Boy’s Night Out

(Written by Quatro Daddy)

I got ticket’s to an Indianapolis Indian’s baseball game last week from my good friend Chris. Jen had already tweeted about going to a game, so I thought, “perfect, a night at the ballgame! We quickly figured out that the game would interfere with some other plans that Jen had made, so I was left with the choice, stay home or take the boys to the game myself.

So glad I chose the latter. Turns out, my sister Kristy and her husband Ryan were already planning to go to the same game. It was a beautiful Indiana summer evening at Victory Field, picture perfect for baseball.

After driving all of us downtown, I parked at the Indianapolis Zoo, which is only about a 10 minute walk from Victory Field, and best of all it’s free parking! As we crossed Washington Street, the boys all spotted aunt Kristy and uncle Ry-Ry and started screaming their names.

I will admit, I got to see very little of the game itself, but the evening turned out to be a blast. Kristy and her husband were such a huge help in keeping the boys entertained. Kristy made some concession stand runs for us, and the boys LOVED the grassy hill that surrounds the outfield there. There could not be a more perfect place to take young kids than this grassy picnic area in the outfield. I only wish we could have made it to more games this season.

It is difficult to describe how entertaining it was for us, so I think I will let the pictures tell the story!

(Brooks) I love baseball daddy, even when I don’t watch a single moment of the game!

(Isaac) How many times can I run up, then roll down the hill before I pass out?

(Clark) He doesn’t have to say anything, that look is pure mischief!

(Henry) Again daddy? Again?

The boys had so much fun on this little hill. Kuddos to the Indian’s organization for keeping such an incredibly clean and well maintained ballpark for all of us to enjoy, it made for a wonderful evening. And for all you mom’s out there eyeing that concrete wall at the bottom of the hill, I am happy to report that no one was hurt in the making of this blog post!

Thanks again to Kristy and Ryan for making my night enjoyable as well! Love you guys.

~Quatro Daddy

Happy Daddy Day 2009

Here's a little belated surprise for our favorite Man of the House! I cannot match the words he wrote for my Mother's Day Post or really even begin to describe how blessed four boys are to have such a loving, respectable, father in their lives. "In this crazy life, and through these crazy times" you have displayed gentleness, patience, joy, perseverance, and a sense of humor.  Thank your daily sacrifices to serve our family.

We both want to thank our own fathers in our lives, as well.  Our boys are "4tunate" to be loved by 2 grandpas, who are wonderful examples in their lives.  You influence and touch our lives in many ways. We are truly thankful for you! 

The Difference Between Mommies and Daddies

Well besides the obvious. 

Daddies have a different approach when it comes to cleaning faces....

A little more of a rough, in your face kind of approach...

A little less conventional, yet practical approach...

But when the end result turns out like this....

 

Mission Accomplished! 

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

My Son Isaac

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

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....

Carrying the load....

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

Five Months as a Dad.....Fun Fun Fun!

Hello all, long time-no blog!

My beautiful wife Jenny has been taking care of the blog now that she has the easy life of staying home with the crew. I mean, what else does she have to do other than feed five babies (myself included) keep the house clean, doing laundry constantly, making 20 bottles per day, washing 20 bottles per day, and keeping the boys entertained. Ok, so she is a busy chic, but very happy and cheerful most of the time. This is why I was so desparate to see her as a mommy, she is doing an awesome job!

It has been a while since I have been on, so I wanted to give my perspective on what the first 5 months have been like. There are definetly two sides to taking care of four babies as a dad. On one side, I have never been so busy in my life. From the moment I walk in the door at night, it seems that there is very little down time. This is not all bad, we all tend to be a little lazy, but when four little boys keep you hoppin, you quickly realize how much happier you are when you moving.

On the other side, these four boys are truely a blessing from heaven. I have never been so filled with joy in my life. I can sit on the floor and play with these guys for hours and never get tired of it. The first five months are, and continue to be, magical times. I am learning that babies change and develop at an amazing rate, and you can see these changes daily. Little by little, I am getting to know my boys and it is so exciting. Everytime something gets more difficult, it has always came with a blessing right beside it. So, yes, it is going to be crazy when these little guys get mobile, but I am really looking forward to it. The bible teaches us that children are a blessing from the Lord, and I am getting to experience this first hand.

Thank you to all of you who have continued to follow our family via the blog. Especially to those of you who prayed for Jen and the boys all the way through the pregnancy. God has backed a dump truck up to our lives, and dumped blessings on our family.

Brooks Layton is scheduled for surgery on July 13th for hernia repair. We go to the hospital this week for an ultrasound to make sure the hernia still needs fixed. We have seen a visible change in it, and are hopeful that it has healed itself. Our doctors assure us that this is very unlikely, but they have agreed to check to make sure. Jen and I dont ever take these things for granted anymore. Many doctors told us that especially Brooks and Clark, were very unlikely to survive the pregnancy due to being monoamniotic twins, plus being a part of a set of quads. So, we trust that our Lord can and does do amazing things. Would you pray with us that Brooks would no longer need surgery? Our God is great and gracious either way, but He just might grant yet another request from us!

We love you all!

Brad, Jen, Henry, Brooks, Clark, and Isaac

Go Colts!

Just thought I would post some pics of our "Blue Crew". Although training camp has yet to begin, we are getting pumped for a new season. Besides, we have to wear the outfits now while they fit! (By the way, you should be able to see the full-size images by clicking on any of our pictures that we post.)

We are getting professional pictures taken Thursday afternoon. Hopefully the boys will be in terrific moods. I'm trying not to have huge expectations. Hey, even if they all scream their heads off, at least we'll have pictures to show for it! Our friend Kim has been gracious to offer a session for us! I'll be sure to post the pictures when we get them back.

What have we been up to? We took a fun field trip to the mall over the weekend - couldn't have went better! (Check out the mess we make feeding these guys, though!)We were also able to get a pic in front of the "Brooks Brothers" sign, how appropriate, huh? Henry was a little upset that there wasn't a Henry Brothers store, but I explained that maybe one day he could open one with all a multiples clothes line, perhaps!

Brad and I were able to sneak away to a wedding on Saturday, for our dear friend Amy. It was so beautiful - straight from a Southern Living Magazine or maybe Martha, but very trendyish too. =) We were thankful for Brad's parents who were willing to watch the boys while we got away. We were also able to see our friends Tony, Jaimie (my best buddy), and their little ballerina, Claire. Claire was born 3 weeks before our little cowboys. What a treat to spend time with them over the weekend! I think Brad truly enjoyed his first Father's Day and we enjoyed time with Jaimie and Tony and my brother and Sally and the kids on Sunday night for some desert and conversation. We are so thankful for our precious family, including our father's who have displayed their love for us in so many ways.

Happy 1st Father's Day, Brad!

Happy Father's Day, DADDY!

I cannot even begin to tell you what an amazing dad my man, Brad, has become this year. He's my best buddy and he has truly held me up this year. I mean this is a guy who this year has done indescribable things for his family. I'll just give a few examples:

*spending hours talking to insurance people about our claims

*cleaning up spit-up from the carpet, crib, wall, kid, dresser (you get the point)

*painting my toenails when I couldn't reach them



*holding me through all kinds of pain

*shaking over one thousand bottles of formula



* putting together 4 bouncy seats, 2 cribs, 2 double strollers (and even looking at the directions occasionally)

*sleeping on the floor of our hospital room for 4 1/2 long weeks just so he didn't have to leave my side

*working at his job while his 4 boys are in the NICU and later with no sleep


*eating chicken casseroles every week without complaint


*running to Walgreens in the middle of the night for emergency needs

*exchanging carts full of diapers for the next size



*blogging to keep all of you informed with the latest


*loving Christ


*praying daily for our kids and for God's grace in raising them


*loading four boys, a diaper bag, 2 double strollers, and the rest of our "junk" in less than 5 minutes


These are just a few off the top of my head....He has sacrificed over and over out of love for his family. I really think he could win one of those "Father of the Year" awards, if I could find the time to write a 1,000 word essay! (Maybe if I find one with a trip to Hawaii involved - heheeee!)

I love you more than ever, Bradley, and it's so precious to see our boys excited about their daddy whenever you are around them. I'm so thankful that I'm on this journey with you!

Love,
Your Jenny