Happy Rakhi Ariya!

Yesterday, Ariya tied her first Rakhi's on her brothers Kailen, and Jaiden! Here is a little about this Indian tradition from another website:

"Rakhi is a major Hindu festival when women tie Rakhi or amulet on the wrists of their brothers. Rakhi is more popularly known as a Hindu brother-sister's day as they reaffirm their love and affection. Sisters tie colourful threads on their brother`s wrists. The brothers in turn promise to protect their sisters and give them gifts."

Jaiden and Kailen promised to protect their sister (especially to help daddy fend off all those boys in the future) and blessed Ariya with some gifts, while Ariya tied wrist amulets on her brothers and blessed them with long life!

6 Months Old!!!!!!

6 Months Old!

It's hard to comprehend how time flies by so quickly and how the babies are growing up so fast. We feel so blessed to have three healthy children - in all that could have went wrong with three premie-babies everything so far has turned out just fine...the babies are developing as they should. We feel so thankful for all the support from our family, friends, and our nanny for helping us through.

Reflecting back on six months, the memories of what they were like when they were first born are starting to fade a bit. I still can't believe that they were born weighing only 3-4 lbs. They are now 13-15 lbs!

As first time parents, it has been an adventure raising three little babies all at once; there have been many difficult moments but those have all been overshadowed by the joy that these three angels have given us. Of course, these babies are lucky to have a super mom that was simply meant to be a mom of triplets.

1 month old:

3 months old:

4 months old:

5 months old:

6 months old:

Super Mommy &...
Kailen :

Jaiden:

Ariya:

First Kiss!

Jaiden gave me a kiss today ..twice!

So cool getting a kiss for the first time from the babies. Kailen is continuing to be a bit on the cranky side - he seems to need more attention these days and is probably going through a phase. Ariya is happy as always enjoying the jolly jumper - today she peed on mommy while she was feeding..haha. The babies are all starting to interact more with one another; they often hold hands and take each other's soother's out ;)

Tomorrow, the babies get their third round of immunization shots. We're sure they'll be a bit under the weather afterwards

Missing the babies!

Daddy is away at a conference for a few days out of town and is missing the munchkins! Didn't realize how much I would miss them being away. Normally in the consulting world, you're expected to travel a lot but I've been lucky enough to escape it. This is the first time I've been away, but of course "Super Mom" Geeta is handling it just fine. I'm hoping the lack of travel remains status quo when I transition to Ottawa.

Jaiden had his post-hernia check-up today and all looks good. He has become such a calm boy since the surgery. What's funny however is how Kailen's personality seems to be shifting. Previously, Jaiden was our 'feisty' one while Kailen was the 'koala bear' calm one. Now the roles seems to be shifting. We think Kailen is the first to experience teething aches, and that may potentially explain some of his recent 'feisty-ness'. Jaiden and Ariya also seem to be teething and we are having to use teething gel on occasion to soothe their pain.

Moving Back Home To Ottawa!

Before the triplets were born, we would often read another triplet baby blog to try and get a sense of what life would be like for us when the babies were born. It's amazing how similar our experiences have been in comparison to the parents of that blog. Interesting enough, that family decided to move back to their home town in Florida after a few months of triplet parenthood to be closer to family and support. Similarly, Geeta and I have also decided to move back home to Ottawa to be closer to family and friends, and enjoy a slower pace of life. It's been over two years since we left Ottawa but we really feel that it's the right time to move back and the right decision for our family. We are really excited to be moving home, albeit we will miss our friends and life in Toronto :( I have been lucky enough to get a transfer with IBM to Ottawa. We will be moving in mid-October!

A couple of weeks back, Geeta and I went to Ottawa and were lucky enough to find a suitable home that fit what we were looking for. We will be moving back to the Centrepointe area in Nepean (where we formerly lived). The house has a nice backyard for the kids (big enough for a swing set down the road) and plenty of room inside for them to play. Some pictures below.

Our First Family Vacation

Our first family vacation has come to an end. It was a fun week with Uncle Sanjay and Sumit coming in from Dallas, Texas and Ottawa respectively, and Auntie Anjali coming in from California. Add in ten nieces and nephews (all under the age of 13) and and we had quite the Gera gathering! Ariya, Jaiden, and Kailen were a hit with their cousins - everyone was constantly wanting to hold them and play with them. It was really great seeing everyone together and we really hope we can continue to do this yearly.

We spent the last couple of weeks between Toronto and Blue Mountain, Ontario. Blue Mountain was a lot of fun as we were able to rent a chalet that accommodated all 16 of us. We spent a lot of time on the deck, in the hot tub, bbq'ing, playing pool, hiking, taking in the village, and beaching it up at Wasaga Beach.

Geeta and I didn't know what to expect with taking the kids out of town and being surrounded by so many family members....we somehow managed ok, but it was somewhat of a challenge at times as the kids had to adapt to a new environment and get used to having so many kids and family members around them. The kids are all teething currently and are not always in the best of moods these days - so it was not always easy to keep them comfortable. Mommy and Daddy were lucky to have everyone being so understanding and continuously feeding us and cleaning up after us...we had a good time! We also celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with the entire family in Little India in Toronto.

Enjoying the sun at our chalet in Blue Mountain, Ontario

2 year old cousin Sonya taking care of Ariya

2 x brothers enjoying downtime

Out and about with Daddy Uncle Sanjay visits from Dallas, Tx (Sacha's brother)

Enjoying Wasaga Beach!

Auntie Anjali visits from Californa (Sacha's sister) and 3 year old cousin Gia holds Jaiden

5 year old cousin Ayana holding Jaiden

The most eldest cousin, Anika and Princess Ariya

Anika trying on some shades on Ariya

Family Reunion Underway!!

The Gera Family Reunion is in full swing!

6 adults and 10 kids...makes for quite the party.

We've been doing our best to hang out in T.O. together before our departure to Blue Mountain on Monday, but that's not always easy with such a big family. The nice thing is that everyone has gotten to meet the babies finally and it's really neat knowing that our little ones have so many cousins to grow up with.

What's new with the triplets?

Ariya Bella is getting really good at holding up her head. Tummy time is paying off and maybe the Jolly Jumper is helping too. She also likes to smile on demand. Mommy and Daddy can get her to smile at will now. She's also has Daddy wrapped around her finger....I admit it! When I sneak back into our bedroom at night to grab a few things, she always opens her eyes and smiles at me because she knows I'll pick her up :)

Jaiden is like a little baby tigger. These days, he's trying out different voices and often sounds like a little kitten when he yells ;) He's such a good little boy and his feisty tendencies have subsided quite a bit. Jaiden also smiles on demand now and started rolling over!

Kailen is still a Koala Bear who loves to cling on to any tree that will hold him. He's becoming more vocal now and had got quite the lungs on him, especially when he is hungry. Kailen can now roll over now...so incredible to watch.