Apple Picking

A few years ago, we began a tradition of apple picking. It started just the two of us with my parents and then expanded to include good friends. For the last few years, we would wonder what it would be like to bring our own kids there and often felt like that day would never come. Well, here we are a few years later taking our three babies apple picking! It was a wonderful day and we enjoyed every moment. The babies also did great considering what a long day it was. They loved looking around and watching everyone. We were quite a production with our whole crew, which included 8 adults and 6 kids, but it was so much fun. Here's a snapshot of our day! :)


Braden & Daniel with a bag full of apples


It was a great day with good friends


Grandpa & Grandma had a great time with the Grandkids


Kayla was full of smiles all day long


The boys hanging out with their friends



Along with apple picking, here are some other recent pics of our cuties.


Braden being goofy


They love their Baby Einstein


Lately the boys have been traveling in pairs


Our three cuties around 9 months old

A Day in the Life of Triplets

Ever since the babies were born, we get stopped all the time with questions, but the one we get the most is, "How do you do it?". While I'm sure most people can't fathom three babies at once, to us it is just normal, and honestly we can't imagine having only one. We honestly love being parents of triplets and feel so blessed. But in an effort to give some insight to many of you who are wondering what our life looks like, here is a sneak peek:


6:30ish AM - Babies are awake and talking/playing in their cribs

7:00 AM - We feed them their bottles. Rich then gets ready for work while I change diapers and get them dressed for the day.

8:30 AM - Babies go down for their morning nap and I snag the opportunity to jump in the shower and eat breakfast.

9:30/10:00 AM - Babies wake up from their nap and play while I wash bottles and make up bottles for the day, put laundry in, get their lunch ready, etc..

10:30 AM - My parents arrive (hallelujah!) to help keep the babies occupied while I get things done.

11:00 AM - Feed the babies bottles and then their lunch in their high chairs

11:30 AM - Play time -- go for a walk if it's nice, play with toys, etc.

12:30/12:45 PM - Babies go down for a nap. Again more opportunity to clean, grocery shop (again with my parents holding down the fort!), and do whatever project needs to be done!

3:00 PM - Afternoon bottles and diaper change

4:15 PM - Babies go back up for another rest. They have been dropping their 3rd nap, but I still put them in their cribs to give me a chance to start our dinner and make Rich's lunch for the next day.

4:30 PM - My parents leave. I then begin making bottles for the next two feedings and make enough formula for the next day. (For those of you that are curious, we go through about 76 oz of formula a day, yeah...Costco is our friend for formula!)

5:30 PM - Babies have their dinner in their high chairs. Lots of messy, cute faces!

5:45 PM - I clean up all the mess and finish up our dinner and count down the minutes until Daddy comes home!

6:00ish PM - Daddy arrives home, another hallelujah moment! We try to scarf down some dinner if we can. But if the babies are melting down too much, we sometimes skip eating until after they go to bed.

6:45 PM - Time to get ready for bed, pj's and diaper changes.

7:00 PM - Feed the babies their last bottle of the day.

7:30 PM - Time for bed. And they are very ready for bed by this time and usually go right to sleep.

8:00 PM - Ahhhhh, some relaxation....well after cleaning up from dinner and putting away toys. But still one of my favorite parts of the day.

And to answer another question you may be wondering, no we don't give them baths every day. Baths are quite an ordeal with three, so we do it twice a week and that suits everybody just fine. Until they're bigger and more stinky, simplicity works.

So that pretty much sums it up. Yes, having three is very busy and I'm on my feet pretty much all day, but really what mom isn't? It's part of the job description I think. Everything is just a little more involved, takes a little longer, but it is sooooooooo worth it. Those precious smiles and laughs make any day better. And when all three want to snuggle up with mommy and daddy...wow, who wouldn't want triplets???

As always, we couldn't have a post without some pics. Here's some of the latest.


Braden & Kayla hangin' with mommy


Daniel & Braden having fun in their bumbos

We took the babies to the park for the first time...
Getting ready to go.

They were a little nervous at first, but they ended up loving the swings.

They had lots of fun.


The babies with their cousin Mya in their matching sleepers
(so cute, thanks cousin April!)


Uncle Brian with his nieces & nephews before heading back to college


Fun with the Laundry Baskets

Feeding Frenzy & More

We've been eating all kinds of new things here these days and the babies are really enjoying their expanded menu. I've discovered that I don't have very picky eaters as they seem to embrace everything I've fed them. It was quite a task trying to figure out how to feed them all at once, but we've come up with a routine that is working well. They eat solids twice a day and create quite a mess in the process. I line them up in a row and then feed one bite at a time, and yes they share the same bowl and spoon. So feeding time is a little more lengthy these days and requires a longer clean up, but it's lots of fun too. I love watching their expressions and of course, they're so cute with food all over their faces. The pictures below showcase some of our fun!


All lined up and ready to eat


Still cute even with messy faces

All the eating is obviously agreeing with them too because they are getting SO big! I feel like I get a major workout every day just carrying them up and down the stairs! The latest weight count is as follows:

Kayla - 14 lbs, 12 oz
Braden - 20 lbs, 2 oz
Daniel - 19 lbs, 6 oz


On July 25, we had the privelege of having the babies baptized at our church. It was a wonderful day of celebration and they did extremely well. No cries or fussing at all, which was truly an answer to prayer. :) It was also very special to have Grandpa Hess (who is an elder at our church) go over the baptism vows with us. It was so surreal to be before our church family as a family of five. For years, we have longed for this day and we were so thankful to God to now realize the fullness of the blessing He has given us. We pray that we are able to raise these babies to know and love the Lord.


The whole family at church


Just us

In family news, we were also very excited to meet our first niece last week! Rich's sister, Erin, and hubby, Caleb, welcomed Mya Woods Guge early on Saturday, August 14th. My parents were nice enough to come over Saturday afternoon and watch the babies so we could go and meet her. Then just yesterday, Erin brought Mya over for a visit, and the babies got to meet their first cousin. She is soooooo precious and we love her already! I'm especially excited that Kayla will have a little playmate so she won't feel so outnumbered by her brothers!


Mya, just one day old


The babies get to meet their new cousin


Kayla has a new friend

Uncle Dave (Rich's brother) and his fiance Heather came home last week to meet little Mya and visit with the family. It was so wonderful to have all the Hess siblings here and we had some great family time. Dave and Heather are getting married in January so we'll all be heading down to Chattanooga for their big day. It will be our first big road trip so of course, I'm already planning for it!


Uncle Dave & his Fiance Heather


The Hess Family

And a few more pictures of our cuties! Enjoy. :)


Fun in the Bumbos


The boys already love playing together



Kayla, Braden & Daniel, now eight months old

Summer Fun!

The last few weeks have been lots of fun around here. Father's Day, 4th of July and lots of family get togethers have kept us busy, but have also been a blast. We have been really enjoying our time lately too because all 3 babies have started sleeping through the night! Kayla was still sleeping in our room up until about a week ago, but now she's in her crib and is seeming to thrive on having her independence. The last few nights we have been able to put the babies down at 7:45 pm and they will sleep until 7:00 am! Hallelujah! It has been wonderful to have more sleep. The other morning I woke up and saw the clock said 6:00 am and I didn't hear a peep, and I honestly thought I was dreaming!

Another milestone we reached recently was that the babies are now starting on solids! On Father's Day, we headed over to Mimi & Grandpa's for a big family get together and the main event was feeding the babies rice cereal for the first time. They of course weren't sure about it at first, but it has quickly become a hit, and we're starting on some new fruits and veggies now too. It's lots of fun, but lots more mess!

We've included lots of pics and videos this time. We really have been enjoying our time with our little cuties and just wanted to share all the fun!


This was Rich's first Father's Day. He is such a proud papa.


The boys and their Dad. He can always make them laugh, even when they are in a bad mood.


Kayla, Braden & Daniel all love spending time in the ExerSaucer.


Sometimes all that jumping is just so tiring.



Kayla loves to blow bubbles. This particular day she was blowing bubbles the entire time I was feeding her.



Braden likes to imitate sounds these days. Here his Daddy is getting him to show off his "deep voice" laugh.



The babies love to laugh at their Dad. And Rich will do whatever it takes to get them to laugh, even if it means looking and sounding goofy in the process.


And all three babies would like to wish everyone a happy 4th of July!

On a Roll!!

It's hard to believe that our babies will be six months old in just a few more days! Where does the time go??? It seems like just yesterday we were holding tiny little 4 pound babies and getting VERY little sleep. And now here we are at six months and they barely look like the same babies! Everyone kept saying that the first few months would be a blur, and boy was that true! For those of you who are curious, here are the latest measurements:

Kayla: 13 lbs, 7 oz
Braden: 18 lbs, 9 oz
Daniel: 18 lbs, 2 oz

So you can see the boys have quadrupled their birth weight and then some! And Kayla is holding her own. I like to think that she'll always be the little one and have her big brothers to protect her. :)

Well, we're up to all kinds of new things around here. Last post we mentioned that Daniel and Kayla had started rolling over. Well, Braden joined the others just a couple of weeks later only his new thing is rolling from back to tummy. In fact, he almost always ends up on his stomach when we put him in his crib for the night. Sleeping on his belly has become his new favorite thing and we couldn't be more happy because he sleeps so soundly at night now...ahhh sweet relief!

Speaking of sleep, we're getting a lot more of that too now. We feed the babies one final time for the night at 10:30 (less than half of their normal feeding) and then put them back to bed and they will sleep until 7:00 AM. It is glorious! Kayla is still sleeping in the pack 'n play in our room because she still fusses on and off starting around 5:00 AM. But we're confident in time, she'll be sleeping soundly too. It is such a relief to get more solid sleep, it's amazing how much better we are feeling these days.

Other fun things the babies are doing now: laughing hysterically at any funny sound we make, turning their heads when we call their names, grabbing at toys, drooling like crazy, talking and babbling, blowing bubbles, trying to sit up, & looking at their hands and feet. It is so fun to see them learn new things and to do it in their own way.

We are very excited this time to be able to show you all some videos of the babies rolling over. Hope you enjoy!




Daniel rolling over onto his back



Kayla rolling over onto her back



Braden rolling from his back to his stomach.


And of course more pictures...


Kayla, Braden & Daniel nearly 6 months old


Rich's cousin April came to visit and spent lots of time with the babies.


The Boys hanging out together


Kayla & Braden


And finally, Kayla sleeping soundly in her swing