Christmas Parties!!

First and foremost I’d like to say thank you to you readers for the sweet comments on the last post about Kylee’s new therapy. She’s done GREAT since that rough second day and is using her left hand to do everything, still very difficult of course, but she’s using it.

We’ve had a total of 3 Christmas parties in the last 8 days. Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin have enjoyed each one and what it had to offer. Up first was Bret’s work party (before Kylee got her new bracelet). This was our first year attending and it was so fun. From cookie decorating, to coloring cards for soldiers, to the children’s entertainer, there was much to do! The group of ladies in charge of the cookie decorating station couldn’t get enough of the quads and kept luring them back to their table the entire night by offering more (and more) cookies… thanks ladies, realllly!

Baxlyn was the only one interested in coloring cards for the soldiers that night. There were little…how do I describe them… “felt-covered” cards with little Santa’s and such on them and the kids were supposed to color them in and leave a nice message. 30 minutes later Baxlyn had not only colored hers in, she kept going until there was NO white showing on her card at all leaving no room for any kind of message. Front, middle AND back was solid color! I can only hope the solider who receives her card can feel the love she poured into that thing! While Bret watched the little artist do her thing, Kylee, Korbin, Brody and I were entertained by an awesome children’s entertainer who sang songs, introduced puppets and made cool things out of balloons. Baxlyn joined us just in time for the really good stuff. All of the kids were invited up on stage to sing and play instruments. You can see in the pic below, Baxlyn found her a little spot in the very back where she sat and played her little drum the entire time. When the kid songs were over and the stage was cleared, there sat Baxlyn and her drum. The song leader said we had witnessed a  “Christmas" miracle” by her not getting trampled!

 

Friday morning we had the ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) Christmas party. Below you see them working hard on more sugar cookies – notice Kylee using that left hand to shake her sprinkles – whoop whoop!

 

It took a lot of bribing but we were able to get Korbin & Kylee to pose for a picture with the Sesame Street gang…

    

Last but not least, we attended our PAMOM Christmas party today. A gymnasium full of little people who all came in twos, threes or in our case, fours! Bret had to work so I went solo and whew… what a challenge! My other MoMs are super supportive and helped keep count of not only theirs, but mine as well. Miss Baxlyn is super independent and doesn’t see the need to be accounted for. One minute she would be coloring at a table by herself and the next I’d find her across the gymnasium in a bounce house full of kids..she’s a busy bee for sure! I had to take a picture of the picture she was coloring. I was extremely impressed at how well she stayed in the lines, something we haven’t practiced a whole lot at home.

Thanks to the puppet lady, Brody Baxlyn Kylee & Korbin all sat down for a brief period of time allowing Angela to take a picture of me with them! That’s one thing I fail at, being in pictures WITH my kids. I’m a picture taker for sure and rarely go a day with out picking up the camera. It’s not often people take the camera from me and demand me to sit and smile too!

Among all of the kids’ parties, us adults managed to get out for some time too to celebrate my Bethany’s 25th birthday! Here’s Chris & Bethany, Anna & Mason and Bret & myself at La Hacienda Ranch!

Silly girls… Heather, Bethany & Anna!

Stay tuned. Another BIG transition this Mama is pretty anxious about….. eeeeek!

What's up Docs?

We've had several doctors appointments within the past month or so and I've yet to blog about any of them. Let's play catch up, shall we? Brody & Kylee had their annual follow up with the pediatric eye doctor. It was just the three of us and it was so fun! I love getting out with just one or two of them by myself, it's special bonding time as well as a feeling of independence for me not having to use a stroller. Nobody takes pictures of us, we don't get many questions, nothing. It's nice to have that feeling of being normal every once in a while.

Kylee, Dudu & Brody

I used to absolutely DREAD going to this particular doctor. They had to be seen several times within weeks of being released from NICU. I'll never ever forget those early days and having to wait in the waiting room with my 5lb preemies and being absolutely terrified of the germs surrounding us... if a fear of germs would have given me a heart attack, I would have dropped right then and there (I know you other preemie moms know what I'm talking about!). I had their seats covered with blankets and was literally afraid of them breathing the same air as the "big kids" around them for fear they could catch something. Now that they're older and my germaphobia disorder (haha) has subsided a bit I let them actually play in the waiting room with the other kids! After 2 hours of dilating and sitting and being examined they both checked out fine and don't have to be seen for another year! Here's a pic of Brody and Kylee checking out the cool tools before the doc came in.

Our next two patients were Korbin and Baxlyn. They were seen by Dr. Roberts, the developmental pediatrician, and impressed her, like always. This was the longest they had gone since being born without seeing her, 6 months. Korbin is right on track for actual age and Baxlyn was above, scoring at 30months on most areas!!! They don't have to be seen for another YEAR! Here's Baxlyn showing off her picture recognition skills...

My little man and little lady sitting on the curb checking out their stickers!
Up next was the dentist with all four. This was our first time to go into an appointment stroller free, it was challenging, but we did it! So many people are shocked I already take them to the dentist. This was their 3rd appointment actually (4th for the Korb). We were told by our docs that because they were preemies, they were at higher risk for complications and that they need to be seen at a year adjusted. We've taken them back every 6 months and they've done great every time. Kylee was a little apprehensive the second we walked in the door and said "aw done, aw done. awmost done...awwwmost" trying so hard to talk me in to believing we were indeed all done with this place! The dental hygienists always take them 2 at a time. 2 go in one room to be evaluated and cleaned while the other 2 go in another and then they all come together to see the dentist. Brody and Kylee have the hardest time relaxing to let Dr. Brister take a peek inside, Baxlyn on the other hand jumps right up there like she owns the place! He warned us (which we already knew) we for sure have braces in our future and we need to start saving now...yikes...braces X 4... what age can we put them to work?! Beseides being a little crooked and crowded, their teeth all look great. He did tell us that he has a feeling Baxlyn is missing a tooth. She's a late teether, they all are actually, so we haven't thought much about her not having all of her incisors yet. He said he could be wrong, it may show up eventually, but based on the looks of her gums he wouldn't be surprised if it's not there at all. Luckily it's a bottom tooth, so it shouldn't be too noticeable if it is missing. Time will tell! Korbin was looked at a little closer because of his incident a little while back. We hit the good side of the 50/50 chance and I am SO happy to say his tooth has survived! I've gotten used to it being out of place now and I'm just so happy it die altogether. Missing a top front tooth would have been a big deal to this momma!

Therapy wise (ECI), we've had lots of success and changes! Korbin just graduated from Speech while Brody and Kylee just said good bye to their Developmental Specialist! Thanks soo so much for all you've done Ms. Lindsey & Ms. Lauren!

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Quads Go To School!

Yep, the quads had their very first adventure at SCHOOL! One of my best friends, Bethany, is a computer foundations teacher at an elementary school. She teaches pre-k through 4th grade - the girl is a trooooper! Since the babies were born her fellow co-workers (and students) have supported us, prayed for us, and followed our blog. On Monday they had a teacher work day (no kids come to school) and Bethany thought it would be a great idea for me to bring the babies up to meet everyone!

The school was so clean, well decorated and SOOO organized, it brought me back to my childhood days. I always ALWAYS wanted to be two things growing up... a Mommy and a Teacher. For now this Mommy thing's kinda got me tied up so I'll hold off on my teaching degree ;) Everyone was so friendly and greeted the babies with hugs, high fives and smiles. It was so cool for me to finally meet some of the people who have supported us since day one!

Our first stop was the library. We pulled in the choo choo wagon and within seconds the babies spotted all of the books and stuffed animals on the shelves. Mrs. Melody & Ms. Sandra insisted the babies get out, explore, and play with all of the books and animals they wanted! From the library, we ditched the wagon (YAY! FOR FOUR WALKERS!) and went cruising the hallways to see what else we could find. Seeing the tiles on the wall Brody yells "Caca! Caca!" he just knew they were giant crackers! Up next was the cafeteria. Seeing this made me realize holy cow, my babies toddlers will be in school soon :(

From the cafeteria, we headed to "Aunt" Bethany's computer classroom. How cute are they lined up at their computers with headphones on?! Look at all these computers and imagine each chair with a four/five year old sitting in it....crazy! I can't tell you how many cute stories I've heard from Bethany when it comes to teaching little kids all about computers! Hats off to you, Bethany, really!

Love this one of Baxlyn getting serious about her work "Back off Mom, I'm busy!"

From the cool computer class we headed to a pre-k class with chairs a little more suitable for kids their size!

By this time, Miss Thang here knew just what she was doin' and led us down the halls arms crossed and everything! Bret taught her this a few weeks ago and she does it time to time... this time she was just too cool for school ;) It's seriously hilarious watching a 2 and half foot lil' girl try to walk with her arms crossed!!!!!

...and lil' bit led us right to the gym! Here's teeny weeny Brody flashing us a huge smile from (almost) center court!

Everyone needs a little hydration after an intense workout in the gym...

Up next - music class! They loved playing with the instruments but it was a tad bit dangerous having four sticks flying around so we didn't stay long.

After some good tunes we visited the principals office where, clearly, Korbin was not a fan :(
No worries, Mrs. Leigh came to the rescue knowing that nothing takes the tears away like getting to punch numbers on a fax machine! Thanks Mrs. Leigh!!!!
Last but not least, and one of my favorites... The Quad Squad School Safety Patrol! They let each one wear their own safety patrol vest and stand out on the curb and pretend to "direct traffic". The babies thought this was great, each one with a HUGE smile! Korbin had a stop sign a little too heavy to actually hold up, to him it was a perfect broom!

That was our day and a quick glance into the future and what school will *hopefully* be like for these fours sweet loves of mine. In one short year (their 3rd birthday) the quads will be dropped from ECI and the wonderful therapies ECI has to offer. BOOOOOOO! From there they will most likely qualify for preschool classes that are held in our local elementary school..... C R A Z Y - they were J U S T born! Not sure if I will ever get over the shock factor on how fast they grow, it's truely insane!

I want to give a special thanks to the sweet staff at Bethany's school who let us roam and play that day and most of all for your never ending support!