Halloween

We had our very own pumpkin patch!!! It was so nice here, Jon and I were able to take the babies outside for a wagon ride. They LOVED it!!!! We had our own little Halloween party with both sets of grandparents, Aunt Kassie, Great Aunt Ginny and our friend Kori Gettel!!! We had so much help Jon and I were able to have a date night while Grandma and Grandpa Samuels, Aunt Kassie and Gettel put the babies to bed. Thanks guys!!!

Jon in the backyard pulling the little pumpkins all around for their first Halloween!!! The wagon was a gift from the Broach's, our babies love to ride in it!!!!

Maggie fell asleep on Gavin during the ride.

This is Gavin at the end of the evening. It is so hard to be the big brother!!

Reese enjoying her time!!

I love this picture with Gavin's arm around Maggie while she is taking a quick nap on his shoulder.

Jon and I with our four little pumpkins!! They look so excited:)

The quads had their well checks this week. They are doing so well!! Dr. Marshall said today again how well the babies are doing. We are just sooo blessed!!!!!

Their current weight and height:
Gavin: 16 lbs 4.5 oz. and 27 1/2"
Reese: 15 lbs 10.5 oz and 27"
Maggie: 16 lbs 5 oz and 27 1/2" (yes, she has finally passed Gavin)
Lauren: 12 lbs 5 oz and 25"

They started their RSV shots!! Yay!!!! They will get those every month until April.

Last weekend my best friends came to visit. We had so much fun!! Here are some pics from the weekend! They brought them the darling outfits they are wearing. Thanks Misti and Megan!!!!

New Update

The quads are doing just great!! I can't believe how time flys. I took some 7month pictures a few weeks ago. I still have not had them professionally taken. I need to get on that. We have a good family friend who has offered to take them, I just need to get on the ball and contact her. Here they are:

Maggie
Lauren

Lauren is off of her oxygen!!! We are so proud of her. She is just doing amazing. She is so much happier without it!!!! Thank you for all of your prayers. They have def. been answered!!!

Reese
Gavin


Gavin before a bath.

Lauren playing the piano.

We are trying to finds lots to do around the house since we are home bound now that it is RSV season. I am still coaching cheerleading, so I get to get out a few times a week for that. Sorry it has taken so long to get pictures up!!! I am really going to try and do better!

Getting so Big!

The quads are doing so great!! They are getting so big!! Gavin is rolling all over the place and Reese rolled over for the first time today!! Yay!!! I love getting to know each personality, they are so different. Here are a few updated pictures. Enjoy!!!

Gavin's first time in the exersaucer

Gavin playing with Lauren
Circle of friends :)
I love this one of Gavin and Maggie holding hands.


We love our shirts Mrs. Bree and Mrs. Roehrig!!! Thanks so much!!

(Gavin, Maggie, Lauren, and Reese)

Mug shots

Ok, so you are most likely thinking Tiffany goes from never blogging to now everyday! We are getting to such a wonderful schedule at home. I have to thank Katie Fulton for this awesome book she introduced me to. It is called Healthy Sleeping Habits, Happy Child. It has been amazing!!!! We now have a sleeping schedule!!! Yay!!! The quads take two naps a day in their cribs and one down stairs in the living room. We do our last feeding at around 6:30-7 p.m. and then put them to bed!! It totally works and they are much happier babies. We were trying to keep them up longer so that they would sleep later, man we were wrong. They still sleep until at least 6:00 a.m. !!! We are usually waking up Reese and Gavin at 6:30!

Yesterday we had a thunderstorm, here are the babies watching the rain and lighting from the living room window. I ran outside to catch this pic. It might be hard to see but we thought it was so cute.

We also decided to take a few mug shots. We had a few minutes to kill before story and bath time:)
Lauren

(She is off her oxygen while she is awake and during feedings)

Reese

Gavin

Maggie

Lauren Loves cheerleading!!

WE have been having such a great time these past couple of weeks. They are really showing their own personalties. Gavin is so layed back and loves to play and roll around on the ground. Reese has a mind of her own. She loves to have your attention. Maggie gets her feelings hurt very easily, but is constantly smiling at you. Lauren knows what she wants and if she is not getting what she wants she will let you know. Jon and I have also noticed they are really starting to notice each other. They will smile and laugh at each other. This morning Reese was trying to hold Lauren's hand!! It was just so sweet. They just love each other so much!

Gavin loves rolling around!
Watching Baby Einstein
Reese does not love getting her picture today, she is so cute!
They are cheering on the USA during the olympics! They loveing watching it on TV.

Last week Aunt Risa came to visit and we discovered that Lauren loves cheerleading!!! Yay!!! Aunt Risa would do cheers and Lauren would laugh and at the end she would say "again!" Here is a video of it.

Celebrating 6 Years in Chicago

Wow! What a weekend Tiff and I had. I have to say I have the sweetest wife in the world. On our anniversary (7/27)Tiff suprised me with 2 Cubs tickets vs. the Pirates for this Saturday. It gets much better than this, Tiff's friend, Andrea, works for the Cubs and was able to get us on the field to watch batting practice including a few snapshots in the dugout. During the middle of the 5th inning a message popped up on the scoreboard: "Happy Anniversary - Happy 6 Years Jon & Tiffany Michaels." Talk about a dream day for me! I can't forget to say "Thanks, Andrea!"

Also, thanks to my parents, my sister Kassie, and our great friend Kori Gettle for watching the quads while we were gone. You guys helped make everything possible for us this weekend.

Okay, after the game we traveled to downtown Chicago and bought tickets for the Sunday showing of the play Wicked. We were lucky enough to get 9th row. From downtown we went to the suburbs/Oakbrook and had dinner/dessert at the Cheesecake Factory followed by some shopping. To wrap up our perfect day we went to the Westin to relax, swim, and get a good nights rest. Our rest was so good we slept in until 10 a.m. Sunday. Something neither of us have done for a very long time.

On Sunday we made our way back downtown for a little more shopping and watched the play Wicked. Very cool musical/play. One of the best we've seen! From there we traveled home to see the kids. I think they grew over night!

In the dugout at Wrigley Field

Batters circle

We made it on the scoreboard!

Tiff just looks like a Cub fan!

Hanging out

Hi!! Well it has been FOREVER since our last post! The babies are doing great! They had a couple of shots yesterday. We have decided to spread them out, so it feels like we are at the Dr. Marshall's constantly. They love going to see her and her staff!!!!

Our current weights:

Gavin = 11lbs 8.2 ounces
Reese and Maggie = 10 lbs 13.2 ounces
Lauren= 8lbs 13.2 ounces (she is getting so big:) )

The quads getting ready for bed! (this was a couple of weeks ago)

Gavin and Maggie getting ready for their bath! They love each other!!
A quick photo shoot with their new outfits from their best buddy Miss Gettel!!

Good news we are off our Monitors!!!! Yeah, we gave them back last week!!! What a relief!

We don't think Lauren is going to be a Cub's fan much to Jon's dismay!

Here we are getting ready for bath time!

Fathers Day/ Jon's Birthday

We had a great Father's day which happened to be Jon's birthday! We went to Jon's parents for a cookout. It was Lauren's first time to Grandma and Grandpas!!! She loved it!!!

Reese and Maggie relaxing on the coach

Daddy and Lauren watching the Cubs game


Gavin and Lauren holding hands, they are best friends!!!


Reese hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's on father's day:)

On our way home from Grandma and Grandpa Michaels!

Lauren is Home!!!!

Lauren is home! She came home last Friday. We have just been a little busy so sorry for the late post. We just love having the entire family under one roof!! Yeah!!! She is doing great and loves being with her sisters and brother. Lauren, as you can tell from the pictures, came home on oxygen. She is on the lowest settings and already trying to prove that she can go without it. We're anxious for the doctor to agree. None-the-less, Lauren remains very laid back and takes everything in stride. .

We have had such tremendous support since we have been home. Our "Loving Arms" group has been coming every other night to help with the 1:30 and 5 a.m. feedings. This allows Jon and I the opportunity to get a little shut eye during the night. On the nights where it's just Jon and I we are getting more and more efficient at feeding two at a time! Thank God for Boppies.

I would say, on average, we go through about 40-45 diapers a day. One can of formula will generally last us about 3-4 days, mixing in breast milk for every other feeding. While it sounds like a lot, were really enjoying every minute of our days. Jon is now back to being at work, instead of working virtually from home. My parents, Jon's parents, and several friends have been helping out during the day/evening. There is not enough time for this blog to express what these people mean to us. We will give them the proper introduction in our blogs to come.

Leaving the NICU for good:)

Maggie, Reese, and Lauren sharing their bed together. As usual, Mild Manner Maggie has her eyes open, exploring the world without a fuss.

Our nurse Laurie checking Lauren out of the NICU

Take me home Mom!!!

At last we're back together!

So cool to finally take this picture! Long awaited!