"Quadruplets? How do you do it?"

That is probably the number one question I get asked..."how do you do it?" The simple answer...I just do. I don't have a choice. But I guess it's more complicated than that. Its all about routine, I suppose....here is generally what our "routine" looks like:

*Sometime between 5 and 6 am - Bottle then back to bed
*By 9am up for the day....get dressed and have breakfast (usually oatmeal mixed with fruit and sometimes yogurt).
*10 am bottle
*Between 10 and 11 first nap...YAY!
*Between 1 and 2 bottle
*Between 230 and 3 second nap...YAY!
*Between 4 and 6 sometime dinner (usually a veggie combo and maybe some fruit)
*Around 6 a mini-bottle if needed
*7 sharp BATHS! (BTW, hubs baths all 5 kids almost every night! What a man!! Hubba hubba!)
*Bottles right after baths and straight to bed (usually by 745)

I'm not much of a routine girl, so during the day we go with the flow, but at 7pm we're all business....those babies need to go to bed, ASAP! LOL!  On rough days, I find that if I focus on when the next nap is I can cope much better with whatever the day throws at me.

 Naturally, as babies grown, routines change....we're kind of at that point, and I don't really know how to change it. Most days the babies are sleeping til 6 and the sun is coming up so its light and some mornings they don't want to go back to sleep. I could get them up at 6 and make them wait to eat til 7, but that is an early and very long day for momma!

Anyways, fortunately I'm not alone everyday. I have help at least two weekdays and sometimes more now that school is out (I <3 you Nikki!). I live for those days. It means a lot fewer trips up and down the stairs....yes, they nap in their cribs, which means if I'm alone I make at least 12-16 round trips up/down the stairs those days. Can anyone say "cardio"?

The good news about all of this is that all of the hard work...and it is hard work!...is nothing compared to the reward. We have 5 very healthy, happy children. We are so blessed! Our 7 1/2 week premature babies are huge and have caught up with other babies their age in size. They smile, laugh, babble, roll all over (and puke all over), and make me smile all the time. Our 4 year old is so smart and talented and keeps us laughing with the funny things he says. Every day is a new adventure and full of surprises, good and bad.

The babies lined up at bottle time with Tyler and Cousin Jessie who came to visit!

Happy Lexie

Allison practicing sitting up

Lexie and Allison playing on the floor

Wild Daniel

Daniel and William chilling on the floor

Sweet William...mommy's big guy!

First trip to the pool

So, how do I do it? With love and as much patience as I can muster up...and with the love and support of my amazing hubby and my faith that God knows what he was doing when he sent us these amazing little people.

Katie

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July from the Voelckers!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I was really trying to blog more, once a week or so, but many days I don't have the time or energy (imagine that!). So, I have a minute and I thought I would give a little update.

The babies are continuing to grow like crazy. They are so curious and are getting more and more talkative. They are 5 months old now (I know, crazy right?) and have officially moved into the 3-6 month size clothes. Allison and William are rolling over front to back, and Allison is close to rolling back to front. William is also starting to scoot on his belly. We are working on splitting them into two rooms (literally today) so we had to get 2 more cribs and another changing table to make it work. I am excited to split them up, I think they will sleep longer/better.

 In the last 6 weeks or so, we have started adding baby food to their diets (except Lexie, she can't keep it down), and it is going okay. Some days they like/want it, and others they don't, but up until the last 2 weeks I didn't push it. Now they get fruit and oatmeal every morning, and I'm trying to add in an afternoon fruit/veggie feed as well. William and Allison seem to be able to tolerate everything I have given them, but Daniel has issues with orange foods...carrots, sweet potatoes, and peaches so far. I have even made some baby food of my own, avocado and pears, and it was pretty easy!

Daniel after breakfast

William after breakfast "clean me off please!"

Allison after breakfast

Lexie a while back when we first tried her on baby food

Now that spring is FINALLY here we have been a little more adventurous. About once a week I and a helper (usually Allen, my MIL, or Nikki) will load up all the kiddos and run errands. Its a lot of fun. They especially like eating in the car. It is pretty hilarious. They smile around their bottles and look all around.

Nikki feeding Daniel

Mommy feeding William

Lexie talking to Granny instead of eating

Lexie getting her pants changed

We also had their first Easter. We loaded the crew up and went to church. We did a practice run the Sunday before so we knew how to make it work. Here are some pics of the kiddos in their Easter duds.

William and Daniel

Allison and Lexie

Allison, Alexis, Tyler, William, and Daniel

For my next post, I want to do a "day in the life", so stay tuned!

Katie

Growing Kids!

Well, I have been trying to get to this blog post for 2 weeks now, but life kept getting in the way...so here we go!

The babies had their 4 month check up and Tyler had his 4 year check up. My kiddos are certainly growing!

Lexie:

Lexie has gotten LONG! When she was born, she was 14.75" and 2lb 6oz. At her 4 month check up she measured in at 22.25" and 9lb 150z! Baby girl is getting big! She is dead average in the percentiles for her adjusted gestation. She is still having some major barfing issues and we are being more aggressive about finding out what the problem is. She had and ultrasound this week to check for pyloric stenosis, which is is a narrowing of the opening from the stomach to the small intestine. That checked out just fine. We have also changed her formula in case of a milk allergy. That seems to have helped a little bit. She seems to be keeping more of her food down.

Lexie's personality is coming out a little more now. She is very sweet and happy when she wakes up. She has to sit and grin and kick for a while before she is ready to eat. She started sucking her thumb in the last week or so, which is very cute! She is also VERY stubborn. I think she will be the hard headed one for sure. He hair is really growing in...about now she looks like a marine! LOL!


Allison:

Allison is still the chunklet of the group. At birth she was 16" and weighed 3lb 2oz. Now she is 22.5" and 11lb 15oz. She is perfectly healthy as far as we can tell. She pukes the least for sure! She required a little more attention most nights as she is a pacifier addict and can't quite get it back into her mouth. Many nights she ends up in the cradle next to my bed or in bed with Granny Voelcker when she is here.

Allison is by far the most advanced in the more physical milestones. She tries to roll over, is pulling up to sit up on her own, but can't stay up, and has pretty good hand control. Allison has started losing interest in drinking her bottle because she is too busy looking around. She is probably the best eater when it comes to baby food, though. She always gets a big grin on her face when she gets strapped into the high chair and gets her special bib on. She is a cutie pie!


Daniel:

Daniel was 16" and 3lb 7oz at birth. Now he is 22.25" long and 11lb 2oz. Daniel still barfs a lot, but his meds have been adjusted so, we are hoping for improvement soon. Aside from that, Daniel seems to be quite healthy.

Daniel is the most conversational of the babies. He laughs and coos a lot of the time and is so cute! He still has an intense personality, but seems to be mellowing out some. He usually takes a nice, long nap during the day, and if we go for a ride, he always sleeps. In fact, he usually misses the excitement of a trip out because he sleeps the whole time.


William:

William is still the big guy. At birth he was 16" and 4lb 10 oz. Currently he is 24" and 12lb 12oz. He still pukes a lot too, but it seems to be getting under control, and I am confident he will grow out of it sooner or later.

William is such a sweetie. He is basically always good for a big smile. The cutest is when you go to get him out of bed...he grins and starts kicking and waving his arms. He is very mild mannered unless he is hungry and will lay on the play mat and bat and kick at the toys for a long time. William has moved into the next biggest size of clothes, 3-6 months!


Tyler:

Tyler is a growing boy for sure! He is now 3'4" tall and weighs 42lbs. His exam this year was different from those in the past. They checked his hearing and his eyes and he did such a good job following directions. He was pretty unhappy when the nurse came in and gave him 4 shots, and we felt bad! Good thing daddy came along for this one!

Tyler is on the go! He is usually drawing, playing fish, playing on his leap pad, or following me or daddy around. He is constantly asking questions and always surprises us with things he says. He is so smart! He can write his name and a few other words.


In other news...we have just been really busy the last few weeks. I had to make an emergency trip to Utah for my grandfather's funeral. I haven't been home to Utah in over 2 years, so it was a pleasure to see my family and spend time with them while we all mourned the loss of grandpa and celebrated his life.

As soon as I got back the running ensued with all the above doctors appointments and life in general. Then last week we all came down with a 36 hour stomach bug...that was messy, but we are all feeling better now.



Here are some more pictures to enjoy!

Unloading after the maiden voyage of the "Quad Rod". Allison had to be unloaded immediately because she was upset that Daniel was kicking the back of her seat.

Play time on the floor after eating (Lexie, Allison, Daniel, William)

Super William!

Rad Dad

I feel like sometimes dads get the short end of the stick when it comes to being recognized for their involvement in child rearing. Granted, some dads don't participate much, but my kiddos have a pretty awesome daddy.

First off, Allen has a 3 hour plus roundtrip commute to/from work every day. This makes for long work days. In addition, he comes home and helps feed babies, bath babies, bath Tyler and put him to bed, and on days that I don't have night help, put the babies to bed. He also gets up with me every morning at 3 or 4 am to feed babies and when we are finished he often gets showered and heads into work. Not only is his commute long, about half of it is through unlit farmland making driving in the early morning dark when you are tired pretty dangerous!

He always tries to play with Tyler on the floor, helps with getting the laundry washed, and when he can tries to give me a little break before the bedtime craziness. He's always willing to cuddle a sleepy/cranky baby when needed. He's a great dad!

Daddy, Alexis, and Allison

Tyler on Daddy, Daniel, and Alexis

Daddy feeding Allison her peas

Allen, we all love and appreciate you!! Thanks for being a great daddy, and husband, and my best friend!

Katie

A "For Real" Update on the Fam

So, I finally feel like I'm at a point on this roller coaster that I can write a decent blog post because the babies do more than eat, sleep, and poop. So, here is what we are all up to!

The Family as a Whole:

Daniel, Mom, Allison, Tyler, Lexie, Dad, William

We are finally feeling like a unit! For a long time Allen and I felt like our family was fragmented...Us and Tyler, and Us and the babies...it was very strange! Then one Sunday, when the babies were about two and a half months old, Allen and I took Tyler to church leaving the quads at home with their Grandma and Granny. As we sat there waiting for Sacrament Meeting to start I leaned over to Allen and said, "I feel naked without the babies!" It was a good feeling. 

When the babies turned 3 months old we had a major transition...we no longer had 24/7 help! My mom went home, and Allen's mom had to get back to her daily life as well. We aren't alone, though! Allen's mom comes up Wednesday thru Friday, giving us 2 nights with extra help in addition to all she does during the day. On Tuesdays a really good friend from church comes over from 10-4 and lets me go grocery shopping, or run other errands, and takes care of the kids, cleans the house, and keeps me from losing my mind! Mondays are a revolving door of helpers from church and the neighborhood, so it brings in new faces each week. Additionally, some good friends have stepped up to help me on some evenings with bed time so that Allen can go to bed to get up for work in the morning. On top of all that...our regional church leaders installed a set of sister missionaries in our town who have special permission to help with the babies, and they come over a couple times a week for a few hours and help do whatever we need help with...today we cleaned out the refrigerator and cleaned baby barf out of the carpet! There is so much more that people do for us besides being here and physically helping us, but it would take me forever to list it all...just know that we are ETERNALLY grateful!!

Now, onto what you all really want to know about...the Kids!

Tyler:

Tyler is such a big helper! He is willing, most of the time, to fetch whatever I need...burp rags, diapers, bibs, etc. He is such a big boy! We are STILL working on potty training, but we are getting there. He loves his babies and frequently goes over and kisses them, and they LOVE him! I get the most pleasure at seeing them smile at him just being near them because its like they know he is their big brother and they want to be around him. 

Tyler is so smart! His passion is sea animals. He sits at the table and draws them for hours...and he is GOOD at it. Everyone thinks Allen or I are drawing them, but I don't even draw that well. He will be 4 in 2 weeks and we can't wait for his birthday! We love our big boy!

Alexis:

Lexie is the oldest, and smallest, of the quads. She is such a sweetie...and a stinker! For the most part she is pretty mellow and she is my sleeper! I'm pretty sure she would sleep all night if given the opportunity. She is also a night owl. She is always the last one to sleep at night. She likes to have a bedtime talk and sometimes cuddle with mommy. We frequently talk about her sleeping good so her hair can grow and we can get her hair bows. She sits and grins and sometimes giggles during these talks...and I swear every morning her hair is a little thicker or longer! She is a momma's girl!

Allison: 

Allison is my little Diva! She is very happy and smiley, but if she wants your attention she will cry til she pukes! This child doesn't know how to cry it out! She was next to smallest when born, but she is next to biggest at last check...I can't wait to see how they've grown at their 4 month check up. Allison is the least refluxy of the babies which has allowed her to gain more weight and get these cute chubby cheeks. She is daddy's princess for sure!

Daniel: 

Daniel is such a sweetie...and a beast! He feels his emotions very strongly...when he's happy he's really happy, and when he's mad he's really mad! Daniel has the most nicknames of all the kids...Little Velociraptor, Reisty the Conqueror, 3 of 4 (his Borg designation), and Dr. Jekyll to name a few. He is very cuddly...if all else fails, wrap him up tight, hold him close, and hang onto the paci! In spite of this, Daniel will put himself to sleep...best thing ever when you have 4 babies. He is a momma's boy for sure!

William: 

William is my angel! He is very sweet and mild mannered...unless he's hungry...then all bets are off. He is the tallest of the babies by a lot. He has big hands and feet and long arms! We have a basketball player in the making here. William is frequently very serious, but is starting to get more playful. He is as bald as a cue ball! He is my little buddy...we often have cuddle time in the morning when he wakes before feed time while the others sleep.

Here are some more photos to enjoy from our recent photo shoot by Jennifer Weber Photography (she is wonderful!).

Daniel and William

Lexie, Daniel, Allison, William (from top, clockwise)

Allison and Lexie

Tyler, Lexie, Daniel, William, Allison (from bottom, clockwise)

 Katie

Pictures!

I promised you all pictures so here are a few...p.s. I'm posting this from my phone so I apologize if it turns out goofy for some reason!

 

Allison

 

 

William

 

 

Daniel

 

 

Alexis