Groupies

Our little preemie boys have morphed into little boys over the last 28 months.  Our hope is that they continue to be "groupies" for life! 

                   

Be sure to check the blog either late tonight (if you're a night owl) or early tomorrow (if you're an early bird) for a really SPECIAL post!  I've got something up my sleeve that I can't hardly wait to share!    

Unlimited Mobile to Mobile Family Plan, Please.

I think this little video clip is a glimpse into our future...or not.

Hold the phone! I can't even imagine how much a 6 line Family Plan, mobile to mobile, unlimited texting, unlimited minutes, and whatever new technology that will be added by 2021 will cost per month. Almost a guarantee to be over our budget, unless we forego groceries.     

Maybe if we get this sharing thing down, 1 phone will be plenty to go between the 4 of them. (Insert boisterous obnoxious laughter by all the moms to teenagers.)

Well for today, we'll stick to our retired phone collection. Yes, we do recycle our ancient cell phones (via our children).  Reduce, REUSE, Recycle, right?

By the way, when daddy is in charge pants are optional with thermals. =)

Caring is Sharing

What nice, well-mannered boys we have! Quads who play together, stay together. Alright, so I know this picture captures a brief moment in our boys lives, where there is no understanding of the "MINE" mentality. I've been "preparing" myself by reading other multiple blogs who's kids are a step above our boys to get a picture of what I have in store in the future. Here's an excerpt from fellow quad mama, Gen McNulty of her typical 5 minute "conversation" with her toddlers:

"Russ, stop biting Biddie! Libby, stop whacking Molly with that block! Molly, give that toy back to Ally! Ally, stop taking off Bubba's diaper! Ally, stop taking off your own diaper! Libby, don't bite Russ! Molly, DO NOT STICK YOUR FINGER IN HIS MOUTH IF YOU DON'T WANT HIM TO BITE YOU!!!! Libby, that's Ally's bunny, where is your monkey?! Molly, give Libby back her Monkey! Molly, give Ally back her bunny! Ally, don't bite Molly! Molly, stop biting Ally!Libby, stop biting Russ! Russ, stop biting Libby! Ally, stop climbing that gate! Bubba, get out of that basket! Libby, don't take that book from Russ, please give it back! Bubba, STOP biting Libby! Libby, don't let him bite you! Molly, use your words, you don't need to scream! Ally, get off your brother's head.. he can't breath! Bubba, on your bottom, if your going to climb onto the couch I would appreciate it if you didn't dive off head first! Ally, set a good example, on your bottom! Russ, stop biting Ally! ....etc. "

And I think I'M exhausted at the end of the day! I can't imagine the amount of energy that it's going to take for these little guys! Bring on the prayers!

Adventures in Quadland

Hello blog world:

I am very happy that my wife has taken over the blog world. She is so much more interesting and funny, but I figure I need to stop in and say hello once in a while.

Jen and I just got back from seeing our first theatre movie in a long time, very exciting. Did we take the boys? No, of course not. We are adventurous with them, but not stupid. :) My mom and dad were so gracious in allowing us to get out for a date. It was just really nice to just go have fun with my wife again. I am sure you all can tell how fun she is just by how she blogs, but I am telling you, I am a blessed man. She is so much fun.

Mom and Dad holding the boys

While I am at it, I want to give credit to my mom for our header picture for the blog, she took that picture at my sisters house a couple weeks ago and we absolutely loved it.

I thought I would share with you some of the silly things that I sit around and dream about for our boys. There are so many things that I have thought of that the boys and I can do. Some of them Jen will approve of, others I might have to fight for.

1. Family paintball / Airsoft wars

I will just start off with a topic that might not include Jen. I think it would be great fun to set up a paintball war games course in our back yard. I am not sure if our subdivision code will allow for it, but it would awesome. What better way is there for some male bonding than to go out in the back yard and fire plastic balls filled with paint at each other for a few hours. Sure, paintballs leave welts, but we have to teach these boys to be tough, huh?

OK, for the backyard, we may have to stick with airsoft, which leaves no paint on the our siding or the neighbors dog.



2. Full Court Basketball.....in our back yard
OK, so as you can see, I need a 10 acre back yard. I though this was a nice little plan for a fully lit basketball court for my boys. For those of you who do not live in or around Indiana, although it is not official, everyone here knows that the basketball hoop is the state tree.

March is the most exciting month of the year, and college/high school basketball is king. Many people across the country enjoyed the movie "Hoosiers", but only in Indiana do you watch this movie and have chills run down your back EVERY time Jimmy Chitwood hits the game winning shot to win the state championship. And, most fathers in Indiana would like nothing more than to see his son on the hardwood someday, hitting that game winning shot.


So, I figure I have four boys who, if they practice together, could be 4 of the starting 5 at their high school someday. I am sure that would really irritate a bunch of other fathers, but hey, chances are we will not have a center come out of our short family, so I left room for one, right? (Hey, I can dream)


3. Lots of fishing trips!
This is one that I have talked about since the day I found out we were having boys. I love to fish, and nothing sounds much more fun to me than a male bonding trip to Minnesota for some pike and walleye fishing.






I don't know if she would agree, but this is one that Jen would be welcome to join us on. We need someone to cook the fish for us, right? No, our luck, she would drag in the largest fish of the trip, like this one.








4. The Quadruplet Quartet
If, by chance, the boys all got singing ability from their mother, it would be a pretty fun concert to watch a set of quads sing together, don't you agree? I can see people driving from miles around to see and hear the spectacle. (Agents, please leave your e-mail addresses in the comments section, I will contact you.) I could be their agent and........OK, never mind, what are the chances?


5. Servants of our Lord
OK, so one very serious thing I have dreamed about. What could our four boys do to serve the Lord together if we bring them up to focus on others, rather than always thinking of themselves? What a team they could be! Along with Jen and I, I am very hopeful that our family can bring many blessings to people in need around us. I hope that my boys, along with Jen and I, can go out and serve those in need in the name of Jesus Christ. We could bring such hope to a world around us in need of the love of God.

We could do this in so many different ways. Whether it is helping an elderly household with chores and home maintenance, building houses for habitat for humanity, or going to the missions field to serve Christ, God could really use our family in a mighty way, and I pray that He will. I hope that someday we can serve many of you who have been so giving with your time and resources while we are in need. I figure my boys owe a lot of yard mowing to many of you who have been so diligent to help us out. Thank you all again from the bottom of our hearts, we are so thankful!

I will continue to dream about our family until slowly God reveals what His plans are for us. I am sure it will not go as I plan, but I am sure that we will continue to have so much fun watching these boys grow. Thank you all for keeping up with us on the blog, its fun sharing our boys and the fun adventure God has made out of our lives.

Bye for now.....
Brad, Jen, Henry, Brooks, Clark, and Isaac

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

Thoughts From Dad....

Posted by Brad (09/02/06):

Now that I have had a few weeks of spending hours in thought about the coming months of our lives, my mind is beginning to move past the pregnancy a little to think about our future. We are trusting our loving Savior with the lives of our children and trying not to spend too much time thinking the worst.

Many people immediately think of the busy lives we are sure to have if God provides us with all of these babies. And, although I have very little experience in taking care of babies, I have no doubt that this is going to be true. But, there are also some really cool things I have thought of in regard to being a parent of multiples, so I thought I would share them with all of you.

1. If they are all boys, I might have the majority of the varsity basketball starting line up living in my house. (hey, I can dream) :)

2. If they are all girls, and as beautiful as their mother, it will be fun using my shotgun to run all the boys off with.

3. No matter what gender they each turn out to be, it will be great that they will all have siblings the same age to play with.

4. Although it is sure to be insane, we will only have to go through the most difficult ages to raise kids once.

5. I was not sure if I wanted to have more than 2 kids or not, now I don't have to decide! :)

6. I was not sure before if we could afford to have a baby, now I know we can't! :)
(So we get to see God provide in ways that we would not have otherwise, He is faithful! )

7. Being pregnant with multiples has already tested our faith and God has used it to bind Jen and I closer together as we "lean not on our own understanding" in this difficult time.

Thank you all for continuing to pray for us. We will try to keep you updated as we wait on the Lords will for this pregnancy. Our requests have not really changed, but we praise God for amazing support and provision through friends and family. Thank you all for your offers, we will probably need you all at some point during this process!

In Christ,

Brad

(Post Copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)