Lots of new firsts!

Bunches of pictures to catch you up on the last 3 months of our lives!

Carmina with Mom and Dad

Colin being eaten by a dinosaur at the zoo

Carmina after surgery with the hat she wouldn't let them take off of her.

Daddy and Gabriella playing with their favorite toy ever.

Mommy and Carmina before her surgery

Carmina on the way home from surgery

Carmina and Ellie in the tub at grandma and grandpa Coseno's.

Gabriella ready for bed

Ellie trying on her sweater and hat

Joe, Colin and Gabriella in the pool after the long ride home from Vermont

The girls eating out at a rest stop in public high chairs(they got rotovirus right after this Yuck!!!) On our way home from Vermont

Gabriella on the right Ellie below

Joe and his cousin Molly in Vermont with Carmina and Gabriella. Swimming in the freezing lake

Colin and Elle outside the Sound of Music lodge.

Carmina and Gabriella at JP and Kate's wedding.

Gabriella playing with grass outside our vacation house

Ellie playing outside wanting mommy to pick her up!

All 3 girls playing

Mommy and Gabriella at the zoo

Colin goofin' around as usual at the top of a mountain.

Above: Joe & I in Stowe, Vermont

Below: Colin, Joe & I on vaca!!!!

Above: Colin and Ellie goofin' off at JP and Kate's rehearsal dinner.

Below: Jodie & Ellie at the rehearsal dinner.

Above: The girls in the triple stroller

Top: Colin with Carmina in the pool right after her casts came off.

Bottom: Carmina & Mommy self portrait at the doctors waiting for the casts to come off.

Above: Carmina with her casts.

Below: Brittni and Carmina at the zoo

Below: PopPop with Carmina right after her surgery.

It's been about 3 months since I have updated. Wow! I am just not able to find the time to sit for more than 10 minutes, which is always at the end of the day and I am to tired to do anything but try to muster the energy to brush my teeth and go to bed. With that being said I have penciled in my calendar once a week time to update from now on. I can't promise I won't occasionally or "often" fill that spot in with things that need to be done. I am so afraid I won't remember who did what when and I want to be able to go back and read everything years from now. So I am going to make an honest attempt at this.

Where do I start??

After the past 2 years, 3 moves we are finally "Home". We have settled back in my hometown Wooster and it really feels like home now. We are close to the high school for Colin, close to shopping end of Wooster which is convenient for me, have woods in our back yard that have a path to the park which is perfect for Joe and the girls. I think we are all happy with the house except it really is way to small for all of us. We need another bedroom badly and a bathroom but it is within our budget and we are able to save for land to build a house. There is a ton of work to still be done since we will be here for the next five years at least. Yes, my husband told me no more being a gypsy it's time to grow some roots! I agree this move with 3 babies under age 1 put me over the edge.

My dad spent 2 weeks painting every single room in the house incl. ceilings. I do not know what we would have done because we had such a full schedule and not much time to do it. Joe's mom and dad let us stay with them for 3 months while we searched for a house. We are so thankful to them for all their help. My mom, mom-in-law, sisters, and sister-in-law watched the girls while I attempted to work full-time. Our family got us moved and now we are trying to get unpacked and organized. It takes so much longer with 3 babies that want to get into everything!

The girls have decided not to sleep thru the night anymore since the move. At first I didn't want to wake up grandma and grandpa at night so I would get the girls as soon as they made a peep, that turned into sleeping in our bed and now two feedings at night. It has totally gotten out of control. I know we need to get back on track but it just seems like we are too exhausted to tough it out. Now that we are in our own house we are trying to let them cry it out. Right now the biggest gift in the world would be a solid night of sleep. For some reason I don't think the girls are in agreement with me on this.

Brittni started her second year at college. She is working all the time to pay for college. I miss her like crazy. Colin and I went yesterday and got her settled back into the dorms. She came home for a visit recently and we got to play at the pool and really just have a relaxing and enjoyable day. The girls recognize her voice and get huge smiles when she calls and talks to them. I want them to be close. She is such a great role model for them and I know that they will go to her someday for lots of advice. Brittni has decided to change her major to journalism which has been her passion for a long time. We just filled out the paper work to get her into NYU. Now we just keep our fingers crossed she gets in.

Colin has settled right in at the High School. He always makes friends with everyone he meets. He is playing freshman football. Loving football not liking the coaching staff. Watching your child have to learn some tough life lessons is hard. I want to try to fix everything and I know now is the time I fix the important things that really need to be fixed but more importantly I am learning to teach him how to fix things himself. He has changed so much in football and is really good. Not just coming from me, his mom who is biased but from others that really have seen how good he is. But because he hasn't been at Wooster playing for the last 2 years they aren't starting him and last game didn't play him at all. This is after a game where he had several sacks, tackles and great plays. After the coach told us because he was doing so well he would be playing him. So frustrating, I am proud however he hasn't given up but keeps proving how strong he is.

I was working 36 hours a week. I missed my babies, all of them. Terribly. I liked my job, missed my babies. I wasn't able to keep my schedule and Joe's schedule running smoothly. Too many days I needed a sitter, girls were sick, I was not getting anything important accomplished. So I have quit and decided right now I can't work out of the home unless it is very limited hours that are flexible. Right..... good luck finding that job, huh?

Joe has switched his shift at work not by choice but by being chosen to go to a different shift. For all of you that don't know he is a firefighter and this is how his work schedule goes. He works 24 hours starting at 6:30am til the next morning at 6:30am, off 48 hours then works another 24 hours the same time frame. This rotates for years. You can plan ahead let's say work schedules and sitters and holidays because it doesn't change for years. Or so we thought....... One day recently he calls me says there is going to be a shift change, may fall to him. He calls back later to say in fact it is him that is moving and instead of having much of a notice it starts in about a week. NICE!!!!!!!! It seems to always be something.

The baby girls are almost a year old! They turn ONE October 11.

They have truly changed it seeems overnight. Everyday is something new with them. This morning Ellie has decided to say HI constantly. She also won't let me put her down which is why I am constantly retyping because she keeps typing her own version of this blog. :)

Here is a little update on the girls:

Elizabeth Jacilyn- AKA: Ellie, Elle girl, Squishy

She says DaDa, MaMa, PaPa, Na Na Na(not sure if this is no or Nana (like grandma) or just babble,and BaBaBa (Colin swears it's Bubba for him). She crawls everywhere. She became clingy when I started working and it hasn't stopped. She doesn't like to be alone in a room without us or her sisters. She seems to prefer me or Aunt Jodie and Aunt Krista lately. She was the least ambitious when it came to being mobile but has made up and is completely caught up. She prefers to not hold her bottle and have it held for her. We are not falling into this anymore and have insisted she hold her own. She has gorgeous blond hair and the most beautiful bright blue eyes. She is a happy girl. She reminds us so much of her sister Brittni. She looks like her when she was a baby. She is so much taller than the other two. She used to be such a chunky monkey and now she is slimming down and growing upwards. She weighed 17lbs 8oz. at her 9 month old visit. She loves to swim in the pool. She loves the swing. She hates touching the grass. She loves to pull her sisters hair and loves it when they scream. She then gives love to make it better. Funny but not. She wears size 12 to 18 months clothes for length but the waist is to big. She still has only her two bottom teeth. She gives kisses a lot! She wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, wakes up her sisters and won't stop screaming. It last as long as we let her scream. She loves peekaboo and starts the game with us now.

Carmina Ann- AKA: Turtle, Mina, CiCi

She says Mum, Da, BaBa, lots of screaches and squeals. She also has her two bottom teeth. She loves Sesame Street so much. If we put it on she does NOTHING else but sit and watch it. She loves Abby Kadabby. Her favorite and she loves Elmo's world. She giggles at the appropriate parts and seriously is glued to it. We let her have an hour a day. She is still the funny one. Always making us laugh. She makes her sisters laugh too. She held her sister down and bit her the other day. She also has decided she can steal the other girls toys and will not give them back without a fight. She lays on them to keep them. First couple of times cute and funny, not so much now. I think she has finally learned she has to give it back. Kinda. She makes a little piggy nose face and snorts. I don't know why or how she learned it but she knows it gets a laugh so whenever she is in trouble or just to be ornery she does it. It really is hard to not laugh at. She is still the peanut of the three. She weighed just 12 lbs at her 9 month check up. I am sure she weighs more but not to much. She wears 3-6 month waist pants but then they are floods. We found the only pair of jeans that fit her at Old Navy. She isn't short just tiny. She wears 9 months usually. She has allergies that have been fun to figure out. We have seen an allergist and are waiting more results. She is allergic to cats and dogs, wool, strawberries, can't tolerate anything citrus or acidic. She is also lactose intolerant. All the girls have decided to not eat baby food anymore. They flat out refuse to eat it. Yet they do not like a lot of big girl foods yet. They are pretty much stuck on yogurt, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, bananas, and blueberries. Carmina had surgery on her achilles tendon to correct her pointed like a balerina feet. She had to wear casts for a few weeks. Definitely more traumatic for mom & dad than her.

Gabriella Claire- AKA: Ella, Pretty Princess and occasionally Mean Queen(really a joke we only call her mean queen when she is terrorizing her sisters)

Gabriella is such a thinker. She is the first to figure out everything. She works at it until she does figure it out. She was the first to crawl, stand up on things, she is now standing with no hands but won't walk anywhere yet! She asks for her ba ba. She also only has two bottom teeth, she loves to sing and dance. They all love to dance but she loves to sing. If a song is on she is humming some kind of song with it. She makes me sing to her "Baby Mine" loudly at least a 30 times a day. Really the other day she went with me to the store by herself and she starts humming and looks at me and taps me until I start singing. If it's not loud enough she screaches until I sing loudly enough for her pleasure. Quite embarassing when I can't sing on tune no matter how hard I try. She says Mum, DaDa, BaBa, Nah (pretty sure it means no) None of them are really vocal now. They mostly just play and screech all day. Gabriella took a huge tumble off our bed, long story but I looked away literally to grab one thing beside the bed for 3 seconds and I heard a thud. Trip in the emergency squad to ER, concussion and big boo boo, lots of tears for mommy and Gabriella, I had nightmares for over a week. I will not let them on the bed anymore. At all. She survived better than I did. I have learned though that she holds her breath when she gets hurt. She plays very well independently. She is the leader of the girls and definitely a mommy's girl. She also has allergies the same as Carmina. We are hoping it gets better the older they get.

We are celebrating their birthday this coming Sunday. We are having a halloween party with friends and family and still can't believe that a year has gone by.

The first 6 months were the most difficult of our entire life. They were the most rewarding but most exhausting. Honestly they flew by so fast because we were just in survival mode. Sleep was almost non-existant. Sanity definitely had gone, money was scarce. We survived it and watching the girls thrive and play everyday is enough reward to last my entire life.

Some people still ask us why we chose to have babies when we could have just enjoyed our life and had it easy. There are some that think we were crazy to do this. My response is this; We are enjoying our life now more than we ever have or could have without the girls. Yes, we have less money to play, we are tired everyday, we definitely do not get out much and haven't had a date night since well before they were born, showers are even hard to come by most days, but we are happier now. We are a family that has been brought closer together by 3 little miracles. There is a definite stress level that Joe and I exist at now and we have been tested to the point that if we weren't going to survive we wouldn't have but did. Was it worth it? Yes, a hundred times over yes. The very first smile, giggle, the first time they said mama or dada, the first kiss they gave, the first booboo we fixed, all these things make everything else that is hard and tough about having triplets worth it. I wouldn't trade my life for anything right now. I have wonderful family, friends and a husband that I am madly in love with. Life is better than good!

Changes

So first I should update on Ellie. All her test results except one came back ok. Her ovaries are enlarged but they are just going to keep a watch on them for awhile. We consulted with a gynecologist and surgeon at Akron Childrens Hospital and this was their advice. We will get repeat ultrasounds but do not need to start medication at this time. Of course this is after we had already purchased the extremely expensive medicine. We feel very relieved that things should be fine after all!



I know I alluded to the fact that we were going to make some changes in our lives and now that we have finalized most of our plans, I can share with all of you.



My husband has decided to go back to school (he is a firefighter/ paramedic right now) to become a doctor. He is starting classes next week at Kent State and then he will go to NEOUCOM. I am so proud of him because this will take so much hard work on his part but he wants to do this for our family and himself.

I am going back to work (Lots and lots of tears so far). I am getting super anxious about leaving the girls and Colin. I know it will be fine but I haven't been away from them longer than 5 hours yet and at the end of that 5 hours I am dying to get back to them. I have really gotten use to being a stay at home mom. Don't get me wrong it has been much harder than working ever has but it truly has been the most rewarding experience.

We are moving!! My new job and Joe's school are about an hour from here so we are leaving Ashland which has been home for the last 5 years.

I am nervous and excited. So many changes all at once is a bit overwhelming but I swear if we made it through the first 5 months with tripets and teens and no sleep we can do anything.

Right now I am 25 minutes from my family and have never been farther away from them. Although I don't see them as often as I would like anymore (except my mom I see her several times a week) it is nice to know they are close if I really need them or they need me.

Joe's family will be minutes away from us when we move. I am really happy about that because they are extremely family oriented and that is exactly what we and the girls need with all these changes.

I am still kidnapping my Mom and making her come at least once a week overnight (or two).

We are actively looking for a house to rent for the next four or five years until Joe is done with school. I have packed almost everything we don't absolutely have to have. We may even move in to my inlaws for a month until we can find something. I actually really feel bad for them since we will be practically invading their home with the 6 of us plus Jake our dog. Thank God it's summer and the fact they have a beautiful pool we can spend most of our time in!! Maybe they will get so use to us they'll never want us to leave. :) :) Just kidding, Dad Coseno. His bedroom is directly across the hall from where we are putting the girls so I am sure he will be shooing us out the door.

I have also been accepted to Kent State and hoping this Fall to start classes.

Brittni has finished up her freshman year at college. She will be turning 19 this summer. Gawd, what does that make me????? Old!!!!

Like I said this will definitely be a year of changes for us all. Isn't that what our life is about? With my whole heart I believe we have this one life here to live and I want to experience life and all it has to offer. I don't want to do the same old thing every day because it's safe. I also want my children to embrace change because who knows what or who is behind that door if you don't open it.

We took the girls and Colin to the zoo and had a great time. I was worried it may be a disaster but the day was perfect.

Colin is in the Bahama's with his Dad. Silly, but I miss him and he has only been gone since Friday night. He will be home the 14th, even with three babies and all their noise this house is quiet without him.

Today was fun, Joe is at the fire dept. so it was just me and the girls all day. They were so ornery all day. I still use the boppy's to feed them all at once. They are starting to hold their bottles but we still prop for most of the feeding. Gabriella and Carmina have learned how to flip over the back of the Boppy. Today Gabriella figured out she could flip backwards and land on her knees and hands. She did this about ten times and giggled after every flip. Took forever to feed her the bottle. She also sat on her own for the first time about 10 seconds. I think she will be sitting by the end of the week.

Ellie learned a new trick also, while I was constantly trying to get Gabriella back in place to drink her bottle I hear Ellie giggling. She had taken off her diaper and was holding it in her hand chewing on it. She thought it was very funny and as soon as I put it back on she reached down and undid the tab on one side. Not sure how much I like this new trick.

We went to a graduation party today for our neighbor so I loaded the girls up in the stroller and pushed them over. As soon as we got there Gabriella (no surprise) wanted to be held. I let someone she doesn't know at all hold her and I am surprised she did fine. She actually played and then fell asleep for someone else. She has become the one that wants to be held all the time and usually only mommy will do. What I was surprise about is Ellie got very upset that Gabriella was being held by someone and kept reaching for Gabriella and making the most sad pitiful whining. She only stopped when I held Gabriella. I am thinking I need to expose them to more people. She really has taken on the big sister roll.

Carmina (her official nickname is now Turtle) is constantly entertaining us. She has become a happy baby again. She was very grumpy for quite awhile. She is just full of herself in everything she does. She has this twinkle in her eye that is always there. She sticks her neck out (like a turtle) and just gives us this most ornery, amazingly cute smile and we melt. She and Gabriella can get up on their hands and knees and rock back and forth. She is doing better with wearing her shoes. She doesn't cry as much but by that I mean she cries 40 out of the 60 minutes. Such a hard thing to listen to all day and we feel so horrible.

I promise to update more often. Check back tomorrow for pictures. It is midnight and I have turned into a pumpkin. Off to bed.

Update on Ellie

Ellie in the bath today ( her right eye is often smaller than her left but everytime we go to the dr it isn't of course). Going to have to take the pictures in I think.

Rash Ellie has been getting lately she wakes up with it then it is gone within a couple hours. I can't figure it out either. She just wants to keep me on my toes I think.

We don't have a lot of news yet. We went for an ultrasound yesterday. When we left the indication was that there was a mass on her liver and or spine. They made us come back this morning to recheck it. They took measurements and I guess now think that her ovaries are enlarged and or a mass on her ovaries. They were confused because of the size of her ovaries. I really do not know what that means or what we do next. We are suppose to receive a call from the Dr. this afternoon when he receives the report.

She was a riot during the test though and everyone fell in love with her. She insisted on holding the radiologists hand thru the entire procedure. She has a favorite book that sings and he sang along with it to her. They were so nice to us and it definitely made us feel more comfortable.

Right now she is sleeping on my chest because she has been a bit clingy lately. I think she knows now when mommy or daddy isn't the one that has her. Great feeling to be loved so much but hard to manage when there are three babies doing the same thing. Like right now they all are crying, I think I might have to go wake up daddy from his nap! For some reason he can't hear them even though the monitor is right beside his head.

We will update more soon as we know anything.

Keep her in your prayers please.

Ellie

Today was the girls 6 month old check up with their pediatrician. I want to start with the bad news first and then give the good news.
Before examining Ellie he asked me if she had been eating well and I told him about her refusing her bottle lately. She will eat solids with no problem but she just plays with her bottle and has been spitting up a lot more. This is so unlike Ellie because she loves to eat. She also hasn't gained any weight either. She still weighs 15 lbs. I think they said she even lost a few oz. He then did her exam and found a 2cm x 3cm mass on the right side of her stomach. He sent us for an x ray hoping to find hard stool that wasn't passing. Unfortunately that isn't the case and now we have to have an ultrasound and a ct scan. He seemed pretty concerned which of course is making us nervous. I don't know when they are doing the tests either tomorrow or Monday. I will update when I find out more info. I am sharing because I am asking for your prayers for Ellie. I am keeping a positive attitude and trying my best to not worry to much because it may be absolutely nothing.
We also have to take Gabriella to a pediatric plastic surgeon next week to have a very tiny black spot on her belly removed. It appeared about 6 to 8 weeks ago. Because it is so black they want to remove it and test it. I guess we need prayers all around.

The good news is that the girls are right on target for 6 month old. They are doing everything they should be and he was very impressed that they aren't showing signs of being premature. Yeah!! This apt. was a little harder because all the girls wanted to roll all over on the table and with only two of us to keep a hold of them made it very challenging. They also got their shots today and have already started to run fevers. Loads of fun I am sure for the weekend.

Gabriella weighed 12lb 12oz. and Carmina weighed 11lb 14 oz. Little Carmina has really started looking more like Gabriella, she is actually getting a few little rolls. They all have rolled now and we can't keep Gabriella in one place. Last night she kept me up for a few hours because she kept rolling on her belly but was too tire to roll back over and screamed every time.
Carmina discovered spit bubbles yesterday. Hysterical. She is obsessed now and is such a slobbery mess. She is constantly working on them. I am trying to figure out how to get some videos on my computer they are just so fun to watch.

On a completely different note, It was such a beautiful day and around 80 degrees I think so I wanted to wear shorts or capri's today. I pulled out my 1 pair of capri's I own from last year and my 2 pairs of shorts. None of them fit really not even close to buttoning. Why do I have that few pairs of shorts you ask because last year I had gained so much I didn't want to buy a bigger size so I only bought a few. Promising myself I would lose the weight. Not a chance, up 1 more size. Grrrrr...... Big wake up call for me. Tomorrow morning I will begin to lose the 20lbs I have gained over the last 2 years. The thing I find funny is lately people that don't know I didn't carry the girls have said "You look good for having triplets". You should see their face when I say I didn't carry them. Pretty quick back pedaling!

Thanks again for praying for the girls and we will update when we know anything!

Pondering

Ellie in her Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
This is how I feed all the girls when I am doing it alone.

Carmina's new shoes to correct her feet.

Grandma & Grandpa Coseno with the girls

Aunt Jodie with the Easter Bunnies

Carmina on Easter

Our BIG dogs Bella & Jake. We had a scare the other day with Bella she stepped on the baby so she is now looking for a new home. She is an amazingly good dog but it is too hard for me to keep a constant eye on her and the girls and I can't chance her accidentally laying or standing on one of them. She is our baby so she is going to have to go to an inside home where she will be loved as much as she is now.

Grandpa and Carmina boxing, she loved playing with grandpa

Colin as the Easter Bunny

Unfortunately we couldn't all be together on Easter so here is our partial family picture

We have been quite busy the last couple weeks.

Brittni is wrapping up her first year at college. She is still dating Spenser and we really like him! Brittni is joining the Air Guard Reserves. BIG BIG heartache and lots of tears from me but I fully support her in what she wants to do, as her mother it kills me to think of my baby in the service far away from the safety of home. She is staying at college over summer break to work and I am sure to be nearer to Spenser. It truly is hard to see her grow up and have parts of her own life that is not at all a part of mine. I miss that little girl so much sometimes but I am so proud of this beautiful woman she has become.

Today is Colin's 14th Birthday. WooHoo!!! We went to the Japanese steak house and celebrated with our family. Lots of fun. Colin is finishing his last year of junior high. He is going to be a freshman next year. I still can't believe it and wonder where the time has gone. He shaved for the first time. I had to get pictures that he was not at all into posing for. He has found this new teenager attitude that I am not at all that fond of. Somehow overnight he knows everything and I know nothing. Argues every single thing, really everything. Grrrrrr.......... I am trying to find that fine line of letting him become a man but yet letting him know the boundaries he still must stay within to be a respectful part of this family.

The baby girls are doing excellent. We passed the 6 month mark. Gabriella and Ellie are rolling over now. Carmina is almost there. They insist on sitting up most of the day. This is quite the challenge since I only have one set of arms. Carmina loves her bumbo seat the other two not so much. We read everyday and just yesterday Ellie started touching the pages and cried when I stopped reading. YEAH!!!! I think I have a bookworm like her mommy! For the first time ever we left the girls to go out of town for Colins Birthday. My sister Keli, her husband Dan, and Great Grandma Elizabeth watched the girls for us. Keli has a little boy Aiden that is 5 and 1/2 weeks older than the girls. They took all 4 of them for a walk I bet that was a fun sight. It was nice to get away and relax but within 2 hours I was ready to get home to them.

We try to walk everyday now and the girls love it. Ellie falls asleep everytime but the other two hold out the entire time. Usually our walks are the only time I step out of the house the entire week. Somedays I wonder if a world out there really exists. :)

I am starting classes and I am so excited. Online of course. No way I could find anyone crazy enough to watch all the girls that regularly. I am still a little bit nervous about finding time to do the homework because as it is now I never have time to do anything but barely maintain the house, eat, sleep, play with the kiddos....... You get the idea. Somehow I will get it done and darn it I am determined to keep my GPA up above a 3.7. Wish me lots and lots of luck.

Joe has been working lots and has started working out like a mad man. He is down 11lbs. He runs twice a day, works out, goes to the fight club (don't even ask.... some type of cage fighting,kickboxing, muay thai thingy, I really don't have a clue about except that he is so so so happy about doing it). He has been very dedicated about his diet, such willpower, I have to admit I am kind of jealous when he walks out the door several times a day to concentrate on himself. I SO want to be able to do that. Then I feel bad because I am blessed to be able to stay home and not work while the girls are little. Still, the freedom feels like it's taunting me every single time.

For the big news........... Well the big news is that we can't really tell anyone the big news yet!!! How fun is that! I have a secret that I can't tell yet because we are still in the decision making process of which way we are going but I can say that we are making some huge life changing decisions right now.

I think everyone will be so surprised, maybe even shocked. Hopefully everyone once they get over the shock will be supportive of our dreams. Thats all I can say!! Hope I peaked everyones curiosity.