Suds & Salvation

It all started with a melted crayon in the dryer. Some of you who are Facebook friends with me may remember a few weeks ago me desperately seeking advice on how to save a load full of (brand new) clothes that had been stained bright orange thanks to a crayon getting stuck in the dryer vent.

It was an unusual evening in several ways. It was a Sunday evening, Bret wasn't home, the quads who are typically in bed around 6:30pm on a school night were up late...etc. After tucking them away in their beds I proceeded back to my mom-duties and went to finish up the laundry only to find an entire load ruined. Long story short, Kylee's favorite garage-sale-find lovey was a part of the catastrophe and she was NOT about to go to bed without knowing it was going to survive.

Before I knew it, it was hours past their bedtime and the girls and I sat on the laundry room floor talking while I scrubbed, soaked and scrubbed some more. Baxlyn, who I could tell has reallllly been paying attention in Kids Church lately and beginning to truly understand what Jesus did for us all on the cross, brought up salvation. After some lengthy discussion she told me "Mommy, I'm ready to ask Jesus into my heart!" She and I prayed and she did just that! Immediately afterwards she exclaimed "I'll get bath-eh-tized TOMORROW!" We held off for a few weeks and this morning, she finally got baptized with some of our closest friends and family there to witness!

For those of you who know Miss B personally, you know she is generally a shy, quiet little girl who doesn't like to draw attention to herself. In crowded, busy situations, you can usually find her tucked away under my arm or fighting for my lap. To my surprise, she never, not once, was anxious about being baptized in a room full of people. This little girl knew what she wanted and the idea of everyone watching her didn't phase her a bit. I was also seven years old when I was baptized in the same church, in the same baptismal that she was!

My Sweet Baxlyn,

It's been obvious from day one that God has a special and unique plan for your life. Your daddy and I are beyond thrilled that you made the decision to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and we pray that you will continue to seek His will for your life as you grow! We love you and are so so proud of you!

Love, Mom

"For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

"If you declare with your mouth "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." Romans 10:9-10

Cox Quads 1st Christmas Play

Sunday morning the quads took the stage during their first Christmas play at church with their nursery friends. Brody played the role of Joseph, Kylee was Mary, Baxlyn an angel and Korbin a shepherd (who is hard to see standing in the back). All 7 kids did great! They stood quietly and didn't make a peep....that is until their teacher introduced "Mary". Kylee apparently saw the perfect opportunity to steal the show as well as the hearts of those watching!

Playing Catch Up: 4th of July!

A few weeks late on this one, whoops! We had a great 4th of July this year with the babies! Here's a picture of them just after arriving at church... how dang cute are their outfits?!?!

After church we went to Grandma's house to spend the afternoon! Here's just two of the nearly hundred attempts at a group picture...

My handsome Korbin. Oh that face and that combover - i love it :]

Silly Brody sporting his mohawk. We let him have a break from his cranial helmet due to being outside in the heat.

Kylee, eating her flag. This girl ALWAYS finds something to put in her mouth... grass, DIRT, HAIR, I even found a FLY in there yesterday (gag)!

(No, Baxlyn didn't have an individual shot, little miss wouldn't cooperate!) Grandma with Brody & Daddy with Baxlyn reading a book.

Daddy with his Baby B

Enjoying a bottle. Now days it's not too often they're all snuggled up together so this picture just had to be taken for memories sake...

It's also not too often Mommy gets a pic with all her babies...

Every year our church opens up the parking lot and provides a place for people to come and enjoy the local fireworks. Bret & I took the babies to church on the 4th of July last year where many people met them for the first time. I was a little apprehensive about taking them this year not only because it was literally hours past their bed time, but now they are mobile and trying to keep track of all of them amongst a crowd of people terrifies me. To my surprise they did GREAT and had the absolute time of their lives! I don't think I have ever counted to 4 as many times as I did that night... I was constantly talking to myself "1, 2, 3, 4..... ok there's Brody, Kylee, Baxlyn ok where's Korb...... 1, 2, 3...we're missing one we're missing one!..... hey so and so, how many do you have?!"

The big kids were nice enough to let the babies have their own turn in the bounce house and they l o v e d it, Baxlyn threw a fit when it was time to get out.

I love this little blurry picture of Kylee, she's seriously such a doll. She (most of the time) sits so patiently until you assist her to do what the others are doing and gets soo excited sometimes! I love it when the simple little things are so so big to them!

By this time it's no joke like 3 hours past the babies' bedtime and they are still just trucking along as the fireworks start. To keep them all in one place we threw down and blanket and lured them together with bait chicken feed graduates puffs. The second the snacks went down, not one baby cared about the pretty bright lights in the sky. We tried so hard to get them to look up and I *think* Korbin may have seen like ONE firework, and that's it. L-R Korbin, Kylee, Brody & Baxlyn with their friend Destiny!
Brody after the show!

The babies with Grandma!

Last but not least our little family on the best 4th of July we've had together so far :]

F R E E D O M

At last, we are FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Lockdown is OVER! We had planned on waiting until the beginning of May but with this beautiful weather and the RSV trends dropping dramatically we are now out and about and IT. FEELS. GOOD! I have never been so excited about summertime before in my life. This time of year I am usually dreading the upcoming Texas heat. This year I am looking forward to SO much after being in the house for nearly a year swimming, parks, play dates, swimming, church, vacations, and did I mention I love to swim?!

We are learning quickly getting out with four babies for long periods of time isn't the easiest thing to do. I usually pack enough for our appointment and we are gone for a few hours. Bret and I are now finding ourselves thinking about how our outings are going to affect the babies and the strict (but necessary) schedule they have been on since coming home. "How much milk to we bring? Will there be extra hands to help? We won't have our quad table, how will we feed them? Will the restaurant have 4 highchairs available? Will they be able to nap not at home (no is the answer to that one!)? Do we take the stroller or the choo choo? Is this person's clean, organized, trinket-filled house REALLY ready to welcome 1 year old quads?" The list goes on. We have become so good at knowing the in's and out's and the do's and don'ts and the tricks to making everyday life easier with quads but this..... is a whole new ballgame (for us and the babies) and I hope we can quickly adjust. I find myself saying over and over that I will not let the fact that we have four babies keep us from doing the things we enjoy. It's very different but it's our new normal. I know the days are numbered BUT the babies have yet to make a scene (besides the obvious) at a public place and are still in awe at seeing new people and places. Here are a few pics of a few of our latest outings!

Brody at On The Border

Kylee

Church in the choo choo

Korbin Lee

My little B

The Grams and the Broman

Last but not least, 2 proud parents and 4 well behaved babies at Pasados!

Hope you are all having a great week! Also - this weekend is our walk for March for Babies. Thank you SO much to those of you who helped us reach our goal! For those of you who may want to contribute or walk with us click here!

Hello Church!

We took the babies to church for the first time yesterday! I was so nervous and excited at the same time. My church is and has always been a HUGE part of my life and not being able to be there on a regular basis since the babies have come home is a total bummer and one of the many sacrifices we have made to help protect them. We got there in time for the 11am feeding and took them in at the end of the service for everyone to see. After church, we allowed the kids to come up to the stage to get a closer look as well, they too had all been waiting to see them. A few of the things I over heard them asking "Why his head flat?" "What's on his leg, does it hurt him?!" (talking about Brody's hemangioma) "They are SOO little!!!" "What do they feeeel like?!". It was neat to see the kids finally seeing these little babies who they had been praying for for so long and had only seen pictures of. I'm glad we got to go and hope to go a few more times before RSV begins.

Bethany with Korb leading the pack ready to squirt people with sanitizer if they come near. Anna with Baxlyn, myself with Broman and Kim with our little puker, Kylee!

Baxlyn, Korbin, Kylee & Brody

Grandma gave them these adorable outfits. The girls had little khaki skirts to match and the boys shorts that all said "His Gem. Created for God's glory" in pink and blue stitches.

The front of the onsies said "His Creation" and the back...

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:31"

Brody

Baxlyn

Kylee
Korbin



Don't you just wonder what they're thinking sometimes! Korbin with Daddy.

Our sleepy angels with no halos

Our little family :]

Another special thanks to our church family for supporting us and the never ending prayers for our family. We love you all!

-Bret & Heather