Trip to the Mountains

Here are some photos from our recent trip to the Smoky Mountains with my family for the great birthday bash 2008. This was something that my folks cooked up about a year ago and it was a wonderful time for all of us involved. There were 5 families from all over the country; CA, MS, TN, MO, and VA - 20 people total. It was the first time that we've all been together in a very long time, it was really nice. The Kesler Crew had a blast - it was our first BIG road trip with the boys. All went very well. By the way, if you are interested in vacationing in that area let me know. Our parents have a beautiful cabin there that they would love to rent out to you, so feel free to contact me and I'll put you in touch with the right people. (Papa Al and Yaya, I hope you don't mind that little plug.)

I'm sure that most of you know that we LOVE being outdoors, so this trip was a big treat for us. Shane and I were so looking forward to doing some hiking. We were able to hike to Abrams Fall one day while Yaya and Papa Al watched the boys. Let me tell you, it was WONDERFUL to be outside in nature. Shane and I have been missing it. We discussed as were hiking along that we hiked this same trail almost 9 years ago on a camping trip with Shane's sister Shannon. It was just as beautiful as we remembered! :)

The boys hanging out with Mom on the front porch of the house.
Relaxing with Dad.
Seth (with Yaya)

Paul

Clay

Cades Cove Loop

Some beautiful ice strings that we saw on our hike to Abrams Fall. They looked like sugar ribbon. They were so delicate and pretty.

Shane at Abrams Fall.

What a beautiful day!

Today is their 1st birthday!!!

Happy 1st Birthday!!!

Paul, Seth, & Clay

I have tried to sit here patiently and write a post that included pictures in honor of Paul, Seth, and Clay's very special first birthday; however, the pictures will have to wait until tomorrow or another day. You all know that I have no patience! ;)

So, I thought that I would post some updates.....

This time of the year has been very bittersweet for my family and I. We were in such a different place last year....all excited and scared. It's hard hard hard to believe that this much time has passed and that we are celebrating my sons birthdays today! Really, where did the time go?

Most of my time is spent running around chasing and taking care of the boys, something I truly LOVE to do - especially when they are being good, which happens to be most of the time!

Here are some updates on each of my guys....we go in for their actual one year check up sometime around the middle of the month. So I will try to post more accurately then.

WE ARE DONE WITH FORMULA!!! Yay!!! We finally got the boys on to plain old whole milk right around Christmas time and they seem to be doing really well with in. Do you know how much $$$ this switch is going to save us? I am now working to completely get them off of baby food. I try to do most of their cooking, but some days I simply just run out of time. I am ready for them to start chewing just a little better so that I can trust them more to eat right. Let me tell you, it is hard to keep a close eye on 3 babies - so the easier things can be sometimes, the better it could be for me!

All of the boys are pulling up. Paul, the man, is the master! He will pull up and walk along anything. I anticipate that he will be the first to walk and that it won't be long! Clay pulls up and gets down very well, but he doesn't move along things so much. He would rather crawl in order to get something he wants. Seth is BUSY! He was the last to pull up, but that's not holding him back. He scoots along things and can army crawl really fast to get what he wants. Seth loves to hang up-side-down and jump around on things. All of them LOVE to jump and hide with all of our pillows. It's the cutest thing!

All of the boys are also jabbering away! I don't know what they are saying, but they are having whole conversations and they seem to know what they are saying. I don't think they understand each other at this point either, but it sure does sound cute!

They all respond very well to each of their names and seem to understand when we ask them to do things. They love being free to roam our house and explore, they are all very curious!

Another post coming soon, I promise!

11 months and 5 days old

Paul, Clay, Seth - ready to go eat some breakfast!!!

I am in complete shock that this is where we are right now. I feel like I say it in every single post, but this past year has just flown by. We are just SO thrilled with how healthy the boys have been; with the exception of this week. The entire Kesler Crew is pretty much down for the count. We are all just taking care of each other at this point! We are thinking that this funk started a couple of weeks ago because we had to take the boys in for their flu shots. Paul was already not feeling well before that and now he has passed his germs over to his brothers and parents. Our poor little Clay has the worst of it though, probably because he was the last to get it. It could be worse, I know, but I am not use to having to take care of a less that stellar me, my sinusy husband, and three infants with the runniest noses EVER! I could probably win some sort of weird contest with all the snot being produced in the Kesler House.....not really....I don't even want to think about snot. Let's just nix the contest before it happens and have hopes that we are all better soon.

The boys playing in the kitchen. They LOVE that big window!

Paul and Clay sitting still long enough for me to catch their adorable faces!

There is Seth, just taking it all in....or his he plotting his next move? :)

I've really been taking time everyday to think about my life this time last year. In case you were wondering, I was LAID up in a hospital bed, and little did I know that I would be there almost a month longer. I didn't really get into the Holidays last year, for obvious reasons. It's just hard to celebrate when you uncomfortable, anxious, and just plain scared about the future to come. Being home with my boys is the sweetest thing. It has not been easy AT ALL, but it's worth it to us to make it happen and have faith that it will all work out. I am actively looking for work from home, so if any of our followers have some good leads to send my way....I welcome the conversation. I am sure that this first Christmas/NYE/1st Birthday with the boys is going to be very bitter sweet for us. My sweet little babies, I can't wait to see who they become....BUT NOT TOO FAST YOU HEAR!!!

We've been working on our holiday card to send out. It is TOUGH TOUGH TOUGH to get these guys to stay together to pose for a photo. But you all know me, when I am determined to do something I find a way to get it done! I'm sure it will be funny anyway! :)

Please leave me comments!!! I love hearing your thoughts on my blog entries. I have also been toying around the idea of doing a post where I answer questions for you. What do you think? You could post a comment or write it to me in an email. If I get some questions, I will happily dedicate a post to that. If I don't, well I may just post some questions that I know you people want to know. Let's work this out together, I'm all about the team work! Until we meet again....

10 months

Seth, Clay, and Paul (L to R)

Playing outside (Seth, Paul, & Clay - L to R)

Paul, Seth, Clay (L to R)

Wow - I can hardly believe that our little guys are 10 months old today. I was SO pregnant this time last year and now look what we have. We just look at them in disbelief everyday. We are still keeping them on a very tight schedule, it's the only way for us to remain sane! As winter is approaching our doctor has warned us about taking the boys out and having lots of visitors. You know, germs for 3 boys equals BAD NEWS!!! (Especially for their Mom who has to stay home with them.) So, fair warning - if you're wanting to visit please make sure you are well and get ready to wash your hands a LOT!!! More pictures to come soon!

Be sure to get out and vote tomorrow. History is going to be made, be a part of it!

9 months and counting

The boys are ALL over the place! They are crawling like mad and scooting around in their walkers like professionals. Shane and I are getting lots of excercise chasing after them, we're also getting bruised toes from them rolling over our feet in their walkers. It really is funny, we let them pretty much roam our entire downstairs area. They LOVE having the freedom! I'll post some more pictures soon, finding time is tough these days! ;)

Happy Anniversary!

Today is the first day of Fall and it's also our 7th wedding anniversary!

I know I say it all the time, but TIME is really flying by. I can't believe that we are celebrating our 7th anniversary already. It seems like just yesterday that Shane and I graduated college, moved to St. Louis and got married. (I would also like to note, that we dated 4 1/2 years steady before we got married....get your calculators out, that's 11 1/2 years!!!)

So, what were you all doing this time last year?

This time last year I was SO pregnant with triplets, but still having a good time! Shane and I were actually in Memphis with lots of friends for a 2-night concert run with our favorite band WIDESPREAD PANIC!!! Guess who was the designated driver for the weekend? ;) I didn't mind because I was driving our friend Chris Jenkins' awesome ride. It was such a good time, but I was SO tired. Who's idea was it to drive all the way back to our house from Memphis after the concert? Oh yeah, that would be me...I'm glad it was on the weekend.

Happy Anniversary Shane!

No turning back......

P, S, & C (left to right)

S, P, & C (Left to right)

We've achieved another milestone for our sweet boys, they are 8 months old TODAY!!! People say this often, but time is flying by - there is no turning back the clock.....

Updates on everyone.....

Clay has 2 bottom teeth, he loves to smile and show them off! He loves it when his Daddy kisses on his neck, he always throws his head back laughing. The last time I weighed him, he weighed in at about 15 pounds.

Paul also has 2 bottom teeth, whenever we hold him he holds on SO tight....it's just the cutest thing. He is VERY aware of his brothers and loves to reach out and touch them when he is near Clay or Seth. He also loves it when his Daddy tickles him, his laugh is SO cute! The last time I weighed him, he weighed in at about 15 1/2 pounds.

Seth is the "King of all Teeth" - he has 2 bottom teeth and has 2 top ones coming in! (He's ready to eat one of his Daddy's steaks.) His laugh is funny, there is really no way to describe it. Only his Daddy can find his tickle spots and make him smile, but I can just look at him and he gives me the sweetest grin. The last time I weighed him, he weighed in at about 16 pounds.