Future Builders Of America

Our good friend Caroline gave us these awesome blocks for the quaddies birthday. What a fun gift! They have thoroughly enjoyed playing with them. One day one of our 4 is going to be a builder, once the housing market bounces back.

Kari playing with the 4-some

Trying to build the biggest tower

"Oh NO!" Anthony didn't get to put his block on

Fighting For Anndalyn

The quaddies love Annie. They love to hold her, kiss her, pet her, pat her, give her toys, try to feed her, try to carry her. . . you get the picture. A big part of my time is spent distracting the quads from overloving the baby. I love it! I'm so glad they love her. When I found out I was pregnant I was so nervous that they wouldn't like her and I would be dealing with jealousy. We are so blessed that they love her.

 One night I had Annie on the floor on a blanket in the bathroom and the quaddies were in the bath. Jaileigh jumped out of the tub, grabbed a magazine from the basket, sat it next to Annie, and told her to read. Then she climbed back in the tub and went about her business. It was too cute.

In this picture they were all trying to give her a toy. Jaileigh wanted her to read again and was giving her a book.

Michael and Annie

 

Anthony helping out too.

Annie enjoying her bumbo time

Annie get a little tired of it.

Complaining a little more. . . mommy saved her.

 

These kiddos are such stinkers. They love Annies swing. Here they are hanging out under it. One day I turned my back for 2 seconds and when I turned around I caught Anthony "swinging" Annie. I almost had a heart attack. He was so proud of  himself.

Jaileigh, Anthony, and Jakob

Annie has discovered new built in toys- her feet.  

Ahhh so clean

My goofy kids. I'm not sure who taught them to pull this face but I'm going to blame Bill.

Michael and Jaileigh

A Guest Post

My cousin Sunny came and stayed with us for awhile and her daughter Emily stayed with us for a month. Sunny wrote a post on her blog about the crazy quad life. I thought it was rather funny and would like to share. Hopefully this is okay with you Sunny?

Quadruplet Craziness

Sunny's Blog

I have done some pretty difficult things in my life like running an actual marathon when I was 19, having multiple root canals and giving birth 5 times. . .

But nothing compares to the energy and stamina required to entertain 5 children under the age of 2!

Emily and I had the great honor of "experiencing" the intricate, behind-the-scenes workings of caring for multiples--quadruplets to be exact, in addition to a new born baby!

It was literally a 24 hour job with a few cat naps thrown in for good measure.

As a guest, I was grateful for the 10 pm to 6 am nights of dead sleep. Mom and Dad were not so lucky. They were both up several times during the night soothing, shushing, cuddling, and feeding the 5 "babies." How they have survived these past two years? Let me tell you . .. They are AMAZING parents, that's how!

We took the quads in the RV to the San Diego Wild Animal Zoo. The main attraction at the zoo were the quads! People couldn't get enough of them. I never noticed the heards of wild deer or the lion lazing on top of a safari jeep. I didn't hear the toucans or notice the monkeys. My eyes were focused on 4 sets of little feet and the paths they took those little wild bodies!

We thought the train would be a calm relaxing experience. They would all be contained of course. Not so! It was all the 4 of us big people could do to keep their sippy cups and gold fish crackers from being hurled out of the train car. It took great strength to keep them in their seats. It was musical chairs on steroids!

Amber left me alone with the quads while she ran a very short errand. I thought, no problem. I can handle 4 toddlers for 30 min on my own!

I started them out with Popsicles. It was the only photo of them all together I could get. Then I quickly herded them to the bedroom and closed us in. We were having a great time giggling and playing with the toys until I noticed little Michael had something in his hands. It was two handfulls of tampons!!! I confiscated them and found the source and as I was taking care of that, I heard a scream. I turned around and found Anthony taking a big bite out of poor little Jaileigh who had gotten stuck with him in the tunnel tube! As I was soothing and distracting them, Amber came home. Phew! We survived!

My favorite part was rocking and singing them to sleep! What beautiful and sweet little people they are.

Emily was able to stay and help Amber for an entire month. It was a good experience for her and it will look great on her babysitting resume ;)

We will miss the quaddies and little Annie so much (Mike and Amber too)! We hope to "experience" them again soon!

10 Things I Love About You

Anthony
1. I love your big, deep, dark chocolate eyes with the longest eyelashes ever
2. I love your giggle
3. I love that you love your mommy and your daddy
4. I love that you love to snuggle on the couch with me
5. I love that you love to hold my hand as I walk around the house
6. I love that you love sweets, like me
7. I love your funny run
8. I love how you talk to me in twin talk and look at me like I should answer in the same language
9. I love how you say "YEAH!" with such enthusiasm
10. I love that you are shy but love the ladies

Michael
1. I love your laugh
2. I love how coordinated you are
3. I love your whole muscle-man body especially your hands and feet
4. I love that you LOVE GaGa and Kari
5. I love how you think you are the oldest child
6. I love how you take care of everyone
7. I love your tenderheart
8. I love how you say "bu, Buy" (bye bye)
9. I love that you are a lefty
10. I love how independent you are

Jaileigh
1. I love how girly you are
2. I love that you pick out your own clothes
3. I love that you are a mamma's girl
4. I love how you talk and tell stories, repeating your words several times to make sure you know we know
5. I love how you love your Annie
6. I love how you run . . . so funny!
7. I love how you try to jump
8. I love how you stay up so you can hang out with mom all alone
9. I love how you always want your finger and toenails painted
10.  I love how smart you are

Jakob
1. I love your deviousness
2. I love how happy you are all the time, even when you are in trouble
3. I love your curly hair
4. I love that you are a mamma's boy
5. I love how defined your muscles are
6. I love how you say "all done" in words and in sign language
7. I love your little voice
8. I love how tender hearted you are
9. I love your smile and your laugh
10. I love that you get out of your crib and crawl into bed with mommy every morning

Anndalyn
1. I love your rolls
2. I love how you love to watch your siblings
3. I love your little giggle
4. I love that you are trying really hard to roll from back to front
5. I love your triple chin
6. I love your eyes that I can't tell what color they are going to be
7. I love how you talk to me, especially in the morning
8. I love that you sleep all night
9. I love that you are such a happy baby
10. I love that we are so blessed to have another miracle baby!

"Row, Row, Row Your Boat"

My kids love to play "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"

Anthony and Jake getting ready to play. They set the blocks up so they could sit on them while they played.

Jaileigh, Anthony, and Jake "Row, Rowing"

Anthony, Michael, and Jaileigh

Jaileigh is fixing their hands.

Just Anthony and Jaileigh left to play.

Jaileigh practicing her cheer moves.

Michael and Anthony taking a break in the box for the boxes. ha ha

Fun In The Fountains

We have been to these fountains 3 times specifically to play in them and my kiddos would not get in. Today we weren't prepared to play in them and they wanted to play. Now that they like them we will have to go back again with our swim suits on. Only Michael and Jakob really liked them. Anthony was okay with the water after a little while, actually after I went through it with him. Jaileigh never warmed up to it.

Michael

Jakob

Michael again. He is the bravest of the bunch when it comes to water.

Anthony is scoping out the situation

Michael is trying to break down the fence. He really wanted to play on that grass I guess.

Jakob

Anthony and Jakob. These two look so different from each other.

Anthony playing with my shoes and warming up to the water.

Jaileigh did take her shirt off so she could be like the boys but never ventured into the water.

The youngest firepeople ever. Check out Michaels' face.

Jaileigh and Anthony decided which one to open

Annie took a quick catnap while we were there, after pooping all over her clothes. The only time I didn't have an extra outfit packed. We had to run over to Childrens Place to get a new one. They had all their winter clothes out! I found the ONLY onesie there and bought it.

Annie's Ready For School

Annie is ready for school. She is sitting in a bumbo that Ms Sandra brought for her and then she has a little, tiny desk. It was so cute and the quaddies thought it was fun too.

Jakob and Annie having a little talk.

Now it's Anthony's turn

Jakob with his big grin

Michael

and Jaileigh

 

Michael is worn out. Too much work.

Anthony decided to join Michael in relaxing and snacking

Jaileigh's counting her "mahNey"