Life....

It is just amazing having our babies home. And I can not believe that they have all been home for over a week. We have gotten into a nice little routine that has been working really well for us but I know in a blink of an eye this routine will change and we will have to find a new one that works. The one thing I do have to say is I am so glad the quads are not our first. I really think that after three kids any more that you add just fit in. You have already lost the man to man defense and have already been outnumbered on the kid to parent ratio. Even adding four at one time has not been bad at all. I totally remember the sleep deprivation after having the twins and I am so glad I do not have to relive those days. It is hard having to get out of bed at two in the morning for a feeding and we get so excited when we get a straight three hour stretch of sleep but when the sun comes up and the clock hits seven we are ready to go and don't usually stop until the last feeding between 10-11pm. I can tell you how amazing our bed feels when we crawl in and aren't we lucky that we get to crawl in an extra two times each night! One night when we were very tired and neither of us wanted to get up for a feeding I told Paul that we could do this because never again will we have a newborn and have to do every three hour feeds. It does make it just a little bit easier to get up.

All done with bath and now it's time to eat

Sister's sharing secrets

Thanks to another quad mom, Amber, we figured out how to tandem bottle feed the kiddos very quickly!

We couldn't survive without our rock n' plays. The kids sleep so well in them that we actually have three of them now. Kenzie is the only one who doesn't sleep in one.

My big man Tate

I know it's fuzzy but I look at that hair!!

Sisters

Good thing we have a large sectional

We start our every three hour feeds at 8am and this momma makes sure we stay on schedule throughout the day. We have mastered the tandem bottle feeding and if I am alone with the babies I can usually get all four feed and burped about 35 minutes. I am so thankful that I have good eaters. Our only problem child in regards to feeds is Tate who the minute he is done eating needs to burp and then he will remain fussy until he spits up a little. Sometimes this can be five minutes and sometimes those five minutes feel like they take forever just to get spit up on! All but Tate are using the Dr. Brown's bottles even though I did not want to use them. I have a whole other post coming regarding our bottle preparation and washing. Tate probably should be on the Dr. Brown bottles because of his reflux but he actually eats best with the Avent bottles so we are sticking to those for now. After eating the babies fall asleep pretty quickly without much awake time. They still have two weeks before their due date so hopefully soon we will have more active awake times. We do keep them in the living room and have them rotate between tummy time, swings and bouncy chairs twice a day. They usually fall fast asleep with tummy time and because I do not trust the three older kids to not trip over them we have a play mat set up inside of a pack n play to avoid babies from being trampled on. We end the day with bath time each night before their 8pm feeding. We then wake them for one more feeding at 10pm and then let them wake us up. We consistently get a 3.5 hour stretch from them and the other night a 4 hour stretch which was a slice of heaven! I am excited for them to start having longer periods of sleep at night. I know it will be here in a blink of an eye but right now that blink is in very slow motion. 

The Riisager's came for a visit and we had enough babies so no one had to argue who got to hold first!

Tummy time is very exhausting

Tate

Wide-eyed Rylan

"Mom would you please stop taking my pictures please."

Lots of people ask how the older kids are doing adjusting. Drew has been great. He is definitely two now so we have the tantrums that are associated with anyone that is two. He does have a one track mind and when he wants to do something he will not quit asking all day. His top three request are jeep/blue (his battery powered jeep and quad), snack and mall. Some days he can drive me crazy with these three words. Aubrey is my little helper and wants to help in any way she can. Sometimes she wants to help too much. She has a very hard time staying away from the babies when they are in the swing or on tummy time, hence the pack n' play. She did scare the bajeppies out of me the other day when I came in from getting someone loaded in the car and I see her holding Rylan and his head was hanging way to far back. We again had a very loud, mom near tears, discussion that she is not allowed to pick up the babies. So hard for a four year old that feels she is fully capable. Natalie is struggling the most. She started having some attitude towards mom and dad this summer and her sassyness has just gotten worse since the babies have been home. She is very much a mommy's girl and we started seeing the change when I got put on bed rest. We are praying that her behavior improves because Paul and I are really struggling with her. She is by far the smartest of our older kids and that is the most frustrating part because she knows what is right vs. wrong but she is using the negative to try and get attention. The girls love to tell everyone that they have four brothers and sisters and when I asked them if we should give them back they both giggled and said no. I do think it's funny that Natalie wants a hundred babies when she is older and Aubrey only wants two! 

I came into the room and found Natalie reading nursery rhythms to the babies

Boy unattended in sisters room+mommy busy with four babies=boy covered in marker

We have been busy with doctor visits (4 different appointments with two kids at a time), eye appointments for Tate and Kenzie, a newborn photo shoot, and a trip to Indiana for Paul. Yes Paul was gone for 3 1/2 days and I was home with seven kids! Luckily my mom and sister each stayed nights with me so I didn't have to do the night shift by myself. We finally got a van that we can all fit in but it was located in Indiana. We had planned on having it transported out to CA but because it is so big it was going to cost about three times what we had budgeted and it was going to take at least three weeks to get it out here. So Paul made a quick decision...making his wife not very happy....to fly to Indiana the next morning and drive it back by himself. I was not happy with this decision but there was no changing his mind. He ended up making a 34 hour trip in 38 hours. The crazy man only slept two hours. And all his children were still alive when he got back and his wife wasn't pulling out all her hair. The one good thing that happened is I did learn how to feed three kids at one time. I now know why God gave us elbows! 

Babies Galore

Sleeping Rylan

Peek a boo Isabella

Stubborn picture won't flip but hello beautiful Kenzie

Tate

Who says you can't feed three babies at one time, please ignore the baby on the couch who is screaming. Her turn is next!

I can not believe that it is already October. My due date is coming up on the 13th but I have already had almost two of the most amazing months of my life. I cannot wait to see what the next two months bring.