Buy One Get Two Free!: Easter and Cherry blossoms!

We had a wonderful Easter. I host Easter at our house, and we have a big egg hunt. The kids did great on their first hunt. Sammy just wanted to eat all the plastic eggs he picked up, Danny picked up eggs and then ran away, but Miss Elsie caught on quick and scooped up lots of eggs and put them in her basket. Sadly, the weather was cold and overcast, so we didn't get to spend too much time outside, but we snapped a bunch of pictures while we were out there and enjoyed time with family.

Love this face

Look at my cute dress that my cousin Paula made me! Adorable!

One of my favorite pics :)

The egg hunt video

Kids had their 18 month follow up appointment. They are doing fantastic. Danny weighed in at 23 pounds, Sammy at 21 and a half pounds, and Elsie tipped the scales just over 19 pounds. Even though we are only in the 7th - 15th percentiles, all 3 are gaining ground on the actual growth charts at each appointment. Dr. Bliss said she is amazed at their development. I read heartbreaking articles all the time of micropreemies that don't make it, or suffer with catastrophic lifelong disabilities. And we have 3 healthy kids. It is hard to convey how tremendously grateful I am every minute of every day for our miracles. I fully understand how different our lives could be and appreciate and celebrate every moment spent with them. At the end of our appointment Dr. Bliss said 'you should write a book on how to raise triplets', which is such a wonderful compliment. You only get one chance to do it right, and we are giving it our all everyday.

playing in the doctor's office

We got to see the gorgeous cherry blossoms in Washington DC last weekend. They were absolutely stunning. My mom and I took the kids down. My hope was the kids would get to run around and play in the national mall, but it was under construction, and there were hundreds of thousands of people, so the first day we just walked around in the wagon. But the second day we found a nice area close to the Jefferson monument that was fenced in and I let the rascals run wild for a while. Clearly this was the best idea I have ever had in their eyes. Smiles and giggles all around!

chasing after momma

nice little fenced in area with the Washington monument in the back

They did great in the hotel, napped and slept through the night like champions. So I figured I would strike while the iron is hot and I called Miguel and told him to get rid of the swings, we were making the transition to napping upstairs in cribs (go big or go home has always been my motto). Now, let me preface this with I have been dreading this transition for months. Obviously with 3 babies, we have done some things differently for basic pragmatic reasons. There was no way we were lugging 3 kids up the stairs and then down the stairs several times a day for naps, and as for bedtime we would let them fall asleep in the swings and then carry them up to their cribs. So the swings have been a god send, allowing us to contain the kids and let them nap down stairs in the living room. We've been spoiled since the system has worked flawlessly and the kids are now 18 months, but alas all good things must come to an end, or so I thought. We have been teaching the kids to go up and down the stairs in preparation for the transition, and I'm happy to report that the last week has gone better than I could ever hope for. Everyone climbs up the stairs to the nursery. I put them in their cribs. I turn on the sound machine, and 15 minutes later all 3 are sleeping! Tada! And to top it off, they still want to take 2 naps a day which I thought was going to cut down to 1, so this is one happy Momma! It just goes to show you that anticipation is usually worse than just doing it.

all packed in and ready to do some night driving to DC

1 am on a Wednesday night and still massive traffic at the GW bridge. AHHHH!

all settled in at the hotel

this is how we roll...chowing down on free breakfast at the hotel

hiding in the hotel closet

Sammy trying to dress himself

Frozen. Don't leave home without it

A nice walk in the wagon

Eating out at the Silver Diner

Our first time at Chuck E Cheese

learning how to take a bite of food

she hates waiting for her turn

Spending time with family in DC

Sammy the Bruiser Castanheira with his banged up face. running = wipeouts

our first time at Chuck E Cheese

Now that spring has sprung, we have been trying out the playground at the park. Day 1 was a disaster. Three screaming, crying kids for the entire 30 minutes. Elsie downright refused to move, Sammy screamed when I tried to put him in a swing, and Danny hated the slide. I was nervous to try again, but happy to report visits 2,3,4 and 5 were a huge success! I am chocking up the first failed attempt on a cold, windy day. Lots of park pics and a video below.

Our first day at the park this spring with Amy, Jack, Abby, Sara and Ki. Hard to believe with these outfits it was April.

notice Elsie has not moved from the last pic haha

Mom this is so stupid. It's cold out.

look at that booger nose. holy cow.

at least they cried when we left the park too.

park take 2. they loved it!

Elsie goes and pets the dogs between playing

so does Jack :)

park take 3 with Tracey, Gianna, Jazmine, and Brooklyn

park fun

I'll wrap up this super long (and late) blog post with some developmental updates. All the kids are running now. Forget walking, they are past that. They give chase after each other, laughing and giggling when they catch up. This also means lots of falling and bumps and bruises. But with every fall they learn and improve. We are also adding moves to our dance repertoire daily, including some shimmying, hip wiggling, arm movements, and Danny even has a little two-step going. We are dishing out some new words as well. Danny says doggie, and 'Osh' for yoshi. Elsie has added yeah and yum and hey (she is succinct). Sammy says bye-bye. And there are many sounds that are starting to take word shape. It's amazing how just a few weeks ago we barely understood anything they babbled.