Wading...

Ding, ding, ding....Round 3! Yes, here at the Graf house we are currently recovering from our 3rd illness of the winter. This one hit us pretty hard and we are busy wading around in pools of our own snot and self pity for the moment.

Senorita Snot Bucket

Nothing like a little nasal drainage lollipop to help get you through.

The bloody aftermath of Laine's ER nose suctioning.

Forrest's "bedroom eyes"....meaning he's sick and tired and ready for bed.

Our Boo-Hoo Crew

If you remember me mentioning Forrest's fever in the last post (when I locked him and the keys in the van outside the doctor's office), it was all downhill from there. The babies started dropping like flies after that. On Saturday night into the wee hours of Sunday morning, Laine was waking up about every 2 hours and crying because he couldn't breathe. I kept giving him back to back breathing treatments, but still couldn't get his wheezing and retractions to stop. Finally around 4:00 am, I decided he should probably be seen in the ER so they could give him better medicine. I packaged him up and we were off to see my friends and co-workers. After being deep-suctioned, swabbed for respiratory viruses, receiving several rounds of nebulized treatments, some steriods and a chest xray, Laine tested positive for RSV. His x-ray also showed signs of having a right lower lobe pneumonia. He was able to keep his oxygen saturation at or above 92% consistently, so we were able to go home with prescriptions for steriods, antibiotics (1st time EVER taking any) and more Albuterol and Pulmicort. It's pretty safe to assume that ALL the babies have RSV because it's so contagious. Pius and Danna, who have never had wheezing a day in their lives, ended up needing the occasional breathing treatment. It really is a HORRIBLE virus! It's also irritating to me that Laine still got RSV, despite receiving the monthly Synagist shot for it! Maybe if the insurance company would've approved ALL of the babies, I wouldn't be typing this post right now. Oh well....C'est la vie.

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

"Ain't no Rotten, Stinky Virus gonna keep ME down!" (Thanks, Murray Crew, for the leveraged saying)

Laine getting some daddy-lovin'

I think that today, we're FINALLY turning a corner and are well on our way to recovery. Still lots of snot and a little more fussiness than usual....but nothing we can't handle. We're just thankful that no one required hospital stays! Thank you to all our family and helpers, too. We definitely wouldn't have survived without their loving arms, because let's face it....it's hard to give all the cuddles and love that each one of those babies are due when they're ALL sick at the same time. It's so nice when others are available and willing to help us snuggle our sickies!

My parents, Papa and Budda, helping to distract the kiddos.

Grammy Vicki lending her loving legs

"Papa, will you take your teeth out again? Pretty, pretty please?!"

Our Tuesday evening life-saver, Ashlyn, brought toddler crayons over.

Unfortunately, the kids don't quite get the concept yet. Red, blue and green teeth add a nice touch though!

Also gotta give a shout out to all my quad mama friends. They've kept me afloat and helped me keep my sanity (for the most part) with the most hilarious emails, texts and calls. Love you guys!!!

I thought I'd add a few fun one-liners to help lighten this post up a little. I hate being a Debbie Downer. Here goes nothin'....

What's the difference between an oral and a rectal thermometer?

The taste!

Did you hear about the guy that lost his left arm and left leg in a car accident?

He's all right now.

How about the dyslexic satanist.....

He sold his soul to Santa.

What do you call a deer with no eyes?

I have no-eye-deer!

Okay, now it's YOUR turn! Know any little jokes? Help us smile by leaving them in the comments section!

Any other questions on why germs are spread so freely at our house?

Didn't think so.

The kids have been so much more affectionate towards each other lately. Always giving each other hugs and loves.

Yep...It's kind of precious.

Cheers to your health!

Moni

A Valentine's Day to Remember

Well, we've had a pretty eventful morning and afternoon, and we'll get to that in a bit. First, the kids wanted to wish their loves a Happy Valentine's Day.....

Dear Miss Lauren,

Thank you for the Valentine's Day gift. I tried it on, but dad made me take if off and give it to Danna. She was so excited and wore it the rest of the day (see pics below). I told her it made her look like a peacock when she crawled around....but really, I was just jealous. Hope you and your siblings and mom and dad have a great day!

Love,

Your strong, sensitive man, Pius

p.s. I'm also making mom upload a video of me showing off. I'm a smarty pants and have lots of the baby signs down pat!

"Hi Lauren!"

"Lauren, I love you more than my favorite college football team. Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?"

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Dear Miss Emma,

I tried to steal mom away for myself this Valentine's Day. I'm such a mama's boy, but I'm just using her as a substitute until I can get my hands on you. Let me tell you all about it......See, I've been running a high fever (about 103 degrees) for the last 3 days. Day 4 rolled around and I was still hot and trying to get anorexic by refusing to eat or drink anything. Dad called the doctor to get me an appt at the Saturday clinic way out on the east side of town. Mom took me in, the doctor stuck Q-tips down my throat, looked in my hears and listened to my heart and lungs. They told mom I needed a chest xray at the hospital. So mom laid her purse/keys/cell phone on the van floor and loaded me into my new carseat. She shut the door and I heard a little clicking sound. Mom got a wide-eyed look of panic on her face and frantically went around to every door, but didn't open any of them. Then she went back in to the doctor's office and came out with someone else's cell phone. Shortly after that, I saw some of Wichita's finest Fire Fighters looking in the window at me. I overheard the nice man say something about how they don't have the tools to open locked doors anymore because too many lawsuits had been brought against the department for broken windows (stupid sue-happy people). Fortunately daddy was on his way after Aunt Lainie got to the house to watch my brothers and sister. All-in-all, I only spent about an hour in the car by myself. I was a big boy and only cried about 90% of the time.....but that was mainly just to make mom feel bad. After all that, we went to the hospital to take a picture of my chest and then to the ER so I could flirt with all of mommy's nurse friends (don't worry, my lil punkin....I DIDN'T do it. I just wasn't feeling up to it). Then we went home. Whew! What a day. I didn't want to give you, my love, this virus I have through the computer, so I wore a mask while typing. And if you're wondering about my new and improved grammar from last post, I wisened up and decided I didn't want to act like Uncle Ryno anymore.

Love,

Your main man, Frosty

"I guess I still love my mama....even if she did lock me in the van."

"I love you buckets and buckets, Emma-girl! Have you got a Band-aid? Because I just skinned up my knees falling for you!"

Dear Abbey,

Not much to report on here in the Heartland. I loved watching you walk all over the place in your video....walking is SO easy! I can't believe it's taking so long for the rest of our siblings to catch up. We're DEFINITELY the most athletic and were destined to be together. Have I told you lately how much I love you? I'd even eat glass for you (see mom's last post). In fact, I'd eat just about anything (see mom's last post). Oodles of X's and O's for my Doodle!

Love,

Your Laine Train

"I'd spoon-feed you chocolate, Abbey."

"Doodle....girl, you've GOTTA be tired. You've been runnin' through my head all day!"

Dear Tyger,

As I already told you on your blog, I loved your sexy pose for me. I just wanted to eat those red velvet cupcake crumbs right off of you! I'm feeling a little under the weather right now too. I don't want to get you sick again, so I'll just have to blow you lots of kisses and hope they make it all the way to Baton Rouge. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Grrrrrrrrr (that's me trying to purr like a tiger).

Love,

Your one and only Danny Ba-nanny

p.s. Does this tutu make my butt look big?

The Pretty Pink Peacock Princess

"I only have eyes for you, Tygerman!"

"Tyger....If you were a booger, I'd pick you first!"

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Hope everyone has a better Valentine's Day than the Graf Fam! And just a friendly reminder to NEVER trust your car locks......

Big, Fat Smooches!

MONI

Our Kids Are So Weird

Forrest being TOTALLY jealous of the hippo's teeth

Sometime I wonder about our foursome. They are some straaaaange little beings. For instance, I found Forrest doing this yesterday (see short video) and he was doing it long enough for me to go hunt down the camera and get a little clip:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Now, to give him a little credit, he was running a 103 degree fever yesterday (ongoing today) so I'm gonna go ahead a blame that one on some sort of febrile hallucination. Very Willy Wonka-esque. I can totally see the importance of NOT using lead-based paint!

There were little wet spots all over the wall. Grody.

Forrest is so darn cute. I had to share this little jewel, too....

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Onward we go to my sweet, soulful Pi-Man....





We had been having beautiful Kansas weather last week, so the kids and I took full advantage and got outside alot. I took them on Choo Choo Wagon rides on the gravel roads around the block and then would let them play around on the back patio before going inside. We live outside of town in a "sort of country setting" but not really country. We also have a kitty cat. That kitty cat is a very good mouser. Well, on one of those aforementioned patio excursions, I was chasing kids around when I caught Pius reaching for something from the corner of my eye. I whipped my head around, screamed, practically dropped Danna, made it over to Pius in record time and slapped his hand away from the item he was just beginning to pick up. Brace yourself, folks.......This is pretty hardcore nastiness. Lo and behold it was an adorably cute, tiny little gnawed-off mouse head. I guess kitty cat was saving that little delicacy as an offering to her owners. Needless to say, that little incident ended our outdoor excursion for the day and Pius got whisked inside for an immediate scrubbing. In true Moni fashion, I later went back out and took a picture of Pius's little toy, but decided against posting it here. It's pretty gruesome and I'd hate to be responsible for giving someone nightmares. Of course, if you're in to seeing that type of thing, just leave me your email and I'd be happy to send you the pic! Instead of the mouse pics, I'll just post some from prior to our little incident.

The Laine-Train

Forrest trying to get to the ever-elusive kitty cat. He chased her all over the yard that day. She's good about letting them get close to her, maybe letting them pet her once and then trotting away to keep them on their toes.

Laine also makes me wonder sometimes. I know we've said it before, but that child will put ANYTHING and EVERYTHING in his mouth. I mean, seriously.....you'd think after the first 200,000 times he puts a piece of paper in his mouth, he'd know that it doesn't particularly taste good. It doesn't stop him from trying it again. Laine's favorite place to play is in the corner by the sliding back door and the loveseat (behind the curtain sheers). A couple days ago, I had my camera out and was taking pictures of the babies playing (like every day). I got one of Laine playing in his favorite spot and when I went to review it, I zoomed in on the picture and thought I saw something in his mouth.

So I look up at him and, sure enough, see that he's chewing on something. I go over to fish it out of his mouth and this is what I found....



GEEZ LOUISE! I know this kid is tough, but tough enough to eat glass? How did we miss something like this?! It looked like a piece of frosted glass and I had no idea where it came from. I check his mouth for any signs of bleeding or other shards, but fortunately, didn't find anything. Then I scoured his corner and under the loveseat for any more pieces. Nothing. That boy could find a needle in a haystack....and then would promptly put it in his mouth. I guess all's well that ends well.



Between Forrest licking walls like they're candy, Pius playing with mouse heads and Laine eating glass, I assume Danna decided her brothers already met the quota for odd behavior at the Graf house. Between her big brothers and overprotective daddy, that poor girl doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell. She has the "You aren't the brightest crayon in the box, are you?" look down pat and flashes it often.

The Look.....complete with lip curl.

In other news, we have some updated (well about a month old now) weights and lengths from their 14 month check-up to report. The stats are as follows:

The only picture I was able to squeeze in at their appoint. Check this post by Suz for how a typical pedi check-up with quads goes. Dr Chavez was looking at Pius's crooked feet. Bucko (in the background) went with Billy and me to lend a helping hand.

1/22/09

Pius - 23 lbs, 6 oz and 30.25 inches


Forrest - 23 lbs, 3 oz and 30.5 inches


Laine - 20 lbs, 13 oz and 29 inches


Danna - 17 lbs, 3 oz and 27 inches

Pius all fuzzy-haired and wide-eyed after his bath (can you believe this guy almost played with a mouse head?!)

Danna Banana is the only one NOT on the growth charts yet. Getting closer, though! It's crazy to me that there is a 6+ pound difference between our biggest and smallest. What can I say....the boys can put away some serious grub.

The Petite Princess

Despite popular belief, she DOES smile alot. She's just picky about who she shows it to!

Time to check out the new carseats for the boys! It passed the Forrest inspection.

Well, I'm off to tend to kids. I'll save the rest of the stuff I have brewing in my head for another day.

Love,

Moni

P.S. If you haven't already checked it out, take a look at Jac's Moni Post for my birthday. It has alot of background into on how we met. She's such an awesome friend! Thank again, Jaclyn!

It Just Wasn't in "the Cards"

First off, I wanted to say THANK YOU for all the sweet comments left on my berfday post! I just kept smiling the entire time I was reading them (all 467 times). You guys are AWESOME!

Now on to tonight's events: Well, being that the quads were born in Phoenix (and because we really dislike the Steelers....no offense Angela, Andrew, Emmy and Todd....and the million other Pittsburgh fans out there), we were definitely rooting for the Arizona Cardinals in tonight's SuperBowl game. Unfortunately, a win just wasn't in the cards tonight. Oh well! We had a great time partying with the babies at Brad and Liz Goertz's SuperBowl party tonight. The kids even showed up all decked out in Cardinals gear brought to them from Phoenix by our good friends (and my co-workers) Dave and Deb White. Dave is one of the fabulous ER docs I get to work with and Deb is one of the best Peds ER nurses I have ever known. Here are some pics at the shindig:

Our big Pi-Man

Aunt RayRay feeding Frosty some lasagna. That kid just kept eating and eating and....you get my point.

Mama holding her Danna-girl

The Lainerzinski getting ready to throw down on the toy room.

Pius and Laine....up to no good.

Woo Hoo! Forrest discovered the chalk board and eraser. I see many after-school punishments for him writing lines on the board....."I will not use other students as eraser targets. I will not use other students as eraser targets...."

Little Miss was quite taken with the scary Barbie head (so was Pius).

The Crew, just doin' what they do! And yes, Forrest's head was too big for that necklace....so it sits like a crown. He didn't mind. He already thinks he rules the roost.

Laine couldn't quite grasp the whole "fake food" thing. I think he thought of it more as a cruel, sick joke.

Along the same subject, I also wanted to mention again how wonderful Dave and Deb White have been to us......throughout the pregnancy, our transition back to Kansas, our first year with the babes, and even STILL. They found this CD in a baby boutique and just HAD to get it for us! This is seriously one of the coolest things I've ever seen or even heard of. They said that same company also makes Lullaby Renditions of other famous singers and bands (any Eagles fans or Carrie Underwood fans out there?) We started listening to this CD every night about 30 minutes before bedtime and it seems to help wind them down. It's a great gift for someone with little ones! I highly recommend it.

Now we're sure there are many heartbroken Cardinals fans out there, so to cheer you up I'm going to post a video starring Pius. If this doesn't make you laugh, you lost WAY TOO MUCH MONEY BETTING ON THE GAME! I honestly think this might be our next America's Funniest Home Video submission. Let us know what you think. Enjoy!

Love,

Moni