It doesn't seem long ago when we ALL fit in your lap...
but now we're growing up into little men who can't wait to be just like our daddy...
but we're not too big to hold your hand....
or to follow your lead....
or jump in your arms...
or rub noses....
or to cuddle with...
AND We Will NEVER be too big to LOVE!
Happy DA-DA Day! We Adore YOU!
~Henry, Brooks, Clark, and Isaac
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Watch out ladies, this boy loves to kiss! 
Brooks came screaming into our world at a mere 3lbs. 0 oz. This poor boy was squashed with Clark on top of him, Isaac pushing in from the side, and Henry right below for months. Due to this unfortunate configuration, his little head was smashed like a pancake. It was quite worrysome as a new dad, but they assured me he would be fine, and his head was pretty round by the time he left the hospital, and perfect now. After birth, Brooks had a miraculously uneventful stay in the NICU. He was breathing on his own for part of the first day, then put on CPAP for a day or so, and finally removed from machines for good. He was so healthy, that in spite of the fact that he only weighed 3lbs. 14 oz., and was only 3 weeks old, they sent him home with us.
Little Brooks on homecoming day!
Brooks has such a cute, fun personality. He is more verbally introverted than any of his brothers. He expresses most of his emotions with his mouth closed, muffling his cries, laughs, and complaints, it is so cute. Brooks has been a leader in mobility milestones since the beginning. He crawled first, pulled up first(at 8 months), walked first, and is now nearing the running stage.
Brooks has more wonderful qualities than I could even begin to describe, but I love the was he smiles with his mouth closed. I love the way he picks his little feet up as he tromps around the house. I love his cute little legs. I laugh as I look back and remember how he initiated us as first-time parents by falling asleep when we tried to feed him. I love how he kisses his momma, it melts daddy's heart too. I love his cute, dark brown eyes. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, the way he dances every single time he hears music of any kind. I miss the way his right leg would bounce up and down when he cried as a preemie. I love holding him on my lap and reading him books, I love seeing him curled up beside Clark in his crib, fast asleep in his little camo sleep sack. I LOVE to hold his hand and walk him around the house, and I love that he loves it too!
I love my Brooks, and all of my boys, in a way I could not have even imagined 16 months ago. I am so proud to be your daddy Brooks, and I cherish every single day I get with you. At 8 weeks of pregnancy, when we found out you existed, I gave your tiny life to God, as I knew it would be His job alone to bring you safely to my arms. And, in spite of the fact that many doctors warned us that this was unlikely to happen, it did, and I will forever be grateful for getting to hold you for the first time, safe and sound, 16 months ago.
I love you Brooksy buddy, your daddy will always love you.
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What you see above is one of my favorite things about Isaac, his sweet, uplifting smile. He treats us with this smile every single day, almost all day. God has given him such a content little spirit. Isaac can lay in one place and play with one toy for 30 minutes at a time. He was the last one of the boys to learn to crawl, and I am convinced that it had very little to do with ability. He just had no reason to move, he was content right where he was. He still loves to lay on his back and play with a toy, or even just his fingers and toes for long periods of time. Isaac is the only child I have ever seen whom you can actually hear smiling. He makes a funny little noise as he breaths when he is smiling, and that noise is one of my favorite things to hear in the world.
Isaac was first to come home from the hospital, along with Brooks. My first really amazing experience with Isaac came on his third day of life. When I arrived in the NICU that day, Isaac’s nurse told me that they had just removed him from the ventilator. They were pretty sure that he was ready, but the next few hours would tell for sure. The only problem was, Isaac was very upset and she said he really needed to settle down soon, or he would wear himself out. If he used up all of his energy on crying, he would not have the strength to continue to breath on his own.
Our nurse suggested that I put my hand under his head and slightly rock his little head back and forth in an attempt to comfort him. She had already tried, but she thought I might have more success since I was his dad. I reached into his isolette and gently lifted his head, placing it in the palm of my hand. I was amazed, his head was slightly larger than a tennis ball! As I began to rock his head, he immediately settled down. It really melted my heart when our nurse told me that she was not able to settle him down, and that he must know that I am his daddy. I have replayed that experience in my head hundreds of times since that day, and it never gets old.
I love this little boy in ways that I cannot describe, but I will do my best. I love the little dimple on one cheek when he smiles, I love the way he opens his mouth wide open when he smiles and squeals, I use to love his 3 chins (I miss those chins!), I love his still chunky thighs, I love his beautiful blue eyes, I love his wispy brown hair, I love that his favorite word is da-da, I love that he rocks himself to sleep each night in his crib on his hands and knees, I love our nightly routine that involves bouncing him on his crib mattress until he squeals, I love that he squeals even before I start in anticipation each night, I love the fact that he cries when I leave him, and smiles when I come home, I love that he gets excited when I hand him his blue ball, even though it is the 200th time, and most of all, I love the fact that God has given me this little boy who has captured my heart the past 15 months and made me love him in ways I didn’t even know was possible.
My son Isaac is amazing. Many times, God uses Isaac to get Jen and I through the most difficult circumstances. No matter how upset Brooks, Clark, and Henry might be, you can almost always count on a smile from Isaac. When we are at our wits end and don’t know how much more we can take, we hear that familiar sound and look up, and there is Isaac, smiling ear to ear.
I am so proud of you Isaac, and it is such a privilege to call you my son, I love you buddy,
Dad
Related Post: My Son Henry
The picture you see above is not what it appears to be. I know it looks like chicken and noodles, but I assure you that what you see above is much, much more than that. Henry worked on this creation for the better part of dinner time at the table. While all three of his brothers ate, played, and talked at the table, Henry was very quiet, and very concentrated. You may think that he quickly smushed this pile of noodles, chicken, and corn together hastily, but you would be wrong. Each of these bits of food were maticulously placed in just the right spot, then inspected for structural integrity.
I am not kidding folks, this one was really funny to watch. He took several minutes and placed each bit of food on this pile one piece at a time. I am convinced that Henry must have decided to become an architect. He is not able to communicate this verbally yet, but he was very proud of this structure.
Conveniently, shortly after Henry created this masterpiece, I needed to go to Lowes to pick up some supplies for a few home repairs. I decided that this was a perfect time for me to show Henry "man's land". I showed him what real lumber looked like and explained that someday he could build real buildings out of real wood, not just chicken, noodles, and corn. I cannot be sure, but I think I heard Henry say, "this is the coolest place I have ever seen, dad" under his breath.
I cannot tell you what a joy it is to be this boy's dad. Henry makes me laugh almost everyday. I am so proud to call him my son. God has filled my heart with so much love for this little rascal that I cannot even begin to express it. I love Henry's electric blue eyes, his love for wrestling and being rough, the way he curles up on my lap for his night bottle (man, I will miss that), his daring personality, his lightning fast crawl, his perfect hair, his ability to get out of any confined spot, the way he whispers da da da, and most of all, the fact that God created Him just the way he is and gave him to us healthy.
Henry entered our world 2 months premature. He was our first and our smallest, wieghing just 2lbs. 12oz. I am so excited to see what God has in store for Henry's life. I pray daily for his salvation and the impact I hope he can have on his world. I also pray daily that my example, and Jen's example would show him what it means to live every day for Jesus Christ. And, when we fall short in this area, I hope to point him to Jesus who is the only one who can forgive us for our sins. Henry needs a Savior just like I do, so I trust God to take care of him.
I love you Henry,
Dad
PS In case you are wondering, I am planning to write a post on each of my four sons. They are all a blessing and I cannot get enough of them, so I want to praise God publically for the amazing gifts He has given me through my precious wife....
To celebrate Leap Day/Valentine's Day/Brad's Birthday/Our 5th Anniversary/We Survived our 1st Year with Quadruplets Brad and I were able to escape for our first weekend getaway post-kids. Our sincere thanks to our parents who took great care of the boys while we were away...I missed my boys like crazy, but it was great to be with my 1st boy and come back refreshed and rested.
I wanted to post some pictures from our weekend and hopefully my photography buddies (Drea, Sarah, Allison, Meg and others of you who know who you are) will gladly give their constructive criticism towards some of my shots. This was my first real chance to experiment with my new camera outdoors. And to answer Kristen's question - I have a Nikon D40 - it's a champ. I just can't wait until I know it (my camera) better...but I think we're gonna be pals.
Here's some of my favorites....Props to the reader who can guess what city we visited. Leave your guess in the form of a comment!
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine;
There's no way to compete with Brad's birthday post for me, but this is ONE great picture of the MAN I LOVE to LOVE. Happy Birthday, Best Buddy!
(Hey all, this is Brad)
To the average eye, the can above probably looks like your everyday, run of the mill formula can.
But, this can represents something much more exciting than that, this is Enfamil formula can number 440! It is very hard to believe that I will no longer be devoting 20-30 minutes per evening shaking bottles for the next day. If my calculations are correct, (probably off a bit)this can of formula made our 7,596th bottle since the boys came home from the hospital! I don't think I had any idea when I carried the first stack of 40 cans in that I still had 400 to go. I will not miss you my little pink labeled friend, but I will miss my little baby boys who are growing up so fast.
I remember reading Gen McNulty's blog many months ago when they quit making formula bottles and thinking that this day would never come. There are plenty of new chores to fill in the gaps as the boys grow older, but it is nice to have this one out of the way.
Stay tuned, we had our one year appointment yesterday. I am sure Jen will be back soon with the statistics from the office visit. Also, we should be getting the rest of our professional photography pictures back very soon and will post those as well.
-The Crew
Apparently the drive-thu worker at Panda Express must read our blog or somehow knows we have quadruplets....
Brad and I have been taking the boys on a "date" with us in the van about once a week to escape the walls of isolation! =) It entails bundling up the boys, loading the boys in the van, driving through a drive thru, and scarfing it down in the parking lot (while the boys get impatient and sometimes quite angry). Sounds like a romantic date, huh? What else can you do in Indiana in 12 degree weather during RSV season with four babies????? It's actually become something I really look forward to....
So after loading the van, we head to Panda Express for Orange Chicken and here's the drive thru dialogue:
Brad: Uh, could we have another fortune cookie? (We get share an order to save cash, plus they give you a ton of food! So I wanted my OWN fortune cookie)
Lee*:How many?
Brad: Just one.
Brad gives back bag to Lee* and after a somewhat long delay hands the bag back to Brad
Lee*: There you go, sir. One extra fortune cookie. Have a nice day.
(Said with the smallest of smirks on his face)
I opened the bag as we pulled away to find it FULL of fortune cookies. I felt like we won the lottery!
(Check back soon - I promise to update you on all the fun, crazy times around here....)
5 Years Ago Today I married by best friend.....
Brad and I decided on a Christmas wedding, ultimately, because it fit our school schedules. (He was finishing up his undergrad and I was working as a speech therapy assistant in the schools.) It worked out perfectly - we were able to be with our entire family for the holidays, the church was already decked out for Christmas, and we got to escape the freezing Indiana winter for a honeymoon in the Florida Keys! It was an amazing day of which I have so many beautiful memories.....
My love for my husband has grown so much in these 1826 days....I look forward to thousands more!
Brad - "I'm thankful everyday for the gift."
(5 minutes after the Murray crew was born)
When St. Vincent's Hospital approached us about doing a commercial about our NICU experience, Jen and I were suprised to say the least. We quickly decided that we wanted to do the spot, despite the fact that it was going to be a really hectic day. We had, so far, avoided most media attention, and had kind of decided that we liked it that way.
So, for you local moms, here is our answer to the question, why St. Vincent's?
During our NICU stay, we watched as many babies were transported there, shortly after birth, from around the state. I remember thinking how much better off these babies would have been, had they been born there to start with.
Then, when the unthinkable happens, and your baby comes early or has unexpected complications, this wonderful NICU staff is right down the hall. You cannot tell me that a baby who needs intensive care, but has to be transported from 30 minutes or 3 hours away, has as good a chance at survival as one who can be rushed down the hall and into the NICU in 2 minutes or less from birth.
I am sure that all of our local hospitals in the area have wonderful facilities for your typical birth. And, most of the time, that is all you need. Unfortunately, many babies are born everyday who are expected to do well and thrive, yet for various reasons, need serious medical attention in order to survive. Why wouldnt you plan to have your baby at a hosptial with the highest level of NICU care availiable? This is why we decided to promote this wonderful NICU. (Ok, I will get off my soapbox now!)
As I sit here and type, Jen is working on our new project that we are anxious to annouce later this week. We are so excited to tell you about how much revenue you have all helped to generate just by coming to our blog over the past few months, and how we plan to spend it on this new, NICU related project.
Brad, Jen, Henry, Brooks, Clark, and Isaac
(PS More NICU and birth video is coming soon, stay tuned!!)
These truly are some of the sweetest days. The past few days I've really got to see some great interactions between our boys. These pictures weren't posed, I just happened to get Isaac loving his buddy Henry. Monday night, while we were putting the boys down for the night, we were able to witness Isaac and Henry playing peek-a-boo with each other - no kidding! It went on for several minutes along with squealing, screams of joy, and laughter. They have all been watching each other closely and teaming up to play or check something out together. I keep thinking, "Wow, what an incredible opportunity to see our babies getting to interact and discover things together, thanks to the blessing of quadruplets!"
Also, I wanted to thank each of you for the great birthday wishes. It was an overwhelming response! Please know that any good that you see in me is not a reflection of who I am, but Christ in me. There is a lot of ugliness that I need to desperately work on......I also want to thank Brad for the thousanth time. I could not believe he put that all together and got so many of my medical "family" involved. Yes, Brad really is an incredible husband and dad. He amazes me daily with his patience, determination, compassion, perseverance, and just the down right fun he chooses to have with everything! I am exceedingly grateful for God's provision through my husband. He is more amazing than I've ever observed before...You've got my respect, Mr. Murray!
I've never understood the line from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, " until this year. My 27th year has absolutely been my most memorable year yet, filled with the absolute highest mountain top joys, and some of the lowest most painful moments. Obviously, this year goes beyond us, as we had to bend our knees in submission to our Maker. I am thankful that God has used the storms to strengthen our faith and teach us how to be more like Christ. Please pray that we would continue to grow!
James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
Fast Developments: (Observations from Dad)
I love you for every tear we've cried, every decision we made together, every day you spent on bedrest, every contraction monitoring session you endured, the hundreds of needle pokes you took, every hospital trip we made together, every doctors appointment we went to, the discipline you displayed in caring for your unborn children during pregnancy by staying on bedrest diligently and eating right, the pain you endured for the TAC surgery and c-section, every smile you forced, the great attitude you had, the four beautiful children you gave me, and every other great thing you do on a daily basis that I tend to overlook and take for granted.
Ok, this goes for EVERYONE, even those of you that follow the blog and we dont know you, please hit the comment button below and wish my girl a happy birthday! Lets see how many Happy Birthday Jen comments we can get. I dont care, e-mail your friends, I want a bunch of Happy Birthdays!! :)
Hey everyone, time for a dad post:
I thought the above picture best illustrated how I am feeling these days about being a father. It is such a joy to have four healthy boys to parent, but wow, what a responsibility.
God has continued to provide for our family through many different avenues, but now comes the ultimate request: please Lord, give me wisdom.
Up to this point, parenting has really amounted to changing diapers, feeding babies, keeping up with normal house chores, keeping a healthy marriage, and trying to get some sleep. In my opinion, in the first six months, the damage you can do to your child when you make mistakes is pretty minimal. (reasonable mistakes anyway)
But, going forward from here, I am beginning to see understanding on the faces of my children. When I say something sternly to them, it actually brings a reaction from them. (even if it is laughing sometimes, Brooks) When I enthusiastically say "good job!!" to them when they are eating, they smile proudly sometimes. This is really exciting to see, but it is also scary.
This means that from now on, any sinful behavior on my part may ....ok, will have an impact on my children. And, with each passing month, that impact will be deeper and longer lasting. In a few months, if I make an unkind comment about someone in front of my children, it could teach them that it is ok to tear others down. If I am impatient with Jen and harsh with her, it could begin to teach them that this is how you treat your spouse.
I know I will make mistakes, but as I think about these boys, I am seeing more and more things about myself that I want to change to avoid passing them on to them. I SO want my boys to some day be men of integrity, honor, and good character. Church will help with this, friends and family can help with this, but ultimately, it is mine and Jen's responsibility to get these boys headed down a path of correct living. Obviously a huge part of that responsibility is pointing them to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And, I cannot do this successfully without first living out these principles in our home in front of my children.
That being said, it is also an incredible joy to be given this responsibility by our God. For some reason, God gave me four wonderful children, and a great, encouraging wife to go through this journey with. As difficult as the past year has been, I have never been so happy in my life.
Would you pray for Jen and I as we seek to glorify the Lord with how we parent our children? Thank you all for keeping up with us on this journey, it is really fun sharing it with all of you!
Brad, Jen, Henry, Brooks, Clark, and Isaac
(left to right: Murrays, Reynolds, Boltons)
We had such and awesome time and the boys were very content most of the time we were there. We are finding that the more we push ourselves to get out and have some fun, the more things we are willing to try with them.
