Mr. William

Our little guy has been diagnosed with "Failure to Thrive" syndrome. It sounds absolutely awful, but it relates to his lack of weight gain over the last several months, not any developmental delays. Will's weight on 11/9/09: 23.4 lbs. Will's weight on 1/4/2010: 23.4 lbs. Will's weight 3/5/2010: 23.4 lbs. Thankfully, the condition appears to be related to inadequate nutrition versus an underlying medical condition. Will's blood tests and kidney function tests came back normal.

Of course, I am horrified that I have not provided Will adequate nutrition. But, any one that knows Will is acutely aware how of particular he can be. A very picky eater. Despite all of the pizza, milkshakes, cheese, and sausage offered over the last few months, he still has not gained any weight. He does like milk, however. So, we will increase his milk-based nutritional drinks from 1x daily to 4x daily. And, if any one has any super-fatty recipes, send them my way!

On another note, Will is almost potty trained. It turns out that my very particular boy does not like a soiled diaper. He prefers his undies to a diaper, and accidents are typically attributable to Mommy and Daddy not getting him to the potty in time. Lila will use the potty chair but does not have a strong drive to prevent soiling her diaper. Now, Addie, she has absolutely no interest in this potty training business. She is strong-willed, and I suspect that one day she will just decide that she is done with diapers. But for now, I chase around little bare-bottomed kids, hoping to get them on the potty chair.

Because this picture is too funny not to post...

Celebrating seven happy years!

Happy 7th Anniversary to a wonderful husband.

Big Girl Bed

We are in the process of converting the kiddos' cribs into daybeds. I am so frightened to think of the three of them roaming freely about the upstairs, but crib jumping seems quite dangerous! We decided to convert one crib a weekend for the next few weekends. Last night, we started with Addie, the kiddo who we thought would be most difficult to keep in bed. Tears started streaming down her face when she saw her newly configured bed. But, within five minutes, we had her convinced that the new big girl bed was very special. She told me that "she needed to try it." So, we put everyone in bed, and then Derek and I stood in the hallway waiting for Addie to escape her new bed. But, nope, she stayed there all night and woke up with a big smile on her big girl face 11 hours later.

My Snow Angels

We have been anxious to take the kids out to play in the snow. The recent warming trend allowed us to get out today. These are some of my favorite picks!

The Amazing Wonder Horse!

Grandpa Rick refurbished his 1950s Wonder Horse. As a child, he spent many hours on the horse, so many hours that the neighbors in the below apartment would ask him to take some breaks! Anyway, the kids really seemed to enjoy the Wonder Horse. Thanks, Grandpa Rick

The Holtlets Turn Two!

Instead of a "birthday," the Holtlets essentially got a "birthweek," celebrating with family two weekends in a row. I think the extended celebration was quite reasonable, since they have to share the actual birthday! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the events. And, click the Flickr link to see some of our summer photos. Thanks to Rachael Schirano, a photographer and fellow triplet mother, for taking these pictures (www.schiranotriplets.blogspot.com).