Two Butterflies (ahem...Ladybugs) and a Bumblebee...

We are bugs for Halloween this year! Last year the girls were cupcakes and Hudson was a monkey and they all had a blast.  This year I figured the girls would want to be princesses or something "cool" like that with their tutu fascination, but they were more than THRILLED to be Butterflies (pretty sure they are ladybug costumes, but whatevs).  And Hudson rounds out the bug mix with a perfect bumblebee...complete with stinger on the tail end! LOL!

There are two trunk or treat events right down the street from our house, so we made sure to have plenty of candy and non-candy offerings at our house this year (usually we get all of 12-20 trick or treaters total).  If you stop by you will have your choice of candy, play dough, glow braclets, mini balls, or erasers.  It's been quite the challenge keeping the kids out of the Halloween bowl...they want it all and don't understand why we are giving it away to our friends...lol!  They will figure it out once we start trick or treating...they were practicing what to say all night last night. =)

What are your kiddos for Halloween this year? 

Happy Halloween!

Megan

Our Pump It Up 3rd Birthday Party!

What could be more fun than twenty 2-4 year olds bouncing the morning away at Pump It Up on a Husker Football off week?  Um...nothing of course!

The girls had a blast with all of their friends and even sang Happy Birthday to themselves twice!

The girls had an absolute blast.  Not that you can tell in pictures...lol...look at that pouty face on Livvy!

Now, I do have a question to all of those mommas out there about birthday gifts if you'd be willing to share your process.....

Here's the deal.  We went to one of our triplets friends birthday parties a couple of  years ago, and the momma very specifically asked that people not bring presents.  She stated "your presence is the best present".  I couldn't agree more, and we've made that statement at each of the girl's parties since.  As such, we never talk about or open presents at the actual birthday event (although every time at least half of the attendees do bring gifts). I guess my question is, what should I do after the girls open their presents at home?  Should we be sending thank you notes to everyone who gave a gift? Is it uncouth to do nothing?  I've only sent thank you's once, and I feel like if this is the process we are following with gifts that we should be sending thank you's every time.  What is your process with gifts?  Do you open them at the party?  After?  Send thank yous?  Not?

Hope you all are have a great weekend!

Until next time -
Megan

Look who's THREE!

Yep, you guessed it! We've survived yet another year of twin chaos and continue to feel incredibly blessed with the life we have been given.  Today Oliva and Brianna turned 3.  THREE!!! AHHH! They've learned their ABC's and 123's, have successfully potty trained, have gained a whole lot of spunk, love to dabble in creativity, and spend most of their time making sure mom and dad stay on their toes!

Let's go down memory lane for a moment, shall we?

Year 1 they spent hitting major milestones...first foods, first tooth(s), first steps.  We thought that we had the whole situation under control.  Yeah, right!

Year 2 they figured out how to walk, and walking turned into running.  Mom and dad spent most of this year figuring out how to take care of two MOBILE toddlers, and how to incorporate another little one into our already chaotic family dynamic.

Year 3 they have spent learning...learning how to love, learning how to share, learning how to care about not only one another, but for those around them. They grew flowers, tomatoes, and peppers in the garden. They drew lots and lots of pictures, and told their first stories. They learned how to be creative, they love reading books, and they starting asking the question "why" about absolutely everyone and everything =). They love to watch Caillou, Super Why, the Bee Movie, and Finding Nemo.  They think ABCmouse.com is amazing and want to play on it constantly.  They really are growing up!

We continue to show distinct differences as well, of course:

Olivia - Age 3

• Can tell you one heck of a story! She will just start talking, and talk, and talk....
• Loves to draw with chalk 
• Has a relatively short attention span and likes to jump between multiple activities at once (hmm...a multitasker in training?)
• Loves Mac and Cheese
• Very caring....loves her little brother, and loves taking care of her "babies"

Brianna - Age 3

• Walks to the beat of her own drum....doesn't care what anyone else thinks about her or what she is doing
• Loves to color, paint, play with stickers, and do anything creative, and can sit for 45 minutes or more working on one activity.
• Loves "chocolate cereal", yogurt, mac and cheese, and PB&J
• Not a huge fan of her little brother....prefers to have her stuff, her way, and doesn't like to share with Mr. H =)

So that's the shout out for the day...Happy Birthday to our sweet girls! We love you more and more each day and feel so blessed that we have been given the opportunity to be your parents! Life wouldn't be the same without you!!!  Here's to another year =).

Until next time - 

Megan  

Mr. Hudson - 15 months!

I love this little man to pieces, and can't believe just how quickly he is growing.  We went in last week for his 15 month checkup, and in pure Hollibaugh fashion, he's one BIG boy!

Here are his "official" stats from the pediatrician's office:
Weight: 27 lbs, 14 oz (96th percentile)
Height: 33.5 inches (100th percentile)

Other fun stats:
Diapers: Size 4
Clothes: Barely squeezing into the 18 month, mostly wearing 24 month...no surprise here!
Favorite foods: EVERYTHING!  He loves eggs, spaghetti, mac and cheese, all fruit - especially grapes, watermelon, cantaloupe, and strawberries, yogurt, soup, peanut butter toast...the list goes on and on! He eats more than I do, not kidding!!!
Words: Momma, Dadda, Bailey, Kitty, Boots, Caillou  eggs, up, down, more, water, juice, cheese, milk, yes, no, papa, car, chalk...and many more I am sure I am forgetting! 

The difference between Hudson and the girlies at this age? It's amazing what happens when you have older siblings to learn from! Hudson was walking earlier, talking earlier, and eating a selection of delectable food offerings earlier than the girls did.  It's amazing how much more relaxed you are the second time around!

Strangely enough, what is actually most notable to me is the difference in when the kids have been first introduced to suckers.  You know when you go to the bank and they give you dum dums for the kids?  Well, Hudson now INSISTS that he get a dum dum every time too! We didn't let the girls have dum dums until maybe 6 months ago (at 2.5 years old), but now we have been letting Hudson have dum dums (with supervision of course) for the last 6 weeks! He knows that he should have one too, and he will throw quite the fit if we don't give it to him.  I guess we are getting laxed in our old age! HA!

So that's the scoop with Mr. H! He's getting bigger and more handsome everyday!  Do you see those curls?! Ah! I love this kid!

Until next time -
Megan

I had to share....

I'm sure there will be many more pictures like this over the next couple of years, but this is the first!

This is what happens when you have diva twin girls and little boy who wants to be just like them.  The girls wanted to be "princesses" tonight, so they went through their closet and pulled out their tutus and matching shirts.  Hudson watched them do this and decided he wanted to be part of the action too! He went into their closet and pulled out a tutu, then turned to me and said "on"! HA! Si was mortified...I think it's adorable!

Love these crazy kids!

Until next time -
Megan