So...It's been a while!

Hello again! It has been SO long since I have posted anything new on the blog, I am SO sorry. Really no excuses for not doing it, just life I suppose! I thought it would be fitting to put up a post on the babies 18 month birthday! Woo hoo! 18 months and everything is going great! It is really amazing just how different and unique these babies act, look and behave. They are each so different and their own little person. Here is a quick update on each of the babies and then some quick comments.

Drew! What can I say about the Drewser, he is just our little pretty lover boy. He is doing great, healthy as a horse and a great little boy. Drew is a little slower than Matt and Claire in some areas and ahead in some others. Drew is still in the crawling stage and not walking yet, he pulls up and "cruises" on the couch, moving side to side but he still isn't comfortable enough to walk on his own although he will stand straight up for about 20 seconds. Drew has the most teeth out of all of the kids, I think he is on tooth #12 and these teeth have really been painful for him as they are coming in. He is turning out to be a little blonde boy with blueish/gray eyes. A total sweetheart!

Claire! Oh boy, my little baby girl! She is walking and almost trotting around the house, she was the first to walk and balances herself on anything she can stand on like a little gymnast! She is a little mommy's girl following Katie around the house no matter what she is doing. She is also quite the little chatter box of still unintelligable sounds. She only has her two front and two bottom teeth too! She is just an adorable little red head with long curly hair that is just beautiful. She has such a sweet heart and soul, she loves giving hugs and kisses and seems to never run out of them to give out either!

Matt! There are not enough words in this blog to describe this wild man! Matt is the biggest by FAR of the three, he is just a solid little boy and he weighs a TON. He is either watching some TV or moving all over the place, his personality is just nutty! His Papa just loves to watch him, see what he is up to and laugh. If there is trouble, this little boy will find it in about 2 seconds! Nothing gets by him. He finally got a bunch of hair and more of his teeth are coming in, they are really bugging him too. He is a mommy's boy and he doesn't cuddle or love with me too much, when he does I really have to take advantage of it because he would rather be bringing you a book or 20 for you to read to him. I could go on and on about this little guy but as I said before I would probably be here all night! He is one of a kind...

Our family is doing great, we had a wonderful holiday season with all of the grandparents here with the babies. We were so fortunate to be able to have them all here. The babies LOVE to be outside, running around and playing, swinging and goofing around. It is so much fun to be around them. We also still have Shannel our nanny with us, she has been with our family for over a year now and she is so awesome. The babies love her, when Matt sees her walk in the door he claps his hands and yells "YEAH!!! YEAH!!!" We are completely off of all bottles and have moved on to sippy cups and the babies have their own personal chef in Katie that makes their meals from scratch each day and all they eat is fresh meat, fruit and vegtables. Nothing canned or frozen.

We are so fortunate and blessed each day! Once again my apologies for the LONG delay in getting an update out. I hope this note finds everyone healthy and happy, best wishes for a great 2011!

Todd, Katie, Matt, Claire and Drew

Time is flying!

Another long gap in posts! Wow, time is just flying by!

Everyone is doing great, the babies are going well. Matt and Claire had a little cold/cough right after Easter but they are doing just fine now. We went down to Katie's parents ranch in Mason for Easter and had a great time! My dad met us over there Easter Sunday and we really enjoyed just hanging out.

The week before Easter we ended up buying a Honda Odyessy Mini Van! Getting the babies in and out of the Tahoe was just really getting difficult with baby carriers. It is super nice for a mini van! We went with a white one with a tan leather interior, its got the navigation system in it and the rear DVD player program for the babies. It has really made a HUGE difference in transporting them around and it drove great down the to ranch and back.

The babies were 9 months old on April 9th and they are doing just awesome! Each one of them is SO different and so unique it is just crazy. We had our 9 month photo session with Melissa last Friday so some new pictures should be out soon, we can't wait to see them! They went to the Dr. today for their 9 month visit and they all passed with flying colors. The Dr. was very happy with their development and their progress. Great news!

Matt is now 22lbs, Drew is 21lbs and Claire is 19lbs. They are all eating baby food now along with a bottle and they love it. Drew is going to be the first one to get teeth! He is really working on the bottom two but the Dr. said it might be another month till they come through.

Just a quick update tonight, it was a long day at work! We all hope that this post finds everyone happy, healthy and well! Till next time!

God Bless!

Todd, Katie, Matt, Claire and Drew

Technical Difficulties!

My apologies for the large picture at the top of the blog, for some reason the blog program is making it VERY large! I am working on how to get it to a reasonable size. This is the babies Easter 2010 picture that Katie took of the babies. Good stuff!

Everyone here is doing well, growing and developing nicely! Have a wonderful Easter!

Love,

Todd, Katie, Claire, Drew and Matt

3 Sick Babies = Not So Fun!

Well, we had another first around the house this week! Three sick babies with the stomach virus. Katie and Claire got it first on Wednesday afternoon, then Drew and Matt got it right away. Claire had a doctor's appointment downtown Dallas to look at her eye and her eyesight due to the hemangianoma (sp?) on her eye lid. The good news is that her eye sight in both eyes is considered in the "good" range, her right eye is a little behind her left but we are going to watch her eyesight very closely in the coming months.

Katie barely made it home with Claire and I was already on the phone with the pediatrician and they wanted all the babies in the office ASAP. Shannel and I loaded Matt and Drew up in the truck and took them all to the Dr. We had a MESS literally in the doctors office but fortunately all three babies tested NEGATIVE for the flu and just had the virus. Needless to say we have had some pretty sick babies over the past couple of days. It was only a 24hr. bug thank goodness. I came down with it on Friday morning at about 4am and it really just took me down bigtime. I can't remember the last time I have felt that horrible, wicked stuff!

As of Sunday night, Matt is pretty much back to being the crazy, wacky, nutty baby that he is! He is eating better and not throwing up. Claire is still having a little diareha (sp?), but she is not throwing up and she is taking a little more formula every feed. Drewwas the sickest of them all and he is still feeling a tad wonky I think. Today he finally was able to keep formula down, the poor boy was living on Pedialite for the past three days and was hungry as heck! Let's hope and pray that we are on the downside of this bug!

Other than this little setback everyone is doing well! Claire and Matt are sitting up really good and Drew is getting there. They are all eating and taking solid baby food along with the formula real well too. Katie is doing her normal WONDERFUL job being the BEST mommy possible to these babies, the babies and I are so lucky to have her as their mommy, WOW! They better realize that someday!

We are really looking forward to another trip to Mason and to the ranch for Easter! Time is going so fast, is Easter really just three weeks away!? I think we are ready for another trip out of town, I hope! We are saving up for a minivan, my goal is to have it in the garage by the beginning of summer. Good stuff.

The Messerle crew hopes that the entry of this blog finds everyone healthy, happy and blessed! Spring is around the corner, we are so ready to smell the fresh air, green grass and warm weather that it is going to bring! Be well!

God speed.

Todd, Katie, Drew, Matt and Claire

Cool Stuff!

The last couple of weeks have really been amazing for Katie and I, watching the babies grow and develop. What is really fun to watch is that each one of the babies are developing differently and at their own pace. Drew was the first to roll over from back to tummy, Claire last weekend rolled over from tummy to back, she hasn't done it since but we know she can do it! Matt, well bless his cotton socks, he tries but the rolling over isn't in the cards for him yet.

Claire is babbling and has just the cutest little girl personality. Matt is quite vocal to say the least! He can really let you know he is in the room, let's put it that way! Matt is simply, "ALL BOY" he is just solid as a rock and just reminds you of a ton of bricks when you pick him up. Drew is really somewhere in between, he is such a calm, gentle and funny little guy. He loves to play and roll around and he loves to be held and kissed a ton too!

The babies are still sleeping through the night, down around 6:30pm and we start hearing Matt's roar around 5:30am. Katie and I love our evenings together and the fact that we can get a good nights rest. Sleep and rest has really changed our lives and made an impact on our marriage. I am not sure we knew how sleep deprived we were in the first few months when we were going through it. Now, we look back and say, "How in the WORLD did we survive that!?" The first answer is our parents, but it was also a ton of hard work mostly on Katie's part. Really wild looking back even just a few months back in our lives...

Claire went to the eye doctor for a check up on her hymangianoma (sp) on her left eye lid. It isn't getting bigger but not much smaller either. We have to take her downtown to Dallas to have a test run in the next couple of months and the Dr. wants to keep a close look on her eye lid. We are all praying that it will not require any surgery...

One last quick note, our wonderful friend and photographer, Melissa Zihlman was gracious enough to give us a canvas of the babies picture that she took, the Puppy Pile. This picture hung in her doctors office for a few months then she passed it along to us to keep. Katie and I couldn't wait to get it hung over our bed! We are both just in awe every time we look at it! Here is what it looks like hung up! Thank you so much Melissa!!! :)

You can click the picture above to make it larger! I hope that this email finds all friends and family well! We continued to be blessed with perfect beautiful babies and good health and fortune for our family. We are so grateful... Till next time! God speed!

Love,

Todd, Katie, Claire, Matt and Drewbie!

7 Months Down!

Wow, to say that I have been slacking on the blog updates is an understatement! My sincere apologies, I have NO idea where the time has gone.

Well, the babies are now 7 months old and they are all doing just great! I thought with this update I will just do a quick run down on each one. They are really all so different and developing so differently, each one looks different has completely individual mannerisms!

Matt: Well, Matt is the BIG BOY! At his 6 month check up he was just about 18lbs. We call him "Smiley", he just has a funny personality and is alway looking around at something. He eats like a horse! He will just suck down an 8oz. bottle in no time flat and by far he is the best out of the three eating solid foods like carrots, pears (he LOVES pears!) and sweet potatoes. He will also mow down a ton of rice cereal too. Matt is just a tank, he is solid as a rock too. Here is a picture of Matt that we took for Valentines Day! He does LOVE ALL the ladies!

Claire: "Little Sweet Pea!" Claire is just a little doll, really. She weighed just over 14lbs at the checkup. She is such a morning person like her mommy, she will just give you the biggest smiles and grins in the morning it is so cute. She does great with the bottle but not so much with the solid foods. She either doesn't like the solid foods or she really has an aversion to them. She is making a little progress but it is a battle to get her to eat the food off the spoon. She is getting a little hair, not much but it is coming in slowly! Quite honestly, I can't get enough of kissing those cheeks of hers! She is a little girl that knows what she wants and when, trust me! She is just so much fun, she is my little pumpkin!

Drew: "Oh Drewbie!" Where to start with this little guy! He is just a hoot. He is our only one that is rolling over on his own and he now sleeps on his tummy, way to go Drew! He also just LOVES this Jumparoo deal that has these springs and he just bounces his little head off and he smiles and giggles! It is the greatest thing to watch! His skin is so soft and he is so calm and peaceful, he is just a precious little guy. Drew rarely cries or gets upset, he is a wonderful little guy. Drew is the only one that has "real" hair on the top and it is mostly in the middle of his head so daddy loves giving him a little mohawk! He was 16lbs at the 6 month check up and getting bigger. I toss him and Matt in the air all the time and rough house a little with them, they love it!

All three babies are now sleeping upstairs in their nursery. The boys are in their cribs and Claire is still swinging all night long. I got the cribs all set up and I also hung their quilts. These were made by my cousins in Kankakee, IL. My mom was a big needlepointer and cross stitcher, when she passed away my dad gave the thread and material to my cousins wife Linda since she did the same thing. On the back of each one of the quilts is a cross stitched patch with the material and thread that was my mothers with the babies names, birthdates, etc. A special part of my mom on each one of those quilts, very cool. Here is a picture of the nursery as it is right now, we still have some work to do but it works for now!

And here is Claire's crib, right across from the boys cribs.

Mom and Dad are doing well. The babies are now sleeping from about 7pm till anywhere between 5:30am and 6:00am. We actually have our evenings back! WOO HOO!! :) The diaper bill and formula bill is still a whopper but it is all worth it. We are so blessed with these beautiful children! We also have been making it to church every weekend, the nursery at Fellowship Church is the BOMB! Katie and I love the opportunity to worship each Sunday.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers, we feel them all! My apologies again for the delay in the updates, I promise to do a better job updating! I hope this installment finds everyone healthy, well and happy!

Blessings!

Todd, Katie, Matt, Claire and Drew

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Hello, once again my apologies for the delay in getting updates done on the blog. Its hard to believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone, I had 10 days off from work. Not a whole lot to show for it really but it was a much needed break from the day to day work grind.

Well, we made it down to the Rancho Not So Grande the day after Thanksgiving. The babies really were a dream in the car on the way down and back up, but it was pretty taxing on them getting used to the new sites, smells, surroundings and the altitude of the ranch. It sits on a hill at about 1,800 feet above sea level and we live at about 500 feet above sea level in Dallas. It took the babies a day to get settled and used to what was going on but after that initial first day it was pretty smooth sailing.

The dedication/Christening program at The First Methodist Church of Mason went really well. It was a beautiful service and the babies behaved themselves for the most part. Claire stretched out the wind pipes a little bit during the dedication, but overall they did very well. Paul and Judy had a wonderful reception back at the ranch after the service, it was really nice. Certainly a day to remember.

We are getting ready for Christmas around here, we are staying in Lantana this year and the family is coming to us. Our Christmas shopping is done, the house is decorated and we are ready for a special first Christmas with the babies and our family!

The babies are doing great, all are eating some rice cereal each day along with the formula. We go back to the Dr. in January and will then talk about eating real food sorta, I guess! Do you believe that?! No way. Matt is just over 17lbs., Drew is around 16 lbs and Claire is a little over 14lbs. The picture at the top of the blog is our Christmas picture, they are all starting to look so different and believe me, all three of them act completely different from each other. They all have their own personality, quirks, laughs and mannerisms, just really crazy to watch them each day grow and become their own person.

I am taking some time off again around Christmas to be with our family. I am finishing up this blog entry from my laptop so that I can get a post in this evening! I will be sure to get some pictures in the next post.

From our family to yours, we wish you the Happiest of Holidays and a very, very Merry Christmas!

Love,

Todd, Katie, Matt, Claire and Drew