Adventures

The plan is to share this posting (this is Jen for now). Brad and I wanted to share with you one of our great outings with the boys. Who says if you have quads you have to stay cooped up forever?

Our afternoon started by making some wonderful visits with people we trusted with my life and the boys – literally. Our first stop: Dr. Sumner’s office. Personally, I was thrilled to see so many of the staff that took care of these boys before birth. Their lives were valued highly and we are so appreciative and thankful for the care we received. I’m telling you, Dr. Sumner’s is genious material (hopefully his head isn’t getting bigger by this posting, if he happens to be reading – hahahaaaaa!). It’s so strange to see this staff every week, and some of them everyday and then go 4 months without them! Introducing them to the boys was a real treat!

Dr. Sumners with our boys
I think the boys recognized Dr. Sumners from their birthday!

Since we were in the area, we decided to pop into the NICU to see if any of our nurses happened to be on shift. We saw some familiar faces there as well, including Nataline (Clark’s primary nurse).

By then it was feeding time, so we headed to the lobby to feed, and there was Dr. Henry (my endocrinologist)and his wife. He happened to be there for a surgery. Very nice timing! His office is responsible for providing our stollers, which have been a huge blessing, as you can see.

Alright, I’ll let Brad take it from here……

After leaving the hospital, Jen and I were trying to decide what to do. You see, our lives are now lived in 3 hour increments during the day. You plan everything you do around their feedings that begin at EXACTLY 9am,noon,3pm, 6pm, and 9pm. So, when we go out, it is usually right after a feeding and we either plan to be back by the next feeding, or we have to take one with us. What Jen wrote about above was timeframe number one. We fed the boys in the lobby of Women’s hospital after coming down from the NICU. By the time they finished eating, spent some time talking with Dr. Henry, and got them loaded up, it was about 4pm.

We have two hours before we have to be home for their next feeding. One thing you do not want to do is be late for a feeding with four hungry boys in the van, that makes for a loud drive home! Since we already had the boys in the car, we wanted to try to do something else before heading home. We considered the drive thru, but as we passed Texas Roadhouse, my mouth started watering. Jen saw their sign that advertised two dinners for $13.99 before 5:30pm. In my head, I was thinking it would be nice to go out someplace and not eat in the car, but with four babies this seemed impossible. Then Jen said, “we could try it”.

Thats all it took for me. I said, seriously? She nodded yes and I flipped a U-turn and went back. We then spend the next 5 minutes discussing how to get four carseats into the restaurant. We knew that the boys were sleeping, and as long as they stayed asleep, it could go really well, but we also knew that it could be a complete disaster with four little boys screaming at the top of their lungs.

Anyway, we went for it and they were angels! Isaac wasnt real happy with the country music when we first got in there, but he was back asleep in a minute or two. Jen and I ate in peace for the next 30 minutes or so, and our waiter helped us carry the boys back out to the van. It was just so great to push ourselves a little bit and get a little more confidence.

God has been so gracious to us in allowing us to figure out ways to get out and enjoy our boys. I cannot describe how much fun my life is right now. Many people comment on how difficult and hard it must be to have quads when we are out with them. But, what most people don’t understand is how much fun they are missing out on. Yes, it is difficult sometimes, but I think for every difficulty that has been added to our lives, we are getting four times more joy out of too. So now, when people say that kind of stuff, I just think to myself how blessed I am to get to experience this awesome adventure that God has given us.

Murray Family Dinner

Steak Isaac?
Nuts boys? Come’on, they’re free!

I told Henry he could order off the kids menu, but he fell asleep trying to decide.

Until our next adventure……(which begins at 9am sharp tomorrow morning!)

Brad, Jen, Henry, Brooks, Clark, and Isaac