Sister LOVE

We are quickly approaching 3.
And it is bringing new challenges.
Something I will post about separately.
But for now, check out how cute my girls are.

They love each other so much.
When they cuddle, they CUDDLE.

These are the moments I cherish.




My girls are just too precious for words!

GOOO MELISSA & DAVID!!!

Ian's primary ECI therapist, Melissa, is running the Houston Marathon today.
Along w/ her hubs, David, they got a much coveted spot.
We have much love for Melissa.
She is a great general therapist.

In March, Ian will graduate from ECI.
Melissa will be missed, as both a therapist & a friend.
Until then, we will covet our time w/ her.
And cheer her & David on today.

GOOOO MELISSA & DAVID!!!

PT update :)

Sofi is doing beautifully.
Minus the occasional accidents, she loves being in her big girl panties!
She even makes it through all her naps.
And she is waking up dry in the morning about 50% of the time.

Now, it is time to start thinking about tackling the other 2.
As the weather gets warmer, I'm going to put Ian in underwear & a shirt.
I think he will catch on pretty quickly.
Not as quickly as Sofi.

Gabi, that girl is going to take some work.
I've got to get the stickers & the sticker chart ready for this one.
She is going to challenge me.
But I'm ready for it.

Now, if we could get healthy, yet again,
life would be good.
This time, Daddy went down.
It has been a lonely week w/o him here to stand by my side.
I miss him & am glad he is on the mend!

Potty Training...Take 2

The 1st time was horrible.
I tried the 3 day bootcamp thing.
Wish I hadn't.
Don't know who it was more stressful for.
Me or them.

Probably me.
Definitely me.

The experience left me scarred.
To the point that I didn't want to try it again for a while.
I should have approached it like everything other major change.
Let the kids lead the way.

Let me explain, esp for those that have just joined the blog.
The kids were 15 mths old & it was time to give up the bedtime bottle.
It was the only one left.
The girls (Ian was exclusively breastfeeding) loved their bottle before bed.
And I understand that pedis are worried about rotting teeth.

But we are responsible parents.
And we brushed & still brush their teeth before bedtime.
So we decided that the girls would let us know when they were ready.

Without fail, they did.
After seeing Ian nurse or drink some extra milk out of a straw cup,
they wanted in on the action.
They were 17 mths old.
It happened that easily.

No fussing.
No fighting.
Simple.

We did the same thing w/ integrating dinnertime.
We could just tell.
The kids were ready to be in big chairs at the table.
Again, it was easy.

I believe that through all this, every kids has cues.
The parent reads those cues the best.
Why I didn't do this for PTing, I don't know.

Either way, the 1st time was a BIG FAIL.
It was a miserable 2.5 days.
Lots of crying on my part.
This bootcamp thing was just not our style.

Fast forward 6 months.

It was time to think about PTing again.
Sofi was ready.
Mommy was not.
I'm telling you, that 1st go around left me w/ serious PTSD!

And there was no magic solution.
I put big girl panties on Sofi on Monday after her nap.
She hasn't had an accident since.

The other 2, not so much.
Gabi poos like a champ on the potty but she won't pee to save her life.
Just.won't.do.it.
No way, no how.
Not gonna happen.

Ian is hit or miss.
When I am certain Sofi is good as gold, I will put him in undies.
I think it will only take a day or w/ him.

And then I will work on Gabi.
Oh, she is turning in to quite the stubborn one.
But that's another story.

We are 1 for 3.
Not too bad.
And loving 1 less in diapers!

Growing little business...

I wish there were more time in a day.
There is so much I would like to accomplish.
And it just doesn't happen.
One of those has been the frequency of my blogging.

It is for a good reason.
My business, {SIG}nature Creations,
is growing by leaps & bounds.

It takes up all of my "free" time.
Yeah, not much of that w/ triplets.
But I have been able to involve them in the process.
They are my muses & models.

Check out some of the latest things I have created.






And on top of that, I'm trying to learn a bit of photography.
You know, so I can take great pics of the kids,
but also of my products.



Learning to edit is not easy.
It takes time.
Time I really don't have.
This is the reason my blogging has been scarce.

I've got to learn to manage the time again.
It ain't easy but it will be doable!

Brotherly Love

Now, I knew my boy loved to run his fingers through my hair.
I just never expected him to love to this to his sister.
And my heart absolutely melted when he did it.


Ian is such a sweet boy.
He loves to cuddle.
It warms my heart.

Arts & Crafts

Man, this stuff scares me.
Me who use to be an elementary school teacher.
Go figure, right?
But we finally got our feet wet.
(yes, it has taken this long)

Don't get me wrong, we have done tons of coloring.
Sidewalk chalk has been a favorite of ours as well.
But painting, not so much.
Marker, even a bigger not so much.
It was time.

Thankfully, Uncle Jeff bought the kids these really cool
Crayola coloring/markering/painting sets.
And since the weather has been cold & less than stellar,
we had the perfect opportunity to try them out.
(and for me to get my feet wet...no pun intended)

Gabi got the Magic paint thing-a-ma-jigger.
She loved it!
And it was relatively painless for me.
No worries about paint on the clothing.
A good start for us all.


Ian got this awesome mat that glows in the dark.
The pen leaves tracers but also makes the mat glow.
It really is the coolest, especially at night!



Sofi got this really cool black light kit.
There are blacklights & about 3 layers of plastic to color on.
It has an awesome 3D effect.
She really got in to it!


All in all, a very successful arts & crafts session.
We have done it almost every afternoon this week.
The real paint is coming.
I promise...sometime in the near future.

Oh what a birthday party!

Not ours, Miss Caroline!
Boy, was that a BIG sha-bang!
No joke, like the biggest birthday party we have ever been to,
including our own.
And the theme was fabulous.

Tutus & Ties


I was lucky enough to be asked to make both,
as party favors, for all the kids.
It was fun!
And my girls finally got to wear one of my tutus.



Ian, looked quite dapper in a pink damask tie.
(yep, made by me)


But that was the extent of the good parts.
Oh, what a morning!
Thankfully the party started at 11am & served lunch.
No skipping nap time for us.
But it didn't seem to matter b/c they still had tantrums.

We started off really well.
The bounce house was outside & Gabi immediately jumped in.
She LOVED it.


And while she couldn't get enough, Sofi did not want anything to do w/ it.
She was literally stuck to my side.
It took a lot of convincing for her to go inside the bounce house.
Even then, she wasn't too happy.




Then there was Ian.
He was ALL.OVER.THE.PLACE.
In. Out. In. Out.
Up the stairs. Down the stairs.
In one room. Out the other.
That boy would.not.sit.still.

Then it was time to go inside.
Gabi was not happy.
Until she realized it was STORY TIME!
This girl totally got in to it.
She repeated every line the librarian read.
She laughed in all the right places.
She even got right up to the book.



Sofi was still weary about it all.
She preferred Daddy's hand or my lap.

Don't even ask about Ian.
He was a wondering FOOL!
I tell you, he didn't know what to do in that big house!

Then it went south.
We couldn't get the kids to sit at the kid tables.
They had to sit at the kitchen table, together.
With no one else.

And when it came time to sing Happy Birthday,
Sofi's cupcake decided to fall apart on her.
GOD HELP US ALL.
The screaming commenced.
In the middle of the song.

E.M.B.A.R.R.A.S.S.I.N.G.

I took her outside as fast as possible.
All eyes were on us.
Not even 60 seconds later, Todd comes out w/ 2 more screaming kids.
Yes, 3 meltdowns in a matter of 60 seconds.
Enough for us to throw in the towel.

It was time to go home.
We were done.
Finished.
Terminado.
Ca-put.

And don't you think for a second that the crying stopped.
Oh no.
Not until AFTER we got home.
30 minutes in the car w/ screaming kids.
Happy.happy.joy.joy.

But, I would do it all over again.
And my kids were the cutest ones there, minus Miss Caroline.
Thankfully MK (Caroline's mommy) understood & even said that she thought the kids were fine.
HA! God bless her.

Hopefully the next party we attend will be our own.
WHEW.

Christmas Eve Night & Christmas Day

I'm behind. Embarrassingly behind.
All along I thought I would have MORE time as the kids got older.
Joke's on me.
I have less.
Or maybe it is the booming business that is keeping me on my toes.

Either way, w/o further ado...

I love this picture.
Ian makes the perfect reindeer!


Neighbor Kathye gave the kids Sing-a-ma-jigs.
They aren't quite sure what to make of them yet.


Tio & Tia bought the kids a Dora tent.
As you can see, no kids are in this picture.
They are inside the tent!


After the kids went to bed, Santa's helpers began to assemble the toys.
Eh hem...Mommy & Jesse.
And I can't forget, Todd did a bang up job on the tool workbench!


Oma watched from her comfy spot.


Abu getting in on the action.
I knew he wouldn't be able to NOT help!


Tio really liked Ian's workbench.


Christmas Day...

Breakfast on the couch, watching Dora Christmas Carol.
Sofi has worn that dress that she got from Tia Jesse almost every day!


This is Gabi's favorite spot on the couch.
She goes directly to it every morning.
Christmas morning was no different!


Ian decided breakfast should be near the new toys & Christmas tree.
Boy, does he ever love that Christmas tree.
So much so, he cried when we put it away.
That's my sweet boy for you!


Those reindeer sure did leave a HUGE mess on our front lawn!


After a full morning of play & discovery, it was time for a nap.
Daddy is in there somewhere.


I wish I had gotten more pics on Christmas Day but honestly, I was just enjoying the moment instead of having the camera strapped to me.
It was worth it.
To take in every moment of their excitement.
Amazing & so much fun.
The innocence they have.
Priceless.