Quads Being Raised As Triplets

School Pictures

2011-11-11T18:09:00.003-06:00

Alexis, age 7, 2nd Grade 2011-2012 School Year

Olivia Age 5, preschool, 2011-2012 school year

So Very Sad

2011-10-05T07:32:00.001-05:00

My heart is aching as I update this to ask for prayers. On October 4th around 4:30PM my Dad ended his 18 month battle with cancer. He has left a hole in our family.

My Dad and I took a 3 hour ambulance ride to his home he built to retire in (next year) on 9/26/11, I spent 4 dyas taking care of him with my Godfather Mike D. My Godfather (his best friend of 40 years) never left his side and other family members would help out, my older brother arrived on 10/3/11 from Texas. My Grandma was holding his arm, my brother and Godfather both at his side when he passed away. Then they flew my Dad's flag at half staff after he passed away......

My Dad and I on my wedding day 7/7/01

Grandps and his Grand Kids..

Here is his caring bridge : http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/bryanmartin

First Day of Preschool!! Olivia

2011-09-12T22:09:00.005-05:00

Getting ready for her second year of preschool, Olivia, was much more excited.

She happily danced around the Den.

I had a hard time keeping up with her running into school!!!

Stop and pose for a minute kiddo. :)

WOW she really grew alot from last year next to these cubbies. Look at that grin!!

No crying this time she left me at the door to play with her friend from last year.

A successful first day!! Olivia and her teacher Mrs. Newcomb.

First Day of Second Grade!! Alexis

2011-09-06T08:57:00.005-05:00

Second Grader?? Already?? Oh My!! Well Alexis was very excited to go to second grade today. She threw an outfit together this motrning. I LOVE her style. Reminds me of 80s punk rock. :)

Look how grown up she looks.

Another picture Mom??

Look for the bus. And there it is.

OK Mom I am off to school.

Love Ya!!

In case you were wondering what she had for lunch on that first day!!

Biking with Kids

2011-06-27T10:06:00.000-05:00

We are really enjoying our new bike. Here is a little slideshow/video we made, with video and pictures from Alexis. The words are off at the bottom because I added more pictures and forgot to move the text, oops. :)

Biking with the kids

2011-06-19T07:26:00.005-05:00

So last summer all of the kids fit inside the box on my boxcycles cargo bike. Well they all grew so now only 4 can fit in the box. So I needed a solution to go on long bike rides, since Alexis is not that great of a biker, yet. And I found it!! I got a Weehoo i-Go bike trailer, just for Alexis. Now my bike is really styling. We just got the addition to the bike on Thursday and I took it out for a test ride Friday. It is AWESOME, I can feel her peddaling behind me, and I do not notice the extra weight, except on a steep hill, but then I make her help out more. :)

A look from the front!! Alexis is way back there!!

Hi Alexis!!!

I love summer

2011-06-05T19:49:00.005-05:00

It was a gorgeous day today, so we decided to go for a bike ride. We took our time, stopped for a butterfly, stopped to blow on "wishing flowers", and singing songs. I love carefree days, these are the days my kids will remember fondly, they are growing so fast I am looking forward to spend the summer at the kids pace, I will stop and enjoy the caterpiller crawling on the leaf, watch the ants building thier "hills", sit in the club house of our swingset and imagine we are on an adventure, yes I want to fully enjoy these moments before they are all gone.

A few photos from today!! :)

yep I am advertising for our preschool on my bike, I am part of the preschool committee, and had this geneous idea to advertise on my bike all summer. What's in it for me?? Well nothing besides feeling good about getting the word out about our preschool. Not only do we have a great curriculum, but an excellent teacher!! So if you are in the area and have not found a preschool come check out Little Hands Of Faith.

Thanks for peeking in on us!! :)

NICU Reunion

2011-06-04T20:29:00.014-05:00

This weekend was the NICU reunion, our 3rd one They invite families who have had children in the NICU and we get togther to celebrate, put photos on a quilt, they hang one up every year with the graduates. When my babies were in the NICU I would look at that quilt and get hope . I would look for the tiniest babies and just pray for that miracle to be mine too. And now we inspire people with our picture. Here is the one I put in:

This year they had a display set up like the NICU rooms. Look at Bridgette and Teddy checking out where they used to sleep.

Samantha and Daddy take a look at the incubator.

Samantha has certainly come a long way from that tiny baby in the NICU.

Bridgette checks out a chair similar to what I sat in.

I would hold the babies for hours in those chairs. Look how little Bridgette was, and how dark her hair was.

Teddy, such a big boy, checks out the incubator with Daddy.

My little man has come so far from those days in the NICU.

We had YUMMY food and alot of fun at the reunion. This giant bouncey house was so fun for the kids.

Bridgette did not want to get out.

Samantha enjoying some fun toys.

Alexis and Olivia spinning frisbees, and Teddy checking out stuff.

Alexis on stiltz!!!

I tried the stiltz too. :)

Some of my highlights of course were seeing friends from the NICU and meeting some new people too.

A good friend of mine from highschool was thier with his wife and son, Sawyer, and absolute beautiful little guy. I have been wanting to hold him for over a year and I finally got to hold him. Unfortunately my camera was on the stroller with Don when I held him. I could have held him for hours. Check out how cute he is: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sawyertate , and send some prayers his way too, he has a surgery coming up.

Also for over a year I have wanted to meet the Klopp family they had thier quads at 27 weeks and 1 day in December of 2008, 3 girls and a boy, thier beautiful son James passed away at 10 days old. They are such great people I was so happy to meet them and thier adorable girls.

Thanks for peeking in on us!!

Happy Mothers Day

2011-05-09T10:10:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a Happy Mothers Day!! I enjoyed spending it with my 5 little blessings!!!

Science Project

2011-04-29T08:09:00.002-05:00

My very proud big girl, Alexis, did a science project for the Arts and Acedemis fair at School. It was really neat. And she is very proud she documented, photographed and did it all by herself. (Except the part where you pour the hot liquid in the jar, I did that part)

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-03T21:35:00.004-06:00

We spent our New Years day as a family at Home Depot, doing the FREE kids workshop. The project was battery organizers.

Here is Olivia.

Alexis hard at work.

Olivia getting her pin and certificate, and Bridgette watching.

Alexis and Olivia getting thier pins and certificates.

Samantha - she just looked so cute, I messed up "helping" the big girls with thier first projects and Home Depot was nice enough to give u 2 more for the big girls to do. The little kids enjoyed hitting the "messed" up ones with hammers.

Bridgette, Daddy & Teddy.

What a fun day together!!

Christmas Day at our house!!! 2010

2010-12-26T13:38:00.007-06:00

I love the simplicity of decorations at our house, the stockings all hung by the fireplace, this was just after Santa had filled them. The children were stilled nestled in thier beds dreaming of all they would be getting.

Under the tree just after Santa had left. The packages that are wrapped are wrapped in fabric wrappers that will be used again and again. :)

The 2 bi girls are excited to get pillow pets and Lala loopsy dolls. :)

Teddy having a good time.

Bridgette loves her new Pillow Pet.

Samantha also loves her Pillow Pet.

Olivia giving daddy a hand with opening the wallet the kids got him.

Alexis and her Lala loopsy.

Samantha and Bridgette playing with wooden letters.

Teddy playing with his train.

The kids enjoying thier presents. :)

Olivia helping Daddy assemble the Tool Bench Grandma bought the little kids.

It took hours to assemble the little kids even helped. :)

Then our tradition of homemade Christmas Pizza. This year we all had colds so Mom and Dad made the pizzas.

Next year we hope to add the tradition of making a birthday cake for Jesus and singing happy birthday to him.

Thanks for peeking in on us. :)

Christmas Eve at Grandmas

2010-12-25T21:06:00.014-06:00

Grandma, Don's Mom, really gets into Christmas and as soon as October arrives she begins decorating for Christmas. Our tradition is Christmas Eve at Grandmas, and boy does she do it up nice for the kids. We were welcomed to her house by a giant snow woman.

The upstairs tree!!

Bridgette

Grandma, Samantha and Bridgette by the downstairs tree.

Dinner was buffet style finger foods this year. She still has to make it look fancy.

The kids enjoy running around. Rolling pool balls and playing pinball.

Grandma, Papa Ed, Alexis, Samantha and Olivia!!

Bridgette

Teddy

Bridgette, Samantha & Alexis

Olivia helping Papa Ed and Grandma in the kitchen.

What a cutie Olivia is.

There is no where to sit look at that tree!!! :)

Teddy helping Olivia.

Don's sister made presents for the kids, this bed Alexis got, Olivia got one also, just different bedding. Can you say amazing work!! WOW!!!

And take a look at the cradle Samantha has, yep you guessed it Bridgette got one too, just different bedding.

And don't forget Teddy, Uncle Jeff, who happens to be a carpenter and Auntie Dawn's husband, made this amazing wooden logging truck for Teddy.

So many Presents to open.

What a rare shot with me in it!! :)

The little kids enjoyed helping eachother open gifts!!

Here is the tool bench Grandma got for the little kids, read the Christmas Day at our house post to see how it turned out. :)

What a fun night with family. Another rare photo a group shot of the family. ( I have Bridgette and Alexis)

Thanks for peeking in on us we hope everyone had a great Christmas. :)

Christmas Card No Letter 2010

2010-12-25T13:26:00.000-06:00

Sorry I had no letter this year and I actually had 2 different cards I sent out. Most people got the family photo taken for our church directory, this one ended up being my favorite I made it at Walmart.com, next year I will do them all like this.

Merry Christmas to all thanks for peeking in on us!!!

Kids Christmas Party

2010-12-10T00:28:00.010-06:00

Every year my husbands work has an amazing Christmas party for the kids. Here are some photos from the party and a video slideshow at the end.

Samantha

Bridgette

Teddy

Alexis

Olivia

My attempts at group photos.

A little slideshow of picture

A Day Out With My Big Girls

2010-12-06T07:41:00.006-06:00

Finally a much needed day out with my big girls. And it was a full day!! :)

We started our day at the Home Depot, the first Saturday of the month Home Depot has a kids workshop, best thing they build something and it is FREE!! This is nation wide.

So here is Olivia working hard on her project.

And finished it!! It is a boat!!

Alexis working hard on her project, That man is Bill from Home Depot, my first attempt at helping her turned out in disaster.

Her working Periscope!!

Two proud little builders!!

Then we went out to lunch!! We were off to Perkins, the girls had only been there once for a birthday party long before the babies were born, so for them it felt like a new experience!!

Look at all of the YUMMY stuff!!

Alexis enjoyed a French Toast Tower.

Olivia enjoyed dollar pancakes.

Now for the main event, off to the movie theater!!!

Any guesses at what we saw??

A quick stop at the candy counter.

They look ready to go in.

Nice and comfy time to watch the movie.

And Yes we all enjoyed Tangeld very much!! :)

Thanks for peeking in on us.

Still time to get the FREE bike. :)

2010-11-16T13:04:00.004-06:00

OK OK I admit it's a shameless plug to encourage people to like the boxcycles FaceBook Page , I would LOVE to see someone I know win a bike like mine!! :) They need to have 1000 fans by December 1st and they will pick a random fan to get a bike absolutely FREE. I wont lie I am hoping it's me, then my friends can ride with me and borrow my other bike. Good Luck!!!

A glimpse of a ride on the bike. :)

Here are my raves about the bike:http://qbrat.blogspot.com/search/label/Boxcycles

Random Cuteness

2010-11-10T22:18:00.013-06:00

Just 4 ays ago the weather was beautiful and warm, then yesterday we awoke to inches of snow, and it snowed all day. Got to love the weather where we live.

Here are some random pictures taken 4 days ago.

Alexis

Olivia

Samantha

Bridgette

Teddy

Happy Halloween

2010-10-30T21:30:00.002-05:00

Book Fair!!!

2010-10-18T10:53:00.006-05:00

Come one come all to the bookfair at Olivia's Preschool, Little Hands Of Faith, it will run Wednesday October 20th from 8:30AM - 8:00PM. If you arrive between the hours of 8:30AM and 10:30AM I'll be there volunteering my time. Stop by and say "hi", the kids will be there too. :) Books make great stocking stuffers!!

Location will be at Faith Lutheran Church in Forest Lake MN, enter through door E, Park on the side nearest the beautiful playground. :)

Surgery Day!! Samantha

2010-10-02T14:20:00.007-05:00

Surgery Day is finally here, Samantha and Mommy got to the hospital at 6AM. Samantha got to wear hospital purple pajamas. Samantha was getting her adenoids out and tubes put in her ears, she has had alot of ear infections.

She was having fun getting ready for surgery.

Samantha was not happy when she woke up from surgery and Daddy did his best to comfort her. The Dr. discovered Samantha had an ear infection when she went into put the tubes in. But the Dr. assured me the tubes were able to go in and should help her feel 100% better.

Finally she was resting. But the resting did not last long.

Look at the poor little arm with IVs in it. :(

Mommy and Samantha. :)

She had a cool toy in her room, but got bored with it quickly.

She liked walking around and around the hallway of the unit we were in. We test drove a cozy coupe for 1 lap.

We found the Cozy Coup in this little playroom that had a fish and other Cozy coups, also it had a small door just Samantha's size. :)

Walking around and around was fun for Samantha, she likes these mirrors, we called them bubble mirrors.

Most of those laps were Mom carrying her until a very nice nurse got us a wagon, I pulled her around in a cricle for over an hour. Before the wagon I carried her wround that circle for at least a half an hour.

We sang songs and blew some bubbles, and finally after fussing for an hour Samantha went to sleep at 10:30PM.

She was woken up by a monitor going off and had to get her IV taken out at 7AM, luckily she was being released. At 8:30AM we headed home and Samantha is a little sore, but doing well. She has to take it easy for a week.

Thanks for the prayers and for peeking in. :)

Prayers Please!!

2010-09-29T12:52:00.008-05:00

Please send some prayers Samantha's way, she will be following in her 2 big sisters footsteps and will be getting her adenoids removed on Friday, thankfully her tonsils are tiny so they are staying in. Samantha will also be getting tubes in her ears, she has had quite a few ear infections this past year. My first kid to get tubes and the first one to get only adenoids out. From what I understand this recovery will be much easier than when the tonsils come out, but since she was a preemie the Dr. wants her to have an overnight stay, so Samantha and Mom are going to have an overnight at the hospital.

Please pray for a quick easy recovery. And no surprises during the surgery.

Thanks for peeking in!!

First Day Of Preschool!!! Olivia

2010-09-25T18:16:00.003-05:00

It's hard for me to believe but Olivia had her very first day of preschool. She was sure excited to be a BIG kid now and off to school.

She has her very own cubbie, for her backpack and when it gets cold her coat.

She gets to sign herself in.

And then she got sad, Mom had to go and Olivia was going to stay. She cried for over 30 minutes...:( that first day.

And 2 weeks into the school year Olivia is talking nonstop about how much fun she is having. For 2 days I have been hearing about the musical instruments they played. What enthusiasm, I can only credit it to a great preschool program and great teachers!!!

We are so very happy to be going to a wonderful Faith Based Preschool, Little Hands Of Faith!!!

Happy Birthday Olivia!!!

2010-09-16T07:19:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to my Big 4 year old Olivia!! At 4 Olivia has a mind of her own, she is not afraid to share her opinion. Olivia LOVES to help in the kitchen, her favorite food to make is pancakes. Olivia has these big brown eyes that melt my heart in a second. She is so funny and so detailed oriented, she notices the smallest change. Olivia enjoys anything with chocolate and really loves to try to keep up with big sister Alexis. Olivia had her first day at preschool this week, she is also in Dance.

Mommy loves you so much my BIG 4 year old!!!!

Dear Maddie

2010-09-14T12:21:00.006-05:00

Dear Maddie,

Two years ago today, I hid behind a curtain begging God not to take my baby, I watched as so many Doctors and Nurses took such good care of you trying to find a way to keep you here on earth, trying to save you. My prayer began changing as the morning went on, I began asking God to please, if you would not be able to come home with us, to please bring you home to Heaven quickly, I did not want you to suffer. It would be my last way to parent your physical body to let you go quickly, and yes God answered my prayers he brought you home to Heaven quickly and you passed away so peacefully in my arms.

Today, 2 years later, my arms still ache to hold you, I glance at your picture at least 100 times a day. And in so many of my daily conversations I am able to say your name and talk about you. I wonder, what you would be like at 2, if you would be silly like Bridgette, Sweet like Samantha or a thinker like Teddy, or maybe you would be snuggly like Olivia or crazy like Alexis. Would you be short like Samantha or maybe a little taller like Bridgette??

So much has happened these past 2 years, I continue to share the story of your life with so many people. And me sharing you has allowed so many people to open up and to share thier Angel Baby stories, thier beautiful children that also left us too soon. I know I am being guided by God to share your story.

I know you were a gift from God, and he gave me the wonderful gift to enjoy you for 9 days before bringing you home to Heaven. I know September 14, 2008 was your day to have all the glory and be with our creator, and he gave me the gift of you and I will ALWAYS be thankful for being chosen to be your Mom. I sing praises to God every single day for the gift of all 6 of my children, and the fact that he sent Samantha, Bridgette and Teddy home so healthy after being born so small tells me that it was always his plan to bring you home to him, and to me the gift was given of 9 days, thank-you dear God.

Love always,

Mom

First Day Of First Grade!! Alexis

2010-09-07T09:01:00.008-05:00

There is a really big kid in the house!! She is now a "grader" a FIRST grader!!

All dresssed for school.
It was a chilly morning waiting for the bus.

She was super excited!!

Here comes the bus!!!

No goodbye kiss for Mom.

A quick smile and she was off!!

Mom again walked to the house with a tear in her eye. Does it ever get easier to let them go off to school that first day??

Happy 2nd Birthday!!!

2010-09-05T22:27:00.020-05:00

Where did the time go?? Today I have three 2 year olds, they are not little babies anymore. And they are so much fun!!!

Samantha at 2, is sweet and loves her baby dolls, loves her blanket, which she calls "kiki", and loves to bite Bridgette. Yep Bridgette is Samantha's chew toy. She can warm your heart in a second with that irresistable smile.

Oh Bridgette, she is quite the character. What a hoot and she really gives me a run for my money. She talks talks talks, not sure where that comes from. She can recognize most letters of the alphabet, has a very large vocabulary, enjoys climbing out of her crib, seriously has monkey toes and grips her feet around things to climb, a new favorite thing is to climb into her sister and brothers crib. She is the boss of the trio, but if she gets too bossy watch out for Samantha because she will bite her. Bridgette has no fear and wants to do all the things her big sisters do.

Ahhh Teddy my little man. He is a thinker, he figures things out. Definately good at manipulating objects, stacking, building. Wants to get right in and help with all of the fixing around the house. He LOVES to have time with him and Daddy. He likes to observe and will stay out of Samantha and Bridgettes way so to avoid being hit or bit by the little girls. He has a large vocabulary but does not talk much unless he really wants something, of course with 4 sisters how can he get a word in. He is mamas boy and sweet and snuggly too.

Maddie, our little Angel, she is part of lives everyday we talk about her, think about her and miss her. I can not believe it has been almost 2 years since I held her last.

This years party was simple, Alexis made a sign look hard it says "Happy Birthday" Although bathday was more appropriate by the end of the day. :)

The table for my 5 to eat at.

The table for Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Auntie, Uncle and cousin. :)

The simple theme ran over to the wraping. Yep I only bought 2 presents for 3 kids, and they were wrapped in simple brown paper, that came in the packaging from the box they arrived in from the mail. Alexis and Olivia decorated the wrapping paper!! :)

Bridgette woke up early and helped color her own wrapping paper.

Alexis, Olivia and I made a simple cake completely from scratch, all purpose flour, butter, milk, homemade buttercream frosting. Not fancy but really tastey. :)

The kids enjoyed the cake. Samantha, Bridgette and Teddy.

Samantha

Then it was time to wish Maddie a Happy Birthday!! Teddy and cousin Matthew!!

Those 5 balloons really stayed together. The 5 from her siblings to her!! :)

Daddy bought extra balloons, smart man. Present time.

Eco friendly wrap = eco friendly toys. They got a parking garage and a Eco Town by plan toys. Got them on sale last December and they sat in my basement for all that time. :)

They will be getting another party with my Dad and Donnies Mom next weekend, and Olivias birthday will be celebrated too. :) Lucky little kids getting lots of parties.

Thanks for peeking in on us!! :)

School

2010-09-02T21:05:00.003-05:00

We are busy getting ready for school to start. Of course we have a 1st grader in the house now. She was excited for her open house and got to meet her new first grade teacher. :)

We also have a preschooler in our midst. Olivia will start her first year at preschool and she was excited for her open house and to meet her teachers.

My big girls are growing up way too fast.

A chance to get a bike like mine for FREE!!!

2010-09-02T19:38:00.005-05:00

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my new bike??

Well I do, and did I mention that Will, the owner, from boxcycles took the time to email me and give me pointers on those turns I was having trouble with?? He actually read my blog and sent me a message. Riding and turning are so easy now, I just LOVE it!!

OK so now for the main reason for my post. I keep up on boxcycles blog and just read they will be giving away 1 FREE bike to a lucky fan, yep FREE. All you have to do is become a fan of thier facebook page and you are entered. Here are the details: http://www.boxcycles.com/blog/2010/09/02/1000-fan-challenge/

I really really really LOVE my boxcycle, good luck!!

Thanks for peaking in on us. :)

Around Town in style

2010-08-26T12:19:00.006-05:00

So now that I have had my new bike a few weeks. I LOVE it even more today we took a ride to our Library for story time, it is only 2.5 miles away from the house so a little 5 mile ride. :) I decided to add the sides on that go with the cover.

Here is a little look inside at the seat set up.

With 5 kids I need to pack some stuff to bring with. Under each seat there is storage space, and under the front seat I have 6 diapers, wipes, a changing pad, hand sanitizer and a backup outfit for each kids, just in case. Under the back bench, I have the cover for the box area, a tire pump, 6 water bottles and a snack for the way home. :)

So here we are off to the Library, yes I was a bad Mom no helmets this time, but the bike is so easy to ride and doesn't tip, and we go really slow and are on a path, and it sounded good in my head to avoid that extra work. I am still on the fence on that one and we do helmets most of the time.

Look at the little kids in the Library enjoying the computers in the kids area. :)

Alexis and Olivia enjoyed story time and then made an art project!!

Oh what fun they had!!

We checked out 5 books and left. We made it back home, everyone was ready to get out and go inside for lunch!! :)

Thanks for peeking in on us. :)

Oh the trouble with paints

2010-08-25T20:38:00.003-05:00

Well I thought it was about time to get the paint out and let the Little kids have some painting fun. Bridgette is on the end, laughing at the paint she got on her face. Then Samantha and the other end is Teddy.

Alexis and Olivia are hard at work making thier materpieces.

I wonder why I haven't gotten the paints out until now??

Here is Teddy:

Samantha:

And Bridgette:

Samantha says not want to stop painting!!

Teddy our Smurf?? :)

Alexis helping clean him up.

The Aftermath:

Thanks for peaking in on us!! :)

The first ride on the new Bike

2010-08-06T06:30:00.005-05:00

So I got my brand new bike yesterday, and since Alexis wanted Daddy to go with her to soccer, I decided on a test ride with the kids. Keep in mind that I have not been on any kind of bike in almost 3 years.

The kids were pretty excited to get into Moms new bike. And to go off on a bike ride. I was just going to ride a quarter of a mile up our dirt road to the stop sign and back. But once we got to the stop sign Olivia said "lets keep going!!" They were all having fun, and I was surprised at the ease of the bike on the dirt road.

So we road on and got onto the paved path about a third of a mile from our house. WOW the paved path was even easier. I thought am I really riding with an extra 100 plus pounds of kids?? Not to mention the extra 30 I could stand to lose. Not only was riding it very easy, but there was another bonus, I can see the kids and I carried on a conversation with Olivia, my almost 4 year old, on the way.

We turned a few heads in the cars that passed us. And then we crossed paths with another biker and the kids waved and said "hi" to the other biker too. He smiled at us.

When I talked to the owner of boxcycles, Will, he told me that it takes about a half a day of riding around to get used to it. And he also shared that he road around New York City on his boxcycle for 7 hours to deliver a boxcycle to someone. So he really means a half day, 12 hours. So here are some things I found a little hard turning made me nervous, it takes very wide turns and I needed to go slow. I decided to get off the bike and turn it, lucky for me the path is straight. Also I felt a little uneasy when the road was slanted.

Tonight I road about 2.5 miles total, so I figure to get Wills "half day" of experience it will take me about 2 weeks. So after I have broken in myself and the bike, I will give another update.

Thanks for peaking in on us!! :)

A New Bike

2010-08-05T18:58:00.004-05:00

A few months ago, I found myself searching for a bike trailer for 3 kids. After hours of searching and asking my moms of multiples groups there was no such thing as a triplet bike trailer. So I continued searching, I do know of 2 moms that have creative husbands that made them bikes to fit their triplets and more on. But we have no skills with welding here so that did not work out.

So I continued on with search engines looking for creative ways to bike with kids, some had tagalongs with a bike trailer attached, that might work if I only had Alexis and twins. And then I saw a bike with a box in the front, could this be my answer???

Well I found the bikes were called Bakfiets, and they were made in Denmark. I searched and for some reason could not find anywhere that sold these in the US. I set the idea on hold and then summer came, and I wanted to get out riding a bike, some exercise. So again I started looking for the Bakfiets or Cargo Bikes, and it just so happened that I accidentally found a company called boxcycles, these were bikes made in Denmark, making their initial debut in the United States this summer.

On June 6th I emailed the owner Will, who promptly got back to me and the bikes were sold out, only 100 came in on the first shipment in July, but they would have more in the Fall coming and were hoping for a Minnesota retailer. He said they could definitely customize it for 4 kids.

Well on July 27th, they found they had 1 bike left from that initial shipment and a bikeshop willing to sell the bike if they had a buyer and was I still interested. Long story short I now have an amazing bike Thanks to Will at Boxcycles and Rob at Varsity Bikes in Minneapolis. Here is a picture of my new ride!!

Check back for my next update on how the initial ride went.

Thanks for peaking in on us.

Pictures

2010-08-03T21:16:00.007-05:00

A friend of mine, Jennifer, is just getting started in photography and took some fantastic pictures of my kids. My 5 are really hard to capture and she did it!!! Here is a little peak at a few of my favorites!!!

Alexis, 6 1/2 years old, so grown up.

Olivia, almost 4, covered in bug bites but still adorable.

My FAVORITE picture, Samantha, she was a ham, smiled alot and got in alot of the pictures. (22 months old in this photo)

Bridgette, she is my character, she is hard to get still to get a photo of, but Jennifer managed to do it!! YAY 22 months old here)

Teddy, my little man, the strong silent type, he was very stingy with the smiles, Jennifer managed to catch his personality so well.

We will be scheduleing a family photo shoot this Fall, I can hardly wait, I am hoping for late September or early October. Here is Jennifers website: Jennifer Gail Photography , she is super nice and does a great job. Thank-You!!!

Thanks for peaking in on us!!

Soccer

2010-07-30T06:13:00.004-05:00

This summer has been busy, and time is flying by so quickly. Alexis has been enjoying playing soccer 2 nights a week. She is number 4, and this is her first year playing soccer.

These are pictures from her first game, and briefly she was kicking the ball so excitedly down the field, no one was trying to get the ball from her as I was yelling "kick it the other way". Well she has that figured out now. Wish I had the video camera going, what a fun moment to remember.

Below she is on defense, you'll notice that she did not have her soccer socks on in most of these pictures, well we could not find them when we left the house. But thankfully Daddy came to the rescue and made a pit stop at Target on his way to the game, can you believe they had pictures after the first game??

Her favorite position is goalie, last night she stopped 5 balls from getting in, she was proud of that, she did let 2 balls get in, they do not keep scores in these games the kids are just learning, we are happy she is enjoying playing soccer.

Thanks for peaking in on us. :)

A new begining

2010-07-01T19:54:00.012-05:00

Today July 1, 2010 marks a milestone for the "little kids", they officially got thier very last bottle tonight. We have continued with a toddler formula once a day, in a bottle, before bed and I bought a bunch at Target when it was on sale this last spring, and today I made the last 3 bottles. They have been accustomed to pulling out thier own bean bag to lay on when drinking thier bottle and as happy as I was to have them say bye bye bottle and then throw them away it was bitter sweet because now that means they are getting a little bigger and really are not babies any more.

In the begining we had volunteers come out to help feed the babies, Mom - Fri every 3 hours starting at 9AM until the 6PM feeding. But we had times when there were not any voluteers and we got creative.

Sometimes Alexis would help!!

We would make up a days worth of bottles and go through 21 bottles a day. 8 feedings, those middle of the night feedings were crazy.

We would go through alot of formula in a week. It would get up to 1 big can every day, these were small cans and the preemie formula was quite expensive, but this is what we had to use to make sure they would get all of the nutrients they needed.

We got really good at propping bottles and feeding while entertaining the big kids. :)

I was up with the over night feeding and Don would do the 9PM and 12AM feeds and I would be up at 3AM to start my day. I would do the 3AM and 6AM feed alone and then every Mon-Fri at 9AM Sue C would arrive and we would have folks come out at 12PM, 3PM & 6PM. from Novemeber 2008 - April 2009, I really LOVE each and every person that came out.

Here they are at 11 months old (if you correct for prematuraty they were only 8 months old). They were doing so well holding those bottles.

Here they are today enjoying that very last bottle. They each pulled out a bean bag and enjoyed thier last bottle. When they were done I said to them "Say bye bye bottle" and Bridgette waved and said "bye bye baba". And I threw the bottle away. :)

In 2 months and 4 days they will be 2 years old, where did the time go?????

Fun at the Children's Museum

2010-06-17T17:02:00.006-05:00

Today I took the kids to the Children's Museum and did they have fun!!! The summer exhibit is the Wizard Of Oz!! Here Bridgette, Samantha and Tddy sit on some blocks that build a rainbow!!

Here Teddy, Bridgette, Samantha & Alexis ride on one of Dorothys cows. :)

Here is a fun little slide. Olivia, Alexis, Bridgette & Samantha.

Grandma too Alexis & Olivia to make an art project and I took the little kids to a play area. Teddy, Bridgette & Samantha. :)

Alexis is a turtle.

We had to take a break for lunch.

And then some water play. :)

We had so much fun, we bought a membership so we can go as much as we want over the next year!! We sure enjoyed our day!! :)

Please Pray for My Dad

2010-05-20T20:48:00.002-05:00

We have just learned today that my Dad most likely has Pancreatic Cancer. I have created a caring bridge site for him (with his permission) with all of the details: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/bryanmartin

Olivia Ballet Rehersal #2 Spring 2010

2010-05-13T21:27:00.000-05:00

Alexis Ballet Spring 2010

2010-05-13T11:11:00.000-05:00

Alexis in her Ballet dress rehersal. At the begining she is the 5th from the right end, then she is in the back row, then she runs accross with the 2nd group. :)

Alexis Tap Rehersal #1 Spring 2010

2010-05-13T11:08:00.000-05:00

Alexis is the one jumping up and down at the begining. For dress rehersal we did not have to have the hair done, so she has a folded over messy pony tail rather than the bun she will have at the recital!!

She did really well, and at recital I will not for get shoe bows or bobby pins to hold hair piece in. :)

Yes that is Olivia at the end yelling to "go potty". :)

Olivia Tap Rehersal #1 Spring 2010

2010-05-13T10:56:00.002-05:00

Olivia at rehersal showing off her tap skills, they do each dance twice at dress rehersal, you can see we are really getting our moneys worth. So funny!!!

The Walk

2010-04-28T09:04:00.002-05:00

Here we are right before the 3.25 mile walk. It was great to see so many people out walking and supporting the March of Dimes, there were so many happy outcomes and also people walking in rememberance of a baby or babies.

Things I learned on the walk, bring a wagon or something for the big girls. We spent half the walk switching them in and out of the stroller and carrying babies. :) All though they are big enough to handle a 3.25 mile walk. Next year we will bring the wagons. :)

A BIG THANK-YOU to everyone that donated and supported the March of Dimes. They are doing amazing things to help preemies and Moms.

The NICU reunion was great, Don took pictures on his phone so I do not have them on the computer yet. We saw so many families that we met in the NICU and everyone looked great!! I wish I had more time to visit with other families, maybe next year when it wont be so much chasing the little ones.

They feed us lunch and had games for the kids, it is a really good time and we look forward to enjoying it every year.

Thanks for peeking in on our happenings. :)

Madeline

2010-04-25T04:49:00.000-05:00

Here is Madeline, "Maddie", just seconds old.

Maddie was the 4th born of my quads. Weighing in at just 2 pounds 1 ounce and 13.5 inches in length. She was just a fiesty little thing.

Here is Maddie the morning after she was born, just 14 hours old, the nurses took this with a polaroid camera. Cute little button nose just like Samantha.

Look how blond she was. Just like Alexis. She is showing off her Ventilator used for breathing that first day. (Teddy and Bridgette would be on and off that ventilator for weeks)

Look at my sweet Maddie at just 2 days old. Showing her spunky personality and on the CPAP for breathing assistance. The next step up from the vent.

here is Maddie snuggled so sweetly in my arms. She is just 3 days old here.

She is looking at me like she knows something, I think she knew that her time here was short and she was telling me. She was so content in my arms. Oh if I only knew what was to come I would have held her all week, and not let her go.

Look at Maddie at just 4 days old, she was showing off that she had moved to high flow for breathing. WOW almost all the way to no breathing assistance. What a little fighter. This is my most favorite picture of her.

On day 8, September 13, 2008 at 12:00AM the phone rang. I started saying, "please let it be Don's work", I could not move to grab the phone, Don answered it. It was the NICU Maddie had some blood in her stool she was immediately started on atibiotics. I rolled over and thought, it's Maddie, she is doing awesome, she'll be OK. I was not prepared for what I saw when we got there that morning.

Day 9, September 14, 2008, the worst day of my life. They took a peek inside to see what turned her so criticle on day 8, why her stomac was so enlarged. Only to find out that half of her stomac had died and all of her intestines had died. This can't be she was so fiesty, so full of life, how can this be, please God please no.

We asked to have her Baptised as quickly as possible. They dressed her in a tiny little gown. So pretty.

Daddy's holding her timy little arm. I can see the love in his grip.

The Chaplain at the hospital is Baptising her.

I am still holding out for a miracle. God can do anything.

Oh baby girl, how I love you so much. You will be the most beautiful Angel in Heaven.

Daddy holding Maddie for the very first/last time. Sweet baby girl Daddy loves you so much, he can not find the words to tell you how much. Soon very soon you will find out.

We LOVE you!!

Mom is never going to let you go, I want to hold your sweet body forever. The Dr. is carefully removing the breathing assistance so Maddie can finish her earthly journey as quickly and peacefully as possible.

I know your spirit has left your body but I feel you all around me. "I just can't believe you are gone baby girl. Mom will see you each night in my dreams." You are free, you are running with Jesus and all of the Angels. September 14, 2008 at 12:21 PM the Dr. says the words no parent should hear in reference to thier child "Time of death.....". I could not breath, I felt like someone had sucked the breath out of me when he said those words, even though I knew you had left, I could not take hearing the words.

Monday September 22, 2008. We said goodbye to your physical body one last time. We celebrated being chosen to be your parents. It was a beautiful day, and the service was beautiful. You laid in the bassinet that your big sisters slept in as babies.

I made a slide show and Alexis and Olivia watched it over and over again, once in a while they aske to watch it now. you can view slideshow here.

We would later find out that Maddie's cause of death was NEC (Necrotizing Enterocolitis), she had the most severe form and had less than a 10% chance to get it because she was getting my milk, and an even smaller chance of having it so severe. I hope that one day with research they find a way to prevent this 100% so no parent has to go through what we went through.

And here is Maddie today. The silver urn holds her ashes and one day she will be burried with Don or I.

We will be walking today, Sunday April 25th, for the March of Dimes to help raise funds and awareness about prematurity.

Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. Our team is walking in March for Babies because we want to do something about this.

Please consider walking with us or making a small tax deductable donation: Click here to learn more or donate

Funds raised in March for Babies support research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And they will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.

Teddy

2010-04-24T07:23:00.001-05:00

Teddy at just 3 days old

Teddy was the 3rd born of my quadruplets. At only 27 weeks gestation he came into this world weighing 2 pounds 9 ounces and was just 14.75 inches long. Teddy, lovingly referred to as Mr. Moody Pants, by me in the NICU, struggled almost as much as Bridgette. Teddy was on breathing assistance for over 6 weeks and also had a small hole in his heart, that also closed, thankfully, without the need for surgery. Teddy contracted viral mennengitis, a urinary track infection while in the NICU which kept him on antibiotics most of his NICU stay. Teddy would choke and turn blue on less than 1/2 teaspoon of milk when he started feeding. Teddy would hold his breath and turn blue when they would do anything to him. Teddy came home after 67 days in the NICU, the same day as Samantha only to return less than 24 hours later, from stopping breathing and turning blue. We would find out that it was sleep apnea of prematurity, had I fallen asleep he may not be here, I had to stimulate him until paramedics arrived. He was given a blood transfusion back in the NICU and came home for good 7 days later, the same day as Samantha and Bridgette. They all came home on monitors.

Teddy had to endure 2 cold and flu seasons of getting monthly shots to help give him antibodies to fight off RSV. To most adults and full term children this is just a comon cold to preemies it can be life threatening. Teddy's immune system will not catch up to a full term babies immune system until he is 2 years old.

Teddy is now 19 months old, and healthy, thank you Dear Lord, at 18 months Teddy weighted a whopping 24 pounds 9 ounces (a 22 pound weight gain from birth weight) and is 31 inches tall. He is also hitting every milestone for his actual age of 18 months.

Teddy still has a weakend immune system from being premature and is at a higher risk for getting really really sick with a minor cold. He also has a PFO in his heart.

here is Teddy now

We will be walking this Sunday for the March of Dimes to help raise funds and awareness about prematurity.

Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. Our team is walking in March for Babies because we want to do something about this.
Please consider walking with us or making a small tax deductable donation: Click here to learn more or donate

Funds raised in March for Babies support research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And they will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.

Bridgette

2010-04-23T11:28:00.000-05:00

Here is Bridgette at just 10 days old.

Bridgette was the second born of my quadruplets. She weighed in at just 2 pounds 5 ounces and 14.5 inches long. Bridgette struggled the most in the NICU, she had a hole in her heart that thankfully cleared up without surgery, she endured many blood transfusions, she had a blood clot below one of her kidneys, Bridgette had stage 2 ROP while in the NICU, Bridgette had chronic lung disease, she spent almost her entire NICU stay hooked up to breathing assistance. She teased us with coming home on oxygen. She was given a couple doses of steroids a week and a half before coming home, which got her off of the oxygen. After 74 days in the NICU Bridgette came home. Unfortunately she had high blood pressure from the last doses of steroids, which called for weekly and biweekly home healthcare nurse visits to monitor her the first 2 months at home until her blood pressure became normal. Bridgette also suffered from reflux and was on medication for several months to help control it.

Bridgette had to endure 2 cold and flu seasons of getting monthly shots to help give her antibodies to fight off RSV. To most adults and full term children this is just a comon cold to preemies it can be life threatening. Bridgette's immune system will not catch up to a full term babies immune system until she is 2 years old.

Bridgette is now 19 months old, and healthy, Praise be to God, at her 18 month check up she weighed 21 pounds 8 ounces and 31 inches tall. She is reaching all milestones for her actual age.

Bridgette still suffers from a small stigmatism and may need glasses in the future, she also has reacurring torticollis, which can be from her placement in the womb and a sudden growth spurt, we are working on stretches with her. She also is very limber and double jointed another side effect from being premature. Also what I call "preemie Head", more narrow and long than an adverage full term baby.

Here is Bridgette now

We will be walking this Sunday for the March of Dimes to help raise funds and awareness about prematurity.

Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. Our team is walking in March for Babies because we want to do something about this.
Please consider walking with us or making a small tax deductable donation: Click here to learn more or donate

Samantha

2010-04-22T15:44:00.004-05:00

Here is Samantha at just 15 days old.

Samantha was born weighing a mere 2 pounds 9 ounces and was 14.5 inches long. Samantha was our "All Star" in the NICU, she needed very little breathing assistance for most of her stay. Samantha has over come many challenges of being born so early. She was sent home after 67 days in the NICU only to be taken back by ambulance in the early hours of the morning from choking on reflux and turning black. Samantha received many blood transfusions and ended up with another one the day she went back to the NICU. She spent an additional 7 days in the NICU before returning home for good.

Samantha had to endure 2 cold and flu seasons of getting monthly shots to help give her antibodies to fight off RSV. To most adults and full term children this is just a comon cold to preemies it can be life threatening. Samantha's immune system will not catch up to a full term babies immune system until she is 2 years old.

Samantha is now 19 months old, and as healthy as ever at her 18 month check up she weighed 20 lbs and was 29.5 inches tall. And was reaching all of the milestones for an 18 month old.

Samantha still suffers from reflux and has tight muscles due to prematurity. She is currently in physical therapy to help stop her from tip toe walking.

here is Samantha now

We will be walking this Sunday for the March of Dimes to help raise funds and awareness about prematurity.

Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. Our team is walking in March for Babies because we want to do something about this.

Please consider walking with us or making a small tax deductable donation: Click here to learn more or donate

It's been a while.............

2010-04-19T20:12:00.000-05:00

It has been a little while since I have updated. We have been busy as usual.

Alexis and Olivia are getting ready for thier dance recital next month. Alexis is looking forward to summer, she likes school, just does not like hving to get up early. Olivia is enjoying her class at ECFE, we only have 5 weeks left, WOW.

Samantha is in physical therapy once a week. She has been tip toe walking and we are working on stretching her muscles, and after just 3 sessions she has improved remarkably.

Bridgette and Teddy are growing like weeds, Teddy still is the heaviest but Bridgette has passed him in height. Both the little girls can say "Teddy", "Lexi", & "LiLi" (olivia), they all have a ton of words thier vocabulary has taken off. They are so much fun.

I am so excited that we will be walking in just 6 short days for the March of Dimes. It's not too late to join us in walking on Sunday or to make a small donation and sponsor us. Here is the link for more information: http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?SeId=1371944&si= .

After the walk we will be going to the NICU reunion. I am looking forward to seeing some of the Dr.s, nurses and families that I met on our 2.5 month stay.

Thanks for keeping up on our family.

Happy Easter!!!

2010-04-04T18:13:00.010-05:00

This was a great Easter, Alexis wrote a note to the Easter Bunny and gave him a present.

Alexis then lined up everyones baskets and went off to bed.

Oh look he came, he came!!!

Then they came!!!

Alexis

Olivia

Samantha

Bridgette

Teddy

Then it was off to church. ANd I thought I could get a good picture of the kids at church.... welll....see my attempts that follow.

Alexis and Olivia

Teddy, Samantha, Alexis.

Samantha

Teddy & Bridgette

Olivia & Alexis

So the picture taking was a failure. But I did get all 5 of them togetehr and to sit still for 1. Just because they had cake.

Olivia, Alexis, Bridgette, Samantha & Teddy

Bridgette, Samantha & Teddy

Olivia & Alexis

Afetr an exhausting 30 minutes at church, never making it to the service, ughhh. We turned around to go home and got one last photo op of the big girls.

Alexis & Olivia

Lets burn some energy outside before we go in for lunch and nap. (maybe if we did this before church we would have made the service)

Samantha & Alexis

Bridgette, Samantha & Olivia

Samantha

Alexis Olivia & Teddy

Samantha following Bridgette

Time to head inside.

Finally after a long nap and more play and too much chocolate. They were ready for dinner.

And Daddy cooked a really YUMMY dinner!!!

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter Holiday and remembered to be thankful for what Christ has done for us, we are thankful every day for His sacrafice.

Thanks for checjking in. :)

What a mess!! :)

2010-03-31T07:33:00.006-05:00

Anyone want to help clean up this dinner mess?? The little kids LOVE thier pasta.

Samantha

Bridgette

Teddy

What in trhe world you might say do you do with 3 messy toddlers??

Well I marched them upstauirs to the bathroom.

And tossed them into the bath tub.

Then it is time for a story or two or three.

Then bottle time, they still get 1 bottle a day with toddler formula. And when I run out of what I have on hand they will be done with bottles!! YAY

If you would like to see a small video of the little kids after the spaghetti you can click below. I still can not get my video to upload to my blog. :(

http://www.youtube.com/user/QBRATS#p/a/u/0/IcoQZRh3EqY

Thanks for checking in. :)

Hot Lava!!!!

2010-03-27T07:42:00.009-05:00

Okay so there's not really any hot lava but we did make a volcano!! For those that don't already know I am considering homeschooling Alexis next year and I am testing out if it work by doing a science curriculum at home. And, well, we are enjoying it so much. I ordered the Kindergarten science curriculum from Sonlight, I am already doing the preschool (P3/4) with Olivia and we are enjoying that literature. And our public school does not do anything for science in Kindergarten so it works out to do science at home so she gets some. :)

So here is Alexis holding her list she made up of what we need to make the volcano!! And a book, it was one we had already. We read from the Usborne Children's Encyclpedia about volcanoes (part of the curriculum), and bonus we already had this book for more in depth reading!!

Wow here she is with the homemade volcano!! We were pretty excited, can you tell that she is!!

For some reason I can not get my video to upload but I do have it on You Tube so here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/QBRATS?feature=mhw4#p/a/u/0/6Ksa5_Sc6qc .

The building and anticipation were alot better than our first attempt, but we lost the funnel and Dad made a make shift one from newspaper. But all night Alexis talked about building another one outside as big as the house, so we will do this experiment again. :)

Thanks for checking in on us.

18 Month Check UP

2010-03-16T19:12:00.006-05:00

The little kids (formerly known as the babies) had thier 18 month check ups last week. Are you sayin it?? I mean "Wow how in the world can they be 18 months old?"

Well they are...

And here are the numbers from thier check ups!!!

Samantha

Weight: 20 pounds compared to other 18 month olds she is in the 2.61%
Height: 29.5 inches compared to other 18 month olds she is in the 4.46%
Head: 18.5 inches compared with other 18 month olds she is in the 63.16%

Bridgette

Weight: 21 pounds 8 ounces compared to other 18 month olds she is in the 11.54%

Height: 31 inches compared to other 18 month olds she is in the 29.68%

Head: 19 inches compared to other 18 month olds she is in the 90.21%

Teddy

Weight: 24 pounds 9 ounces compared to other 18 month boys he is in the 31.33%

Height: 31 inches compared to other 18 month boys he is in the 14.68%

Head: 19 incehs compared to other 18 month old boys he is in the 63.58%

The Doctor did not correct for prematurity since they are all hitting on the charts. They are also hitting all of the goals for an 18 month old as far as abitlities!! :) They all have giant heads (especially Bridgette), and are doing amazingly well. Praise be to God!!!

Thanks for peeking at our family!!

Laundry Help & Lunch

2010-03-11T21:39:00.004-06:00

Things here have been busy. I get lots of "help" with things like laundry. Check out my cute helpers.

It's a wonder that I don't get more done with all of this help.

Well they get pretty hungry after helping Mom out, so here they are enjoying lunch together.

We sure are enjoying every minute and look forward to the warm weather coming so we can go on picnics outside!! :)

Portrait session

2010-03-05T07:48:00.001-06:00

We had yet another portrait session at Super Target. Thought I would share the pictures!! Click on the links and use my name for guest name to access. :) They had to separate them into 2 sessions as they took alot of pictures!!

So there are 2 links to view make sure you check out both!!!

https://www.thesmilestation.com/home.asp?AC=LTTT0117110631TARSHR

https://www.thesmilestation.com/home.asp?AC=LTTT0117110634TARSHR

Just Another Day In Paradise

2010-02-27T21:51:00.003-06:00

A little glimpse into my daily life!!

If you would like to see more glimpses you are welcome to view our youtube site: http://www.youtube.com/QBRATS

Walking, Walking, Walking

2010-02-08T09:24:00.005-06:00

Of course my adorable babies have all been walking for sometime. I am talking about walking for the March of Dimes. Which my whole family will be doing this year!! That big red stroller will be getting some use this spring!!

My 4 reasons for walking.

For those who don't know. The March of Dimes does all sorts of research on preventing preterm birth and taking care of preemies. I believe the research that the March of Dimes has done is why we were able to bring home 3 very healthy 27 week survivors. But there is more to learn about preemies, March of Dimes has lots more research to do. Maybe they will find a way to prevent some of the diseases that take our precious babies from us, maybe they will prevent NEC (Necrotizing Enterocolitis), so no other parent has to lose thier baby to this horrible disease that took my Madeline.

We will be walking in St Paul on April 25th in memory of Madeline and in honor of Samantha, Bridgette and Teddy. Join our team and walk with us or you can sponsor us, there is a link to the left or you can click here: http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?SeId=1371944&si==

We have an artist in our midst!!

2010-02-04T09:19:00.008-06:00

Check out page 3 of todays Forest Lake Times and there is a picture of Alexis smiling and holding her drawing. She not only won 1st place for our local Lions Club (Kindergarten level), but her drawing was entered in with 52 other Lions Clubs around the metro area and she was voted 1st place for the district!!! She was presented with a $50 check and a ribbon last week. Later this month they will have a dinner to honor her and she will recieve a $50 savings bond and a plaque.

Here she is being presented with her $50 check from El a local Lions Club member and co-chair to this activity!!

Her class took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for Kindergarten level in th local contest. Here she is with her classmates, Check them out on page 3 also!!!

Here is her winning drawing. The blond girl is Alexis and the angel is Maddie!! :) Her slogan "Don't eat someone else's medicine. You could get sick and die."

If anyone gets the Times and will be disposing of it, I would LOVE to take it off your hands!!! :)

I will be posting pictures of the dinner, when the time comes!! :)

What a week, a sad week

2010-01-27T21:18:00.012-06:00

Last week Tuesday January 19th I got the call that my Great Aunt Mary passed away. This woman is/was my hero. She was more like a grandma to my brother, sister, my cousin J and I. So I knew I needed to be there. I flew out to Michigan alone on Thursday, my brother, his wife and daughter flew out from TX, my sister drove from OH and my cousin aunt and Uncle arrived from NC.

I am terrified to fly, have I mentioned that before and I get sick at the thought of going on a plane and I was going alone, not to mention I would not see my kids for 4 days. I found myself crying at 2:30AM on Thursday holding Bridgette saying I can not leave my babies. But I knew I would regret it.

So Thursday morning I took a picture of me with each person in the family, I thought if I am going down at least they will have 1 last picture with Mom.

Alexis

Olivia

Samantha

Bridgette

Teddy

Don

Olivia blew me a kiss at the airport.

Sometime during the flight the thought occured to me that if I wanted the kids to have 1 last picture with mom I really should have downloaded them to the computer before I left. So I decided to focus on the new book I bought, "Twighlight", and try hard not to think about the movie Airplane.

I coordinated my flight to arrive when my brother and family arrived from TX so I could hitch a ride with them. I seriously did not want to be in Detroit alone, it's scary.

And here I am snuggling with my adorable niece E, while waiting for my big brother to arrive back with the rental car. :)

My sister drove in from OH and we shared a room at the hotel, here I am with my baby sister before heading out to the funeral.

My brother, sister and I got to ride in a Limo, I have never been in one, we followed Aunt Mary to the cemetary after a beautiful service. My cousin J and Big Brother did readings and they did an amazing job, I would have broke down up there.

My Aunt Mary picked out her spot a few years ago. Way up high and the sun shines on her. See the sun shinning on her, it was so very cold.

We had a great luncheon after with lots of family. This is me and my sister in law, E's Mom!!!

Me and my cousin J. This was the 1 and only cousin I knew growing up, she is 4 years younger than me, and I just love her so much!! :)

Here are cousin J and me Christmas tree Shopping in 1981. Aunt Mary was with us that day, my scanner is broken so I can not put the photo out with her in it. But this is one J had scanned a while back.

Can you believe the last time my brother sister and I were together was in 2005. So here we are now. I LOVE these 2 tons!!!

My big brother said it well when he said Aunt Mary had a knack for keeping people connected. Even though we did not know everyone, because of Aunt Mary we felt like we did. I had such a nice time meeting some cousins I had never met. I enjoyed a delicious Polish dinner at my cousins house. And felt like I had known them forever not just a couple of days.

I LOVE you Aunt Mary, hold my Maddie tight, I'll be there with you someday, hopefully not for another 64 years or so. You will always be a part of who I am and my children and thier children.

NICU Follow Up Clinic!!!!!

2010-01-08T13:32:00.017-06:00

On Tuesday we made a trip to Childrens Hospital for the 2nd of 4 NICU follow up Clinics. The clinics are provided at no cost to families of preemies that were in thier NICU. They are following up with kids to see how they are developing and we could not be more pleased. Remember the babies are 16 months old but neurologically thier brains are only at a 13 month old level. Here are the results.

Samantha:

Samantha:
Height was 28 3/4 inches For a 13 month old she is in the 45th%, for a 16 month old 5th%
Weight 18lbs 14.9 oz for a 13 month old 45th %, for a 16 month old 3rd%
Head 18 3/4" for a 13 month old 95th% for a 16 month old, 85th%

Baylee Scales of Infant Development

Cognitive score - 115
Age Equivalence - 16months

Motor Score - 118
Age Equivalence- Gross Motor Skills - 13 months
Fine Motor Skills - 20 months

Language Score - 106
Age Equivalence- Expressive - 14 months
Receptive - 14 months
Way to go Samantha!!!

Bridgette

Bridgette:
Height was 29 3/4 inches For a 13 month old she is in the 75th%, for a 16 month old 25th%
Weight 20 lbs .3 oz for a 13 month old 70th %, for a 16 month old 8rd%
Head 19 1/8" for a 13 month old greater than 100th% for a 16 month old, 95th%

Baylee Scales of Infant Development

Cognitive score - 115
Age Equivalence - 16months

Motor Score - 124
Age Equivalence- Gross Motor Skills - 16 months
Fine Motor Skills - 17 months

Language Score - 106
Age Equivalence- Expressive - 16 months
Receptive - 13 months

Way to go Bridgette!!!

Teddy

Teddy:

Height was 30 1/2 inches For a 13 month old he is in the 85th%, for a 16 month old 20th%
Weight 22 lbs 3.5 oz for a 13 month old 85th %, for a 16 month old 15th%
Head 19" for a 13 month old 90th% for a 16 month old, 75th%

Baylee Scales of Infant Development

Cognitive score - 130
Age Equivalence - 18months

Motor Score - 110
Age Equivalence- Gross Motor Skills - 12 months
Fine Motor Skills - 18 months

Language Score - 94
Age Equivalence- Expressive - 12 months
Receptive - 11 months

Way to go Teddy!!

They want the numbers to be between 85-115 which are normal scores, anything below is a concern. Everyone was at or above. Grandma was in with Teddy and he was getting tired she said that he did not do things that she knew he could, but even with being tired he did great and is doing awesome.

We couldn't be happier with thier development. When they were born at just 27 weeks there we so many unknowns.

They are playing, talking and having fun. So many things that we had no idea if they would accomplish. We know they have thier special Angel helping them along the way. I wish I was able to write Maddie's scores.

Praise be to God for these beautiful

Healthy

Smart

Babies!!

We go back for a NICU follow up when they are 2 years corrected age (so December 2010) this will be the last time they adjust for prematurity, after December they will just be 2!! Then they go back for one last follow up when they turn 4 1/2.

Way to go babies Mama LOVES you so much!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my big 6 year old Alexis!!!

2010-01-03T22:00:00.003-06:00

I can not believe that it has been 6 years. Six years ago today I became a mom.

A little look back at Alexis.

Alexis on her birth day!!

The photo we used for the big birth announcements!!

This just happens to be a favorite photo of Alexis at 11 months looking out the window in her Christmas dress hugging a bear.
Alexis at 1 years old with her big bear that Uncle Roger gave her!!

Alexis at 2 years old, looking quite cute in the outfit Grandpa gave her. :)

Alexis at 3 years old, withe cake mommie made.

Alexis at 4 years old with her island princess cake that my friend Rachel made!! Much better than the one I did the previous year.

Alexis just being her goofy self at 5 years old.

What a big beautiful girl taken today at 6 years old.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my very big girl!!!

Christmas Day 2009

2009-12-26T20:55:00.006-06:00

The kids are very excited for Christmas Day!! There are so many presents and the tree is decorated with homemade decorations and candy canes. I opted not to get the decorations out with 3 one year olds running around.
Santa presents

Teddy, Samantha & Alexis

Teddy smiling big

Olivia & Alexis showing off pieces for thier castles. :)

Olivia and her new doll

Alexis in a pile of presents.

Olivia & Alexis with thier new dolls!! :)

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and wish you a very Happy 2010!!

Happy Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T18:06:00.003-06:00

I am so excited to have finally a place for Maddie's ashes. I have been wanting a special place since we brought her home. And now her ashes are in our computer room, near our Christmas tree so she will be here to watch over the Christmas fun tomorrow.

The Photo reads:
There are not stars in the sky,
but rather, openings
where our loved ones shine down
to let us know they are happy.

A photo of Maddie at 3 days old also sits on our fireplace, so I can always glance up and see her.

Alexis had a fun week at school on Tuesday she made a gingerbread house, Grandma came to make it with her. On Wednesday they had a Christmas party. What fun!! They also wrote letters to Santa at school and she got a reply back.

The kids are eagerly anticipating Christmas morning. I am excited too. Merry Christmas to all!!!

Christmas Card and Letter 2009

2009-12-21T16:52:00.002-06:00

Dear Family and Friends,

To say 2009 has been a crazy year for us would be an understatement by far.

Our year started out with having volunteers in our home every 3 hours starting at 9AM and ending after the 6PM feeding, Monday through Friday without fail we had so many wonderful people helping us, we are so thankful for each and every one that helped. Finally in April I was ready to go it alone, I had many occasions that I really wished that our volunteers were still with us, but we made it through. I still miss seeing and visiting with our new friends who really felt like a new extension of our family.

Before we knew it summer came upon us. We had one trip with the family, up to northern Minnesota for a Riepe family reunion. Alexis and Olivia had a lot of fun with all of their cousins. The babies were ooo'ed and awed over. I enjoyed all of the visiting. We also made a stop, on the way home, to see my Grandma and show off the kids.

We had some fun going to the park and playing. We sure got a lot of attention with our big red triplet stroller. We went swimming at Grandmas house. And spent a lot of time just hanging out at home. I have made quite a few trips shopping with my 5 kids, and for some reason we seem to draw attention and lots of comments. We are starting to get used to all of the attention.

Before I knew it I woke up and it was fall and there was a big yellow bus at the end of the driveway. Yes, Alexis is off to school, in Kindergarten. As I walked back to my house that first morning with the tear in my eye I thought to myself “It felt like yesterday I was holding my brand new baby girl, how in the world can she be in Kindergarten?”. Alexis can read now, it amazes me, she does really well at math. She loves to read science type books with Mom.

Olivia decided one day that she was going on the potty and now she is potty trained. She is 3 going
on 8. She is enjoying her first year in dance. (Alexis is in her 3rd year of dance.) Olivia is quite the helper around the house. After she “helps” the babies climb into high places she runs to tell me that they did it themselves.

Samantha, Bridgette and Teddy, are doing fabulous. Bridgette is running around, Samantha is
walking and getting faster every day and Teddy has taken 3 steps. They amaze me every day.
They are talking, dancing, playing and laughing. They are on track developmentally with where they should be, which is a huge deal since they arrived 3 months early.

Our Angel Madeline inspires me to be a better person and a better Mom. This year a playground at our church was built, a playground that we asked people to donate to in memory of Madeline in lieu of flowers. We are thankful for the many donations made in her memory. Eventually therewill be a plaque near the playground dedicating it in memory of Madeline as well as 2 other people. When we celebrated the birthdays we released 100 balloons to Heaven in her memory, we are thankful to the many family and friends who celebrated our children with us.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a great 2010!!!

Love,

Don, Mary, Alexis, Olivia, Samantha, Bridgette & Teddy

Visit our family online at: www.QBRAT.com

Kids Christmas Party 2009

2009-12-18T21:22:00.004-06:00

Don's work throws such wonderful kids Christmas Parties. We had a great time, and I dropped and broke my camera so here are the pictures I was able to capture before that happened.

This first one was taken by the Santa photographer of the family. :)

Don with Bridgette & Teddy

Bridgette

Samantha & Teddy

Samantha, Teddy and Bridgette

Bridgette

Olivia, Bridgette & Samantha

Alexis

Alexis & Bridgette

Teddy & Samantha

A little video, Bridgette is on the run walking everywhere. :)

The New Doo

2009-12-17T15:28:00.001-06:00

Here is Teddy yesterday!!

And this is Teddy today. Note the new hairdoo

Random moments

2009-12-16T14:10:00.005-06:00

Here are a couple pictures of Miss Samantha just hanging out with Daddy!! :)

Little Miss Bridgette just learned to say "Cheese", now when I get the camera out she says it!! :)

I just had to post these ones of Teddy because people are starting to think he never smiles. He is just so ADORABLE!!!

The Stockings are hung....

2009-12-13T17:45:00.007-06:00

Finally by the fireplace with care.

Sunday Dec 5th, we went to get our Christmas tree. We went to a neighbors tree farm, it is less than a mile away so we walked. I had visions of 5 excited kids to pick out the tree. I pictured the three babies riding in thier red wagon (since we did not have snow we could not use a sled). Instead I had 3 tired, crabby babies in a big red stroller, that had no clue what was going on, since they slept.

And 2 crabby big girls, who really needed a nap. But we found our tree.

The babies wondering why we are dragging them around in the cold.

Then we had a great time at the Children's party through my husbands work, that same day. The photo with Santa was taken by the people at the party. My little camera had an accident and is no longer with us. I dropped it, oops. So no pictures of the kids having a blast and the face paintings the big girls got. But we have lots of fun memories and a great family photo. :)

Merry Christmas to All!!!!

Thankful

2009-12-09T09:53:00.004-06:00

I am so thankful for my family this Holiday season. I am thankful for the roof over my head, the fact that we have food in our fridge and clothes on our back.

With a heavy heart I think of the families struggling in this tough economy. I know all to well what it is like to be a child in need. It stinks going back to school and wondering why Santa likes all of the other kids so much better, wondering "what is wrong with me that Santa does not like me??" It still feels so raw when I hear of families having a tough time this Christmas. So I ask you all to think of a neighbor, a friend or a stranger in need this season and maybe instead of getting that extra video game think about giving a little bit to a child who would be happy just opening a new pair of underware, a family that would be thankful for a loaf of bread. There are families that $20 could mean keeping thier home or heat on, rather than the extra video game under your tree.

We are praying for all of those in need this Christmas season, may those in search of work find it soon.

From the Christmas photo shoots!!

2009-12-09T06:21:00.003-06:00

Random Cuteness

2009-12-04T18:04:00.002-06:00

Thought I would share a picture of my 4 little trouble makers. I did not realize Samantha and Teddy had thier arms on chairs. Bridgette is grinning from ear to ear. Olivia is just as cute as ever. Too bad Alexis was at school.

Maybe it's the holidays but moments like these make me long for Maddie so much more lately. I do enjoy every moment with my 5 kids but alot of times I think Maddie should be here, and where she would sit for the picture.

We hope you are all doing well this Holiday season. If you have moved in the past 1.5 years please email me you address so I can get your Christmas card to you. Even if you emailed me in the past year, I did not write it down.

Thanks. :)

What a year!!!

2009-11-24T17:33:00.000-06:00

Last week marked 1 year since Samantha, Bridgette and Teddy came home for good. It's hard to believe they have been home a year now. It seems like yesterday we brought them home.

November 2008 - Samantha, Bridgette & Teddy

November 2009 -Bridgette, Samantha & Teddy

November 2008 - Alexis, Teddy, Bridgette, Samantha & Olivia

November 2009 - Alexis, Smantha, Teddy, Olivia & Bridgette

November 2008 - Samantha

November 2009- Samantha

November 2008- Bridgette

November 2009 - Bridgette

November 2008 - Teddy

November 2009 - Teddy

We are loving every crazy moment, always in our thoughts we are wishing that it was just a little more crazy and that Maddie could be home with us.

Love my kiddos can't believe this year went soooo fast!!!

Surgery Day!! Olivia.

2009-10-28T10:19:00.003-05:00

Olivia had her tonsilectomy and adenoidectomy on Friday October 23rd. We had to get there bright and early by 6:45AM. Which means we left at 5:45AM. Olivia was the first surgery of the day at 8:15AM.

Here she is so tired but waiting patiently in the waiting room.

She enjoyed riding on this car up and down the hallway, to pass time as we waited for surgery also.

Look how tired I (Mom) am. WOW. Olivia took this picture of me. I was ready to go hold her while she breathed in her special bubble gum air and went to sleep for surgery.

We drew a picture while we waited too.

OK this is gross but we took a picture of those giant tonsils. All out. :)

Olivia enjoying a snuggle with Grandma. Mom went and enjoyed some food with Papa Ed and Grandma sat with Olivia.

Resting nicely, we got to stay overnight in the hospital . It was a long night.

Thanks to everyone who sent prayers our way.

Triplet snack time

2009-10-02T16:38:00.000-05:00

You can probably guess that things get pretty crazy around here, thought I would share what happens at snack time. Enjoy. :)

The babie enjoying snack and a good conversation. :)

Guess Who's Walking!!!!!

2009-09-27T17:22:00.000-05:00

Check out our newest walker in the house!!!

Alexis had pictures at Target 9/27/09. If you would like to see them click on the link below:

https://www.thesmilestation.com/home.asp?AC=LTTT0117108736TARSHR

Olivia Pictures taken 9/28/09

https://www.thesmilestation.com/home.asp?AC=LTTT0117108746TARSHR

Samantha Pictures taken 9/30/09

https://www.thesmilestation.com/home.asp?AC=LTTT0117108755TARSHR

Bridgette Pictures taken 10/01/09

https://www.thesmilestation.com/home.asp?AC=LTTT0117108764TARSHR

Teddy Pictures taken 10/02/09

https://www.thesmilestation.com/home.asp?AC=LTTT0117108771TARSHR

Enter my name for Guest Name. :)

Alphabitty Moments the Letter D

2009-09-25T21:07:00.000-05:00

It's time for the letter D. Sorry for the delay it has been crazy this week. I am sure enjoying the Alphabitty Moments.

D is for Drama Queen

Alexis is quite the Drama Queen at times. Just this week in school she let out a blood curdling scream, that scared her teacher and classmates. The reason for the scream in her words "I pulled a scab off and a little boy took my scab" OK gross the life of a Kindergartener.

D is for Dance

Olivia is quite excited about her first year in dance.

D is for Dynamic Duo

Bridgette and Samantha are quite a Dynamic Duo lately. They immitate eachother and just have fun together.

D is for Diligence

Teddy showed alot of diligence pushing his first Big Boy truck accross the yard.

Hope you enjoyed this installment. Even though I only used 4 pictures please not I did use 2 D words on the photo with 2 kiddos. :)

Alphabitty Moments The Letter C

2009-09-17T21:02:00.000-05:00

It is that time again, time for another installment of Alphabitty Moments. This week is the letter C and I am not so creative this week, but enjoy!!!

C is for Courage or maybe Cash??

Alexis showed alot of courage pulling out her first loose tooth, she wiggled it and wiggled it for a day and a half and then my friend, Angela, offered her $4 in cash to pull it out and she bravely did it.

C is for Cooking

Olivia is my little cook. Here she is making homemade pancakes!!! YUMMY!!!

C is for Cake

Samantha and her first Birthday cake, a little unsure but ate it.

C is for Cake

Bridgette and her first Birthday cake, she dug right in!!

C is for Cake

Teddy and his first cake, he said get me out of here!!

Hope you enjoyed this installment. :)

Happy Birthday Olivia!!!!

2009-09-16T07:57:00.000-05:00

Newborn

3 Months

6 Months

9 Months

1 Year

18 Months

2 Years

3 Years

Love ya Big Girl!!!

Alphabitty Moments the letter B

2009-09-10T15:02:00.000-05:00

Time for the second installment of Alphabitty Moments!! This week is the letter B.

B is for Bugs!!

Alexis waited almost 3 weeks for these praying Mantis' to hatch. I told her we have to let them go because they have nothing to eat and they will die. She replyed "But Mom the girls can eat the boys"

B is for Brother.

Olivia adores her little brother. She walks around saying "that's my brover"

B is for Ball

Samantha is just chilling out on the ball after playing hard with it.

B is for Bending Bridgette

Bridgettes favorite thing is to bend over and stand on her head. Silly Silly!!

B is for Box

Teddy enjoyed playing in the boxes with his sisters!! :)

First Day of School

2009-09-08T16:58:00.003-05:00

Alexis is sooo excited for her first day of Kindergarten!!

Off on the bus!!

Waiting for Alexis to get home

She is home!! What happened to the pigtails?? She had a great first day!!

You've come a long way Babies

2009-09-07T12:30:00.000-05:00

Photo montage

Very first photo together

October 6 2008

Samantha, Bridgette, Teddy

October 2008

Samantha, Teddy, Bridgette

November 2008

Samantha, Bridgette, Teddy

December 2008

Bridgette, Samantha, Teddy

January 2009

Samantha, Bridgette, Teddy

February 2009

Bridgette, Teddy, Samantha

March 2009

Bridgette, Teddy, Samantha

April 2009

Bridgette, Teddy, Samantha

May 2009

Bridgette, Teddy, Samantha

June 2009

Teddy, Bridgette, Samantha

July 2009

Teddy, Samantha, Bridgette

August 2009

Samantha, Teddy, Bridgette

Bridgette, Teddy, Samantha

August 2009

Bridgette, Samantha, Teddy

September 2009

Samantha, Teddy, Bridgette

Alphabitty Moments

2009-08-25T16:17:00.000-05:00

What are Alphabitty moments well it's a blog carnival created by 4 the Love of Family, what it is, well it isa way to remember little moments, we all know how fast these little ones grow. Each week go through the alphabit capturing a moment. A great way to put to use the hundreds of photos I take a month. When I get to letter Z, I am going to print a photo book for each of my 5 kids and then I'll be back to start at A again. :) Maybe I will be able to figure out some of the cool links and picture displays while on my alphabit journey. :)

A - Anxious

Alexis is anxious to meet her Kindergarten teacher just 2 weeks before the start of school.

A -Artwork

Olivia LOVES the window markers we bought, look at the artwork all over the window. I wonder if she will still enjoy this kind of stuff 10 years from now.

A - Amused

Samantha was very amused with herself. Was it the naked bottom??

A - Animated

Bridgette is so animated when she does anything. I just love this face.

A -Adorable

Mommy's little man is sooo ADORABLE!!!!!

Samantha Saying "PaPa"

2009-08-16T21:11:00.000-05:00

Here is Samantha saying PaPa, she also says MaMa (just not for the camera). :)

Family Out to Dinner

2009-08-16T20:56:00.001-05:00

So we took the family out to dinner last night. Here are some photos. Just a small local restaurant, but the food is good. The atmosphere is loud so perfect environment for 5 kiddos.

Alexis "Enough with the pics MOM"

Olivia "I am a rock star"

Samantha "Awww Mom my eyes are half open"

Bridgette "More Veggie puffs"

Teddy "YUM this book is good"

We brought our own boosters, can't expect a restaurant to have 3 highchairs, all with working buckles and santized.
How did we get there?? Well on foot, it is only a 1.1 mile walk 1 way. And it was raining.

The girls liked the music on Daddy's phone.

Looking good Daddy. :)

A great family night out!! :)

Shopping

2009-08-14T11:56:00.000-05:00

Here is a bad photo, but it shows how I shop with 5 kids at Target. Looks like I am a candidate for what not to wear. I really thought the outfit looked good when I left. OOPS

Poor Teddy

2009-08-10T07:16:00.001-05:00

Here is what Teddy looked like on Friday August 9, after falling into the window sill. He is all boy.

11 months old, photo shoot. :)

2009-08-05T13:30:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos I took of the babies for 11 months and for the birthday invite. Thought I would share a few, my favorites are on the invite so you wont see them here. Enjoy!! :)

Sweet little Samantha.

Bridgette was just having fun!!

Teddy just would not smile.