The Myers Triplets

Little Sparty!

2011-09-24T21:56:00.000-05:00

Took Niklas to his first MSU football game today vs my Alma Mater (CMU). After asking me 4,000 times, I finally caved and bought him the hat.

Interpretations

2011-06-22T21:11:00.000-05:00

The first picture drawn by my budding artist is of yours truly. Notice the beard, the gelled up hair, and the otherwise happy look on my face...

Now, notice the differences in the portrait of mommy. The look on her face seems to accurately depict that of someone dealing with triplets on a daily basis.

Another try with soccer

2011-04-23T21:28:00.000-05:00

Last year, when the kids were 3, we put them in Ypsilanti Township Soccer. The net result was that we paid a couple hundred dollars to have our kids cling to our legs for several Saturday mornings in a row. This year, as evidenced by this video, things are looking up a bit.

Gabbie Reading a Book

2011-03-31T22:16:00.000-05:00

Show Me Your Muscles

2011-03-29T16:41:00.001-05:00

YouTube Video

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Twinkle, Twinkle...

2011-03-26T17:01:00.001-05:00

YouTube Video

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Indigo Ct,Ypsilanti,United States

Handy Lukas

2011-03-01T21:20:00.000-05:00

Took a trip with the Washtenaw Christian Academy class to Eastern Michigan University. Each of the kids got to put together a birdhouse.

Long Time, No Post

2011-02-10T21:41:00.002-05:00

I miss summer!

I've Been Everywhere!

2011-02-05T21:25:00.000-05:00

1st Time Bowling

2011-02-05T21:03:00.000-05:00

I've Been Everywhere

2011-01-15T21:23:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th Birthday!

2010-12-23T23:36:00.000-05:00

Oh my darlin'!

2010-11-18T22:40:00.000-05:00

This is what Gabbie has learned at preschool recently!

Fancy Cool Car!

2010-11-18T22:35:00.001-05:00

After all that this boy has been though, he is a complete goofball! Yes, the lyrics are "Fancy Cool Car, Dad's a good guy." The guitar is a hairbrush.

Fall 2010

2010-11-09T22:22:00.002-05:00

Fall Fun

2010-10-27T21:43:00.000-05:00

Ready For End to 2010

2010-09-29T21:19:00.000-05:00

I am not one to wish away time, I feel like the years with my little guys are already going by way too fast. With that being said, 2010 has not been among the best years in recent history. Last week, Gabbie spent 3 days in the hospital for none other than a scraped knee. Yes, a scraped knee. This mundane injury which usually serves as proof of a fun summer for most children somehow turned into a nasty infection that not only landed us in the hospital, but put Gabbie on the verge of needing surgery. On the bright side, Gabbie was the bravest, most well behaved little patient I have ever seen. For being poked, prodded and getting virtually no sleep, she was such a good kid.

The Old Stomping Grounds

2010-09-12T21:40:00.000-05:00

Today, we took a trip up to see just about the entire family at my mom's house in Dimondale. While we were there, we took a trip down to said village for an ice cream cone. Afterwards, we walked over to Dimondale Elementary School where my brother, sister, and I attended. Although most of the equipment is new, some of the items from my tenure remained, including the caterpillar you see Niklas climbing on. Ahhhh, nostalgia!

Blogging From The iPhone

2010-08-26T12:19:00.001-05:00

My blog has been a bit thin as of late, so I figure if blogging from my phone works, I will update more often.

YouTube Video

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Woodland Dr E,Saline,United States

Goodbye Dad!

2010-08-08T20:42:00.001-05:00

For those who don't know, my Dad passed away unexpectedly, suddenly, but peacefully in his sleep on early Saturday morning at 61 years young. A mass will be held commemorating his life this Wednesday at St. Casimir Catholic church located at 815 Sparrow Avenue in Lansing, Michigan. There will be a visitation before hand from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. followed by the actual mass.

He's Stuck

2010-07-26T20:24:00.000-05:00

On our trip to Minnesota, this moose was mounted on the wall. All three kids were very concerned about him. They constantly reminded me that "he is stuck" and kept asking me to help him.

Poolside

2010-07-17T20:18:00.002-05:00

So, after all of the hoopla and controversy, our pool has finally opened. Needless to say, we have already gotten our money's worth out of it, as we have been there just about every day. Here is some of the footage, taken with my new iPhone 4.

Holiday Road Part IV

2010-06-30T22:41:00.005-05:00

So basically we drove around lake Michigan and part of Lake Superior. The occasion was my beautiful niece Gianna's baptism. As we all know, Greta and I are well traveled with the kids. As we will find out through some subsequent blog posts, the kids are making travel more and more difficult. We traveled from Ypsilanti to Chicago for a field trip at Shedd Aquarium. Once we were done, we fought 2 hours of rush hour traffic to stay the night in glorious Elgin, Illinois.

The next morning we made the trek to Wisconsin Dells. Well, we really didn't go to the Dells, but we went to the Great Wolf Lodge, just off the exit for the Dells, does that count? At least there, Lukas discovered water slides. From there we made the journey to Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. If you don't know where that is, let me help. There were a couple of movies where Charlize Theron found a niche being ugly. In one movie she was a mass murdering woman of negotiable morality, in the other (North Country) she was a mine worker who was "harassed" by the locals. The latter of the two was actually filmed in Hoyt Lakes Minnesota. In defense of Hoyt Lakes though, it was one of the most scenic and beautiful places I have ever visited. I mean, I was on a lake fishing with by brother in law (on Memorial Day Weekend) and he was upset about the OTHER boat on the lake. Truly an untouched and scenic place. And, Adam and I crushed the walleye that day. I sometimes poke fun at my sister for living in such a remote place and at other times I am jealous of the things they are removed from.

Finally, on the trip home we were destined to make it home. In totality, it should be about a 16 hour drive. From Hoyt Lakes to Duluth it should be a little over an hour. Needless to say, it took us over 3 hours to make it through Duluth. Yes, we got lost, but it was beautiful (even Greta will agree). We went along the Lake Superior Lakeshore which looked like Big Sur in California, maybe prettier. However, after 3 hours and not passing Duluth, our hopes of making it home in one day were dwindling. Then, Greta decided we were taking no prisoners and completely slammed the U.P. Other than a brief encounter with a black bear, our ride home was uneventful.

Go Wonder Pets, Yay!

2010-06-24T22:45:00.000-05:00

The blog has been completely neglected following back to back trips to Northern Minnesota and then Lithuania. I just returned from Europe on Monday and will be without the wife and kids for over 2 weeks. Although I will miss everybody, I am going to take advantage of a much needed recharge and, of course, updating the blog with all of the fun stuff we have been doing this summer.

Tigers Vs. Red Sox

2010-05-23T20:52:00.000-05:00

Lollipops

2010-05-13T21:29:00.000-05:00

Neurosurgery Update

2010-05-02T21:49:00.000-05:00

Last week, we had our yearly check up with neurosurgery at the University of Michigan. Prior to the visit, I had a conversation with one of the nurses. Originally, Niklas was scheduled to have a CAT scan, but I thought that maybe we could skip it for a few reasons.

1. Niklas is doing absolutely fantastic. He is speaking and understanding 2 languages. His athletic ability is amazing for what we have been through. He can throw a wiffle ball up and hit it with a bat. He can punt a soccer ball and throw it up and bounce it off his head. He is a good dancer. He has a great sense of humor and even lies and deceives. He is inquisitive and has an amazing personality.

2. Why subject him to the radiation if there is no reason? I don't know what a lifetime of yearly scans will do to him and don't want to unnecessarily subject him to a procedure that he finds terrifying anyway.

3. This is the least of all reasons, but we are on a high deductible health plan. If everything is fine, why spend $3,500.

Keep in mind, I told the staff that they, along with God's grace, have made Niklas what he is today. If they, for any reason, wanted to do a scan I would go along. I will do anything that staff suggests, but I just wanted to ask the questions. The agreed that it wasn't really necessary and were very impressed with Niklas's progress. They told us to come back in a year.

Oh, Good Grief!

2010-04-21T21:52:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in a while because life has been, well...challenging. Our kids are sick of each other right now and really crave one-on-one attention. The problem is, there are three kids and two parents. Greta and I have been leveled with exhaustion each and every day, and have sometimes questioned our skills as parents. It sometimes seems as though our house is a sanitarium full of screaming inmates of various ages and size. I hate to complain, as the outcome for our children is nothing short of a miracle. At the same time, the challenge of triplets seems to sometimes off set that. It seems like raising kids is a battle, and in the midst of all of it, there are some really cute moments.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T21:07:00.001-05:00

Had a great day today. Started the day off with candy from the Easter Bunny, a nice morning at church followed up by a wonderful dinner in Brighton with Grandma, Uncle Ben, Aunt Emily and Cousin Jack.

Good bye dad!

2010-03-24T16:55:00.005-05:00

This is a post to remember my very first best friend and mentor, my dad. He was a person who showed me that life should be lived to its fullest. He taught me to be brave, take chances and be smart. He passed away today at 7:15 pm Lithuanian time at the young age of 66 years old. He was an athlete and an avid downhill skier. I had the privilege of holding his hand until his last breath, beside my mom,my sister and my favorite uncle Algis. It was an experience I will never forget.

My dad fought until the end.He was bravest and the kindest man I have ever known.

Dear dad, you were a great family man and THE BEST DAD anyone could ever ask for. Thank you for beeing my dad, I feel lucky and honored that you chose us. My dad will be missed by many. His friends, but mostly by his closest family members, my mom, my sister, me and the rest of the immediate family. I do have one small regret that my children only have known you for 3 years. Dear Jajai ( pronounced "Yai Yai" as my kids called him) you were a funny person who spoke to us in a funny language that at times we could not understand. We loved you very much. Thank you for our future.

One day we will see you on the other side.

Until The, Love Always,

All of Us.

Spring?

2010-03-07T21:23:00.000-05:00

What a great weekend. It's amazing how 40 degrees and a little bit of sun can feel. We spent a lot of time outside, cleaned the garage and got the tricycles in working order. Saturday we had some friends over, fired up the grill and the kids got to play some elefun. Sunday, we got in the car and headed up to Uncle Benny and Aunt Emily's for the afternoon.

My Greatest Gift Of All

2010-02-25T23:00:00.002-05:00

They say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I am including a little fun session from Monday,we snow day. Kids school was canceled, we were snowed in and the light was just wonderful. So I have pulled the big guns, my Nikon 700. In the afternoon we have attempted to build the snow man, but I think it was too cold, the snow wouldn't stick together. So instead, kids sat in the sleight and Jason pulled the around the neighborhood.
Tomorrow is my Birthday and i know that my family is my greatest gift. I love seeing my kids getting along, not always, but for the moment we had a perfect moment. Sorry for the random post ( this is really Jason's gig) and I could never write as well as he does. So cheers to me and looking forward to the lovely dinner downtown tomorrow with my faves Niki, Luki, Gabbie and Jason.

Happy Birthday Sarah & Grandpa!

2010-02-24T18:31:00.001-05:00

Weekend Away, Weekend Alone

2010-02-21T20:49:00.000-05:00

Just prior to last weekend, Greta spontaneously booked a last minute getaway to the Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City. We were getting to the point where we basically needed to get away for the health of our relationship. Thank you Mom & Dad for staying at our house the entire weekend on short notice and watching our sick kids!!!!! The kids had been sick for quite a while, and we all had the winter blues. Not to mention, Greta takes the brunt of the abuse from the kids. For some reason, they feel the need to beat up on her. The are good at preschool, they are nice around the grandparents, they behave in public, and are basically angels when any random stranger is around. But for some reason, they feel the need to treat their Mommy like garbage. It's strange how their behavior goes down the toilet almost as soon as Greta walks into the room.

I am sure that thy are just vying for her attention, because Greta is a wonderful mother. She cooks them 2-3 meals a day, reads them books, does crafts with them, hauls them outside, takes them to playgroups, Jungle Java, Urban Toddler and just about every thing else. I feel bad because I come home from work and am perceived as "Captain Fun", while Greta does all the hard work and takes all the abuse.

This weekend, I was alone with the Trio while Greta was in Chicago. Granted I didn't cook any meals or do any laundry, but the kids were relatively easy on me. I hope that this week they don't set out to drive her crazy again, because if this continues she may make me stay home while she goes out and works. There is no way I could do Greta's job! Pictures below are from the Winter Festival in Traverse City.

Poo Poo Potty

2010-02-08T23:06:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday, I was at the highest possible point in the maze of the indoor play structure at Jungle Java when Gabbie says "Daddy, poop is coming!" It is amazing how nimble I was at climbing ropes, sliding down slides and going through tunnels with a three year old on my back. We made it to the bathroom just in time! Since then, Niklas and Gabbie have both been going fairly regularly. Hopefully Lukas will soon figure out that he can earn some suckers too!

The Boss

2010-01-25T07:15:00.001-05:00

Ok, so this slide show is dominated by Gabbie. Greta will be the first to tell you that Gabbie gets photographed so often because she is willing and she thinks it's fun. The photos in this shoot that do include the boys, obviously say something about the dynamic between them and their sister. It is becoming very apparent that a leader or boss is developing and there is no reason for anyone to feel sorry for this little girl growing up with two brothers. In fact, I often have to tell Gabbie that she is not the Mother of the family when I catch her yelling "One!, Two!, Three!..." at one of the boys. I can't say we didn't see things developing this way, Gabbie's personality was apparent from the moment she pounded down her first bottle in the NICU. I think she was determined to be the first one to come home from the hospital so she could get a head start on the two little trouble makers that were soon to follow. I don't want to brag, but she is also such a looker. Thank God, what a miracle these kids are!

Back From Lithuania

2010-01-16T22:13:00.001-05:00

Last Sunday we arrived back in Michigan from a 2 week hiatus in Lithuania visiting the family. The trip was very nice, despite some of the travel hiccups. It was nice to finally see Lithuania in the winter for the first time (for Greta it had been in excess of 15 years). On the way to Lithuania we were supposed to fly from Detroit to Frankfurt to Prague to Lithuania. We boarded the plane for Detroit on time, but ended up sitting on the runway for a couple of hours which pretty much guaranteed that we were going to miss our connecting flight to Prague. As good fortune would have it, Delta airlines had anticipated our late arrival and had already routed us directly to Lithuania on a different flight. Missing our connecting flight was a blessing in disguise as it eliminated a stop.

The way home, however, was a bit more of an ordeal. Apparently Frankfurt was having the storm of the century. People were cleaning out the grocery stores and stocking up on water as they had not seen such a storm in decades. We flew from Lithuania to Prague with no issue, but ended up delayed for 3 hours before we boarded the plane. After boarding we sat on the runway for another 2 and 1/2 hours before taking off because Frankfurt airport was so overwhelmed by the intense blizzard.

Arriving in Germany, and most certainly missing our connection to the United States, I was surprised to see only a few inches of snow. Apparently, they do no see much in the way of it around there. To make a long story short, we ended up spending the night and extending our journey home to over 40 hours. Needless to say, we are still recovering. Today, we spent the whole day sitting around the house doing absolutely nothing.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T05:14:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T21:19:00.001-05:00

What a long, but fun filled Christmas Season this was. It always seems like such a deluge of gifts for the kids with their birthdays being stacked right on top of Christmas. Aside from a few Clark W. Griswold moments on my part, including a flat tire yesterday that my brother and I were unable to change, our 4th Christmas with the triplets was a nice one. We had a really great time getting together at my parent's house with my brother Ben, his wife Emily, their new son Jackson, my sister Sarah, her husband Adam and their new daughter Gianna. I think my mom and dad had a really nice time having all three of us together for the first time in a long time as well as having 5 grand kids in the house.

The Triplets

Jackson Myers

Gianna Licari

Jackson & Gianna

The 5 Grandchildren

12-21-09 Happy 3rd Birthday!

2009-12-21T08:35:00.008-05:00

Preschool Musical

2009-12-18T22:00:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how big these guys are getting (days away from the big 3). Yes, I know this is just a preschool musical but they seemed so big out there on stage. On top of it all, I am turning into a sappy, sappy man. I don't know if our experience in the beginning has anything to do with it, but I was teared up through just about this whole thing. As you can see, Niklas got a bit of stage fright.

Christmas In Ypsi

2009-12-09T23:48:00.000-05:00

My kids are dope!

Welcome Jack!

2009-11-30T22:47:00.002-05:00

The kids finally went back to school today. I think they have missed preschool more than they have attended it this year. Although they are mostly over their colds, Greta has been very sick for about the past week. In other more exciting news, I am an Uncle once again. This time my brother Ben and his wife Emily have welcomed their new baby boy Jackson into the world. Congratulations! Due to the sickness in the family, we will be waiting a while to visit.

The video below is nothing special. For my birthday I got a new Flip Mino HD video camera and felt the need to test it even though we really don't have any interesting footage yet. Basically, this thing is a pocket sized HD video camera. I am hoping the the fact that I can actually fit it in my front pocket will cause me to take some more video.

A Mess

2009-11-23T20:47:00.000-05:00

The Myers house is quarantined. Gabbie and Niklas have been battling the flu, and quite possibly the H1N1 variety given the pattern exhibited. Gabbie simultaneously had pink eye and a 104 fever. So far, Greta, Lukas and I have been unaffected. That was, until tonight when Greta began having the chills and a stomach ache. I am praying that these germs leave our house very, very soon.

The pics above are of Pig Pen having a field day with a bowl of rice yesterday. I sometimes wonder if they are children or chimps. The picture below is of Niklas, who has to be the best little sickie ever. He just sat on the couch like a little angel, occasionally saying "Daddy, I need a towel, I'm gonna puke".

Fashion Show

2009-11-16T21:30:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that this is the 3rd fashion show for us. I don't know if time actually went this fast, or if it just seems fast because I mentally blocked out all the painful stuff of that happened in the first year. The Fashion Show is a bitter sweet event for me. One the one hand, I think it's nice to stop and reflect on how blessed our lives are, and how far our kids have come. It's also great to raise money for a cause that is so dear to Greta and I. It's especially nice to reconnect with the St. Joseph staff who saved our kids lives. Plus, we have made a lot of very good friends through this event who all have similar stories and share a common connection. On the other hand, it's getting harder and harder for me to revisit the NICU. I am pretty sure that I have mentally buried my memories from the NICU, but this event each year is a reminder to me of how fragile life is and that our family is truly a miracle and a gift from God.

ABCs

2009-11-09T23:25:00.000-05:00

Not really sure when this all started, but I was pretty blown away. We also discovered tonight that Lukas can actually identify most letters too. I am so proud of my little preemies.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T23:59:00.009-05:00

Pumpkin Factory II

2009-10-25T21:32:00.000-05:00

Highlights from this year's trip to the Pumpkin Factory in Belleville.

Long Time No Post

2009-10-19T21:52:00.000-05:00

We are making the transition to big kid beds and it's not going that great so far. We also have spent every spare minute redoing two rooms in our house. Very, very tired. It's like we have newborns again.

A Perfect Day

2009-10-03T20:43:00.010-05:00

A post by Greta

This is a long overdue post from the day we went to Detroit Zoo.
I tried to look up the word "perfect" in Webster's dictionary just to see what the official meaning is. In my world, perfect means no whining. Loud laughing and happy screaming are fine, but constant whining drains every bit of energy out of me. Our day at the Zoo was perfect. It was a gorgeous 74 degrees with a clear blue sky. We met our family friends from the lake: Lisa, Kenzie, Logan and Floyd (the human). For once, adults/older children outnumbered the dynamic trio. It was such a relief that there were enough hands to push strollers, hold hands and just skip along the beautiful pathways. I have been to the Detroit Zoo often, but this time it was different. I saw so many unusual things that I think excited me more than the kids. We hand fed the giraffes, watched zebras make babies right in front of us (yes, Gabbie did ask that question in the innocent 2.5 year old voice, "mommy, what are they doing?"), watched kangaroos hop next to us, fed a joey and hung out in the underwater polar bear exhibit for almost an hour. The kids lasted from 10 am until 4:30pm without a nap and NO whinning the entire day. Thats MY Dinamic Trio. I only wish that every day was similar to that one.

Swamped

2009-09-30T22:01:00.004-05:00

So much has been going on, that it's been a bit hard to keep up with the blog. Not the least of which is the slow conversion of the upstairs to "big kid" bedrooms. Lots of painting, and furniture shopping and mattress purchasing and whatnot. I am starting to think that all the "you've got your hands full" people were on to something. One picture is from my Aunt Nancy's recent visit and the other is attempting to depict the hard work Greta has been putting into Gabbie's room (not the least of which is painting a custom crest on the wall).

Home Alone

2009-09-17T19:56:00.004-05:00

Much has happened in the past week. Last Friday was the kids first day of preschool and they totally loved it. Sunday, Niklas went to the Tigers game with me and my Dad and he had a blast. When the ball would smack the catcher's glove, Niklas would say "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Monday morning, Greta left for a photography class in Atlanta leaving me alone with the trio until this evening. Aside from a little help from our babysitter Anne and the fact that they were in preschool most of the day Wednesday, I was pretty much Mr. Mom.

Getting the kids up in the morning and feeding them all by myself was a big challenge, especially on Wednesday morning when I had to get them to school by 8:30. I woke them up from a dead sleep an completely ticked them off. No one wanted to get dressed, no one wanted to eat, and everyone was whining. In addition, I have to make sure our whole house is buttoned up or our spastic dog will trash the place. I got everyone in the car at 10 past 8 and we have a 20 minute drive. I suddenly realized that the trash and recycling needed to be put out. I took out the trash and then proceeded to back out over it upon pulling out of the driveway. To add insult to injury, I couldn't dislodge the trash can and recycling bin from beneath the car. I finally pull into the school and start getting the gang out of the car when I noticed all 3 had taken their shoes off. Needless to say, I got them all to their classroom on time although I was completely drenched in sweat. I really feel like Chevy Chase sometimes.

Finally, I got the dreaded "your kid smashed his head" phone call from the preschool on Wednesday. And guess who smashed his head? Niklas of course! Apparently he had a gash on his forehead that they thought warranted a trip to the hospital. I think they were started by the sight of blood on that bright white hair. Apparently, Niklas never cried which doesn't surprise me in the least. When I arrived at the school, he was dancing, playing and singing. I decided to go with the band-aid and neosporin solution. So far, so good.

First Day Of School

Tigers Vs. Blue Jays

More Pictures From Labor Day

So Tired!

2009-09-09T21:04:00.003-05:00

So we just got back from a nice, long, beautiful and relaxing weekend up in Cadillac. The weather was perfect, and so were the kids. It really couldn't have been a nicer weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Myers. Towards the tail end of the trip, the kids started coming down with colds. Today, we missed the first day of preschool because of it. In addition, they are suffering from demonic possession. In the two days we have been home, they have driven Greta to the brink of insanity. I really don't know how she even deals with it all day. I got fed up this afternoon and asked Niklas if he wanted a spanking and he said yes! At that point, you have to accept defeat. Yes, I know they don't feel good, but I have never seen anything like this. These past two days have been amongst the most challenging and for us that's saying a lot. Normally I would put up some really cute pictures, but since Greta's camera got stolen, and things have been so nuts, I thought these were more fitting. Yes, Greta's pictures are more cute but things just ain't cute right now.

Happy Birthday Indre!

2009-08-29T09:41:00.000-05:00

Myers Talk

2009-08-25T20:11:00.004-05:00

Things heard around the Myers household over the past couple weeks...

Jason: What should we pray for tonight?

Niklas: Cookies!

Jason: But what about all the children around the world who don't have any toys or don't have any food to eat?

Gabbie: Daddy, they can have my toys.

-------

Jason: Niklas, it's great you pulled down your pants, took off your diaper and went pee pee, but next time could you try to do it in the toilet instead of getting in the bath tub?

-------

Jason: Niklas, I am not going to tell you again, please don't fart on your brother.

-------

Gabbie (holding a poop covered hand in the air): Daddy, I pooped my pants.

These days, it's pretty much chaos. Potty training is going relatively well, which will eliminate some challenges. On the other hand, the stooges are obviously out growing the cribs, which literally terrifies me. I cannot imagine our lives once these monkeys are freed from their cages. We have had a sneak peek over the past couple of weeks as Niklas began hopping from crib to crib. Soon, the other two figured out how to do the same. One day, Greta goes up into the nursery to see what all of the yelling is about and both boys are in Gabbies crib pouncing on her as she tries to sleep. Around the same time, Niklas ripped one of the wood bars off his crib allowing him to slip through and escape. We spent about two nights putting him back in repeatedly before swapping that crib with Gabbies. The next morning Gabbie notices the missing bar and says "Uh-oh Mommy, I sorry, look what I did." Needless to say, the big kid beds are on the way. On the other hand, preschool starts in a couple of weeks, which will provide Greta with some much needed relief.

Lithuania '09

2009-08-12T22:16:00.002-05:00

What a fun trip. It's too late for me to go into detail, but the slideshow has all the highlights of the many days we spent in Palanga on the Baltic Sea. This is also a really great song, if you have speakers, turn it up.

Binky Free!

2009-08-05T20:58:00.002-05:00

We have been home from Lithuania for 8 nights now, and haven't pulled out the binkies yet. We used them on the plane for sanity, but the night we arrived we gave the kids the lame excuse that we left them on the plane. They actually bought it hook, line and sinker. The first couple nights were rough. In the past it wasn't uncommon for one of the kids to get up at 5:30 a.m., grab a binky and go back to sleep. Until last night, they were doing that but very thing but, since there are no binkies, they opted to just stay awake. Needless to say, I think we are past that phase. Next up, big kid beds! Oh, and um potting training.

Flying Home

2009-07-28T22:00:00.001-05:00

For those who don't know, we have been in Lithuania since the 1st of July. As this post publishes, we are somewhere in the middle of the trip home (gotta love technology). It was a long time to be away, but we really had a great time. Details of the trip to follow. The caricature of the kids was drawn in Palanga near the Baltic Sea in Lithuania.

Gabbie's first infatuation?

2009-07-23T02:04:00.003-05:00

I didn't even know a two year old could flirt. But sure enough, Gabbie has found infatuation with her first boy. His name is Gabrielius, which in itself is cute, but Gabbie affectionately calls him Yogas. They would hold hands and and Yogas would say "Let's play house, I will be the dad and you be the Mom." Gabbie was undoubtedly smitten, and although it was cute I can't help but fast forward my life 10 or 12 years and wonder where I am going to hide the shot gun.

A Sandy Treat

2009-07-14T14:47:00.005-05:00

Going...

Going...

Gone!

Neurosurgery Update

2009-07-05T12:51:00.003-05:00

I just realized that I haven't updated after receiving the results of Niklas's MRI. Basically, everything looked great and they told us not to come back for one year! We have not yet been longer than 6 months without a visit to U of M, so this is a big step in a positive direction. I just keep praying that everything is working well in there and that we don't have an incident for years to come, if ever. We sure have come a long way from the day we heard the news about the Intraventricular Hemorrhage. Niklas is very athletic and his language skills are very rapidly developing in ways that I could never have imagined when we were in the hospital wondering if he was going to make it. We are blessed!

Brown Fishies

2009-06-29T23:15:00.003-05:00

The picture is from a couple of weeks ago. Apparently we have been lucky up to this point during bath time, but Gabbie broke the streak by uttering "poo poo potty" while sitting in the tub. All I heard was Greta screaming from upstairs that we were under attack by brown submarines. It was partial diarrhea, so we (and by we, I mean Greta) had quite the cleanup. In other news, Niklas is on a hunger strike which I hope is not related to this incident, any advice?

Long Time No Blog

2009-06-19T21:20:00.008-05:00

Today, I discovered something about myself. I realized that I am not as weathered and tough as I thought I was. This morning, Niklas had his first MRI and, to be honest, I don't really know what the difference is between an MRI and a CAT scan. I used to be the Cliff Claven of prematurity terminology, but thankfully I have moved on. The last time we visited neurosurgery he had a CAT scan. He drank a little bit of syrup and after about 10 minutes started acting drunk and then just went to sleep. I expected today to be the same.

From the moment we entered the hospital, Niklas started acting suspicious of everyone. Once he was presented with the hospital gown he was supposed to wear, he started to get upset. Just like previous visits, the nurse gave him some sort of sedative. This time, however, they waited only a few minutes before taking him back to the MRI room. I did not realize that they were going to give him laughing gas and and a breathing tube, but I am a seasoned veteran and I just rolled with the punches. That is, until I had to restrain my totally frightened 2 year hold son while a gas mask was held to his face. He cried and cried until finally his eyes rolled back into his head and he went to sleep. The staff told me that they would take care of him and that it was time for me to leave. It took every ounce of energy for me to not break down crying right then and there. I have been through 3 months of 3 kids in the NICU and a handful of brain surgeries and this, for some reason, was so difficult for me. By the way Dad, Niklas wanted Grandpa when he started to get scared.

Nonetheless, we will not get any feedback on the pictures until Tuesday. Until then, here are some pictures of our 5 day trip up to Cadillac. We basically spent the entire weekend on the pontoon boat, and the kids couldn't get enough of driving it. Thanks to my Mom and Dad for getting the kids up each day and letting Greta and I sleep unit 8:00 (that's like noon to the unmarried). Pontooning is the life.

NICU Reunion

2009-06-05T21:07:00.005-05:00

Every year we attend the reunion I am reminded how great God is and how blessed we are. NICU doctors and nurses are angels and NICU graduates and parents are very special people indeed. Remember, these kids were tiny little beings on life support in incubators less than 2 1/2 years ago.

Tricycle Heist

2009-05-26T21:07:00.009-05:00

Apparently the residents of Ypsilanti Township are incapable of making certain decisions, such as which company to pay for rubbish removal. Thank goodness the township government rushed to our rescue and saved us from our own incompetence. Knowing that their constituents were incompetent dim wits, they did their civic duty by selecting a garbage company for them. As a result, we now pay taxes to a brilliant group of omniscient bureaucrats, who then in turn cut a check to Waste Management to pick up our garbage. I feel so blessed that they relieved me of the complex task of choosing a company to do a job and then paying them for the service. I hope that someday they do me the favor of making other, more important decisions in my life for me. Hey, maybe they will dictate what size car I can drive someday!

Now, we are allowed to put out 3 bags of garbage but unlimited recycling. We have become avid recyclers, but with triplets the trash tends to pile up. Rest assured though, that if we put out a fourth bag of trash, the sanitation engineer will see to it that I not enlarge my carbon footprint and will refuse to take it. That is, of course, unless that fourth article of trash happens to be a bright and shiny new Schwinn Roadster.

Exhibit A - My Driveway On A Typical Day

As you may recall, the triplets received three brand new tricycles a couple of weeks ago. This past Wednesday morning, they were playing with them and the rest of their toys in our driveway, as they do everyday. About 11:00 a.m. I received a call from Greta informing me that the garbage man just went by and that one of the tricycles was now missing. My first thought was that it could not have been mistaken for trash since there were three tricycles in the driveway, along with a bunch of other toys. Plus, we had our maximum of garbage out anyway. It must be some kind of mistake.

Nevertheless, I called Waste Management, who told me to call Ypsilanti Township, who then called Waste Management who then got a hold of the driver who then got in touch somehow with Ypsilanti Township (tax dollars at work here). Ypsilanti Township, after speaking with the driver from Waste Management, called me back with an update. The driver did take the tricycle, but claimed that the it was "in" the trash and that it didn't look new. Look at the picture above and tell me that the these tricycles do not "look" new. They are each 30+ pounds of solid steel and chrome, quite possibly the most eye turning trikes ever created. They are only 2 weeks old and even stink like new tire rubber. I was told that it was a lost cause because the driver threw it in the compactor. NO WAY did he compact it! NO WAY! Even if he thought, in some blind moment, that we were tossing it out, there was no way any right minded person would compact a brand new tricycle like this. That thing went in his cab as soon as he turned the corner. I hate to assume this about someone, but come on. Not to mention there were two others just like it in the driveway along with a boat load of other kids toys. Not to mention, if that had been a 4th bag of trash it would've still been sitting there.

Exhibit B - Shiny, Isn't It?

The city basically told me "too bad". I would love to ask the driver about it, but I don't need trouble with my garbage man. At the end of the day, I can't just select another garbage company. I have to keep using Waste Management because my township doesn't give me a choice. So basically, I have to keep paying the guy who stole my kids bike. Is it that big of deal? No. It is just a tricycle. It does, however, exemplify everything I find wrong with the world these days. Namely government incompetence and theft, only on a small scale.

Exhibit C - One Of The Victims

Yuck!

2009-05-19T21:03:00.004-05:00

This past week, Greta has been sick with bronchitis and recently our kids have also been coughing up a storm, especially at night. Today we became concerned enough to take them to the doctor and found out that both Lukas and Niklas have walking pneumonia. There is so much hacking in my house, it sounds like a TB ward. In the last post I described how we are fairly certain that Niklas is getting some headaches. As a result, we had his August neurosurgery appointment bumped to this Friday so that we could get a MRI and put our minds to rest. I called NS today to get their opinion on the matter and they don't even want to touch him for at least 4-6 weeks. No big deal, but we just want to get to the bottom of the "Headdy Hurts" complaints.

On the lighter side, the monkeys have been pretty darn funny lately. In the picture, a naked Lukas and Niklas climbed to the top of the changing table and thought they were pretty cool for doing so. Greta plopped Gabbie up there and snapped the shot. We now call Gabbie the "Ann Arbor Kooky Lady". She insists on constantly wearing her sunglasses and baseball cap, even while in the house and she wont even go to bed without them. On top of that, she lugs around every possession she comes in contact with during the day. By evening she is carrying around a few stuffed animals, a couple books, her blanket, her binky and whatever else she finds. All she needs to do is plop all of it in her play shopping cart, push it down main street and ask for money.

On a final note, I am trying to get rid of the pacifiers. Some of them are getting holes in them and are referred to by the kids as "yucky binkies". Sunday morning we were sitting on the couch and Niklas said "yucky binky!" while attempting to suck on a defective pacifier.

I said "Sorry buddy, it's all we have."

He replied in a louder more assertive tone "YUCKY BINKY!"

Again, I told him "It's all we have, sorry."

Niklas got up off the couch, walked over and opened the front door, chucked his binky out into the lawn, slammed the front door shut, and came back to the couch and sat down. I about died laughing. This, however, gave me the idea on Sunday night to cut the tips off the rest of the binkies (we kept a couple for emergency). They have gone to bed the last two nights with "yucky binkies". We'll see how it goes, but I really don't like those dirty little pieces of rubber anymore.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T11:44:00.002-05:00

Happy Mother's Day Greta! After spending all weekend alone with the kids while you were in Chicago, I seriously have no idea how you do it everyday. And Mom, I now know why you carried a yardstick while driving the station wagon. I have never been so tired in all my life. I have it so easy going to work every day. Thank you Greta for doing what you do everyday, and thank you Mom for not going insane while we were growing up.

Trikes

2009-05-05T20:49:00.007-05:00

This weekend, Greta and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. Friday night, my parents took the triplets for the entire weekend. Actually, they took them until late Monday afternoon. Greta and I celebrated by doing 10 hour days of landscaping cleanup each day (hot and romantic, I know), and going out for cocktails at night. It was nice to have a weekend away from the kids, and I can't thank my parents enough for taking them. Ben & Emily swung over to Lansing to lighten the load and even took Niklas out to dinner one night. When the kids came back on Monday evening, I had their Schwinn Roadsters put together and waiting for them. I have been eyeing these trikes since the day I found out Greta was pregnant.

On another note, please keep Niklas in your prayers. One of the advantages of the kids getting a little older is that they can now articulate their feelings. Niklas has been telling us for a while that his head hurts. He used to just say "bump" while pointing to his head, but we didn't really give much credence to it. Now he says "Head Hurts" in both English and Lithuanian. Headaches alone would be only a slight cause for concern but he has also periodically been having slightly odd episodes. He will suddenly become cuddly (Niklas is not a cuddly child) while telling us his head hurts. After lying on mommy or either of the grandmas for a while, he vomits, takes a nap, and then wakes up like nothing ever happened and is ready to take on the world. This has probably occurred 6 or 7 times since Christmas and almost always occurs in the morning. Our fear is that his shunt is not properly draining while he is lying down and sleeping. When he finally wakes up and stands he gets a big drain and gets queazy from it. This is all just theory, but we really want to get it figured out. Our next neurosurgery update was scheduled for August, but we are having it bumped to sometime in the next week or two. I pray that we are not dealing with hardware malfunction.

March For Babies

2009-04-30T18:56:00.004-05:00

Although we wished we could have raised a bit more money, March for Babies was a fantastic event again this year. It was a gorgeous day out at Hudson Mills in Dexter, and we had a great time seeing everyone. The kids weren't very cooperative in leaving the house, but had fun seeing all their little friends once we arrived. The 3 or 4 mile walk was much more exhausting this year as opposed to last when the kids never left the stroller.

adVENTURE! Part II

2009-04-21T20:37:00.004-05:00

We have finally sorted through all of the pictures from the California trip. The bad thing about digital photography is that you tend to take so many more pictures than you would if you were paying for the film.

So here is how this trip went down. We flew from Detroit to Fresno, California via Denver. The trip a bit rough as Gabbie seemed to have some trouble clearing her ears. From Fresno, we drove about 40 miles North to Coarsegold where Greta's parents have a place. Coarsegold is about 30 miles from the gates of Yosemite National Park, although a much longer trip due to mountain travel. Basically, the place is in the foothills of the Sierra mountains and very beautiful with gorgeous weather to boot. One day out of the trip, we put the kids in the rental van and took a trip through Yosemite Park. Although some roads were still closed due to snow, we got some incredible views. I haven't spent much time in the mountains, so I was fascinated by the fact that as you are climbing snow suddenly appears. There were roads that seemed to have 10 feet or more of snow on the sides, yet it felt as if it were 65 degrees out. Yosemite was awe inspiring. I felt like our pictures looked like a fake backdrop the because the scenery was just so unreal. The kids seemed to be more fascinated with "Finding Nemo" as it was during this trip we discovered how great portable DVD players are.

After about a week in Coursegold, we headed to South Lake Tahoe (About 300 miles) for the Lithuanian Ski Competition. This was a great event where Lithuanians from all over gather for some competitive skiing. We met a bunch of really cool people and spent a week in what I think might be one of the most beautiful places on the planet. The drive, however, was a bit white knuckled for me. When we hit the mountains, we encountered some rain. I don't mind driving in the mountains when it's dry, but it was wet and I had no temperature guage in the rental car to tell me if things were freezing. Eventually the rain turned into snow, but we were able to make it to our hotel before the roads started getting bad. That night the mountains got nearly 3 feet of snow, while the base got pounded with well over a foot. I had never been skiing on anything bigger than Crystal Mountain in my life, so this was quite a test of my feeble abilities.

One day of the trip we left the Triplets with Dailius and Irena in Coarsegold while we, along with Greta's sister Indre, headed to Hearst Castle near Cambria (about 140 miles). We tackled the drive in under 3 hours. Hearst Castle is the incredible mansion built by the even more amazing ego maniac, William Randolph Hearst. I decided that on the way back we should drive up Highway 1 towards Monterey. I had heard this was a beautiful drive and on the map it looked like it would only add about 1 extra hour to our trip home. What I didn't account for was driving 15 mph for a good portion of it because the road is essentially a collection of hairpin turns on the side of a mountain. In short, I turned a 2 hour and 45 minute drive home into 8 hours. Whoops. It was, as Greta and Indre would attest, completely worth it. Vistas of Big Sur would actually be an appropriate use of the word "awesome". There was a lot more to the trip, but I figure pictures are more interesting than my stories. Thanks to Irena and Dailius & Algis and Irena for the hospitality. Thanks to my Dad for picking us up from the airport at 1 a.m. on our return trip.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T19:08:00.005-05:00

Each Easter I am reminded what a miracle our triplets are. Two years ago they were still on oxygen and struggling to grow. Today, they went on an Easter egg hunt in our back yard and later decided that it was a good idea to play in the mud just before walking into to church. They now have minds of their own. Lukas (pigpen) was a complete disaster, but he is so cute that you can only laugh. It was a wonderful day with visits from Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Ben, Aunt Emily and the Easter Bunny, of course.

Technical Difficulties

2009-04-10T18:35:00.005-05:00

I have been anxious to get up more pictures from our California trip, but on Wednesday our main computer suffered a hard drive failure. Luckily I back up our data hourly as well as to an off site location, otherwise 10 years of pictures and music would be gone. In case you're interested Mozy is a great place to back up your stuff. I have never plugged anything on this site, but I figure many of you have years digital photos and music and don't back them up on a regular basis. This is one of the best products I have ever used. You just tell it what kinds of things to back up and it works in the background. Even if your house burns down, you won't lose any of your precious memories, and it's only $5.00/month for unlimited storage (cheaper if you sign up for a full year). Click on the ad below if you're interested.

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O.K., so more importantly, the 2009 March for Babies is coming up on April 26th at Hudson Mills MetroPark located at 8801 North Territorial Road Dexter, MI 48130. Last year was a gorgeous day and lots of fun so come out and join us if you can. If you can't make it, you can also donate to this wonderful cause dedicated to improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. If it were not for the great strides that the March of Dimes has made to this end, our babies undoubtedly would have had a different outcome.

More of the California Trip to come once our computer is fully restored.

Go State!

2009-04-04T16:08:00.005-05:00

adVENTURE! Part I

2009-04-02T19:58:00.005-05:00

For the past couple of months, the kids have been asking to go on what they refer to as "ventures". Usually this involves walking around the yard and finding interesting things, but for the past two weeks we did some real "venturing". Traveling with 3 toddlers is not exactly easy, so thank you to Dailius & Irena (Greta's Parents) and Algis & Irena (our Lithuanian friends) for helping us out so much and being so accommodating. I haven't spent much time out west, except for a couple of business trips to L.A, so this was a fascinating trip for me. Although Greta has spent more time out there, I think it was a real treat for her, too.

This vacation involved a lot of time in the car, but each stop was well worth the drive. We flew from Detroit to Fresno, California where we drove about 40 miles Northeast into the foothills of the Sierra Mountains to Dailius & Irena's place in Coarsegold. I will show all of our stops in subsequent posts. We didn't get in until 2:30 this morning, so we are both very tired. Nontheless, here are a few pics from the trip, with many more to come.

More Pictures

2009-03-18T19:47:00.002-05:00

It's been super busy this week and the kids have been super demanding, so there isn't much to say. Here are some more cute pictures.

Winter Never Ends

2009-03-11T19:36:00.004-05:00

Just when I thought spring was starting to poke its head out, we revert right back to full blown freezing cold and 50 mph winds. I am at a loss for new things to put on the blog without sounding negative because the kids have just about had enough of indoor recess. Greta did another photo shoot earlier this week and I am amazed at how fast the munchkins are growing up. I know I am biased, but I get the feeling I am going to be chasing Gabbie's boyfriends off the front porch with a shotgun someday.

Separated At Birth?

2009-03-04T20:50:00.006-05:00

After bath time, it's my responsibility to blow dry the kids hair. Each time I can't help but I think that Lukas looks like a baby Phil Spector. I know, I am a horrible dad. What kind of dad compares his kid to Phil Spector?

Happy Birthday Greta!

2009-02-25T19:57:00.003-05:00

I don't think today was the best of birthdays for Greta. The kids woke up in the mood to kill each other and break mommies back. It was pandemonium from the get go, so I left work early today and took Greta to dinner at Real Seafood Company. We had an awesome meal and came home to the kids just before bed time. With a little help from Anne, they made a card for Greta and actually sung happy birthday to her! How easily a rough day is forgiven. It wasn't the party and celebration that Greta is used to and deserves, but I think it sufficed. Finally, Happy Birthday to my Dad who turned 60 yesterday!

Pee Pee & Poo Poo

2009-02-17T20:23:00.008-05:00

This morning, our house truly resembled a zoo. When I went into the kids room this morning, I was immediately clobbered with the smell of rancid poop. It was odd because, even when I am faced with a triple crapping in the morning, it doesn't smell this bad. I looked in Lukas's crib and was met with a horrifying sight. His pajamas were unzipped, his diaper was off, and he was covered from head to toe in poop. It was all over the crib, on the sheets, stuffed animals and blankets. He had poop in his hair. He was also very, very upset. I think he may have tried to remove his diaper, ran into some issues and then things just went terribly wrong. Needless to say, it was a horrible start to the day. Shortly after, Gabbie scratched my ear to the point that blood was dripping everywhere, not to mention it hurt like hell. So there you have it, a typical morning in the Myers house. We don't have 200 lb xanax popping, steak eating, wine drinking, face mauling chimps in our house, just the 25 lb, poop flinging kind.

In other news, Gabbie went pee on the potty for the first time last Friday. Although it has not happened since, we are hopeful the concept may be starting to click with her. Saturday, we all went to the mall and had a nice lunch for Valentine's day. Sunday, we attempted to go to church as a family. We were too obnoxious even for the cry room and didn't even make it half way though. Later on in the day, we ventured out of the house again to Jump City for our neighbor Brendan's 3rd birthday. This was actually a good time. The boys enjoyed playing on all the stuff after getting over their initial fear, Gabbie never conquered hers.

Yesterday, the speech therapist came to our house to gauge the progress of the kids. According to these folks, Lukas and Niklas are speaking at normal 2 year old levels and Gabbie is speaking at the level of a 30 month old. I really can't get over how blessed we are that Niklas is par for the course considering all he has been through.

Only Child

2009-02-12T19:48:00.004-05:00

After a week together in the Dominican, I thought my parents might have been burned out on the Triplets, but on Sunday my parents took Gabbie and Lukas to their house. Since Niklas got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa last time, it was someone else's turn. My parents were concerned that Gabbie or Lukas would be scared alone, so they decided to take them both. Through Tuesday afternoon, Niklas was an only child. Greta and I thought that we were going to be able to do this in our sleep. We thought we would be making fun of those who claim how exhausting one child is. We were wrong. It wasn't really harder, but it wasn't easier either. Sure, things like leaving the house or bundling up to go outside are 1/3 the effort, but Niklas seemed to fill the void left by the other two. It was, however, so much fun to be able to give one of our kids undivided attention for a couple of days, but we missed the other two. In fact, Niklas cried the first night looking for Gabbie and Lukas. As usual, the other two came back having learned a whole new bag of tricks including identifying objects on a deck of flash cards. The last two days they have woken up wondering where Grandma and Grandpa were.

Sarah Painted Toes!

2009-02-04T20:04:00.005-05:00

Gabbie strung her first sentence together yesterday. When we were in the Dominican Republic, Aunt Sarah painted Gabbie's toes. Apparently, this was one of the most influential moments thus far in Gabbie's short life. Yesterday during bath time I asked "Who painted your toes?"

She responded "Sarah painted toes."

I thought this was an accident, so I asked her "Who painted them?"

She said "Sarah did!"

Every time she is asked about her toes, she points to them and lets you know that Sarah painted them. So cute.

Dominican Republic Part II

2009-01-28T22:43:00.006-05:00

No doubt, we are a family that stick to a routine and vacation was no different. For the most part, here was the schedule while in the Dominican Republic.

8:00 am Wake Up (this is major sleeping in for us)

8:30 am Head to Breakfast. This was an all inclusive resort, so we didn't have to worry about cooking. We just piled a bunch of pancakes up for the babies and let them go nuts.

9:00 - 10:00 am Spend an hour or so at the kiddie pool. Have first cocktail.

10:00 am - 12:30 pm Build sandcastles on the beach and swim in the ocean. Continue having cocktails.

12:30 - 1:00 pm Shower babies off and take them to lunch. This usually consisted of a plate of french fries. Have a cocktail with lunch.

1:00 - 4:00 pm Babies pass out under the cabana. Sometimes this took some coaxing and head rubbing, but they went down fairly easy most days. Mom and Dad read their books, take a dip in the ocean and sip more cocktails.

4:00 - 5:30 pm Build sandcastles on the beach and swim in the ocean. Cocktails, of course.

5:30 - 6:30 pm Take kids back to room and shower up for dinner. Watch an episode of the Flintstones.

6:30 - 7:30 pm Feed the kids dinner. This usually consisted of a plate of french fries. Cocktails.

7:30 - 10:00 pm Take the kids to the disco (video to come), or whatever entertainment was going on that night. This is very late for us, but we are on vacation. We have a night capper and head back to the room.

10:00 - 10:30 pm Fall asleep watching Scooby Doo. Sleeping in the same room as our triplets was the worst part of the trip. At least half of the nights we were there, we didn't sleep much at all. But on vacation, you suck it up. By the way, at an all inclusive the cocktails tend to be weak. So, you have to either order many or learn the phrase "mucho ron".

Dominican Republic

2009-01-25T21:13:00.005-05:00

I am super exhausted as I write this post, so there will definitely be more to come. Today we returned from a week retreat in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. My parents, Uncle Ben, Aunt Emily, Uncle Adam and Aunt Sarah also joined us for the trip. Thanks to all of you for making this vacation so much fun, we couldn't have done it without you. We had perfect weather the entire time we were there, and really started to get into a groove. Traveling with triplets is so exhausting, yet worth it. And yes, this picture of a cabana is one the actual cabanas we camped under for the duration of the trip.

Where's Greg?

2009-01-13T21:23:00.009-05:00

I'm not exactly sure why, but my kids took to the Wiggles a little over year ago. In case you are not privy, The Wiggles are a group of 4 middle aged men, each with his own schtick, who live together and sing songs. They are also happen to be the richest dudes in Australia. Greg, the yellow Wiggle, is the lead singer, driver of the Big Red Car, and a magician. Anthony is the blue Wiggle and also is a bit of a glutton. Murray is the insanely weird looking red Wiggle whose speciality is wailing on the guitar. Jeff is the purple Wiggle who unfortunately suffers from narcolepsy and bouts of short term memory loss. It sounds completely stupid, but when something quiets 3 screaming babies you tend to overlook the weirdness. Come on, Mr. Rogers was kinda creepy too, wasn't he?

So one day, I find myself whistling tunes about fruit salad, rock-a-bye-ing bears, big red cars and purple octopi. These guys have grown on me. When you are driving down the highway with three kids and a wife with the Wiggles blasting, you have two choices. You either open the door to jump out and end it all, or embrace the fact that you will never again be cool and just jam along. We chose the latter. I can only imagine what the 19 year old me would say to the 35 year old me.

A few weeks ago we noticed that the DVR started picking up some new episodes. At first, I didn't get too excited as new episodes are usually a rehash of the same old stuff. The first thing I noticed, however, was that the Wiggles were now in 16:9 high definition! These guys are filthy dirty rich, and have never poured a cent back into the set of their show. Finally, they broke down and got a freakin' new computer and a green screen. Shortly after, I noticed something shocking. A gentleman who was once a white glove wearing, top hat sporting, tea drinking member of Captain Feathersword's friendly pirate crew, was now sporting the yellow jersey belonging to Greg. My kids never thought twice. In fact, they think these new episodes are the best thing ever. To me, this is the most difficult moment in musical history since Van Halen replaced David Lee Roth with Sammy Hagar. Greg is way better than Sam.

Waving the White Flag

2009-01-05T17:48:00.001-05:00

Take the last post, and substitute Lukas for Niklas and that's what we were dealing with yesterday. A few days ago, we ended up taking Niklas to the doctor and learned he had an ear infection. Considering all that could have been the source of his pain, this diagnosis was actually a blessing. The next day, Gabbie kept touching her ear and saying "ear hurts" and was not in the best of moods either. In the spirit of efficiency, I decided to take her and Lukas to the doctor together because he was starting to act fussy as well. Turns out, Gabbie had an ear infection as well. Lukas was clear, but developed a hack that got us up at 4:00 am yesterday. This cold was a real doozy, any my fourth since October 2nd. My mom has been sick for the past two weeks and has now passed it along to my dad. I caught the illness on Christmas Eve and haven't been able to shake it since.

This morning, however, I woke up for working finally feeling good after nearly 2 weeks of being sick. The kids all slept through the night and woke up with bright and shiny smiles on their faces. Greta said today was the best day the crew has had in a while. The last two times I have taken time off have not turned out so well. Maybe the next vacation will go a little better.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T09:08:00.008-05:00

MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY! BINKY! BINKY! BINKY! BINKY! BLANKY! BLANKY! BLANKY! BLANKY! MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!

It seems we like to end the year on a rough note. Last Christmas was the start of the stomach flu and butt explosion extravaganza. Until recently, that was the hardest time since the babies came home from the hospital. This Christmas, it's been topped. All three have been sick, again, since their 2nd birthday. In fact, I am on my fourth cold since the beginning of October. If only I could invent an engine that runs on diapers or boogers our family would be set for generations. For Gabbie and Lukas, this was just an ordinary cold. Niklas, on the other hand, seems to have been transformed. From the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to bed he whines for MOMMY! He throws his food and won't eat. He throws himself on the floor and bangs his head. He tries to break everything in sight. He slaps, hits, head-butts and bites. The moment MOMMY picks him up, he is content. I have tried putting him in his crib until he calms down, but that seems to have the opposite effect. In fact, when I tried this on Monday he got so angry that he developed super human baby strength and escaped from his crib. THUD! We are assuming that this is just the terrible twos, but with Niklas we always have shunt malfunction in the back of our minds. I got to the point yesterday where I called Neurosurgery because we were both at the end of our ropes. They did not think a shunt malfunction was occurring and told us that this sounds like typical 2 year old tantrums. I think a couple of weeks ago I was posting about how great and easy the kids were being. Life was grand. So now we are either dealing with demonic possession or typical toddler behavior. Should we call our priest? I see a padded room and straight jacket in my future. By the way, the last 2 posts were the front and back of our Christmas card this year. At least the pictures are cute.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T18:33:00.006-05:00

Love,

The Myers Family

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2008-12-21T17:09:00.009-05:00

2 years ago today...

Niklas (Baby A)

Gabriella (Baby B)

Lukas (Baby C)

A couple of days ago...

Niklas (Baby A)

Gabriella (Baby B)

Lukas (Baby C)

I am so glad that it is not 2 years ago. Thank God for such a wonderful miracle. Thanks to everyone who came over to visit, I will post pictures of the birthday celebration soon. It seems as though they have now figured out that there is cool stuff beneath the paper of wrapped boxes. We really haven't gotten them too many new toys since last year, so when some new stuff arrived it became clear how obviously bored they were with the old toys.

Tijuana Trio

2008-12-15T21:15:00.006-05:00

I don't know what it is, but the kids dig Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. I only wish that Niklas wouldn't be shy when the camera came on because his moves are stellar. Yes, I know that Gabbie's diaper is disgustingly droopy. You try changing 600 diapers a month and see how long you put it off!

First Haircuts

2008-12-14T19:45:00.005-05:00

Not that we were avoiding the matter, but the kids finally got to the point where haircuts were necessary. Luckily, Greta's friend Anastasia was gracious enough to come to our house and perform the deed. I have heard from other parents that the first haircut can be a terrible experience and often involves restraining an hysterical, kicking and screaming child. Since we were in the comfort of our own home and no clippers were involved, the process went as good as could be expected. Due to past experience, Niklas just doesn't like anyone touching his head and so he squirmed around quite a bit and Greta was unable to get a picture of him. The cuts are cute, but seemed to age all of them about a year, especially Gabbie who got the most taken off. The best part is that Niklas's shunt is nearly invisible now.

We Should Be Quarantined

2008-12-07T20:13:00.005-05:00

It seems as though some member of the clan has been sick since the beginning of October. All three of the kids are constantly leaking, coughing, and sneezing. As soon as someone gets over something, someone else is starting up. Prior to having kids, I would sometimes go a year or two without getting sick. Now, I am getting over my third severe cold of the fall. Just as I started feeling a little better on Saturday, I managed to puncture my hand with a screwdriver, necessitating a trip to the hospital, a tetanus shot, some other big shot in the hip that was more painful than the injury, and a round of antibiotics . Despite being quite battle worn, we still managed to have a fun weekend. We attended the Christmas Party for high order multiples in Southeast Michigan (thanks Susie) and got out to dinner with friends last night as well. The kids are all talking like crazy lately and it's just so cute. Lukas starting saying Ah-Puh-Puss (Octopus) which is the first 3 syllable for any of them, unless E-I-E-I-O counts as a five syllable word? Anyway, it sure is great to be married to a professional photographer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T20:44:00.012-05:00

Yeah, I know Thanksgiving was 3 days ago, but it happens to be one of my favorite holidays. Undoubtedly, Greta and I have so much to be thankful for this year, not the least of which is the miracle documented on this blog. Thanksgiving seems to be a forgotten holiday. It seems the retailers would rather to turn it into a sort of Christmas Junior. To the consumerists, the most important aspect of Thanksgiving is the retail sales of the following day. I guess we can be thankful that they have not yet invented a Turkey Claus who flies around the world delivering garbage from China to all the boys and girls of the world. It's saddening that this Thanksgiving was followed up by people trampling each other to death at a New York Wal-Mart in pursuit of Black Friday trash for Christmas. I not entirely sure that Jesus intended us to go on spending sprees, purchasing crap we don't need, in celebration of his birth each year. Something seems very wrong about this to me.

Thanksgiving should be a time of reflection, of truly giving thanks to God for the gifts we are given. When I start thinking of what I am thankful for, my mind starts to numb up. I am so truly blessed, so fortunate and loved by my family that I cannot begin to explain how thankful I am. I like that there is a day to remind me of it all.

This weekend I also celebrated my 35th birthday, which is a little milestone in itself. A birthday celebrated much differently than the one 14 years ago in which I did a questionable number of shots and proceeded to have an altercation with roommate's pet alligator. Life has changed quite a bit since then. Lately, the kids the have been perfect. They have been so much fun, and have given Greta and I little grief. Below are some pictures from the last week, notice the difference between small, medium and large.

Life is good!

Strike One

2008-11-25T21:03:00.007-05:00

Saturday, we took the kids to the mall to hang out in the play area and grab some lunch. Since it was not even Thanksgiving yet, we weren't necessarily in the mood to see Santa. Nevertheless, the mall was all but empty and the kids were in a good mood. We figured we could get a cute picture while the timing was right. Unfortunately, we were unable to get within 50 feet of Santa before Gabbie started trembling. The other two weren't too thrilled either. We didn't feel that a lifetime of therapy bills would be worth the photo opportunity, so we called it a day. Maybe we will give it another try before Christmas.

In other news, we briefly thought that Lukas was beginning to read. The other day he picked up a toy block with the letter W on it and yelled out "Double Uuuuuuuuuu". As it turns out, it was a coincidence as he apparently thinks every letter of the alphabet is W. The ABC song is all the rage right now, and when either of us sing it, we get a huge round of applause from all three at the end. It's actually very cute and quite hilarious. Finally, yesterday morning Niklas brought me my shoes while I was getting ready for work and said "Daddy's Shoes". It is just getting more fun everyday, especially since we have been going though a much deserved easy period lately. I literally can't wait to get home each day to see them.

First Snow

2008-11-18T21:52:00.006-05:00

Sunday, the Triplets got out to play in the snow for the first time. Putting mittens on a toddler is the hardest thing I have ever done.

Post Fashion Show

2008-11-17T20:55:00.004-05:00

I think our kids have been sick since the beginning of October. Someone is either leaking, coughing, running a fever or whining at any given moment. It seems like it just gets passed around and around. If we even think about leaving the house, these little carrier monkeys pick some new disease and bring it home. Greta and I have been spoiled in that our kids have slept through the night since they were 3 months home from the hospital. I could count on one hand the number of times someone has woken up in the middle of the night. From Wednesday through Saturday, however, we hardly slept at all because Niklas was not feeling well.

Anyway, the NICU Fashion Show was a success and tons of fun again this year, although Niklas was not feeling up to the task of strutting down the runway.

Heroes Of Hope

2008-11-09T21:04:00.008-05:00

Heroes of Hope is the title of the 2009 calendar Greta has put together benefitting the NICU at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor. This is the first calendar that Greta has ever done, and for each month she has photographed children that were former patients of the NICU. The calendar is $20 + $4.95 shipping if you would like to buy one, and all proceeds go to benefit the NICU. Click here to order online. Greta would like to thank the hard work of her friend (who remains anonymous) who graciously donated her time collaborating with Greta on the graphic design of the calendar. The calendar will also make its debut at the fashion show this Thursday.

Halloween Recap

2008-11-01T09:28:00.008-05:00

The past few years Kevin & I have been on a mission to scare trick or treaters. We have had some success, but the volume of kids has always been disappointing. This year, I was excited to take my kids to a few houses especially since it was such a nice night. Unfortunately, the triplets don't quite get the whole trick or treat concept yet. First, they (especially Niklas) are scared to death of all the costumes. Kevin was "Scotch the Reality Clown" for about 5 minutes as it was all the triplets could take. As you can see in one of the pictures that I have on a Boy Scout costume because that is all that the kids would tolerate. Niklas could not even handle me wearing a wig. He would just tremble and cry and say "all done!" They are probably traumatized and will forever hate the holiday. They did, however, enjoy dressing up as monkeys and playing around so we got some good pictures. It does figure that the one year I decide not to go all out and scare the trick or treaters we get 20 or so groups of kids.

Come To The Fashion Show!

2008-10-29T19:20:00.007-05:00

In case you missed it last year, here is a the recap of the 2007 NICU Fashion Show. Here is the ad of our little family in the newspaper following the event. I say it all of the time on this blog, but our babies are a miracle. They are here by the grace of God, the staff at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, and the Department of Neurosurgery at U of M. The event this year will feature fashions by Vintage To Vogue, Elephant Ears (both in Kerry Town), as well as Land's End. Greta's 2009 Calendar benefitting the St. Joseph NICU will also make it's debut at the event. The Fashion show will take place on November 13th at 7 p.m. at 2800 East Huron River Drive (The Morris J. Lawrence Building at Washtenaw Community College). The event is catered and doors open at 5:30 p.m. for a Silent Auction and Reception. Tickets are only $25, so we hope to see you there! For more information call Greta if you know her number or 734-712-2564 if you don't. If you are an out-of-towner you call call to purchase a calendar!

Neurosurgery Update

2008-10-21T19:27:00.005-05:00

On the 14th, Niklas went to the University of Michigan for a neurosurgery follow up appointment. This appointment was supposed to be in December but, for a couple of reasons, Greta and I had it bumped up. A few weeks back, Niklas was especially cranky. His disposition is usually very pleasant so, of course, we began to wonder about the shunt. The poor kid does something out of character and automatically his Mom and Dad start doubting his ventricular hardware. Little did we know that it was just the start of a month long cold that was invading our family.

The second reason we moved up the appointment was this bump on the top of Niklas's head, just above his forehead. Back when he was in the NICU at St. Joe's, he had a temporary shunt implanted in this spot in hopes his hydrocephalus would clear up and a permanent device would not be necessary. This temporary device actually had a name, but I can no longer remember what it was. More and more I realize I have blocked out many parts of that whole experience. This device was a tiny little reservoir under the skin of his scalp into which the excess cerebral fluid would drain. In essence, Niklas had a tiny little tube going from his brain and through his skull. This tube drained the excess fluid in his brain when pressure built up into a plastic bubble implanted just beneath his skin. When the bubble filled up, the doctors would remove the excess fluid with a needle. When it came time to implant his permanent shunt, this temporary device had to be removed and the area that remained had to be patched up. You can read more about the first shunt here.

There has always been a little bump where this device was, but recently Greta and I felt it was getting bigger. I told this to Dr. Maher who, in my opinion, is one of the smartest people on earth. He told us that he patched up the hole in Niklas's skull with what is called an absorbable plate. Over time, these plates just dissolve once the bone has regenerated. He said he has installed thousands of these without an issue until one recent case in which the body was rejecting the material and building up excess tissue on top as a result. He wants us to keep an eye on this area to see if it continues to grow and remove the plate if it does. In a nutshell, this poses no risk to Niklas's health and is purely cosmetic. If surgery is required, he would go home the same day.

Niklas had to be sedated for his CAT Scan this time because the whole thing is just too scary. The poor guy couldn't eat anything all morning because of the sedation. He gets knocked out for the scan and then they have to wake him back up right afterwards, which also happens to be nap time. For the rest of the day Niklas couldn't even walk because he was intoxicated from the meds. This infuriated the poor little man because he knows how to walk but he couldn't understand why things weren't working properly. It was a rough day for us both and I don't think I will ever be able to look at my baby on a CAT Scan machine without tearing up.

Most importantly though, the ultrasound looked good. It was about the same as it was 6 months ago. The little pocket of fluid that he had surgery to alleviate a year ago is still there. It is smaller post surgery but still there, although no longer a real concern of Dr. Maher's. Niklas has been passing all of his milestones, says words in two languages, and is doing everything a little boy his age should be. Niklas is, and continues to be, a miracle. Praise God!

First Time Away

2008-10-14T18:55:00.008-05:00

This past weekend, Greta and I had our first weekend away from the Triplets together! We attended the wedding of our friends Kevin and Julie near Daytona Beach Florida. Actually, we have been looking forward to this trip for almost a year now, and we didn't miss any opportunity to party it up. I think Greta may still actually be sore from jumping up and down on the dance floor for 5 hours straight! We left on Thursday morning, and upon waking up I started to feel a tickle in my throat. I haven't been sick since the kids were in the NICU almost 2 years ago, and now I get a sore throat the morning of our first vacation together in ages. I did not, however, let it slow me down in any way. It was nothing that a few rum runners couldn't fix.

My parents were gracious enough to come down to our house and watch the kids for the weekend . Thanks Mom and Dad! If the trio wore them out, they didn't admit it. The weirdest part about all of this is that we really didn't miss the kids. That may sound terrible, but we knew that they were in good hands, and we hadn't been away in over 2 years. After all we've been through, there was no time to spend missing anyone. We enjoyed every minute of being away, and it was completely awesome and refreshing to see the monkeys when we returned on Sunday night. Congratulations Kevin and Julie!