Sunday, July 26, 2009

A Check-up, A Weekend Home......and some TEETH!

Well, the kids had a 9 month check-up on Tuesday and all is well! They were measured against other 9 month old babies. They did not used their adjusted age. Here are the results:


Sarah: 15lbs 1oz. and 27 inches long (5th % for weight, 25th % for height)

Luke: 19lbs. 8oz. and 28.2 inches long (40th % for weight, 50th % for height)

Ava: 14lbs. 5oz. and 26.5 inches long (She is not on the charts for weight yet, 18th % for height)

Lily: 18lbs. 7oz. and 29 inches long (50th % for weight, 90th % for height)


They all seem to be doing well except for Ava. She needs to work on her weight. Speaking of Ava, we have her back in feeding therapy to come up with some new ways to help her eat. The insurance company would not cover Nexium, which is $200.00 if we were going to purchase it, so they switched her to Prilosec..... and guess what....crossing my fingers, I think it is working. She seems to be eating much better. I certainly don't want to jinx it, but I swear it is! She is eating like a champion! My friend also sent me some of her bottles down that may be helping as well! Also, when we were at the pediatrician's office and the Doctor was checking Lily, I was playing with Ava and she stuck my finger in her mouth and bit down as to say "Look what I have Mommy" and viola....she has 2 bottom teeth coming through. Of course it had to be the fighter, right? The one that was in the hospital the longest, has done everything first! What's up with that? I'm not sure if I am happy about her being the first one to have them though. She is so mean to the other kids. I'm so scared she is going to start biting them. I am happy! just a little nervous! We have started on 3 bottles a day with food in between including yogurt! They seem to be adjusting to it well and love the yogurt!

This weekend we just stayed home and enjoyed the kids. It was a relaxing weekend. I took in every minute of it, because I go back to work tomorrow! Of course we had a few visitors that can't seem to stay away! Great Aunt Jeri stopped by and so did Great Uncle Jay! They are regulars...


Lily says "Great Aunt Jeri, will you play with me and my bunny?"



Ava says, "But I want to play too!!!"



Eating our Mum Mums and watching Baby Einstein!



What a wonderful day! You would think they were at the movies...


Daddy loves playing around with the kids!


Lily says, "I love your hat Daddy. Go Phillies!"



Sarah says, "I love it when you play with me and only me Mommy!"



Ava says, "What do you mean it's time to get ready for bed?"



"Look Mommy, I'm standing!!!"



"Great Uncle Jay is so fun!"



"I don't wanna go to bed yet!!"


"We love Grandpop!!!"


The three princesses! Watch out!


" What about me? Aren't I debonair?"


" I mean look at me! Aren't I so cute?"


Hangin' around!


Clowning around with Daddy!


"I love toys!"


"What? These are all mine! ALL MINE!


Here is a short video of all of the kids in action today. Don't forget to pause the music before you start watching. You can really see their personalities shine! What are your thoughts?



Our visitors are also starting up again for visits! Great Aunt Susanne and Sean are coming in for 10 days on Friday and Great Uncle John is coming for a visit as well. Nana is coming in mid-August for 2 weeks and Pop Pop is coming in October for 3 weeks.


Have a great week! I blog again, hopefully, on Sunday!


Kelly

Sunday, July 19, 2009

9 Months Old

Hello all!
We are all finally caught up and are up to date! Yay! This week was the week of catch up for me. I officially start work on August 3rd, but I'm going to start going in this upcoming week for a few hours at a time to get my classroom together since I was out on maternity leave so long. I'm also doing it so that I can get used to being away from the kids a little at a time. It's going to be so hard for me. I guess I'll get through it. Most people have to do it, but most people don't have to leave four at once!

As I was saying this week was a week of getting things caught up. I got the kids baby books all caught up to date, got their photo albums up to date, and copied all the pictures from the computer to CD in case something ever happens to the computer. We also bought gates and rearranged the living room to make more space for the kids. Ava is officially crawling, as you will see in the videos below. As far as her results from her tests. it showed that she does had a severe case of GERD, but nothing more serious. There are no blockages and the tissue results came back fine. So, the doctor is switching her meds to Nexium to see how that works and we just have to keep trying to work with her to eat more food.

We are starting a new schedule this week. We are going to try to ween them down to three bottles a day with more jar food in between, but if Ava doesn't seem to handle it well, we'll keep her at four bottles.

Sarah and Lily look as if they are about to start scooching soon. We'll see. Luke is just a big lug. He is so stiff. I'm gonna have to do exercises with him to help him flex or something. So no, he is no where near crawling. When he reaches for something and pushes it out of the way by accident, he cries because he can't reach for it. Besides crawling, Ava is already pulling herself up on things. She is really a piece of work for being so tiny! All four of them are talking away telling stories. It's especially funny when they go down for their naps or when they wake up and they are in there talking. I swear they have their own language.

Last Sunday Great Uncle Robert and Aunt Kris came over for a visit. We had a good time as always. This time they got to spoon feed them. Fun, Fun! Yesterday, we went to the Sophia, Tanner, Joel, & Wyatt Crissman's first birthday party! We had a blast and the kids really enjoyed themselves, so much that they slept in an extra hour this morning. It was really great hanging out with them all. We're gonna do it again real soon!

Below you'll find our traditional slide showand short videos below the slide show. Have a great day!
Kelly



Remember, press the pause button on the music bar before you play it!!!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Summer Visitors & July 4th

In an attempt to get caught up I am going to do one post for this summer. We have had so many visitors com and go, I don't know where to even begin or where to end. I do know that for most, it is the middle of summer, but for me......my summer is winding down and all I can think about is going back to work (August 3rd) and not spending every day with my kids. With that in mind I am trying to get caught up on everything before I go back to work. I'll tell you a little about our visitors this summer.

Our first visitor this summer was Krista. She used to live here in Florida and we worked together in Kindergarten. She also lived with Nick and I. She was our roommate for a year, but then she got engaged and moved back to her hometown in Ohio, got married and just informed me on her visit that she is expecting in January! We are so excited for her and her husband. So,....when we got back home after our visit up north, she was here! She was staying with another friend, Jolene, and then came to stay with us.

Jenny, Jolene, and Krista playing with the babies after the beach.
Krista laying around with Sarah and Ava.
Our dog Zelda sporting a pair of the babies sunglasses that Nana got for them. Doesn't she look so cute?
Krista feeding Lily some cereal.

Look what Daddy did to Luke while he fell asleep!
Krista holding Sarah.

While Krista was here, my cousin Ashley (Uncle Jay's Daughter) was down visiting as well. She came in on June 19th. She stayed with her dad, but came over daily to help out!
Ashley feeding Lily her bottle.
Krista attempting to feed Ava.
Mommy feeding Luke. He'll eat anywhere, in any position. As long as the bottle is in his mouth!
Get used to it Krista....it happens a lot! Krista almost lost her lunch over this one! Sorry, I laughed. She didn't think it was very funny!

Lily trying out the walker for the first time.

Krista and.....you guessed it, Sarah...are you seeing a pattern? We don't play favorites here!

Ashley playing with Sarah.


I thought this was hilarious! Luke is watching Nascar. We're not Nascar fans, but my Uncle was over watching it. He is even wearing his camo!

Krista and the famous Quad picture. Do I really have to tell you who is who?


We had a nice visit with Krista. We just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company! She is a natural and will make a wonderful mommy. She left us on June 23rd. We miss you and can't wait to see you again with a baby in your arms!



On June 24th, I took another trip to the airport to pick up my friend Laurie, her daughter Camille, her sister Amy, and Amy's daughter Jenna. They stayed at a resort by the beach, but came over to visit and help out everyday.

Ava, Lily, Jenna, & Camille.
Everyone playing together.
Laurie & Luke
Jenna playing with Lily.
Camille and Ava.
Lily and Jenna. Lily has a thing for sticking her tongue out. She's cute anyway!
Ashley and Sarah. She loves to be tossed in the air!
Everyone having fun in the babies lair!
Ava & Ashley.

Camille, Amy & Lily. What a face!

Jenna & Luke. That boy is always happy!


Below is the cutest video! It's Laurie and Amy playing patty Cake with Ava & Sarah. Don't forget to hit the pause button on the music before you hit play so that you can hear.



One night , I actually got dressed up a bit and Nick and I got to sneak out for dinner. We had a great time. Me & Laurie.
Jenna & Amy.
Laurie & Camille.
Me & Nick.

One of the days that Laurie and the girls were here visiting, they helped with the bathing and gave Nick and I a break.
Laurie dressing Lily.

Amy & Jenna bathing Luke.

Camille helping her mommy dress Lily.

Mom Mom (my mom) keeping Ava occupied while the others are bathing and dressing.

Camille and Laurie bathing Ava.

Laurie, Camille, Jenna, Amy & the Quads.
We had a nice time with the girls. Thank you for all of your help. We were sad to see them go. They left us on June 29th. I'm sure we have not seen the last of them! We miss you!

We've started giving the kids snacks. They seem to enjoy eating Mum Mums.


They have a few different flavors. Our kids like the vegetable ones. The melt almost instantly when they touch their mouth.
Sarah & Lily eating Mum Mums
Ava eating a Mum Mum
You know Luke loves food. He's almost done his Mum Mum.


We had a few more local visitors come on July 2nd. Two girls I work with, Bridget and Sandy stopped over for a visit. Bridget is having a baby in October, so I offered her some of the many things I have.


Bridget & Sarah, Sandy & Lily.
Feeding time. Sandy & Sarah, Bridget & Luke.



Great Uncle Jay (my Mom's brother) comes over frequently for visits. He says "I've come to see my kids". He has a great time playing with them!

Lily and Great Uncle Jay play blowing raspberries game!

Luke gets excited when Great Uncle Jay comes over!

The develpomental therapist that comes over to check to see how the kids are doing told us to put a cushion on the floor and let them practice kneeling up on it and grabbing to pull up on it! They love it!

They are now acting like siblings. They are already fighting over toys!


Ashley playing with Sarah.

Mommy & Daddy finishing up feeding for the night. Don't we look exhausted? It was a long day!

Fourth of July

Luke
Sarah
Lily
Ava
Also on the 4th of July, we started trying to drink out of sippy cups. Luke and Ava seemed to pick up on it fairly quickly, but Sarah and Lily didn't like it so much.
Lily was unsure what to do with it all together.



Great Aunt Jeri (my Dad's sister) & Luke
Melissa, Great Uncle Jay, & Ashley
Melissa & Ashley having fun with the kids.


Melissa with Luke and Lily. Yes, Lily is sitting up. She can sit up...if you put her in that position.
Time to dig in. Get your grub!
Melissa, Jay & Ashley with the Quads.
Great Uncle Hank & Jeri with the Quads.
Happy Fourth of July!