Here we are 3 years later...

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary! Seems just like yesterday Bret was just the annoying kid across the street always torturing me.... stealing my hairbrush, turning off the power to my entire house when I was home alone at night, putting flowers in my ears, throwing bugs and mud at me, pushing me into the pool, showing up at my window at night with a monster mask on... I could go on forever. Now here we are today and he's the father of my 4 beautiful babies... who would have guessed?!

Usually this week we are off to the Poconos back to our honeymoon spot at Cove Haven Resort. Not this year, we can't go that far from the babies just yet! Instead Bret surprised me by setting up one of the NICU nurses to come watch the babies so we could get out just the two of us. We have gotten out just a few times together without the babies for a wedding and reception, but tonight... just us! We're taking full advantage of the night and are going to On The Border my FAVORITE mexican restaurant! I used to put away that food before and while I was pregnant... and don't get me started on the hot sauce WOW! One night (when I was preggo of course) Bret brought home a bucket full of it... had to be at least a quart... intending for me to munch on it all week, chyeah right - gone in one night every bit of it! Ok, I need to stop, I'm about to drool over the keyboard. Here's a few (ok a million) pics of Bret and I from (way) back in the day to now. Enjoy!

Me being so unbelievably hot in my green shorts showing off Bret's first love...

i mean first truck.

Yes, he loved me so much he agreed to wear my cheer uniform and I wear his lil' bro's football uniform and go trick or treating with me down our little gravel country road. To all of his co-workers laughing hysterically right now... I give you permission to give him grief about this at work :]

The night he (finally) proposed!

Our BIG day 7.29.06

Showing off our growing babies this past Christmas

( I was only 4 months along in this pick... wow)

Here we are 3 years, 4 babies, 100's of more grey hairs later still happily married.

Love Ya Babe, Happy Anniversary!

For Your Viewing Pleasure...

Brought to you by C. Parrish Photography.

Chuck Parrish did an amazing job capturing some great pics of our family. These are the pics from our first "real" photo shoot when the babies were 3 months old. Sorry were just getting around to posting them! Here are some of our favorites!

L-R Kylee, Baxlyn, Brody & Korbin

Korbin Lee

Kylee Mae

Brody Coleman

Baxlyn Hope

Our ever-so-sweet girls!

The Brothers

Thank you again, Chuck and Angela, for capturing these pics of our sweet babies!

To learn more about C. Parrish Photography click here!

Coming to you live from Baby Land!

"Hey Guys! Korbin here. We babies thought we would write our own post this time. Guess what I did last Sunday for the first time... I ROLLED OVER! Yep I about knocked mom off her feet when she went to lay Baxlyn next to me and BAM! there I went, from my stomach to my back. Yeah I'm big. Remember when I went to the ER and was admitted a month or so ago because I got a lil choked on my meds and turned blue... well mom and dad have come really close to calling 911 again several times since then so mom took me to a GI doctor this week. She was a lil upset because he kinda blew it off and said it wasn't 'dangerous, just scary' when I turn blue and stop breathing for minutes at a time. So she is going to take me somewhere else. Other than that I am doing fantastic! I eat well and sleep all night thanks to this thing on the side of my hand I can suck on when I wake up. My reflux has gotten a little worse which is normal for us preemies to go through. Just a few more bibs and outfits a day, no biggie!"

"Here's me and all my cuteness"

"Hello friends, Baxlyn here! You think Korbin is great for rolling over... well Friday I DID IT TOO! I'm doing great and am still mommy's tiny cheeser baby. Mom says I'm so cute she doesn't know what she's gonna do with me sometimes! Unlike Korbin, my reflux has gotten a little bit better. I haven't had to have my crib sheets changed in days! They put me to bed around 7:30 and I lay there sometimes for hours just looking around until I finally fall asleep. Every once in a while I will puke up my last bottle of the day therefore I need another 2 ounces or so during the night to hold me over, other than that I do great during the night!"

"Here's my cheeser face"

"Mom & Dad spend their money on these cool toy things, but nothing beats the thing on the ceiling that goes round and round... it's the coolest!"

"Hey Hey, Kylee taking over now! I'm going more and more bald by the day around here and it's making it hard for some people to tell sis and I apart. What hair I do have left is turning blonde, mommy likes that! I'm not rolling over like Korbin and Baxlyn but I still rock at tummy time. I'm really good at holding my head up high and looking at toys. My favorite thing is the TV. Mom doesn't let us watched it much, it is rarely on but I am sure every morning to stretch my neck off to look at it just to check. I too, like that thing on the ceiling even though it doesn't always move. I am getting more and more smiley everyday. Watch out when I learn to kiss, they will be BIG kisses and I'll be the one to slobber you up like a big puppy!"

"Me and my beautiful baldness"

"Here's Baxlyn and I having a good time with one of our favorite toys from the Gerwer Quads!"


"Yo Yo, Big Bro-Man here! I'm so big it's not even funny. Mom and dad have even started the discussion of new car seats because of me. I won't need a new one for a while, but it won't be too long. Unlike the others I am now wearing a size 2 diaper! My cheeks are pure lip magnets now days and my hair is thinning like an old man's. I'm not rolling over yet either and although I'm tolerating tummy time better it's still hard holding my head up, but I will get there! I have a special way of melting moms heart. I watch her walk around cleaning and taking care of the other babies and I will catch her eye and give her a little innocent smile... it makes her day. Sometimes, she thinks I have a heart of gold... but I let her know at other times that I don't :) Last night I bounced my little gut around while giggling for the first time, it was great mom almost cried! Every time mom did this little fake sneeze thing it scared the daylights out of me and I thought it was pretty funny."

"Sweet Me"



"Mom & Dad have been doing good. Mom is still sane and can still somehow stay on top of things as far as laundry and stuff goes. Dad is busy with work and getting his real estate license, he is determined to get us out of our little house and give us each our own room one day. They are still busy trying to get the cranial helmets for us we have another appointment at a different place this week... pray about that please! We are all, except Brody, still in size one diapers and are starting to wear some of our 3-6month clothes! One of our favorite times of the day is when Daddy comes home. After he changes clothes and washes up he sits and talks to us on the couch or in our bouncy chairs. We laugh, dad gets to practice his high pitched squeaky voice he swore he would never use and mom gets a much needed little break."


"This one is from yesterday, it's the very first picture of us all smiling at the same time!"

"Well it's almost feeding time here in baby land we better go. Hope you enjoyed!"

-Brody Baxlyn Kylee & Korbin

Congrats Anna and Mason!

Two our our best friends Anna and Mason got married on Pensacola Beach and I was a bridesmaid who well.... wasn't actually going to be in the wedding. Who can leave their 5 month old quadruplets hundreds of miles behind to go hit the beach for a few days???? I CAN!!! Ok so I wasn't gone for daaayys... I left Monday afternoon and got back today (Wednesday) afternoon.

I enjoyed every second of the trip (except when I got stung by a jellyfish ugh) especially finally getting a chance to swim... well I guess we should call it standing in the water staring for fish and other things that might get me and occasionally jumping into waves! Best part of all, Anna had no idea I would be there! As far as she knew I would help with the planning and be present at the reception held here in Texas when they get back. Bret and I wanted to both go, but still don't feel comfortable leaving the babies with others for that long of a time so I went alone...it's ok he went to Branson last month without me :]

At her shower L-R Sarah, Myself, Bethany

& Anna below us.

Below is a pic of some of us at the nail shop the day before they left. Before we left Anna explained to me how she was going to take my flowers to Florida and put them in the sand where I would stand... little did she know!

Korbin was the only one awake right before I left to catch the plane so he got most of my goodbye love. I gave the others a little kiss and walked out the door. It wasn't too bad actually, I knew it was for just over a day and it would be totally worth it to be at Anna's wedding.

Mommy & Korbin's goodbye!

Anna was super surprised when she saw me walk in during the rehearsal, it was priceless! After a long tearful hug I told her there was no way I could miss her wedding!

One lucky guy and his beautiful bride!

The wedding party.

Bethany and I looking for those dang scary jellyfish.

My Anna and I.

LOVE YOU BABE!!!!!!!

Randomness...

Kind of a random blog here covering multiple subjects!

First of all update on the last blog. Bad news, insurance is refusing to cover the cranial bands... ugh. So-called "good news" the company will "discount" the bands for us to $2500 each... thanks guys but that's still not gonna happen. We checked out another cranial place that our our insurance covers "rarely" they said. Have an appointment there in a couple of weeks. Several doctors have written letters to the insurance company trying to persuade them so we have not given up hope just yet. Were still certain it will work out somehow.

To answer the question from the reader on the last blog. The "Quads Rule" onesies some friends had made for us. No idea where, you might try an online printing place??? We love them! The hair bows, I assume you are asking about the red ones they wore on the 4th of July. We bought them at a place called Kid-to Kid, a cute shop who buys and sells gently used kids clothing and accessories (the bows are not used). They have a huge selection of sizes and colors. These particular ones ran about $8 a little pricey BUT I figure spend eight bucks and it will last a long time rather than buying a set or 4 at Wal Mart for $5 that they'll grow out of in a month. They are made of nylon material so they'll continue to stretch with their growing heads!

Babies practicing their torture... I mean tummy time. They hate it.

Korbin found his thumb, I love it! It takes him a while and he scratches the HECK out of himself trying to find it but he eventually does and goes to town! As you can see he doesn't really know what to do with the other fingers yet so there's always one or two in his eye... up his nose... all over the place :)

Korbin and Baxlyn went to the developmental pedi this week. They were weighed for the first time since their 4 month check up. At 4 months Baxlyn weighed 9lbs 8oz and Korbin 10lbs 3oz. I was thinking by now Baxlyn should be close to 10lbs... try 10lbs 12oz!!!! In just three weeks... crazy! Korbin now at 11lbs 5oz! I'm thinking Brody has to be pushing 13 by now... geez!

Brody has been the only one without his bumbo until now (thanks Worsham family!) so I had to get a pic of them all together. They're still a little bit small for them but not too much longer.

Some GREAT news, they are all sleeping through the night :) Rarely someone will have a little meltdown at 5am-ish, but for the most part they go from about 8pm-8am! YAY babies!

L-R Baxlyn, Kylee, Korbin, Brody

Last but not least HAIR LOSS... not daddy.... yes the babies are all loosing their hair. Baxlyn has always been on the bald side, on top anyways. Last Monday Bret and I noticed Kylee's at the same time, it was all of a sudden the girl was bald. The whole right side, top, and back has hardly any hair at all. I was holding her the other day kissing the top of her head and wondered why my lips were hairy (nice picture I know) and I realized her hair was falling out like a shedding dog... eww! I immediately went to Brody and sure enough his pretty hair is fading away as well... one little pull and i can get like 20 hairs. Korbin is loosing his but only like 2 at a time :)

Much more to post soon enough!

-Heather

Our Cranial Tech Visit

Whew it was a long busy day in quadville today! Bret and I went to Dallas to Cranial Technologies for the quads consultation for their cranial bands. Upon arriving they put us in a nice over sized room where we could fit the six of us, a therapist or two, and two mega sized strollers. It was soo nice, were used to having to squeeze into those little closet sized examination rooms when we go to most doctors offices. Good thing too, we were there for more than 3 hours :/

Anyways we set the babies on the table surrounded by toys and things to keep them occupied and undressed each so they could be photographed, measured, and examined. Baxlyn was the only one not being examined because her little head is beautifully rounded (so we thought anyways).

My Cheeser: "Ha Ha guys... I don't have to wear one!"

Brody: "You kidding me, I'm Brody I can take anything, bring it on!"

Kylee: "You want to put a what on my (now bald) head?"


Korbin: "....whatever... just don't take my monkey..."



One by one they were taken into another room to have yet another photo shoot. The therapists got pictures from every angle to look at each head. They all have moderate to severe positional plagiocephaly which is is a malformation of the head marked by an oblique slant to the main axis of the skull. Torticollis, hydrocephalus (Brody), confined inter uterine environment (them being extremely crammed inside of me), and medically dictated positioning requirements in the NICU are a few possible reasons why the babies have plagiocephaly.


We discussed with the therapist our concerns with Brody and him having both the shunt and a helmet. She assured us they do put helmets on babies with shunts often and have never had a problem. She said the doctor will look at his case very carefully and consider his situation and if a band can be made without compromising his shunt. Bret and I have decided to proceed with much caution and let Brody have the helmet assuming the doctor gives the OK. So, what happens if they can't? Not sure. Back in the day they used to do actual surgery on the skull to correct it but it is extremely invasive and it is rarely done now. Below is a pic somewhat showing the flatness of Brody's head. He favors the right side of the his head therefore it is flat and his growing brain is pushing outward wherever it can, towards the top right and back left of his head where there s no pressure.



We realized after today's visit the torticollis and plagiocephaly was a bigger deal than we thought... more than a cosmetic flaw. In the pics they took you can see a significant amount of cranial vault asymmetry & facial asymmetry as well. The torticollis (if not treated by therapy and intensive stretching) will continue to pull at the muscles, tendons, and bones causing more severe asymmetry and can affect their inner ears, eyes, airways, even down to their shoulders and spine.

The trio hanging out while Brody was gone to the camera room.


Had to add this pic of Kylee showing of her fantastic tummy time (HEAD LIFTING!) skills!
SOO proud of her!

As far as Miss Baxlyn, she didn't luck out with not getting a helmet after all. We had her examined to be sure and she fell just past the moderate line for plagiocephaly. Not near as major as the others, but it's definitely there. They said there's a small chance it would correct itself, but we feel we might as well take care of it just in case and while her skull is still moldable.
Sorry Baby B!


We don't know exactly when the babies will get the helmets or how long they will have to wear them. We assume they will get them asap and will wear them for several months. We should be getting a phone call within the next day or so to discuss the costs of these helmets. We know they are several thousand dollars (PER BABY) and are PRAYING our insurance covers most if not all of it. Weather they do or not fact is our babies need them and that's not easy money to come up with. Our insurance has been awesome from my pregnancy all the way to the NICU so I'm hoping they continue :)

I finally got the babies home about 1:30 and had just enough time to unload, change, and feed them in time for therapy at 2pm. Whew! Like I said long day... so I am off to a good night's sleep... I hope anyways!

-Heather