Our Christmas mosaic

This was our first Christmas at home. It was so great to celebrate with David's family on Christmas day. Of course it was easier to host everyone than go anywhere with our five toddlers and all their equipment. The quints opened lots of gifts between the 24th and 26th of December. Our Hungarian goodies also made it here safely. It was wonderful to see the kids' excitement and watch them how they discovered their new toys.

We are excited about the next Christmas seasons to come as we establish our traditions.

"Thank God for His Son- His gift too wonderful for words"-2Cor. 9:15

Merry Christmas

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. " -Isaiah 9:6

May Jesus become all of the above in your life every day! Merry Christmas to you all!

BOLDOG KARACSONYT! (in Hungarian)

What a difference! I always thought you can really measure how fast time goes by on children.
Here is their first group photo in the NICU last year.
And now they are 14 months old toddlers. We are excited about celebrating our Savior's birth this Christmas together in our home.

Hanna, Mate, Annabelle, Tomi and Lili



Mate, Annabelle, Hanna, Lili and Tomi

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had such a great thanksgiving even if David needed to work on Thanksgiving day. We celebrated it the evening before. Thanksgiving day was a quite and wonderful holiday for the rest of us with a delicious meal and great fellowship with our friends Cliff+Debbie.

We played with the kids and they had such a great day almost as they knew today is a special day.

Today was such a great reminder to always be thankful just as Colossians 2:6-7 says:

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Fall fun!

Birthday Party

1st Birthday

The quints are one

What a year! What an incredible God who does not cease to look after us every day and renews our strengh to carry on.
Please enjoy the slideshow above and the update below!
Special thanks to our photographer ladies: Natasha and Kelly.

"They are getting so big"-we hear that often!
Here are some numbers from their 1 year check up:

Annabelle 15lbs 4 oz
Lili 16 lbs 10 oz
Hanna 16 lbs 14 oz
Matthew 18 lbs 1oz
Tomi 17 lbs 12 oz

The older they get their personalities are revealed more and more.

Annabelle still has her helmet. Looking at her head we can tell not for long. She knows what she wants and goes for it with full power. She bites, bullies with her helmet just to compensate her petite size. She walks all over the place. Most of the time she seems to be in a hurry.
Just to describe how adventuresome she is here is one her favorite thing to do. She climbs up on the slide with not shoes and hangs out on top of the indoor Birthday playground. Thankfully she has her helmet on. Our petite princess is still deinty but definitely a toughy.

to be continued.....

Our thank yous

We would like to share with you some thoughts as we were reflecting on our first year with the children.

David's thoughts:

When we 1st received the news we were expecting Quints, we were so excited, but on another note we thought how will we do this.
Jeremiah 32:17 says: ”Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”
We knew that if the Lord gave these babies to us to raise then He would provide a way.
Sure enough “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”- Philippians 4:19
Gratitude to all of you this past 19 mo of your constant faithfulness, love and support in so many ways.
We want to give special thanks to all of you because in many different ways you touched our family’s life. It is beautiful to see how God looked after us in the following ways:
THANKS FOR
Getting our house ready for the babies home coming
Cutting grass and planting flowers
Providing mothers’ milk
Providing through WIC and Georgetown Market
Cleaning our home

Taking beautiful photos of our children
Providing infant care, diapers, toys, cloths
Keeping everything organized
Uploading photos on the blog
Pureeing veggies and fruits for the babies
Accomplishing handyman projects around the house

From the very beginning our goal was to maximize our time with the babies and only because of you this has been possible.

This following verse means a lot to us "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."- 1 Thes.5:16-18
Thank you!

Manna's thoughts:

How can I best summarize this incredible year behind us? I am quoting a quad’s dad, a friend of ours. „We lived a year under God's providence in parenting!”
As I was reflecting on this passed year I thought I will borrow the words from Psalm 23 and Matthew 6 to describe our life with the quints.
The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need... because our Heavenly Father already knows all our needs
He also renews my strength... Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.
I would like to express my thankfulness for
* the thousands of bottles you have washed so far (extra thanks for the scraped of labels)
*for the hundreds of diapers you helped us to change and all the burp rags you have neatly folded
* As a mom and Christian I am thankful for a faithful and gracious God who not only saved our children’s life from death but He saved them for Eternity in Christ.
* As somebody who burns thousands of calories a day I am thankful for the awesome meals you prepared for us with so much love
* As a wife I am thankful for our many date nights you helped us to happen
* Thank you for being our friends and family, which lift us up when it’s hard to press on
* I am thankful for being surrounded every day by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith. You are beautiful Christ like role models for us
* I am also thankful for the strong grip of the body of Christ which we experience through you in our home every day.
*And last but not least I am thankful for the incredible gift of breast milk

Thank you for being a huge part of our life.
We absolutely could not do this without you!

Back to October the Birthday party

Hello!

Today they are 13 months. I still need to update you about last month.

October is our month that's when we celebrate our wedding anniversary and 12 days after that our children's birthday.

Thanks to Dave's family and a great group of faithful friends who love our children we had a really great party. Special thanks to our organizing team. We couldn't have done this without you!

The party was held in the Ministry Center of College Park.

Approx. 90 guests came to celebrate our Quints' birthday.

We had some games such as bowling with baby bottles, chocolate guessing competition from diapers, baby food guessing station and puzzle.

David and I tested our family and the volunteers with a quiz on the babies. We were able to share what the first year meant for us.

Before we cut the cake Pastor Dan who is also one of our volunteers shared this thoughts.

After the cake there was an opportunity for anyone to share what this whole quintuplet experience meant for them.

And of course opening the gift. They got a beautiful indoor play house from many loving friends.

In the end we were all wiped out but filled with lots of great memories and tremendous joy!

Fall

Where did the summer go so quick? It was high time for a fall update. Here it is:

Many of you asked about our Hungarian trip.

Our team consisted of Bob+Jayna, Dave's mom and us parents

It was an adventure to get there especially on the overseas flight overnight. Huge praise that not only us but the two boxes of frozen donor breastmilk (135*4oz) made it there safely!
We had a really nice family time with our Hungarian folks who could not wait to meet them and put their hands on them.
We traveled to see their great grandparents, which was so incredibly special! Great grandpa is almost a century older than them. This was definitely an answered prayer a very intimate and loving visit.
After two years it was so awesome to meet our best friends and share our joy with them. We emptied lots of bottles and they were probably the cleanest there ever since we had many loving hands to bath.
I always say we need to say goodbye in order to meet again.
What was the hardest on the babies? In my opinion not sleeping in their own bedroom and comfy cribs. When we first got home and placed them in their well known beds Annabelle (who had the hardest time with adjusting)like a little puppy took several joyful rounds in her little "nest".

We still had some weeks before their birthday party but we needed that for the many things we wanted to do in their party.
We tell you about it in the next post.

1st Trip to Hungary!

Summertime fun!

10 Months!

Fun in the pool!

Our first Labor day

Happy Labor day!

Thanks for the neat outfits Kate!

The beauty of it is that in the midst of organizing we "lost" these outfits in the closet and guess what right before Labor day we found them. Here they are.

Left to right: Hanna,Lili, Annabelle, Tomi and Ma'te'

Belated 10 mos-"fun the go"

The couch is the same... the babies are growing and the summer has flown by so fast. It's a real color coordinated photo. Easy to name the babies.
Pink: Hanna- Miss Pioneer
Blue :Tomi- Mr. Nosy,
Green: Annabelle-Miss Sophisticated,
Purple: Lili-Miss Endearing (purple is her absolute color)
Yellow: Matthew- Mr Cuddle man
Wow, where to start. Their development is picking up really nicely. In the past couple of weeks they are sitting up and this last week their favourite thing is to pull themselves up on pretty much anything they can find. So things are shaky but they don't realize it. Dave and I only have 4 eyes (altogether of course) and two heads (sometimes it feels like more or maybe just spinning :)
So we hear big thump then shortly afterwards crying from always different corners.
Yes, they are getting around and starting to be more mobile. Things are dissapearing from our family room. Why? Because we have to save the cd rack full of cd's, the table lamp, books or rather the babies.
It's fun and scary at the same time.
They don't have time out yet but we have sort to called "swing rest" to prevent puking greens, orange everywhere. We feel the safest and the most relaxed when they are put in a cage. Sorry, more professionally speaking "super yard".
Of course they love to count the butterflies on Annabelle's helmet and also test the velcro. They enjoy pulling on Lili's beautiful hair and check each other's eye color.
Very rarely we have to take them apart usually they work it out among themselves. Multiple rule.
It's also funny to watch how they move around as a group. Hanna our Pioneer is the leader of the pack. She goes first to pave the way towards secret corners where we can't see her for a moment. Then usually her little follower Annabelle takes her "butterflies" for some scavenger hunt after Hanna. Tomi doesn't want to miss the fun and he wants to be there to save her brave sisters just in case. Lili is observing and Matthew is just smiling being satisfied where he is.

Annabelle is more than 14lbs and the boys were around 16lbs. Hanna and Lili are 15 something.

Connection point: Milk

How many children do you see in the picture?

It's 8.

This is Nellie and her three children. Her twin girls were born 2 days before ours. We found her through an email list. She was looking for a good use for her milk. Well, what better place than a Quintuplet home?!

Besides the Indiana Mother's Milk Bank God is providing through Nellie incredibely. We have never met before this picture but our friend from La Leche League was the connection between us. Then one day this summer we got an email from Nellie that she would like to meet us all. We had the greatest time and my heart was filled with so much thankfulness and respect for a busy mom who takes the extra mile to provide milk for us.

Thank you Nellie, we appreciate you very much and cherish the photo and your visit this summer!

Happy 9 months

On July 19th they turned 9 months

This is another milestone just because they are getting to be more and more MOBILE. Well, I guess this is good preparation for the walking stage.
Our precious Quints are getting big. On July 19th (6 mo corrected age) we started them on yellow veggies. Our menu is carrots, squash and sweet potatoes so far.The first weeks of August they will turn green like Shrek b/c we are starting with the green ones.
The "Hoo Hoo" shirts were donations. Check it out at http://www.nightowlbaby.com/

Here are some numbers after their 9 mo check up.

Annabelle our petite one is 13 lbs 11 oz, 24'' 3/4
Lili is the second smallest now 14lbs 12 oz, 25'' 1/4, she is one of the longest (partly b/c of her hair :O)
Hanna has the thickest thunder thighs: 15 lbs, 24'' 7/8
Tomi due to strict "bed rest" and lots of oats he is catching up nicely (after being the smallest for a little bit he is the second biggest) Go Tomi! 15 lbs 2oz, 25'' 1/2 He is our muscle man
Matthew he is still our biggest teddy 15lbs 8oz, 25'' 1/4 he got a lot longer. Hanna still beats him with her thighs (not literally of course:)

Now a little bit about them individually.
Girls first.
On 7/15 Annabelle got an adorable helmet to shape the back of her head. We are still debating if she looks like a girly football player or hockey player. She is a hero. She got used to it very easily. She has occupational therapy once a week. She is catching up with her siblings amazingly well. She amazes us every day. She is very joyful and makes lots of funny giggles.
Tooth count: she has two down

Lili is the only one who has not have any teeth yet. She has not crawled yet but getting there. Both girls get on their knees and rocking. Adorable. She still has a sweet temper. Very friendly and patient. She has a huge smile when we get her from her bed.
She is so easy going that it doesn't bother her when Tomi gets a hold of her beautiful hair.

Hanna is the most advanced among them. She is an acrobat. She stands on her head. Flips. Sometimes it looks like she is ready to pull herself up and stand. Last Sunday (end of july) she figured out how to crawl. She sits very confidently. Actually it's funny to see her playing in a sitting position. We think she would need a helmet b/c she hits her head sometimes. Well, it comes with being a growing baby. She has quite the temper but we consider her a calm baby.
Teeth count: she is leading the pack in this also. She is having her 4th teeth. 2 down and 2 up.
Thomas/ Tomi: I am afraid I don't have enough time or space here. He is one of a kind. Today he flipped over with his bouncy chair. He didn't even cry. he thought it was fun. I removed him so that he wouldn't do it again. The other day we couldn't find him. "Where is Tomi?" He was hiding and discovering behind the furniture chewing on the cord of the Tv.
He gets super excited about eating. He loves scooting like a little marine. He is really fast.
He is having two of his bottom teeth. He is the most joyful kiddo we have been around
Matthew/Mate: He is a lovely natured kid. He is so endearing that everyone who comes to help falls in love with him. He makes sure that you are holding him long enough since he is taking his time with his meals. He loves his OT and PT exercises. Papa Cliff makes sure that he has enough practice for the day. He is a sweet little boy and loves to snuggle.

Welcome Uncle Zoli

Uncle Zoli is with us from Hungary

We are enjoying his company, help and humor. So are the babies!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July from our boys.

The girls lost their holiday outfits :( no pictures sorry.

By the way do they make "my second July 4th" ones? :)

Dedication June 8th 2008.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

On June 8th in the evening service we made a commitment as mom and dad in the presence of God that we will raise our children to love and follow the Lord Jesus.

It was the babies first time in church. It took 4 experienced volunteers to make the babies ready. Dress them, feed them and pack them ready to go. They did very well during the service and then meeting lots of people. Our friends' twins were also dedicated on the same evening.
From Pastor Don they each got a letter with a chosen verse from mom and dad. They can only open it when they will be 18.

The reception went well afterwards too. Many people were able to hold them and love on them.

Here are some things we shared:

Dave: "On behalf of Manna and I and our family, we have so much to be thankful for. We want to give a special thanks to our immediate family for their consistent support and to our small group “the Jeffries” who made it 100% possible for us to be with our babies while serving us. You guys truly went the extra mile for us thru the organization of our home, providing all the baby items we needed and putting them into place. We are amazed by the great stewardship of everything that has come into our home.
This has been truly a humbling experience for us. Especially having people in our home most all hours of the day. The body of Christ has shown thru and thru in everyway possible."

Manna:"The body of Christ came to our home. It’s humbling to see how many of you come to serve us with a Christ like love. Jesus is compassionately at work through you in our home and it’s so beautiful.
Our Mondays are usually the busiest especially when David is at the firehouse for 24 hours. Shift after shift eager volunteers come to our home. In the afternoon the scheduled person drops our dinner off. Right at 6 pm our cleaning crew shows up faithfully. Then two more shifts come to feed the babies.
The system is working because Christ is the heart of it!
We already made so many friends through our children. You are like family for us as we share our babies with you."

May and June Pictures

More group photos!

Seven month smiles!

Happy 7 months!

" Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart..." Jeremiah 1:5

May 19th made us think. It's not only Uncle Zolie's 20th Birthday (he is Manna's brother in Hungary) but the Quints are 7 months old today.

It is strange because after 7 months of pregnancy they are in this world for 7 months as well.

Enjoy our most recent family photo.

Our photographer was Natasha this time also.

Mate, Annabelle, Hanna, Lili and Tommy on the right.

Happy Mother's Day- with full hands

"...like a mother caring for her little children."- 1 Thess. 2:7

This year Mother's Day brought a new meaning to me. When I woke up and started to care for our little babies I just had so much thankfulness in my heart. I was admiring them on this particularly meaningful day.

What a privilege to have such beautiful and very good babies.

I love to be the mommy of Annabelle, even if she has frequent and "loud" tummy problems,

Hanna, who cries the loudest in the evening

Lili, who was the wildest once

Tomi, who frequently pukes all over me and

Matthew, who cries non-stop in the evening.

That's why they are all so unique and God teaches me to be patient, live for them, care for them and love on them with my last strength every day.

I am forever thankful for David's help, love and support, which enable me to be the best mom for these children.

Hat competition

Check out our little Princesses and Princes and vote for your favourites! Thanks Susan for the beautiful hand made "crown hats".

Hanna (left corner),
Matthew (face down on boppy)
Tomi (with Teddy bib)
Lili (below Mattew),
Annabelle on the bottom working on her bottle :)

"I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever."-Ps. 145:1

6 months portraits

"Thanks be to God for his indiscribable [gifts]"-2 Cor 9:15

Happy 6 months

"Give thanks in all circumstances"- 1 Thess. 5: 18
Yeah! They have been with us for 6 months now!
Just to show what a great God we serve here is a little reminder.

This is how they started out and now:
Annab.: 1 lb 4 oz, 10.8 in now 10 lbs 13 oz, 21 1/4 in
Lili: 2 lbs 2 oz, 12.6 in now 11 lbs 15 oz, 22 1/2 in
Hanna: 1 lb 15 oz, 13.6 in now 11 lbs 9 oz, 22 1/4 in
Tomi: 2lbs 9 oz, 13 in now 10 lbs 12 oz, 21 1/2 in
Mate: 1 lb 11 oz, 13 in now 12 lbs 4 oz, 22 1/4 in

They are so alert, playful. They return a friendly smile. Their favourite discovery is their finger(s) in all kinds of combination (middle fingers, left and right thumb). Sometimes they suck on each others fingers.
We give thanks for all the extra milk, which has been provided. Yes, they are still on full breast milk, which is such a godly provision.
As parents we are able to enjoy them due to our wonderful volunteer network from College Park Church.
Dave and I get out and yes, we have 8 hours of sleep at night because the babies sleep 8 hours due to strict scheduling.
It's a fun stage!

Videos!!

Click on any of the links below to be taken to a site to view professional videos of each baby when they were still being cared for at Riley Hospital. (Awesome job, Brandi!)

AnnaBelle
Hanna
Lilli
Matthew
Thomas


This video was compiled by Heather Charles with the Indianapolis Star when she visited Dave & Manna's for the article published on April 14, 2008.

Photos - March to April

Remember: to view all the photos in larger sizes, click on any photo in the slideshow.

Thank yous

Unbelievable! On the 19th of April the Quints will be 6 months old. But the cool thing is they look like little 3 months old so we get to enjoy the Baby stage longer.
Looking back to the previous weeks and months we have a verse on our heart, which perfectly describes our life with full of help. We dedicate this verse to all of our precious volunteers.
" Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering Gods grace in its various forms. " 1 Pt 4:10
This is exactly how the body of Christ (mostly from our church College Park )came together to make our life smoother with five Babies.
We made so many dear friends throughout this time. As we share our Babies with others it's so wonderful to see how couples, single friends, grandpas, grandmas, daddies to be who change diapers maybe the first time love on our Babies.

Is it monotonous? Not at all because you add so much color to our family. It's very dynamic.
Thanks for praying, coming, serving and loving.
Dave and Manna

A Grandmother's Reflections

“I was preparing for my very first meeting with my grandchildren with great anticipation. Words can not express the kind of feeling I had when I first embraced the little ones.

My mind was quickly trying to remember infant care again. I wanted to do everything the way their mom, Manna, requested and how the Babies like it. My camera was on ready for pictures all the time. I wanted to save precious moments of being together so that I can share as much as possible with the rest of the family in Hungary.

I really liked the fact that besides taking care of the Babies, Dave and Manna had some time to go out and rest. It is due to many dear volunteers whom I had the chance to get to know as well. I can only thank them for the many donations from their church College Park, other friends and family. I really enjoyed meeting their main neonatal doctor and his wife from Riley Hospital. They came to visit the Babies at home. We took the Quints to their weekly pediatrician appointment and their doctor checked them out really thoroughly. A little outing like this with five Babies is not a simple thing to do but it went so smoothly.

I will board the plane and go home hoping that the plane will bring me back as soon as possible. Since what grandma would not long for being with her little grandchildren, daughter and dear friends?"

A Cousin's Lasting Memories

“I can’t express how much I enjoyed spending each moment with the Manley Babies. I can only imagine how much fun time we will spend together. We got used to each other very quickly and we learned each other’s cues. Jean, our dear helper, helped a lot with this. Her practical advice helped us through the difficulties in the beginning.

My one month stay was enhanced by the dear volunteers coming and going. We shared many fun and joyful moments day and night. Dave’s mom, Barbara, and a friend, Lori, played an important part in my first trip to America. They helped me explore the American culture.

I am happy that I had the chance to be here and I am sure that I will smell the baby fragrance even on the other side of the ocean when we will be apart."

Seeing Through their Eyes...

These photos were compiled by Manna's mother and cousin on their visit.

Family Photo Shoot

As always, click on any photo to be linked to photo album web site.

Diapers, diapers, & more diapers!

Family & friends are continuing to support the family with the donation of diapers. Here are a few shots of them being put to good use... (Thanks, Natasha, for the awesome photos!)

February Pictures!

First Week Home for the 7 Manleys

The Bunch is Completed!

The last week has been a busy one at the Manley household, as the upcoming ones are sure to remain. On Wednesday, Jan 16, Matthew joined Lili and Hanna at home. Only two days later, Annabelle and Thomas completed the bunch! Praise God!

With everyone home, the "troops" have been rallied and are coming to support the family around the clock. Volunteers have had a chance to get to know the babies and lend some very useful hands to feedings, diaper changes, baths, and cuddling. From what I heard from one overnight volunteer, it all runs like a smooth machine. During the night there are only two feedings that have been accomplished in approximately an hour each when 2 volunteers are available. From what I remember with my own daughter, that beats our middle of the night adventures many nights! Praise God for babies on good schedules and parents with wisdom as to how to keep things running smoothly. And of course, a HUGE thank you to all of you precious volunteers! Here are just a few shots of some volunteers having fun...















The outpouring of love seems worthy of Paul's praise in Philemon 1:7 -- Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

If you haven't had a chance to sign up to volunteer with infant care and would like to, please contact Shari Gray at shari@ssgray.com.

Happy Due Day!!!

It's January 12th. Yay! This is their due date. They are 12 weeks old but just becoming newborns.

A couple days ago we had our first pediatrician appointment. Lili is 5 lbs 15 oz and Miss Hanna is 6 lbs 3 oz. Praise God for the great milk supply (wow 3 months of pumping so far :)

Since it's RSV season and they are extremely exposed to all kinds of germs, we want to limit their number of visitors and are not taking them out. But as the good warm spring gets here, they will not be in such danger.

The other three, Tommy (6 lbs 4 oz), Mate (5lbs 11) and Annabelle (4 lbs 11 oz ), are doing really good, too. We are waiting for their homecoming soon. Dad and Grandma go to love on them in the hospital. Mommy is training the volunteers and preparing a cozy home environment and milk for them.