A "Doozie" of our own

Thanks for all the great comments. We check our blog as often as you all do, too. I keep waiting for a new post, but somehow wishing for it doesn't make it appear.

I thought it might be fun to post some fun facts today. Just different things that pop into my head throughout the day that make me say, "Self, I bet the blog world might like to know about this."

So, here goes:

1. The 3 boys are able to roll over now. Forrest and Pius have been the only ones so far that have done it without cheating (i.e. no rolled up burp cloth under their chest). Danna keeps trying and can move her little cute butt all over the place....just not over. Forrest rolled over unassisted for the first time the other night while my parents were over babysitting with the help of friend, Janet Neville. See the video. It's almost painful to watch, really. You keep thinking that he's gonna do it and all you want to do is give him a little nudge.

2. Speaking of my parents...they go by Budda and Papa. Many think we call her Buddha (boo-duh) like the little fat-bellied statue, but it's actually pronounced "bud-duh". My niece, Maddie Jo, came up with that name when she was just learning how to talk. We think it is because Mollie (Maddie's mom and my sister) would always say, "but, uh" when she was talking on the phone with my mom. Kids pick up he darndest things.

3. All 4 of the kids have really good head and neck control. They're always pushing themselves up and looking around. Forrest and Danna are the 2 that are most interested in what's going on in the world around them. I don't think Danna ever blinks. She keeps her eyes so wide so she won't miss anything. I need to enter that girl in a stare-off contest! Laine loves looking up into peoples' faces. He's so content just looking into the eyes of his holder.

I never knew Laine's feet could be so interesting

Laine and Danna getting some play time with Aunt Rose while Frosty and Pius were sleeping

Like we said...always afraid she's going to miss something!

4. I have continued pumping, but the squad is catching up and passing me quickly. I usually pump between 50-60 ounces per day and sometimes I nurse the babies if they are especially upset and nothing else seems to calm them down. We have broken down and finally started going half breast milk, half formula in their bottles. The towers are on 20-cal feedings (regular formula/breastmilk), Laine is on 22, and sweet Danna is still on 24-cal. We will probably adjust after Laine and Danna's weight check next Thursday.

5. As most of you know, I started back to work part-time at Wesley. I work Tuesday, Wednesday one week and Thursday, Friday the next. It switches back and forth and has allowed Billy to give the QT my schedule and that allows one of us to always be home with them. We wouldn't want to leave the helpers on an island with our fickle crew.

6. Pius has very sensitive skin. He might have got that from Grandma Vicki who always seems to blotch up whenever it is too hot. Pius also gets extremely warm, and sometimes we can calm him down by taking off his clothes. Being naked seems to make him happy. He might have got that from his daddy.

Naked Pius...that's alot of chunk for one boy!

7. Sweet baby Laine has baby acne. Actually, all four of them have baby acne, but Laine's seems the worst. Hopefully they will grow out of that and the chances are pretty good because Billy and I always had pretty clear skin.

I think Laine has a few bats in the cave

8. Forrest and Danna have umbilical hernias. They are not too bad, and they will go away in a couple years, but for the time being they sure are fun to play with. If Forrest isn't throwing too much of a fit, you can press it down and it pops up really easily. If he is throwing a fit, it is firm, but still a lot of fun.

Forrest and Danna getting tummy time on their Boppys

9. The Kansas weather has allowed a couple of stroller rides in the last week. The first one, we loaded them up and went down to GG Bucko's and surprised her. The second time, Bucko and I took them around to visit a couple of neighbors. The neighbors stayed inside their screen doors and looked at the four of them together in all of their glory. We were so in a hurry to get them back inside, we forgot to snap a photo (and we weren't about to reenact the scene).

10. Frosty is the gassiest baby alive. Really no need to explain any further, I'm sure. He's our Farty Forrest. Speaking of toots... Pius ripped one so loud the other day that he scared himself and started crying about it.

Forrest amazes himself with his gas-blowing abilities

Frosty is also getting window time along with tummy and play time

11. Pius, Laine and Danna have the cutest chin quivers when they are throwing a fit. It really is hilarious, and our laughing just seems to fuel the fire. We will try to get some video now that we have found our camera.

12. We have our daily routines set, but the kids like to throw wrenches into them when they get the chance. They get to get out of their cribs around 7 a.m. They eat, and then they watch Baby Einstein. They eat, and then they get window time. They eat, and then they get tummy time. They eat, and then they get play time. They eat, and then they get wind down time. They eat, and they go to bed in their cribs. As you can tell, they do a lot of eating. We got the go-ahead from Dr. Chavez to let them sleep for up to 6 hours if they want to. They are averaging about a 5-hour sleep after their night feeds and we aren't complaining too much. Rarely, however, does this routine happen perfectly.

13. The quad squad is so excited to see cousin Becky. She's leaving Phoenix this Saturday (her last hospital shift is tonight). When she comes to visit next week, I have a feeling she will be amazed at how much they have grown. We are trying to talk her into moving in with us, but she likes her sanity too much I guess.

Had to post this pic again of Pius, Becky and Forrest just so we can remember how fun it was to have 3 babies and 3 adults living in our PHX apartment! Doesn't she look well-rested?!

14. Another Forrest tidbit, he has taken on a couple of new nicknames. He always closes his left eye when he smiles or starts cooing, so we now call him everything from Frosty, to Winky, to Popeye.

15. Laine has got to be the noisiest eater alive. He always acts like he enjoys his bottles so much. He just gulps and hums the entire time. Sometimes he's louder than other times, but it's always good for a laugh. We'll try to get a video of it posted sometime.

16. All four of them still have blue eyes. We are getting really interested to see what color God has in mind for their final color, but we are hoping they stay blue.

17. They all have elf ears, except for Pius. The other three's ears all have a little dip at the top and they really do look like the Keebler Elves' ears. They may or may not grow out of this, but judging by Bill's misshapen ears, that might be a tougher obstacle to overcome.

Laineman playing with Aunt Rose. Keebler cookies, anyone?

18. The entire Graf Quad Squad prays for cousin, Sgt. Wesley Poell every night. We can't wait until he returns home safely from wherever, Iraq. He went over at the beginning of the month, and we can't wait to hear from him via email. Laine is so excited for him to come home to teach Laine some wrestling moves so he can handle Pius, Forrest, and any boy who thinks of talking to Danna. We are all so proud of him, and can't thank him and all of the other soldiers enough for what they are doing for us.Cousins Steph Graf and Wesley Poell sharing a dance at Margarita's

Another Danna and Rosie moment

Well, that's about all we can think of for the moment. I'll try to jot down others things as they momentarily flit about my brain.

Love,

Billy, Moni, Pius, Forrest, Danna and Laine


P.S. Thank you, Tubre's, for the huge box of goodies! Danna officially now has more clothes than mom, dad and all the boys put together. We're so proud of her, though...she has finally outgrown her preemie clothes this week. We're all about the new newborn clothes she fits into now!