My Son Brooks....mmm!...mmmm!

Watch out ladies, this boy loves to kiss!

Recently, Brooks learned how to request a kiss without saying a word. Not to worry though, he is not after any of his little friends in the nursery, his lips belong to his momma. Every night, as we put the boys down to sleep and begin to leave the room, we hear a mmmm! mmmm! mmmm! coming from behind us. Brooks always wants a kiss from his momma before bed, it is so adorable, and of course, I think he melts Jen's heart. Even after a kiss, we sometimes have to leave the room with his continual mmm! running behind us. He would kiss her all night if that meant he could stay up probably, I love that boy so much!

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.

Related Posts:

My Son Henry

My Son Isaac

My Son Clark

My Son Clark

The picture above illustrates what I thought the first time I saw David Cook of American Idol on my TV screen. As soon as I saw this guy's hair, I thought, "what a mess", then I thought, "hey, he looks like Clark!" What do you think? This was the best messed up hair picture of Clark we had, but I am telling you, they bear a strange resemblance when Clark first wakes up in the morning. Time for a haircut Clark!

Clark made an especially miraculous entry into our world almost 16 months ago. I can vividly remember watching for him to be delivered. Henry and Brooks had already been born, and Clark was right on his heals. Since Brooks and Clark shared an amniotic and chorionic sack, they were almost born together. We were worried about Brooks and Clark the entire pregnancy due to the fact that they were a rare form of identical twins known medically as monoamniotic twins. (Click here for a detailed explaination of monoamniotic twins)

Due to this complication, I was very anxious to see just how tangled Brooks' and Clark's cords would be. Miraculously, after 8 months of development without anything separating them from becoming entangled, Brooks and Clark were delivered with their cords only slightly twisted around one another. God was so gracious to us and them!

Unfortunately, we were not out of the woods yet. Clark would almost immediately be placed on a ventilator due to immature lungs where he would struggle for days. Clark's blood gas levels became dangerously saturated with CO2. It made no sense to me, but his lungs were doing fine with oxygenating his blood, but were failing to remove the CO2 properly, creating a potentially deadly situation. The doctors and nurses at St. Vincent were doing all they could to get our little boy to breath properly, and get him out of danger. They were forced to switch him to a jet ventilator, but were still unable to stabilize his blood gas levels.

Since Jen was still hospitalized with high fever and blood loss after delivery, we were getting updates around the clock from the NICU. Jen was not able to go visit the boys yet because of her fever, but all of that changed around 12am that night. Our NP came in and informed us that she had cleared it with the NICU doctors to have Jen come up and see the boys. We didn't realize it at the moment, but they wanted to make sure that Clark's mommy got to see him alive, as they were beginning to wonder if he would make it through the night.

When we returned to Jens room that night we sent out an urgent prayer request to our church, and to our blog readers. We then went to prayer on his behalf. Our gracious God once again answered our prayers, sparing Clark's life. Within an hour of Jen visiting the NICU, Clark's CO2 levels finally began to drop. The moment our NP burst through the door with the news and a smile on her face still brings tears to my eyes when I think of it. My little Clark was going to be OK.

Clark had a few other scary bumps in the road before exiting the NICU 5 weeks later, but is now a very happy, healthy little boy. You never want to see your children suffer, but suffering brings an appreciation for how much you love them. I will always treasure Clark's life because of those early trials.

Today, Clark's personality is a wonderful daily reminder of God's goodness. He and Henry seem to spar over who is going to command the most attention. I never thought I would use this word to describe my son, as I want them to be masculine men, but since the day he was born, Clark has always been a beautiful little boy. His smile always makes me laugh, and he loves to sit on his daddy's lap, which makes me swell with pride.

Once again, I wish I could describe to all of you what Clark's precious life means to me, it cannot be put to words. But, I love his crooked little smile, I love his deep brown eyes, I love the way he curls up in bed with Brooks each night, I love how he giggles out of control when I rub my nose in his neck, I love to watch him jump in his crib, I love his aggressive personality, I love his expression when I blow air in his face, I love to watch him play, and I love the fact that God let me keep my precious little boy, that I get to watch him grow instead of visiting his grave, and that I get to teach him to fish instead of dreaming about what it would be like to raise all four of my boys, and mostly, I love that I get to give glory to God for saving my little boy when doctors and nurses had tried everything to save him.

I love you Clark, and I am so thankful that I get to be your daddy.

Related Posts:

My Son Henry

My Son Isaac

The Story Is Still Unfolding....

I wanted to let you know that St. Vincent's Tiny Successes Campaign has updated our Quad Story with a One Year Update! It looks like this:

The writers and designers do such a phenomenal job creating such a great look and really "stick to the story". In fact, our Tiny Successes Campaign won several awards both locally and nationally for print ad, web design, radio ad, and the television commercial. (If you click on the links it will provide the press releases and/or link to the ads.)

You'll wanna click on the link below to see more and read the dialogue from my recent interview:

http://www.stvincent.org/MyStory/tinysuccesses/quad_1year.htm

In case you live in Indiana, you can find our print ad in this month's issues of Parents and Parenting Magazines.

If you're new to 4tunate and have no clue at this point to what I'm referring to I'll repost the radio and television ad for you to view, plus I know that some of you faithful readers want to see it again! (This original post will also fill you in.)

We just feel incredibly blessed to have a part in this campaign and to be living a Tiny Success Story!

Celebrating Completion.....

Today we celebrate the day we all became a family. One year ago today Clark joined us at home after a 40 day NICU stay and we were reunited under one roof. The days of trading off turns to stay with the boys at home and visit Clark in the NICU seem like a distant memory and being home together with our 4 healthy boys has been a year of many blessings, joy, and laughter.

If you'd like to look back with us on one year ago, these posts we'll take you there:

Our Family of 6 is Complete

Homecoming Pictures

Thank you for sharing in this journey of adventures with us!

NICU Survival Kits: Part V

If you are newish to our blog you might wanna check out this link to catch you up on NICU Survival Kits (Parts 1-4)- you'll get the 411 on what they are, who they go to, what's in them, etc.

Since our last update here's some progress that's going on with the kits:

~There's been talk about a possible sponsorship for a portion of the kits. (I don't know the details, but I will fill you in as I get more specifics.)

~We've started working on a card to put in the kits about our personal experience.

~We've opened a separate account for sole use of NICU kit contents, complete with a debit card that donates to the March of Dimes every time I use it - isn't that awesome? It looks like this:

~We received our first donation check from a blog reader.

~We've gotten a nice stash of homemade blankets for the kits.

~We received a few schedule books from justmultiples to try out.

~We've received a payment check from Adsense for hosting ads on this blog (proceeds going towards the NICU kits)

~We visited our NICU and perinatologist office around the boys birthday to thank them once again for the excellent job they did in caring for our boys. We are so grateful for the roles they played in their health and well-being. Here's some pictures from our visit:

Henry getting a birthday hug from DeDe; She "caught" him when he was born

Dr. Sumner's IN the choo-choo wagon - he's still a kid at heart and we love him for it!

Sheesh! That's more than I thought had happened in a month!

A couple of questions I need to answer.....

How do I decide who gets the kits?

My contacts so far have been either a personal connection, through friends, or through this blog. I would LOVE to make one for each multiple family/preemie that I hear about, but right now I do not have the resources (time, finances, etc.) to do so....for now I'm trying to send out at least 1 per month.

What size do I make the blankets, how do I get them to you, what should they be made out of?

I prefer 20 x 20 or close (they don't have to be square - rectangle are fine)...a little smaller or a little larger is just dandy too! They can be yarn, fleece, or fabric. Email me at quatro_mama [at] yahoo [dot] com for my mailing address.

Are there other items that need donated?

It seriously floors me that any of you would be interested in supporting this cause any more than what you are already doing by visiting our site. You can find the contents of the kit here. I've got plenty of lotion and journals for now, but the other items are still needed. My next item to purchase is some storage containers, so that I can stock up and put them together more quickly/efficiently.

How can we donate, how can I sponsor a kit, will you put a donate button on the blog?

Again, blows my mind! For now, we are not adding a donate button to this site, for various reasons. We are looking into creating a 501c3 account (there's a pretty hefty application fee)...so it may be down the road, making donations tax deductible. If you truly feel led to donate please contact me (email posted above) and I can give you our mailing address.
Please know that we package these kits not with the intention of gathering donations, but rather a way for US to give back to other families facing similar situations that we have experienced, but enjoy sharing it with you!

Once again, feel free to leave me a comment or send an email with questions, encouraging words, or suggestions. I will try my best to get back with each of you in a timely manner. Thanks for being part of the TEAM!

Tiny Successes, Ginormous Billboard

Our friend Jayson alerted us that our St. Vincent's Tiny Successes Campaign was displayed on a billboard at The Fashion Mall at Keystone. We thought, "cool, we'll have to check it out sometime"....What we didn't realize is it's the size of a BUS! Hilariously Huge!

Funny story to go with it....Brad and I were able to go out to eat for his birthday (thanks Joan and Cindy for watching the boys), so we decided to check it out while we were in the area. I took the camera with me to take a few shots. Just as soon as I snapped these 2, a security guard from out of no where quickly approaches me and with his limited English skills informs me I cannot take any pictures inside the mall. Say what????? I told him they were OUR KIDS, but I guess a rule is a rule and he wouldn't let me take anymore. Thankfully he didn't confiscate my camera or throw me in jail....I'm such the troublemaker!

So if you're in the Indy area check it out...just watch your back!

(If you are not in the Indy area you can find our story on the St. Vincent's Tiny Success Website by clicking here.)

watch out Gap...our sign is 20 of yours!

PS I haven't forgotten the promised NICU Survival Kit Post....I'm planning on posting it tonight.

Feeling Sentimental????

(Pictured left to right in birth order: Henry Samuel 2lbs 12 oz., Brooks Layton 3lbs, Clark Thomas 3lbs 7oz., Isaac Edward 4lbs.)

It's 1st Birthday Eve and I'm feeling a bit sentimental.....Mostly I am just stunned at goodness and grace that God has lavished on us this year. As much as I tried, I could not imagine "life with quads" while I was pregnant and never could I have comprehended the enormous amount of love I would have for my babies.

In case you're feeling the "sympathy sentimentals" here's some posts surrounding our pregnancy, birth and the preemie days...(I was able to transfer all of our postings from our old blog, http://www.triplet-update.blogspot.com/, over to this blog. Soooooo you can read our ENTIRE story here on this current site. All of the posts are located chronicologically in the pull-down "Post Archive" menu in the left hand column.)

(Click on the Link to View Post)

Triplets???

The Quad Announcement

Headed for the Hospital at Week 28

Our Last Post Before Becoming Parents to Quadruplets

Birth Day

Clark's Recovery

NICU Pictures

Homecoming Day

There's so much that I could (and probably should) post, stories I could tell, people I could thank, verses I could share, blessings upon blessings...but I think for now I'll tuck myself in bed next to my husband and sleep safe and sound in my quiet little house with four precious MIRACLES.

Keep checking back as I will be posting some of the best blog posts YET!

NICU Survival Kit Headed to The Big "D"

Well past my bedtime last night, I was putting together a NICU Survival Kit for Casey Gerwer who just delivered quadruplets yesterday at 29 weeks in Dallas, TX! You can find the stats on Reid, Cameron, Trey, and Brady on their blog. Please keep them in your prayers especially over these next few weeks as their babies transition from womb to the real world where they are expected to do all the full-term tasks (breathing, feeding, maintaining their body temp., and yes, pooping!) 11 weeks early. Congratulations, especially goes out to Casey as she fought so hard for these babies and did so well to make it to 29 weeks! Way to go quad mama, welcome to the club!

Can I tell you how much I love putting these kits together?!!! I find myself praying for the family as I pack the contents of the kit. I pray for the mom's recovery, strength for dad, the babies to be little fighters, the doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapist that are so vital to the baby's survival......and then I'm overwhelmed with gratefulness as I reflect on our NICU days and how blessed we are with 4 healthy babies!

Especially this little guy (Clark) who really made our NICU nurses work for their money

Our super-sitter (well, she's free so I guess she's not really a sitter), Tami, is on her way with some hand-made preemie blankets for the kit. So soft and sweet! Many of you have emailed about the blankets so I want to give you some "specs". Tami's are 12 x 12 (some a little bigger or more rectangle), and I could also use some 20 x 20's.

Lastly, an enormous thank you to my friend Melissa, who donated a sack full of really nice lotion from Bath and Body Works for the kits. I'm telling ya, your hands get so sore and dry from scrubbing up that lotion just melts in your hands. This will be wonderful, Melissa!

Oh yeah, one more thing...then I have to get some lunch while I have the chance! There's been a lot of chatter about Adsense lately (Suz added it to her site too). While we can't tell you how we get money from the ads due to "contractual obligation"- you can easily look this up on our friend google to find out if your curiousity is killing or check out problogger for more....or try monetizing out for yourself (you can sign up here by clicking on the link in the left column under the ads)!

.....Seacrest, OUT

Farewell 2007

Farewell, 2007. What a year you've been!!!!!!

From an extreme high-risk, high-mortality pregnancy to a relatively short NICU stay and bringing 4 healthy babies home
From sleepless nights with 4 INFANTS to sleeping 12 hours at night
From swimming in preemie clothes to size 12 and sometimes 18 month clothes
From helplessly laying on their bellies to sitting up, rolling, pulling up, crawling, and exploring
From 40 ml to 8 oz bottles, cereal, veggies, fruit, and a new favorite -cheerios!
From 1 crib to 2 cribs, and then to 3 cribs (surely there will be 4 in 2008)
From toothless to 21 teeth (combined)
From crying like a goat/lamb/monkey to an infectious giggle
From Blessings to More Blessings!

Here's some of our favorite posts from 2007 (Hint: Just click on the link to view):

Quad Day: 02-02-07
Homecoming - All 4 boys Home!
Brooks Skips Out of a Surgery
Our 1st Photo Shoot
Bath Time with Quads
500 Jars of Gerber Baby Food
NICU Reunion Picnic
Our TV Commercial
Jen's Birthday Video
Halloweiners
1st Christmas Card

NICU Survival Kits: Part III (If you are still counting)

I've been hit with several emails from many of you around the country about our NICU Survival Kits (See Part I and Part II to get on board). I'm so excited to hear that some of you want to contribute, or better yet want to start your own NICU Survival Kits in your neck of the woods! Way to Pay It Forward, Fellow Bloggers! Today I want to discuss the contents of the kit.

Here's some things that have been included so far in the kits.....

*On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tilman - I am HOOKED on this book! I've bought a total of 5 copies now for the kits, a few baby showers, and finally one for my boys. It's illustrated and written so beautifully and I especially like it for preemies/multiples. Highly, highly recommend! (If anyone knows Nancy or the publisher, Feiwel & Friends, or perhaps the CEO of Amazon that could give me a discount for the cause - definitely give me a call!) PS I call dibs for future baby showers!

*Preemie Blankets - Thanks to Tami for volunteering to make these!!!! They are beautiful! (We could eventually use another knitter/crocheter/fleece cutter as demand for Kits goes up - so let me know if you're a crafter)

*Lip Balm and Lotion - you have to wash your hands all day long at the NICU, even between each baby, which leads to dry chapped skin. Alcohol gel really starts burning! Eeeeowwwch!

*Disposable Cameras - One for each isolette, This way the nurses can snap a precious moment if you are away; It's very difficult to leave you babies every night, especially as you watch moms all around you being wheeled out with their full-term newborns on their laps, so I think knowing that your leaving your nurse with a camera helps to know that you won't miss everything. (Kodak, give me a call as well!) =)

*Snacks and Change for the Vending Machine - For the long hours and to hold ya over until shift change

*Name Tags for the Isolettes - Makes it personal and cheery. I have several of these pre-made and ready to go... Here's a pic of me putting these together

*Journal - also to keep at the isolettes to record updates, notes to nurses, latest weights, thoughts, etc. It's info overload - so writing things down helps you make sense out of it later!

Okay so here's YOUR big part! Ready - who's in? Your mission is to make these kits even better! Do some brainstorming, talk to other preemie moms and get their input, think creatively, and leave me a comment (or send an email) with your great ideas! Or do you have an ability that we could put to use for our project??? It's a community effort! 'Tis the SEASON!!!

(Don't forget you are already contributing just by visiting our blog - so pass our blog along to others!!!)

Why St. Vincent's? (Exclusive Birth Video!)

(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!!)

We Are Survivors : NICU Picnic

Last weekend our crew had the privilege of attending the NICU Reunion Picnic. I remember this time last year, not knowing if we would be invited to such a picnic, not knowing if we would even bring one baby home from the hospital. Only by God's grace, we brought 4 babies home. I wanted to blog right away all about the picnic, but it was too emotional, and my thoughts were all over the place. Hopefully now my thoughts are a bit more collected. We'll see.....

I remember the first time I heard about this "picnic". I was about 14 weeks pregnant and my doctor was talking about another past patient he had run into there. Then he backtracked and explained what the picnic was about, and then inserted something like, "you'll see, when you guys go next year". That was HUGE! He believed in us, against all the medical knowledge he possessed, and the fight we had ahead of us. That gave me a confidence and peace about our situation. Seeing him there on Saturday and having my 4 boys to show him was exciting, to say the least.

We were greeted by so many familiar faces and hugs from people who fought for our boys while they endured their NICU stay. It was such a joy to show the nurses and doctors our chubby, healthy, little rascals. We are so grateful for the tremendous care at St. Vincent we received and the people and abilities that God place into each of our boys' lives, when we could do NOTHING.

I think many have too quickly forgotten (including myself) how amazing these little lives truly are and how this is not the "typical" outcome, since they don't look or act much like preemies anymore (which is a great thing)! This picnic was another great reminder of God's ultimate control, His grace, and mercy in our lives. Sometimes we just want to hold on to each of them and weep over them in gratefulness. May Christ be glorified through their precious lives!

DeDe (Henry's primary nurse)

Nataline (Clark's primary nurse) Nataline: You better thank me for your fame! =) Can you tell the boys didn't get their nap?

Brad and I with our "septuplets", where are their parents, anyway? I thought we were posing with them for the picture!

When your babies are in the NICU you have to wear a hospital bracelet for each baby for security reasons. Well, I decided to take a picture of our survivor bracelets that they handed out. The "Tiny Success" onesies (pictured at the top of this post) were given to us by a triplet mom, Diana, who we barely know from Starbucks, but she's been a faithful blog subscriber for a while now. Thank you so much! We'll have to definetly get a picture in them!

Look how far we've come!

February 2. 2007

"Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.
How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings." Psalm 6:5-7

1/2 A Year Old

(Post updated with the boys pictures below! Check it out!)

Did I scare anyone? This was a picture taken July 21st........2006!!!!!! The beginning of an incredible pregnancy and now we have 4 healthy, energetic, grinning, chubby, BOYS! How great is our God? I had to blog on this exciting day for us. The past 6 months have been a blur in many ways, but I really am trying to take it in and enjoy these baby days. I cannot tell you all how precious it is to wake up to 4 boys smiling in their cribs and then putting down their sleepy little bodies for the night. What a privilege! And to think about how slim our "chances" were of this outcome brings me to tears of gratefulness.

Here's a few looks from the pregnancy highlight reel.....Many of these have NEVER been posted, so be kind on those comments - I know, I was HUGE! (Notice the pictures get smaller as I get bigger - HAAAA!) I had to remind people over and over that there were FOUR babies housed inside my belly.


These 2 pictures are from the day we found out we were pregnant. It was such an exciting time. Pictured below are my parents in front of Pizza Hut where we met them to share the surprising news!


A date with my buddy before the craziness of a major surgery and bed rest

Recovering from my TAC (Trans Abdominal Cerclauge) surgery at 14 weeks to help hold those babies inside me as long as possible

Right around 30 weeks. I didn't look like a dump truck from the front, but below is a picture of me from the side view.

I got to take a field trip out of my hospital room into the single digit temperatures to eat pancakes at the House of Pancakes just days before delivery. I ate 8 of them! They tasted soooooo good. I had to sit sideways in order to fit in the booth! Great memory!

Progress Pictures

Henry at birth, 3, then 6 months

Brooks at birth, 3, then 6 months

Clark at birth, 3, then 6 months

Isaac at birth, 3, then 6 months

Crazy Things You Ponder When You Have Supertwins.....

Well, lately my mind has been filled with the near future of "how are we gonnas". The boys are 5 months today!!!!! Unreal! I cannot believe that 5 months ago today I was so relieved to be laying on my back for the first time in months and praying for 4 little ones in the NICU who I had yet to meet. In ways it seems like a dream or a lifetime long ago, but in other ways it has flown so quickly. There's something I miss about those little preemies, although life at home is MUCH preferred. As I try to prepare for the next months ahead I'm filled with a lot of questions on how to best "function" in this home with 4 sweet boys.

Here's some products that I thought you "normal" families might get a kick out of that I've been pondering lately........


This is a feeding/activity table. Basically I think this could be a genius way to feed the boys. I could sit in the middle and then make my way around the circle to feed them like little birds. The seats each pop out, so you could clean them easily. Yes, it would take up a ton of room, but so will 4 highchairs. Plus, you could use them later on for coloring, play dough, etc. They are quite an investment, but something to pray/think about.....







This is a Runabout Quad Stroller. The manufacturer calls this the "Silver Bullet". I call it the "BEAST". When we were first pregnant with quads, every time I would see one of these it gave me the creeps. I mean what yells "freak" more than this contraption? I thought I WILL NOT have one of these strollers. My kids will not ride around the block on display in this tank. After all, could I even push something like this? - it has air brakes for goodness sake! So many multiple moms have told me that I "have to get a quad stroller, you won't be able to do anything on your own without it". I thought, "yeah, like I'm going to go anywhere on my own!" Crazy what 5 months will do to you. Sometimes I actually feel brave enough to do just that. I think it's this beautiful 75 degree weather that is making me want to go outside and enjoy it, instead of watching it out the window. HOWEVER, this "Runabout Silver Bullet" cost more than Brad's first car! It would "run" us over 1200 bucks! I think maybe they should rename it the "Runusoutofhouseandhome". I'm thinking I'm glad we have the 2 double strollers!



Hmmm...how are we going to do it once they start crawling/walking/running? Will we give up our master bedroom to make it into a playroom? Will we gate off half of our living room and move out some furniture? How about building a fence outside and locking the door from 8am-8pm? Kidding, kidding....please put down the phone and don't call CPS on me! Just trying to problem solve.



Now in my opinion this is the craziest of all multiple products and I wouldn't even consider this one. It's a double decker double crib. However, I do know someone who actually thought
would be a great idea at one time. (I'm not naming names.) I think I would have to officially call us the "Murray Zoo". People could drive for miles to come feed the babies. Brad and I even talked about mounting a bottle on the side of the "cage" kinda like they have in hamster cages. Hilarious! Hey, you have to have a sense of humor in our house!



Well, I guess I'm writing about all of this to hopefully make you all smile and if you happen to know any multiple families that are wanting to sell any of these products (minus the double decker cribs) - have them contact us.

More importantly, I need to remind myself of this passage in Matthew 6. (Taken from http://www.biblegateway.com/)
25"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28"And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
31"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' 32"For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." NASB