NICU for about six months.

Carrie and I knew that Chloe must be having a rough time of it. We couldn't ask any questions, so we didn't know exactly what was up, we just knew that this little girl had been having a very very hard time. After a few days, we met her mother whose name is Dawn. She was the most upbeat positive person I believe that I have ever met. She told us that she lived in Hutto, which is Northeast of Austin. She drove there every single day to be with her little girl. Dawn was always so happy for us when she would ask about the boys. Carrie and I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. Here we were with three healthy babies. Somehow it seemed unfair. Often times, we would run into her just outside the door by the scrub sink. She would give us the latest on Chloe. They were hoping for the best. She was never down. No matter what happened, she was always positive. Carrie and I couldn't believe this. We hadn't been there long and the NICU was already getting to us. We simply couldn't imagine going there every single day for six months. As our boys grew and did better, we watched Chloe go through extreme ups and downs. I regret that I really never got to talk to Chloe's Dad very much. His name is David. I guess that often times he would sit outside in the waiting room with their two young children while Dawn was with Chloe. Chloe's brother and sister could not go into the NICU to see their sister. David would often wait for Dawn to get home from the hospital late at night, and then turn around and drive back up there himself to spend time with her. This trip is around 60 miles one way. All this time they had two children at home and a baby in the hospital fighting for her life.

I must say, and Carrie agrees, that Chloe and her family played a very large part in our surviving our time in the NICU. When one of us would get down, or we would be sad to leave our boys, one of us would say, "What about Chloe's family? They have been doing this for months." Watching their strength gave us strength. Seeing Dawn smile at us when there was literally a team of people working on her daughter was absolutely one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed.

Because of the rules, I never saw Chloe up close. However, she was quite a presence. All the nurses and doctors, and nurse practitioners were in love with this little girl. Her strength and determination to survive was astounding. When my boys were crying, I would say to them, "That girl over there is tougher than you. She wouldn't cry through this. You can be tough too."

As our time at the NICU drew to a close, things were changing for Chloe also. She was moving out of the NICU and into the Pediatric Ward I believe. The last time I spoke with Dawn she had nothing but hope for her daughter and her journey. They were going to be in the hospital until at least August or September. Since we left the NICU we have thought about Chloe often. Carrie would get updates through Facebook from Dawn and relay them to me.

Today, we received the news that Chloe has left us for a better place. Carrie and I are very sad for her family. We wanted to share her story with you so that you would know how much Chloe and her family did for us. We found out tonight just before it was time to feed our boys. I went in to get them and they were all screaming. It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. I will not take it for granted and I am very thankful for our boys and I am thankful that we got to know Chloe.

Always positive and upbeat, I want to leave you with Dawn's words about Chloe.

"It is with great sadness for me, rejoicing for her...our precious Chloe Elizabeth Gallaway went home to the loving arms of Jesus this morning. David and I thank you for all of your support and prayers through her precious 8 month journey. God gave us an amazing treasure...we will see her again!"