1st Birthday Party

It was about this time of  night a year ago that things started changing.  The day was as normal as any that I had spent in the hospital.  An ultrasound showed that all four babies were doing great, all growing at a good rate.  I felt like I could keep going for at least 3 more weeks!  I was so excited that my friends, Anne and Sarah, had come for a visit, but as soon as they left, it started.  I was having back to back contractions, and was in a lot of pain.  Medicine was not making it any better.  And then, the dreaded Magnesium...I HATED that medicine.  I knew it was for the best, but never have I felt like my body was so on fire.  By morning, it was decided, by my doctors, that it was time.  So, May 14th, 2011, Oscar, Benjamin, Jaylyn and Harrison came into the world at 9:41, 9:42, 9:42 and 9:43.
I can't believe that these little babies, who spent the first few weeks of their lives with tubes, wires, alarms and sensors in their own little incubators, have grown so quickly and will turn 1 tomorrow.

We celebrated yesterday with a Dr. Seuss themed party at the Mulberry park...

I don't think Benjamin was feeling the best, so he wasn't really into his cake.
The other three LOVED it!

Oscar about to take another bite!

Benjamin is looking for someone to save him from the table.

Harrison kept getting so excited!

Jaylyn was the most fun to watch!  Look how intense she looks. 
She did more smearing than eating, but it was still entertaining.

So glad that our feeding grandmas could make it.
Elaine, Nancy, Vickie, Barb (pictured), Marlene, Betty and Bonnie
have been wonderful!

So many cute gifts!  Here they are in their new patio chairs from
our friends, the Ades'.

Don't Jaylyn and Harrison look cool in their new hats and shades from
Aunt Amy and Brianne!

Our wonderful friend, Brenda Thomas, made these adorable
smash cakes for the babies.

We are so thankful for all of our family and friends who came out to celebrate.  We are blessed beyond words!

Hey Batter, Batter

 Last night was our first t-ball game.  Yes, I said OUR first t-ball game.  It was Lilya's first time playing in a game, and my first time as the assistant coach during a game.  Being the youngest on the team, she took up most of my time and energy.  After less than an inning and a half, I was exhausted and sort of glad that the rain started coming down hard enough to call the game.  The kids all did a GREAT job in that short amount of time...maybe God knew that we needed to be eased in to these games a little at a time. :)  I'm looking forward to our next game tomorrow evening.  (Thank you to my friend, Amy Perez, for coming and taking these wonderful pictures for us!)

Taking the field for the first time!

First time batting.

Listening to Mommy's advice

She almost got a "live pitch" hit, and then blasted it off of the tee!

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)