It's a Girl Thing

Before Megan was born I was convinced we would have all boys. I couldn't wrap my mind around having a girl (never mind four girls!). I thought it would be so much easier to raise boys, without all of the drama that girls inevitably bring. And, so convinced were we that Megan was going to be a boy, we didn't have a name for her until she was born. (We were sure she was going to be a Luke - still our boy name after three pregnancies!)

Of course, this anxiety about having a girl seems like ancient history now, and I can't imagine life any differently. At this stage, having all girls means our house is more mellow than it would be with a boy in the mix. They fill their days with quiet activities like reading, putting together puzzles, playing with their baby dolls, acting out fairy tales, and... playing dress-up, of course. Tessa and Annie are still getting their bearings here, but they've now mastered one very important task: how to wear a tiara!

I think they were pretty enamored with themselves (or each other?? Sometimes I wonder if they know it's their own reflection in the mirror, or if they think it's their sister!).

(And, just for fun, Princess Bridget!)

Why Blog?

To prove to the kids that they didn't have it too bad, after all.

I picture a conversation in the future going something like this:

Future Megan: "Hey Bridget, remember that time it got so hot outside that we thought it would be so much fun to dump buckets of water over each other's heads, over and over again? It was so much fun!"

Future Bridget: "No way! We grew up in frigid Daly City, remember?"

Future Megan: "Yeah, I know! But, it was over 90 degrees that day. You don't remember?"

Future Bridget: "Nope. But, I know where we can look to see if this really happened - Mommy's blog! Surely she documented this! I'll believe it when I see it on there!"

So, in effort to settle a future debate between Future Megan and Future Bridget, evidence of this crazy hot weather and crazy little girls:

Note to the girls: You did love each other once upon a time. I hope you still do!

She's Baaack!!

What does life with three kids feel like?

We got a little taste of this dynamic when Bridget bid adieu for a solo getaway with Mop and Pop last weekend. We weren't sure how she would do when we said goodbye, but as you can see, she was ready!


This was a dream vacation for any 3-year old, I might add. Since Mop and Pop live so close to Disneyland, they went twice in her five day stay, and also hit up the popular Buckets of Fun (I'm happy to report that Bridget actually liked it this time!) Her little vacation also included sunning in the backyard inflatable pool, hitting up the country club kiddie pool, and lunching with Mop and her lady friends. I think she might have eaten some bon-bons too! This royal treatment is a rite of passage for all of the Mop and Pop's grandkids, at the ripe age of 3! Lucky kids!!

Meanwhile, back home, it was so strange to have Bridget missing! It was very quiet, and Megan didn't know what to do with herself. Megan and Bridget are truly a little set, and with Bridget gone, Megan was very sad. Without our middle kid, the age difference between Megan and the twins seemed huge! It made me appreciate the spacing between each of the girls so much. While having four kids in just over three years is not ideal, and never easy, for many reasons which I've enumerated here before, it is so right for our family! I'm so happy that the "big girls" have each other, and that they are so close in age. It's so sweet to watch them and listen to their little conversations. I hope they're always that close!

Of course, Megan, Tessa and Annie managed to find some fun. While Bridget was living it up in the sun, these three were bundled up in hooded jackets! Lovely San Francisco summers!

And they played entirely different games. Megan was a little entertainer for the babies, and played with their toys more (while she would usually be far, far away in her imaginary play with Bridget if she was home!).
It's amazing what a difference one less child makes: One less sippy cup in the morning. One less child yelling, "I need help wiping!!" One less kid's debris scattered throughout the house. Less laundry. One less back to give "scratchies" to at bedtime. Less hair to shampoo. One less kid to buckle up and unbuckle in the car. One less head to count at the park. And, less kisses and hugs.

Needless to say, we missed Bridget, and were very ready for her to come home!  I think Bridget missed us a little bit, too. Here she is hugging Annie:

We're all much happier to have Bridget home. Especially Megs!

Growing Pains

Once upon a time, almost a year ago, our babies fit so nicely, if not so happily, in our little double doll stroller:

Fast forward (and I do mean fast!) to today, and this double stroller is still a hot item in our house! Megan and Bridget have dibs on it most of the time, with either their dolls or their princesses getting a lift. But anytime they're looking the other direction, Tessa and Annie climb right in. It's not quite as roomy as it used to be, though.

Why do they have to grow so fast??!!




Obviously, Tessa's just as upset as I am with this change!

Twins and Their Twins

- posted from my handy-dandy iPhone, with Blogpress

Tahoe 2010 in Pictures

When Mommy's Away...

The kids will play. And that includes Matt!

Matt had the girls to himself all day on Sunday while I went to my friend Lori's baby shower. I left at 9am and didn't return until 11pm. Obviously, he's very capable, but this is definitely the longest he's had all four by himself. I needn't have worried, since he had a whole day planned. He left the house shortly after I did and went to Central Park in San Mateo, where he took this picture with his phone. I think he was trying to document his stellar parenting!

Everyone was still alive. I think he was feeling pretty good, and must have looked pretty sure of himself because another woman asked to take a picture of him with the girls. She wanted to show the picture to her husband to prove that he could handle their (measly) two kids. Matt obliged, and went on to feel even more confident.

He got all four girls swinging at the same time:

More kudos for Daddy!!


Then, they all hit McDonald's. (Not ideal, but who am I to judge? The guy in the window at the Burger King next to our house knows me a little too well.) After this, the details are a little murky. Somewhere between Mickey D's and home, Matt's parental compass went haywire. He took a sharp detour, and headed...straight to the pet store??!! Yep, you read that right. The pet store. I guess Matt was feeling like four little charges were a piece of cake. Why not add three more?


Our family has grown by three goldfish named Rosie, Diamond Castle and Minnie.

Sigh.

Officially Scared...

of the teenage years!

Table For Four, Please

Lucky for us, we have four kids who occupy themselves endlessly, with very little parental involvement. A few mornings ago, cartoons were shut off, and an impromptu tea party was planned. As it turns out, blankets make great tablecloths in a pinch, and funny faces and "doggies" are always welcome at these events.

Technical Difficulties Resolved!

I know you all must have been very disappointed when you couldn't watch the videos I (thought I) uploaded to a previous post. Well, you'll all be relieved to know that I have fixed the post and you can watch the babies reading, Bridget singing, and all four girls dancing!

Now, don't all go look at once!

Little People at the Zoo

Matt's summer break is, sadly, coming to an end. I know, poor me, right? I realize I will have very little sympathy from the larger population of you moms whose husbands have a more normal schedule. Matt likes to say that everyone else has "real jobs." Personally, I think his job is great and very real :) But, we are able to do so many things as a family that I know we wouldn't be able to do if he didn't have the little pockets of vacation he has every few months. We just spent two weeks in Tahoe (more on that to come!), and get so much family time over all of the holidays. I think I'd definitely be committed somewhere by now if not for his schedule that affords me a little break every now and then.

So, in an effort to maximize Matt's dwindling vacation (he does teach a six week chemistry class over the summer that ended right before we left for Tahoe, just in case you think he really has been loafing around the house all summer), we very spontaneously headed to the San Francisco Zoo on Saturday. Lucky for the girls, the day we went happened to coincide with the Fisher-Price Play Weekend! Basically, Fisher-Price had set up a big pavilion with all of their current toys, including ride-on toys for toddlers and a huge track for kids to test out the battery powered jeeps and trucks. They had every Little People set, all of their toddler toys, and a whole lot of "boy toys" (who plays with those I wonder??) that we didn't even get to. We seriously could have spent all day in this tent, since Little People are BIG favorites in our family. And who knew a trip to the zoo could be so low-maintenace? It was like free babysitting, since Fisher-Price employees were all over the place keeping Little People in the right spots, demonstrating toys and playing with the kids. (And there was a crazy Fisher-Price employee that was not-so-slyly taking pictures of the twins on her phone. Not the first time a stranger has taken pictures of the babies - weird, right?)

The girls had a blast!

The babies? Not so impressed:


But, when they woke up, they loved it!!

And, all four girls playing nicely with one toy? Yeah, Santa will be bringing that to our house this year!

When we escaped the Fisher-Price zone, we headed to the train and I got to ride with the girls for a change!

Later, we took turns getting some pictures of our doubled double stroller situation. Can you say spectacle?

It would have been nice to get all of us in the same picture, but we would have needed to flag someone down to get that shot, and that would have required making eye contact with someone else at the zoo. And, making eye contact with strangers is pretty much the opposite of what we (or, at least I) do when out with all four, since making eye contact invites long conversations and lots of questions and judgements. If we didn't just keep our heads down, we would be roped into at least a few conversations that would include any or all of the following:

"Are they all yours??"

"Two sets of twins?"

"Wow! You have your hands full!"

"Are you going to try for a boy now?"

"Better you than me!"

"Look at all of that blonde hair!"

"They are adorable!" (Okay, I don't exactly mind that one!)

Of course, we always politely laugh like we've never been told we have our hands full before. Tell me something I don't know, or haven't heard. Don't get me wrong, there are many days that I welcome small talk with nosy strangers. It still qualifies as adult conversation, right? I'll take what I can get sometimes. But, this day at the zoo was about about family time, not about the same conversation again and again with random people. So...no family picture.

We did get a few more cute shots, though. Bridget smiled for the camera (big surprise!):

And we got our flamingo shot. For some reason, the girls really like the flamingos every time we go to the zoo, so we get this shot every time:

The best thing about one of our double strollers? The babies love playing footsie :)

With our renewed annual pass, I'm hoping we head to the zoo more often now!