Thumps, bumps & giggles

I would love to write a nice, interesting & insightful blog post.  I have lots of topics that float in and out of my mind all the time.  And then they float right away!  Life is so crazy busy and my brain & time is so limited.  So instead, I will quick send some pics of our everyday slices of life, just in case you want a peek into our craziness!

Jenna was looking over the house yesterday and said, "Mom & dad, it hurts my feelings that there are lots of pictures of the babies and not as much of me."  Oh, that girl!  Seriously, there are tons of pictures of her all around the house but lest I focus more on the quads in this post, here are some pictures of our 

Very-busy-smart-creative-sassypants-lovely-heart-of-gold-Jenna :)

~Cousins~

And now some pictures of our diabolical very independent quads.  

I think they will be causing me a heart attack soon.  

They are not very containable these days.  YIKES!!!!!!!

"Look Mom!  We can climb on the sofa now!"  

-So far, 2 have decided to see what's on the other side.  Big thumps.  Not cool.-

 "Look mom!  We know how to open these tricky cabinet doors now!  We like playing with those fun DVD's in there."

-And now the DVD's have been re-arranged and put into containers.  Trouble is, this cabinet is the only place my 12"x12" old scrapbook albums fit.  

So should I box them up now or hope they leave them alone?  

Unfortunately I know the answer all too well.  Sigh...-

At least no DVD's were actually harmed during this episode.

"Look mom!  I can easily climb over this armchair of the sofa, and climb onto the changing table behind me.
It's fun to escape!"

"Look mom!  We can scale this wall and get to the other side!"

-Again, there have been some thumps.  I think these guys are made of rubber and yes, I think they dare each other to do it-

When we let the kiddos go "free range", there are four little ones who like to show me just how un-childproofed our childproofed house is.  Trash cans & toilets are so much fun.  As are keyboards & cabinets.  And drapes, high chairs, bar stools, and oh!  That fun little lazy susan.  And whatever big sister Jenna has laying around.  And shoes- shoes are fun to chew.  And....(the list goes on & on)...

At least they are just the cutest quads around, right?!?

We are one happy bunch of kiddos!

Despite all the re-arranging, changing, cleaning, re-cleaning, re-re arranging, rearing & gearing, these kiddos put a smile on my face all the time and at the end of the day I still snuggle them tight and realize how unbelievably blessed we are to have them.

Having said that, they probably will give me a few gray hairs & thousands more near-heart attacks over the years...  

Hugs!

Becky

Baby Dedication

Two Sundays ago, Andy & I did something we have been meaning to do for over a year now: get the babies dedicated!  A child dedication is actually more about the parent than the child: it's for parents to commit to dedicating their children in the way of Jesus.  We dedicated Jenna five years ago, and were so honored to dedicate not one, but four children this time!

Look at all the babies getting dedicated that day!  So much cuteness in one room!

Even though it looks like a crazy baby circus, every family was only up front to introduced themselves.  We then all left the stage and returned to our families for an intimate blessing over the children. There was a lot going on, but I snuck a peek around the room during this time and it was so neat how every family was clustered together around their loved ones having their own intimate prayers over their babies.

Knowing children are a gift from God is all the more apparent when you struggle with infertility.  We firmly believe God chose us to be the parents to our children & He has entrusted us to raise them, but they do not "belong" to us: they are His.  We believe God desires us to raise adults who are responsible, loving, and know Jesus.  Thankfully, He also gives us the grace & gifts needed every single day to do this and we believe He will continue.

The babies surrounded by family as we say our blessings over them.

I love how we all are praying and there is Jenna, posing!
It doesn't feel that long ago when we all surrounded her as a baby and prayed over her...

~The kids before the dedication~

We are so in love with our five.

When we all got together, Andy & I quickly said a blessing over them and thanked our family for all their support and help over the years.  Mimi then said a prayer, and we all finished by saying the Lord's Prayer together.  It was so intimate and special.

This is our blessing for our four:

Lauren Faith, Tyler Allen, Tanner Andrew & Hannah Grace,

It’s not, “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle”, but rather “God helps us handle what He has given.”  From the very moment we learned we were pregnant with quadruplets, we were absolutely amazed, shocked, and definitely scared, but still utterly certain that God knew what He was doing, even if we didn’t! 

Your very existence is evidence of God’s Blessings in our family. Just like your amazing big sister Jenna, we know God saw it good to create you and He has a purpose for your lives.  You are all such miracles!  We love each of you so individually and so fully.  

Hannah, you are our intense child.  When happy, you exude JOY!  When you are upset, you let everyone know!  You have a passionate personality, and we love that about you.

Lauren, you have a sweet soul and are very gentle natured.  You are kind, loving, and joyful, and we just love that about you.

Tyler, you are our jokester!  You are silly, playful, tough, and all boy.  We love you so much.

Tanner, you have the most good-natured personality and definitely go with the flow.  You are sweet, loving, and playful.  We love you so much!

Just like Jenna, we believe God has placed you in our family and entrusted us to raise you, but you are on loan from Him.  Today we dedicate you, Lauren, Tyler, Tanner & Hannah to Christ.  We vow to raise you in His love.  We pray God gives us the guidance, wisdom, energy, patience & perseverance needed to raise you the best way we can.  We desire Christ to be a visible, daily presence in our family.  We pray He helps us raise you all to be strong men and women who choose to joyfully obey & boldly loves Jesus, that you love God with all your heart, soul, minds, and strength.  We are so very honored God chose us to be parents to you all. 

Love,

Mom & dad

15 Months!

The babies (toddlers!) had their 15 month check-up 2 weeks ago.  The doctor was very happy with how everyone is doing, which always makes me count my blessings and do a little happy dance!  God is SO good!

~Daddy & the little ones~

Lauren:  Height 30"; Weight 21.13 # (57%); Head circumference 45.8 cm
Hannah:  Height 30 1/4"; Weight 21.11 # (56%); Head circumference 45.1 cm
Tanner:  Height 30 1/2"; Weight 19.3 # (6%); Head circumference 46.1 cm
Tyler:  Height 30"; Weight 18.8 # (3%); Head circumference 46.5 cm

If you look at the stats, our boys are long, lean & lanky!  But don't tell them that.  The boys love to rough-house and they definitely eat & drink just as much, if not more, than the girls.  Tanner has also improved drastically in his eating skills recently.  He use to have a huge pile of food under his feet & in his bib every meal that I would scoop back onto his plate (he ravenously shoveled it in his mouth, but would only get about 50% of the food in, messy boy!).  Recently I noticed he has refined his eating skills and only drops just as much as the other 3.  Plus, he has started talking more.  He loves to babble now (as do the other 3!) and I just LOVE that.

The kids eating breakfast.  They can easily polish off 5 eggs & cheese, 2 pieces of toast, 2 bananas plus extra fruit and crackers and milk.  I think they could even eat more... gulp! 

Greatest accomplishment lately?  The boys are now walking!!!!!  It is just adorable to see.  They often resemble a baby horse first walking after birth, all wobbly and unsure of their bodies, but they are getting better every day.  It is so fun to see and yes, I just purchased 4 backpack leashes for the gang for when I venture out with them now.  It is a scary and beautiful thing having everyone so independent!

Tyler chasing a ball

Got it!

The girls cooking away

Lauren is so sweet natured and just LOVES to read books!  

 Big sister Jenna is busy during the day at school, but it's so good to see her when she comes home.  She always needs a snack and then likes to play until dinner.  Below she is next to our neighbor Lanie- can you tell these girls LOVE to dress themselves?  Very stylish!

This is fun with a Halloween Wig:

Hannah as an 80's televangelist:
"Puh-RAISE JE-SUS!!!"

Hope that last one put a smile on your face!

Hugs!

Becky