Happy Valentine's Day to Me!

Valentine's Day 2011 started out promising enough.  We managed our morning routine with kids dressed in red and pink, and even snapped a few pictures.  Best of all, we were pulling out of the driveway at 9:00, with no crying and no screaming, from the kids or me, respectively.  The 9:00am start time was a personal best in recent weeks.  I've actually had to park and walk (gasp!) Megan and/or Bridget in to school if we miss the 9:15am cut-off for the glorious drive-thru drop-off service.  So, we were on time dropping Megan off, which is always a plus!    

Next on the agenda, with just three passengers in tow, was a call to the pediatrician for an impromptu visit.  What's more apropos for Valentine's Day besides pink eye?  Bridget was showing signs of it, and we needed to get her medicated before she infected our entire house, so off to the doctor we went, after hitting the grocery store with all three kids to get lamb chops for Matt, of course :)

Once at the doctor, I was feeling pretty good.  All three girls behaved well in the waiting room,

and Bridget was a flirt for the camera, so I knew she wasn't feeling too terrible.

Things started to go downhill right about the time the doctor (not out normal doctor in the practice) nonchalantly told me to be on the lookout for pink eye spreading to the other girls, and to bring them in should I see any signs.  I politely asked if he could take a look at Annie's eyes to confirm that she might have it as well.  He didn't even look up from his computer to tell me, "You can schedule an appointment at the front desk if you want the others to be seen."  Grrr.  Yes, I know that doctors are paid by the patient.  But, for something like pink eye?  I'm just so annoyed that he was so insensitive to the fact that it might be a little difficult to haul 2-4 kids back into the office again for a simple pink eye diagnosis.  Assuming all four girls come down with this, does he honestly expect me to shell out $80 (four co-pays) for each of them to be seen? 

Things did not go any better after picking up Megan from school and heading to Walgreens to fill Bridget's prescription for her eye ointment.  Of course, we were totally pushing it with lunch/naptime, and of course Bridget had to "really really" pee as soon as we got in line to drop off the prescription.  And, of course, Megan and Bridget were fighting over a Phinneas and Ferb birthday card that Megan insisted we buy for Daddy because "he loves them, Mommy."  (At this point, I know I heard the pharmacy tech say the ointment would be $15, but between his accent and my screaming entourage, I would find out later that we had a little miscommunication.) 

We moved our little four-ring circus to the pharmacy waiting area with Megan mid-tantrum, Bridget doing the pee-pee dance, and the babies arching their backs and trying to wiggle out of the stroller.  And, of course, it was crowded.  I wished I wasn't wearing such a form-fitting shirt at that moment.  I know everyone was thinking, "She's having another??"  I finally realized Bridget's urgency to pee, and the fact that my willing her to hold it was not working as it should.  I was just standing up to guide our spectacle back out to the car where our trusty little potty was waiting when Bridget suddenly peed all over her cute little tights, shoes and at least one tile in the waiting area.  Grrreeat.  I quickly changed her into some 18 month pants I had in my purse.  She was now undie-less and shoeless, in a tutu, with red, crusty eyes.  After mopping up her pee with a stray Walgreens ad and shoving it into the bottom of our stroller, I realized a few things:
 
- I really need to make sure I have extra undies in my purse at all times.
- Extra shoes, socks, and a roll of paper towels would come in equally handy most days.  I'm sure I could squeeze all that in there with everything else.
- This afternoon is why most people don't have this many kids.  It sucks.
- Luckily, there are more good times than bad, and this fifth baby is not doomed.
 
And, after paying $50 for the microscopic tube of eye cream that surely will not last through more than one child's 7 day treatment, I also realized I should not be quite so distracted at the pharmacy counter. 
 
The Walgreens trip was a massive failure.  But, because she got the cream (almost) 24 hours before her Valentine's Day party the next day, it was (almost) worth it to brave the pharmacy at that time of day with all of the kids. 
 
The day got better, luckily!  The girls and I got a special flower delivery, and the girls enjoyed a special meal complete with heart-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches and all of their little goodies from grandparents.  Best of all, Matt and I enjoyed our peaceful dinner of lamb chops, asparagus and red potatoes after they were all in bed!
 

 

And of course, there's nothing like this (was this really a whole year ago??)...

to remind me that time passes way too quickly to let an afternoon like that upset me for too long.

Too Cool For School

Bridget wavers between loving school, and dramatically protesting the idea. I'll often hear, "I am NOT going to school!!" over and over again, right up until the van door opens for preschool drop-off and one of the teachers pokes her head in to collect the girls. Of course, Bridget is all smiles as she jumps out of the car, with no hesitation...one of the many reasons I'm certain that Bridget will be an actress someday.

While she's in her full hysterics about NOT going to school, I can kind of see her point. We do so much of the same things at home, AND she gets to wear a tiara. And, Mommy's there, obviously :)

Today, she proved she's more than ready to move up to the Starlite Room next year while writing out the names of all of our family members, born and unborn. She's still sticking with Greta for the baby. I let her do it since it may be the only time I see that name in print with the rest of our names :)









And, after writing out all (seven!) of our names, she deserved a cartoon break. This may be the main reason she would choose home over school...


- posted from my handy-dandy iPhone, with Blogpress

Another Zoo Day

We took another trip to the zoo a couple weeks ago, and surprisingly, the girls continue to love the animal checklists that Matt made.  They didn't get tired of them all morning.  That's more than I can say for most toys/objects around our house! 

Here are the girls collaborating to mark off the animals they saw:

And, standing on one leg, like flamingos (a favorite, despite their smelliness!):

We can't forget the peanut gallery.  These two were more into the zoo than ever before.  I think they'll have their own checklists before we know it!

And, for once, I got to be the one to go on the carousel with the girls! 

Some Little News

Things around here are just about as perfect as you can expect with four little girls taking over our house.  We have a pretty solid routine that has all four girls on the same nap schedule, all girls eating the same foods, enjoying the same activities, and sleeping through the night.  We're frighteningly close to potty training Tessa and Annie, which means just overnight diapers in our very near future.  Matt and I can go out at night (with the help of a babysitter) and not worry about a baby waking or needing to nurse/pump etc. We have two girls happily in each kids' bedroom, a van that hold us all perfectly, and the glimpse of a "normal" life on the horizon.  With two kids in preschool already, we're on the verge of moving into the full-fledged "kid" phase of our life.

Perfect, right?  Right.  Except for one detail...

I'm pregnant.

(I couldn't resist this intro, a la "16 and Pregnant," my guilty pleasure reality show, even though I'm far from 16, and this baby was definitely not an "accident." Please, someone, reassure me that I'm not the only watching this show!)

So, we'll have a newborn in the house again at the end of July!  Exciting and terrifying at the same time.  This is the longest we've gone between kiddos, so having over two years between kids freaks me out a bit.  Tessa and Annie should be 28 months by then, and I'm used to much smaller gaps.  I'm hoping that this larger gap will work in my favor!  As it is, we'll have a couple months to adjust to life with five kids before the school year starts, and the baby's birth will coincide almost perfectly with the end of summer school for Matt which means he'll be home for a few weeks before his school year begins again, too.  After that, the baby schlepping begins, back and forth between drop-offs and pick-ups at two different schools.  Let's hope for an easy-going baby!

We're aiming to be surprised with the gender of the baby.  Having experienced not knowing with both Megan and Bridget, I would love to experience that again.   (We found out with the twins, more for logistical reasons than anything else, although their birth was just as exciting!)  So, we'll be waiting to find out if we'll add another girl to the little sorority here, or if it'll be a boy --- and God help him if it is!!  Having a girl would be much easier on us, in many ways, but we would both welcome the change in having a baby boy!  It's weird even typing those words!

Names are a hot topic of discussion around here.  If it were up to Megan and Bridget, we'd have these contenders so far:  Mary Helson (Megan made Helson up, and she's proud of it!), Greta Star (Bridget's contribution -- I have to admit I love Greta but I don't think it's going to happen), and Twinkle Rainbow.  Hmmm...obviously, they've given us a lot to think about ;)  It's fun having kids that understand the concept of a baby coming, and remember it on their own.  We haven't had that before!

So, without further ado, I present...Stecher Baby #5. 

His/her most recent accomplishments include allaying any paranoia of Mommy's at the first trimester ultrasound. The baby checks out perfectly and passed genetic blood work tests with flying colors. Now I can move on to worrying about something else, I'm sure.  Like...the possibility of a boy in this house!! Something (okay, four things) tell me we have a slightly higher chance of another girl. Maybe that's just the estrogen wafting around here clouding my thinking, though. 

Sunny Days

Amid reports of record-breaking blizzards on the other side of the country, I feel (just a little) bad posting these pictures from our recent sunny park days.  The fog lifted in San Francisco for a few days last week, and we took full advantage with a couple trips to different playgrounds.  It was a happy coincidence that the sunny weather coincided with the girls' preschool being closed for parent/teacher conferences.  So, Megan joined the other three for one of our park days, and she even wore shorts!  It always makes me happy to see her cute little legs in shorts, maybe more so because I consider it a victory to sway her out of a dress every once in a while :)

Our first playground trip was to Rossi Playground in the Inner Richmond with my three amigos Bridget, Tessa and Annie.  They had a blast at this park that's geared especially towards the smaller set.

And, for us, no park trip is complete without a little juice break!

One of Megan's days off was a story time day at the library, something she's missed since the school year started.  She liked being an alumni there that day, and saying hi to the fish with her sisters :)

Afterwards, we hit up Parkside Playground, otherwise known as Joey's Park.  It's not the same without cousins that live a half block away, but the girls still managed to have fun on the slides.

Four girls balance out a tire swing perfectly!

With such a fun sneak peek at spring weather, I'm keeping my "sun bag" permanently in the van, just in case.  We never know when we might need four little hats, water and sunscreen for another unexpected stop to play in the sun!