Oh, the Emotions!



These were even our little bottles...
the big bottles take up more room!

Wow, I can't believe it is already time for this post.  I have spent the last month and a half planning a 1st birthday, and now that all of the details are covered (cakes, decorations, pictures, invites), it is starting to sink in what this celebration actually means.  This weekend, we had a garage sale, and sold almost all of our baby, baby stuff.  It's hard to believe that soon there will be no bouncy seats, no swings, no boppy pillows, and NO more bottles in the Stewart House...what will I do with all of that extra counter space!?! 

I didn't get emotional when Lilya turned one, but something feels different this time. 

Is it normal to cry at a 1st Birthday party?

I feel full of emotions...excited, happy, nervous, sad.

I am thrilled to be having a party that will allow us to get together with the many of people that have supported us over this last year.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, God sure blessed us with more than just 4 beautiful babies this year!

This Saturday, May 12th, we will celebrate with a Dr. Seuss themed open house at the Mulberry Park.  We are expecting anywhere between 70-100 people to make it...ALL of whom have played an important roll in our lives this year.  It will be such a wonderful day.

On their actual birthday, May 14th, we'll celebrate at the park...cheering on big sister, Lilya at her t-ball game!

I guess there'll be no time for crying!

Call us CRAZY!!!!



Lulu and Lilya

I was on Christmas Break in 2010 when I took our miniature daschound to the vet because she was breathing funny.  The vet sent us to Purdue to have what he thought was a hernia fixed.  At the time, we were about 16 weeks pregnant with the quads, so when they came out and told me that it wasn't a hernia, and the surgery to fix what would save her life was going to be $4000, maybe I shouldn't have paid for it (or gotten the carecredit card to cover it).  I just HAD to.  She was my baby.  She was only 6 years old, but I had her before I had any of my children, and she was like the oldest child.  I'm surprised that the worrying I did over those next few days didn't end up putting me in the hospital.  She was in the ICU at Purdue for 3 days, and still had a chest tube when we brought her home on Christmas Eve.  I was sure that we had just paid and arm and a leg for a surgery that was going to fail to save her life, but she pulled through.  She was much better, and back to her old self for about 3 months.  Then, we noticed she was beginning to look pregnant.  Since she was not able to have puppies, we knew right away that something else was wrong with her.  By this time, I was being admitted to the hospital so they could keep a closer watch on the contractions I was having, so Tony was in charge of taking care of Lulu (the dog) and Lilya.  When it got to the point that she could no longer get up and down stairs by herself, he took her back in to the vet.  Draining some of the fluid, he was 99% sure that she had lymphoma.  It was then, that we made the very hard decision that we didn't want her to suffer.  The day before we brought home Benjamin, Jaylyn and Harrison, we put Lulu to rest.  It is still hard to think about as I wanted so badly for there to be something that we could do for her.  I swore that I would never get another dog, I would never go through the heartache of losing again...

Well, meet our new puppy!  Skippy Jon Jones-Stewart (aka-Skippy) is a full blooded Chihuahua...the runt of the litter.  The kids are absolutely in LOVE with him.  The parents...well, we are second guessing ourselves already ;).  Crazy how much having a puppy is like having a baby, and I'm thinking maybe this would have been easier if we would have taken all 4 from the litter!

Benjamin loving on Skippy

Lilya loving on her new best friend.


Go ahead, call us crazy!

Wow, a look back at this time last year

 It's hard to believe that this is what I looked like at this time last year.  Trying my hardest to keep those little ones in for as long as I could.  I was 30 weeks in this picture, and still would not completely let myself believe that all would be well, and we would go home with four healthy little babies.  The staff at St. Vincent Women's Hospital in Indy were wonderful.  I was very well taken care of in the short 3 weeks that I was there.

 I LOVED when Lilya could come and visit me.  I'm so glad that when we look at these pictures together, she doesn't really remember that I had to stay away from her.  She asks if we were sleeping in that bed together. :)  This was a little over a week before delivery, and I'm amazed at how NOT pregnant for quads I look here.  I guess that's why I'm sharing the one photo below this.

 WOW!  This is what I looked like 5 days before delivery.  It's the last picture taken that shows how big I was.  Amazing that there were 4 little babies in there.

I can't believe that just two weeks from tomorrow, the babies will turn 1!  As unreal as that sounds, these stats sound even crazier.  In the last 365 days we have:

 -changed aprroximately 8000 (yes, 8000) diapers

-clipped approximately 2500 fingernails

-clipped approximately 2500 toenails

-fed approximately 7000 bottles

-fed approximately 800 jars of baby food

-given approximately 520 baths

and the best of all

-received countelss smiles, coos, hugs and kisses!

Just notice that I said WE.  I don't just mean Tony and I either.  We are blessed with wonderful people in our lives.  We have wonderful family and amazing friends that we would be lost without.  Looking forward to celebrating this first year with so many!

Looking Forward to Spring

We have been lucky to have some really nice days over the last couple of weeks.  We are ready for it to warm up and stay warm, so we can take many more walks in the choo-choo wagon.  They look so cute in it, and are sitting up so well that we are finally able to give each baby their own car.  Now, if they would only make a motor to attach to it...it is pretty heavy.

NICU Recheck

We made the trip back to Indy today to visit Dr. Escobar to see the progress we've made over the last 6 months.  It was a two hour visit, and I have to thank Anne again for taking the time out of her day to come and help out.
 Here is what we know from our visit:  Oscar weighs 17.2 lbs and is 25 inches long.  Benjamin weighs 20.7 lbs and is 27.2 inches long.  Jaylyn weighs 14.1 lbs and is 25.2 inches long.
Harrison weighs 18.6 lbs and is 27 inches long.  No, it didn't take 2 hours to weigh and measure them.  They also completed developmental evaluations of each child.  I loved hearing about how far they've come.  Everyone is on track congnitively!  My favorite part of the eval was seeing what they'd do when given a book.  They turned the pages, and their eyes scanned the pictures...I was so proud of my little pre-readers!The boys were right on track during their gross motor evaluation.  Benjamin showed them how he could crawl all over, and only fell on his face once. :)  They were very entertained with Oscar's own form of crawling.  They refered to it as the frog crawl...I call it the worm.  They also reinforced what we arlready knew about Jaylyn (low muscle tone), but I felt much better when Dr. Escobar talked about how high her congnitive scores were.  He is sure that she will catch up quickly.

Tonight, I was looking back at our pictures from the NICU.  I know milestones are a big deal, even when you just have one baby, but to look back at these 4 little miracles and think about how far we've come over the last 10 months is amazing.  I sometimes look at all five of my little ones and wonder why He chose me.  Tonight, I just want to thank God for the gifts He's given me.

Most recent group picture. (9 months)

Another School Visit

Poor Harrison is just not so sure about the whole
school thing.

 Today, we visited a school that we had never been to (well, that they quads had never been to).  We visited Mrs. Albitz's Avanced Child Development class.  Lilya was just 6 weeks old when she visited the class in 2008.  It is such a great way to introduce teenagers to what life is like when you have a little one.  Today, they saw the extreme...a set of quads, a set of triplets, and a singleton.  It made the small classroom a little chaotic as the girls in the class rushed immediately to help get the babies out of their jackets and settled into the room.  There were boys in the class too, some were quicker than others to get to know the kiddos.  It was interesting to sit back and watch the students interact with the babies. 
Part of the visit was an question/answer session.  I gave names, birth weights and length of NICU stays.  I loved talking with the students about the unconditional love that comes when you're a parent, and hearing the other moms talk about the smiles they get from their little ones when they walk in the room.  I also think it was very important for them to hear the struggles that come with being a parent.  You can't just get in the car and run to the store (even if you just have one).  You have to load up a little one and make sure that you have everything you might need for a trip out (bottle, diapers, wipes,etc.)  There are many expenses...formula, diapers, clothes, baby food.  There is not much time to sleep during the first few months when the baby wants to eat every 3 hours.

I am so glad that high schools offer this learning oportunity to young teens.  I see so many stories in the news of children that have been injured, and most of the time it is by a very young parent (or partner of a parent).  I hope that educating teens on the reality of parenthood will help them make better decisions in their lives.  We're so glad that Mrs. Albitz used us to help educate today!

Of course Oscar would be held and surrounded by beautiful girls.  ;)

Benjamin looks like he's checking out the assignment book and text book there.  I think he looks a little worried.  :)

Lilya was hanging out in the stroller enjoying some Dora snacks while the babies were being held.

I'm so sad that I didn't get a picture of Jaylyn with any of her new friends.  I'm sure that Mrs. Albitz will share some of hers with me, and I'll share them later.

P.S.  I couldn't have made it this morning without Nancy Doyle.  She was kind enough to come down at 7 a.m. to help me feed everyone early, get them dressed and loaded up to go.  I'm so proud that we made it to school right on time.  Thanks, Nancy!

The Baby Food Stage

Playing after dinner.

In the last month or so, we started feeding baby food.  When I look back at pictures of Lilya at this age, her face was stained orange.  The only thing the child would eat was carrots or sweet potatoes...a lot healthier than what she eats now anyway.  Having to find things that a 3 year old will eat, makes me grateful the 3 times a day that I put the quads in the table and them baby food.  Here are some of the favorites right now.

Breakfast:  oatmeal cereal w/fruit (usually applesauce, mangos or a mix (apples, mangos, kiwi)

Lunch/Supper:  rice cereal mixed with a vegetable (peas are their favorite, but we've been working with carrots and sweet potatoes) and a jar of fruit.

They are working on drinking some water out of a sippy cup, and still take bottles 4 times a day (8,12,4 & 8).

Lilya has some favorites too...cookies, cake, ice-cream, pancakes (she would eat for every meal), tacos, chicken nuggets (from McDonalds only), mini corndogs and just about any kind of candy.  I can't really get her to eat much as far as vegetables, but she does love fruit.

Even though she is able to feed herself, I would say that the quads are at an easier feeding stage.  They have been so good, and will eat just about anything I try.  I'm dreading the day I have to find something that all 5 kids will like to eat.