A bit of catching up to do....

Well fall is finally here, school has begun and we are off to a great holiday season. Turner is enjoying full day preschool and the girls love attending a one day a week cooperative preschool. They are just getting so big! The girls are talking now (all the time), and Turner is a constant source of laughter. While they may challenge us each day, we are constantly reminded just how lucky we are to be their parents.

Random Photos... too good not to share!

Here are a few pictures from some of our summer adventures. From Marley pulling her brother in the wagon at the zoo to various scrapes and sibling bite marks, here are just a few of my favorite pictures from the past couple months - more to come soon if time allows!

Birthdays and much more!

I seem like I am always behind on blog posts. I guess I have to be okay with posting whenever a spare moment presents itself, so that may mean one post in three months and then several in a week (if I am ever that lucky).

So here is the belated update; our little kids are not so little anymore! Turner is now 4 and becoming such a great big brother. He tells us often he wants three sisters, we are not too sure if that means on more or three more but either way he is out of luck! He just got a big boy hair cut and looks so much older! He will be starting full day preschool in the fall and while I am nervous to have him gone for such a long stretch of the day, I am so excited for him. He is going to be so busy and engaged at school, I am sure he will love it! He is already reading short words and spelling so they can keep him far busier than I can at home with the other two handfuls!

The girls are growing into their own unique personalities. We at times call Morgan our Drama Queen or our Princess, she is our cuddler but also the one with a fierce attitude. Marley is our daredevil, we are know to call her Mighty Mouse (her nickname from her delivery nurse), or Bam Bam. She has no fear, is incredibly independent and nothing will stop her.

They keep us busy and for the most part we feel like 24 hour a day referees. They challenge us, make us laugh and remind us why we became parents!

A much needed update....

Life with three kids has kept us busy. We are thankful to be entering into Spring and finally out of cold and flu season. I think we are all finally healthy for the first time in months.

The kids are all growing so fast, they contiue to make us laugh (and sometimes cry) each and every day. They are getting more and more independent and are such combinations of Neal and myself. All have tempers and all are very strong willed, we like to call them our "spirited children".

Definitely related.....

I found this picture of Turner, it is one of my absolute favorites. I am guessing he was around 18 months or so in this picture. I also have a picture of the girls from around the same age. It cracks me up looking at these photos. I can see Turner's resemblance in both girls. Morgan and Turner have the same eyes, while Marley and Turner look alike in a lot of other areas. The both have the same hair. Marley's is finally growing in, it is getting curly like Turners was in this picture. They all have one think in common for sure..... their huge attitudes and gigantic smiles!

Christmas 2008

As always I am a bit late in my post of recent photos... what can I say?! We had a fantastic Christmas and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. We also enjoyed the first snow fall of the winter, the second and third snowfall of the season were just plain annoying. The kids did not know what to think of the snow and they definitely did not know what to think of Santa. Turner was fine with Santa, Marley and Morgan on the other hand... well the picture tells the entire story.

A look back...

Three kids keep me very busy so I am always a bit behind in posting new pictures. These were taken by a great friend of mine, Kerry, at one of our last park playdates of the summer (in September I believe). The kids were all having a blast playing on the swings and climbing on the toys.

An afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend Neal and I ventured out with the three Schrepfer kiddos to a wonderful Pumpkin Patch in Enumclaw. Thank goodness Neal's sister Era, her husband Roger and their daughter Josie met us there to help corral our rambunctious girls. The kids had so much fun, the farm had so many activities to keep them busy. They had a bubble station, a big and mini corn maze, giant tires to play in and around, several slides, a hay maze, a huge pit full of corn to play in, several farm animals, face painting, tractor rides and quite a bit more. While the girls were to young for several activities, they were troopers and walked quite a distance around the property. Turner enjoyed almost all of the activities especially with cousin Josie leading the way. We ended the day by picking out a little pumpkin for Turner and as you can see by the last picture, we had a very quiet ride home. Everyone including mom and dad were exhausted!

Do the Puyallup

Last weekend we ventured to the Puyallup Fair and has a great time (and a lot of fair food). Turner did so well and walked the entire time with brief breaks on mom or dads shoulders. The girls enjoyed the sites from their stroller and had a brief respite from the stroller when we stopped to hear a band play (we met up with Turner's cousin Josie and her parents there as well). We played a few fair games and enjoyed a trip down the giant yellow slide. We may try to go back again this weekend and just take Turner so we can take him on a few more rides and down the giant slide at least one more time.

Siblings

So this was a rare moment where all three kids were sitting together. It started with the girls crawling up on the rocking chair and Turner wanted to join in the fun. They were all cracking up and very cooperative while we tried to capture a wonderful sibling moment. As you can see they are all growing like crazy. Turner just got another big boy haircut and as the picture shows, he is looking more and more like a little boy and not a toddler anymore. The girls are goofy as ever. Morgan is the one with the long, wild hair and Marley is the mover. She started the dancing on the chair phenomenon. The girls are also growing out of their baby looks and have truly developed into toddlers. Watch out world!

Two one year old girls and a Three year old boy!

Sorry it has been so long since our last post, needless to say life with three kids three and under has been a bit hectic. There is barely time to keep up with daily tasks, let alone have spare time to publish blog posts. So here it is July 11th, the girls are now one and our wonderful boy turned three in late April. We are amazed that we made it through this last year relatively sane! The girls are trying to walk and they love to babble. Both have developed very different personalities, you will just have to witness the girls for yourself to see what we mean. They are funny, smart, and are going to cause us much trouble in the years to come. Turner is doing great, he still loves letters and numbers. He now can write most of the alphabet by himself and spelled Elephant for us the other day. He loves playing outside and most of the time enjoys his sisters (well maybe not most of the time). Poor guy, now that they are mobile he gets little peace and quiet. Here are a few recent pictures, my how they have grown!

So Big!

We are amazed that our "little" girls are already nine months! Marley is totally mobile, she crawls everywhere, over anything or anybody. Her crawl is more like and army crawl, she looks like she is break dancing. Turner is not to fond of his sister being able to get into "his" toy room and has become very territorial. He tries to block her from getting whatever toy she is after (once I caught him sitting on her). Poor kid won't know what to do when Morgan gets moving. For right now Morgan is content just sitting up and playing with whatever toy is near her. She has become more daring in the past few weeks, lunging at what she sees. On a few of the many occasions when Marley crawls over her sister, Morgan has been known to lean forward and bite her sister in the butt. Good thing those diapers are so thick. The girls are now eating.... they love finger food. Morgan gets so excited when she sees food coming her way she shakes her hands and if you are not fast enough she will voice her discontent. Marley continues to be our Mighty Mouse and Morgan has become our little Bam Bam complete with the pony tail on the top of her head.
Where to begin with Turner. He challenges us, makes us laugh and makes us crazy each and every day. He loves letters and numbers. He can spell a ton of words. If he sees a word a couple of times he has it committed to memory. He surprised us the other day by spelling MACHINE - thank you PBS and Word World. You would think after almost three years we would have him figured out. Not at all, he changes his routine daily, when he wakes up, when he sleeps, and what he eats. It is now several weeks past Easter and he still has Easter Eggs with candy in them. He is so quirky!

He likes them, he likes them, he really likes them.... most of the time

So this was the very first time Turner has willingly posed for pictures with his sisters. He was having so much fun telling me where to put them and smiling for the camera. The older the girls get and the more interactive they become, the more Turner is taking interest in them. I will not however be leaving him alone in the room with them unattended as I watched him try to pick up Morgan and watched him insist that Marley take her binky.....

A day at Spooner farms

Even though it can be a challenge to get the family out and about, it is nice to pack up the tribe. Today we went to Spooner farms in sumner. It had a corn maze and pumpkin picking. Turner was exited to see that his aunt Era and cousin josie were joining us... so was I.

Era is a great help with the twins and loves to hold the girls. I had a real challenge getting many decent pictures of the kids
(most turned out blurry due to the speed they were moving).
This was a planned event for the twins group we belong to and it was nice to see that people really do survive with two at once.
There was a corn maze and the two cousins ran rampant thru the maze.


We did get a rare shot of most of the family...

wow, look at all those kids.

Turner and his cousin Josie

I just had to post this picture of Turner and Josie, they were having so much fun eating lunch outside on the picnic table. Too cute!

Almost three months old already.....

The girls are getting so big... Marley who was the little one has surpassed her sister in weight and height. She weighed 10.12 at their last appointment and Morgan weighed 10.5. They have almost doubled their birth weights! They are both smiling and cooing and are so alert. Big brother Turner has accepted them as permanent members of the house, this does not mean however that he adores them... just not yet. Life in the Schrepfer house is crazy but we are enjoying each minute... they get so big so fast!

Marley Joy and Morgan Rae Schrepfer

At 36 weeks 6 days gestation (long enough for mommy), our twins arrived healthy via cesarean section. Marley was first and weighed in at 5 pounds 5 ounces. Her sister, Morgan was born one minute later and weighed in at 5 pounds 15 ounces. They were 18 and 19 inches long respectively. Neal and I were thrilled when the doctor announced that we could take the girls back to the room with us, we got to skip the NICU! Quite amazing really! The first few days were rough, the girls woke up often to feed and the nurses were in frequently to check our vitals. After four days at the hospital we were all released to go home! We are all adjusting to life with a full house! Big brother Turner is not too sure what to think of the babies, he is dealing with the change like any two year old.... for the most part he is being a trooper! More pictures to come soon... when we have time?!

Few days till the other two arrive

Well, the big event is only a few days away... the arrival of the Schrepfer twin girls. It seemed unreal until this point. Jenny is about to pop and we have just about everything ready; the room, the stuff, the diapers... Our families and I have some time off work to tackle what should be a crazy transition.
Turner seems a little oblivoius to all the hulabaloo surrounding the two new members of the family. Between tackling me at the front door, sweet talking me into grilling hot dogs and watching mickey or pooh; he is blissfully two.
I took this picture of Turner on Alki beach a few days ago, while throwing rocks.... a must do activity for any toddler.
Not all that exciting..... just throwing rocks and waiting for the twins.

Gotta wear shades

Just a fun picture of Turner at Folk Life Festival. For whatever reason, that was the day that he decided it was cool to wear sunglasses. Up until that day he refused to wear them. We had a blast and he loved eating our lunch on the blanket, probably our first picnic since last summer!

Mickey, Pluto and Duck

Most kids Turners age love Barney or the Wiggles, our kiddo loves anything Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. For his 2nd Birthday dad took him to the Walt Disney Store in Lynwood for his special present. He picked out three plush animals, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Pluto. If they would have had the rest of the characters in stock I am sure dad would have purchased them as well. It has been over a month since his birthday shopping trip and he is still in love with his Mickey characters. He sleeps with them every night and when we let him, Pluto is always the lucky one that gets to go on car rides with us. This is a picture we took the night he got them.