change of plans

No yard sale tommorrow I took a tumble down a flight of stairs last night and broke my wrist really bad so I am at Concord hospital having surgery to repair it.

Yard Sale!

It is amazing how much stuff the babies have outgrown already! So I decided it was time to do a yard sale. My friend Marlene Styles volunteered to use her home since it was in such a great location as the site of our sale. I got some help this afternoon getting everything tagged and ready for the yard sale and was surprised just how much I really had to get rid of! Anyways anyone looking for baby clothes and other stuff stop down at the Styles residence on Route 3 in Groveton just north the Meeting House beginning at 8 am. Marlene and I along with the kiddos would love to see you!

We took the babies to the town pool this evening and were pleasently surprised to find out that it is free for residents this week! It was 84 degrees and the babies loved it, except for Cameron who was exceptionally crabby after deciding he was not interested in taking his afternoon nap. It seems to be a trend this week that they are all taking turns not napping well. At least bed time has been fantastic this week. No crying out of Matthew and everyone has slept through the night for 2 nights now without any paci retrievals. I probably shouldn't write that because it will jinks me! LOL!

We are looking forward to another fun weekend! First the yard sale then Story Land with Uncle Tom and Auntie Kate on Sunday. Let's hope there is some great weather!

we need to go back on vacation!

Yesterday was a horrible day with the babies! They were just super crabby all day and napping was not something they were interested in doing, other than Brady who took 2 two hour naps. Even with the long naps he was still crabby. We decided we needed to go back on vacation! The were so good while we were away. Usually when they are in large crowds they get mad because everyone is playing pass the babies and touching their heads and faces...which they HATE! Everyone just let them play and sat and played with them without picking them up and it made them so much happier.

As hot as it has been the heat doesn't seem to bother them which is great. The only time they were actually in good moods all day yesterday was when we took them out for a walk. I think I am going to fill their baby pool so they can cool off in it tonight. We will see if Aubrey enjoys it anymore than she did last time.

I called a local hotel that lets you pay by the day to swim with the thought that we would bring them there last night and was informed that it was $6 a person...even for the babies! That is ridiculous! Thirty bucks for us to swim for maybe an hour... we will pass on that! I don't think our town pool is warm enough for the princess to enjoy. My uncle's pool was 78 and she was iffy about it but the hotel pool was really warm and she loved it.

Cameron got himself another tooth on the top this time and Brady popped his first one on Monday too. Matthew and Brady got their cribs lowered last week and now the other two need to have theirs lowered as well. Last night Cameron got up on all fours and put his hand on the top rail to wave at us. It isn't going to be long before we have four crawlers!

One thing we discovered over the weekend is that people in larger areas are much more accepting of multiples. Never once in all our stops did we encounter anyone who was rude. Everyone who spoke to us told us what a blessing they were and how lucky we were. It was so refreshing! Here at home we get the rude comments about it all the time and it is frusturating. I guess some people didn't get the lesson that if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all. I am tempted all the time when people give us "advice" to tell them if they think they can do better with the 4 of them then come down and give it a try. Did we plan to have quads? No, but we love them and I wouldn't trade it for anything even on days like yesterday!

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!