They say it takes a village to raise a child... well, we may not live in a village but it certainly takes a community to help us with our quadruplets!
This post if a far too belated Thank You to all you in the village.
Thank You!!! (yes, you)
Throughout this journey, there have been legions of people helping us out everywhere from the front lines to behind the scenes. Some people we know dearly, some we have never met. The very fact that you are reading this blog post right now causes me to suspect you have, at the very least, thought about us and perhaps said a prayer or two along the way.
This blog, friends, is for you.
From the bottom of our hearts, we want to send out some much, much well-deserved thanks!!!
Thank you for the PRAYERS...
Andy and I have been astounded and incredibly humbled with the amount of people who have prayed for us (and continue to) in this journey. From the moment we started tentatively sharing with people that I had 4 babies growing in my belly, countless prayers have risen up on our behalf. One thing we know: God is honored with prayers. And prayer works. We have a beautiful daughter & four healthy, developmentally on track, nearly one-year old quadruplets. And we attribute that completely and utterly to Jesus Christ's amazing grace.
Thank you for the MEALS....
From about the time I became short of breath in my pregnancy and couldn't fathom the daunting task of (huff, puff) getting pots and pans out to (huff, puff) think about meals, literally dozens and dozens of you sprung into action: you made us a meal, brought us food, and gifted us with amazing plastic cards that we used to BUY food! Oh. My. GOODNESS the meals were so very helpful to us!
When the babies were in the NICU and I was driving back and forth and trying to mommy Jenna and babies and pump milk for them... Oh. My. GOODNESS did those meals come in handy!
When we had 4 babies home and fed them every 3 hours around the clock and it took up to an hour and a half to feed them and we went through 32 bottles a day and I still had to be a mommy to Jenna and a wife to Andy and a mommy to the babies... Oh. My. GOODNESS did those meals come in handy!
Not until the babies were about 5 months old or so did I feel like I could finally prepare & cook meals again without the anxiety and tension of knowing I had to feed the family again-- and the funny part is, I love to cook! I guess what I'm saying is for everyone out there who ever brought food over, prepared a meal for us, gave us a food gift-card, or even just made us cookies--- THANK YOU!
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| A big thank you to this lady: Mickey made a delicious meal for us faithfully EVERY WEEK for over 4 months- Mickey, not only are you an amazing cook, you are a cooking ROCK STAR! |
Thank you for the gifts & donations!
A large number of you that we may not even know or only have an acquaintance with did something amazing- you gifted us with new & used clothes and items needed for the task of raising four babies! Clothes, strollers, jumpers, bouncers, bibs, swings, bottles, onesies, jackets, baby food, sheets, coupons, cribs, carseats.... phew. And that's just off the top of my head! We literally have had mountains of items given to us. I can't even begin to thank you enough. You know who you are, and just know we are so humbled & thankful for your generosity. Thank You. We will pay it forward, friends....
Thank you for the DIAPERS & WIPES!
We had a wall full of diapers gifted to us that we have been chipping away at since the babies came home. Although not a fun gift to give, we have been SO THANKFUL for each and every box of diapers & wipes we received! There are just a few boxes left that should last another month or so. What that means is that we were gifted diapers that lasted the quad's entire first year! That's a lot of diapers. I also used cloth diapers gifted to us from Cheryl from Happy Bums, but even with those to help we have gone through-- uh, a poopload--of diapers! So thank you SO much to everyone who helped us out in the bum department!
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| Connie, a.k.a. "Mrs. Cupcake", gave us lots of boxes of diapers & wipes during my pregnancy! Awesome! |
Thank You to ALL the HELPERS!!!
My sister & mother-in-law took to setting up and managing a care-calendar the first few months of our quad-craziness. People signed up to help out with meals and to come over and clean. Some people (that we knew personally) signed up to help with bottle feeds & household tasks. Friends helped out by taking Jenna out on play dates or by coming over to help. A few amazing individuals came week after week to help out doing whatever needed to be done, but rest-assured washing bottles and laundry were (and still are) at the top of the list. Here are just some of the helpers (that I actually was able to remember to snap pictures of!):
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Andy & I with Jenna and a couple nieces, Anna & Julia. Julia is helping out this summer and is so great with the babies! She thinks she might want to be a NICU nurse some day, so we are giving her baby experience!
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| Kathy V came weekly for months to help with the babies, bottles & laundry. It was so busy I never got a picture of her with the babies, but she was such a help! |
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| Sharon C came weekly for months also, and was such a help with the babies, bottles & laundry! She still comes sporadically and the babies love playing with her! |
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| Our awesome neighbors, the Schmidts! Diane & Courtney help out frequently and their house is often our destination during walks so we can see them & the other family members. We are so blessed to have such wonderful neighbors! |
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| Courtney LOVES our little Tyler man! |
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| My friend Lindsay helped out weekly for months! She would come after work and help out on the evenings Andy was working. It was SOOOO helpful knowing I had an extra set of hands to help feed & put 5 kids to bed! |
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| Big sister Jenna has absolutely been the biggest helper. The older she gets, the more she really, really helps, too! She just started feeding the babies bottles and doing it as good as we do. She helps at play time, bath time, with feeds, etc. Hmmm- maybe I should teach her to change a diaper... |
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| We would be remiss if we didn't thank the powers that be for our monthly benefits provided this first year through the WIC program. Due to the babies' severe premature birth and low birth weights, they qualified for an entire year of benefits. We have received baby formula & baby food and it has helped out so incredibly with grocery bills! |
And Last but CERTAINLY not Least, a huge thank you to our parents!!!
Ted & Karen, John & Margaret, you all have supported and helped us out in so many countless ways this past year. You have personally cared for us and the babies on almost a daily basis, and we are so thankful that you live close enough to be an integral part of all our lives.
We love you all so much and thank you from the bottom of our hearts. God knew what he was doing when he chose you to be grandparents to quadruplets!
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| Ted & Tanner |
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| Jenna & her Papa! |
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| John feeding Lauren |
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Grandpa & Jenna
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| My mom feeding Tanner |
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| Karen feeding Tyler |
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| Andy's mom is excellent at feeding the babies! |
As our quadruplets near their first birthday, we are so thankful for a community that cares, supports & helps us and for a God who continues to provide for all our needs. May God bless you richly.
Hugs!
Becky & Andy
