Monkeys!

Last week Brady ended up with a concussion after falling off the couch and passing out. I think I had a heart attack when I picked him up and he went limp in my arms but it didn't slow him down any! The very next day he was climbing and diving. I think we are raising little monkeys the way they act sometimes. I am sure more concussions are in the future for us!

Matthew learned that if he climbs on the chair he can get even higher.


Brady kneeling his sister's 4wheeler and driving it across the room.


Aubrey thinks the block table is a good place to sit.


Cameron trying to scale the gate.

Thanksgiving 2010

There are so many things we are grateful for this Thanksgiving but first and foremost we are grateful for all of our friends and family for all they do for us and all the love they show to the babies. They are fortunate to have so many people that love them. We are grateful everyday that we were blessed with four healthy babies that keep amazing us every day. We hope everyone has a terrific Thanksgiving!

Success!

I was a little nervous Friday when we started Operation Paci-be-gone but it was no where near as bad as I thought it was going to be! Friday was rough getting them to go down but I soon discovered that me trying to go in and calm them down was actually dragging it out so I let them cry it out. Cameron was very upset and ended up throwing up a little and I began second guessing it but I changed him and his bedding then rocked him to sleep and they slept AWESOME!

Saturday the crying lasted less than 5 minutes per nap/bedtime, no one threw up and they slept through the night without needing me to go in there 10x to replace the fallen paci. By Sunday crying was down to 2 minutes or less and they were sleeping later in the mornings. It is nice to have this task behind us but sad because it is one more reminder that they are growing up too fast!

Last pictures with the pacis!








Why did we wait so long? Bye, bye paci bucket!

14 month old stats

The quaddlers have a 15 month well child check in another couple weeks but I have been wondering about their weights lately as they seem to get heavier with each passing day so I took the opportunity to weigh them while dressing them and these are the unofficial results...

Matthew 22 lbs 14oz 30" tall
Brady 27 lbs 10oz 31.5" tall
Aubrey 20 lbs 1oz 29" tall
Cameron 24 lbs 1oz 29.5" tall

Still no walkers in the group but they are doing great with the push toys and love to climb. Teething is a never ending battle in this house! Cameron is in the lead with 12 teeth, Matthew has 10, Brady 10 and Aubrey 3. They all love to talk!

Matthew can say...
hi
hello
bye
hey
up
what's that
no
sit
cup
lunch
momma
dadda
sis
ball
bath
belly
stop
go
wall
yay

Brady can say...
momma
dadda
bumpa
cup
up
ball
bath
poop
butt
Jackie
cracker
cookie
belly
bye bye
hi
yay
go

Aubrey can say...
momma
dadda
yes
no
tickle
thanks
cup
up
hi
bye
go
stop
yay

Cameron can say...
momma
dadda
what's that
no
hi
bye
go
yay

Play Dates

We had a weekend filled with playdates! Saturday we attended the Gerber House Party at the Hamilton's and the babies had fun playing with kids their own age somewhere other than at home. At first they were good about not being mean and taking toys from the other kids but soon they warmed up and realized it was just as much fun to take toys from others as it was to take them from their siblings! It was great to get them out of the house for a few hours and have the chance to visit with moms that have kids the same age as mine.

An attempt at a group picture


Brady and Kara making a break for it


Cameron wondering how he is going to steal a toy from TWO girls!


Matthew was in love with Addison's pigtails! Every time he would try to kiss them she would move away and her yelled "HEY!"


Matthew and Kara chilling out


Brady- "You can't put the ball back in the popper!" Addison- "Fine, then you can't have the ball"


Aubrey riding the tractor


Today we got a visit from their little friend Peyton all the way from Maryland. I wish they lived closer because I know they would be great friends like his mom and I are. The way Aubrey kept wanting to kiss Peyton cracked me up. She hates when her brothers try kissing her lately! The babies were great about sharing their toys with Peyton and his cousin Kasen.

Group picture


Aubrey loves Peyton


Brady+Peyton= Buddies


I love these guys!

Operation Paci-be-gone

Back in July the babies gave up thier pacifiers during the day and did fine with it after the first two days but I have been procrastinating getting rid of them at bedtime because I admit, I like my sleep and didn't want to have a reason to lose sleep. Ben gives in a lot quicker than I do, even though he tries to tell me I am the pushover of the group, so I decided this weekend was the perfect weekend to get rid of them while he was gone to camp.

Yesterday's nap time consisted of 10 minutes or so of yelling, screaming and crying before giving in and taking a nap. Bedtime was the same other than Cameron working himself into a frenzy and throwing up in his crib so I stripped his sheets and he ended up needing to be rocked to sleep. The bright spot in all this is when they awoke during the night they whimpered then fell back to sleep on thier own and the first baby didn't wake up this morning until 6:15 this morning! That is 45 minutes later than they normally start waking up.

This morning when they laid down for their nap they didn't cry at all! Yay! Does this mean that the mission was successful? I sure hope so!

March of Dimes Prematurity Awareness Day

Today the March of Dimes released it's 2010 Premature Birth Rates Report Card. New Hampshire scored a C, between 9.4%-11.3% of all births are premature, which is the highest any of the States scored. The United States has a higher premature birth rate than most other developed countries. The highest cause of premature birth is women smoking, even if you do not smoke every day having more than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime puts them at higher risk. The second highest cause is due to being uninsured and not getting proper health care during pregnancy. The third highest is late preterm delivery due to early induction or early c-sections. It is urged that health care professionals do not deliver prior to 39 weeks gestation.

In honor of March of Dimes Prematurity Awareness Day the goal is to get as many people to blog about a preemie they know and love. I know many preemies and am grateful every day home many have had such a great outcome however there are many who don't. I am lucky to have not only one perfect preemie to blog about but four!

I was very fortunate to receive such good prenatal care and have a fairly uneventful pregnancy that led me to carry these babies to 32 weeks gestation. I am grateful every day that we have not seen any developmental delays or health issues and especially that I was able to bring my babies home at without monitors or any medications between day 26-35 of birth.

Matthew is definitely my most head strong. He gets an idea in his head and refuses to give in until he is successful. He is the first one to make his brothers or sister cry but he is also the first one to kiss them when they do. If only he would learn you don't have to be mean in order to be nice.

Brady is the one who is most independent. He will play alone or with the other kids and entertain himself for hours on end. When he is mad there is no getting him out of him bad mood but when he is happy he is the happiest kid on the block. He loves to be tickled and play peek a boo. He takes his nickname monster to a new level lately as he roars at everyone and dives into his ball pit without thinking twice.

Aubrey is definitely the little diva of the group. Anything that is hers the boys cannot touch but she thinks she can have whatever she wants of theirs. Shoes are her passion and she loves to have pretty ones. She loves to cuddle, especially with Daddy and her little giggle warms my heart.

Cameron is the one who is the most laid back. He used to be the one all the others targeted because he would just cry and let them be mean to him however he decided that he is just as strong and now will stand up for himself. He is very good at entertaining himself and strong willed. He loves to look at books and play on the slide.

Little People, Big Appitites

These little babies are going to eat us out of house and home! I am amazed each day by the amount of food these guys put away, I am not looking forward to seeing our grocery bill when they become teenagers! Yesterday was an average day and this is what they put into those tiny bellies:

Breakfast-
2 English Muffins with Banana Butter
1 Can of Mandarin Oranges
24 oz of Milk

Snack-
4 oz of White Grape Juice
28 oz of Water

Lunch-
12 Fish Sticks
20 Sweet Potato Fries
2 cups of Baked Squash cubed
24 oz of Milk

Snack-
16 Mini Oreos
4 oz of Kiwi Strawberry Juice
28 oz of Water

Dinner-
1 Boneless Pork Chop
1 Package of Broccoli Cheddar Noodles
1 cup of Steamed Broccoli
24 oz Milk

Bedtime-
20 oz Milk

Fun at Chuck E Cheese

We took the quadlings to Chuck E Cheese today and they LOVED it! When we first got there it was empty so the babies were able to crawl around and play but quickly it filled up and it became much more difficult to let them just play around. All four of them loved the rides and playing on the climber and they clapped along with Chuckie. Of course the pizza was a hit as that is one of their favorite foods! We got back in the car and within 5 minutes they were all sound asleep. I wish it was closer so we could go and wear them out there more often.

Driving the fire truck



Brady was loving riding the horse but Matthew wasn't quite as sure



Riding with Chuck E Cheese



Playing in the play area

Our little over achievers

Since we came home from Boston last year the babies have been in a program called Early Supports and Services where the staff comes and monitors their progress and helps us teach them how to do new things to meet their milestones. It has been wonderful having the extra set of eyes and we believed that we would need them for referrals as we were certain that there would be developmental delays. In order to qualify you have a yearly evaluation in which you need to show a 33% developmental delay based on their actual age.

Today was bittersweet for us as all four of our tiny toddlers were evaluated and no longer qualify for services. I am going to miss the extra set of eyes and the reassurance that they are keeping up with their peers. I am thrilled though that they are developing on target and have no noticeable issues.

I expressed my concern to the evaluators that not one of the foursome were walking yet and was assured that anytime from 12-18 months is considered to be within the normal limits. They are all making progress towards walking and Cameron and Brady are doing great at standing on their own so I guess I need to just relax and let them do it in their own time.

Little Miss Grudge-holder

Aubrey is your typical daddy's girl...always wants all of his attention, as soon as she sees him she no longer wants me or anyone else for the most part and she cries when he leaves for work every morning (if she is up that is)! Well this afternoon she was a little crabby pants and did not want to be put down for a second and he made the mistake of trying to let one of her brothers sit with him so she screamed. Then he reached for a ball and she screamed some more. So he put her down and sternly told her that he had enough of her attitude so she came crawling out to me crying.

After about a half hour he kept trying to talk to her and she was completely ignoring him like he wasn't even speaking to her. When he would come close she would snuggle into me so he couldn't see her face. I asked her if daddy was a meanie and she shook her head yes. It was hysterical! After about 20 minutes of him trying to talk to her, play with her, coerse her into liking him again she broke down and went to him. Man if she can hold a grudge that long at one year old I hate to see what it will be like when she is a teenager!

One step closer to walking!

We are getting a little discouraged that our little toddlers aren't walking yet at almost 14 months so we decided to purchase some walking toys to get them motivated. I was so proud of Cameron for being the first one to master it. He is always the last one to figure stuff out. Aubrey was very nervous to take steps with it but with much encouragement she has finally started to try it out. Hopefully they will be walking unassisted very soon.

Matthew trying to figure out how to get around the furniture


Cameron is so proud of himself


Brady thinks he is so cool going around in circles


Aubrey taking one little step at a time


Matthew and Cameron playing bumper cars


My three little monkeys


...and the little princess on her throne

Multiple Birth Awareness Week

Many times in the past year we have been asked if we wanted to have multiples. This question really has two answers. We didn't "want" to have multiples when we started fertility treatments, we wanted a baby of our own to love, however from the moment we found out that we were expecting the quads we wanted them...ALL of them.

Every time we go out in public I get the "you've got your hands full" countless times. Yes, my hands are full but my heart is fuller! We truly do not have it as rough as people think we do. We follow a routine, take the babies everywhere with us and I am able to care for them all day alone when I need to. They are a lot of work but they are soooooo much fun!

It is amazing that 4 babies were born at the same time, from the same parents, raised in the same home, with the same rules and are so completely different! Each of them is totally unique and have such different personalities, they each have different strengths and weaknesses and each one of them know just how to work mommy and daddy!

Here are some interesting quadruplet facts:

The state with the highest population of quadruplets is New York, followed by New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

There are about 3500 sets of quadruplets worldwide; only 60 or so are identical or monozygotic.

Parents of quadruplets will change close to 30,000 diapers before their kids are potty trained.

National average gestation for quads is 29 weeks. The most premature surviving quads were born at 23 weeks. The longest gestation was 37 weeks.

The incidence of quadruplet birth rose more than 400% in the last quarter of the 20th century, but rates have declined somewhat in the years since 2000.

Banner Good Samaritan Hospital in Arizona is believed to have delivered the most sets of quadruplets.

There have been cases of one woman giving birth to 4 sets of quadruplets in her lifetime.

The youngest mother to give birth to spontaneous quads was just 15 years of age. The oldest mother was 55 years of age.

First Oreo Cookies

Every time the babies try something new it is so fun to watch their reaction to it. Sometimes it is good, sometimes it is bad, and other times it is a horrible mess!

Matthew


Brady


Cameron


Aubrey