OK - so my prediction as to the quads weights on 10.16 was as follows:

Dane: 8# 6oz

Cam: 7#10oz

Brock: 7#5oz

Summer: 6#10oz

The reality (as of 10.17)?

Dane: 8#7oz

Cam: 7#9oz

Brock: 7#4oz

Summer: 6#5.5oz (yes that 1/2 and ounce counts!)

Wow mama T!! Not too shabby!! A little wishful thinking with our Summer Girl, I guess... but she is certainly holding her own against all these boys... she already has her two bigger brothers (keep in mind she was Baby A - so she is OLDER than all the quad boyzzzzzzzzz) wrapped around her little fingers. Yes, they are the ones who came up with her nickname of 'Summer Girl'... it's so freaking cute!

In the pic (left to right) that's Cam, Summer (some thumb sucking action courtesy of her biggest bro Aiden's guidance...), Heavy D - I mean Dane, and Brockee. The funniest part is that it LOOKS like Brock is crying - but no way Jose' - he's our self entertainer! He's actually laughing his heini off!! At what? Who knows?!?!? The kid is hilarious. Class clown in the making, I'll tell ya'!!

So - you wanna' know our quads? Let me tell you little sumthin about each of them - because there is no denying that they each have their very own, VERY distinct personalities these days!! It's just awesome watching them grow and become more and more alert and aware of their surroundings each day... except when they gang up on us around 11pm each night and hold a crying fest... yeah... not funny kids. We don't want to admit mommy into the psyche ward TOO soon, now do we?

Dane:

A.K.A. -Heavy D. Nickname for obvious reasons - this kid is a heffer compared to his siblings!! Healthy Heavy D is becoming extremely aware of his surroundings and his neck control seems to be at the top of the charts too! His big blue eyes (OK, they are ALL blue at this age... I know, I know...) are piercing and just melt your heart when he busts into one of his big "gummy smiles"! Dane, however, is also our SCREECHER. Not necessarily SCREAMER, but SCREECHER. Dude sounds like a total chick when he pulls out all his stops. The first time anyone hears it they are like "Oh my! Is that little Summer?" Uhhh... no. That's our big boy Heavy D. But forget the screeching - my man can belch like a 25 year old male. Think of the fun that'll bring us for years to come...

Cameron:

A.K.A. - Cam. I know - tricky. Original. Keep up, would ya'? Cam is our little thinker... always seems to be seeing something that we aren't and above the situation at hand. I can't help but wonder if he'll be the Einstein of the group - he rolled over first too - PRODIGY ON OUR HANDS. Cameron is also king barfer of the group - not a great title to hold. The poor guy has a weak sphincter or something, they say. 'Scuse me? Isn't that located.... ??? ANYHOW. Cameron has the most adorable, round, little baby face with the most baby-like features. Don't piss him off, though, or he'll piss ON you... literally. All hands on deck changing this guys diaper - you win if you come away dry (odds? 50 to 1 - NOT in your favor)

Brock:

A.K.A. - Brockee. Nickname courtesy of his biggest brothers who took to calling him this from day one. I love it! Daddy? Not so much... but oh well. You win some, you lose some dude. Brock is my little heart throb. I can't deny it. From day 1 he was always just irresistible to me! He's also ubber content - I think it goes back to that second child thingy... he was second out (even if 5th in the grand scheme of things)!! He will typically play happily by himself much more than the other quads and his smiles never stop! And Brock is a party animal for sure - brotha' can't STAND sleeping if anyone else is awake! Doesn't want to miss anything good!

Summer:

A.K.A. - Summer Girl. She is all about being a girlie girl and getting some serious lovin'. She is a cuddler and happiest in our arms for sure (but then again, what baby isn't?). Her features are so delicate... it's so WEIRD for us Lew's who see BOY-BOY-BOY-BOY-BOY!! But Summer is not one to be taken down by her bro's outbursts - she LOVES to join in on those festivities =) And she's pretty darned intense these days too... starting to gaze deeply into our eyes... and straight into our hearts... it's so much fun getting to know these little miracles! Summer is trying her hand at the party animal scene too a bit lately - I know that could pose a mild problem for her in the years to come... seeing as how between her two older and 3 younger brothers she might never get the opportunity to date, wear a skirt, leave the house without a chaperone... you know - a tad protected... perhaps??? You think??? Sometimes, it stinks to be so freaking cute. So I hear, anyhow.

I have to say that the most heart-wretching part of it all, honestly, is the simple fact that we just do not have enough arms/bodies to hold our babies all the time. Now, say what you want and judge how you want, but up until about 6 months of age we have always operated under the mentality that babies are meant to be held... and that there is NO SUCH THING as too much love for a baby!!! After 6 months? Well, then the games begin and you have to watch yourself so you don't get sucked into the baby-vortex where they completely dominate you. But at the end of the day, here in the Lew house, our babies want to know they are loved and they want to be held. And there is nothing wrong with that... except we are short a couple pairs of arms to hold them. Try that on for size when you are home alone with all 4 babies and 2 toddlers... it is really quite the juggling act for mama T. I give our big boys so much credit - and thank God every day that they have each other. I really just wish I had octopus arms to hold them all (OK- what has 12 arms?) at the same time!

So, you may hear Jeremy or I reference a bit about crying jags we endure with the babies, in the evening hours especially... and in the beginning (about a week or two after they came home - after the fog of the transition faded and they woke up!) we wondered why they seemed more "fussy" than our other two boys... is it allergies? is it the mysterious catch-all blamer COLIC? Maybe some of these things do play a part, we honestly don't know (nor do any of the ped's) but we have since grown enough to realize is that the majority of it probably just boils down to these beautiful babies wanting to be held and feel loved. Period. Our two bigger boys were permanent fixtures in the Baby Bjorn - they LOVED to be close to us at all times and with one you can DO that! So there really wasn't much of an issue with wanting to be held - because they WERE held at all times. Again, I know I'm probably getting a whole lot of head shaking from y'all out there that I've got it all wrong... but that's the way we feel. And that's why our volunteers are such an amazing blessing for our family. They are additional people to hold and love our babies... who could ask for a better gift?

Speaking of great gifts... as you know, my grandma, grandma Horner so bravely volunteered to come up and live with us once the quads were born to help us care for them. Uhhhhh... what sane person DOES THAT? And what sane person does that when they are 78?? She is so amazing - and she came - and now the time has come for her to move on. We were so sad to say goodbye to grandma Horner a few weeks ago - but we know that other grand adventures await her!! I had my very first night out on the town (or out of the house at ALL!) courtesy of Kay Schumacher & hubby. They were awesome enough to come over for a couple hours so that we could take grandma Horner out for her final night in TC with us - THANK YOU!! And thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Grandma Horner for all of your help while you were here. We will not forget all the memories we have shared... Aiden and Caleb still have you in their prayers at night and request your book reading skills during the day... we all miss you dearly... and miss those RAISINS!! HA!!

Yeah, check these babies out... grandma Horner found a recipe where you soak raisins in a "special sauce" and - voila! They help cure arthritis!! What do you know!?!?! And the coolest part is that I THINK grandma Horner also discovered that they help block out babies cries if you consume enough of those puppies as well! WHAT EVER IT TAKES, PEOPLE. WE DIDN'T JUDGE. =) Luv ya' Grandma!!!

Since I've last written we have had the opportunity to take the whole family to a Traverse City North Stars Hockey game - fun! The babies slept through most of it - and once the big boys got used to the noise level (WHAT?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!) they loosened up and played some hard-core hockey in the hall with the Endres boys and papa - good times!

We have also been SO CRAZY BLESSED having Grammie move in with us, she starts her new jobby-job at Munson hospital this week!!! And Uncle Hans, Aunt Jessie, and baby Avery moved up the peninsula YESTERDAY!!! NO JOKE!!! We just can NOT believe how amazing this journey has been for our family... and we certainly hope that our family all loves it up here as much as we do and that we don't scare them all off too quick! Aunt Jessie and Uncle Hans brought THREE doggies with them, by the way, and are insta-heroes to our big boys!! THEY LOVE DOGGIES!! It's all they can talk about night and day is going to see pab-wo, gunther ("he's a nice doggie"), and JACK-son. Thank you, thank you to all our family, but especially those who have truly made the ultimate sacrifice moving up north to be by us (or WITH us, poor Grammie!)!!! We are looking forward to all the memories to come... especially with cousin Avery!!

This is a pic of our big boys and daddy climbing one of the great trees in Uncle Hans' yard - they were "helping" put up the new dog fence and got a little distracted (our middle freaking name!). GOOD STUFF!!

As I close tonight I am just so thankful for all the help we have had with our quads. It really is exciting and NON-STOP action at our house - and without the volunteers and family members we have had to help out... well... it's just awesome I want you all to know how much we appreciate every single minute of your time. Love you all.

Taking on the world

Yeah, that's us... BLUEBERRY PICKING BABY!!



Our inaugural outing with our family of 8 (not including doctor appointments -ugh) was a couple weeks ago to the Blueberry Festival - look at this freaking group of rowdies! We had a blast - and if you are suprised that blueberries were still in season and ripe for pickin' in October join the crowd, man. But it ROCKED!! Babies enjoyed the fresh air and the big boys rode horses!! Life is just too much stinking fun =) Yes, that's grammie and papa with us- they have been making the trek up north nearly every single weekend to help us out... priceless.
And, BONUS, we could finally say that we had every row in the van occupied - YEAH BABY!!! We are considering getting walkie-talkies to communicate with passengers in rows 3-4... "Uh... Houston... do you have a copy?" Nothing better than having the opportunity to YELL to your 4 year old "SPEAK UP, BOY! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!" That just doesn't happen... except in a van as big as your house.

We also reveled in our first 'shock and awe' session as we traveled in our pack. As you can see we LOVE Bjorns; Jeremy carried one baby , my mom carried one baby, and I figured out a way that I can rig up two bjorns at the same time to carry two (as opposed to buying a whole new "double" carrier - ha!). So of course everyone thinks that I had twins and that the other two are a different family... but once the full story comes out it's a hoot to see people's reactions!! When we were out again last weekend getting our pumpkins and doing corn mazes (yes, even the babies wanted to find their way through that corn!) it was almost embarrassing - I was actually photographed by two separate families/couples and asked for my name!

A tad weird.

OK. REALLY weird.

But the best part was that instead of our usual "Oh my gosh! Did you do in-vitro or something?" question (that we've made CLEAR we LOVE...) the question I heard over and over was "Are you nursing ALL of them?" Never heard that darned other word ONCE! It was SO REFRESHING!! And, of course, mama T was loving the opportunity to tout to the world that "YES! I am!! It's so awesome!!" I am going to bore you all with a blog devoted to my nursing/pumping life with quads here shortly, so be fore-warned if you want to block that one out.

Speaking of quads - look how cute!!! They are really getting SO BIG!!! They all get weighed again tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure they'll be coming in around their fighting weights. My guess?

Dane: 8#6oz Cameron: 7#10oz Brock: 7#5oz Summer: 6#10oz

I'm sure that I'm WAY off - but hey - we'll see...

Until then - much love to you all! We are lovin' life up here - and it's complete non-stop action. Right now we are busy gearing up for grandma Horner's big departure this weekend (BOO!)... Grammie starts her new job at Munson on the 27th (YEAH!)... and Uncle Hans Aunt Jessie and baby Avery move up the road on November 1st!!!

ROLL OUT THE BARRELL!!!

Tonight I want to dedicate my entire blog to those who have helped us through our amazing pregnancy, the birth of our quads, and continue to support our family each and every day. There are no words for how touched we have been in our lives by you.

And by you I mean YOU.

If you are taking the time to read our blog and keep tabs on our family you are supporting us through your thoughts and that in itself means so much.

The list of those whom we want to thank is so much longer than we could have ever imagined in our wildest dreams... some of you are friends from grade school... some high school... a lot of you are friends from college... co-workers, professional collegues... neighbors.... friends of friends of friends.... nearly every one of our family members are on the list - more than once... and some of you... well... we may not have had the honor of meeting you, or even talking with you... but you were there for us through your prayers... no matter which group you fall under in we are forever endebted to for all that you have done.

The birth of our four newest healthy additions to our family is a true testimate to the power of prayer.

True, most days are a blur as of late... time has never went by so quickly (I guess that happens when every single millisecond of your time is accounted for some how!)... by time has never been so precious either (especially around 3:30am!). I am so thankful to be able to stay home with our children and bear witness to each smile, belly laugh, hug, and watch in amazement as our babies grow and thrive before our very eyes.

I know that I have to start somewhere in thanking you all - the task is absolutely impossible to do it all in one sitting, or one lifetime for that matter. Please know that you are ALL in our hearts every day and every night as we give thanks for all that we have been blessed with. But there are some in particular that I want to share with you tonight. I really, truly wish that I had time to list each and every one of you by name.... but this is the best I can do for tonight.

First of all, God. We aren't shy about saying that we knew from the beginning that we were chosen by Him for rhis role in life -yet up until the day our babies were born healthy we honestly did not know what exactly this might entail for us. We vowed to love each one of our children no matter what - and we know we have God to thank for the fact that we now kiss 6 healthy, happy children goodnight in our home. And we also believe that your prayers to God for our family played a huge part in His decisions for our family... so thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Our families. We have the most amazing families - as I am sure that throughout the course of this blog you have gotten wind of that fact. And thank you Lord for giving us the sense to SEE it and be GRATEFUL for them. Too often we all get caught up in taking our family for granted. They are THERE. We don't necessarily get to CHOOSE them. And, by goly, sometimes they just get the short end of the stick for being a comfortable outlet in our lives. (read: the first ones we complain about and get irritated by) But, in the end, Jeremy and I recognize how rocking our families are... they have been here for us time after time after time through some pretty darned crazy times in our lives. The best part about family is that they just KNOW what to do. They don't wait for an invitation, they just show up without being asked (for better or worse? ha!). And they know it all already... they have lived it all with you... they know the real YOU. Thank you to our families. We started this journey with absolutely zero family with us in Northern Michigan... and by the first of November we will have at least 5 family members here with us!!! Currently we have grandma Horner living with us to help with the quads - what a blessing. She also lived with us in Bellaire during Aiden and Caleb's first year of life... we are constantly amazed at what a strong, giving, positive influence she has on our family. The boys have latched onto her 100% all over again - I am officially chopped liver in terms of my 'war' card playing ability with grandma Horner around =) And no one can read a book like her either - just ask the experts (Aiden & Caleb)! AND THIS AMAZING WOMAN IS 78 YEARS OLD!! Chalk it up to taking excellent care of yourself, exercising daily, and having a strong sense of purpose in your life. Every day that woman wakes up refreshed and ready to spread joy in some way, shape, or form... and she does.

Being here has also allowed us the opportunity to re-aquaint ourselves with Chuck (Buddy) and Suzie - Jeremy's second cousins (I think? Is that what you are considered when it's your mom's cousin?). They are some of the sweetest people we know and their daughter Julie and her husband Rick are the fantastic couple who are allowing us to stay in their cottage all winter here in Traverse (Julie is the one all the way on the left, with Chuck and Susie on the far right)... knowing now what type of social calendar these quads need to hold (read: doctor app'ts) each week I can NOT IMAGINE how we would survive if we were indeed still living in Bellaire. Thank you, thank you, THANK you Julie and Rick. Without ever having met us you opened up your home to us...

Here are some pictures of the gorgeous "cottage" of the Forzano's we are staying in on East Bay. We are so blessed to stay here - a little piece of paradise. I wake up every morning to nurse our quads to the sunrise - Aiden and Caleb climb into the big master bed with us and open the shades just enough to color the room with a rainbow of fantastic oranges and reds (Jeremy and I joke that this is our TEQUILA SUNRISE... boy, does THAT sound good or what?). I believe that Julie and Rick may start renting their cottage out next year (if they could just get those stinking Lewandowski's out, eh?) - their kids are now in high school and busy as ever so they can't make it up as much - so keep them in mind if you are looking for an amazing place to get away in TC... we only hope that by our spreading the word a bit we can help give back to this wonderful family for all they have done to provide our family a place to call home during this crazy transition in our lives.

Our friends. How do we even begin to try and write about each of you whom have touched our lives over the course of the past 10 months? It's simply impossible... please know that we appreciate each one of you. Whether we see and talk to you daily or once every two years... whether our kids know each other by name or haven't even met yet... whether you dropped us a note or simply kept us in your prayers... we treasure each of our relationships for the unique closeness they hold.

Several of you have gone so far above and beyond that we wish there was more we could do or say to let you know how much we appreciate you... someday - mark our words - someday...

To all of our Techie friends, particularly: Scott Nemecek, Dan Schultz, Tim Bonk, George Moeke, Mark Hurley, Nate Curell, Steve Loveland, Brian Stopyak, Keith Latendresse, Ben Wickstrom, and every other person who was involved in this website, blog, and particularly the Quad Open...

People ask the simple question "So, how was the golf outing?" That question in itself conjures up so many emotions for both Jeremy and I. There is no easy response. We usually end up pausing for a bit trying our darndest to come up with a good answer THIS time... but in the end something muttled and along the lines of "It was amazing. One of those events in life that you never forget and relive 100x over in your head - like your wedding or something. Everyone is there for YOU and it's all so overwhelming."

Yes, this is all true. But there are several key differences that make all the difference in setting this event apart from anything we have ever experienced in our life...

#1 - You plan your own wedding and invite people to come celebrate. We were more or less informed of this golf outing after it was already set up and the information distributed. Our friends and family THOUGHT UP THIS EVENT FOR OUR FAMILY on their own time.

#2 - People expect you to get married, they come to your wedding, you go to theirs... it's the way it works. A baby shower is one thing... but a golf outing to raise money for our family is so unfathomable...

#3 - Nobody sponsors the tables and/or the beverages at your wedding to support you and your new spouse.

#4 - I've never won a 50/50 raffle at any wedding before. You?

#5 - At the end of a wedding we usually end up in some big circle singing really bad versions of "Miss American Pie" and reliving the glory days... at the end of our golf outing it was nothing but tears... and it still is.

Please know that we spent the majority of the outing laughing and/or crying our way through each hole. We saw each and every sign, each and every face, heard each and every laugh... thank you, thank you all for everything you did to pull such an awesome event off. Jeremy and I were able to golf together knowing that the very next day our first baby would come home healthy and happy into our arms. We couldn't have thought of a more fitting way to spend our final day separated from our quads than with all of you whom we love and care about so much. If only we had more time to thank each of you personally and talk for hours...

Thank you to Jen Wickstrom, Dana Salladay, Kris Stevens, and Tonia Nemecek for all that you have done to look out for every need our family may have in bringing our babies home. You have all worked endlessly to provide our family with all the "stuff" we hadn't even thought of... on your own, through donations and other moms. Even the biggies - home, car - you continued your quest and were constantly brainstorming ideas for us and making calls. Thank you, ladies.

Thank you to Heidi Schramski for coordinating a meal schedule for us now that the babies are home. Holy Toledo - what a huge help! You thought up this amazing idea that you could come up with a schedule and find people to BRING US dinner 3x/week!!! And thank you to each one of you who volunteered to bring these meals - we have never been so fat and happy! Sorry to anyone whom we've scared off with our over-the-top noise level home... but some of you sure did get lucky and show up to a peaceful house with 4 sleeping babies and 2 toddlers playing nicely outside. Don't talk to the other group, and if you do - don't believe a WORD they say =) But it truly is a huge weight off our shoulders and a great opportunity to see so many of you that we wouldn't otherwise have the chance to (ummmm... we don't get out much anymore folks).

Thank you so Sara Hurley for volunteering to do our laundry each week... that poor woman didn't know what she was getting herself into!! The bib laundry alone is astonishing with quads - we are starting to wonder if they were all born with a dribble mechanism that we forgot to disable!!??!! Thank you Sara, what a horrible job you have so enthusiastically taken on. You wouldn't believe the amount of time it saves our family... oh, yeah you would because it is the same amount of time that we are taking AWAY from YOUR family... ugh.

Thank you to Jen Kosakowski for putting together an enormous donation package for the Munson Manor while we were staying there... we couldn't be more proud to know someone as thoughtful and caring as you. We can tell you first hand how much your generosity was appreciated by the wonderful people at the Manor. Thank you.

Thank you to every other friend out there who has written, called, sent packages - I know I sound like a broken record - but we appreciate it all. I know there are so many more of you I want to mention - please know you are all in our thoughts.

To all our volunteers. What a phenominal group of women we have assembled to help out with our quads!! We "knew" each one of them through a friend of a friend of a... you get the idea... at the end of the day it is a crazy small world and we were somehow connected to each one of you which helped us welcome you whole heartedly into our home. Thank you for holding our quads - babies need to be held and feel loved and I appreciate your arms to help do this more than anything. It also allows me a little time each day to dedicate to our older boys - which is so important. A feeding/diapering session typically takes around 2 hours for me, then pumping, and they eat about every 3-4 hours.... so we are a bit more tied to the home more than they are used to. All the things we took for granted: bike rides, walks to the park, scootering, trips to the beach (thankfully this is out our back door now!)... are very tough to do with mommy and four babies...

And our big boys deserve a huge thanks too - they have been troopers through it all. The big move from Bellaire to the Manor (whoa), mommy being in and out of the hospital, the constant flux of people coming/going, babies? what babies? mommy not being able to play or move much, mommy and daddy going to the NICU a lot, the move to the cottage, the babies coming home, starting school, volunteers in and out of the house, mommy being tied up with taking care of the babies... the list goes on and on... fairly traumatic experiences all jumbled together for a 2 and 4 year old. We couldn't be more proud of them.

Thank you to Bill Marsh Price Point for letting us "borrow" their 15 passenger van until they find us one in our price range and size to accomodate or family. Yeah. That's right - BORROW. We would not all be able to travel in one vehicle right now if it weren't for the wonderful people at Price Point - we went to see them about a week before the quads started coming home - they heard our story, took one look at the Vibe, then the Sorento and did everything in their power not to laugh at us... Uhhhh... you're not all going to fit... morons. So maybe they didn't SAY that - but they really didn't HAVE to, now did they? Anyhow, thank you so much. We are refraining from putting the flame stickers down the side until we have a van that is OURS (flames courtesy of Aunt Dana - NO JOKE).

Thank you to Eastside Laundry for STARTING A DIAPER SERVICE IN TRAVERSE CITY!!! Did I mention that there was NOT a single service when I began my quest way back when? This self-proclaimed up and coming GREEN city doesn't have a diaper service for those of us who want to use cloth diapers!! I was amazed, and a little ticked off, so I began to call laundromats in the area to see if I could convince anyone into giving it a whirl - BINGO!!! I hit the jackpot!! Not only did Eastside agree to start one up - but they are COMPLETELY GREEN and have free delivery and pickup!! THANK YOU!!

It occured to me in writing this blog that nearly everything we have in our lives right now - all the basics - have been touched in some way by one of you. Home:

Thank you to each and every staff member at GT Women's (Dr. Madion's office), West Michigan OB (Dr. Jelsema's office), and Munson Medical Center (particularly ultrasound, OB, and the NICU) whom touched our lives and helped deliver our babies safely into this world. We will never forget the love and compassion you showered our family with - thank you for all that you did in making our family feel comfortable and supporting us through the rollercoaster we experienced in your trusting medical hands.

Thanks again to the Munson Manor. We will miss you all and think of you often (as we run through the cottage yelling at the tops of our lungs!!).

And, thank you, thank you to my husband, Jeremy. I love you and our family with all that I am each and every day. We do not have much time to call our own lately but you are always on my thoughts and in my heart... I have never doubted for one second that I am the luckiest wife and mommy on the planet being paired with you... thank you for all that you are to me and our children.

I love you. Forever.

The New Life by Lew

Okay, we are back in the blogosphere! Our postings will now consist of updates to the progression of The Quads and The Lewandowski Family. We, well Tonya, will do our best at posting photos of The Quads and our family and we will continue to convey to all the trials and tribulations of life with quadruplets + 2.

At the moment, one word can summarize our families new life - CRAZY!

Best part about it is, for the most part, we absolutely love it. The only thing that could be better is having a house to call our own in Traverse City. That will come, eventually...as will a van to call our own. We currently have a huge van on loan while our friends at Price Point scour the state for one for us to purchase.

I want to make everyone aware of the possibility of The Lewandowski Quadruplets website (http://www.lewandowskiquadruplets.com) possibly going down. The process is in the works and we are unsure of the future. However, the blog site will run, probably forever. It's just plain fun. So, in the event that one day ya'll should come to see what we are up to and the website is no longer available, be sure to save the link to the blog site...

http://www.lewandowskiquadruplets.com/blog.htm

Peace out

Believe It

We are eight strong.

We are finally all together.

We are the LEWANDOWSKI's.

You will hear us coming every time... so best be looking the heck out.

Dude, our family ROCKS.

It's amazing how your life changes when you effectively double the size of your family overnight.

It's also amazing how durable an eardrum is... the noise level in the cottage we are staying in must surely break all sanity standards for living. It is not for the weak of heart, my friends - but we are up to the challenge.

Here our beautiful new family is as we departed from the NICU at Munson for the very last time. Our baby girl Summer was finally able to come home and join her brothers... and our whole crew couldn't be happier to be reunited once and for all!

HOW FREAKING CUTE ARE THESE KIDS!?!?!?

Here is big Dane the day of his release... weighing in at a full 6pounds!!! We were so excited to have him home ~ but it was a bitter sweet experience having to leave the others behind... I will elaborate on all that later.

Next came Brock (5#6oz) and Cameron (6#1oz)... exactly one week after Dane...

And finally, FINALLY, our little Summer (5#2oz)broke free - WE ARE ALL HOME!!!

Our babies spent a total of 7-1/2 weeks in the NICU at Munson. A long, hard, frustrating, emotionally draining and sometimes scary stay that we often thought would never end. But we made it! Every one of our babies are now home and safe in our arms (semi-safe in their big brothers Aiden & Caleb's arms... hee, hee) and HEALTHY AS CAN BE!! Glory be. We continue to thank God and every last one of you daily for our little miracles.

We have come a long way, baby. And I am sorry that I have not been on a computer since I was in the hospital to post any pictures of our little angels - Jeremy is the Master Blogger, but apparently my man has a picture posting phobia of sorts.

Our babies are absolutely gorgeous.

What?

They are!

OK, so we might be a tad biased but then again what parent isn't?

I don't have a lot of time to blog on this first night back, go figure, but I do want to share a little photo timeline of our babies with you. Our little peanuts are no longer so little (yes, Dane is now over 7#!!!) - but we certainly have that NUTS part down =) Looking back on these pictures brings tears to my eyes... putting myself back in those rooms at the NICU... but we made it through and our babies made it through unbelievealbly well. Soon it will all seem like a distant memory...

From the first night that Jeremy and I were able to hold the babies....

To the first time the boys were able to come visit their little brothers and sister...






































The babies one-month birthday - we were able to hold ALL of them AT ONCE for the first time!! This was an amazing night for us - absolutely unforgetable...

And look at our little chunkers now... From left to right: Dane (7#1oz), Cameron (6#13oz), Cousin Avery, Brock (6#7oz), and Summer (5#10oz)!!! Little smittle - these babies are a-growin'!! It is already hard to believe how little and fragile they were only 8 weeks ago... now we hold arm wrestling matches nightly. These kids are just off the hook!

Now that mama T is connected once more I hope to keep you all posted on our day to day life... it is an adventure - that's for sure! So much has happened to our family that we want to share, so many amazing experiences, amazing people, amazing blessings... it has been so overwhelming on so many different levels.

Thank you all for your continued prayers of support - we couldn't love you more!!