Welcome to 2008!

Happy New Year!

2007 has come to a close and we can’t help but reflect on what an amazing year it was. It started out with tragedy as we said good-bye to Chris’s dad on New Year’s Day (http://texasquadruplets.com/familyphotos.html). Tragedy quickly turned to praise as we learned we were going to be adding a little one to our family. Praise then turned to panic when we found the news of triplets….quadruplets….oh my goodness! Panic soon turned to faith as we learned to trust the Lord for all of our physical, emotional and financial needs as we anticipated the arrival of our four little ones. The babies arrived and instead of the excitement and relief that a new baby typically brings we were faced with a surgery, breathing issues, and other daily reminders of how fragile these babies still were. Anxiety battled the joy of this birth as we wondered if all four would make it home. And finally, the day came when all four were safe at home. At last, excitement! Yet the excitement soon faded to fatigue, fighting, worrying and wondering again. When were the blessings going to come? As we look back, they were there all along. Every step of the way we have been blessed - to learn and relearn trust, patience, peace and understanding through a tragedy, through a celebration of four little miracles and through the privilege of a challenge to raise four different little babies.


As we look back at our website and scroll through the “Petals of Praise”, journal entries, and slideshows we are quickly reminded of how much we have learned and grown together on this rollercoaster of a year. Through the trials and triumphs, peaks and valleys, we are blessed, thanks to God, our friends and family, and the many others who are helping us along the way. There is no promise that the year ahead will be easier, but we have learned that the easiest years are not necessarily the best.

Check out Mari's latest video creation, aptly titled Blessed, below or click on the link to view it full screen using Windows Media Player (don't forget to turn up your volume).

http://texasquadruplets.com/babyphotos.html

Blessed

Mema and Pepa - Congratulations on your 65th wedding anniversary!!! I know the last 29 have been the greatest years of your lives!! (I’m 29, get it?)

So, what's ahead for 2008......stay tuned!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Merry Christmas

Finn

Cohen

Sophia

Noah

Silent Night?

Merry Christmas to us! The quads gave us the best gift ever...sleeping through the night (10pm - 7am)!! They are so sweet though - they give us little presents every day:) Noah is the only one we wake up at 2am to feed because he still needs to catch up. We switched back to a 3-hour schedule so they could load up on calories and get super tired; however, this also makes us super tired because we only get about 45min-1 hour between feeds to get stuff done or, in most cases, nap. Fortunately, the weather has been beautiful (80deg the past few days) so we have been going on walks in the afternoon when there aren't too many people out. The fresh air helps us to re-energize in the afternoon.

As you have seen from the video on the previous post, they are much more vocal and interactive, and do smile quite a bit. Finn is the biggest flirt of all, as he wooed our friend Jen with his golden smile. Jen gave us a great gift last week. She called Mari and told her that she and Rachel were coming over that night to take care of the babies while we went out and that "No" was not an answer. So Mari and I headed out for an exciting evening out of the house together minus the tots to do our Christmas shopping and actually eat inside of a restaurant. That was such a blessing and exactly what friends do for each other.

Daddy's Girls

We are a little lame because we did not put up a Christmas tree, although Mari and I have never put one up before since we typically travel around the holidays. So in true Goerlich spirit, we took the kiddos with us to New York to see the best tree we know.

The quads take center stage in NYC

Crazy Fun

So we've been horrible about calling friends and family, cleaning the house, running errands, getting Christmas cards out yet somehow we found ourselves playing around with our video editing software to create a video compilation. Hope you all enjoy our version of our crazy fun lives right now! To view full screen in Windows Media Player, click on the link below, then click on "Crazy Fun Kids" http://www.texasquadruplets.com/babyphotos.html

Spectacular Spectacle

A day in the life gets even better thanks to our friend, Suz (http://www.thelifeofsuz.blogspot.com/) we now have a much more efficient hands-free feedings! These little contraptions look a little crazy but work wonders.

Noah & Sophia

You may have noticed in the picture above that Noah's bottle is as big as he is! He is eating more than all of his siblings at about 5 - 6 oz. a sitting. We figure he's either a binge drinker or just making up for lost time. Either way, we'd better let the Aggies know of his skills so he might get an honorary ring. ;)

Noah Says,"I'll grow into it"

Sophia Reading to Her Brothers

Finn & Noah

Finn is always put to bed the same way you see Noah there - wrapped tight and next to his brother. Every time we go in there he's somehow come out of his blanket and finds his way to the bumper.

It's been a while since we've been out of the house and we were getting a little stir crazy so yesterday we decided to take a field trip to Target so we could get some errands done and the babies could get a change of scenery. A trip to the store has now turned into a side show act. Lets all face it, even when we see one new baby out and about we all take a minute to check them out, look at the mom to see if she's in one piece, give her a congratulatory smile and are on our merry way. With four babies it's just natural that people have got to know more. It's too much for just a smile or nod and on with their shopping. Chris and I planned ahead and brought one double stroller and then held one baby each in a baby bjorn, which cut down on the gazes. Still, wondering around we would hear "Oh, Twins!" and then a few seconds later they would have a very astonished look on their face as they realized we were each carrying another baby with us. One gal said to her friend as she's staring at us approaching her, "Look - twins!" The friend says, "No, I think it's four." Gal replies,"Where are the other two?" The friend, "The parents are wearing them." Another lady came up to me while I was looking over a few Christmas cards and stares for a moment and then asks "Are these all yours?" I wanted to reply, "No, I've been collecting them in each of the aisles hoping no one would notice." But instead, I just nod and say, "Yup, and my husband has one more in the next aisle over." Her eyes were as big as saucers.

That's how we roll...
(Finn's in the Baby Bjorn)

Even better is when we headed to the baby section. Here you'll find new moms battling one new infant and you can see the tired look on their faces. We approach and they almost go white. One new mom came over and patted me on the back and could hardly say a word. I feel like this is one of our public services, helping these moms get a sudden burst of new energy knowing the only have one bottom to wipe.

'Tis the Reason for the Season

Finn, Noah, Sophia & Cohen

Happy Holidays! I know it's a little early but when you have 4 babies, you plan and strategize every move ahead of time. I want to step out of baby realm for a minute and work on something I think is cool.


Mari and I finally got to go to church this past Sunday with Busha at home watching the babies. It was such a good message and it really hit home. I know you've heard us say this a million times, but here it is again - we have been blessed tremendously over the past year! Let me give you a little background:

Up until 2006, we had been in a financial bind. With Mari and I both working and making good salaries, we were still in debt and stressed about money. We stepped out on faith and began giving 10% of our salary to our church (http://www.communityoffaith.tv/) despite having a negative balance in our budget. Fast forward to 2007 - with the news of a quad pregnancy, meaning a ton of medical expenses and Mari not being able to work, the stress of pending financial disaster hit us. We kept our faith, knowing that God would provide. My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Jesus Christ." Phil. 4:19. And guess what happened...people have stepped up and provided for all of our needs and the babies as well. In a nutshell, God will bless you ten times over for giving, though it may not be in the same denomination of that which you gave.


So, your mission (and ours) this Holiday season, is to give like crazy. Step out on faith and first and foremost start tithing at your church if you haven't already. Give to that homeless person on the street, give to a charity, or simply buy your co-worker a latte. Use your worldly resources to benefit others...In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven." Luke 16:9. Do this and "You will be enriched so that you can give even more generously." 2 Cor. 9:11



Mom & Dad Goerlich



One idea I have is in memory of my dad, who passed away on Jan 1, 2007. The link below will take you to the online donation page of MD Anderson where you can specify a donation in honor of Robert Goerlich to benefit gastric cancer research. This is not something you have to give to, but merely an idea and something I know we'll give to.

https://www3.mdanderson.org/devoffice/index.cfm?pagename=donateformen&gift=2&ctw2lan=EN


As we enter the Holiday season, it is very important to remember that it is about giving and not receiving. Remember to give thoughtfully, cheerfully and voluntarily.

Baby Update: They are all doing well and Noah continues to gain weight. They are headed to a sleep specialist because they keep waking up in the middle of the night. ;)

Going Wireless

What a fun (and challenging) week this has been. All of the babies are smiling purposefully and starting to make all kinds of little (or loud) sounds. It never fails that they are all giving the biggest smile of their lives and as soon as I point the camera at them they get all serious. Hopefully we'll catch a shot soon, if not we'll go to the video camera.

We switched Noah back to Elecare formula because he had not gained any weight last week. Since the switch he has gained 2 ounces in the past 3 days and has not thrown up either!

Cohen & Noah arm wrestling to see who eats first

We took Cohen and Finn to the pediatric urologist today because they are still wetting their pants all of the time. Sophia got her 1st hair clippie, which looks, "Oh so cute!" (Mari's words not mine).

Accessorize

Praise God! Cohen and Sophia are now officially off their heart monitors!! Noah and Finn will be off next month. The pediatrician is going to lower Noah's low heart rate level from 80 to 70 beats per minute. His alarm sometimes sounds every 10-30seconds for a span of an hour or more because his HR would drop to 79 and then jump back to 80...then to 77 for5sec then back up to 80. On and off, on and off, and this would drive us nuts, especially at 4am and it seemed to wake these little ones, too.

No hard feelings

Our friend, Jenn from Austin, came into town yesterday and stayed the night - she is brave. She was a big help with the babies, keeping Noah and Sophia for us while we went to the doctor. She such a natural entertaining them. We can't wait for her to come back, and maybe she can bring Ansley next time!

The babies love Jenn and her stories

Poor Jaz is feeling a bit left out and a little jealous sometimes. Our bed is pretty much her only friend right now, which I don't think she really minds. She made it outside to hang with us and Jenn on the deck yesterday - gotta love those 80deg days in December!!

J-dog soakin' up the outdoors in her Christmas best

As our energy fades, your prayers and comments keep us going - so keep them coming!

Sleep-deprived.... But Alive

Beautiful photo by Lisa Johnson

Just like with the birth of any baby, lack of sleep becomes a part of the new parents' life. Even though we are now on a 4-hour schedule, we only get about 2.5 - 3 hours of sleep between feedings to either sleep or get things done, like pay bills - we haven't even opened our hospital bills yet which are piled up in a cardboard copy paper box. We have switched our little ones to a faster flow Level 2 nipple so they are now eating much faster - 20-30min as opposed to 45-50min. We are going to try splitting them up into 2 cribs now - bummer!

Urban Cohen

The best part about sleep deprivation is the funny things you do...imagine that! So, back to the funny stuff.....

- I frequently find myself turning on the microwave to heat the water to warm bottles without putting the water in the microwave.

- I changed Sophia's diaper today only to realize the fresh diaper was still sitting beside her after I had snapped her back up and went to throw away the dirty one - the one I put back on her after applying the butt paste.

-Mari went to brush her teeth after lunch and found herself taking her contacts out, going through the bedtime motions as if it were midnight instead of noon.

-As we're burping one of the kiddos we'll forget whether or not they just burped

-Mari speaks in code and will get us in stitches at 3 am. For instance, last night I was feeding Cohen and Sophia. She must've noticed Cohen was dripping milk down the side of his face and needed to burp but instead of saying that, she says "Do you need a blanket for Sophia's bottle?" (This is how we prop the bottle up for one baby so we can burp the other). I say, "Why is Cohen dripping?" She says, "Yes, I think he needs to be burped" I say, "Why don't you just tell me Cohen is dripping." She says, "I just did by suggesting a blanket for Sophia." Confused and amused, I was laughing so hard my side hurt - she starts laughing too - the funny thing is we're both laughing at the other one knowing we are the one that is right.

-I find myself jumping out of bed in a mad dash to heat up bottles before their scheduled feed, only to realize it's 4:30 am not 6 am. (For safety, I am no longer wearing shorts to bed and Mari is still sleeping in her glasses)