Cousin Danielle's Wedding!

I took over 100 pictures at the wedding, so I won't include them all here, but rather I'll give you a slideshow of them (thank you, Jayanthi, for explaining how to do that).  But here are the highlights of the evening:

It was a beautiful wedding, the color scheme was black, white, and yellow with simple black dresses for the bridesmaids and yellow flowers throughout the decorations.  I found a beautiful dress for Caroline in those colors (two days after spending $50 on a whole purple and green ensemble, of course):

The weather cleared up so that there was sun and only a slight chill in the courtyard.  The babies attended in their car seats and were quite well behaved throughout the ceremony.  

In fact, Caroline chose to snooze through the actual vows so she could save her energy for the party afterward.

The reception was down a flight of stairs (the babies are getting too heavy to lug around like this) and all three Salvateenies were on their best behavior, flirting with the partygoers and charming everyone they met.  After the toasts, we fed the babies their bottles and Max and Daniel decided to settle right back into their car seats and sleep away the rest of the evening.  Caroline, on the other hand, moved into her new role as social butterfly (I blame the color scheme of her outfit) and outlasted many of the other folks in attendance. 

She went out with the other single ladies in an attempt to catch the bouquet:

And she hit the dance floor with Aunt Lee Ann and later with her cousin Athena:

And she even took out time to pose with the bride:

(though you can see she's fretting about how it's cutting into her dancing time)

By 11:00 her energy was finally flagging:

We snuck everyone back up to the hotel room, where they promptly woke up and had to be soothed back to sleep:

Luckily, our room was in the middle of a block of rooms of wedding attendees, so we were pretty sure they weren't waking anyone up.

The next morning they awoke, not quite bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (remember - no A/C in the hotel room, plus third day on the road with no bath equals sweaty babies!).  We got them dressed up in beach gear and headed out to brunch with the family, and then on to the beach (see the next post).

Here is the slideshow of the whole wedding:

The Big Trip

This past weekend we embarked on the babies' first big road trip / vacation.  As Joe quoted at some point leading up to our departure - before you have children, you take vacations...after children, you go on trips.

On Friday we loaded into the rented mini-van (a Kia Sedona - nice and roomy, but no fancy bells and whistles like automatic sliding doors).  We rented the van because once we put the babies and their strollers into our SUV, we're pretty much full.  Impressively, the van fit two adults, three babies, one playpen, three sleep positioners, three portable high chairs, three suit cases, one hanging suit case, one portable cooler chest of baby food, one duffel bag of diapers and formula powder, one diaper bag backpack, one bag of baby toys, one bag of toiletries, and a bag of mini-water bottles and snacks for the trip.

We will definitely need to get a mini-van, but I vote for getting the bells and whistles.  Oh, and we'll need to remove one of the second row seats to make a sort of hallway to the back seat - getting Caroline's carrier through - slash - up and over the high-backed second row chairs and into the spot in the "way back" while balancing between the two chairs was not fun.  Add to that having to remember to put one baby in the second row and then get out, go around, and put the other one in from the other side lest I get stuck inside the tiny center of the van with no possible way to exit.  Both good things to learn before we make the big purchase.

The babies did amazingly well on the journey.  Luckily, the van had a separate climate control for the rear seating area so they didn't get too hot.  Caroline had no problem being all alone in the way back and the boys enjoyed looking out the window while they rode.  We hooked up the baby view mirrors and for the first time I could actually see them in the rear view!

After a visit with Grandma Salvatore and Great Aunt JoAnn in Livermore, we continued down the center of the state to a stop off of I-5 near Bakersfield.  I thought I'd been clever, reserving a room right off of I-5 so I wouldn't have to bail out and go inland to 99 and lose time.  Little did I know that my little choice, on the Stockdale Highway, was right in between two major construction projects on the highway.  We were warned to get off the highway to avoid the back-up, but then we would have hit the back-up coming back north to our exit, so we sat for an hour to go 8 miles.  Sadly, this also put us past the babies' feeding schedule, so they wailed for the last 20-30 of those 60 minutes.  We pulled into our Best Western (across the "street" from the Rodeway Inn) and next door to a Jack in the Box drive-thru.  Other amenities included a Chevron gas station that shared its premises with a Blimpie's sandwich shop and Broaster Chicken outlet and a Shell gas station with an AM/PM/IHOP combo.

After quickly feeding the babies, we elected IHOP for the grown-ups' dinner.  I was a bit nervous taking the babies in - taking up a table for six when we were only buying two dinners.  Plus, the babies were sated, but they might decide to scream their little heads off for no reason.  But no reason to worry - at 6:30 in the rest-stop IHOP there were about six tables in use, none of which were lacking a child under the age of six.  People barely even noticed us!

The hotel had one crib, shown below housing Max:

We pulled out the Pack n Play for the other babies, though Caroline didn't make it too long before she requested to come cuddle with me.  The next morning we were up, showered, fed, and ready to hit the road again for Laguna Beach and the wedding.

The ride was, again, pretty smooth.  There were some hang ups getting through LA, but only one scarily aggressive driver, and about three hours later we were  pulling into the valet lot of the Hotel Laguna, where we were met by my sister-in-law (and mother of the bride).  She'd actually been waiting for someone else, but she quickly offered to help us unload and schlep babies inside.  The room wasn't ready, so the bellman brought our HUGE pile of luggage upstairs to wait in the closet while we waited in the lobby and fed the babies their 1pm bottle.  We were, as always, sort of a spectacle.  We saw family members as they came and went and all oohed and ahhhed over the babies.  We also saw friends of the family who instantly knew who we were because of the babies.  And there was also a random stranger who told us she had triplets of her own - now 34 and parents to her 12 grandchildren.  She said that it gets easier and more fun, and warned us against pigeon-holing any of the babies into specific roles or comparing them to one another.

The Hotel Laguna is lovely - right on the ocean, with a beautiful courtyard where the wedding would take place and a charming restaurant with a terrace overlooking the beach.

But then you go upstairs.

First off, the elevator is not big enough to accommodate our double stroller, so we had to remove the babies, break down the stroller, carry them in (with the stroller in tow) and then reverse the process at the top of the ride.  Once in the room you are met with a wall of humidity that is not deterred by the ceiling fan or the unscreened and unguardrailed window that is cracked open with a view to the beach.  The beige paint on the walls is faded and old and the bathroom is a nostalgic trip back to your 3rd grade lavatory, complete with original 1920's era hexagonal tile floor and a free-standing sink caulked clumsily to the wall.

Here we were given two wooden cribs.  Plus the pack n play, that meant everyone had their own place to sleep.  But there was no sleeping!  We had a few hours before the wedding and first thing on the schedule was to introduce the babies to their ... umm ... second cousins?  The bride is the Salvateenies' first cousin, and these were her nieces (daughters of the babies' OTHER first cousin) and her soon-to-be step-children.

Daniel and Max are looking up at Cousin Jennifer, with new family member Madison at their side.

Athena and Elista liked making the babies giggle, but Athena was a little grossed out when Daniel tried to touch her with his slobbery hands.

But she was fine with Caroline, who was a little less slobbery.

Elista looks a little bored with Max here, but she was having fun.

While Daniel wondered what it was about his hand that Athena thought was so icky.

The girls got summoned to put on their party dresses and get ready for pictures, so we were left alone for a while.  We tried to get the babies to nap a bit before the wedding, then fed them early and got dressed.  More about the ceremony and reception next post!

Everyone resting on the bed (except Mommy!)

The view from our room

Caroline and Max goofing off instead of napping.

Max playing it cool while examining Mommy's phone

Mother of the Year

I have a friend who, instead of beating herself up for the mistakes she makes,  owns them and declares them evidence of her place as "Mother of the Year".

Obviously, I got my first nomination yesterday.

"How?" you ask.  It was actually quite easy!  Yesterday, I took all three babies to Costco.  Not alone, I'm not insane...my brother went with us.  He pushed the boys in the stroller, accepting all of the "ooh! twins!" comments, while I strapped Caroline to me and pushed the shopping cart.  As we walked in they were passing out ads for the big booze and wine sale.  I grabbed one so Caroline would have something to read - vote one for Mother of the Year - have your 9 month old daughter read about the booze sale.

I have never indulged in the little food samples they give away, but I was hungry, so I grabbed one.  It was something called an "uncrustable" that appeared to be a frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  It was awful.  And, apparently, it was messy, though I didn't know it at the time.

In line, I leaned over to smooch Caroline on the top of the head and she pitched forward a little.  My lips came into contact with the back of her head...where her hair was all sticky and matted...and tasted distinctly of grape jelly.

Ewwww....

I dribbled grape jelly on my shirt and Caroline rubbed her hair in it the whole trip.  (or I dribbled it onto Caroline and she rubbed it into my shirt - either way...ewwww)

That's right - Mother of the Year.

Mani / Pedi / Baby

Monday was my first day of vacation (Saturday and Sunday don't count, since I would've been off school ANYWAY, and I worked besides).  We celebrated by getting our nails done!  I used to go to a lovely salon out on Geary, which was bought by some folks who I'm sure are also lovely.  But the change in ownership encouraged Tracy, the previous manager, to strike out on her own, so now we go to Tracy's little salon, Just Bloom, on 22nd Avenue.  If you are looking for a new nail salon, I cannot recommend them highly enough.  Sure, we get a nice manicure and pedicure, which is what you look for in a nail salon.  But beyond that, they are just incredibly nice people.  We have gone in three times WITH the babies and they move furniture around and arrange appointments to make sure there will be room for everyone.  When the babies cry, they play with them, or hold them.  It was truly a wonderful experience (even if we felt guilty for having them do so much for us!)

When Max was the only one left in his car seat, Tracy made sure he got lots of attention to keep him smiling!

Daddy got to hold Caroline, who wondered why nobody was painting HER nails (I guess she thought that color she picked out was for her instead of me!)

When Daniel fussed, they pulled him out of his carrier and brought him over to me, then worked around him to do my manicure.

I'm not sure if you can see the cuteness of their little outfits in those pictures, so here are some close-ups:

Thanks for the clothes, Miriam! (and thank goodness Mommy remembered to start us wearing them before they got too small!!!)

SUMMER TIME!

That's right, as the song goes....SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!

So, how do I celebrate all the time I now have to spend with the babies?  By leaving all day to work at the Giants game, of course!  I do have to say, though, that it is amazing how much MORE adorable they are when you've been missing them all day long.  I'm not sure if it's absence making the heart grow fonder...I mean, it's hard to imagine being fonder of them than I normally am...but there is something about coming home to three happy, smiling babies who just want to play with you and giggle that makes you forget all about the drippy rain delay and lousy 2-1 loss you just stood through.

Plus, when we came home we found the babies all cleaned, fed, and wearing NEW CLOTHES courtesy of Tom & Carla, who had bought them spunky new outfits.  Sadly, I did not snap any photos to show off the outfits in their entireties.  I did, however, catch part of Caroline's cute pink number in these next shots.  She was really enjoying her time in the red exersaucer (we'd kept them quarantined in separate "standing toys" during their protracted illnesses and so they now appear to be re-discovering all the fun they can have in the other ones) and she kept turning around to smile at me.  I finally grabbed my cell phone for these pictures:

This next one was Daniel's version - I think he has a real future in impressionist watercolors, don't you?

He also tried for a self-portrait, but I don't think it does him justice:

And Max was a little far away (and enjoying the jumperoo WAY too much to pose):

For dinner, we slipped them into the new outfits they got from Hartley.  First we picked out a pretty one for Caroline (note the silly curls in her hair - those are from me not smoothing her hair down YESTERDAY when she had her bath!):

Then on to the boys.  This presented a problem, as we had to decide which of the outfits should become Daniel's and which should be Max's (otherwise, how would you know who is who in the pictures?)  Of course, to make it difficult, the designs had BOTH blue and green in them!  I decided Max would get this one, since even though parts of the owls and some of the stars were blue, the green stars and bodies drew my attention more:

The outfit I put Daniel in, it turned out, had monsters all over it - and since Max is the one who makes the monster sounds, this one may transfer to him, so I won't post a close-up of him in it.  Instead, you can see him as he played with Caroline post-bottle:

Meanwhile, Max was taking a mid-bottle nap with Daddy:

In their latest "pattern", the babies have eaten their 8:30/9pm bottle and then sort of goofed around for a bit, then they sit in their bouncy chairs and Caroline smiles and giggles until she's swaddled and it's almost instantly lights out snoring baby for her.  The boys cry and fuss a little while I rock their chairs, and then they settle down too.  The past week, while they've been overcoming colds and suffering through teething I've also given them a little squirt of ibuprofen just before transferring them to their cribs for sleep.

Everything seemed to be following suit tonight, until Daniel decided to pop his eyes open and be just wide awake and hyper.  He was smiling and so cute and just wanted to play.  And I just wanted him to go to sleep.  Not to the extreme of Adam Mansbach's upcoming children's book, but seriously, it was time for him to stop playing and for me to load the dishwasher and get it started, make the formula for tomorrow, make the coffee, and get to bed myself.

But he looked so cute, I felt guilty.  So I had Joe keep an eye on him in the back for a while so I could get everything done and put the other two to bed. Then I collected Daniel and brought him out to the living room to just sit with me in the dark.  After about 3 minutes I heard the big sigh that means they've transitioned to being ready to sleep, so I scooped him up and put him in bed.  As I got to the door, I heard him stir.  As I closed the door, he cried.  As I went back in to soothe him, he giggled.

He giggled.

So I brought him out front, determined that he would sleep.  "I'll just put him in his chair, and if he cries, he cries," I thought.  I decided I'd sit down and import the photos I'd taken and maybe upload them to Facebook.  I put him down.  He started to cry.  I went into the dining room and connected my memory card to the computer.  I opened Facebook and answered a message.  Then I played a word in Scrabble.  Then I imported the photos, then uploaded them to Picasa.  And now I've written this blog entry.  I don't really remember when he stopped crying.  I think it was around the time I plugged the memory card into the computer.  See, Daniel? Mommy was right - it was time to sleep.  You really should just trust me on these things in the first place!

Caroline's New Pastimes

As you may recall, Caroline has long been obsessed with her ab routine.  She has kept this up, adding to her normal leg lifts and crunches a new exercise that involves pumping her legs vigorously while sitting in her bouncy chair to simulate the action you would normally find on a swing.  I mean, she really makes that thing a BOUNCY chair!

She is also still talking, enjoying her da-da-da quite a bit.  No new vowels have emerged, but she is getting better at varying tone and inflection.

But there are some new things.  Sadly, some of them require video evidence that we either haven't yet acquired or still need to import and edit.  Others were just too adorable at the time to run away from to find the camera.  But I'm sure I'll be able to post visual proof of the following soon:

1.  Caroline has begun clapping - sometimes with her fists, sometimes with one fist and one open hand, and sometimes with both open hands.  When she gets those two open hands going, she can actually make quite a noise.  We are sure this is her response to our hours of hard work training her on the appropriate Miguel Tejada applause (and if you don't know what I'm talking about, as an A's fan from around 2005).        

                                                                                                  
2.  Caroline has improved her mastery of the raspberry.  This has been on its way for quite some time, but recently reared its adorable head as she had whole raspberry conversations with her grandparents on Sunday.  Obviously, she knew the Yankees were coming into town the next day and she was practicing.

3.  Caroline enjoys reading the paper.  If you put Caroline on the floor and put a section of the paper anywhere near her, she will wiggle her way over to it, grab a corner, and unfold it.  She holds it above her head and studies it, then moves the pages around so that she can see it from another angle.  Then she rolls on her belly and spreads it out on the floor in front of her.  Occasionally, she will pull it up over her like a little bum blanket, but usually she focuses on reading.  She is currently slightly better at managing the tabloid format than a full page newspaper, but then, who among us hasn't been stymied at some point trying to refold the paper? (I think you might actually see her clapping or doing a mini-raspberry or two in this one as well.)

4.  Finally, (and this is the one I have the pictures for NOW) when the paper isn't available, Caroline will read anything she can get her hands on.  This includes any and all ointment bottles that happen to be on the changing table.  I know, I know, all babies go through a stage where they grab and play with the things on the changing table.  But you will see in the photos below, it's not just that she grabs them, but also that she focuses so intently on the writing on the backs of them!  I think she's already comparison shopping!

A night with three recovering sick kids...

Everyone got to sleep by 10pm -  Daniel needed a little bit of Ibuprofen to make sure his ear ache wouldn't pain him during the night.  They were all in cribs by 10:30 (they fell asleep in the living room, so I let them settle a bit before moving them).  Everything was set up for today and cleaned --well, as clean as it gets around here-- by 11:00 and I was asleep by 11:30.

At 12:50, Max woke up coughing and then crying.  I got up with him, saw a little white tooth bud peeking out on his upper gumline, and made a bee-line for the Ibuprofen.  Once he was drugged up and cuddled, I put him back in his bed and stood waiting outside the door to see if he would start crying again.

By 1:15 or so I was back in bed and I think I slept pretty quickly after that.

At 3:15 it was Caroline's turn.  She woke up crying and I cuddled with her on the couch a bit while I waited for her to calm down.  She was back in bed by 3:50 and I was in bed just after that.

At 4:40 Daniel's Ibuprofen wore off.  So I got up with him and gave him the next dose.  And as I started to cuddle with him I actually heard myself say, "That's OK, Daniel.  Mommies don't need sleep when they have cutie pie babies like you, right?"  He must've thought I was being sarcastic, because he settled right back down to sleep and I got to lie down for the last hour until my alarm went off.

And they weren't up until 8:30 or later in the morning!

Let's just hope this all stops when everyone gets better.