Leclercq Family

More of Mason- 4 months

2012-06-23T22:33:00.000-05:00

Mason is now over 4 months. His 4th month was full of all sorts of fun. Mason and his siblings are really starting to interact and they get the biggest kick out of each other.

Mason is now over 15 pounds. The girls are around 26 pounds and have been for the past year. He looks so big sitting in their lap (with Sophia).

We have introduced the exercausers and Mason loves them (we have two)

Mason holds court during breakfast one morning.

Mason sleeps like Cooper with his arms up.

First swing

Mason is gaining on Collier!

Earlier in the month Mason found his left foot and it was his new favorite toy. Now he likes to hold both of his feet although the left might still be his foot of choice.

Relaxing on his first vacation.

Getting ready to go for a swim.

Mason and Collier entertain one another.

Just like the triplets, Mason likes taking pics with the Iphone

We've moved an exercauser to the kitchen to help mom have some time to make dinner

This month we cold turkey took away the swaddle. We have also been a little reliant on the nap nanny, which we are no longer using. We have also implemented a little crying it out when going down at night and no longer letting him fall asleep while eating. Trying to implement some healthier habits.

We had a photo shoot in Dallas which was basically Mason's 3 month shoot along with our extended family shoot.

Mason weathered his 4 month shots just fine. He was 15.1 lbs and 24 inches. He is in the 25th percentile for height and weight. He also had his first cold and cough which turned into his first ear infection, and therefore was on his first antibiotic. He's a happy boy!

A Touch of our Month

2012-05-19T23:33:00.000-05:00

You can see by the prior blogposts that we have had a busy month. Here are some more pics of what we have been up to:

Our first trip to the Arts Festival- when I took the kids by myself.

When Uncle Matt was here, he graciously bought some plants and planted most of them. There were a couple that I kept meaning to plant, but I didn't get to them before the kids did. The kids took their brooms and "painted" the dirt from the plants all over the carport. Artists they are.

This has been probably my biggest challenge since having #4. Whenever I am holed up with him in his room- feeding, changing diapers, putting him down, etc., the kids do something like this. This was CLEAN and FOLDED laundry. I could have cried.

We went to the March for Babies walk. I am embarrassed to say we have never participated in the past. It was the kids first time to have their faces painted (in the past they have been too scared). The office made posters for people to hold for the walkers to inspire them as they walked. This was our poster. We have so much to be thankful for. We have come so far! From tiny 30 weekers to thriving 3 year olds.

This is an awful picture of me, but disregard me. Look at that baby. This baby gives the best hugs. When I hold him, he puts his hand on my face or my neck and grips. He just hugs and loves me back. It's the sweetest thing ever.

We are spending a lot of time at Kite Park playing in the sand. We SO need a beach vacation.

A night we went to visit daddy at work. Holding hands on the way back to the car. Not prompted by either me or Manny. They do this often. They love each other so much.

Last weekend we went to Manny's cousin's Kerri's graduation in Fayetteville. By "we" I mean the kids went at 7:30 am with their grandparents while Mason and I lounged back at the hotel. It was a great weekend of family and both Grandma and Grandpa got some quality time in with Mason. No one in our extended families have gotten a lot of time with this little man, so I am glad that we were able to have that weekend.

Me and my loves on Mother's Day. I look at these pictures of my four and I simply can't believe how blessed I am.

Mason getting ready for his first swim. Just peeing his pants (literally).

Mason's first swim. He liked it but it was cold, so he was good if he was being held tight. He didn't last long and snoozed right out as soon as he got out of the pool.

Daddy's home early enough to hang with kiddos before they go to bed. This has happened like twice in the past 3 months and you can see that all 3 needed to be in his lap.

The other night Cooper called me upstairs to wipe his bottom after going #2. Once all cleaned up (it was a big mess which included his clothes, underwear, and the potty), I flushed the potty but what was in there wouldn't go down. After several attempts I got the plunger and was unsuccessful at getting it plunged. So I went to get something to fish out whatever this business in the potty was.

It looked like poop, but nope, just a GIANT ROCK. What the... I asked C if he put a rock in the potty and he said yes, following up with this explanation: there was a big rock in the back of my bicycle so I snuck upstairs and put it in the potty. Um.... okay.

Speaking of this man, we went on a date Thursday night. A proper date. He choose my dress, shoes (red kitten heels) and necklace. He also told me to wear lipstick. And he picked out a collared polo and jon jon. We went to the Mother and Son "Knight" at Chick-Fil-A. It was adorable. The tables had black "tablecloths" that you could write on chalk, flowers, rocks as decoration, and tealight fake candles. So romantic. We had a reservation and a reserved table for just the two of us. We ordered at the counter but had table service from there. We got a complimentary picture with the cow, which has gone missing. C had it last. We ate and then C played for a bit. Which was interesting, I don't think I have ever seen C play with strangers without his sisters. And he didn't really do that- he sort of stuck to himself and did his own thing despite other kids being around. Really interesting.

My big littlest man- over 14 pounds now!

2nd ER Visit

2012-05-19T23:02:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, I was picking the kids up at school. The kids had gotten stickers for being good for 5 consecutive days, and therefore got skittles that day. Cooper was running to show me his skittles, tripped on his flip flops (that I TOLD HIM not to wear bc he would fall and knock his noggin), and did a head dive into the door frame. It immediately looked bad. When he looked up at me he had a major indention in his head. Within the next 30 seconds he had the biggest goose egg in the middle of his forehead I have ever seen. Everyone who was there agreed C had to go to the hospital.

It was the exact situation I feared when I was pregnant. I was scared that I would go into labor, that Manny wouldn't be available, that I would have to find childcare for the kids and get to the hospital. Except I wasn't in labor and C was the one who needed to see the doctor. As the teachers held C's gash together with ice on his head, I ran to my car and called my nanny. (It was a Thunder home game which means a super busy restaurant night and I knew Manny would probably be unavailable to help). She didn't answer, so I called Manny to see if he thought one of our friends moms might be available to take the other 3 kids. While I briefly filled him in on our emergency, Michelle called back and we arranged to have one of her girls meet me at home. I was going to drop off the girls and Mason and then take C to the ER. The teachers had a better idea- to just keep C and hold his head together with ice and for me to run the kids home. I was back in probably 20 minutes, but it was the longest 20 minutes ever.

By the time I got back C insisted he was fine. He kept saying "Ms Jeannie fixed it mom. I don't need to go to the doctor. I'm fine. I'm good!" He cried all the way to the hospital because he didn't want to see a doctor. But when we got there he thought everything was pretty awesome and started making friends with everyone. I don't think it hurt that I had my work tags on (I work at the hospital that we were at), and we were literally in and out of the ER in 45 minutes. C didn't have any bleeding on the brain, didn't seem to have a concussion (I asked him every question I could think of that he might actually know the answer to), and the gash ended up just needing to be glued. We expect he will have a scar, but didn't care to put him through the trauma of stitches just to avoid the scar, which will pretty much be covered by his eyebrow anyway.

As I took pictures C kept asking to see the pictures. He looked at the one above and said "Oh no, Mama. What happened to me!"

All glued up. The accident happened at 2:30 pm and we were home no later than 4:15. Swimming lessons were at 5:10 and C got to participate! I've spent the last 4 days peeling glue off of C's eyebrow, washing it and putting neosporin on it. C cries every time and has taken to running from me. I don't think the gash actually hurts anymore, but getting the glue out of his eyebrow has meant removal of a lot of hair, which I know has been really painful. I think I got the last bit tonight so we are on the mend.

We're Swimming

2012-05-19T22:35:00.000-05:00

The triplets started swimming lessons this month. This is our first extracurricular activity ever. All events until 3 have been "mom and tot", but my tots were lacking a couple of moms. So we are three now, and have gotten over the hump of having a new baby, and are starting to add in some extracurriculars. We started this month with swimming. And for now we are at the Lighthouse. It's group swimming lessons, but the trips have their own instructor so it's semi-private! And they are loving it!

I am not sure if we will keep up with swimming lessons or not. We are starting Summer T-Ball and plan to do Fall Soccer. We might do swimming lessons in July if it our schedule can accommodate both T-Ball and swimming. We are now members of the Y, so I am guessing we will do lessons there if we can get in. I think we will skip June as we will be out of town a few of the weekends.

Big Haircut Outing

2012-05-19T00:20:00.000-05:00

I gave all of the kids a little haircut a week before Mason came. This was the girls first haircut ever and I probably took 2 or 3 inches off. Cooper has had 2 paid haircuts, both of which were traumatic experiences. After the second one he pretty much protested going to get his haircut (despite numerous attempts and discussion to no end), so all haircuts in the past year have involved me holding him down and doing the best I could on my own. I have been thinking for a bit that I wanted to get the kids summer cuts but was a little fearful of taking all 4 kids by myself since Cooper has now convinced the girls that haircuts are super scary. Then there was a Groupon for 3 kids haircuts for $25. I usually spend like $16 on just Coopers, so I went for the Groupon.

The Groupon was to Wendy's Treehouse which is located in the back of an adorable children's clothing store in Casady Square. I knew nothing about it, but it was awesome! The store has a play area in the front and another in the back. It also has a runway and stage with mirrors for kids to try on clothes. So adorable. We got there a little early for the kids to get used to the place, which was a smart decision because by the time Wendy was ready for us, the kids felt pretty comfortable and had made friends with everyone in there.

First, each child got their hair washed, which they all thought felt really good. Here is Sophia. She puts her fingers in her mouth when she is nervous.

Isabelle loving her first salon experience

Cooper went last which was also smart. He saw that his sisters were not scared and so he was fine with everything too.

Sophia went first (she's often my bravest child and often volunteers to go first). She did an awesome job holding her head down.

Wendy braided the girls hair and then finished it off with a glittery hairspray.

The girls also got to choose whatever hair ribbon color they wanted. Each child could choose a movie to watch during their haircut.

The kids sit on a elephant for their haircut which they thought was funny.

C wasn't even scared of the razor! No tears. I could.not.believe.it.

Still working on it. All smiles.

After the haircuts, the kids got to choose a "treasure" out of the treasure chest. They each got a sucker.

C showing off his new look.

And a mama reward of burgers and ice cream. I took all 4 by myself. We were there for at least an hour and a half. The triplets did so well. Mason did awesome. Such a major success. We might go to Wendy's Treehouse until they go to college :).

First School Pictures!

2012-05-18T23:44:00.000-05:00

The kids all had their first school pictures taken! The kids are adorable. The pics however are a little cheesy, which of course meant we needed to spend over $100 making sure everyone in our family gets a copy. Here are my favorites. Note, I took pictures of these pictures- didn't scan them, so some of them look a little wonky.

Isabelle:

Sophia: (her head doesn't look as big in the actual pic- must be how I was holding it)

Pretty cheesy right! And super cute!

Thunder Up!

2012-05-18T22:11:00.001-05:00

We have been promising the kids that we would take them to a Thunder Game. It was one of their potty training prizes (which reminds me, I need to write a "Potty Training Triplets" post). And low and behold, we actually got to take them to the Thunder's first playoff game against the Mavs. It also happened to be my first game of the season (sadly). I was SO excited, but just a tad nervous as the game starter after the kids normal bedtime, at 8:30 pm. We dropped Mason off at the nanny's for first time, then the nanny dropped me and the kids off at the game, and we met Manny. The kids wore their AWESOME Rumble T-shirts from Uncle Brian. We got a ton of compliments on them. Rumble is the Thunder's mascot for those that don't know. The kids looked adorable.

We found daddy!

We had 4 tickets, and just bought a 5th cheap seat which allowed us to get kids #3 in with us and able to sit on our laps.

Isabelle was very scared of the noise and of the real Rumble, so she cried and repeatedly said she wanted to go home through the first quarter. After that we were all good and really into the game. The kids know who James Harden is and were really excited to see him in the flesh. Of course being their first game, they had no idea that it was such a big game and a big deal that they were getting to see the Thunder during the playoffs.

The half time show sported an incredible drummer which inspired the kids to "drum" with their Thunder fans through the 3rd quarter.

The kids made friends with everyone around us and as they became more restless, the more eager the people around us were to hold and entertain the kids. Every older lady around us could have cared less about the game- they just loved watching the kids. The kids were literally passed above us, below us, and both to the left and right. We didn't know any of these people, but we really appreciate all of them for loving on our kiddos that night!

We decided to leave with about 5 minutes left on the clock for fear that we would never get out of there if we didn't. I hated to because the Thunder were just a couple points behind the entire game and I knew there was a chance we could come back. But Manny also wanted to get back to the restaurant before the game let out. So we left and I texted Michelle to head our way to get me and the kids. She had dropped us off about a block away, so I figured by the time we got back to the meeting point she would be there. And within 2 minutes of us being outside, the skies opened up.

We ended up running, dancing and playing in the rain for about 20 minutes. Manny was really nervous to leave us in it and concerned about lightening, but the kids were having so much fun and I wasn't worried. It probably ended up being the highlight of their night. Well, the drummer during halftime and playing in the rain at 11 pm! Needless to say everyone went right to sleep when we got home and slept in the next morning.

It was such a fun experience! The Thunder did end up pulling out the W for that first game, as well as the next 3 games against the Mavs! A sweep!! Now to take down the Lakers. We love the Thunder and are so proud to be in OKC with such an awesome team!

Arts Festival 2012

2012-05-18T21:43:00.001-05:00

We've hit up the Arts Festival every year we have lived here I think. I LOVE the arts festival. It's always in April and just a great event that brings a lot of different types of people together in OKC. Great food. Great art. Great entertainment, etc.

This year Manny was too busy to join us, so I took the kids one day on my own and another day with my friend Erin. Here are pics with the triplets and the Zanotti boys. John Zanotti is one of the triplet's best friends and it won't be long before Mason and Henry will be super tight too.

The first day I took the kids by myself and I made the mistake of putting the triplets in their wagon. I put Mason in the baby bjorn and we were there for a couple of hours. The triplets seem so much heavier in their wagon than they did last time we used it. My arm was sore for days. So when we went back, I took the triple stroller instead. It's much easier to maneuver but such a pain to get in the car now that Mason takes up the stroller's previous space.

The Arts Festival has a great children's art tent where the kids can made 3 different art projects. I was a little nervous to brave it alone with the 3 plus 1 attached to me as it is pretty crowded in there, but we did it and it was fun!

Two Good Articles

2012-05-18T00:12:00.001-05:00

These are both really good articles. I don't write as well, but both say much of what I believe

A Motherhood Wishlist

What Makes a Happy Person Happy

Jennifer (my twin sister) and I have always been pretty confident people. A couple of people even included in their speeches at our rehearsal dinner how confident of a person I am. What can I say- I have no complaints. I like myself. I think I'm a nice person. I'm always doing the best I can and I genuinely care about others. I have a belief that if you wouldn't be friends with yourself then you should change something. I would be friends with me. I'm a good friend. And I am happy. A glass half full person. I pretty much follow the Happy article above to the letter, as does my sister. So, we are confident and happy. (Don't get me wrong. I'm certainly not perfect. I have a lot I could work on and that I don't like about myself. That could be 80 blog posts- what I wish I could change about myself. But the thing is I don't beat myself up over those things. In large part they are things I could change with a little effort, and mostly my fault. I'm just not self loathing during the times that I'm not making the effort).

And a little aside on the Motherhood Wishlist. I LOVE this list and totally agree that the trendy ways of "being mother enough" are absurd. I know what worked for my kids. I know medically what is often best for my children. However, I totally endorse the "whatever works for your family" theory. Everyone needs to do what's best for them.

My goal is to raise healthy, genuine, productive members of society. And in addition my goal is to raise these 4 people to be people I actually want to hang out with the rest of my life. Because I am stuck with them- they are mine and every holiday in the future will likely be spent with one or all of them and the people they bring into our family. I want them to be cool and fun and funny. I expect to spend the rest of my life laughing with these people (not laughing at them or them laughing at me), so I better do a good job in contributing to them being the type of people I want to be around And hopefully they will be the type of people other people want to be around.

In the House

2012-05-17T23:57:00.001-05:00

It's been a very long time since I have posted anything about our house. I know this for sure because it has been a very long time since I have done anything in our house other than the baby's room. I've done a few things in the past few weeks, some of which are Pinterest inspired.

In our front living room we have always kept a bin for shoes. It just works best for us to keep often worn shoes by the front door. But the system wasn't working as whoever was looking for shoes would just dump out the entire bin and not pick up once they found what they were looking for. We also have a ton of bags that were strewn around the coat rack. So my solution was to make a sort of "mudroom" sort of station just off of our entrance way. I used a shoe rack and then a hanging deal for back packs. I am going to put some art above this little area. At least we can get to our shoes now.

In the kitchen I covered 9 clipboards with left over fabric that I used in the kitchen and am using the clipboards to display kid art.

I implemented a little laundry system in the laundry room. I got 5 of the same baskets (each $2.50 at WM), and then just regular brackets. I think the brackets cost me around $10 total. There is one for each person in the family, except the girls share one. My plan is to do each person's laundry once a week, but it's not really working. What is working is as clothes comes out of the dryer to divide them between each person. My problem has never been doing the laundry. My problem is folding, hanging, and putting away laundry. So, now at least when I fold, hang and put away I can do it by basket and it all goes to the same room.

A while back I bought some large pieces of pink and orange paper for the girls room. I finally got around to framing and hanging them. Now that they are up I want to add the girls monograms in white to them. I also painted one of the end tables in two different pinks. It kind of matches their bedding which I think looks cute. The lamp is just a place holder until I find one I want.

This dresser was between their beds, but has now been moved back to the other side. Obviously we still need to paint the room and put up window treatments.

I hung art on the far wall as well and its working for now although I can totally see mixing this up some in the future. And we need a new light fan kit.

I also got slipcovers for the 2 head dining room chairs that were in an awful fabric. The slipcovers are just ivory, so neutral. I would also love to add a monogram to these at some point.

Mason's 3rd Month

2012-05-17T22:53:00.004-05:00

When not completely swaddled up Mason sleeps exactly like Cooper, on his back and with his arms up. So cute!

I feel like Mason gets smilier by the day. He's a pretty happy kid. He also likes to talk and visit and is just starting to giggle a little.

The triplets continue to adore Mason and he is now doing a little more than tolerating them. I think they've kind of annoyed him until now as they are all sorts of up in his face. Just this week he is starting to watch them, smile at them a lot, and laugh a little at their antics. I've been waiting for this- when Mason is just entertained by the chaos going on around him. We are not there yet but we are getting there. And doesn't Mason look huge in this pic below!

Mason loves his new blanket from some of my BFFs in OKC.

Mason is as big of a Thunder fan as the rest of the fam. Thunder Up!

Mason is doing awesome at holding his head up!

13.3 pounds at 3 months! Big happy little love!

Triplet Update

2012-04-28T00:12:00.002-05:00

This is going to be a major picture dump from the past couple of months, but here it goes. C cuddling with his daddy just before the baby came.

I gave the kids a hair trim the week before Mason arrived. The girls first real haircuts and Cooper's 3rd official haircut are scheduled for next week. I think we are going to get true summer do's.

The kiddos really helped me prep for Mason's arrival...

Painting one lazy morning within the first week home with the new baby

We made hand caterpillars one morning.

The girls still love babies, both fake and real

The kids are obsessed with my shoes and with taking their clothes off outside. These two loves just happened to coincide on this day,

Pinterest inspired St Patrick's Day. Guacamole chicken salad and green fruit salad on green plates for lunch.

Bell pepper paintings

Clover treats that the kiddos made

The kiddos really miss their daddy (he worked 140 hours last week and is nearing a 500 hour work month!), so any time spent with him is valued

Uncle Matt Matt came into town and we went all over exploring OKC. Here we are at the lighthouse where mom and dad got engaged.

At the new Myriad Gardens Children's Park, which is just incredible.

Visiting daddy at his new restaurant.

Campus Corner, Norman, OK

We went to the Medieval Fair in Norman for the 3rd year running. Sophia's corn dog was her size.

They each got to choose 1 toy and all choose pop guns.

Knox Watkin's 4th birthday party at a fire station. S was the only one who braved sitting in the fire truck.

Palm Sunday

Zoo time with Uncle Matt

Feeding the ducks

Isabelle at the splash pad

A little surprise tucked into their lunches the week of Easter

stretching before the church Easter Egg Hunt so that they could "win"

On your mark

Success!

The kids are on a poster for Fuzzy's at daddy's new location in Bricktown!

Another pinterest activity- stringing cheerios on a spaghetti stuck in play do.

Isabelle

S' cheerios made them into her belly before I got a pic of hers

Leclercq kids on a roll- first bike ride

Bike parking

I got this adorable castle play house deal for the kids to color. They loved it for an entire morning. Hoping they will have renewed interest in it sometime soon so we can make it even more colorful. Instead of entertaining them for hours as planned, they really enjoyed markering all over their hands, feet, bellies, and my floor :(.

We're headed to the new Fuzzy's Friends and Family Night!

Sissies snuggling one night

A night out with daddy for cupcakes

Donuts with mom on another day

We went to Dallas again this month and attempted to take pics with some blue bonnets. Sadly were were a little late in the season.

But still managed to get some good pics. I love my little crew. Good thing since the 5 of us are almost always together :). I'm busy. Hands full. Full heart.

Mason's 2nd Month

2012-04-27T23:39:00.001-05:00

Month 2 we really started to get into a groove of having 4 kids and getting out and about. Some of my sweet friends gave Mason a sip and see and a lot of sweet friends came to meet him and gave him nice gifts. He did a nice job of snoozing through the whole thing, but here he is in his adorable duds after we got back home.

Hanging outside on a super hot day

Nudey party in Mason's crib.

I went to check on Mason during one of his naps after noticing Sophia had gone back to check on him. All of these lovies and toys were on top of him. Yikes. Apparently Sophia thought he might want them.

Mason sleeps like his brother and his daddy with his arms above his head. That is, when he is not swaddled.

He sleeps better when he is swaddled and is a little hit and miss on the paci's. He went through a phase of loving his elephant wubbanub but is a little iffy on when and if he will take a paci.

Dr. Albiek agrees Mason will probably be our tallest child. His legs, feet, arms and hands are so long!

First time in the bumbo around 5 weeks. Such a strong little boy. He loved it. He also began rolling over from front to back at 4 weeks. In fact Mason pretty much refuses to participate in tummy time unless its on his changing table because all he really wants to do is roll over.

Mason thinks he's a big kid just like the triplets

Just hoping cousin Collier doesn't eat him. I took Mason home to Shreveport for just short of a week and Jen and Collier met us there. These two will be thick as thieves in no time.

The triplets went to visit their grandparents in Arkansas for a week and had an awesome time.

Mason was in the thick of his fussy phase while we were in Shreveport. We had a sleep over with my life long best friend Lauren and her new baby (aka Mason's new bff) John Hollis where Mason really tried to teach JH how to be super fussy.

Around 6 weeks we started to see some frequent smiles.

Manny got like 2 nights and 1 day off in the entire month of March. One evening was spent at the park.

And another at the kids first hibachi grill!

Mason's a huge Thunder fan, just like the rest of the family.

I went back to work at 6 weeks and these are the smiles I got the day before I went back.

Because I have the best job ever, Mason joined me in his business casual attire for my first day back, which just consisted of a couple of meetings.

Mason also found his voice this month and really started cooing and talking. He had a good 5 minute conversation with the baby on this wipes box one night.

My boys

My babes

Mason loves me. He thinks I am the best. He loves seeing us together in the I phone.

Manny on "baby duty" while I showered one morning.

Mason likes his baths this month. Getting so big.

I'm the...

We got to go to the zoo with Uncle Matt (who came for a week to help me!!), Uncle Christiana and Aunt Stacey

Mason wore his elephant outfit of course

Another happy boy pic in the I phone

Mason's first easter egg hunt- snoozed through the entire thing

First Easter Sunday church service. Didn't so much snooze through it, but also didn't have to be carted out mid-service which we consider a success!

Mason was not interested in taking the obligatory Easter Sunday pic before everyone got out of their church clothes.

Rolls

At 2 months, Mason weighed 11 lbs, 3 ounces and we 22.5 inches long (he was 20" at birth). Mason is considered in the 25th-50th percentile, but continues to have awesome growth.

Mason's First Month

2012-04-27T22:57:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the hiatus. Consider it my maternity leave! I'm back and have a lot of updating to do! Maybe at some point I will back up and post pics from the day Mason was born and the hospital, but today lets just play a little catch up. These are some of my favorite pics from Mason's first month! He was born on February 10 and came home on February 13th, which happened to be the only snow day in Oklahoma City this entire winter!

Our first full day home was Valentine's Day. I had premade a little valentines onesie, so Mason sported it on February 14th. We enjoyed our first full day with all of our little loves.

Daddy opened a restaurant a couple of weeks ago and has been super busy since Mason's birth. This picture aptly describes any sort of time Mason has gotten with his daddy- between work and naps.

Please excuse my postnatal body and note the curled up little nugget on my shoulder. I love when they curl up like that when they are tiny. Uncle BJ said that he eats burritos bigger than Mason was at that time.

So alert in those first few days

First doctors appointment. Mason was on the gain train so we didn't have to go back to the doctor until his first month appt. Mason was 7,1 at birth. Dropped to 6,4 in the hospital. But had gained to 6,6 at his first appt on February 15.

First bath at home with the help of Sophia and Cooper. Mason didn't really enjoy it. He now likes baths.

The triplets have been big time helpers from the get go and haven't skipped a beat.

This is Mason at 2 weeks old.

Mason's first time at one of Daddy's restaurants. I really enjoyed my 6 week maternity leave and getting out and about with "just one baby".

There is nothing better than having a baby sleep on your chest and I can't resist taking pics of us together like this almost every time.

We went to Dallas when Mason was 3 weeks old for Charlie's birthday party. Mason went through a good fussy phase- probably from about 2 weeks- 8 weeks. So we were in the midst of it in Dallas. Here's Aunt Jen helping me get him settled one night. He's not a big fan of taking a paci from me and is better at taking it from others.

Mason got his first bottle from Dad at around 3 weeks. He took 4 ounces down in no time!

Not too sure about that giraffe...

Mason turned one month on March 10.

He was 8 lbs, 7 ounces! Big growing boy. We really enjoyed our first month. People continue to ask me what its like having "just one baby" and my repeated answer is that he's like a vacation. He's a good baby, which helps. I'm a really laid back mama, which really helps. But it's just been easy and lovely- cuddling with a baby, feeding a baby, soothing a baby. The triplets were of course amazing, but we were so busy with them at this stage. And they are super busy 3 year olds now. So compared to my only newborn experience and to my toddler experience today, Mason is just a vacation.

It's a BOY!- Mason Andre Leclercq

2012-02-21T21:37:00.000-06:00

On Friday, February 10, 2012 we welcomed Mason Andre Leclercq to our family. This post is just a bit of what happened on Day 1 of Mason's life:

Mama headed into surgery

Daddy just before

12:49 pm

Weighing in at 7 lbs, 1 ou and 20 inches long

With what was considered big feet, hands, and head

First pic with his parents

Post op, headed back to my room with a brand new baby boy

a hungry little boy at that

First bath

which wore him out

First Leclercq Family of 6 photo

Mason is absolutely the sweetest little boy ever!

3 Year Old Well Visit

2012-02-03T23:55:00.000-06:00

We had our 3 year old well visit this week. Aside from a large amount of crying and whining about having to go to the doctor because they were scared, things went really well once we finally saw the doctor. Cooper played the role of the brave big brother- going first to be weighed and getting measured. Sophia was happy to comply going 2nd. And Isabelle played the part of the baby, which she actually is among the 3 of them. They had a lot to tell Dr. Albeik and he continues to be impressed by their progress and lack of delay as a result of their prematurity. They all happily showed him their ears and throat and we got out of there with no shots! Best well visit ever!! Apparently the 4 year old well visit is a nightmare, including a slew of immunizations and having to pee in a cup! I told Dr. A we would start practicing on that... right now we are still really working just getting all of our pee pee in the potty :).

3 year old stats:

Isabelle Jane: 26.2 lbs, 34.75 inches
Sophia James: 25.8 lbs, 35.25 inches
Cooper Christian: 33.4 lbs, 37 and 38 inches

At 2 years old their stats were:

Isabelle- 32" tall (10-25th%), 24 lbs (10th%)
Sophia- 32" (10-25th%), 25.4 lbs (10-25th%)
Cooper- 34.5" (50th%), 32 lbs (75-90th%)

So as you can see, this year has been about thinning out, growing taller, but not so much in terms of putting on weight. They have all grown several inches, but have barely put on any lbs. I am not surprised that Isabelle weighs just a tad more than Sophia as she is by far our best eater. So all is good with my big 3 year olds! Hard to believe this time 3 years ago they were still only in the 3-5 lb range. We've come a long way!

Cast Your Vote!

2012-02-02T21:00:00.001-06:00

One week or less until Baby Leclercq! What do you think- will we see pink or blue!

Need some help- I am carrying low (wives tale is that it's a girl) but the heart beat is more in range with the boy wives tale (140s for most of pregnancy). According to regular Chinese Calendar it's a girl, but if you calculate the Chinese Calendar with my adjusted lunar age, it's a boy. Helpful, right! And I go back and forth on what I think it is. Who knows!

Thanks for playing!

New Names

2012-01-31T22:50:00.000-06:00

Our new names around here are Sheriff Cooper, Belle and Princess Aurora. In fact, these are the only names we would answer to or were allowed to say for a full day last week. It was a lot of fun, except for meal time and nap and bed time when we had to take our costumes off (I didn't know how well they would wash if they got dirty!). Another awesome birthday gift! Thanks John, Sarah and Estey!!!

Sophia as Belle from Beauty and the Beast

Isabelle as Princess Aurora

Cooper insisted we find him a horse and a rope, even though I think he was just supposed to be a Sheriff and not necessarily a Cowboy. Mission accomplished.

Pinteresting Stuff

2012-01-31T22:43:00.000-06:00

I don't work Fridays, so Fridays have sort of become my craft days with the kids. In other words, they are the days that I copy Pinterest ideas. This past Friday we did some Valentine's Art. First up were framed thumb print hearts:

Second up, handprint hearts as seen here.

We also tried this activity while I prepped the other two. I have to say, the kids were not near as into this as I had hoped, and it was a short lived activity.

In addition to fun things to do with the kids, I'm getting lots of fun home ideas from Pinterest. Like these below- I think this is a great layout for our living room

And a fun idea to do with our current coffee table- turn it into a bench. We really need a soft storage ottoman to be our coffee table in the future.

And as I do every week, I have made some recipes found on Pinterest. We had peanut butter and banana french toast for dinner the other night (I LOVE breakfast for dinner). I made my own coffee creamer a few weeks ago and it was great! I also made cookie dough dip one day as a reward for no one in my house having potty accidents that day (we are highly motivated by food around here). It was a great recipe, but probably should have halved it as it made way too much for my little family. Next up- I'm dying to make this recipe.

And while this has nothing to do with Pinterest, it is super interesting. The Allens gave the triplets a butterfly garden with live caterpillars for their birthday. This has been one of the most fascinating things we have ever done as a family. Manny and I are as into the caterpillars transformation as the kids are. They started as super small caterpillars and grew significantly every day. And then one day they all migrated up to the top- it was so interesting to watch them go up and space themselves accordingly. Throughout the day their caccoons formed and now we have transferred them to the butterfly garden. We expect them to become butterflies in the next week. We spend a good amount of the day checking on them and they join our dinner table every night. They are from insectlore.com, which has a lot of other cool things you can purchase. We would do the caterpillar to butterfly transformation kit again in a heart beat, but there are a lot of other ones we plan to try. Also a great idea for birthday gifts, etc!

In the Nursery

2012-01-26T00:19:00.000-06:00

The nursery is about 85% complete. There are still some things I would like to do, but over all I am really happy about everything and feel like the room is ready to have the baby in it. Here it is from all 4 corners:

And some of the details...We owned the gold bedding before, as well as the pictured furniture. We purchased the white bedding set and grey euro pillows from Ikea. My sister handed me down the diamond pillows. And the small pillow is one I made along time ago from a Premier Prints fabric. The frame, matting and painting is from a garage sale. The painting wasn't really for me so we covered it in a coordinating fabric. The drum shades are from Wal-Mart. If we have a girl I might add a little ruffle business to them.

The crib we purchased for $30 off of craigslist. I made the bed skirt with fabric and fabric glue, bought the sheet, and have been given the bumper by a friend who no longer needs it. I just happened to go with the nursery and looks awesome. My first plan to was just use an inexpensive white minky dot bumper.

The curtains are from Ikea and I added the fabric again with fabric glue

We had the mirror (it may be an old purchase from Home Goods) and purchased the changing table from craigslist for $20. I plan to give it a paint job, but haven't gotten to that yet. We also have not stocked the shelves yet.

At some point I would like the room trimmed out in white, and I would like the ceiling and closet painted. But to make it look a little better I covered dollar store foam board in fabric. The shelves took 2 foam boards and probably around 2 yards of fabric. I LOVE the results and will probably do this in other rooms. It's easy, cheap, and easily replaceable. I also painted all of the birds but they look awful and will need to be redone.

I bought $2 canvases from Hobby Lobby and covered them in fabric to make a little art display.

And then used left over fabric to make a ruffle wreath. Depending on what we do with the shelves, the wreath might end up on the door.

I bought this lamp off of craigslist over a year ago. The shade I believe was originally from Home Goods or Garden Ridge. I recovered it and painted the lamp to match the room.

I recovered and painted the little stool. I'm still on the fence as to whether I should purchase a pouf or ottoman in addition but it seems a little silly since I have the stool and since the chair is a recliner, so I can put my feet up. I just can't put my feet up AND rock at the same time. Probably not a necessity...

Tonight I made this pillow to go in the chair. It has 2 interchangeable sides and again, was made with fabric glue.

I really need to learn to sew.

That's the progress so far and I think it is so far so good.

Over January

2012-01-26T00:01:00.000-06:00

We started a new school this semester! We are trying Spring Creek Baptist Church and we have really liked it. We started going 4 days a week, Monday- Thursday, but are cutting back to 3 days in February Tuesday- Thursday. The kids have always only gone 2 days a week, so we are working our way up. This is a pic from their first day. I was concerned with the transition, but it has pretty much been seamless. The kids started out in the same class, but Sophia got moved up almost immediately bc she is fully potty trained. The other 2 are fully ready for the next class except for the fact that they are not fully potty trained. This is our 3rd week and we have seen dramatic progress on the potty front from C and I. Both are staying dry all day at school and accidents at home are reducing daily. Both have pooped in the potty on purpose. Isabelle is totally motivated by getting to go to the "big girl class with sissy." Today C's motivation came from getting a cookie. We have also promised everyone a Thunder game if they can consistently go in the potty and have no more accidents. We are so close I can taste it. I actually think there is a chance we are out of diapers (except for night time for C and I) and that we could be fully potty trained by the time the baby comes- which has been the goal for the past 8 months.

We showed our LSU Tigers support on January 9. Complete with adorable shirts (thanks Joe and Deb!!)

And jambalaya! It really is too bad that we didn't give the Tigers more luck. The game was just awful.

The kids get out of school now at 2:30, instead of 4:00, which calls for a totally different schedule. Mainly their naps are much shorter. This was a fun day where I picked all of them up from school and Isabelle was still asleep in the corner. All were screaming bc they were so tired and cried and whined for most of the day. A lot of our days have been spent like this. We are eating dinner earlier and going down earlier- so that's a nice perk.

A very popular activity in our house has been playing with our babies in the nursery. We have so much baby gear, which is perfect for the triplets to take care of all of their baby dolls.

They come up with creative solutions if the particular gear they need is being used by someone else. Here, Sophia's baby had a poo poo, so she had to change her on the "changing table in mom's room."

Every piece of gear is occupied by a baby doll. We have even made a couple of bassinets bc not all babies had a place to lay their heads.

We have also been in major clean out mode in prep for Baby #4. This picture I took while sorting the kids stuffed animals to text to the grandmothers to ask that we not be given anymore stuffed animals. They were sorted into the kids labeled bags and each child is now responsible for their own animals. There were also decisions made on which ones to give to the baby and which to give away. Yet, we still kept 3 large bags worth.

The kids are really into asking me to take their picture lately. Many of the below pictures are just that- them saying "mom, take our picture." They got these adorable elephant outfits from a friend or their birthday. Too cute! Thanks Ethan!

Another very favorite event is to take everything off of mom and dad's bed and to jump. We have reduced the amount of baths we are taking and increased the amount of showers. It's hard for me to bend over the bath and easier for me to sit in the shower and shower myself and everyone else. Plus, its a good time killer. However, for baths we have implemented bubble baths and loofas so that the kids can clean themselves and I don't have to bend over as much.

We got adorable rain coats and boots from my parents. Today was the first rain since the birthday so the kids were pumped to wear their gear.

The girls also got doll clothes closets, which has been really fun for them.

We took majority of their birthday gifts and put them away. I plan to slowly take gifts out over the next couple of months as needed to keep things interesting and fun. Today, we introduced their new legos to them and they, of course, were a hit! We love our legos!

3 Year Old Birthday Party

2012-01-25T23:35:00.000-06:00

The idea behind the 3 year old birthday party was to make it as simple as possible for me. We even debated not having a party given how close we are getting the Baby #4. The past 2 years we have had a party at the house with a lot of guests with me making and doing everything. The thought this year was to simplify. Only invite people the triplets know by name. Only serve juice boxes and cupcakes. Do it away from the house. For not too pricey.

Over all I think we achieved what I wanted to. We maybe invited more people that we originally intended, but we also didn't invite a lot of people we easily could (and maybe should) have. We served lemonade in addition to the original menu. It was a lot of fun. Metro Gymnastics was a super easy, financially friendly, non-stress place to have a party. It was perfect for what we needed this year! The details:

Invitation:

T-shirts from Etsy (unnecessary but too stinking cute)

The spread

I made my own cupcake toppers with clip art. It was really easy. I thought about doing more with them, but am glad I didn't. Really not necessary.

We gave water bottles as party favors that said something like "thanks for hanging with us! stay cool!"

And we served "Jumping Juice" for the kids. I got the plates and napkins from the dollar store. Seriously, I was just trying to go simple and cheap.

Kiddo's waiting to open their gifts: (BTW, I think in future years we might skip opening gifts at the party. Triplets opening gifts is really overwhelming and hard to keep track of everything. Plus, toddlers want to open everything immediately which is hard. And party guests, also known as other toddlers, don't totally get that gifts are not for them and that they can't play with the new stuff at that time either. Too much). Midway through the gifts we encouraged guests to go ahead and dive into the cupcakes and get back to playing.

The kids really had such a fun time. It was more free play style instead of organized play, which really seemed to work. We had kids ranging from 1 years old to 4 years old and everyone had plenty to do and had a lot of fun. Most importantly the triplets had a blast!

Happy Birthday to our trio! We have so much fun with them and it was great to give them such a fun event to celebrate their big day!

We are 3!

2012-01-25T23:10:00.000-06:00

The triplets turned 3 years old on January 16, 2012! It was a Monday. The night before, we decorated their doors with crepe paper and balloons. Cooper was going through a phase of waking up early and coming down stairs (this week he's complying with our rule that you don't open your door until the sun is up). On this morning I heard his door open at 5:30 am. And then I heard him say "but, but, um, but." I ran through the house and upstairs and he said "mom this stuff won't move. this stuff needs to get out of the way." He was "stuck" behind the paper and none too happy. Who knew that's all we needed to keep him in his room. I broke it for him, and took him downstairs to climb into our bed. We went to wake the girls up around 8:30 am, and instead of breaking the paper, they just went under it and dove into playing with the balloons. I'll post the videos from the birthday in another post!

Cooper has spent the past 2 weeks telling anyone who will listen that he was stuck in his room and that it wasn't fun. That mom had to come help him get out. He starts by telling people "but I was stuck in my room and that's not fun." So, pretty sure he's convinced several people, strangers included, that we lock him in his room. I have had to explain to many people about the birthday and crepe paper, etc.

We started the morning with pigs in the blanket and confetti pancakes. Since it was a Monday, I had a baby doctor appointment first thing in the AM. It was also MLK day, so the kids didn't have school. We all went to the appointment, which the kids really like now, and they all got birthday suckers.

We then headed to the zoo. This was a huge mistake. It was a pretty day, it was a holiday, and it was a free day at the zoo. Therefore it was super crowded. We didn't bring our stroller and therefore the triplets had to walk. Meanwhile we were still working on potty training and not everyone was convinced to put on a pull up. We went to the zoo to specifically feed the giraffes (something new at our zoo). We walked a very long way, especially for the kids, to the giraffes and arrived at perfect feeding time. However, little did we know we needed $3.00 cash to feed the giraffes 3 pieces of lettuce. We just didn't know! And the ATM was all the way back at the entrance. Manny and I could only scrounge up $2.00 between us and begged the people to let us just have 2 pieces of lettuce. They said no and therefore we carried 3 crying kids back to the entrance and headed on out :(.

We had an awesome pizza lunch at Hideaway Pizza. Complete with cookie pizza and ice cream for dessert. Then we all went home to nap. It as still really nice out when we got up, so we took the kids to Kite Park (aka "the sand park). They really loved that and we should have totally just spent the morning at the park instead of the zoo. Afterwards we went to Freddy's for burgers. Then we went home for gifts from mom and dad. This year we got them each of new disney movie (time killer when baby comes), new swim suits (and promise to enroll them in swimming lessons), and new water bottles (from the dollar store). By far the favorite gift has been the water bottles.

Afterwards we had cake and ice cream along with water in our new water bottles.

Pretty much a 3 year olds dream birthday- 3 very kid friendly meals, the zoo, park, suckers, cake, ice cream, candles, gifts, etc.

They pretty much thought the whole day was awesome, except for the not feeding the giraffes bit and the fact that Cooper is convinced we locked him in his room. We all had a great time and just can't believe how big our babies are!

The Triplets Turned 3!

2012-01-24T18:54:00.000-06:00

I will do a big ole birthday recap soon, but in the mean time here's a quick look at our family 2 years ago at the triplet's first birthday party...

And this year at the 3 year old birthday party! A great time was had by all! The kids look a lot bigger, my belly is much bigger, and Manny's beard is a lot bigger! Happy Birthday Sophia, Isabelle and Cooper! We love you so much!

Christmas Videos

2012-01-07T00:58:00.000-06:00

Christmas Program at School- all 3 of mine are front and center grouped together. Girls have fingers in their mouths at first. Isabelle gets into it before Sophia. Cooper holds the star in the middle during the first song.

Christmas Morning finding their Santa gifts

Having Christmas Morning Cake for Jesus' birthday.

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