One year has come and gone

A year ago on May 23rd we left our house headed to the hospital with what I thought was just some back pain. Upon arriving they immediately began poking and within thirty minutes we were headed into our c-section. I got to kiss Jax and McKinley quickly before they were taken up to the NICU and never even got to see Allie. The first week in the NICU I got to hold them individually but it wasn't until Memorial Day that I was finally able to hold all three of my tiny miracle babies. They were all hooked up to multiple wires but our nurse that day helped to make it possible. It was a sacred moment for me as a mother and I was overcome with emotion. Jose decided it would be a tradition every year on Memorial Day to take a picture with my three kiddos all lined up in a row on my lap.
This year has brought some challenges as well as some of the most happy times of our lives. We have grown in ways we never wanted to but we couldn't imagine it any differently. Allie is the oldest by one minute but is our petite little princess. She has a serious face especially around other people but she has a contagious laugh when she gets going. She has a natural bug for anything musical and she can't help but move when a beat is heard. She can be crying but still rocking to a beat, she just can't help herself. We love our princess.
McKinley is our strong-willed and determined child. She has always been so curious of her surroundings and has been active since day one. She loves to smile and copy whatever we do. She is taking steps but she gets too excited and gets a little ahead of herself. She seems to be the ring leader and we hope she uses that influence for good. We love our McKinley.
Jax is an adorable little mommas boy. He loves his mommy which I don't mind and he has such a fun personality. He also is the only one that has attached himself to a blankie! He loves to follow his sisters around and make them laugh. He is our little walker and will soon be our first on foot. He is a great brother to Allie and McKinley and I hope he keeps that bond with them. Jax we love you and are so happy you are in our lives.
We tried for five years to start our family and encountered disappointments along the way as many couples do. We are so grateful every day for these three little ones who have blessed our lives in so many ways. One year down, seventeen more to go!

First Birthday Festivities!

I always said we wouldn't celebrate our kids birthdays until they were old enough to know what was even going on. Then we had kids and that all changed. It was not only a day to celebrate their first year of life but to also celebrate the fact that WE had survived our first year with triplets! Dan and Debbie were kind enough to allow us to throw a swim and bbq party at their house for the kiddos and it was a fun time for all the kids. Jose made them each their own big cupcake and this was their first time eating sugar. From the pictures you can tell they had mixed emotions about the cupcakes but overall I think McKinley enjoyed it the most! We swam, ate great bbq, and enjoyed the company of lots of family there to help celebrate. Thank you to all who came and helped make it such a fun day for us and for Allie, Jax, and McKinley!

We don't go out much with the kids but we try to get out with them atleast once a week. Going to the grocery store  is a lot more exhausting than it used to be. I tell you people are funny. I don't know how many times people come up to us ask if we have twins then they see Jax in the basket buried under the food. Then they ask if they are identical. We just want to say, are you looking at them? Do they look identical?  My favorite is when they say "oh three girls"...Sorry Jax. But for the most part people get a kick out of seeing them and we just have to add an extra thirty minutes to our shopping to accommodate everyones curiosity. It was a little annoying at first but we are used to it now.

A lot of questions we get are the usual how many diapers do you go through and how much food do you have to buy...in a week we go through atleast 90 diapers, 7 small cannisters of formula and 41 jars of baby food, just veggies for now with occasional fruit (which they haven't liked so far). When we stop and think about it we realize this is probably why the "fun fund" is completely depleted!

We went to the park on saturday with two of Chris's sisters and her dad. We made sandwiches, played kickball, (with some neighborhood kids) and played on the toys. It was good to see everyone and lots of fun was had.

6 Years and "tourdecure"

As the weather warms up we are starting to get out more. We got a little blue wagon from costco which helps so one of us can take the kids on a walk to the park by ourself.

We have learned that the kids love the swing and seem to enjoy the ride in the wagon. Seeing and hearing them laugh is so rewarding.
The eleventh was our 6 year anniversary so I drove into Phoenix to meet Jose for dinner and he took the rest of the night off. The "jam crew" decided that they were going to make the evening difficult during dinner but they just wanted to be home in their beds so I don't blame them.
Saturday morning Caleb came with us to North Phoenix to surprise my dad at the finish line of the "tourdecure". A bike ride to raise money for diabetes. His work sponsered him and he rode 62.5 miles in four and a half hours... go Dad! We are proud of him and this amazing accomplishment at his age!:)

That night we officially celebrated our anniversary going to Mortons Steakhouse.....excellent steak...the service however was disappointing. Afterwards we were planning Jesterz but didnt't get out of dinner soon enough so Jose took me to the place where "he asked me to marry him" (according to him)... We were chased from our special spot by a group of teens up to no good and when we pulled out onto Lindsay we were mooned by a bright fair-skinned kid in the back seat of a pickup truck! So goes our life- nothing goes as planned!

We have finally found the will and time to allow us the chance to enter the world of blogging. Our triplets are going on 10 months and we want family and friends to see how fast they are growing. They were born on May 23rd coming at 33 weeks. Allie Elizabeth was born at 7:58am weighing 3lbs15oz. Next came McKinley Ryan at 7:59am weight 4lbs9oz and Jax Madsen at 7:59 weighing 4lbs7oz. They came one week early of our scheduled c-section.

Jose usually arrived home from work around 1230 am however this particular night he was working a in a new assignment and was running late. He got home about 4 in the morning and appeared to be tired and ready to go to bed. I advised him that my back had been hurting most of the night and that I hadn't been able to sleep. After attempting to sleep for an hour the pains became unbearable and Jose convinced me to call the on-call nurse. The nurse on the phone actually asked me if my stomach felt tight to which I replied I'm pregnant with triplets, my stomach had been tight since I was two months along! We headed to the hospital at about 6 that Sunday morning with me still convinced I was just having bad gas that was causing the intense back pain. I was so sure that the pain was going to stop by the time we got there and they were just going to send us home. Apparently I appeared to be in some pain because Jose did not stop for any red lights all the way down baseline. It only took about 15 minutes after arriving at the hospital before the doctor said "they are coming now" and started singing "happy birthday". Apparently the back pain was contractions......they didn't tell me to expect that...and I was 6cm dilated.

 I had some complications but after seven daysI was able to go home. The kiddos were in the NICU for a couple weeks. They only needed the breathing machine the very first night and never needed to be put under the biliruben light. They did beautifully and amazed their doctors everyday. After they were continually gaining weight, keeping a good temperature and eating with out their feeding tubes they were released to come home. McKinley was the first to come home and Jax and Allie came home the following week.

The first few months were a definite blur, with feeding taking an hour and a half every three hours (per baby, so only had an hour break in-between feedings around the clock) . But we had wonderful family members who stepped in taking shifts to help us with the demanding schedule. Now here we are almost ten months latter with three healthy, happy, and active kiddos and we wouldn't have it any other way.

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we're here....