Wow….once again I find myself asking where does the time go. I can’t believe we are already into March. To catch up on all things….we had a fabulous Christmas. On Dec. 26th we set out on a journey to Panama City, Florida. First vacation we’ve taken since triplets have been born. We were very unsure of how an 11 hour road trip was going to work, however, they went with the flow and the drive was very pleasant. We stayed in a beautiful rental condo. It had 3 floors and its own elevator. Rick and the kids shared the only room on the first floor. We had a kitchenette, bathroom and back patio/yard to ourselves. We really enjoyed our stay. The only downside was having to go to bed early every night with the babies because of being somewhere new and not wanting to leave them alone in the room by themselves. The beach was gorgeous and very clean. The sand was so white that Emma determined it was snow and even threw herself down at one point and made snow angels. She must have learned it from tv, because obviously we haven’t introduced them to snow yet and hadn’t taught them about snow angels. She always amazes me with her knowledge. The only mishap we really had was Gunner had access to his new tool box and his “puter” at the same time. He decided to “fix it”, he fixed it alright. He totally bashed in his screen with his new hammer, thank goodness Nana had the good sense to buy the insurance that no one ever buys. It paid off big time in this case since his “puter” wasn’t even a week old yet. The trip home was just as pleasant with the exception of the Texans having a bad game and Daddy got irritated and turned Mickey Mouse back on and Gunner figured out if he told us he poo poo’d in his diaper we’d stop to change him, so after a 2nd stop with nothing in his diaper, we wised up and didn’t continue to fall for that game.

Christmas Morning

Florida Trip Photos:

Emma’s Snow Angel

New Year’s we just stayed at the house and rung the New Year in with our neighbors/friends. We had a good time. The kids popped a few fireworks but all in all it was a fairly quiet evening.

January went by way to fast. We celebrated Kayleigh’s (Erica’s daughter) first birthday, and at the last week we began potty training. The girls picked it up like champs. They are so big now. They have been potty trained for about 2 months. We have only had 2 or 3 accidents total since it began and they will even take off their pull up if wearing one to go to the big potty. We are down to 2 pull ups a day for the girls (naptime and bedtime), it is awesome. Gunner still isn’t quite ready to accept the challenge even though I think he is more than capable. For now, we are happy with the girls doing it and will give him a little more time.

February has brought Emma a splint on her arm. First “real” injury amongst the triplets. She has to wear her splint for 2 weeks. The Dr. said it is a very soft fracture. We have no clue what happened. She was doing potty dance and then shortly began to cry. She was so upset that Justin didn’t want to leave her for school and called me at work and told me of his concern. Later in the day, Mindy came by to check on her and Emma had her upset and worried as well. By the time I got her to the Dr, she seemed perfectly fine but when asked would say her left hand was hurting. She told me Faith pushed her by the shoes and hurt it. This very well could have happened because the potties are right by the shoe basket. However it is just one of those things no one will ever really know. After taking her to the Dr and being completely interrogated like a child abuser, she was given a splint and an ace bandage.

Justin got a new job. He is working at Shoe Carnival. So far he is liking it, it is taking getting use to being on his feet for the entire shift.

March, thus far, we have bought the kids boots and cowboy hats. Hoping to get some cute photos. Kids are growing like weeds. Faith is definitely the “girlie” one. She loves to wear dresses, have her hair and nails done and will always pose for photos. Emma likes to wear her pajamas all day if you’ll let her, and rarely wants her hair done, however she does like her nails painted. She absolutely hates the camera and cries if you want a photo of her. She is extremely bright and has a large vocabulary for a 2 year old. She says cute things, for example, last week I ordered a soda at Sonic, instead of asking for a drink (like most 2 year olds) she comes out with “Mommy, I would like a taste of that, please”. Gunner is still our sweet love. He loves to play chase, hide n seek and tackle the girls. Pop tarts are his food of choice.

As for Rick and I, Rick is working and planning on helping his mom move her storage in the near future. I have just completed a CHL course and have sent all my paperwork into the State, now just waiting for my license to come in. We are planning a weekend to the lake as soon as we can get away.

Here a few more photos from the last few months….

Emergency Clown Nose

Emma wearing her clown nose

Faith in her clown nose

Faith loves playing with her babies

Silly Boy

Emma putting all her “balls” in a row

Emma’s arm

What a great looking crew

Faith, our little cowgirl

wrapping the Xmas tree was very silly Kirby

reindeer remind me of home

Kirby loves to ride any wild beast

Kirby loves candy

Riding Toro, Great way to Spend Monday night

Inappropriate elf, but very funny according to Daddy

Many have asked what Kirby has been doing lately. This is what Kirby has been up to this week! Stay tuned for more silly tactics from our outrageous elf!

The Tarlton family began a new tradition this year. We have adopted a wonderful elf named Kirby. Kirby is lots of fun. He reports back to Santa every night about what good boys or girls we have been. If he gets home from the North Pole early enough, he then gets into all kinds of mischief. Elf love sugar and having fun. During the day he works all day watching us but at night he gets to have fun. This is our journal of Kirby the Elf 2012.

Day One

Kirby has left his box

Swinging from ceiling fan

The kids were so excited. They all were demanding he get down immediately. Emma said “Kirby get down now, don’t make me count to three!”

DAY TWO:

Watching us from the Christmas Tree

DAY THREE:

DAY FOUR: Kirby got a little out of hand, decided Daddy needed a haircut.

Daddy’s special haircut

Later found hanging out on the lollipop tree

DAY FIVE:

Kirby made us “Magic” Green Milk

DAY SIX:

Kirby found hanging out with 2 hotties. He’s like Gunner always has 2 pretty girls with him.

Kirby has “game”, likes to show off his love for the Texans with his football in the back

DAY SEVEN: Kirby misses the North Pole, so he built us a snowman.

Snowmen are so cool

This ends week one. Stay tuned for more Kirby antics. We have had a lot of fun, they all love looking for him every morning.

Feels like forever and a day since I’ve had time to write updates and post photos. Halloween was a lot of fun this year. We carved pumpkins, Rick did a scary face and Justin made a Thomas the Train pumpkin. The triplets completely embraced the traditions of dressing up and trick or treating. We started off with some costumes mom had got for them, lady bugs and bumble bee. All completely refused to even try on the costumes, and Faith very quickly told us “I a princess, I not a lady bug” so we went out and found a couple of princess costumes and a pirate. All were happy with that until Halloween came and Gunner decided he wasn’t a pirate after all and he was a Texan football player. Luckily, we had a jersey on hand that would suffice for the evening. We set on foot about 6:30pm to visit the homes right around us of the people they know. We were worried some of the scary costumes may frighten them but all were fine as long as we were holding hands. Emma was the best trick or treater, she would walk right up to the door and say “Happy Halloween, Trick or Treat”, once given her treat, she’d quickly say “Thank you” and we’d move on. Faith and Gunner did a good job with the thank you’s as well. Faith even said “trick or treat” a few times. They were very excited with their little treasures and thoroughly enjoyed the holiday. Justin stayed home and handed out candy this year from the house, shows how grown he has become, no more dressing up and trick or treating for him. We have a busy schedule coming up over the next week, including a photo shoot with Santa. The kids are already chatting up a storm over Santa and all the Christmas stuff we see in the stores. They love going to Lowes on the weekend and walking the Christmas isles already looking at all the lights, ornaments and decorations. They even think Santa sleeps in their closet, Rick loves Christmas and has definitely already instilled the excitement into the three of them. I’m looking forward to starting the Elf on the Shelf tradition this year and have already been seeing all the trouble this little elf can get into while everyone is sleeping. It should be fun, I’ll take photos and post all the things our little elf does this year.

Looking cute getting ready for the Texans to play

Faith, down, set …..

Gunn giving us a big “cheese” with toro

Pumpkin time

Daddy working hard on our pumpkin

No one wants to take their photo with the pumpkin

Happy Halloween

Emma and Daddy starting our Trick or Treat journey

Faith and Rachal

Aaron the blue man

Mason and Peyton

Playing football with dad in front yard

Look at that tackle, already taking dad down at 2

Faith and dad

Faith tackling Gunner

Emma pouting

Daddy getting Emma

Emma doing a QB Sneak when no one is paying attention

Coloring daddy with chalk

The school year is off to a great start. Justin is taking “Ready, Set, Teach” and he is liking it. He goes to the elementary school and mentors 1st graders and assists as a teacher helper. He is still working at the Dojo after school. He has an upcoming tournament in October in Missouri that he is looking forward too. Keith is having a blast in his senior year and excited about his 18th birthday. Friday night lights are in full swing and he is doing great in football. The triplets are running around, wearing their parents out as much as possible but they are growing so much and are such a joy. They are enjoying going to the football games. They love to stomp up and down on the metal walkway and make lots of noise. Rick and I are in full swing, playing fantasy football, we always have a good time doing that.

Happy Birthday Keith!

Keith

Keith and Katelynn

Making a tackle

Ready for Texans Football

Texans Win makes Gunner very happy

BCA Senior Football Players and Cheerleader