4th of July Weekend

The babies had a great time on our mini vacation this weekend. They were the best behaved 9 month olds that you could ask for! They all were smiley and never once while we were out were they crabby. They even slept better in the hotel than they do here at home even. We crammed a lot into a short amount of time but it was nice to see everyone and it makes me wish my family lived a lot closer.

We started our trip off Saturday morning and made a stop in Tilton for feeding and some pajama shopping. I could have gone crazy in Carter's but was well behaved and left with only one set of pj's for the boys and a shirt for Aubrey. Next up we headed to Lee to see the MacLeod family and let the two sets of quads play together. We had so much fun and wish they lived closer it was so nice to visit with people who really understood what our life is like. My babies succeeded in tearing up the place and trying to bully the other set. They obviously think that the 2 months older they are gives them the right to be the boss of the other babies. What fun they will be once all 8 of them can run around and cause some trouble! LOL!

The Hickey Quads and the MacLeod Quads


Next up we continued on to the hotel to check in, set up the pack and plays and feed the troops before heading to my aunt and uncle's house for pizza. Almost the whole gang was there so we were able to visit a little and eat before it was time to retreat to the hotel and put the babies to bed for the night. Matthew was not at all happy to go to bed! My little party animal wanted to stay up, as always! He succeeded in waking Brady twice and Cameron once before falling asleep at 8:30 and he managed to keep himself asleep until 5 am with the exception of one 9:30 paci retrieval. The others slept until 5:30 am the next morning also. I was not looking forward to being up with them because they were in a strange place.

Sunday morning we were all up, showered, dressed, babies fed and ready to roll at 7:15 am so we went across to the Panera Bread to get some breakfast. Mind you the babies all ate a bowl of Oatmeal with Blueberry and Pears and a 4 oz bottle but when our breakfast came out you would have thought we had starved them for DAYS! So I ended up returning to the counter and getting them a blueberry muffin to share. Everyone but Cameron was loving us feeding them small bites from our fingers and it took a while but I finally realized that Cameron would take a bite from the fork but not my hand. He always needs to be a little different! Once he tried it he couldn't get enough either. The four of them managed to polish off the entire muffin. Boy are we in trouble when they start eating real food!

Leaving the hotel all dressed in their best Red White and Blue


Aubrey loving the blueberry muffin


Cameron saying "I will not open my mouth except if you have a spoon in front of it!"


Matthew yelling for another bite


Brady says "MMMmmmmmm"


After breakfast we went back to the hotel and I gave the babies a nap while Ben went to the store and to find Dunkin Donuts. Then we gave them bottles and headed to the Stone Zoo to see the animals with my Dad, brother,nephew and my youngest cousin. They liked to look around and see the animals and Aubrey did not whine once about any of the animals so that was a nice treat for us. She is so like her mother.

The six of us at the zoo


My brother Kyle and nephew Evan checking out the wolves. Evan thought that this one was real!


Daddy and Babies ready check out the zoo


Me and the Babies posing with the flamingos!


Matthew wasn't too sure about this


Happy Cameron watching the people and animals


Aubrey loved the flamingos


Brady was excited about the bears


Getting cooled off in the fan that blew a nice mist of water


After the zoo we headed back to my aunt and uncles for the pool party and BBQ. It was the quads first time in a big pool and we weren't sure how they were going to like it. Brady is definitely the water baby of the group, he loved it from the first dip. Before long the other three got acclimated with it and were floating around as well. The boys all figured out that if they kicked their feet they would move so that was a fun trick for them all. I wish I had had a little more time to visit with everyone but the babies kept me pretty busy the entire day and before long it was time to take pictures and say good bye so we could bring the babies back to the hotel for bed.

Aubrey thinking..."Do I really want to do this?"


..."OK, fine! As long as I have my paci and Daddy"


Cameron figuring out how to splash


Brady playing ball


Matthew chilling out


Ben and Aubrey, Me and Cameron, Courtney and Brady, Melissa and Matthew


The girls
Courtney, Jamie, Caitlyn, Aubrey, Kari, Melissa and Cherise


The guys
Karl, Jeff, Jason with Cameron, Mike with Brady, Kyle and Evan, Matthew M., and Ben with Matthew H.


All the McAllister Cousins except for Brandon and Dan


The babies were ready for bottles and bed early Sunday night. After a day in the pool and heat they were soooooo tired they slept from 7pm-5am with only 2 wake ups for pacis. I think we need a pool! LOL!

Monday morning we got all our stuff together and decided to take a dip in the hotel pool before heading out. They liked that pool even more because it felt as warm as their bath water. Cameron figured out how to blow raspberries and make bubbles in the water so he amused himself with that trick for a bit while everyone else took turns swimming around the water.



Ben and I each grabbed a quick shower and loaded the van up for our journey home. 6 lost pacifiers and 13 shoe stores later Ben settled on a pair of sneakers and we arrived home 8 hours after we left for our 3 hour ride. Understandibly the babies were all crabby by the time we went home and as I am typing this I have gone up to replace pacis, pat backs, etc 12 times so far. I think it is going to be a LONG night!

Carnival Fun

We brought the babies to the Carnival today in a town about 30 miles from home and they got to ride on a couple rides. We got there a little early so headed to the playground area to play on the swings. Matthew discovered kicking makes them move so he was kicking up a storm! So funny! They were not as excited about the carnival as I had hoped they would be but they seemed to have a good time all but Mr. Grumpy Pants (aka Brady). He was not happy unless he had his paci which is unlike him. Cameron was frightened by the sound one of the rides made so he was not too happy to walk by that section of the place. I think that they may have been more enthralled had it been dark and they could see everything lit up. This is just the beginning of the fun filled days ahead!

On the swings waiting for the fun to start!


Daddy and his mini me Matthew


Mommy and Cameron on the merry go round


Auntie Kate and Aubrey


Bumpa and Brady


Mommy, Matthew, Daddy and Brady riding the train


Bumpa and Cameron chilling out on the train


Uncle Tom and Aubrey in the Caboose


Ready for bed!

9 month check up and random ranting...

As many of you know I have been contemplating making this blog private. I intended this blog as something for the babies to be able to read when they got older kind of like a memory book but only having to fill out one. I never expected for it to become a must read for as many people as it has. We love that so many people are interested in keeping up with what the little quadlings are doing and their milestones but hate that I have been made to feel that some of the things I write are an issue with some. I hate to make it private due to the fact only 100 people can follow and we have 113 publicly following and lord knows how many that just check in without an account however if it continues to be a source of conflict I am going to have to make it private. I will not censor what I have to say because, like I said, I am writing this for MY CHILDREN to read in the future. I hope that I can continue to let you all read this blog!

Oh and by the way I have changed it so everyone can comment not only the people who follow. I hope that helps!

Onto the 9 month update!

Our pediatrician was impressed by all the things the babies are doing and how they have almost caught up with their actual age. No shots were needed this time around which made Daddy a happy boy! They are all growing well and don't need to be seen again until their 1 year check up. Here are their stats:

Matthew 19 lbs 9 oz 45th percentile
28" long 45th percentile
18" head circumference 60th percentile

Brady 23 lbs 12 oz 90th percentile
29.5" long 85th percentile
19" head circumference 100th percentile

Cameron 20 lbs 9 oz 50th percentile
27.5" long 25th percentile
18.5" head circumference 90th percentile

Aubrey 16 lbs 10 oz 20th percentile
26.25" long 15th percentile
17.5" head circumference 60th percentile

What big boys we have!

All three of the boys were getting too heavy for us to carry in their infant seats so we made the decision to put them in the convertible car seats yesterday. Brady has been in his for almost 2 months now and the other two boys are at or close to the maximum weight for the infant seat. We had hoped to fit 3 of them across the back seat in order for us to be able to load them easier but after pushing, pulling, and wiggling we discovered that there was no way to put the 3 seats we have across the back seat of our van. We finally figured out that if we pull the front seat all the way up and sit it up in the straightest position that we could squeeze by the middle row to get into the rear. Not ideal but we plan to so extended rear facing as long as it works possible to keep them as safe as we can so we needed to figure out something that worked. Aubrey is still in her infant carrier for now but by one she will be in her big girl seat too.

Ben and I went to a wedding Saturday and had a fantastic time! I think the babies had a great time getting spoiled at their sleep overs. All 4 of them showed off and slept great throughout the night. Tom and Kate were especially lucky to have Aubrey sleep until 7:15 when they woke her up. That doesn't happen in our house! It was a much needed break for Ben and I and we are extremely grateful to have people that we felt so comfortable leaving our babies with. Thank you Tom, Kate, Ryan, Tonya, Sam, Chris, Mom and Larry.

We had a visit from a friend who works for Kurt Busch and she brought them some racing outfits so they were ready for the big Nascar race that NH hosted yesterday. They looked too cute! Thank you Kristy!

Tomorrow is their big 9 month check up. I cannot believe that they are that old! They have a busy week ahead, pediatrician appointment, home health appointment, hopefully a trip to the carnival if the weather is ok, a play date with the McLeod quads and their big sister Hannah, family reunion in Massachusetts, a couple nights in a hotel, fireworks and a trip to the zoo. They are so social and love to be out and about so they are going to have a blast!

Ready for the race!

Catching up

Whoever insured me life gets easier as the babies grow obviously did not live at this house! To me it seems to go in spurts, when we first came home it was so hard to adjust to 4 babies who needed us all the time then when we got in a routine it seemed much easier then they started moving!

They do not want to be contained except for rides in the stroller or car rides anymore which is great because I was just recently made aware of the downfall of using jumperoos and excersaucers. They now are only playing in those about 20 minutes a day other than that they are on the floor. They sit up all alone for as long as they want to without falling. Matthew and Brady are doing pretty good at going from sitting to laying on their own while the other two cry until we put them on their bellies. Once they are down there is no stopping them! They pull and twist and roll to get wherever they want to go with minimal effort. Brady will stand on his own holding the couch if put him up there. Brady and Matthew are getting on all fours and rocking. Lord help us when they can crawl! We are waiting for them to start pulling up on things to get themselves up but so far no progress there.

Cameron had his surgical follow up last week and all looked really good. You would never even know that surgery had been performed. Matthew was VERY whiney and wanted to be held for 3 days so I took him to the doctors the end of last week and he was a model patient while we were there. He let the doctor look in his throat, take swabs, and laughed the whole time. I kept insisting this was not at all like the Matthew we had at home the past couple days but I don't think he really believed that!

We have been on the go a lot lately! Between doctors visits we had Kindergarten Graduation for my nephew Kaden and then his student of the quarter ceremony we attended at the local elementary school, we went to 2 birthday parties last weekend for my nephew Evan and their buddy Konner, we celebrated father's day by taking Ben out to lunch and attending the fishing derby. This week hasn't been any less hectic with school being out and our days being filled with kids, early supports, a play date at Grammies with some cousins and our evening walks. Luckily it has been nice enough we have been able to go out all week!

Tomorrow Ben and I are attending a wedding for some friends and the babies are going for sleepovers! They probably won't want to come home after being spoiled by their Godparents and my mom!

They have all gotten so big they now bathe without the bath ring in the sink. I am looking forward to putting them all in the big tub together one of these nights soon! Here are some pics to end the post

Next up...9 month Well Child Check next week!

Happy Father's Day!

We are so happy to be able to share in this special day this year! I cannot wait until the babies get big enough to make and buy their own gifts for daddy but for this year a picture in a frame that says Super Dad of Quadruplets was his gift as well as a few things we made for him. Off to the fishing derby, a birthday party then taking Daddy out for dinner! We love you Daddy!

Mommy's day out!

I took the day off yesterday from work and my mom and Ben kept the babies for the day and I went shopping for some birthday party supplies for the quadlings, a gift for my nephew's birthday and to stock up on supplies at BJ's before picking up my niece (not biological but of the heart<3) to take her to the Olive Garden and to a concert for her 13th birthday.

It was so weird to have the day to myself and not load and unload babies a hundred times! I missed them so much but it was a much needed day to myself. I got a couple great deals on decorations for the party and of course dinner was FABULOUS at the Olive Garden!

We got to see Cavo, Lifehouse and Daughtry in concert and it was a fabulous show! We got to meet the members of Cavo and get autographs. The highlight of that for me was that the lead singer of Cavo is also a parent to quadruplets. His wife must be Superwoman holding down the fort with him on the road!

The ride home was horrible. 2.5 hours in the dark all alone I could barely keep my eyes open. I stopped several times to get out and get some fresh air but was so happy to be home to check on my babies and get some much needed sleep!