photos

Check out some of the great photos our friend, Lisa Johnson, took a little before Christmas. Click on the link and then type in QUADS for the password. Lisa has so graciously added a 50% off coupon to any photos purchased.

http://jagfamilyphotography.zenfolio.com/p431733299

Lisa, we greatly appreciate your talent and generosity!

Male Bonding

Holy Cow!! I just realized the babies are 5 months old now!! We can't believe how far we all have come in such a short amount of time. We just finished eating our celebratory brownies for the kids' 5 month b-day.

That's right - 5 months old

Cohen and I did a little male bonding the other day when we went to get my haircut. I figured this would be a great way to get him used to the idea of a haircut. Because Cohen's hair is getting out of hand and it is now too long to "daddy style" it, I asked the nice lady to cut his hair. So, yes, Cohen already had his 1st haircut! He wasn't quite sure what to think, but being a lady's man (like me of course), he shot her a smile and let her do her thing.

Just take a little off the top, please

Don't mess up my do

It is so fun to see and hear them laughing. We never know exactly what it is they are laughing at but nonetheless it is so cool. Check out a short clip of Sophia - www.texasquadruplets.com/images/sophiasfriend.wmv

Noah is smiling more and even laughing now, which is refreshing since he had some sort of post-traumatic stress from his NICU stay and would cry quite a bit. It is hard to believe that they are 5 months old - almost 1/2 a year old. It is so much different when you put it that way.

Finn loves his dinosaur

The babies got their RSV shots today. There is no sweeter sound than 4 babies crying at the same time in an enclosed space:) Only a few more months until RSV season is over and we can all breathe a little easier.

They have no idea what's to come

Many have asked about the music we use in our videos and where we get it. Well, other than Noah on the piano, Cohen spins some jams for us.

DJ Coco Puff on the turntable

Finn & Noah sharing a moment

The Spoon

It has been a while but we're back! As you have seen, we are now feeding Cohen, Finn & Sophia a small bit of oatmeal everyday to help them get used to the idea of a spoon (yes, this was Dr. recommended). We started with oatmeal because Sophia has some plumbing issues. We have to give her prune juice in her formula which I find more embarrassing to buy prune juice than when I'm sent to get tampons. Check out the latest production about our feeding frenzy at http://www.texasquadruplets.com/images/Food.wmv

Gotta love this one

Sophia found Thumbkin

People often ask "how many diapers do you go through?" Well, we did some rough math and since we've had all 4 babies home (11/9/2007) we have:

changed 2254 diapers

made 1712 bottles

drank 515 cups of coffee

Cohen is so happy with his new comb-over

These numbers might look pretty impressive, but what is most amazing is that we have spent $0 doing all of this!!!! We have been so blessed with gifts and formula provided by Similac and Enfamil!

Neked Boys

It is cool to see how the babies develop so quickly. Cohen, Finn & Sophia are all rolling over onto their tummies. We can only assume that they are practicing these gymnastic feats during their naptimes, since they aren't always sleeping. Cohen has really started to find his voice and is sounding out all kinds of things; sometimes he will do this for a full hour during playtime. It is also fun now that they are really more interactive, smiling and cooing, and reaching for things. I'm sure I'll come home from work and Mari will have the "Mom cut":(

Finn-tastic!

Noah is really picking up the pace. He wowed Dr. Quiros and staff at his last MD visit with his double chin. His coloring has faded from the lovely "Simpsons yellow" to a more normal hue. He has finally reached double digits, now weighing 10lbs 2 oz!

Noah looks good with cheeks

I've seen a few of my friends in this same position

We are so excited to have Mari's parents back in town next weekend and they'll be staying for a little over a week. We are even more excited because Mari and I will take our first out of town trip without the babies while Grandma and Papa take over.

Ta-

Daaa!

Congratulations Robbie & Casey Gerwer on the arrival of their quads!! Please pray for them as they enter the scary NICU days and check out their blog - they have pictures and the video of their delivery posted - http://www.gerwerbabies.blogspot.com/

Cruisin' Solo

It has been a week since Chris has been back to work and I have been solo at home with the four little munchkins. So far we're all still alive and doing well! Really, it has not been so bad. I am still feeding them on a 3 hour schedule, so as of now I wake them up every 3 hours, feed all four at once (which usually takes 40 minutes or so) then we play for another 50 minutes and then they go back to bed for naps. We have started giving Sophia, Cohen and Finn oatmeal once a day. Noah can't have it yet so he watches us in his Johnny Jump Up.

Sophia - In Her Oatmeal Couture

Noah In His Jump-Up

The hardest part is keeping them all entertained during playtime and dealing with what seems to be jealousy issues. The poor kiddos are starting to notice if I'm holding one of their sibs and not them. This leads to crying - which makes you want to jump to the rescue. But then, you are just reinforcing that crying equals attention and that's not something I want to have stuck in their heads. So for now, I'm trying to put everyone in different stations and then grab each of them on the sly, taking them out of sight of the others for one on one time so as to cut down on the jealous tears. Pretty soon they'll catch on that I'm still in the house somewhere and start to cry to find me, I'm sure.

Cohen - My Best Little Spoon Eater of the Bunch

Finn - Not Much Into Eating With A Spoon

Getting out of the house with just me and the babies is almost impossible. I can't go to the store with them, simply due to logistics. I was trying to think about it the other day. If I were to get the massive round-about quad stroller so I could get them around the store - how in the world would I get them safely to and from the car? It takes half a dozen minutes of fumbling around with those darn car seat belts just to get them out of there - which is fine for baby number one who would be waiting patiently in the massive stroller. But by the time you get baby number two out of the car, baby number one may have been kidnapped or worse yet, hit by passing driver who was busy on their cell phone and filing their receipt in their purse. The scenario has passed through my mind too many times - it just seems unattainable. I did figure out how to take all four of them on a walk so we can at least get some fresh air. We bought these stroller connectors for our umbrella strollers. I have 3 strollers connected and then I carry one baby in the Baby Bjorn. It's pretty nifty. I still have some logistic problems. The stroller is so wide it won't wheel up close to our door so I angle it facing our front walk. I then line all of the babies up on the carpet just inside the front door. Next, it's a mad relay race to get the babies loaded and pray that nothing happens to them while I'm racing back to get the next one. A mother's mind never stops worrying, right?