Friday, March 21, 2008

Surprise....Hoppy Easter!

Our little Easter eggs...Pius, Forrest, Danna and Laine

Laine-man

Danna-Banana

Good ol' Frosty

P.O.'d Pius

I'm sure they're going to hate me for this in about 10 years!


Pius and Laine thought they'd been good long enough. Laine's already flipping the camera the bird.


You know, everyone's always said that Haags multiple like rabbits. We're just happy that we could add a few bunnies to the mix!

The doctor appointment went very well yesterday, but I'm sure the little bunnies would tell you a different story. They had to get their 4 month shots along with the RSV vaccine, Synagis. They each had a total of 4 pokes (2 in each thigh) and were NOT very happy about it. We snapped a few pics before the mayhem began. We really like Dr. Chavez and his crew. They are all so great with the babies and treat us so well by letting us come in the side door and back to a room so as to avoid the germ-infested waiting room. Waiting rooms are for peons. Just kidding....but we do appreciate not having to sit in them.
The bookends here (Laine and Pius) were completely captivated by Dr Chavez the entire time

Forrest may have found himself a new girlfriend.....I cut it off for you, though, Emma. No worries.

Danna playing with the doc...Pius still looking at Dr Chavez.


Laine must have just farted.

The doctor was very pleased with the babies' developmental progress. He said they were right on track for 3-4 month olds at this time. Pius and Forrest even made it onto the growth chart for their actual ages. How exciting. Their weights and lengths.....drumroll, please.....

Pius James - 13 lbs, 6 oz (25th percentile for weight) and 23.25 inches long (3rd percentile). His head is in the 10th percentile.

Forrest Michael - 13 lbs, 6 oz (25th percentile for weight) and 22.75 inches (less than 3rd percentile). His noggin is in the 30th percentile. What a fathead!

Danna Lynn - 7 lbs, 13 oz and 19.75 inches

Laine Ryan - 10 lbs, 3 oz and 21.25 inches

As the Tubres would say, "Geaux, babies, geaux!"

Have a great Easter and happy hunting (eggs)!


Love,

The Grafs

Monday, March 17, 2008

Title-less

Well, Thursday marks the babies' 4 month birthday and it's been smooth sailing so far (knock on wood). That is, smooth as in no sickness or injuries to speak of (I know I threatened a few trips over the balcony back in Phoenix). It makes us think we must be doing something right, especially since my doctor told me that Wichita was the 2nd or 3rd sickest city in the country. SO much influenza and RSV floating around these parts, but we've managed to steer clear without so much as a runny nose! This is so fortunate because, working in the ER, I know what happens when very young infants show up at our doors with a fever. Think I.V., labs, blood cultures, spinal tap and probable hospital admission.....times four. Again, this is why we have been so strict with who we can allow over and why all the rules for those that do come over! Hopefully we'll be able to lighten up a bit around mid to late April.

Just wanted to send a quick post with a few videos to hold you all over until after the doctor's appointment. We should have updated weights and more good stuff to talk about!

BTW, I tried to use a different site to upload one video (just to see if it was faster). It wasn't this time, but I may have done something wrong (most likely reason). I'll have to confer with the Tubres to see what all the fuss is about. Jaclyn is my tech support person.....pretty much my all-around support person, actually.







Monday, March 10, 2008

Now and Then

Hey everybody,
Vicki and Marsha wrangled together some of our baby pictures to do a little comparison post. Many people have asked who the babies look like. So, let us know what you think!

Newborn Moni. I can definitely see some of Danna Lynn in this one.


Baby Billy. Looks kinda like Uncle Ryno and Frosty, I think.


Moni....can see where Forrest's round head came from.


Newborn Billy


Newborn Moni

Baby Billy - See those big 'ol Pius cheeks?



Wide-eyed newborn Moni (Danna comes by it naturally, I guess)


Awww, isn't Billy so cute?! I think he looks like Pius here (but with a little more hair up top).


Bishop Carroll Sweetheart Dance Feb 1998

10 years, 4 kids and about 100 lbs later....On the Border night out Feb 2008.

Now, just some miscellaneous pictures we thought you would all enjoy.....

Naked babies! Forrest (getting ready to wink), Danna (getting an F and L sandwich) and Laine (what a poser)....Pius didn't want to play the game and was being consoled at the time.

More naked babies!

Sweet Cheeks, Pius. Pouting because he didn't get in on the naked babies picture.

Forrest and his GG Bucko

Baby blue eyes

Mama and Bronco Laine. He wasn't diggin' the gangsta cap.

The girl can sleep anywhere....that is IF and only if the princess is tired

Miss Becky was amazed at how much the babies have grown since Phoenix! Her next stop is New Orleans. Yeah, baby!

Danna LOVES her Bumbo chair. She sits up like such a big girl. She's a little bored with it all in this picture, though.


And now, the video. It's pretty short (I didn't have my memory card so had to use what the internal memory of the camera would allow), but I wanted everyone to see what I see when it hits home to me that we actually have 4 little babies. Every night, after we put them to bed following their last feeding of the day, I go in to check on them. You can hear their sweet breathing coming from the 4 cribs and it almost makes my stomach drop to the ground. That's when the daily minor panic attack hits and I realize how much these babies rely on us and how much we love them. Our babies are so blessed to be loved by so many people and we want to thank everyone again for all the prayers and support you've given us!



Well, I guess that's about it for this post. But I wanted to mention that we have a surprise in store for you all. It may or may not have something to do with really, really cute pictures.
Stay tuned....

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

P.S. HUGE thank you to friends Janet Neville, Michelle John and Ashlyn Edwards for coming over to watch the kids on Saturday night. Gampa Stubby's 50th birthday party was awesome and we had such a good time seeing everyone! You all are lifesavers! And to all of you we talked to that night who said, "OH, I check your blog everyday!" and never post, I'm calling you out. You made the mistake of letting me know you read it.

P.S. #2 - I need a little Haag/Dewey family representation. Do I really need to call you out, too? Susan, Jean, Amy.... the gig is up. Aunt DeeDee told me you call her when there's a new post. You know, the kids will probably read this some day and will wonder why their cousins never bothered to comment. Plus, I like to hear how everyone is doing since I rarely get to leave the bubble that is our house. Update us! You can all use our blog as a current events forum. We don't mind. Love you all!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Another week...another weight check

Hi everyone. We have lived through another week with the quad squad and we are still happy to have them all...and each other...kind of. It was a pretty uneventful week with the crew, but they all continue to grow. Helpers that haven't been here for a couple of days all say, "They have changed and grown so much." They continue to develop their little personalities and it really is a treat to watch. It still amazes some people that we are able to run the dishwasher twice a day, the washer/dryer through a couple of loads, and empty the trash can 2-3 times without even blinking an eye. We have accepted these "chores" and it really is so rewarding.

Forrest and Danna sticking their tongues out at us.

Individually, all four of them surprise us daily with the things that they learn. It really is very funny watching all four of them now when they are hungry. They scream and throw a fit (just like Daddy used to do) when they are hungry, but the second we put the burp cloth under their chins they quiet down and open their mouths wide and look at us like, "Okay, I'm cool now if you just give me my biscuit." They LOVE eating.

Danna is looking at Forrest's giant elf ears. Little does she know, she matches.

Also, they really have started to learn what the soft music and dim lights mean. They are doing a wonderful job of learning to sleep through the night. They are now averaging a 4 1/2-6 hours of sleep after "wind-down" time. We turn the lights really low, turn on some soft "Baby Mozart," and turn off all voices (even Bucko's if she'll let us). After we change them and they eat, they burp and go to bed. We only have to pacify them once or twice after putting them down. I really think they know what it all means even if sometimes they don't really like it.

We have new weights for Danna and Laine, but we assure you all that Pius and Forrest are doing just fine on the weight gain. Trust us.

Pius James continues to be the most challenging the most often, but he is so far from being a bad baby though. He has even been the best of the four a couple of times in the past couple weeks. He seems to be becoming more easily settled down, but his outbursts still probably come the most often. He has learned what our "I'm gonna get you" game is, though, and it is so cute. I start off back from him his face, and then I creep slowly up to him saying, "I'm gonna get you" and he turns his face to the side that I always give kisses and grins the entire time. It's one of my favorite five minutes of the day and it occurs 7-8 times during the "feed and change" time.

Pius hoping for an "I'm gonna get ya."

Pius looking so handsome in his sleep sack.

Pius looking so pissed in his going on a walk outfit.

Forrest Michael continues to be the smiliest. He will smile at anybody when he is in the mood. He is the easiest to get a grin out of, and because of this he is becoming one of the more popular ones among the helpers and visitors. He really is a sweet boy, but he does have the loudest scream of the four. He does always manage to make Moni or I feel better about ourselves, though, after a long day at work or at home.


Forrest chillin in his Broncos gear.

Forrest sticking his tongue out at our cat.

I told you about that smile.

Danna Lynn continues to be the moodiest. She definitely knows what she wants all the time, and will let whoever know that they had better take care of it. I did get my first smile from her today and it was one of my proudest moments yet. I was holding her this morning and she was giving me her normal, "I know you, I trust you, but I don't really know if I like you" look. She was just staring at me with that look and I turned to say that she won't smile at me to Monica and Monica yelled she's smiling at you Billy. I turned really quickly, but her look had returned. I started to talking to her, and she gave me the biggest smile and it was all for me. It was awesome. Danna also has gained a pound in the last two weeks and is up to 7 pounds, 3 ounces. That is over an ounce a day, so now she gets to go down to the 22-cal with her little brother Laine. Way to go Banana!


So pretty, isn't she?

Showing off in her new chair that her mama bought her.

Getting ready for the weight check.


This picture shows her umbilical hernia really well. Danna and Forrest both have one.

Those wide-open eyes.

Laine Ryan continues to be the most content little guy in the world. He really doesn't fuss very often at all, and because of that he often receives the least attention. He is usually the last to eat, he is usually the last to be picked up, he is usually the last to get bounced. He is so happy just being awake and looking at and listening to the rest of the goings ons. Please trust me that Laine is not a forgotten boy, he just is really happy as long as we are sitting in front of him. I really thought that Laine would get to drop down to 20-cal with the towers, but he didn't gain quite enough for Dr. Chavez to let him make that step yet. He now weighs 9 pounds, 3 ounces. He gained 13 ounces which is still very good, but there is no reason to rush him off the calories just yet.

Getting ready to go see Dr. Chavez.

Laine was so excited to see cousin Becky back home. They all really missed her.

Moni and I haven't quit our jobs yet, but the hours of work and babies are starting to spread us thin. We are still trying to figure out how to set up a fair balance of dish washing, bottle making, laundry, feeding and changing, and sleep. We are still getting along with each other pretty well, but the temptation of keeping score between us has popped up. I think we are learning just as much as the babies are. She still makes me laugh, and I still make her roll her eyes, which is good.


The squad did want us to mention a HUGE Happy Birthday to Grandpa Stubby. He turned the ripe, old age of 50 last Tuesday. Way to go, Stubby! Also, way to go Golden Eagles. Boys and girls teams both in the semi-finals of state. Bring it home BC.


Love to all,
The Graf Quad Squad