What a GREAT big brother!

Nicholas is really a great big brother. He is ALWAYS trying to play with the babies. He does sometimes get a little too rough, but it's all in good spirits. He loves to try and "tackle" the babies, but he always cradles their heads in his hands as he wrestles them to the ground. He really is good with them. And they adore him! Austin and Emma especially-wow, they laugh and laugh when they see him coming! They know they're in for a good time! :)

Matty, Matty, Matty!

So, we took Matty to CHOP today for his follow up NUtritionist appointment. The GI doc thought he might be "malabsorbing" and that is causing him not to gain a ton of weight. Well, the blood and stool tests came back and everything was virtually normal. Some things were a little off, but nothing that would indicate malabsorption. So, we are back to the drawing board. The Nutritionist said that for Matty to begin to catch up, he needs 1100 calories/day. Now with his Pediasure ALONE, he is taking in at least 1400 calories/day! And this is not including all the table foods he eats. So, it seems like something is not right somewhere. But, the good news is he is continuing to grow on his own curve. He finally made the growth chart for his adjusted age of 12 months. He is in the 5th% for his HEIGHT. But as for his WEIGHT, still below the charts, but following his own curve. If he continues on this growth curve, he will hit the curve around 2yrs old. Not too shabby for being 2 months premature....................and holding up all the babies while inside of me! :) He looks just fine to me!

Beautiful girls!

Daddy's friend from work stopped by this week. She was sooo nice and gave the babies a ton of clothes for Christmas/birthday. Here is one of the sweaters she gave the girls-sooo pretty! I love dressing them alike. I wonder when this is going to end??? I guess when they really start talking and getting their own opinions! :)

I love this picture of Matty!

Matty is doing sooo well these days. However, he has become quite the Mommy's boy lately. He doesn't let me get too far at all without the whining beginning. He loves to be picked up and placed on the couch (Austin can climb up himself!)-but he loves it, he gets sooo excited and has this endless smile on his face. Sooo cute! My little newborn (as Tom and I call him) is really growing up!!!!!

Santa DID come to our house!!!!

As always, the kiddos were allowed to open just one present on Christmas Eve. That present is ALWAYS new pajamas!!!! Nicholas seems to forget that every year, and he spent the day wondering what could the present be??!!!! So, here is a pic of all the kiddos with their new pj's on, about to go to bed to wait for Santa. And he did come! All of the Wilke kids must have been very good this year, as Santa left many, many presents!!!!! Thank you Santa Claus!

Christmas Eve!!!!

Just wanted to show you all.................with one year old quadruplets, this is how our group photos are going lately...................................Merry Christmas Everyone!!! (PS-And I am behind the camera singing "Jingle Bells" really really loudly and still, these are the best shots I got!!!!)

It's been a YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just realized since Emma came home!!!! 12/19/06!!!! Wow, where did the time go? It is sooo funny how much she has changed but yet how little also she has changed. I mean, obviously, she is one year older: walking, talking, and getting into trouble! But she is still so much the same-the same personality! She loves to be the center of attention, and definitely bosses the others around. She knows what she wants and goes after it. Nothing or no one stops her. And it reminds of when Tom would hold her in the NICU and call her "pretty girl" and she would SMILE! She loved being called Pretty Girl and still does!

My big, big Surprise Katie girl!

Here are some older pics of Katie that at times, I'd rather forget, but I like to look at them to show me how far she has come. And of course, I had to add an older pic in.................

Anyway, the reason I am getting so nostalgic (sp?)is b/c my Katie took her first 3 steps yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My little surprise baby is starting to walk! Today for the EI therapist, she walked 7-8 steps at a time before falling. I am so proud of my surprise baby...........

Matty said, "mama"

FINALLY!!!!! I was shocked! Out of the blue, on Wednesday, Matty started saying "mama" and "baba"............not necessarily knowing what they mean, but saying the sounds! This is a Major deal for Matty, b/c the physical therapist has been working on this a long time with him. I am sooo AMAZED that he is doing these sounds. I'm so proud of my little boy!

Here comes Santa Claus........with his hands full!

I know we didn't have our "Christmas attire" on, but Nicky was soo excited to see Santa Claus at the mall tonight, I could not resist. Emma wanted no part of Santa-she wanted her Mama!!!! :) The boys were so laid back and going with the flow..................Nicky made sure Santa knew exactly what he wanted. And he made sure he told Santa he had a GREAT report card!

O Christmas Tree!!

So, here is our "half" decorated Christmas tree............Tom and I decided it was not worth decorating the bottom half of the tree, b/c we would just be fighting off the four babies!!!!! And we can't forget my "modest" Nicky...............complete with underoos and his school uniform socks! Gotta love little boys...................

All bundled up for SNOW!!!!!

Well, here they are: all bundled up for the snow! I am missing a pic of Austin, as he was swooped away by Marc and Lexi before I had a chance to take his pic! Gotta keep these babies warm this winter!

13 months old!

Ican't believe it's been even a month since their 1st birthday! Yes, they are already 13 months old. Amazing how time truly flies. They are all doing so well-I feel sooo lucky every morning I wake up.
Emma continues to be our ringleader. She is beyond walking, practically running! She has two bottom teeth finally! She mimics me, saying a variety of consonants and vowels. She still loves to play hide and seek: she hides behind my sheer curtains, thinking I cannot see her. She's all smiles while behind them. Then she bolts from the curtains and runs towards me laughing her butt of. She is still so inquisitive and gets into everything. She is sooo naturally curious.
Austin is walking. He is not as sturdy as Emma, but he does walk well. He is such a teddy bear. And we have dubbed him "the avoider." He doesn't fight for anything he wants, he just avoids. If Emma is trying to grab his sippy cup, instead of getting in a tug of war with her, he just turns his body away from her to keep drinking. So funny to watch them interact with each other.
Matty is putting on weight. He weighed in at a whopping 17.5 lbs today! :) He is surely getting there...............He still loves to be held by me, and his new thing is crawling on the couch. He loves being on the couch with me. Matty is cruising along the furniture, but no walking yet. He will walk with one of those walking toys, but not on his own. In due time.............
Matty is making more sounds. He says "lalalalal" and "yayayaya" along with "dadadada".........I'm sure once he starts talking we won't get him to stop!
And my Katie girl. She is such a good girl. I keep wondering when she's going to get some devil horns! :) She is almost walking-she just won't take that first step yet. She stands for minutes on end, and almost does a crawl/walk...............crawls, but with her butt way up in the air...........again, funny to watch. She says all kinds of consonant sounds, too. She is such a good, sweet girl. She never yells, unless something is wrong. When she wakes up in the morning, she doesn't cry like the rest of them. She'll just sit and play in her crib, or sit and suck her thumb, as content as ever. She amazes me daily. I can't wait to have her swallow test done in February-I sure hope there is progress!!!!

Winter Wonderland!

Ok, these are not great pics, but you get the idea! :) We went to the Winter Wonderland at the local park the other night.....Luckily, I went with a close friend, Kimmi, who had "connections" to Santa, and got us in really quickly to see him!!!! Gotta love friends of friends........... :)

Anyway, Emma started crying, actually screaming, when Santa got too close to her. She is definitely my drama queen!

And Nicholas, OMG, he was just too excited to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. He started jumping up and down-so cute! As soon as we went into the "house", he was instantly asking Mrs. Claus all sorts of questions. He wanted to know exactly where the sled and reindeer were. He had sooo many questions, and thankfully, Mrs. Claus was so calm and patient, and better yet, she had all the right answers!!!!! I LOVE THIS AGE! :)

Emma's trip to the hospital!

Yes, this picture of Sleeping Beauty was actually taken in the hospital, as we were about to come home. As I was cooking dinner Friday night, Nicholas ACCIDENTALLY slammed Emma's thumb in his bedroom door. She screamed and screamed and screamed some more. It was swollen and black and blue. I thought for sure she broke her thumb. Luckily, after some x-rays were taken, the doc determined it was only a bad bruise, and some tylenol/motrin over the next few days should cure the pain. Oh, as you can see, life in our house is never uneventful!!!!

New clothes!

Our new Gymboree clothes came in the mail the other day and I just had to show off how cute the babies look in them! I swear, I know I am biased, but I surely think I have the cutest kids around! (That sure is a Mom talking, right?????!!!!!!!!!!)

One year and TWO WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Katie girl is home!

Yay!!!!! Katie girl came home tonight. She is still a little sick, but better than before. Our plan is to continue her nebulizer breathing treatments and keep her out of the cold weather!!!!

"Katie girl" is back in the hospital..............

So, here she is, back in the hospital. Katie was admitted last night with a diagnosis of pneumonia. Thank God her RSV came back negative-we are happy about that. She is in an oxygen tent and getting nebulizer breathing treatments. She is doing well and we expect her home tomorrow! Yay, Katie girl! The "good" thing that came out of this hospital stay is that I got to see some old NICU nurses that took care of Katie and the other three. It was sooo nice to see these ladies, as they played such an important role in the beginning of the babies' lives. NICU nurses are the BEST! :) (Makes me want to go back to school and become one!!!!) Ok, maybe when the quads enter kindergarten................lol :)

Who are Marc and Lexi?

Someone posed this question on the comment page, and I guess I assumed everyone that visited here knew about Marc and Lexi. Marc and Lexi are my husband's niece and nephew who we adopted. They are our adopted children-the oldest two of the bunch! :) So, currently, we have a 15yo Marc, 12.5 year old Lexi, 5 year old Nicholas, and our four TODDLERS! :)
We are one busy family! :)

Look who turned ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe it's been a year. It's been a year of joy, relief, happiness, anxiety, sadness, worrying, love, and just a real emotional roller coaster. I feel sooo blessed to have four healthy and happy TODDLERS!!!!! Each of them are doing sooo well; I can't help but feel lucky that I was chosen to be their mother.

We took them for their one year checkup this week. Here are the stats:

Matthew 16.9 lbs 26 inches long head 17.5 in.

Katie 18.3 lbs 28 1/4 inches long head 17 1/4 inches

Emma 19.5 lbs 28.5 inches long head 17 1/4 inches

Austin 22.4 lbs 28.75 inches long head 18.5 inches

All are progressing sooo nicely.

Matthew is still our peanut of the group. "small but mighty " is my favorite saying for him. He is definitely a "Momma's boy" and loves to be held. He gets around great, crawling everywhere. He cruises around furniture but has yet to stand alone. He says "dadadada" only and we have a therapist come to the house 1x/wk for him to help form new consonants. He is doing sooo well. He's come a long way. He is gaining weight slowly but consistently. He is not on the growth chart yet, but is following nicely on his own curve. In due time.............In due time..........

Katie is my little honeybunch. She is such a good girl. She occupies herself, sucks her thumb, and listens so well. She is quiet, and takes everything in. She likes to watch, and learns that way. She's just starting to fight back against Emma or Matty, and will go after what she wants. She is on the feeding tube for 12 hrs/night. During the day, she eats everything the other babies eat, except liquids. She eats finger foods, like french toast sticks, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, fruit, veggies, but just nothing with a thin liquid consistency. She is scheduled to have another swallow study in February. So hopefully, there will be improvement and we can take that darn tube out! :)

Austin is still my big cuddle bear. He loves to be hugged and kissed............He loves cuddling up to one of my mom's crocheted blankets-he will actually cry for it at night. He is standing unassisted and taking a step here and there. He is also my climber! He climbs everything! We sometimes find him in the oddest positions b/c he climbs so much.

And then there is Emma. She is my ringleader. She has been the first to do everything. She is now totally walking everywhere. She knows what she wants and she goes after it. There is no stopping this girl. She is sooo inquisitive, totally a "busy body"..................has to know what is going on with everyone. She will find the smallest lint particle on the rug and put it in her mouth-we have to keep an eye on her! :)

I can't believe it's been a year. Although it seemed long at times, this year did fly by. My four little miracle babies are now exploring the world around them as my four miracle toddlers! I am proud of each of them and feel so blessed to have them. Happy Birthday, Mommy's little miracles!!!!!!!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Rub a Dub Dub.......FOUR babies in a tub!

This is my new adventure......bathing four babies at once! They LOVE it and I love it, too. They get bathed sooo much quicker, and they really enjoy splashing around with each other (and splashing Mommy, too!)..............