Happy (and sad!) Thanksgiving!!!!

We had a great time today at Nanny and Poppy's house celebrating Thanksgiving! Nicholas got to sleep over their house the night before, so he had already been there awhile before the rest of us got there. So, needless to say, he was bored, which caused some meltdowns throughout the night! (see picture!) :) Anyway, the babies did well........thanks to our friend, Brandi, we utilized the booster seats and the little ones sat right at the table with us............And since they are finally eating off plates by themselves with forks, I was able to eat my own dinner! :) Boy, and was it YUMMY!!!!!!!!!

On the way home from Nanny and Poppy's house, I asked Lexi and Nicholas what they were thankful for this year. BOTH kids mentioned being thankful for their families (Lexi even named EACH PERSON she was thankful for!) and how much they appreciate what they have. Nicholas made it a point to be thankful for Aunt Gloria-thought that was soooo cute!!!! :)

So, I guess it is my turn. I am thankful for ALL of my children. I am thankful that they are all healthy and happy (most of the time!) And I am ever so thankful that I am able to be a mother to my adopted children, my singleton Nicholas, and my amazing quadruplets. Boy, has it been a ride! :)

Just for Today...........

Just For Today by Sally Meyer

Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face...and laugh when I feel like crying. Just for this morning, I will let you wake up softly in your flannel p.j.'s...and hold you until you are ready to stir. Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear...and I will say how beautiful you are. Just for this morning, I will step over the laundry to pick you up...and take you to the park to play Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink...and let you teach me how to put your puzzle together. Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off...and sit with you in the garden blowing bubbles. Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck...and I will buy you one, if he comes by. Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up...I will simply love you for the joy you bring me. Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me make cookies...and I wont stand over you . . . trying to 'fix things.' Just for this afternoon, I will take you to McDonald's and buy us both a 'Happy Meal'...so you can have two toys. Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you the story of how you were born...and how much we love you. Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the bathtub...and I won't get angry when you pour water over your sister's head. Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late...while we sit on the porch swing and count all the stars. Just for this evening, I will bring you glasses of water...and snuggle beside you for hours...and miss my favorite t.v. show. And tonight when you are sleeping safe and warm in your bed, I will think of the mothers and fathers who mourn for the children they have lost. I will remember the parents who sit by hospital beds,watching over the little ones they love. I will weep for those parents whose children are cold,hungry and suffering, and .... this evening, when I kneel down to pray, I will simply be grateful for all that I have and not ask for anything...except just one more day.

© copyright 1999 Sally Meyer(written for her autistic son, Dhylan) I saw this on another triplet mom's blog and it just really touched me.

A trip back to the NICU.........

So, I have to share these precious photos of my Katie. After a meeting last night at the NICU, I came home and searched my Photobucket account for these photos-and boy, did they bring back some memories. These pictures were taken on the night that Katie "crashed" in front of me. I had just "kangarooed" her, and the nurse was getting her settled back in her warmer. That is when Katie's nurse frantically called for another nurse, and my little girl suddenly lay limp before my eyes. It seemed so surreal. This was not supposed to happen to my healthy 3.8 lb surprise little girl.

I went to the local NICU last night in order to be on a parent panel for the March of Dimes. The MOD was doing a presentation to the NICU staff for continuing education credits. I was asked to be on a panel to talk about my NICU stay and offer any suggestions I may have to improve the stay for parents in the NICU. I was not prepared for the emotions I would have. Now I have been back to this NICU several times, but always with my children to "show them off"! But last night, I was alone. As soon as I went in the elevator to the 3rd floor, I got choked up. I saw the hand sanitizer around the floors and I went up and grabbed some. Oh my-the smell-I couldn't get enough out of it. It brought back a rush of emotions for me.

As soon as I walked into the conference room, I instantly saw the two nurses that saved my baby girl's life that fateful night on Nov. 19, 2006: Diane and Karen. I will NEVER forget these ladies. For minutes, that seemed to last a lifetime, these two women breathed for my little girl, and beat her heart for her. I know they were "only doing their job", but it was more than that to me. I was there and I saw it. They cared. They loved my daughter just as I did. They saved her life that night, right in front of my and Tom's eyes, and I am forever grateful to these two ladies.

I must also mention the doctor involved in saving Katie's life was phenomenal as well. As Diane and Karen fought so hard to keep Katie breathing, the doctor also worked so hard in getting her on the ventilator. It was an extremely scary sight for me. He tried SEVERAL times to get the tube down her throat, and just coulnd't seem to do it. It wouldn't go down. Somehow, by the grace of God, one of the final attempts worked. You could almost see and feel the relief in the room. She was breathing. Amazingly, once she was ventilated, she became "alive". The entire 16 days of her life, she barely opened her eyes, barely moved a muscle in her body. The doctors even talked of Katie possibly having some type of "muscle" disease, since she did notmove. Amazingly, as soon as she didn't have to fight to breathe, and use all of her energy to breathe, she became "alive". She opened her eyes and kicked her feet. We were thrilled.

I just want to take the time to thank all of the NICU staff for their amazing care of ALL four of my little ones. I consider you my extended family and am forever in debt to all of you. And to Diane and Karen, and to Dr. B., I will never forget that fateful night in November 2006. That night you saved my baby girl, and I am so thankful for that. I love you guys!!!! :)

PS-the one picture is of Katie on her CPAP before she crashed that night. Then, she was ventilated, and finally opened her e yes and was so active. It was amazing to see life throughout her body. And last, thereis a pic of Katie and I upon her arrival at CHOP, where she was airlifted to the next day following her crash.

Katie is sick again............

So, BESIDES dealing with all of the diarrhea going through my house this past week, Katie got very raspy on me last night. It makes me nervous when she gets that way, b/c it could mean pneumonia. She is always the one to get the sickest, since she has the tracheamalacia and asthma. When she is sick, it goes right to her lungs, it seems. Anyway, she just didn't seem herself last night. She was lethargic, and her chest just sounded bad. I called the pediatrician and he had me give her a nebulizer treatment. She perked right up. Tom and I gave her treatments throughout the night, and I brought her into see the ped in the morning. He agreed that she sounded bad and we were off to get a chest x-ray. This is where I took this pic with my cell phone (as we waited in the waiting room for the results). Katie was a trooper-she stayed perfectly still just as the technicians had asked her to. And she was the talk of the place. The women LOVED her.............and LOVED her more when they realized she was a quadruplet! :)

Anyway, good news is there is NO pneumonia! YAY! It is just croup. So we are continuing the nebulizer treatment and giving her some oral steroids to help with her lungs.......I am sure praying for a "Hospital-free" winter............... :)

Santa Claus parade............already!!!! :)

Thanks to some good friends of ours, we found out that the local mall was having a parade to welcome Santa Claus! We headed there and had a good time. Some fun characters were there and we participated in a "parade" around the mall, "searching" for Santa Claus throughout the mall! SURPRISINGLY, we walked half the mall, and when we came back to the original spot, Santa was making his appearance down the escalator!!!! :) (At least we got some exercise!)

Anyway, thank you to Kim for giving us the "heads up" on this holiday event!!! :)

Christmas pics in November!

Yes, I already had their Christmas pics done! :) I HATE having to wait to get pics done, even when you have an appointment! :) So, as soon as I gathered their Christmas outfits together, I made the appointment, and off we went. I am not posting the "group" photo, as that is the one I chose for the Christmas cards-yours will be coming in the mail!!!!

TWO year old checkup

Since Lexi was off school today, I took advantage of the extra set of hands and took the babies (can I call them that anymore???!!!) for their 2yo well checkup. All four did really well. The pediatrician continues to be impressed with their progress. He sees NO signs of any form of Cerebral Palsy, which normally becomes evident about this time. I must say, this is one fear I have had since finding out I was pregnant with multiples. There are so many risks involved with carrying so many babies at once, and I just continued to feel so blessed that we seem to have (knock on wood!) escaped the *major* issues involved with prematurity and multiples. Anyway, according to the pediatrician, all four received an "A+" today! :) Mommy always likes to hear that! Here are the 2yo stats in birth order:

Matthew 21.9 lbs 31 1/2 inches long 19in. HEAD
Emma 25.1 lbs 33 inches long 18 1/4 in. HEAD
Katie 22.8 lbs 32 inches long 18 1/4 in HEAD
Austin 28.05lbs 35 1/2 inches long 19 in. HEAD

Isn't it funny how the boys and girls both have matching head sizes? Even Matty and Austin!? lol....... :)

2 years old!!!

My babies are officially two years old............where did the time go? I feel so blessed to be the mommy of these four amazing toddlers. They are thriving and amaze me every day.

Matthew, the "oldest", is still a Momma's boy. He has become more independent, but still comes running when something is bothering him. He is doing wonderful with his speech-so well that he has been discharged from Early Intervention! :) He may be the "smallest" of the group, but I think he might be the feisty-ist........He definitely fights for whatever he wants=normally, the play vacuum!!! :)

Emma, my first born daughter, continues to be the ring leader. Sometimes she seems so much older than the other three. She has begun to clean up when I ask her to-the toys might go over the gate into the kitchen, but hey, she is still getting them off the floor! :) She loves to hug her brothers and sisters..........she loves to be called "beautiful"-as Lexi does this soooo often!

Kaitlin, my Katie girl. Her personality has really come through this past year. Katie girl loves her Daddy, loves her Poppy, and loves her Uncle Vinny. Anytime any of these men are around her, she jumps right up on their laps and stays there. It is hard not to fall in love with this little angel. Tommy calls Katie the "pitbull".............meaning she has really developed her personality, if you know what I mean! :) She does not let the others get away with anything-You can hear her yelling at them from the other room! And if she wants something-boy, nothing stands in her way! :) She has come sooooo far in two years, and I am just so proud of her!

And Austin, my "big guy"............Austin LOVES to figure things out. He could sit for such a long time, working on zipping and unzipping, screwing caps off, etc. He loves things like that. Everything is "Mommy" right now...........and "shoes". If a door is open and it shouldn't be-it must bother him b/c he is like, "Mommy" and points to whatever. He still is our "big baby"............he is my baby, since he was the last born. But he is so big! He towers over the other three, but is so sensitive at the same time. He loves to suck his thumb, as does Katie, and cuddle up with one of Nanny's crocheted blankets.................

All four are doing really well. Emma, Katie, and Austin receive speech therapy 2x/month. Katie also receives Developmental Intervention with a PT 1x/month. The DI is just to make sure she continues to develop on track and there is no additional problems since she has dealt with so much already. All four are making great strides with their speech-it seems every day they come up with a new word for me! :)

Matthew, Emma, Kaitlin, and Austin: Mommy loves you so much. You four are my miracles-you continue to amaze me every day. I am so proud of each and every one of you...........Love, Mommy XOXOXO

2nd birthday party!!!!!

Istill can't believe my babies are turning TWO tomorrow. Time surely has flew by. We had their 2nd birthday party today. We had it at a local gym-type place........and the babies had a BLAST. We invited our close friends and immediate family, and I was truly overwhelmed by the generosity of my friends and family. My kids really made out!!!! :) Anyway, the babies did GREAT...........we sang Happy Birthday individually to each baby..........and they got to stand up when it was their turn for their song! Soooo cute............. :) I can't believe I have FOUR almost 2 year olds......... :)

Stupid comment of the day........

Soooooo..........I took the kiddos to the Outlet stores today to get out of the house and see if we can find any good deals. The kids were in the RunAbout stroller........and of course we got a TON of attention. 99% of the comments were wonderful and just people that were curious. And then there was that 1%...............We are walking along minding our own business (and the kids were really well behaved) and a couple walks by. I hear the man tell the woman, "Some people just don't know when to STOP having kids!!"


OMG-like one of my fellow multiples mom said, "Okay - was he just an idiot? I mean how do you stop when you have 4 at once? Like after two you say "oh, we are done at two kids just leave the other two in?" Can somebody be that dumb??!!"

Ugh-like I said, at least it's only 1% of people that say stuff like that............ :)