High Waters

Just a little update to let you all know we're alive and well. We've had some major flooding over the last couple of days (I know you Gulf-Coasters are rolling your eyes right now and thinking "CRY-BABY"). I'm sad to say our basement has not fared well. We've never had a leak in the past 3 years that we've been here but, unfortunately, it's all soggy now. It seems I've inherited basement bad luck from my parents. I don't even know where to begin!

On a positive note, the babies enjoyed watching all the rain come down. They've been in such good moods lately and are so fun to play with! Their curiosity and SPEED amazes me. I'm sure Forrest has sustained around 50 concussions so far, as his favorite play space is on the brick fireplace hearth, the coffee table corner, the entertainment armoire, the tile floor, the wood floor, the sliding back door, his siblings' noggins, and just about any other hard surface imaginable. We've joked about it in the past (because his crib is under the window), but I really might start making him wear a helmet before he does any real damage....to his head or the furniture.

Above: Forrest with his first "goose egg". Below: The red mark is just another head injury sustained. No big deal.

Forrest gets himself into the damndest positions! Of course we had to catch the photo op before rescuing him from Danna's rapid torpedo toes.

The Laine-Train has the need for speed, just like his Great Uncle Jim, Godfather J.D., and cousin, A.J. He's the sneaky little turd who is GONE if you look the other way for 2 seconds (remember the stairs story). I don't know how many times Billy and I have said, "Where's Laine?" I can totally picture him being the one who goes behind the barn to do ornery things when he gets a little older. His current favorite recreational activity is pulling all the candles off the bottom ledge of the hallway stand. I have since evacuated those items to higher ground.




Pius has been a bit fussier than normal. Pretty sure he's getting ready to sprout some chompers like Forrest.....or he's reverting back to his younger days. It seems that as long as I keep him high on Ibuprofen/Tylenol, he does alright. He finally started to army crawl a couple days ago. It's not very pretty, but he assures me that it's a work in progress.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Pius showing Danna his super-sexy cleavage

And Danna.....sweet Danna. She gets up on her hands and knees and does the rocking thing. She's taken a few "steps" forward but then goes back down onto her tummy. She's getting there! Normally, the Banana is a few weeks behind the boys on physical development, and crawling is no exception. It's probably because she's so darn cute and manipulative that she can get anyone to pick her up with "the look". Out of all the babies, she is probably the best eater. She can pack away 2 full Gerber containers in one feeding....PLUS some. The boys have their days, but Danna is all about consistency.

Billy continues to amaze me with his determination and utter lack of sleep. He's at WSU Monday through Friday for classes, then goes to QT for work until 10pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays. He always has the day's bottles ready in the morning before leaving and the dishes done (that's a nonstop chore). He misses the kids so much when he's gone and is always ready to play if he gets home before bedtime. He was SO ready to be a daddy when we got pregnant and has shown that he'd do anything if it means it will benefit our children and me. Like I said....he amazes me.

Billy and me towards the END of friend/Forrest's Godfather/Frank the Tank/Goertz/Brad's wedding. CONGRATS Brad and Liz!

I continue to work as a nurse in the ER two nights a week. I'm usually signed up to be "on-call" for our hospital's Transport Team on the nights I don't work. That means that if we have a patient that needs to be admitted to the hospital (from the separate, free-standing ER) for whatever reason, I'm the nurse who rides in the ambulance and takes care of them until we get them to their hospital room. I think there have been about 2 days out of 16 when I wasn't called in. We stay pretty busy. Of course, NONE of these extra shifts would be possible without all of our helpers....you know who you are and, I hope, how much we appreciate you! Thank you!

About the pictures.....thanks to an anonymous tip, the photos should be more clear from here on out. As it turns out, fingerprint smudges on the lens tends to produce crappy pictures. I'm really not that stupid, I just didn't put two and two together. And to think I was considering returning my camera. Sheesh. I definitely have my moments and Jaclyn was right about ONE thing: Stupid is as stupid does.

QUICK! Snap a photo...They're all together.

Within about 3 seconds, Forrest is upward-bound, Laine is downward-bound, Pius is fussing and Danna is pretty much in the same position (there's that consistency, again)

Another discovery! The quadsies really, really like gumming all over pretzel rods. A little messy but infinitely worth it. We snapped a few shots of them sucking on their salty morsels of goodness while at our friends' wedding (Congrats Chris and Donna!).

A famous Forrest and Mama self-portrait (the cut off head is also typical)

Danna with her Grammy Vicki

Laine-o with his Grampy Stubby

Pius with our good friend Teddy V. Pius is asking for tips on beefing up since he fell behind Forrest at the last weigh-in.

It's been awhile since I've posted any bath pics, so here are a few fun ones. I put all 4 in at once only because my sister, Rachel, was there helping me. Normally I just do 2 at a time. Those little suckers are slippery when wet!

Whew! That was a hard day of playing and bathing! Laine wants to personally thank "Hooter" and "Scooter" for providing a most wonderful place to take a nap!

Have a great, lazy, football Sunday!

~Moni~