The Georgia Guinn Triplets

Well since the girls do pretty much everything together, we figured surgery should be the same. And since they're identical its no surprise that the girls have identical adenoids and ear canals which meant they all three needed ear tubes and their adenoids removed. 

I think a lot of people thought I was really nervous and worried...I wasn't at all.  These girls have been through so much during their short lives that this was nothing!  I was more concerned with the afterwards from the surgery...Three little girls who don't feel good can be a big time challenge. 

So after the cancellation during the ice storm we rescheduled for this friday...Bright and early yesterday morning we got up and headed to the hospital...it was pretty smooth getting there except that I couldn't find the insurance cards, which were supposed to be in my wallet...Instead they had fallen out into Nana's car, so we had a moment of panic in finding them, but other than that...we arrived with little fanfare.  We went right into admissions and as soon as we were admitted they took us back. 

They had never had triplets before and their idea was three different rooms...Yeah RIGHT!!!  Makenna when into her own room and Issy and Alyssa went together...Makenna stayed as long as it took to get her prepped and then we joined her sisters. 

Alyysa waiting patiently.

Issy coloring!

Makenna all dressed and ready to go!  She was such a trooper!  The Nurse who took her back was great!  He told her she was going on a ride in her race car bed..She was driving it out of the room and down the hall on her way out!

Driving her bed out into surgery!

When Makenna was rolled back!  She was happy and playing...Issy however dissolved into tears, because Makenna was gone! 

Wish this picture was crystal clear, because it is too cute!

Nana and Alyssa waiting for the DR

Playing around!

Alyssa getting ready to head back...Funny thing is that she looks already doped up, but isn't!  Alyssa wasn't as happy as Makenna about going back...She put her blanket over her head and was saying through little tears...Bye Momma, Bye Daddy, Bye Nana!  Issy again dissolved into tears. 

Issy getting ready to go!

Issy like Makenna was real excited to drive her race car bed back!  If you notice, the hospital gave all three girls a stuffed half bee/half bear called buzz buzz.  They LOVED him and took him to surgery with them! 

Makenna came back from recovery, before Issy had gone back, so we played trade off in the rooms...

Makenna just back in the room with her popcicle!

Makenna was out of it...and she was too funny...  She kept asking for kisses....Kiss my eyes..Kiss my nose...Kiss my cheek...etc, etc, etc. 

Watching tv

This is how Alyssa came back...She was playing possum.  She did not want to look at the nurses or anyone.  She was also the most effected by the meds. 

eating a cookie

Which eventually progressed to this...

Alyssa also drank a metric ton of water and juice after surgery and as soon as we got her up and ready to take her IV out she began vomiting.    She ended up vomiting once there and once when we got home. 

Issy came back much like Makenna...Full of pep and ready to go!

Getting ready to take the IV out!

Alyssa and Daddy

Makenna and her popcicle!

Issy and momma...

And just to bring back a ton of old memories...The adults banded again to know who belongs to who! 

Since Granny and Paw Poley bought us the Wii, they girls have been very interested in bowling on it.  So since poppa was home and is a pretty good bowler, we decided to introduce the girls to what real bowling is like. 

When Nana and Poppa told the girls we were going bowling, Alyssa was very excited.  She did her little Wii bowling hand throw and said "weeeeee." 

So we headed up to Stars and Strikes Bowling Alley.  This is a new alley right by our house.  It is REALLY nice.  It has the normal bowling on the left side and glow bowling on the right, a full arcade, air bumper cars, and laser tag.  It also has a resturant where you can get filet migon and any kind of seafood you want. 

When we arrived, the girls were SO excited!  They could barely contain themselves.  Since all the "serious" bowler were on the normal side, we decided to head to glow bowl side...plus its really cool to see all the pretty colors. 

The magangement was amazing.  They got us all setup!  The owner even typed in all our information into the computer for the game to begin.  

And then the fun began...the girls used a bowling ramp to bowl down the alley!  Alyssa LOVED it!  Isabelle was the best bowler and she liked it!  Makenna liked it for about the first 15 minutes and then she was ready for something else!  

We had a great time bowling, but we learned some REALLY important lessons:

1. Everyone bowls with bumpers, so if the girls want to bowl before their time, they can.

2. We must bring something for the girls to do, while the others are bowling, because they get antsy. 

3.  Bring Sippy CUPS!!!!

And the result was that Issy beat everyone with a score of 100.  It is really bad when a 3 year old beats you by almost 40 points! 

So after bowling we headed over to the arcade and the girls discovered the wonders of the arcade world....TICKETS!!!!  They have a family package at the bowling alley that includes an hour of bowling, 6-$5 arcade cards, pizza, shoe rental, a large pizza, and a pitcher of soda for around $40 dollars, so we had $30 worth of arcade tokens, we spent the entire time playing all the ticket games, because the girls LOVED getting the tickets! 

After all the time we spent playing and gathering tickets, we came home with three little foam icecream cone shooters and a bouncey ball a piece...It was completely worth it...So much so that we went back less than a week later and did it all over again!  LOL!

Okay let’s start out with the news….Frank’s sister, Aunt Suzy has received a diagnosis of Scleroderma, which is widespread connective tissue disease that involves changes in the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. There are different types and even within the types it can affect each person differently. At this point, she has just been diagnosed, so we are not sure what level she is at. She has to see another doctor for a second opinion and then goes to Huston to see a specialist there. Unfortunately, the next opening is in JULY!!!! So I guess the prayers would be for healing, for an opening with the Huston doctor sooner, and peace from worry for the entire family.

The girls were saying their prayers after I told them at Aunt Suzy was sick…We do the traditional, “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer, but at the end we pray for our family by saying “God Bless” and then listing names, until I get tired and say EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. When we said our prayer, Makenna said Aunt Suzy, Aunt Suzy, Aunt Suzy for everyone time we went through the names. She also asked me last night, if Aunt Suzy had to get any shots. I told her that she did, and Makenna said, “Oh No, That’s SO SAD!” So Aunt Suzy, you know you got one little girl praying for you like crazy!

So now onto the not so serious stuff…

We had what is known as the Great Snow/Ice Storm of 2010!

The girls had a great time playing in the snow, but momma was the only teacher in the entire area who was praying that it stayed away! Because we were scheduled for ear tubes and adenoid removal times 3! Well the morning of the surgery it iced! I called the hospital twice to check and see if the surgery was on go! They said it was, so we headed out to the 007 type mission to reach the hospital.

The night before my dad had driven the suburban down the hill from mom’s house and parked it, so we could get out on the main road…My mom’s car is a front wheel drive, so we could make it down the hill. So we loaded everyone into mom’s car, drove 5 miles an hour down the hill to the church, got into the suburban, and made our way to the hospital trying to avoid all the ice and crazy men who think snow = 4 wheel drive! We arrived and entered to find the surgery center locked. The receptionist came an unlocked the door with a look of surprise! Didn’t they call you? NOPE, well the doctor tried to make it, but couldn’t.

So instead of being upset, we headed to IHOP for smile faced pancakes!

I also am gonna have to hand it to my MIL! When she told me she was getting us a Wii for Christmas, I was a little less than excited! I HATE video games! When we had the play station, the video games caused quite a bit of fighting between Frank and I, because he would play all night long and then complain about being tired! Needless to say, I was WRONG, because Grandma Carolyn made one very SMART move! She got me a Wii Fit Plus to go with the Wii. I’m addicted! If we stay at Nana’s, I will drive back to our house after the girls go to sleep and do my Wii Fit workouts! I am doing about 80 minutes a night now! It is great! I am NOT really a fan of being insulted by a video game on a daily basis, but I somehow it motivates me! I have NO BALANCE, NO RHYTHM, and VERY LITTLE hand eye coordination, so the Wii is not set to my strengths! But I am enjoying it! Now all I need is the Wii Active so I can get a little more variety in my workout and I will be set!

The girls have been so much better behaved this week, now that their schedule has finally settled into place! It is amazing how well they do when they are in their routine! They have been playing princess dress-up all week in preparation for our Disney Trip in 10 weeks!!!! Nana even setup three HUGE moving boxes in her living room, which are now their castles! They are too cute! They will dance in their dresses and being a princess is now VERY important! You want to act like a princess at all times! SO momma and nana are using it to our advantage…Princesses eat their carrots and their corn (note: This works GREAT for Alyssa, Makenna depends on her mood, and Issy still won’t try the carrots!). Princesses sit on chairs not stand. Princesses use their inside voices. Wonder how long before they catch on that we are doing this? LOL!

Well, that’s it for now!

A proper update for December!

Well, I can honestly say that December has been the month of ups and downs for our family! Thankfully most of the time it has been up!

Poppa came home for a month long visit and boy did we get spoiled! My dad absolutely amazes me with the girls. I don’t know how many grandfathers could handle the day to day care of my girls, but I do know this fact, if something were to happen to Frank, myself, and nana, my dad could care for these girls day in and day out without blinking an eye! He does EVERYTHING with them. He took them to Walmart more times than I could count. He has control over them like neither nana or myself can muster. He makes them clean, disciplines them with love (and a bit of humor), and will do ANYTHING they ask! This break, he managed to construct a beautiful gingerbread house (while letting them consume massive amounts of Frosting!), took them to the bounce house and sandbox by himself, and even taught them how to bowl!

While doing this, he managed to fix my leaking sink, hang (twice) and then remove all the lights on the outside of the house, help us begin to clean out our garage, fixed the icemaker and water dispenser on my fridge, and various other projects for Nana and Aunt Sandra.

It is so much fun having him around and the girls were SO SAD when he left. Makenna kept asking Nana to go and get Poppa, Alyssa wanted to go with Poppa to Tinkie, and Isabelle was pretty much distraught over his leaving. Luckily it won’t be for long and when he comes back this time, we are heading to DISNEY!

Christmas was crazy, fun, and exhausting all rolled into one! The girls participated in their first Christmas Program at school! I was SO SAD that I could not be there, but Nana and Poppa were! It looked like they had tons of fun!

We did our usual journey to the Pink Pig for the ride around tent in the cold weather! It was a lot of fun this year, because the girls had such a great time!

However, we did not make Stone Mountain or the Lake Lanier lights this year, because my Granny became very ill and we were not sure if she was going to make it. Nana drove to Louisiana to be with her, but luckily that woman has some spirit left in her and she pulled through and even came home from Christmas! During this time, my uncle, Sam was also received a diagnosis of Kidney Cancer.

We were able to make it to Louisiana for Christmas! It was a great time to see all the family! The girls had so much fun seeing Granny Guinn and Pa Poley. They love them so much! It is amazing to see how attached they are to the grandparents! They also got to hang out with all the Aunts and Uncles and cousins and Great Grandparents! It was a crazy schedule! Santa was able to find out in Louisiana, so the girls were VERY HAPPY!

Santa brought them a TON of stuff! They got their asked for gift: Issy, a train set; Alyssa, a pink truck; and Makenna, a jack in the box! Then they got Spike the dinosaur, dress up clothes, a few books, roller skates, umbrellas, puzzles, and much much more! Granny Guinn got them a sleeping bag, a doll with a box of dress up clothes, board games (which we’ve had a blast learning how to play), and money! Nana and Poppa got them personal DVD players, a microphone, a bed for their baby dolls, a stage, and more! The Aunt spoiled them rotten at usual! Aunt Suzy made a HAND PAINTED Canvas Pirate Map for them to play with! They LOVE THEM! I’ll have to try and remember to take a picture so everyone can see! The final gift from Aunt Sandra, Nana, and myself were three tea sets for the girls! They are porcelain and are one of those treasured gifted that they can only use on special occasions. They love them, especially now that they are in a display case at Nana’s house for them to see.

We came home and I have learned an important lesson. Potty training and traveling with three little ones is for the birds! They did not want to potty in their diapers, so they would throw fits to stop! We did and the trip took FOREVER! We did get to meet another set of triplets who live in MS! Zachary, Michael, and Andrew were so much fun to play with!

WoW! This has gotten long and I still have Aunt Suzy to talk about, our failed attempt at ear tubes, and the GREAT SNOW STORM of 2010! Oh well, it will just have to wait!

So for the last few weeks, we've been having a little trouble getting my girls to pic up their lovely toys! It becomes a bit of a fight pretty much every day (especially with Poppa Wallace who is a stickler for toy pick up!). Alyssa is usually pretty good with picking up her toys!!!! Isabelle will pick up a few, but the SECOND you turn your back, she will begin the slow walk while playing with the toy to the toy box game! Makenna is definitely her momma's child and she HATES, HATES, HATES to pick up any toy!

We have tried making it into a game, giving money (their favorite thing right now), and even a few times of momma losing her temper and in a very STERN Voice (Read: Trying not to scream at the top of my lungs!) demanding they pick them up!

Well this morning, Nana opens the Texas Guinn Triplets's Blog to see a post about a rough patch that they were having regarding good behavior! This "rough patch" resulted in the Guinn's entire toy room being stripped of all toys! Lathan, Lauren, and Logan were told the toys were gone! (They are actually hiding in the garage and Stephanie is making them earn them back ONE at a time! This idea is GENIUS!!! ABSOLUTELY GENIUS!)

So Nana had her own moment of genius! She told the girls to come see the Guinn Trips! Now, my girls know the Guinn Trips! They love their blog! They will even ask to see it, Alyssa has a HUGE crush on little London! When we got their Christmas Card, the girls fought over who got to carry it around!

They were so excited to see a picture of the Guinn's playing in their room...Only to feel GREAT sadness when Nana then clicked to show them the "NEW" toy room. Nana told them that they hadn't been picking up their toys when they were asked and Mrs. Stephanie had sent the toys back to Santa Claus! Issy and Alyssa BURST into tears! Makenna replied..."How Sad!!!! I'll pick up their toys!"

A few minutes later Poppa came home and asked the girls to pick up some toys, so that they could play trains! Needless to say, Makenna was the first to pick up the toys, and surprise, surprise, they picked them all up!

When I called to check in at lunch, Makenna was STILL talking about how she had to pick up her jack in the box, so Santa did not come back and get it!!!!!

Big Thanks to Mrs. Stephanie for creating a learning moment for both sets of Guinn Triplet! And thanks to Nana for getting it done!

Well, Nana, myself, and Poppa(with a little bit of persuading) decided to let the triplets ring in their very first new year. 

It was a blast...we planed things for each hour that they were awake!

At 8 pm, they got their party horns and hats.  We ended up calling all the party poopers out there and wished them happy new year. 

At 9 pm, the girls got to do sparklers for the very first time...It was a little scary, but they did really great with them.  Alyssa was all about them from the very first time, Issy took a few minutes to buy into it, but Makenna was NOT having anything to do with it.  (although she did join in on the very last one!)

At 10 pm. the girls put on their party dresses (over their pjs) and we danced to the music of the 50's and 60's for an hour. 

At 11 pm, we had hot chocolate with marshmellows!

At 11:30 pm, we had a silly string fight...Poppa took the brunt of the silly string attacks, but when we all ran out, Poppa suprised us, by launching his counterattack!  It was a blast!

And finally, at midnight, we watched the ball drop, exchanged kisses, and discussed how tired we were!

Here's the video of our event!

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=a1df91aa68a57ced7ff9c6&skin_id=601

I'm in a blogging funk!  I am just not in the mood to write anything, so here are some pictures!

The girls opening their Guinn family presents on Christmas Eve

Their dolls from Grandma and PaPoley Guinn

Christmas Morning opening all the presents from Santa!

Alyssa and her harmonica

Makenna needed a lot of prompting to open her presents!  She has taken to telling us that she can't do things without help....Hopefully this dependent stage will pass...Luckily Issy and Alyssa are in the do it myself phase, so momma is REALLY loving that!

Giving Sandy and Smokey their dog toys!

Aunt Sandra and Issy opening presents!

The girls and their umbrellas

Tons more in the december section...

Poppa, Aunt Sandra, and I decided to take the girls to see Santa Claus tonight!  It was a success! 

Makenna was really hesitant about it and wanted to freak out, but we were able to keep her calm and get a good pic!  And she TOLD Santa that she wanted a Jack in the Box for Christmas.  Issy told him that she wanted a train, but Santa thought she was talking about the train that runs through the mall.  And Alyssa told him she wanted a Truck!  It was great!  I LOVE THIS AGE!!!!! 

So, Here it is!

Well, I scheduled Alyssa's surgery today.  She is going under the knife on December 28th.  Wish us luck! 

In other news, I need to play catch over our Thansgiving adventure!  On Thanksgiving day, we had an amazing dinner with Aunt Sandra, Poppa Wallace, and Nana.  Aunt Sandra's turkey was wonderful and the girls loved the sweet potatoes. 

Alyssa is so excited about the turkey!

The girls eating

After Thanksgiving, we headed to North GA for the weekend!

Alyssa checking out the hotel tree!

Issy posing for the camera!

Makenna refused to pose for the camera.  The highlight of our trip was the ride in the Santa Express Train

Here we are meeting Ms. Claus.  Notice Makenna's position...this was her favored position during our trip! 

The girls first train ride!

Watching the world go by!

Meeting Rudolph!

Here's Makenna's attempt to meet the characters!

Running around the train!

The next day we went to the tracks and took some pics

After hanging around blue ridge we headed over the the waterfalls to go on a little hike!  The girls did great, so as soon as the weather warms up, Frank and I are gonna attempt and overnight with basecamp and hiking trip! 

Alyssa chekcing out the waterfall!

After the waterfall, we headed up to see the lighting downtown blue ridge! 

Bundled up in the sleigh!  We has an amazing time! 

After a month and a half of a continuous ear infections, Alyssa and I spent part of her special day at the ENT....After doing a pressure test and feeling around on her throat, he told us that she has enough fluid behind her ears to float a boat!  So TUBES are going to happen, and then to my surprise, he also said that her adenoids are extra large and he want to remove them.  So we are going to schedule an appointment as soon as humanly possible! 

Today for her special day, we went to Momma's work, so that momma could have a quick meeting and then we went and had Alyssa fingernails done at the nail salon (while momma had her eyebrows waxed!)  It was too funny!  The nail tech when to file her nails and SHE FREAKED!!!! I mean seriously FREAKED!  I did not think she was gonna let her touch her after that, but we finally got her to let her paint her nails a very light pink.  When we got in the car, she sighed and said, "Oh so Pretty!  Paint Lady is SO nice!)

We went to Mellow Mushroom where she ate THREE pieces of pizza.  Then we went to the ENT and finally to Target, where I realized I was raising Frank!  It is no secret that Frank has expensive tastes (and I MEAN expensive!) At anytime, he has a list of three to ten things he wants that cost over $1000 dollars...Right now this list is topped by a Harley Motorcycle, a complete backyard makeover, and a trip to the East Coast of Ireland!  And since Alyssa has more of Frank's blood than the other two (via blood transfusion while in the NICU), she got her daddy's expensive tastes!    When I told her she could pick out her special gift, she went straight to the aisle with Spike the Dinosaur!  She wanted Spike so bad!  I spent 30 minutes trying to convince her that she could not have Spike!  When I would try to suggest another toy, she would tell me "No Momma, I want SPIKE!"  Eventually, I got her away from Spike and she chose another toy: a $60 Pink and White Swan Castle!   Another 15 minutes passed of me trying to talk her into something else!  Finally, she chose a Dora the Explore Talking Backpack!  Now, I knew that allowing her to get this backpack was a VERY BAD IDEA, but I caved and let her and NOW I will pay for it, because Makenna and Isabelle also want this backpack and they want it BAD!   (I also need to take Makenna and get her something else, because her present cost about $10 less than her sisters!  I have to be fair right?)