Friday, August 28, 2009

The Singing Puppets

Ok, so Chris and I are not big tv watchers. The kids do not or did not see much tv but we do listen to a lot of music. Well recently I was packing for our big move and I found two old vhs tapes that were sing along songs with the Muppets and Seseme Street. WHAT A MISTAKE! Edi on the Sofa with Henry and Sean on the ottoman and Sophia at the fence.
Sophia, usually she and Henry are both up here glued to the tv right here at the fence.

Henry, laying on the arm of the couch.


Sean, he sure loves those little puppets.



Edi, she is usually standing and dancing when they sing.
I am not sure how many times we have been forced to watch these two tapes. I looked on the internet to see if I could find some good deals on some different ones. We rented a disney sing along but they do not like cartoons only the puppet ones. I am not sure how many more times I can watch Kermit the frog sing the Octopus's garden or Miss Piggy shaking her can can.
Now Henry goes over to the television and wines until we put it in. I miss our normal music. We still try to sneak it in sometimes!!!! :) Let us hope this is just a phase and it will pass really soon. It could be worse I guess, it could be Barney. LOL




Monday, August 24, 2009

What'd I do????

Oh, look at this sweet innocent beautiful face. That is what you think when you first lay eyes on our little Sean, right? Well...WRONG. Sean trying to look as innocent as possible.
Now Sean, why is Edi crying? Do have any idea what happened to her, Sean????


Notice the big red bite mark on our little Edi's arm. Wonder who did that?

And here it is a little closer. OUCH, mama!!!
So...how do we get our little Sean to stop biting. He just keeps doing it over and over. All the kids have bruises all over their arms from him biting them. It makes me very sad. He does it even when the other kids are just standing beside him, they don't even have to be doing anything to him.
Let's hope he grows out of it soon! Mommy cannot take this too much longer, it makes me very sad. :(



Saturday, August 22, 2009

Thank you, St. Vincent Women's Hospital!

So...without this Hospital and without these people we would not be the family we are today. I know God sent us to this doctor and Hospital because our children were suppose to be born big and healthy. There is no doubt in my mind that without them our outcome would have been much different. Dr. Sumners with Edith, Sophia, Sean, and Henry.

One of our fabulous NICU nurses. She was a second mommy to Sophia and Sean. Well actually in the beginning they probably knew her better than me. I can never thank her enough or express the gratitude I feel. She dedicates her life to help little babies have a chance at life. What a fantastic mom she will be to her little guy.
J.J., Layton, and Shelley.
Micah, NICU nurse, was the one who really pushed Edith to eat her bottles at night. She is the reason that Edi came home before Sophia. Thank you, Micah, for taking such excellent care of our little ones. You're the BEST!

Micah with Henry, Sean, Sophia, and Edith.
Nurse Elizabeth was the delivery nurse for Sophia. Though she was not one of their primary nurses we were always happy to see her working with our kids. WE LOVE YOU!



Sophia and Elizabeth.
Though I do not have pictures I would like to mention a few other nurses. Brooke, whom we love dearly. Brooke took care of Edith and Henry during the day. What an awsome person. Becca, Sean's delivery nurse, I cannot say enough about. Also, Meghan and Sarah and many many others.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
I am so amazed at the compassion of these women. I can honestly say that each night when Chris and I left the hospital, without our children, I never one time worried about the care they were receiving. I absolutely trusted these women with the lives of our children and never had a doubt that they were being taken care of as if by their own parents. I will be forever grateful that God sent us to St. Vincent Women's Hospital were we were forever touch by the care and compassion that we encountered there!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Looks like we are movin'

We signed the contract today on a house in Foley, Alabama. Oh yeah, did I mention it is about 15 minutes from where this picture was taken. GOD IS GOOD! We are so excited. Now I just have to figure out how to pack up a two story house with 15 month old quadruplets and move all of us including 3 toy poodles halfway across the country. I am definately up for the challenge! BRING IT ON!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Rumpke Still Stinks, but we're movin' on!

A lot has happened since the last posting about my husbands job. He has severed all ties with that company. HIP HIP HOORAY! I have never felt so sure about any decision in my life. They were treating him so terrible and he did not feel right about a lot of the things they were doing. It is funny, he loved his job at one point and he was aways very good at it, although good luck finding anyone with authority to back that up at Rumpke. Even though Chris's back will never be good again, he had to leave. Hopefully he will figure out what NOT to do to keep his health in check. With four small children he does not want to take any unnecessary chances. Life is too short to waste any of it!

Now that our Rumpke nightmare is over, we are moving on. Chris had a 3rd interview on Monday and he will find out tomorrow if he got the job. So, please send up a little prayer for us! We are so excited and we feel that God is leading us to greater things.

Oh, by the way did I mention the job is in Foley, Alabama? YUP, that's right. In case you don't know that is approximately 15 minutes from the beautiful beaches of Gulf Shores. Sometimes life leads you were you never dreamed. Who would have thought we'd be getting ready to move 1 house, 2 parents, 3 dogs, and 4 toddlers 700 miles away. NOT ME! Besides the fact that we are leaving our families behind we are sooooo ready for this move!!!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

We're Famous


So... we went to King's Island in June... Our neighbors went this past weekend and they were looking at the pictures in the Keyhole Photography booth. This is were all the photographs that are taken when you first come in and anytime you walk toward the front of the park. Anyway they were looking in those little keychains that have a picture in them and they looked at the guy there and said, "Hey, that's our neighbor."


They said we are in every keychain. Kinda weird, huh??


Tomorrow is the NICU picnic at St. Vincent Women's Hospital. We will get to see all of our doctors and nurses from when the kids were born. I will let you know how it goes and have lots of pictures, of course. Have a blessed weekend!!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Is it getting smaller?

The ball pit is getting smaller. It seems like every time one of the kids get into the ball pit the other three follow. They cannot stand it if one of them has something that the others do not. OH...it starts early! Now, even though there is a whole bunch of balls Sean has to take the one that Sophia has in her hand.
Henry is laying down. He likes to lay in the balls sooooo cute. Edi often stays out of the ball pit when the others are in there because she gets picked on a lot and this way she can get away fast. You will often find Edi in the balls if no one else is around.


Henry is trying to take Edi's ball it is a much better ball than the 100 other balls he is sitting in.
They are best friends, always playing together. How could you ask for more? Instant best friends! :):):):)

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The Crazy things they Do

Everyday the kids seem to do something that just makes you want to laugh. Sophia is running from Henry because she just took a toy away from him.



"Hey, has anyone seen Henry?"


Henry is hiding under one of their toy bins.


I cannot find Sean anywhere. I looked all over the toy room and the living room.

Sean, after he climbed over the fence and was hiding behind the rocking chair.


What a little sweetie!



Here is Edith standing like a big girl. She was taking all the donuts off and putting them back on.
Even though there are many times I am so frustrated I do not know what to do, the kids seem to have a way to bring a smile to my face. I am so Blessed to have them. They are a lot of work most days but I would not have it any other way!! :)




Sunday, August 9, 2009

Four little Monkeys

Four little monkeys...
Now all of our kids are so brave!! They can all climb onto the couch now. Sophia and Sean have both fallen over the edge. I am just not fast enough. They are sooooo BIG. Sean realized the other day that he could climb onto the couch over the fence and escape. What a little booger. They keep me on my toes. Sophia, Henry, Sean and Edith. Don't they look like little lost puppies? So cute.

Everyday is an adventure, you never know what they are going to do next. :)

Friday, August 7, 2009

Rumpke STINKS!!!

For 15 years my husband has worked for a waste company. He has done just about every position from driver to supervisor to overall supervisor. Right after I got pregnant with the kids he injured his back and had to have a series of procedures and physical therapy. Well he received a disability rating and the doctor said his back would never be the same. Recently he injured it again. Only because his company refused to follow the advice of the doctor that treated Chris and they had him moving over 200 lbs by himself. Anyway he hurt his back again and had to have more therapy and another procedure. Now the doctor restricted his CDL, commercial drivers liscense, and gave him a lifting restriction also. He cannot drive for more than 4 hours a day. Because of this they have cut him down to Part time. Apparently there is nothing we can do about it, other than pray.

Please pray that he will find another job that will support our family. He has worked for this company for so long that he does not have experience in anything else. Because he can no longer use his CDL, no one will hire him because of the 4 hour restriction we are very concerned for the future of our family. He will graduate with his bachelors degree in computer information systems in a couple of months but we still need to support our family. Please pray God will lead us where he wants us to be and that we will be strong enough to obey!!!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

STOP Biting, Sean.

We have a biter. Sean, who has a mouth full of teeth, is constantly biting the other kids.
This picture is from a couple of months ago but today he bit Sophia's hand and Henry's arm in three places. I do not know what to do. We tell him no and take him to another part of the room but he doesn't seem to care.
He bites hard too. He leaves welts and bruises on the other kids. Because I am not always in the room I have no idea how it happens. I do know that Sophia pulls hair all the time and Henry is always scratching at their faces. It is hard to tell which one is more to blame but the welts and bruises are very disturbing. Hope we figure this one out soon!!!!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Sophia's First Steps

Our little Sophia then...
Our little Sophia now...

Now it is no surprise that Sophia is our first to walk. She has been taking a few steps between toys but today she walked across the room. My dh yelled and I grabbed the video camera and went a runnin'. Of course she wouldn't do it with the camera on but I did get to see it a little later.




Sophia has been the first to do everything except grow teeth and that medal has gone to Sean who is now sporting 8 teeth. Oh, and she was the last one to come home from the Hospital too. She has been so close to walking for months, she has actually been walking around on her knees. It is the strangest thing, I have never seen a child do that in my life.




Anyway we are so proud of our little Sophia. Good job, honey!!!

Monday, August 3, 2009

Big Yard Sale is Over

Ok, so how do you arrange over 1000 articles of clothing for a yard sale?

Well...like this. It may be hard to see in this picture but my dh built this lovely contraption for me to hang all my baby clothes on for the sale. This little hanging contraption is 15 feet long and 5 feet wide. It is openned on one end so shoppers can also go inside to shop. There are also double rods on each side.

That equals 70 feet of hanging space for all their clothes. It was a bit tight but we made it through. Shoppers thought our contraption and the ribbon pricing I used were ingenious. I don't know about that but I do know it was very organized. That is what I love most, ORGANIZATION!

Instead of using price tags I had five different prices and used five different colors of curling ribbon for each price. I posted signs on all sides of our contraption. The prices were secure and easy to see. It was very nice.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Still Remembering

The time in the hospital seems so long ago now. Even though they spend such a short time in the hospital, at the time it seemed like an eternity. This is little Sophia in her first few days. She is still sporting her feeding tube.
Edi in the tanning bed with her little sunglasses. Well... actually under the light for jaundice but I like to call it the tanning bed.

Little Henry hangin out with his legs proped up holding mommy's hand.


And Sean...could he be any cuter? I swear he saw the camera and posed like a little angel.
How blessed are we??? I am not sure why God granted us these four little blessings but boy are we so glad He did. We are so undeserving yet He gave us these little ones to look after, trusted US. WOW, there are still times it truely takes my breath away!!:):)



Saturday, August 1, 2009

First feeding and hold

Because I have been going through all the kids clothes from this past year I have been remembering the early days. I started thinking about when they were first born and we couldn't even dress them and how when we first started dressing them their preemie clothes just hung off their little bodies. I remember how cute they looked in their first little outfits. I have been a little teary all week going through all those clothes.

I decided to post the photos of some of the firsts for our little family. This is Sophia and mommy. This was the first time Sophia ever got food. I am holding the paci and nurse Shelley is holding the NG tube. Sophia did a great job sucking on her paci and she was offered the bottle within two days!!
Sean and his daddy. This picture always brings tears to my eyes. Chris had a look of amazement and love that I had never seen before. He was so nervous and proud and full of love all at the same time.