Memorial Day 2008. Take 2.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! The kids' 1st Memorial Day began with daddy going into work. Mommy worked the night before so Budda and Aunt June came to corral the buckeroos for the morning. Daddy got off work at 3:00 pm and we started their after nap feed with Bucko to lend her ever-helping hand. They ate really well because they were excited to get together with their Selenke cousins to remember their Great Grandfather, Papa. We loaded up in the van and headed to Resthaven Cemetery to meet up with some of the family. This marks the first time that all 6 of Bucko and Papa's great grandchildren were together. Of course, there were pictures taken....

The Quads with their older cousins, Austin Selenke and Jack Duling. 5 great-grandsons and 1 great-granddaughter...Bucko, I think you have your work cut out for you all over again!

Pius...already taking after his namesake!

Afterwards, Nick and Paula Duling invited us all over to their barn for a cook-out. Sarah and Moni kept their winning streak going by beating Katie and Jake in pookie hole (just go with it...it's a Selenke family favorite with marbles and dice). The babies continue to amaze us with their good behavior and adaptability when we throw a wrench into their bubble. Of course, there was no shortage of hands to keep them occupied either.

Pius with cousin Jennifer

Laine with cousin Katie

Laine with cousin Jake

Great-Great Aunt Laverna sent the babies some cute USA outfits. We couldn't wait until July 4th (at the rate they're growing, they may not fit them by then, either!). It almost killed daddy to see his boys dressed all in the same clothes, but mommy talked him off the ledge.

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

We'll keep trying our best to chronicle our new little adventures as they happen. Stay tuned 'til next time!

Love,
The Graf Quad Squad

P.S. Having a little bit of a hard time with the new camera and transferring photos to the computer. Will post them ASAP.

Yes, she does smile at times

Another thing that almost sent Daddy over the edge....baby-hawks.

Pius licking his chops after attempting to eat Danna (see previously posted video entitled "Pius Kisses")

My sweet baby James.....he's been in such a good mood lately

Testing...testing...1-2-3. Is this thing on?

Forrest rocking out, determined to be the next American Idol. Or maybe he's just throwing a fit.

Forrest passed out after a long night of partying like a rock star.

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A Quicky

Billy has been coaching his MAYB basketball team in a tournament this weekend. On Saturday, he took Laine and Pius with him to his evening game. The basketball parents, including Aunt Paula, helped watch them while the game was going on.
So....my mom and I took Forrest and Danna to Sam's Club to exchange my crappy camera (the reason why many of the pictures lately have been so blurry) and then went to visit Papa and Aunt RayRay at home. You know, no matter how long you've been out, your parents' house is still your home ;> We had a good time being out and about, and I'm lucky enough to have a momma who always has her camera ready. These pics and video are from her. Thanks, mom!

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Now, I realize that we posted the previous update on Friday and this one on Sunday, so the Friday one may not get all the comments it deserves. Please don't let the Sunday post steal the Friday post's thunder. Did you understand all that? Never mind....I need to get to bed!

Love,
Moni and the Graf Crew

6 month weights

We had our 6 month doctor checkup and shots on Thursday and it went very well. The babies love everything about the doctor's visits until the pretty nurses come in and stick needles in them. It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. The boys' lengths, weights, and heads have all made the regular growth chart for their actual age. Danna insists that the growth charts are all for show. She is keeping her girlish figure in check. Actual measurements are:

Big Poppa:

Weight: 16 pounds, 13 ounces (40th percentile)

Height: 25 1/2 inches tall (25th percentile)

Head circ: 42 1/2 cm (25th percentile)

Bottom Line: Lives up to his nickname. Just a big boy all around.

Frosty:

Weight: 16 pounds, 10 ounces (40th percentile)

Height: 24 3/4 inches tall (10th percentile)

Head circ: 43 1/2 cm (50th percentile)

Bottom Line: Short and stocky like Grampa Stubby, but with a huge noggin.


Lainer:

Weight: 13 pounds, 13 ounces (5th percentile)

Height: 24 inches tall (less than 3rd percentile)

Head circ: 42 cm (10th percentile)

Bottom Line: A little on the shorter side, but by golly, he's smart!

The Banana:

Weight: 10 pounds, 10 ounces (less than 5th percentile)

Height: 22 1/2 inches tall (less than 5th percentile)

Head circ: 39 1/2 cm (less than 5th percentile)

Bottom Line: You can fit alot of Diva into that little package! Who needs braun when you possess such beauty. And besides, those Tubre girls are so stylish and send the cutest clothes for her to wear.

New things this week include introducing the quads to rice cereal. We decided to let them get acquainted with it first by putting a small amount in their bottle. They took it like champs and took a nice LONG nap afterwards! So we put a little more in their last bottle of the night. The verdict is still out on the results of that.....since it's 11:30 pm now. We'll see what the morning brings.

The babies get baths about every other day. Aunt Cathy does bath time when she helps on Wednesdays. Today, mom and dad tag teamed the quads and got the task whipped out in about 45 minutes. They love bath time, just not "drying, lotioning up and dressing" time.

We are going to start Pius on Prevacid to see if it helps with his reflux. He ALWAYS spits up and then cries about it, so we asked Dr Chavez if we could try something for it. You know, it's hard to be the good boy that God intrinsically created when your esophagus is on fire. Of course if this doesn't work, Pius will have no more excuses. Maybe we don't really want to know.... it's alot more fun thinking our kids do no wrong.

As always, thank you for the comments and for following along with us. It really does take a village to raise a child....and a booming metropolis to raise quads!

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Love,

Billy, Moni, Pius, Forrest, Danna and Laine

Happy Un-Birthdays, Babies!

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The squad has made it to their 6-month birthdays and it really seems like time has flown. We attended a lot of different events over the weekend, and the babies did very well out of their normal comfort zone.

The Crew getting ready for a long night of partying

Forrest getting kicked by Danna and punched by Pius

Danna

Laine

Friday night Moni's friends Melody and Vanessa came to see the babies. We put them to work and they helped us feed them and load them into the van. Moni had to go to work so it was the kids and me on our own. We decided to hit up Katie Mohr's graduation party over at Nick and Paula Duling's house. The party started at 8, but we were there promptly at 7:30. Nobody was there and we were starting to think everyone was playing a dirty joke. We learned that only Nick and Paula can throw a party and be late for it. They weren't actually late, they just weren't the first people to arrive. The kids had a great time meeting everybody there and were very good with being held and passed around. Pius reminded us all that it was time to eat around 8:30, so our night of heavy partying came abruptly to an end. The kids and I went home, ate, and fell asleep around 10:30.

Saturday morning the kids and I woke up around 6:45. We ate our breakfast and went to Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Stubby's house so that Moni could sleep in a quiet house after a long night of work. We met some of the Tower Lakes gang and ate lunch over there, then we went home to take a nap before our evening at the Riverfest. After the babies woke up, we fed them and headed downtown. We went to the Wagonmaster's dinner and the babies got to meet a lot of the Riverfest crew. We fed them dinner, they got a beautiful serenade from a 3-year old that was passing by, and we decided we were going to spend the night with Stubby and Vicki. The sleepover went pretty well and the kids did a decent job of sleeping somewhere other than their own cribs.

The 2 princesses, Aunt Lainie and Danna

Pius being held by "the only reason Ryno gets to hang out with us" Angela (Uncle Ryan's girlfriend)

Dimpled Daddy in mid-sentence with Frosty

Laine with Grampa Stubby (did anyone wonder where the dimples came from?)

The amazing, fist-eating Pius

On Sunday, the seventh day, the squad saw it's work and saw that it was good and rested.

Pius (and 1/2 of Forrest) just kickin' it

Monday, after I got off work, we went to Moni's sister's house to celebrate our Goddaughter Madison's birthday. It is the first time that the quads got to meet their Haag first cousins without a door in between them. It was quite the house full with Nicole, Lauren, Tate, Abbi, Madison, Bailey, and Mia, the only Haag grandkid missing was Ronin. The kids did very well again with the crowd, but once again they reminded us when it was time to eat so we had to head home.

Danna, Mia and an unsure Pius

cousins Danna, Maddie, Forrest, Mia, Pius, Taten and Laine

Maddie, Danna and Mia

Forrest trying to sweet talk Mia

As you all can see we had a busy weekend. Moni and I realized that this was one of the most boring posts we have done thus far. We were halfway through when it hit us, and we didn't want to throw away all of the boring work we had done. We apologize, and hopefully with the babies' doctor appointment on Thursday we will have something more entertaining to report.

If you are still reading this post, and haven't fallen asleep yet, we would still like to hear from everybody who is planning on attending their party on the 14th of June.

B,M,P,F,D,L

There's a world outside the bubble!

First off, we just wanted to announce that this is our 100th post. How exciting! Also, we wanted to commend you all for the quality and quantity of comments. They have inspired us. This post will be mostly about the quad's first real outing experience (and they didn't even have to get any shots). But before we delve into that chaotic scene, we wanted to thank the Tubres (our 2nd favorite set of quads) for the goody box. They sent us all sorts of fun things, like more sleep sacks so the babies have some fashion options for their bedtime apparel. Among the other items, including small diapers (for Danna), night gowns and awesome Aveda hand lotion, we found some LSU girl onesies. To be quite honest, we didn't know what to do with them at first. Jaclyn suggested that we put them on Danna and take a picture. After vomiting a little in our mouths, we brainstormed and came up with some better uses for them. See pictures. Sorry, Jac, but we're Bishop Carroll green and gold on Fridays, Alabama Crimson on Saturdays and Denver Broncos orange and blue on Sundays!

What LSU onesies can be used for in the Graf household:

1) Toilet paper

2) Dust rag

3) Spare diaper (see, we DID let Danna wear one!)

Now on to the kids' first Wichita River Festival experience....

I'm sure you can all imagine how lengthy a process it is to wake, feed, burp, wash, diaper, dress and load four infants into a van, and keep your sanity intact all the while. I think it probably actually took longer to get the diaper bags ready! The whole ordeal was made MUCH easier with the help of Aunt Lainie and Grampa Stubby. We made it downtown to the Riverfest on Tuesday around noon for lunch in the foodcourt. Talk about being almost famous! We got to introduce the babies to LOTS of friends and family. It was pretty busy that day and there wasn't a table to be found. We had to get creative trying to eat on our laps in the grass, appease babies and answer questions. We all had a great but exhausting time. We learned alot with this experience and will hopefully work out all the kinks for our next adventure.

Laine and Danna heading to downtown

Danna ready to take on the world...with a feather in her hair

Little man Laine thinking really hard about what he wants to eat at the Riverfest

Big boy, Pius. Upset because we told him he'd have to share his food.

Forrest couldn't wait to eat, so the monkey bore the brunt of his hunger.

Danna, Laine, Forrest and Pius posing for a picture with mom, dad and Admiral Windwagon Smith

The boys wore these shirts in blue to the Riverfest... 1 of 4, 2 of 4, 3 of 4, 4 of 4. Danna's was still too big for her, so she got to wear a dress. We got these from cousin Erin (EMO) when I was only 15 weeks pregnant and didn't know if baby A, B, C or D was the girl. So, of course, the princess gets to be numero uno!

Happy belated Mothers Day! This was at the end of the day and Laine and Danna were tired, hungry and grumpy (and I was a little frazzled). Just look for the red-faced babies! Despite the chaos, it was WONDEFFUL to be able to partake in the Day's celebration with my little bundles of joy. Jaclyn (Tubre) and Jen (Murray), your Mothers' Day posts reflect my sentiments as well. Beautifully stated.

Momma gave Danna her first pedicure. Little painted piggies are so cute!

In closing, we wanted to let you all know about their upcoming "official" baptisms and open house/pool party. They will get baptized on Sunday, June 8th and the party will be the next Saturday, June 14th. If you would like to come and play, please call, email or post a comment to let us know... we'll send you the details. This will also help us get somewhat of a count in mind. Thanks!

Love,

The Graf Crew

Yes, we posted.

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.

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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.