Pius, Danna, Laine and Forrest
Pius (future MD), Danna, Forrest and Laine - you can see their future career choices. Laine is already acting the part. I guess Forrest is too. Look at that milk belly!
Hey all,
We've been bad..... very, very bad. We just weren't sure if anyone was interested in us anymore due to the lack of comments. I'll just keep thinking that it was a massive computer glitch. Plus, we've been pretty busy ourselves. I know that's no excuse. Shame on us!
The babies are doing GREAT. We had the physical therapist (Pam) from Rainbows over today to evaluate their progress over the last couple of weeks. They showed off in a big way. All 4 of them are doing things that 5-7 month olds do (the Graf Quads are 5 1/2 months old), so we are just about all caught up. Not to brag or anything, but our kids are rockstars! They're rolling fools, holding themselves up and looking around, grabbing anything that moves in front of them, sitting with assistance, making all sorts of fun baby noises and are really interactive. This is such a fun stage! We try to enjoy every stage they get to because we know they'll never be this age again.
We've been slowly bustin' out of our quarantined bubble a little at a time and loving every minute of it. We have places to go and people to see, even if it is just a stroller ride around the neighborhood. We really need to pull a Tubre and get "the Beast", AKA the quad Runabout stroller so I can take them out when I'm home alone with them. Those bad boys run about $1200, so maybe when we get our tax return $. Back on the subject of getting out and about, we may even try to make it to the Riverfest this week for lunch. Billy's been craving a Bodacious Burrito for about a year now (since last year's Wichita RiverFest) and I could do for a roasted corn on the cob. Maybe we'll get the babies a fried pickle or a funnel cake....or a bottle.
Getting ready for a romp around the block. It was windy and sunny that day!
I got to get out of the house last week to FINALLY meet the Hanson Triplets. They are the cutest set of triplets I know. Crystal Hanson came out to meet the quads a while back and we're planning on getting all the kidlets together sometime for an outing (maybe to the zoo). I think the presence of our 2 families will be zoo enough!
Now on to the babies individually. They're up to all sorts of shenanigans and tomfoolery. Pius has us sweatin' bullets on how close he is to being mobile. When he's on his tummy and really mad, he digs his toes into the carpet, sticks his butt up in the air, plants his face into the floor and scoots. We have him doing some reps on the bench press so he can avoid the nasty rug burns to his face. He has also discovered daddy's irresistable cheeks. The other day when he was mad (notice a theme developing, here?), he reached out and got ahold of dad's dimpled cheeks and gave them a severe pinching. Billy probably could have let go of him and he'd have dangled from his face. After Billy stopped crying, he couldn't stop laughing.
Pius enjoying some fresh air
I could almost hear Danna saying, "Pius, get your fat face out of the way...This is MY frame!"
Our little buddy, Forrest, is quite possibly the most chill baby that the Good Lord has ever created. Don't get me wrong, he definitely has his moments and can scream with the best of them, but most of the time, he's all smiles and drool. He also can't seem to keep his tongue in his mouth. We wonder if this might have something to do with his womanizing ways. It worries us that the boy could charm a white-gloved lady into buying a ketchup popsicle.
Frosty with his tongue hangin' out
We were tired of drenched outfits, hence the Friends Falcons bib (thanks, Crissy!)
Danna has started this new thing where she foams and bubbles at the mouth when she's not getting enough attention. We've started calling her the "rabid banana". I try to reason with her and tell her that it's not lady-like to do this, but to no avail. The foaming continues. Our little peanut is keeping up with the boys. She usually takes her own sweet time and will follow suit about a week after the boys start something new. That's just the diva in her. She's really starting to fill out now and can wear 0-3 month clothes without too much extra baggage.
Danna in the great outdoors
33% Pius, 100% Danna and 50% Laine
Danna looks a little apprehensive about her Twin Tower sandwich
Our dear, sweet Laine has had a rough go the last couple of weeks. He's fallen from grace in a major way...as in 4th place. He must've gotten tired of hearing how he was the best baby ever and yet, always last to be picked up. He's become more vocal about his needs and the whole house suffers now through his tirades. On a more positive note, he is the best on his tummy and he also has the most hair of all the babies. It's dark brown and will stick straight up with a little help from the baby lotion. His hair color and temper confirms who his daddy is, but we're still unsure about who his mom is. I'd like to make a visit to the Maury Povich show for one of those DNA tests.
Laine in one of the aforementioned tirades.
Seriously, like 2 seconds later. What a turd!
Forrest and Laine just kickin it and poppin their collars
Now for some tidbits about us that you may or may not find interesting....
1. Our 4 babies are in 3 different sizes of diapers. Pius and Forrest wear size 3, Laine size 2 and Danna bringing up the rear in size 1. We can always tell when Grampa Stubby decides to change their diapers, because in the morning, we'll find Danna in a 3 (up to her neck) and the Twin Towers bustin' outta the 1's. It's not a pretty picture. Think 1970's basketball players.
2. Forrest and Danna's umbilical hernias decided to retreat. Their belly buttons now look normal and won't jump out and poke you in the eye.
3. Pius and Forrest both have flat spots on the right sides of their heads. They look kinda like lumpy potato heads. We're working on keeping them looking left and I even got Noggin Nests for them to help with reshaping. If our endeavors are unsuccessful, they may win themselves shiny new helmets and a lifetime of jokes at their expense.
"Read the tag, buddy. Trust me....I'm a doctor!"
Surely Forrest's future is brighter than this!?
4. All the babies love bathtime. We normally bathe them 3 times a week, except for Pius whose frequent blow-outs and spit-ups earn him additional bubble time.
5. They are starting to learn their names. They think it's funny when we interject their names into the songs we sing to them. Speaking about music, the babies LOVE Johnny Cash. Whenever fussy time rolls around and nothing else seems to calm them, cranking up the Man in Black always does the trick.
6. All the boys take 6 oz with each feed. Danna eats about 4 1/2 oz. They're still getting bottles made with 1/2 formula and 1/2 breastmilk. Yes, I'm still pumping and getting tired of it. I hope to make it another couple of months before hanging up the shields.
7. Did I mention that our babies are rockstars?
Well, that's about all for now. Again, we're sorry it took so long to post. Please keep the comments coming. We'll be as ambitious with our updates as our bloggers are with their comments ;>
Whew! And, I'm spent.
Love,
Billy, Moni, Pius, Forrest, Danna and Laine
Just wanted to post a picture of this because it was so cute. Aunt Renee had this as a table decoration at our baby shower. It's four peas in a pod and those baby rattles are stuck in the middle of rolled up diapers. It was almost too cute to dismantle....almost.
Pius with cousin Jennifer
Laine with cousin Jake
Also, on Tuesday, we were able to finally make it to The Center for Reproductive Medicine to see Dr. Tjaden and his wonderful staff. The babies were uber-excited to see them. Pius couldn't stop staring at Dr. Tjaden....I think he made a life-long friend. I still remember way back when we first started on our journey to conceive. We were talking to Dr. Tjaden after all our blood tests came back and he said, "I don't think we're going to have a problem getting you pregnant. The problem is getting you TOO pregnant!" And a few years later after lots of self-administered shots, a plethora of ultrasounds, 2 miscarriages and ovarian hyperstimulation (ouch).....our prayers were answered four times over! They were SO worth the wait. 
Dr. Tjaden holding the Twin Towers
Pius licking his chops after attempting to eat Danna (see previously posted video entitled "Pius Kisses")
Laine
Laine with Grampa Stubby (did anyone wonder where the dimples came from?)
