Happy Birthday to.....

Jayce Henry Pater
Jayce, my nephew, turned 5 on May 29th!
We celebrated his birthday with a dinner at
a local restaurant on Thursday night so that my
mom could join us!

Happy Birthday Jayce
Love, Cannon
Happy Birthday Dude
Love, Gunner
Happy Birthday Buddy
Love, Lauren
Happy Birthday Bubs
Love, Avery
Hannah Noelle & Jayce
Kae-Pae
Kae-Pae's birthday is June 2nd.
We celebrated her birthday, her Uncle Allen's and
Jayce's birthday together on Saturday night with a
cookout and lots of fun!
Happy Birthday Kae-Pae
Love, Cannon

Happy Birthday Kae-Pae
Love, Gunner

Happy Birthday Kae-Pae
Love, Lauren
Happy Birthday Kae-Pae
Love, Avery

Right next door to Jayce's Nana and Pop's
is a daycare (Kuntry Kidz) who so graciously let us borrow
their Bye-Bye-Buggy for the party!

Hollister
Hollis turned the BIG ONE on May 29th.
Hollis' mom, Gina, and I are very, very dear friends!
We were so excited to bring the quads to Hollis' party and celebrate with his family!
Thanks a ton to all the people there for helping us out!
(For the record, this picture does this ADORABLE baby no justice!
He was NOT excited about the hat, but isn't he still so dern cute!)

Avery had a blast playing!

Cannon just followed Hollis everywhere! Lauren was getting all the sympathy she could from her shiner!

Cannon and Avery attacking Gunner!

And Gunner was LOVING IT!

6 babies 12 months and under!
Cannon, Blaine, Hollis, Lauren, Avery & Gunner

I had to add these next three pics just
because they were SO cute and to show Once Again
what a great husband I have!
I went shopping Monday and as I walked out the door
I handed the babies each a Biter Biscuit.

The babies made quite a mess!!!
But daddy bathed them all so they were
squeaky clean when I came home!
Thanks, Matt, for all you do, but for mostly
just being You!!
My Mom has been here for the last month helping
out with the babies, sewing their bedding for the new house
(which we hope to be in by July!)and getting loving from Jayce
& Hannah Noelle! When we told the babies she was leaving, this
is the response we got!
NO ME-MOM, DON'T GO!
And Lauren, well, she wanted to cry,
but with Hannah Noelle around, this little
girl just won't cry!
Thanks Mom for all of your help! We enjoyed the visit!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all you May and June Babies!!

9 Months Old

Last week we had our 9 month old check up. Is it as hard to read as it is to type/say 9 months old? I can't believe it's been 9 months since I laid on that operating table with unexplainable emotions of fear, excitement, joy, uncertainty and the repeated question to my dear surgeon, "Have you tied my tubes yet?" (Yes, I did just pull myself out of a post that was getting mushy right back into a fun one!) I can't even explain to you how much our lives changed in those 5 minutes. Gunner, of course, the Big Guy, took two minutes to come out versus the minute between the rest of them! Did I just call 3 pounds, 1 ounce the Big Guy?
Matt and I often talk about what our lives were like this time last year. 2008 or "that summer" has become a block of time all to itself. It's kind of like how down on the coast everything is based "before Katrina" or "after Katrina." We always say, well, "that summer." This time last year we didn't have this amazing blog, I didn't have my amazing Quad Mamma support nor the support of all of you who have kept me going when the going gets tough and TRUST me it gets tough! We had just purchased a mini van (oh, how I dreaded that day, but now love The Ole' Mini.) We knew that the babies were 2 boys and 2 girls although Baby B and Baby D were still nameless. We had Cannon and Lauren ready from the start! We didn't know how we were going to survive financially, emotionally, mentally or physically, we just knew for the sake of our family we had to!! Now, a year later, 9 months after their birth, we're still surviving. 99 percent of the emotional, mental and physical part are from help fro Pae-Pae (whom we couldn't and still can't live without), grandparents, friends, family and the support from our church. I sometimes look back on the first 3 months of their lives and think, Holy Cow, how did we do it? Then we remember their struggles in and out of the NICU and think, Holy Cow, how did they do it? We've all shown the fighter in us over the last year. Okay, okay, must move on.... it's not normal to be up at 4:15 with all my children sound asleep, but it's also not normal for me to be the one crying at 4:15 in the morning!!
Our schedule has changed drastically over the last 9 months. We originally had a bottle feed every 3 hours. Oh, how I'm glad that's over with!!! The babies now wake up around 8 am and have breakfast and a bottle. Around 11 they have a veggie and sometimes a fruit too and then another bottle and they settle in for a long nap!! They stay in their beds until 4, which is slowly becoming awake time from 3 to 4, but they're pretty good at staying in their beds until 4. We just cut out the 4:00 bottle and now have snacks. They love YoBaby yogurt, Gerber Puffs and Baby Mum-Mum's! Around 6:00 we start dinner and fruit and then they have their night bottle around 7 and go to bed after some loving! It's come a long way and it's still not perfect, but it'll do for now!!

Cannon Gregory
2 Pounds, 11 Ounces, 15 Inches
18 Pounds, 12 Ounces, 28 Inches

Gunner Cole
3 Pounds, 1 Ounce, 15 Inches
22 Pounds, 26 1/2 Inches

Lauren Katherine
2 Pounds, 10 Ounces, 14 Inches
14 Pounds, 25 1/2 Inches

Avery Caroline
2 Pounds, 8 Ounces, 13 Inches
15 Pounds, 4 Ounces, 25 1/2 Inches

Whew, we have come a LONG way!!

Now to answer some questions from the last post:
Leigh: What and where is Malbis?
Malbis is in Alabama. It's the Eastern Shore Shopping Center. It is an awesome place that I highly recommend for a family outing. They have a splash pad, Build A Bear, tons of great stores and even better food!
Teri Duggan: I love the big bow; where do you find them?
The bows pictured in the last post are the same bows that were previously in their headbands. I purchased both from My Dolly's Bows.
She's super cheap and very easy to work with!
Nicole: Quick question, how do you get your blog name to post on the pics on the blog? I think that is a great idea!
I use Picasa to edit my photos with and it's an option on there. I copied the idea from a Quad Mamma Sista and started doing it.

I am only a few post away from my 100th and I have something really fun in store with some great give-a-ways!
Hint: One of the give-a-ways is from.....

It's $15 dollars off of a blog design. Isn't that AWESOME!!! Thanks Jennisa!

By the way, how do you like my new look?

A Bunch of Firsts

This has been a very exciting weekend! We have taken a lot of pictures to document firsts and thank goodness Blogger was in a good mood (running smoothly) and I was able to upload a good bit of them! Avery being mean to Lauren!
Avery
Cannon
Gunner
And now for some firsts!

Gunner is cutting his top two teeth
and Paw-Paw thought he might
need a sno-cone to ease his pain! He LOVED IT!!
Now today is where most of the firsts took place!
Matt and I were feeling sporty this morning and
decided at the last minute to load up and head to Malbis to let Hannah Noelle play at the splash pad. (Which, of course, when we got there she was to shy to go do!) We get there without so much as a whimper, 30 minutes past the baby's normal feed time and we decide, hmmmm, let's go to Olive Garden. I wish you could have seen the hostess' face when I said, 2 adults and 5 children. We got three highchairs (Cannon, Gunner and Avery) and a sling for Lauren's infant carrier. (She has not moved to a "big kid" car seat yet, we're hanging on to having one in a carrier as long as we can!) I came loaded with Germ-X wipes and wiped down the highchairs and the tables. (Thought of you the entire time, Beth!)

Avery eating her blueberry puffs, mmm, mmm.

Gunner still trying to figure out exactly what's going on!

Cannon pretty much thought the
whole experience was hilarious!

Lauren was pretty amused as well!

Hannah Noelle was a HUGE help!

Daddy with his boys!

Gunner wasn't interested in the puffs, he
wanted a bread stick!
He ate the whole thing!!!

Off to shopping browsing!
Avery and Cannon chillin!

Lauren and Gunner chi-laxin!

And then because we weren't tired enough from our crazy day, we decided to let the Fab Four bathe together for the first time! Trust me, bathing them one by one is WAY easier than throwing all four in the tub and wrangling them! It was a great experience though, watching them play together! I'm sure it will be what we do from now on only because they loved it SO much!
Gunner LOVED it!

Birds' Eye View

Lauren hanging on!

Not real sure what my camera did here, but I think I like it!

Avery and Cannon playing!

Lauren telling Gunner, this is MY space!
Avery showing her bubble face!

After that was all over, Matt decided
to lay down for a rest dogpile!

This was the last picture before the melt downs started!
Everyone was fed and put to bed a little early and they are sleeping like rocks!!

Matt and I feel so empowered after today!
WE CAN DO IT!!!!

Have a Great Week!