A "Doozie" of our own

Thanks for all the great comments. We check our blog as often as you all do, too. I keep waiting for a new post, but somehow wishing for it doesn't make it appear.

I thought it might be fun to post some fun facts today. Just different things that pop into my head throughout the day that make me say, "Self, I bet the blog world might like to know about this."

So, here goes:

1. The 3 boys are able to roll over now. Forrest and Pius have been the only ones so far that have done it without cheating (i.e. no rolled up burp cloth under their chest). Danna keeps trying and can move her little cute butt all over the place....just not over. Forrest rolled over unassisted for the first time the other night while my parents were over babysitting with the help of friend, Janet Neville. See the video. It's almost painful to watch, really. You keep thinking that he's gonna do it and all you want to do is give him a little nudge.

2. Speaking of my parents...they go by Budda and Papa. Many think we call her Buddha (boo-duh) like the little fat-bellied statue, but it's actually pronounced "bud-duh". My niece, Maddie Jo, came up with that name when she was just learning how to talk. We think it is because Mollie (Maddie's mom and my sister) would always say, "but, uh" when she was talking on the phone with my mom. Kids pick up he darndest things.

3. All 4 of the kids have really good head and neck control. They're always pushing themselves up and looking around. Forrest and Danna are the 2 that are most interested in what's going on in the world around them. I don't think Danna ever blinks. She keeps her eyes so wide so she won't miss anything. I need to enter that girl in a stare-off contest! Laine loves looking up into peoples' faces. He's so content just looking into the eyes of his holder.

I never knew Laine's feet could be so interesting

Laine and Danna getting some play time with Aunt Rose while Frosty and Pius were sleeping

Like we said...always afraid she's going to miss something!

4. I have continued pumping, but the squad is catching up and passing me quickly. I usually pump between 50-60 ounces per day and sometimes I nurse the babies if they are especially upset and nothing else seems to calm them down. We have broken down and finally started going half breast milk, half formula in their bottles. The towers are on 20-cal feedings (regular formula/breastmilk), Laine is on 22, and sweet Danna is still on 24-cal. We will probably adjust after Laine and Danna's weight check next Thursday.

5. As most of you know, I started back to work part-time at Wesley. I work Tuesday, Wednesday one week and Thursday, Friday the next. It switches back and forth and has allowed Billy to give the QT my schedule and that allows one of us to always be home with them. We wouldn't want to leave the helpers on an island with our fickle crew.

6. Pius has very sensitive skin. He might have got that from Grandma Vicki who always seems to blotch up whenever it is too hot. Pius also gets extremely warm, and sometimes we can calm him down by taking off his clothes. Being naked seems to make him happy. He might have got that from his daddy.

Naked Pius...that's alot of chunk for one boy!

7. Sweet baby Laine has baby acne. Actually, all four of them have baby acne, but Laine's seems the worst. Hopefully they will grow out of that and the chances are pretty good because Billy and I always had pretty clear skin.

I think Laine has a few bats in the cave

8. Forrest and Danna have umbilical hernias. They are not too bad, and they will go away in a couple years, but for the time being they sure are fun to play with. If Forrest isn't throwing too much of a fit, you can press it down and it pops up really easily. If he is throwing a fit, it is firm, but still a lot of fun.

Forrest and Danna getting tummy time on their Boppys

9. The Kansas weather has allowed a couple of stroller rides in the last week. The first one, we loaded them up and went down to GG Bucko's and surprised her. The second time, Bucko and I took them around to visit a couple of neighbors. The neighbors stayed inside their screen doors and looked at the four of them together in all of their glory. We were so in a hurry to get them back inside, we forgot to snap a photo (and we weren't about to reenact the scene).

10. Frosty is the gassiest baby alive. Really no need to explain any further, I'm sure. He's our Farty Forrest. Speaking of toots... Pius ripped one so loud the other day that he scared himself and started crying about it.

Forrest amazes himself with his gas-blowing abilities

Frosty is also getting window time along with tummy and play time

11. Pius, Laine and Danna have the cutest chin quivers when they are throwing a fit. It really is hilarious, and our laughing just seems to fuel the fire. We will try to get some video now that we have found our camera.

12. We have our daily routines set, but the kids like to throw wrenches into them when they get the chance. They get to get out of their cribs around 7 a.m. They eat, and then they watch Baby Einstein. They eat, and then they get window time. They eat, and then they get tummy time. They eat, and then they get play time. They eat, and then they get wind down time. They eat, and they go to bed in their cribs. As you can tell, they do a lot of eating. We got the go-ahead from Dr. Chavez to let them sleep for up to 6 hours if they want to. They are averaging about a 5-hour sleep after their night feeds and we aren't complaining too much. Rarely, however, does this routine happen perfectly.

13. The quad squad is so excited to see cousin Becky. She's leaving Phoenix this Saturday (her last hospital shift is tonight). When she comes to visit next week, I have a feeling she will be amazed at how much they have grown. We are trying to talk her into moving in with us, but she likes her sanity too much I guess.

Had to post this pic again of Pius, Becky and Forrest just so we can remember how fun it was to have 3 babies and 3 adults living in our PHX apartment! Doesn't she look well-rested?!

14. Another Forrest tidbit, he has taken on a couple of new nicknames. He always closes his left eye when he smiles or starts cooing, so we now call him everything from Frosty, to Winky, to Popeye.

15. Laine has got to be the noisiest eater alive. He always acts like he enjoys his bottles so much. He just gulps and hums the entire time. Sometimes he's louder than other times, but it's always good for a laugh. We'll try to get a video of it posted sometime.

16. All four of them still have blue eyes. We are getting really interested to see what color God has in mind for their final color, but we are hoping they stay blue.

17. They all have elf ears, except for Pius. The other three's ears all have a little dip at the top and they really do look like the Keebler Elves' ears. They may or may not grow out of this, but judging by Bill's misshapen ears, that might be a tougher obstacle to overcome.

Laineman playing with Aunt Rose. Keebler cookies, anyone?

18. The entire Graf Quad Squad prays for cousin, Sgt. Wesley Poell every night. We can't wait until he returns home safely from wherever, Iraq. He went over at the beginning of the month, and we can't wait to hear from him via email. Laine is so excited for him to come home to teach Laine some wrestling moves so he can handle Pius, Forrest, and any boy who thinks of talking to Danna. We are all so proud of him, and can't thank him and all of the other soldiers enough for what they are doing for us.Cousins Steph Graf and Wesley Poell sharing a dance at Margarita's

Another Danna and Rosie moment

Well, that's about all we can think of for the moment. I'll try to jot down others things as they momentarily flit about my brain.

Love,

Billy, Moni, Pius, Forrest, Danna and Laine


P.S. Thank you, Tubre's, for the huge box of goodies! Danna officially now has more clothes than mom, dad and all the boys put together. We're so proud of her, though...she has finally outgrown her preemie clothes this week. We're all about the new newborn clothes she fits into now!

3 month checkups

Let me preface this post by saying that Moni and I have been a little disappointed. We have given you guys 4 posts now in 4 days and the comments were kind of low. We understand that some of you are all too shy to type or something, but seriously.

The kids had their 3-month doctor appointment this afternoon, and they all passed with flying colors. We are still amazed and so thankful that God has trusted us with these miracles, and they continue to chug right along. They are all still incredibly healthy and they are growing so well.


Pius is still our biggest guy. He now tips the scales at 11 pounds, 6 ounces. He has jumped from the 3rd percentile last month to the 10th percentile this month. He still doesn't quite rank on the length growth chart at 22 1/4 inches, but his head does by golly. He is still having some problems with his feet, but the doctor thinks they will straighten out on their own with a little TLC from mommy, daddy, and caregivers.

Forrest is still keeping up with Pius pretty well, but he only weighs 11 pounds, 3 ounces. He also is in the 10th percentile for his weight, but not quite on the chart for his length which is 21 3/4 inches. Now Pius's head is in the 4th percentile, but Forrest, on the other hand, ranks in the 12th percentile. What a gigantic melon that boy has. He must have Mommy's brains in there. We will have to be more aggressive with Forrest's fingernail clipping because he continues to scratch his face, but other than that no real big issues with Frosty.

This brings us to our princess, Danna. She now tips the scales at 6 pounds, 3 ounces. She is 17 3/4 inches long now, too. Neither of those measurements got her on the chart, but she did narrow the gap a little bit. For now she has to stay at 24 calorie meals, but the doctor said that after her weight checkup in a couple weeks we might be able to cut her down to 22 calories. She is a very healthy, petite little girl.

Last, but not least, we have Laine. He now weighs a whopping 8 pounds, 6 ounces. He is 20 inches long, but neither of those measurements earned him the growth chart yet. He is very close though. We will be dropping him from 24-cal to 22-cal feeds. Hopefully this will help the upset stomachs that have seemed to be plaguing him. He is still a sweet, healthy baby boy.

Moni has officially started back to work tonight. I was stayed here with the help of Aunt Renee, Ashley, and Bucko. Now let me say that Moni was the one who was talking about Renee ruling with an iron fist. I sat here and witnessed Renee as the only one of us four tonight who could calm the Banana. Aunt Renee never actually did anything to us kids, it was just our imaginations working with the knowledge of her stare. She has one hell of a stare, and we were all too scared to figure out what she was capable of. I will BEG Aunt Renee to teach me the secret, and would like to state for the record that her stare gives me hope that maybe one day I will be able to handle my children with only a look. Moni and I really do appreciate her help, and she and Uncle Jim have already decided that they need to spoil our kids rotten.

That pretty much raps up the 4th post in 4 days. We look forward to a little better effort on the feedback. When we feel you deserve it, we will post new pictures and new videos of each of the four. That, and when I find out where the camera is. It's probably under bottles, diapers, dirty clothes, blankets, or a boppy somewhere.

Love,
B,M,P,F,D, and L

Big Poppa video

This is the other video I tried to post previously. I'll try to get individuals of Laine and Danna, too. We're going to the doctor today for check-ups, so we'll have updated weights and lengths to post later. Keep the comments coming!

Love,
Moni

Frosty Video

Took a few videos this morning after their feeds and thought I'd share them with you. I know, I know, 2 posts in 2 days.... Who whizzed in my Wheaties today? I actually had one of Pius, too, but when I started typing I must have deleted it by accident. The cursor on this computer skips around alot and when I pressed enter, the 2nd video disappeared. It takes too long to upload it again, so maybe I will try it again later.

Forrest Michael being a mama's boy

Have a great day!!!
Love,
The Graf Crew

Mid-February update

Moni and I were trying to put off posting until the kids' doctor appointment on Thursday, but you all have spoken. It was a nice effort by the commenters so they earned you guys a post. The kids continue to grow every day. They have all started to really cement their personalities. It has been fun to watch them develop and learn new things.

Moni was holding Forrest and Pius, then Billy thought it'd make for a Kodak moment to throw Danna and Laine in the mix, too. Talk about a handful and one tired mama!

Laine is the quiet guy in the corner who doesn't complain too much. He really is a sweet boy, and never really fusses just to fuss. He is getting pretty big and it is probably because he is eating like a horse. He is taking 90 mL (3 oz)at every feed (quite a bit more than Pius or Forrest when they were in the 7 1/2 pound range). If he takes the entire feed then he will not start screaming for 6 hours, but he is still supposed to eat every 4 hours so we have to rouse him from time to time. He does take at least 70 each time, and usually takes the entire bottle.

Aunt Bertie with our sweet little Laine

Papa Haag feeding Laine

Danna is quite the little diva when she wants something. When her britches are clean and her belly is full she doesn't get too fired up, though. She has adjusted well to everything and everybody, and is usually one of the better behaved ones. She seems to be a lot bigger too. She is taking 80 mL at each feed, which is A LOT more than "The Twin Towers" at around 5 1/2 pounds. She is getting prettier everyday.

Aunt Rosy holding little Miss Priss

Forrest is a good boy too. He likes to sleep, but LOVES to be awake and see everything that is going on. He is particularly fond of our ceiling fan. He will watch that thing for hours, especially when it's moving. He is growing quite a bit too. He takes between 100-120 mL at every feed, but we have learned not to push him too far because he will throw up...a lot. Once he has hit the 100 mL mark and stops, we stop. He fusses from time to time, but is usually pretty easy to calm down.

Wide-eyed Forrest lookin' around to see what he can see

And that brings us to Pius. He is not even close to being a bad baby, but he probably wins the "Butthead of the Day" award the most. Almost everyday he has a 3 hour run of anger. Not because of hunger, not because of a dirty diaper, he is just pissed at the world. The other 21 hours he still fusses a little bit, but at least we can appease him for that time. For that three hours though, hell hath no fury like Pius. We will take a baby that is happy for 88% of the time though. I have always liked challenges, and he is our most challenging most days. He seems to me to have become very big. He eats 130 mL every three hours, or every two hours, or every hour, if you need to get them back onto the same schedule.

Grammy Vicki with a content Pius

The babies got to meet their great aunt Renee Selenke the other day when she came over to help and they were fussy little turds. They need to learn fast that you don't act up around Aunt Renee because she has the uncanny ability to instill the fear of God into all children. Something about ruling with an iron fist....just kidding. She only had to be that way with her regular nieces and nephews, NOT her great ones. We also forgot to mention that a couple of weeks ago she brought some diapers and some kick-a** bierock casserole. The kids were excited for more clean underwear to mess up. I was excited for the casserole. Moni's aunts and my aunt Paula came Saturday and helped awhile, too. It was some of their first time to meet the kids, and oh the excitement. The kids were on their best behavior for all of them, except for when Forrest thought it would be comical to pee on Aunt Cathy during his bath. We don't call him the sniper for nothing! We caught it on video, but Marsha was doing the taping and had about 5 minutes of various footage prior to that happening. Jaclyn can vouch for us that posting a 6 minute video would take about 4 hours on this blogger site. Maybe if Moni can figure out how to clip the video..... In all the spare time, I mean.

Great Aunts Charlotte, Rose Marie and Lea with the squad

Aunt Charlotte with Frosty, Aunt Cathy with Poppa (she was still shocked from experiencing Forrest's downpour of love...or should we say up-pour?), Aunt Rosy with Banana girl and Aunt Lea with the Laine-man

Three of Moni's co-workers came over and stayed Saturday to give us a night out. Anita, Susan, and Trish were great babysitters. It was so good for us to get out of the house together for a change. We went over to UFB and Aunt Donna's house for awhile and hung out with them and Crissy, her fiance, Brad, and Brad's dad. After that we went over to J.D.'s house (Laine's godfather) for a night with our friends (most of whom are also family). I even think that Moni might let me buy Rock Band because she played it for an hour and a half. I won't hold my breath, though. Big thanks to those Wesley girls for getting us out.

Susan holding Forrest, Anita holding Danna, Trish holding Laine and Moni with Pius

Another one of Moni's co-workers, Deb, came over on Sunday to help Moni, her mom and dad, and Aunt Bertie watch the kids while I went to watch the Daytona 500. That was a lot of fun, and Danna won the pot at the end of race because she had drawn Ryan Newman. She was so excited.

The kids next appointment is Thursday. We will update their weights and other things shortly after. Until then...

Cheap entertainment....Aunt Cathy brought the babies a balloon over for Valentine's Day. We've gotten a lot of mileage out of it!

Sunday morning at the Graf house

Sunday morning in our bed after the 6 a.m. feeds. L to R is Laine, Danna, Forrest, Pius and Billy all conked out.

Danna started fussing so we had some good mommy/daughter time while the boys slept.

Another week has come and gone and I really don't know where the time went. I can see what people mean when they say to enjoy it now because before you know it, they'll be all grown up. It's still pretty hectic around here...trying to figure some sort of a schedule for the babies and parents. We've had a lot of good helpers to see us and the babies including Aunt Cathy, Aunt Rose, my friends Karen, Leslie, Anita, Trish, Haley, Melody and Barb, Uncle Ryno, Aunt Mollie, Aunt RayRay, cousin Steph, friends Terri, Sergio and Janet and of course, our parents and Bucko. Billy's sister, Lainie, has been our saving grace on more than one occasion and she has become quite the multi-tasker. She's done so well with the babies even though she has never really been around too many infants in her little 20 year life! I think we may be abusing her and she just doesn't know it yet. Please don't tell her.

Aunt Lainie doing double duty holding Pius in the Snugli with a little Danna on the side.


Budda holding Miss Danna Banana

We've also been dining on some great food, courtesy of Syl and MaryJo (Syl's catering), Aunt Nancy, Aunt Cathy, Aunt Bertie, Erin (EMO), Aunt Mary, Stacy and Fabes, Bonnie and Arb, mom and dad, Mike and Vicki, Bucko, Janet, Susan Webert, Aunt Paula and Uncle Nick, and Katie Duling...I mean Mohr. I'm sorry if I forgot to mention anyone. It's kinda hard to lose all 95 pounds of baby weight with good food like that in our house! Makes me wonder when all that pumping is going to start paying off (besides it being good for the kidlets).

As for the munchkins/hoglets/quad squad/lil' angels/lil' hellions/petit fours (yes, Jac, I'm taking that one back, but you can still use it, too), they're doing great. Dr Chavez wanted Danna and Laine to have weekly weigh-ins at his office because of their size, so Billy took those two in last Thursday and they gained weight like the little oinkers they are! Laine gained a whole pound in one week while Danna gained 13 ounces. That brings them to 7-6 and 5-6, respectively. I can't believe how much they're starting to fill out. Also new this week, all the babies are beginning to smile at us when we talk to them (providing they're in good moods).

Sleeping Beauty

Billy thought this might be a good size comparison

Laine pleased with the present he left for us

Danna and Laine are still such sweet babies most of the time. They hardly ever give us too much grief. The Twin Towers, on the other hand, are always trying to outdo each other in the fussiness department. I think they may have some colic issues going on. Billy may disagree, but Pius is by far the worst for me. He is so good (i.e. sleeping) most of the day, but then goes through a transformation in the evening and cries for about 3-7 hours at night. I think he has Sun-Downer's syndrome minus the Alhzeimers. Forrest is fussy off and on throughout the day. I sure hope they grow out of that really fast.

Pius (L) and Forrest (R) in their beloved bouncy chairs. Pius looks like a little old bald man with hair on the sides and back!

Big Poppa and Frosty being pretty good

Big Poppa and Frosty being not so good

Billy started back to work at QT and is really liking his location at 21st and Ridge. He says he sees a bunch of familiar faces throughout the day. My official back to work day is Feb 21st. I'm just going back part-time and my manager, Jeremy, has been so helpful with getting me hours and times that work for me and my family. I'll be working from 7pm to 3am back at the Wesley West ER. I'm excited to see all my peeps again and get back into the work force, even if it is just 2-3 days a week.Forrest and daddy catching an unplanned afternoon nap

Our friend Chris (he and his wife Holly are the ones who drove our van back from PHX for us) is coming over this week to take a look at our computer. Hopefully he'll get us back up and running so we can start posting videos again. I have a few from a while ago that I wanted to post, but they're getting outdated now. I'm sure I'll post them anyway for posterity's sake.

I know I'm jumping around alot on subjects (hey, I'm sleep deprived and just typing as I think of things), but on another note, many people have asked us if we need anything or if they can do anything for us. Up until now, we haven't been able to think of anything. However, we still need volunteers to come over to help us when Billy or I are at work. If you've had your flu shot and can stick to the other rules we posted previously, we'd really appreciate you emailing Kelly at grafquadscheduling@yahoo.com and letting her know if there are any times you'd be available to assist us. She has been a lifesaver with getting people's info and having them lined up for us. It's just too hard and time consuming to think of the people who've said they'd love to help and then find their numbers and arrange times. As of now, our pool is a little shallow and we don't want to wear anyone out by asking them to come over all the time. Plus, we love to show off our babies in all their smiling, kicking, burping, spitting up, pooping, peeing and crying glory! They're pretty darn cute.

More to come.... thanks again for all the prayers. They've helped get us this far and I'm sure will continue to give us the grace to survive at least another 18 years! Keep 'em coming!

Love,
Billy, Monica, Pius, Forrest, Danna and Laine

I thought I'd try one more time to post a video under a different internet browser and it worked. It only took about 45 minutes to upload. Enjoy.

Just some random pictures...

Okay, so here's the scoop. Our borrowed laptop is a little on the older side and won't allow us to post videos. Rarely does it allow us to post pictures. Our home computer has something wrong with it, so if there are any cheap computer whizzes you know out there, send us their number! Needless to say, this post was a few days in the making. While not very long, it was created with much of our precious time, love and many cuss words and hope it will appease all you blog mongers out there. I say that with the utmost love and respect, by the way. At the bottom, I'm also including a copy of the comment I left on the Tubre Quad site. She called us out on our lack of updates when she knows first-hand how hard it is. This is our way of publicly stoning her. Just kidding. We love the banter. As anyone who is familiar with Billy and me knows, we seem to like conflict and a good argument/debate every now and again.

Frosty thinking really hard about the events he'll host at his next "all-nighter" party. We're gonna have to keep a close eye on him when he gets to high school.

Laineman just doing what he does. Just a happy, curious baby (most of the time). He's so patient with mom and dad, even when we screw things up (which happens alot).

Sorry Auntie Em and Uncle Andy, we have to say it.... Pius is content because he just got fed. Fat and happy and oh so cute. You can kind of see his big ol dimple.

Our lil' sweet pea, Danna Banana. She seems to have reddish-brown hair. Her namesake would be so proud! She's really begun to settle down since we've had her in a more stable environment (if you can call our house that) and is battling Laine for title of sweetest baby...

Except for this time.

Big Poppa was getting tired of Godfather Ryno not feeding him fast enough, so he thought he'd take matters into his own hands and feed himself. Oink, oink baby!

Forrest getting some time with GG Bucko, always ready to strike a pose.

Laine being held by his Godmother Mollie when he was still at Phoenix Childrens Hospital. See how sweet he is? Maybe he'll rub some off onto his Godmother.


Grandma Ruth holding sweet Danna, who wasn't being so sweet at the time. Hopefully our Phoenix grandma will be able to visit the squad here in Kansas sometime in the near future. We miss her and all her great stories!

And now, as promised, the excerpt from http://www.tubrequads.blogspot.com/...

Dear Ms. Jaclyn, after reading the text you sent me this morning, I figured I had better go down to the basement computer and try to catch up on both of our blogs. You're getting awfully lippy in your old age, you know.

The updates are, as always, awesome. Far superior to anything Billy and I have posted lately. However, I just wanted to point out a very interesting little tidbit of information. See, I just checked the stats. It has now been 13 days since our homecoming and we have posted 3 times (albeit without videos because our stupid home computer mysteriously stopped working in our PHX absence and the old laptop we are using won't allow us to post videos and usually kicks us off the internet if we try to post pictures). Wow, that was a really long run-on sentence. Anyways... I looked up how many times you all posted since your homecoming on Dec 20th and 13 days afterwards. Lo and behold, my suspicions were right. You had only 3 posts in 16 or 17 days. You should be ashamed at yourself for trying to call us out on our piss-poor posting! You know, when you point your finger at someone, you have 3 fingers pointing right back at you! Tisk, tisk. Maybe all your family and friends should start depriving you of sleep again. You weren't so frisky back then.

But really, we'll try to get better about it. I think our family likes you guys better now. By the way, I fully intend to copy and paste this comment to our blog so I don't have to retype all this.

Okay, the "hoglets" are oinking again. Do they ever stop getting hungry?

I'll call ya later! Love ya,Moni
February 5, 2008 5:02 PM

SHEESH!!!

I was in disbelief this afternoon when I finally got a chance to check the website for the first time in three days and I see such venom from our faithful commenters. That is correct...the first time I have been able to check, let alone post, in three days. Moni has checked less than that even. Whew! You guys are some tough cookies.

Yesterday the kids had their first appointment with their new pediatrician Dr. Chavez. We went out, braved the wind, ice, and cold air and were there for our appointment five minutes early. And they cancelled schools...PFFT. Nothing can hold down the Graf Quads. Monica and I made the trip to the doctor without assistance, and after we got the kids stripped down and weighed it wasn't too bad. That first five minutes was quite the whirlwind however.

Getting ready to brave the elements for the first time.

Pius: Pius now weighs in at 9 pounds, 4 ounces. Monica and I were a little concerned because of his uncontrollable fussiness, but Dr. Chavez said he just has a case of "bad attitude." Pius wakes up screaming, goes to sleep screaming, and even manages to scream while eating sometimes. I should have prefaced the statement by saying that overall he hasn't been too bad. He just seems to have about a three hour spell where he wants someone's constant, undivided attention. It doesn't matter what time of day, or what has happened up to that point, he is going to have his three hour scream. He is doing very well, other than the occasional spit up, and is really growing nicely.

Forrest: Forrest also weighs 9 pounds, 4 ounces. He hasn't shown up on the growth chart yet, though, because he is 3/4 of an inch shorter than Pius. He is also doing very well with eating and with how he is feeling. He also has occasional bouts of anger, but can be relaxed for the most part with some holding or rocking. We had to ask Dr. Chavez about trimming fingernails because of little Frosty, because he scratches his own face from time to time. Neither him or Pius will stay "burritoed" up, and always have their arms free.

Danna: My little princess weighs 4 pounds, 9 ounces. She has done very well with her weight gain since discharge one week ago. She has gained as much weight as Laine has in his two-week departure from the NICU. She had quite the crazy 36 hour adventure starting on January 23. She went from the NICU (where she had spent her entire life up to that point) to a new apartment for a night, to an airplane, to a new house all in about a day. Needless to say, she was a little bit freaked out for awhile, but now she really seems to be settling in well. Since the first couple of days, she has really been quite the sweetheart.

Laine: Laine now weighs in at 6 pounds, 6 ounces. He has only gained 5 ounces since his discharge on January 14th. He is healthy, but Dr. Chavez wanted to start monitoring his weight gain more closely. So now, Mommy or Daddy, Danna, and Laine will go in each week just to check the weight gain out. He is taking his entire bottles and eats every three hours like the rest of them, but for some reason he just isn't gaining weight quite like his brothers and sister. The doctor isn't too worried, he just wants us to check in each week and make sure that everything is still going well.

Billy and Monica: We are doing pretty well. We get anywhere from 3 to 5 1/2 hours of sleep a night, and are still on the same team. We haven't started to complain to each other or about each other too much yet. I start back to work on Monday night at the O, and back to the QT on Wednesday. Monica has spoken with her manager at Wesley and is going to start back on the week of February 18th. Believe it or not, we are excited to go back to work and return to the adult world.

Happy Birthday to sweet Moni who took a giant step into her "late twenties" and turned the ripe old age of 27. We celebrated by going out to dinner. We were going to go to Tokyo Steakhouse, but they haven't renewed their liquor license and as most of you know, a momma needs her liquor from time to time. Instead, we went to TGIFridays and it was very good. We followed dinner up with a trip to Wal Mart to get few various items. What a great birthday treat it was for Monica to go to dinner and follow with grocery shopping.

Our families have been wonderful in coming over to help with feedings and such. The scheduling is going to begin next week as I return to the grind and we won't be able to be home as much. If you would like to help and haven't emailed Kelly yet, please do so soon so we can balance the times people are over. If you have forgotten the email it is grafquadscheduling@yahoo.com. Thanks again to the volunteers that she has heard from.

Getting ready to take the picture for The Wichita Eagle.

Billy, Moni, Pius, Forrest, Danna, and Laine Graf

P.S. I am still trying to learn the new computer and I haven't quite figured out the videos on it yet. I promise I will figure it out...HOPEFULLY sooner than later.