Sleep Sleep Sleep...

It's all they do lately, you know what that means... grow grow grow! The babies are getting more and more tummy time as their little necks get stronger and they love it! There are many times they sleep from one feeding to the next with an occasional "re-plug" (we stick the passy back in) in between. Below you'll see only a few of the many pics we have of their "Back off I'm sleeping" pose. Anybody else have babies who sleep/slept like this?!

There's something about this particular changing table (below). You lay them down on it and BAM! they're asleep. I find myself at least once a day gently lifting it and slowly setting on the floor while trying not to wake the sleeping baby. Korbin looks twice the size of Brody in this pic but I think it's just the camera angle.

Baxlyn and her brothers

Please ignore Korbin's pink bib. Bret gets mad at me when he sees one of the boys wrapped in pink or wearing a girly bib. But ya know, when you have 4 screaming babies ready to eat you grab whatever is closest. I'll try harder Babe just for you (and the fact that the boys will look back at these pics and not be too happy themselves)!

Here's Korbin (sporting his BLUE bib by the way) with his Uncle Bradley who came to visit. Korbin is Bradley's mini-me. After the babies were first born the girls looked like Bret and Brody clearly his momma... but Korbin we couldn't figure out. Then one day all of a sudden it was like looking in at a tiny version of Bradley!

OK by now you are probably wondering what these animals are hanging out of my babies' mouths. They are called WubbaNubs. It's a beany baby like stuffed animal attached to a passy that is supposed to help the baby hold it in his/her mouth. We swaddle the babies with the animal tucked into the blanket so when the baby loses suction on the passy, it doesn't go too far and they can (sometimes) attempt to re-plug themselves.

My Sweetness...

My Sweetness and his very first explosion... eww! Who did he save it for??? His Aunt Bethany! Bethany and Michelle came over to watch the three while I took Baxlyn for a doctor's visit. Just before I walked out the door, Bethany realized why Brody (who was fussy just moments before) was all of the sudden calm. As you can see through the diaper, up the back, all over the clothes and burp rag... nice! Baxlyn and I waved "Later Bethany.... good luck with that!"

Here's a list of some of the people who emailed in and joined our prayer chain. I said I would post a pic and here it is. It stayed at the NICU with the babies until Brody came home. Thanks again everyone from everywhere!

Until next time!

Heather

More from Baby Land!

Yes yes, I know... where have I been? Why haven't I posted anything in over a week? How are the babies? All I can say... sorry! Babies are all doing great, I can't believe it's June and they are already 3 and a half months old... it seems like yesterday I was laying up in my room 13 wishing they would hurry up and get here so I could see their faces. Anyways, I am soo so glad to say we are down to 28 bottles a day YAY! That means a little more sleep for mom and dad! The babies are all sleeping in their cribs and doing well. There's occasional melt downs throughout the night (mostly from the girls I will add), but nothing too horrible.

My Brody Love

Don't let her "Look at me, I'm so sweet and cute" face fool you.... she's the d r a m a !

(Kylee Mae)

I escaped last week with just Kylee and Brody to go see their developmental pediatrician. They were the only ones to go this time due to their higher risk for complications from their brain bleeds. Korbin and Baxlyn will be seen in August. I was a little nervous going alone to the appointment but found out quickly it was a breeze with just 2 babies to lug around! She said they both looked good, a few things to work on, but nothing major. Brody at the appointment was still right at 9lbs and Kylee was 8lbs 1 oz. Baxlyn and Korbin have not been weighed in a while, but I'm guessing Korbin is right around Kylee and Baxlyn still a tad under 8lbs.

Another attempt at a group photo :/

As you can see they are getting more rolls and bigger bellies!

Speaking of photo shoots, we had our first "real" one this weekend! Chuck and Angela with Parrish Photography came out to the house, equipment and all to take our pictures. The babies for the most part cooperated well. It was one long, interesting, very entertaining afternoon and I think we got some great shots! It will be a few weeks before we can share them. Thanks so much Chuck and Angela, can't wait to see them!

Here's a few of Korbin being Korbin!

That's all for today!
Have a great week everyone!

-Heather

Look Out, We've Got a 9 Pounder!

Yes our Linebacker is now at 9lbs triple his weight since birth, go Brody!

We all went this week to Children's to see Brody's neurosurgeon for a check up. He was the only one who was weighed. My guess is the others are between 7 1/2 and 8 1/2lbs, Baxlyn still being slightly the smallest. It was just 2 months ago we were there for Brody's surgery and he had reached the "big" 4 pounds!

Our appointment was at 9:30am so we left the house at 7am, thinking we would get there early enough to feed them... ha were we wrong. We got there right at 9:15 and didn't have time to feed before going in. The babies slept like angels all the way there and what do you think happened right when we walked in the hospital.... yeah that's right. Here we come, as if not drawing enough attention wheeling in a limo of babies, all 4 babies were screaming at the top of their lungs. Bret and I found a spot somewhat away from all others in the waiting room and prayed we had enough time to get a bottle down each of them before they called Brody's name. The timing was perfect, as we finished Korbin, they called our name. From then on, the babies were angelic once again!

We sat in the room waiting for the doctor, I held Brody as he looked over my shoulder out the window and was happy to tell him we didn't have to leave him there, not this time :)

My little miracle, waiting so patiently for the doctor!

Dr. Honeycutt said Brody looked great, therefore we can assume the shunt is either doing it's job or his body is draining and absorbing the fluid like it should on it's own. Our only problem is that Brody prefers to lay on the opposite side of his head from where the shunt is, so his head is slowly being reshaped to conform to the way he lays... not so good. In most cases the baby would be put into a cranial band/helmet for a period of time to reshape the head. His doctor wants at all costs to avoid the helmet not only for obvious comfort reasons, but also the chance that the helmet would put pressure against or around his shunt and cause complications. In the nicu the nurses would rotate him (and the other babies) and make him lay in different positions, including on his shunt. Bret and I try to do the same at home, but as Brody gets stronger, it's harder to force him :/

Our fix? Therapy, right away. We are in the process of setting up therapists through ECI Early Childhood Intervention to meet with and/or to come to our house not only for Brody but all of the babies. ECI specializes in babies at high risk for developmental problems and/or disabilities and strives to help the babies "catch up" to their actual age and reach their potential.

Ever wonder "What's 24 hours like with Quads?"

Here's a slight idea :)

Looks like a lot of bottles, yeah? That's just during the night.

32 Bottles total per day.

40+ diapers a day.

This is why Baxlyn is the smallest, poor thing.

"Yeah, I puked...again... so what?"

Late on a feeding... this is how they thank you.


Mommy, Brody, Kylee & Baxlyn
Multitasking is becoming one of my special mom powers!




Bret trying to get a nap in with Brody.


Are my hands full? Yes. Better Full than Empty.

Am I busy? Yes. Better Busy than Bored.

By the end of the day I am exhausted and as always, thankful to be :)

Until next time! -Heather

Yay For Daddy!

Hello Cox Quad Followers! It's been a good week here in Baby Land.

First of all... Bret graduated!!! This was his toughest semester by far. He knew going into it he would be dealing with working full time and going to school full time while anticipating me being in the hospital on bedrest, the babies' arrival, and a long stressful nicu ride. At the same time he/we knew that if he did successfully finish this semester, he would be home around the same time our babies came home... and he is! For the first time EVER he goes to work and comes home, like a "normal" person. I Love it! Congrats Babe, I'm so so proud of you. Now take a break (haha a break with quads?) and enjoy your family, you deserve it!

We got to get out of the house a few times this week, thank goodness! Baxlyn had her eye exams on Tuesday and like Korbin's, are developmentally right where they should be. She won't have to go back for another year! Monday we took a family trip to the hospital to take a few long overdue pics with some of our favorite doctors - pics coming soon!

A shot of Miss Kylee's feet while napping with Dad!

Bret and I took the babies on our first family walk around the neighborhood the other night... you would have thought we were walking a ten legged bright orange dinosaur from the looks we got. There were several people who stopped us along the way to "ooh aww" and ask questions, one lady even knew the babies' names.... wow!

Bret and the girls.

Oh... and one more way to use the multi-functional Boppy!

My Sweet Little Bit Baxlyn

Ok, this I LOVE!

The girls have been doing this "Hold Me, Hold Me" thing lately... especially at night... ugh. Anyways, Kylee was going at it the other day and would not let me put her down without throwing a huge fit. Korbin was tucked away peacefully in his boppy chair so I thought what the heck... let's try it. Maybe she just needs someone... not necessarily me, just someone. Sure enough brother did the trick. It looks posed, I know, but it's not. Korbin held on to her and she went right to sleep. So sweet!

"Mommy won't hold you? It's ok I got you sister."

Hope this made you smile!

-Heather

My First Mother's Day

For my first Mother's Day I asked for just one thing. Not diamonds, a shopping spree, a fancy dinner, or bouquet of flowers (although I got that too)... I asked for a nap... a much needed nap... and I got it! Thank you Bret.

This time last year I wondered if I would ever be a mommy, and here I am today blessed beyond words with four beautiful babies.

In the picture below, I like to think the 3 are screaming at the top of their little lungs "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOMMY, WE LOVE YOU!" in their own words. Sweet Korbin was the only one hangin' out contently for the pic, it seems there's always one who gives me a break when all the others are going at it... thanks Babe ;)

Mommy's Little Lemon Drops

We made a surprise visit to Grandma & Aunt Beth's house to deliver cards and flowers!

My Mom, Sis & I with the babies.

Our next stop, a surprise visit to Mamaw's house!

"Happy Mother's Day Mamaw!"

To all of the moms out there, Happy Mother's Day, we hope you had a good one!

God Bless, Heather

Pictures and a tribute to Robin!

Hello all! So far everything is going smoothly in Baby Land. The babies are all doing well.... just sleeping and eating and sleeping and eating and sleeping and eating some more (of course with a few hundred diapers in between)! Brody, Kylee, and Korbin had their eye exams last week. Korbin's eyes are right where they need to be (developmentally that is) and Brody and Kylee's are looking good too, they have one more follow up in a few weeks. Baxlyn will have hers checked again on Friday. We will keep you posted!

What's cuter than a sleeping baby...?

...a pile of sleeping babies!

Sleepy Sisters

Brody taking his first nap in his crib.



Baxlyn getting a close look at sleeping Brody.
"So this is the one I sat on in mom's tummy... hmmm"

Left to Right (bottom to top):

Baxlyn, Brody, Kylee & Korbin

From Brody to Robin (his NICU Baby Buddy):

"Hi Robin, the night mom brought this shirt to the NICU was the same night we found out you were not there anymore so I thought I'd show you a pic, hopefully you'll see it. Here I am showing off my "I Love Robin... and she loves me!" shirt mom made. I didn't get a chance to tell you thank you for loving me and being my buddy in the NICU. You would be so proud of me, I'm doing great, as you can see my chin(s) are growing and I weigh over 7lbs now! I will miss you and hope to see you again someday!" - Brodster

Short post for today sorry, I need to go share more love :]

-Heather