Easter Happenings!

We colored Easter eggs this weekend with our peeps. I’ll say it gets a little bit easier and a little more fun every year!

Waiting anxiously for the dye tablets to dissolve in the water…

…and waiting for the dye to do it’s job!

Those of you who have followed us for a while know we assigned the quads colors when they were born to know who was who in NICU as well as whose stuff was whose (pacifiers, car seats…etc.). To this day they LOVE “their” colors and knowing that it signifies THEIR own personal thing/item no questions, no arguments! The eggs were no exception, they were so excited to color their eggs in their own color. Below Kylee watching her egg turn a pretty pink while Baxlyn admires her purple…

The boys and their blue & green!

I’m proud to say there were no major messes and only one dropped/crushed egg! The final products…

We had our annual Spring Fling with our Moms of Multiples group a few weeks ago. We rented out a local farm just for our kiddos – so fun!

Wasting no time, ours were the first ones to the goat pens.  Big surprise, ehh?

Kylee could have sat here all day.TOTALLY in her element!

Baxlyn and Korbin (well, kinda Korbin) wanted to take their picture with the Easter Bunny. Baxlyn loves characters and costumes. Korbin, not so much, but he always sticks beside his sister. Brody second guesses his bravery when he sees terrified Kylee shaking like a leaf in fear. He chose to play it safe and stayed far far away with Daddy. I love this picture below so much. Baxlyn striking her pose while Korbin stands a safe two feet away

Next was the egg hunt. The quads pretty much stuck to their hunting history. Kylee insisted on stopping after each egg to see what was inside leaving her with a grand total of about 8 eggs by the time the hunt was over. Korbin & Baxlyn were quick and efficient when collecting eggs and luckily gathered more than enough to share with their not so fast brother and sister!

Brody casually walked around and for some reason was drawn to all of the broken and empty eggs. At one point I saw him carefully picking random jelly beans out of the grass. I think he ended up with just a few less than Kylee, but he didn’t seem to mind!

Our precious 4 checking out their loot!

Melanie and I with our sweet sweet boys, Hudson & Blade, born about a month apart!

My little chunk was just perfection that day, not a peep the entire time! Can’t wait until next year when he’s running around having fun with his brothers and sisters!

Our first experience with cotton candy – holy sticky galore!

Our handsome E-buds, Emerson, Emmett & Everett

Before we headed out we were the mean parents who forced all of their kids to take a photo with the Easter Bunny together. Bret propped Kylee up on his shoulders, she bawled the entire time & I snapped the pic. Needless to say, she survived

"Singing" Sisters

Kylee & Baxlyn singing like Ariel, The Little Mermaid (it may be hard to recognize)! If the singing doesn't melt your heart surely the sisterly love between them will ;)

A Special Boy’s Special Anniversary

Four years ago today my little Baby A received the surgery that saved his life. Many of you followed and prayed with us as we watched our little Broman struggle day in and out to survive. Between his severely underdeveloped lungs, the bleeding in his brain and his hydrocephalus that was causing his head to swell more and more everyday, the odds for Brody to survive were stacked against him. We were told at one point that Brody had his doctors “backed into a corner” and Bret and I were given the option to “pull the plug” on his precious life. It brings me to tears today to think of all the kids who are not here today because their parents who had lost hope were given that option.

As sick as he was and despite being sedated for a long length of time, I remember he would still squeeze my finger as if letting me know he was still there to fight. Day after day I sat beside his covered isolette, cried and prayed for a miracle. Never had I (or have I to this day) felt so incredibly helpless. The hardest thing, by far, is watching your baby suffer and barely cling to life and knowing there is nothing you can do about it.

Four years later I still thank you, our followers, for the AMAZING support and prayers you have given our family. Several doctors told us that Brody was too small and too unstable to perform the surgery he needed, that is until we came across Dr. Honeycutt a couple of hours away at Cook Children’s Hospital. God used the hands of Dr. Honeycutt on March 18th, 2009 to carefully place a VP Shunt into Brody’s 4 weeks old, barely 4lb body that would quickly drain 30cc’s of CSF from his brain and make a dramatic difference in his condition.

Mommy & Brody before surgery

Brody and another battle scar. I remember being so thankful they didn’t have to shave his pretty blonde hair.

Our healthy, thriving Brody this morning continuing to beat the odds and continuing to fight all that came along with his prematurity! We are so blessed to have gone 4 years now with no malfunction. I pray he’s one of the few who never do :)

We love you, Brody, and are so incredibly proud of you. Thank you so much for fighting so hard.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Cox Quads meet Movie Theater: Wreck It Ralph

As you all know, Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin have been potty trained for a while now. We did the 3 day method, they caught on super quickly and have never regressed, thank goodness. I’m told some kids night train themselves naturally during the 3 day as well…ours not so much.

On any given morning 1-3 of them will be dry but never all four. We’ve opted not to waste our money on Pull-Ups for the longest time because they’re basically an expensive diaper. We recently started buying Pull-Ups since we are trying to be more aggressive at the night training thing. Knowing it hhaadd to be done sometime, we told the quads that if they needed to potty at night, they are allowed to get up and go and go back to bed. They hear “you are allowed to get out of your bed!” HOLY HEADACHE!

I’m not one to not allow them water after a certain time in the evening. I know how thirsty I often get during the night and they’ve been known to chug water during the night as well. I’m sure most parents deal with the train of excuses their kids make up to get out of bed “I need my other blanket” “I forgot a drink” “I need to give you a hug” “My toe hurts…the list goes on. Now added to that list is “I need to go potty!!!” The night time process is a drag lately. One get’s up to potty, what do ya know 2 or 3 more have to get up to potty. Before you know it there’s a party going on, sanitizer everywhere…etc. Ugh, where do you draw the line? If they neeeeed to go potty, we HAVE to let them, right? Especially if we want them to wake up dry… Like seriously people, I’m asking you. If you have (kind) advice, I’m all ears.

So anyways, Bret and I cut a deal with the quads a couple of weeks ago. The morning they ALL woke up dry we could call Daddy, he would leave work and we would go to Going Bonkers and have a day out together. We both assumed it would be a long time before they all woke up dry together. We remind them every night of our little deal and they try so hard. Several mornings I would go in only to find wet diapers on the floors where the pee-ers had ditched them and gotten a new one from the bathroom, thinking that it would count as “being dry”. Yeah, not so much, guys.

I went in Wednesday morning as usual and started checking pull-ups. Dry, dry, dry….and dry! I immediately started searching around for the soggy diapers they had ditched and found NOTHING, nada. They informed me that they all had gone potty by themselves and stayed dry all night. After searching dressers, drawers, trashcans & under the sinks with no wet Pull-Ups in sight, I let myself believe them and we gave Daddy a call and gave him the great news! This week happens to be spring break so we knew due to crowds and germs, Going Bonkers was off the table. There’s no doubt that place is packed like sardines and our four would get trampled. After discussing different outing we decided to treat our foursome to their very first movie!

Wreck it Ralph was one of the only kid movies playing at the dollar theater that day so that’s what we chose. Brody, B, Kylee & Korbin were SO excited to go to the movies even though they had never been. We dropped off Baby Blade with Nana & friend Sandy and headed to the theatre. We walked through the doors and they all stopped and stared…

If you know me, you know I have a fear of them choking (I blame it on the episodes they had while babies). I’m that mom who still cuts her kids grapes at the age of 4. It took some serious convincing but Bret talked me in to letting them have popcorn for the first time. He said, and I agreed, they need to have the full experience ;)

Kylee got folded up in her chair a few times and they said, I think for personal reassurance, “It’s not scary, Mommy. Yeah. It’s not scary…”. Once there for a few minutes they were settled in and excited!

I sat next to them and stared like a hawk for any choking while they giggled and talked too loud :)

Once the movie started they all sat pretty well, Kylee did the most talking (once her popcorn was gone) and did some seat rearranging and Brody was the only one who needed a potty break. I’m not sure they followed the point of the movie, but they enjoyed it nonetheless! At one point they all about had a nervous breakdown when the word “stupid” was said…. all four of them at once turned to Bret or myself “MOMMY, THEY SAID A BAD WORD, WE DON’T SAY STUPID, THAT WAS BAD! THEY SAID A BAD WORD!” lol!

As we were leaving the theater, I noticed these ABCD signs at the ends of these lines. We HAD to stop an have a picture, of course! They don’t understand that that’s what they used to be called so this picture made no sense to them, but it was special to us. In birth order Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin… our little ABCD. *Fun Fact: In utero Kylee was “D” and Korbin was “C”. During delivery, Kylee slipped down and was delivered first technically making her “C” and Korbin “D”.

Congrats, my little people, for waking up dry! Let’s try to make this a habit, ehh?!

Quads’ 4th Birthday Bash!

Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin had a GREAT Birthday Party celebrating the big 4! I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to top their 2nd Birthday Party, but this one was just as fun! We have always had their parties in the Spring, closer to their “adjusted” birthday (May 6th) to avoid the germs that come along with RSV season. This year their birthday fell on a Saturday and they’ve been doing good health wise so we chose to have it on their actual birthday. We had the party at the house, which I was a bit nervous about, but it went well! We hired a  Children’s Entertainer, the same one we have seen for several years now at Bret’s work Christmas parties. We went with a generic bright colored polka dot theme that both boys and girls could enjoy and it turned out super cute and simple!

We had a little time before Mr. David showed up. The kids ran and played and ran and played. Little hyper people running everywhere, so fun! As people were arriving Baxlyn asked “why all these people coming to our new house?”. We told her to guess “for love day?” Nooo “for firefighter day?” Ummm… no Baby, for your birthday! With their birthday following Christmas & Valentines day, they were a bit confused! Another thing they didn’t quite understand was why is wasn’t Blade’s birthday too. Everyone else was turning 4, why wasn’t Blade?! So sweet.

The real fun began as soon as Mr. David walked through the door. The kids were all over him and anxious to see what all he had in store. From puppets to fun kids songs and magic, he did it all and had the kiddos laughing hysterically the entire time! If you’re local (or close to it) check him out at www.misterdavidonline.com . He is scheduled to appear at several big locations in the next few months. I highly recommend seeing him at one of the listed events or better yet, booking him for your own!

I thought for sure Korbin was gonna wet his pants… dude was CRACKING up!

After the show Mr. David stayed to make fun balloon hats for everyone!

At any given time we had kids playing in the playroom, in Blade’s room swimming in the ball pit…etc. Kids everywhere! Here’s some of the few we could grab quickly for a picture with Mr. David!

Our fab four getting ready to open their gifts! Their little friends knew just what to get them. Art supplies, clothes and just the right amount of toys – thank you all!

One present that had to be opened immediately was the shaving cream and “razors” that Mamaw brought. They each took a turn shaving in front of the mirror……even the girls. Thankkksss Mamaw

Like every year, we sang Happy Birthday four separate times, and each of the birthday kids enjoyed their own personal cake! In Texas you never know what our weather will be like in the winter. On any given day during February the weather could consist of warm rays, rain, sleet or snow. Somehow we lucked out and the weather was nice which allowed most of the kids to sit out on the back deck to enjoy their pizza, fruit and cake.

I love this action shot of them blowing out their candles. Kylee quickly turned to help Baxlyn once hers were blown out!

Four years, I just can’t believe it. You’ve come so far, my little babies, and we are so so proud of you!

Thanks to all of our friends who came out to celebrate with us, we had a blast and hope you did too! A very special thank you to Rebecca Wright, who also happens to be the quads’ Sunday School teacher, for coming and taking pictures and leaving one less thing for me to worry about. We greatly appreciate it! Go check out The Wright Touch Photography here!