It was once Laine Day 2010!

Thanks to Aunt Donna, Laine has had a haircut since this picture!

We have missed Laine Day for a second year in a row, and I’m sure that some day he will bring this up as proof about how much more we like his brothers and sister than him. I can guarantee that we love our Laine as much as any of our other children, we just have dropped the ball and there is really no excuse. We apologize so much, and I’m sure that we will have to continue to apologize to him in the future….but not NEARLY the amount of apologies we expect to receive from him during his adolescent and teenager years! So, we’ll call it a draw. Here’s the link for Laine Day 2009 if you want to read back and see the changes from this year.

Laine Ryan was born at 4:41 p.m. on November 19th, 2007 and he tipped the scales at 2 lbs., 4 oz. He was released from the NICU on January the 15th, 2008.

Laine’s affinity for high-5’s began shortly after birth. He still gives them out freely!

Laine was the only one out of the four that both: A)Really liked his pacifier when he was younger, and B)Was coordinated enough to actually keep it in his mouth. Forrest liked his paci but couldn’t manage to keep it plugged in….hence the thumb-sucking dilemma we have now.

I will say that I always felt a very special bond with Laine going all the way back to the NICU days. I would go by the hospital every morning on my way to work and without fail, Laine would wake up for me (or at least pry one little eye open to look up at his adoring daddy). He was my “Number-1 Buddy” back then, and he still is today. He’s the only one out of all four that I can say without hesitation is a “Daddy’s boy”….the other 3 switch hit depending on the day or are most definitely “Mama’s boys/girl”. But Laine is all mine without a doubt.

“Daddy….just one more time. Will you please tell me the John Elway story about “The Drive”? Pretty please?!”

“So this is where the Mile High Magic happens, huh dad?”

I swear, Laine is never more than 10 feet away from Billy wherever we go. He has an adventurer’s spirit but is the biggest family-man in the group. He always likes it best and is most happy when the whole fam is together at home……all 6 of us (give or take Fo-Fo some days). He’s the one that gets most upset if mom or dad steps out of the room or leaves for work.

”Come on, dad….let’s go see what kind of trouble we can get into over there!”

I sometimes wonder if The Good Lord sent Laine to me to make me repay all of my indiscretions that I put onto my parents. From all of the stories that are told to Moni and me, it’s become apparent that we have a “little Billy” on our hands. I’m quick to point out that after I turned about 9 years old, I was easily the best of the Mike and Vicki Graf kids. However I’ll also admit that for the first 9 years of my life, I probably pushed my parents (and anyone else who crossed me or even looked at me the wrong way) to the limit. Well…karma has a way of making it’s rounds, which is most likely the reason our Laine-Train is the way he is.

”Ahhhh….whaddya mean by that?! That kind of hurts my feelings. I’m not THAT bad!”

”Really?! You’re gonna say I act like YOU did, dad? Not even CLOSE, buddy!”

Now, while I make Laine sound like a little devil, trust me when I say that he is definitely NOT. Here are Laine’s strengths and weaknesses as of his second birthday…

Laine’s Strengths:

We make countless jokes about Laine being our little serial killer and even call him Lainerzynski or “Zynski” for short after the Unabomber. But Moni or any one of our helpers and I will be the first to tell you that Laine is the sweetest one of our four…if he is in the mood. We don’t have to ask Laine, he will just give loves and hugs and kisses to anyone that he loves. At bedtime when we are winding down for the day, Laine will walk around the room and kiss all of his siblings, his parents, his aunts and uncles, his grandparents (basically anyone that he knows) spontaneously. He loves the people that he loves very much, and we are so proud of him for that.

Laine was the first to walk. He started standing and taking steps at around 10 months and was full out on-the-go by 12 months. That would make his adjusted age for walking at 9 and 3/4 months. I’m not 100%, but I’m pretty sure that is early. Forrest was usually the first to do things, but Laine blew all of them away when it came to full mobility and physical prowess. He still has incredible balance, and like I’ve told some of you, that makes him incredibly daring (Note to self here: Laine is NEVER to have the top bunk bed when the time comes!)

Because of his naturally curious, adventurous spirit, Laine often finds himself in odd predicaments and situations. He’s learned it’s much easier to get IN to those positions than OUT!

He LOVES his cars or anything that even closely resembles one. Future racecar driver, perhaps? Only if A.J. or Uncle Jim “Slammer” have something to say about it!

Bodies by Laine. Check out his one-handed push up (okay, not really….but one day soon).

He ALWAYS has his hands in something. If you can’t see or hear Laine, you’d better go find him because chances are…he’s doing something he’s not supposed to be doing! He’s our sneaky one.

He’s a class clown, second only to Pius. But sometimes, you’ve just got to stop and smell the geraniums (and maybe give them a little taste too).

Laine Ryan is easily the best eater now (not so much one year ago). He isn’t picky about any food and he almost always cleans his plate completely, and then some. Even after we are all done with our meal, it doesn’t take him long to be in the kitchen, pushing a chair to the counter, climbing it, and trying to grab some pretzels out of the jar. The kid LOVES to eat. I’m so happy that he is growing tall for his age or else I would worry that we had another Grampa Stubby or Uncle Ryno on our hands.

Laine’s biggest strength is probably his sense of humor. That kid has been laughing at things for so long now.

Laine was the first to realize that it’s funny when someone farts or burps (yes, we pride ourselves on the juvenile humor associated with bodily functions…..always have). After he farts or burps, he looks at one of us and starts giggling. The fact that we know he has a good sense of humor stretches beyond THAT stuff, though. He laughs at a lot of things. And he doesn’t start in because we did first… he laughs BEFORE we do because he thinks it’s funny! I think Laine is going to be a bit of a prankster and that will most likely get him into trouble more often than not. I pity his future partners in crime who may not realize what they’re getting in to by befriending him. He can be a persuasive little boy!

“Hey mom, check out my static-fro!”

“Do these glasses make me look innocent? Because I’m gonna need the jury to think I’m innocent.”

“Anyone seen the comic section?!”

“Oh great….now it’s time to hear about my weaknesses. I can’t watch this!”

Laine’s Areas for Improvement:

This should have been our 1st sign of Laine’s oppositional defiance disorder…flipping off the camera at 3½ months when I made him wear bunny ears for Easter pics. Or as Bill Engvall would say, “Here’s your sign…”

Laine has the worst temper of the four. This goes back to many people who knew me when I was little, knowing that I had the worst temper of all time. My mom sent me to a child psychologist for awhile when I was 5 or 6 and Moni is already doing research for Laine (not really, but probably wouldn’t be a bad idea). Laine gets so mad that he seems to lose control at times. Nothing anybody does will calm him down. I have taken many a shots from flailing arms and legs trying to get him to relax. We are trying very hard to remedy this little problem. Sometimes sitting him in timeout cools him down and distracts him long enough for the spell to pass…..SOMETIMES.

I’m not sure if this next problem totally relates to his temper, or if his selfishness/spoiled-rotten-ness causes it, but Laine is our little BADASS. Laine has beat up Pius, Forrest, and even got a couple good shots in on Danna. Pius and Forrest don’t want anything to do with Laine when he wants something from them. He bites, he pulls hair, he rubs their faces in the carpet while sitting on their heads…..he really works them over.

Pius knows what’s coming but is powerless to stop it.

And the rest is history. Good effort, Pi-Pi, but you honestly didn’t have a snowball’s chance…

Since (despite my temper) I’ve never been the physically aggressive type, I’m not sure where it comes from. Maybe he just has Little Guy’s syndrome because he is still obviously smaller than his brothers. And I haven’t completely ruled out getting some of this from Moni’s genes. After all, her siblings didn’t call her demon-ica when she was younger for nothin’! In fact, there’s STILL a little truth to that nickname for her……her horns really do seem to help keep her halo straight!

The aftermath of one of Laine’s rages… This was unwitnessed because I was getting ready for work, Billy was getting dinner ready upstairs and the kids were playing in the basement. He actually had a rug burn on his face too, but this was a couple of days after the attack. You can’t see it here, but Pius also had a bruise on the outer edge of his ear along with the bite on the cheek and scratches. INSANE.

And Forrest fell victim to the Zynski the very next day. He sustained two bites to the face. Laine has very distinctive bite marks…his are the only ones that are actually straight. It’s a tell-tale sign of a Laine attack.

Who would believe that a face this sweet could accompany those kinds of actions?! I wouldn’t believe it either if I hadn’t seen it happen.

Pius jumped on the rare opportunity to sit on Laine. Capturing a picture like this is equivalent to snapping one of a UFO or the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot. It just doesn’t happen. This photo is completely untouched and untampered.

Laine has minor health problems that he has to deal with that the others don’t. He has reactive airway disease or “baby-asthma” and has to do regular breathing treatments (especially during the winter or if he has a cold). He has started doing much better with cooperating during the treatments and even holds the mask for himself now. I think he’s realized that they help him feel better and allow him to get on with his shenanigans in a more timely manner.

Laine also has eczema which causes him some problems. He’s been referred to a dermatologist because it got really severe during the summer. Go back up to the picture of Laine stuck in the black folding chair and take a close look at his legs…when it gets really bad, those large welts are ALL OVER his entire body! When he breaks out (usually goes hand-in-hand with cold symptoms), he is pretty miserable for about a week. Laine gets a special “taste” (what we call his dose of Xyzal allergy medicine) each morning and has special soap, diaper and skin cream that we use a couple times a week or more often when he has a breakout. His scalp gives him problems too and I believe that is the reason he HATES having his hair washed and always has. He’s fine in the bath tub until you try to wash him….

Laine, we are so sorry for being late again. You are so special to us and we love you very much. We have heard about the youngest child having the best sense of humor, and we can see that in you. We are sure that you will be the one pulling the pranks, trying to sneak stuff by us, keeping EVERYONE on their toes and telling the best jokes. Your loyalty, grit and sheer determination will take you wherever you want to go in life. We know you’ll use your talents to better yourself and help others. We can’t wait for you to show us what kind of man you are going to become. You are such a good boy and have a kind, gentle heart and we are all SO proud of you, little man!

Love,

Daddy, Mommy, Pi-Pi, Fo-Fo, and Danny

Pi-Pi Day 2010!

**Well, Pi-Pi Day 2010 has come and gone. It was last Saturday, but we've had lots of activities (work, Ashlyn's wedding, more work, basement organizing/cleaning because it looked like a clown threw up down there, laundry, work, etc, etc, etc) going on since then. Billy had the post written, but the pics and commentary just didn't get done by me. My bad, homes......I apologize to the future Pius James that will be reading this in about 14 years. I know he'll forgive me because by that time, he'll have realized that his mama is ALWAYS late, even with the best of intentions! To read last year’s Pius Day post, click HERE.**

Pius Day 2010 is here! Little Pius James was born at 4:38 on Nov. 19, 2007. He was consistently the biggest in-utero AND out-utero (not really a word, I know....but just go with it) for the first year of his life. He weighed 3 pounds, 14 ounces when he made his debut appearance. Pius was our first-born child and was dubbed early on by Moni and me as the "lazy giant". Since then, we have learned that he was just getting his bearings about himself and is by no means lazy today!

Remember back in those early NICU days? Pius loved to just kick back and sleep all sprawled out.

Case in point.

Today, Pius normally sleeps all balled up on his belly with his arms and hands tucked underneath him and his butt in the air. So when I saw him sleeping like this again, it brought back the NICU memories and I had to snap a pic for comparison’s sake.

Pi-Pi came home with us on January 9, 2008, and it has been an entertaining two years at home with all his antics. To put it mildly, Pius is a CRACK-UP and never fails to make people smile! He’s also the “Accessory King” and loves to wear anything he sees as a possible bling thing. Ever seen the movie Office Space? Think the Flannigan waiter guy with all the flair…..that’s Pius!

Pius with his “flair”

…..and yet MORE flair! Bucket or hat? It matters not.

Pius's Strengths:

Pius is an extremely social little boy. He absolutely LOVES all attention. Pius does quite a few little tricks, and will do all of them on demand. He really likes to be in the center of all the action. Pius has learned that in order to get "fun" attention, he needs to be well behaved. Like I said, he always wants attention, so I think that drives him to be a pretty good boy most of the time. Actually, he is the best behaved boy at least 90% of the time, and I can only remember once or twice that Pius was the worst of the four.

Happy-Go-Lucky should’ve been his middle name!

Gotta love those dimples from daddy-o!

Pius is very good-hearted. Just like his Aunt Lainie, he has a heart of gold. He plays with all three of his siblings, or with anyone who is over at our house. He especially likes to feed his siblings bites of whatever they’re snacking on (and Lord knows, they are ALWAYS snacking).

They’ve recently acquired the skill of pushing a chair up to wherever they want to climb. Not so fun for us.

Pius has gotten caught with his hand in the cookie pretzel jar more than once.

Did we mention they’re all big cake fans?! Funny story…..a couple weeks ago I asked Pi-Pi what he wanted to eat for dinner. Hey replied, “CAKE” so quickly and matter-of-factly that I had to laugh!

He likes to give hugs and slobbery kisses to his brothers and sister and any of our visitors that he knows. He also really likes to give "high-fives" and "pounds." Pius gets his sensitive little heart broken very easily. If he thinks that you are upset with him or mad at him, he just puckers up and starts crying so hard. It is very endearing and it is hard to stay upset with him when he drops those squishy lips and cheeks. They really are irresistible and everyone always wants to give ‘em a little squeeze.

The boy definitely acquired his mama’s cleft chin! Which must be why he’s the biggest mama’s boy on the planet. Look at that mushy face!

Pius likes to show everyone how much he knows. If we are watching the Sprout channel, he will repeat the title of each show a million times. E.g. "Weegles, weegles, weegles," or "Thomas, Thomas, Thomas." He also is constantly dancing…..to show tunes, commercials, the radio, the beat to his own drum…… He is very smart and seems to be pretty proud of himself for knowing so much. If Forrest, Danna, or Laine do something that we notice or acknowledge, you can bet your bottom dollar that Pius is right behind them learning it so that he can do it too and show off (there’s that attention obsession again).

Pius is a great athlete and entertainer. He is able to catch a ball from up to 10-15 feet away, swing a bat and hit a tossed ball, and throw a ball across the room. He even makes sure he has a football gripped the right way before throwing it! What a stud. I also think he is going to be daddy’s number one bowling buddy in a couple years. He definitely has taken a liking to the lanes.

Not only is Pius a great athlete, he LOVES to "play guitar." Moni bought them a toy guitar that makes music, and I am not kidding you guys, it is the CUTEST FREAKING THING he does. He will close his eyes, start strumming, bobbing his head, and bouncing up and down. It is so adorable. He doesn’t even need a guitar to do it….that’s right, folks…..he’s a master “air guitarist”! He’s also recently began to TRY to sing. We’re working on his tune-carrying abilities, because they’re pretty rough right now.

Look at that finger form! We’ll have to get him into guitar lessons as soon as he develops an attention span that is longer than a goldfish’s.

Other cute things he does: Whenever I’m looking for one of his siblings and yell out their name, Pius automatically follows it with “Arrrrrrre Youuuuuuuu?” As in, Danna?! Where are you? It has been extended to when he’s lying awake in his crib and ready to get up and play. We’ll hear him on the baby monitor saying, “Da-ddyyyyyyy, Momm-yyyyyyy……Arrrrrrre Youuuuuuuuuuu?” It makes us smile every time.

He’s really starting to understand pretend play right now and LOVES acting like “mama’s sleeping baby”. I’ll cradle him in my arms and say something along the lines of, “Oh look at my sweet baby Pius…..is he sleeping?” After which he’ll immediately close his eyes and pretend to sleep. Then he’ll open his eyes wide, smile and say, “baby Pi-Pi wake” followed by a few fake baby waaaah cries.

He also likes to say the word, “Okay” and will use it every chance he gets. For example, if he wants a cracker, he’ll tell us and point to them. When we repeat back to him, “Pi-Pi…..you want a cracker?” He says, “Okay” like it was our idea to give him a cracker in the first place and he’s just trying to give us our way by accepting the food. Manipulative? Quite possibly. Funny to witness? Absolutely.

Pius's Areas for Improvement:

How could anyone really get angry with this child?! Look at that face!

Pius can be a little bit weak psychologically. He starts crying if we correct him or if one of his toys gets stolen. We are trying to get him to stand up for himself a little bit when one of his brothers take something from him. I really think it goes back to his soft heart. If we say, "No" and are even a little bit stern with our voice he acts like we just shot his dog. He definitely needs to toughen up a little. If we catch him doing something he knows he isn't supposed to be doing, he will get startled and jump about a foot and a half when we say his name……the jump is a tell-tale sign that he’s in to something he shouldn’t be in to! I love when they have guilt written all over their face!





Sometimes Pius can be a little klutzy. When he gets going too fast he will inevitably bite the dust. He is very tough physically and he will get up and laugh with all of us, but it looks like he falls so hard sometimes. Some of you may remember that Pius had to wear "magic shoes" for awhile and they helped a ton, but he still reverts to his in-turned ways sometimes.



One of the most disgusting things he does is store chewed up food in his mouth for HOURS! If he thinks a bite of food or a drink will be his last for awhile, he saves it in his chipmunk cheeks. I’ll notice that he has something in his mouth about 2 hours after our last meal. When I ask him what he has, a steady stream of liquidy brown crap comes out of his lip when he opens his mouth to tell me “All gone!” It really is one of the nastiest things any of them do. He’s learned to swallow the food remnants quickly if I catch him doing this because the only way I can seem to stop it is by threatening to hold his nose until all the food is swallowed. That was a hard lesson for him to learn….and even harder for me to follow through with! Usually because it meant that mama would get a face full of saliva and partially digested food after Pius just couldn’t hold his breath any longer and has to open his mouth to breathe. GROSS (but effective)!

Pius James, you are the most charming little boy in the world (minus the food-storing thingy…but even that is pretty funny). We all love you so much and are so proud of you. You bring smiles to the faces of all who know you and have the most sensitive soul! It’ll serve you well throughout your life and we don’t ever want you to lose that caring spirit. It’s part of what makes you……YOU!


Love,


Daddy, Mommy, Fo-Fo, DAN-nawww, and Waine

Billy Day 2010!

Well, how many times can you recount a life-altering event?

Many, many times!

For the sake of not wanting to top last year's rendition of "Billy Day"...and because there just aren't enough hours in a day, you can click HERE to read all about the little slice of our past that we'd LIKE to forget. It's all there!






Love you Bill-boy and I'm SO glad we can celebrate this day every year. You're still my Superman!



Moni

It's Fo-Fo Day 2010!

This boy is just high on life!

Some of you may remember that New Year's Day means it's "Forrest Day" to the Graf Quad Squad. For those of you new to our blog, we kept track of each of our kids' release day from the NICU.  They will always share their birthdays, they share their clothes and toys, and everything else that multiples share.  So, their “going home” date has become their own special day to have each year….all by themselves.  To read last year’s Forrest Day Tribute, click here.

 

We got to bring Forrest Michael home on January 1, 2008. What an incredible way to start off the new year!  Some of this may be repetitive, but Forrest was our second biggest of the squad. He weighed 3 lbs., 9 oz. and had blonde hair. Forrest probably had the smoothest stay in the NICU, and he was a pretty happy baby boy.

And the spoiling begins…..Gramma Bicki has her hand over Forrest while he was still inutero.  Budda has half of Laine and half of Danna.

And then he was here in all his glory.  The NICU was an uneventful obstacle for our Frosty.  He graduated with flying colors!

Forrest was the 1st one to christen the Phoenix apartment after the NICU gave him the boot.

Who could forget that “jump out and poke you in the eye” umbilical hernia he sported for so many months?!

  

Like we said…..a happy kid who enjoys being a part of everything that is going on around him!

 Those earlier days are hard to remember because little Forrest has turned into quite the brute. He usually is the heaviest and longest (not by much over Pius), but he is big. His head is big, his voice is big, his feet are big. We haven't had to worry about Forrest fighting the normal preemie size battle since he was about 6 months old and caught up to the normal age/size measurements.

Our plan this year is to go through each of the kids' strengths and weaknesses on their "day."

Forrest's strengths:

Forrest is a very physically strong boy. Some of you may remember me taking them bowling about 6 months ago and him carrying around a 10 pound ball with relative ease. We are pretty relieved that Forrest doesn't quite realize his strength just yet, because when battles occur in our house it pretty much comes down to who attacks first (usually Laine). I really think if Forrest used his strength to his advantage he would be the dominant alpha male in our house.

Braun AND Brains…..no big deal.

Forrest is the farthest along verbally of the four. I have stated before that he repeats EVERY word out of everyone's mouths, and that is still true. Forrest has some favorite words: NO, Jiggieeee (as in “get jiggy, Forrest….dance!”), Bwoncos, Bankie, TV, Peez-Dankooo-Welcome (in that quick successive order….all one phrase with him) and reindeer, just to name a few.

He is EXTREMELY SMART! Forrest starting saying his "ABC's" at around 20 months old. No big deal some may say, but he's also been able to pick out any letter separately since before that. You can ask him to find a “T” (or any other letter) in the room and he’ll hunt one down like a bird dog on a mission.  That is a 2 1/2 year old skill and he has been doing that for quite awhile now. We’re not proud, or anything!  Forrest also loves to count. He can count to twenty relatively easily, and that also is well ahead of schedule. Maybe that abnormally massive head of his is holding an abnormally large-sized brain.  I don't know.

Forrest is a good-hearted kid. He likes to make people smile (most of the time), and does some of the funniest things. I have a Broncos text with sound on my phone that all four love (any old school gamers out there that can recognize the tune to Tokyo Magnum?!).  But when they catch me looking at the messages on my phone, they all start saying "Broncos, Broncos" with the hopes that I will start it. When I do inevitably start the music, Forrest begins dancing and saying, "Jiggy, jiggy, jiggy" over and over. It is freaking adorable.

Forrest: “Uh-Oh….here’s where things start getting a little dicey for me.  Better put my serious face on.”

Forrest's biggest areas for improvement (AKA weaknesses....we just don't like to call them that):

 

Forrest is easily the worst at sharing. If one of the kids so much as touches a toy that he is playing with, he starts throwing a fit…..usually traipsing off into another room to scream and huff-n-puff, throw himself on the ground, and pretty much just be as dramatic as possible for as long as possible, or until something else distracts him.  Now if the others try to mess with his most sacred green blankie, all bets are off and he REALLY flies off the handle! It’s funny because if Forrest wants something the others are playing with, he will walk up, hold his hand out and say (so sweetly), "Share? Share?" But when HE doesn't get the item HE wants, the tantrum mode returns in full swing.  You know the saying, “What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine”?  Frosty fully believes that “What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is ALSO mine!”  He guards his belongings fiercely.

Sweet Fo didn’t even want to bowl because he did not want to let go of “HIS” ball!  So he sat and watched everyone else play with his ball tucked securely in his lap and arms.

When Young Forrest goes into said "tantrum mode," he becomes extremely irrational. I don't know if that is a 2-year-old thing or a spawn of Billy Graf thing, but it can be very frustrating. That is also when his favorite word "NO" comes out profusely.

 

The beginning stages of a melt-down.  They started at such an early age!

Fortunately, Forrest can normally be distracted pretty easily and will return to his charming self quickly.

Forrest also has an unsettling attachment to his blankets. He doesn't want just ONE of his blankies either.  He wants all FIVE of them AND his pillow to be taken out of his crib immediately after we pick him up in the morning, if not before.  Most days he won't even eat breakfast without at least one of his blankies in hand.  After obtaining his blankies and they are properly secured, he shifts to his next major attachment…..his thumb.  The thumb goes directly to his mouth (he no longer has a normal-looking right thumbnail due to it’s constant state of dampness).  It’s actually quite cute and endearing, but I’m sure it’ll be a bear to have to break him of his thumb and “blanks” down the road.  Let them be little, right?!?!

 

So those are some of his best traits and his worst traits on Forrest Day 2010. We could not have asked for a better second child and we thank God for him everyday.  Because of all the things we have mentioned and so much more, we can not wait to see what kind of man he turns out to be! We already know that he is one of the best boys in the whole world and we’re excited to throw ourselves into these tumultuous TWO’s . We love you so much, Fo-Fo!

Love,

Daddy, Mama, Pi-u-see, Dannie, and Wainer

Celebrate Good Times……COME ON! (Halloween)

The last 2 months have been so busy for us. I keep waiting for a little breather, but it never comes. There's never a "good" time to blog, so I put it off and put it off and put if off. As is the norm, I have some catching up to do....from Halloween to their birthday to present. I have a feeling you all will be experiencing Graf picture overload by the time I'm through with you!

We'll just delve right in.......

For Halloween this year, my original plans fell through. The kids love to pretend they're flying (picture a bunch of toddlers leaning forward with their arms behind them, running around the living room saying, "Fy-ing, mama! FY-ing!") I had grand ideas of making little super hero capes for them and then having shirts made for each of them that read, "We're not twins.....we're SUPERtwins!" Get it? High order multiples (triplets and above) are referred to as supertwins. Just a little play on words. Anywho, that did NOT happen. So instead I had to come up with something a little more readily available. I remembered that I bought a bunny costume when we were in L.A. for the filming of America's Funniest Home Videos. It was on clearance for like $2.00 and I couldn't pass it up. I dug that out of storage and then did some brainstorming. Ah-Ha! Who is Bugs Bunny's arch-nemesis? Elmer Fudd! The boys have camo Fudd hats....voila.

The Graf boys went as little hunters and poor Danna was their bunny rabbit. A little sadistic and perverse, but that's how we roll. And like I said, the costumes were readily available.

Budda, Papa, Grampa Stubby and Gramma Vicki came over to help herd the little squirrels around our neighborhood. They still didn't quite understand the concept of Trick-or-Treating, but they definitely weren't complaining about the free candy! Except Laine....he didn't want to have anything to do with the rest of the group. He started walking over to Bucko's house and couldn't be deterred, so Stubby accompanied him while the other 3 hit up the neighbors.

Our Banana Bunny....she kept a death-grip on those Smarties ALL NIGHT! I had to pry them from her hands several hours later.

Laine had already taken off for Bucko’s house at this point.

Budda, Danna and Gramma Vicki…..No, that lil squirt is not loved AT ALL!

This is the best pic I got of all the boys….too busy chasing my little hunters around. And yes, Billy dressed up as a beer. But only to compliment my costume later.

Laine with his huntin’ rifle.

Our next-door neighbor, Carolyn….divvying up the goods!

Pius was ready to stop after ONE house! He parked his butt in the grass and started reviewing the contents of his bucket.

Laine….not impressed with Halloween (this year, anyway).

Grampa Stubby lovin on the Beaner

Forrest with Budda and Laine with Papa Rog. Getting ready to knock on Bucko’s door (our last stop).

Mama and her Peanut (notice how she is STILL holding tight to the Smarties!)

Give the LaineTrain some food and he’s so much better. The boy can throw down some serious grub!

Forrest made himself right at home in the favorite room in Bucko’s house.

I think I know why Danna started walking so much later than the boys! The girl is ALWAYS being held and snuggled…especially when her grandmas are around.

Pius will take time to stop and smell the flowers, but wastes NO time when it comes to unwrapping candy.

After the kids were down, Billy and I dressed up and headed to my friend’s wedding……Yep, a HALLOWEEN wedding! I was a White Russian, if you can’t tell.

Two of my friends from work, Jess and Brandie. By far, one of the most fun weddings I’ve EVER been to!

Havin’ a good ol time!

And Halloween wouldn’t be complete without finding some vile, creepy rodents snooping around our garage! I heard some rustling out there and went to investigate….found THREE of these nasty little creatures. Goo. Opossums really DO freeze when feeling threatened! I tried to shoo them out with a broom and the stupid things wouldn’t budge.

And that’s the low-down on Halloween 2009! Good times all around. Hoping next year the kids will “get” it and get into the trick-or-treating spirit!

Up next….their 2nd birthday! Yep, that was almost a month ago. However, my buddy Sandra shared a blogging trick with me that will save me TONS of time and frustration. HELLO, Windows Live Writer! I’m liking it already…

Hello from the Grafs

Just a quick post so everyone knows we're still alive. Sorry about the posting delays. Maybe Moni and I will try to get a system going. In the meantime, here is a video, just to say "hi" to everyone.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Impressive, huh?! They've known their ABC's and 123's for a couple of months now, we've just been too lazy to film it. I apologize if any one got motion sickness from the video....Pius decided he was going to help me.

Billy

SO proud! Now It's Time To Get Shoppin'!

Hey everyone!

One of my extremely hardworking, dedicated, and downright fabulous fellow quad mommas and friend, Casey Gerwer, has put her creativity and drive to work and started an online business. On Cyber Monday DESIGNED FOR BABIES will be open for business!!!

Check out their trendy gear for moms, dads, babies, kiddos, expectant moms and even grandparents! They also have custom diaper bags/handbags, developmental toys and much, much more! I know we will be ordering some Christmas goodies from the easy to use site! It's so hard to find specialty clothing and items for multiples, so I'm to excited to have another shopping option for the quads.

PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND PASS ON THE LINK!!!!!!

Thanks!
Moni