This Mommy's Hands...

are full. 

Being a mom to four (and a half) kids is challenging, but doable on my best days.  Of course, those "best days" don't happen very often.  Controlled chaos describes most other days.  And then there are the days that have me questioning why I even leave the house.  Like yesterday. 

It's no secret that I'm usually cutting things close. The girls' preschool teachers will tell you that ours is almost always the last car to screech up to the drop-off zone in the morning.  Girls not attending school that day may or may not be still pajama-clad.  And, I put most procrastinators to shame with what I manage to put off on a daily basis.  Filling up the gas tank in the minivan is one area I could improve on.  There's just never a convenient time to do it.  So, it's usually the flashing warning light of a too low tank that finally forces me into a gas station these days.  And, that warning light will have been on a for a few days, too.  I know, it's an irresponsible postion to continually put myself (and my little passengers) in.  I mean, what would happen if I ran out of gas with all of the girls in the car?? 

Well, I can now tell you.  It's fresh in my mind and not pretty.  Of all places to run out of gas, I managed to do so on the maybe 1/4 mile stretch of freeway we take on the way home from the girls' preschool.  (I know I would have made it home, and beyond, if not for how long it took two chatty, distracted girls to buckle themselves in at pick-up.  Apparently, the only thing that drains faster than my patience is my idling, comfortably air-conditioned car's gas tank).    Luckily, I was able to coast to one side, but I still had hundreds of cars careening by and honking.  Not an ideal location to stop, to say the least. When I turned around to explain this litlte snafu to the girls, they took it pretty well.   They each asked for a Starburst, which I was able to deliver, and Annie stated, pretty matter-of-factly as she expertly opened her Starburst wrapper, "The policeman will help us."  No one seemed worried, except me.  I called our roadside assistance, explained our situation, and tried to convey how major this interesction/freeway entrance was to my Geico rep, and how nearly every driver coming our way was flipping me off.   Even after being patched through to the highway patrol, no one was in a huge rush to help us out in less than an hour. 

At that point, even though we were technically waiting for a tow truck to arrive with gas, I decided I couldn't just sit there waiting to be rear-ended.  And, since there were gas stations within sight, an actual sidewalk on the side of the freeway at that point, and crosswalks a little ways back,  I unloaded the double stroller and all four girls, and we set off on our gas-getting adventure.  In my mind, it was way safer and more practical than sitting, waiting for someone to hit the car.  It took about 10 minutes to walk to the nearest gas station, and we were definitely the sight, between the waddling pregnant lady pushing twins and two preschoolers decked out in their beach attire for "Beach Day" at school.  But, we managed to buy a little gas tank, fill it up, and make the return trip back to the car, all before any assistance arrived.  I was halfway done pouring the gas in the car's tank by the time the first CHP officer arrived, and buckling the girls back in their seats when the tow truck drove up. 

I'm making a vow now to never be in that situation again, and kind of hoping that at least one person reading this has had this happen to them.  I can't be the only one, I hope...

After that adventure, french fries were definitely called for.  We don't make a habit of frequenting the Burger King drive-thru too often, but I was not going to be cooking lunch after all of that.  And, Bridget must have questioned my ability to handle the dishes, too, since she volunteered to spend her cherished five minutes of post-lunch, pre-nap free time doing them for me.

My hands are full, and things slip through the cracks -- a lot -- but I think I may be doing at least a few things right when I can still get a smile like this occasionally.

    

Tessa at 2

Annie at 2

Easter 2011

***Wow! I'm so frustrated with Blogger!  I published this post a week ago, but late last week it was deleted without any evidence it ever existed.  I guess this happened across the board with many, many blogs.  Obviously, I have enough trouble keeping up with blogging as it is.  The last thing I want is to have to redo a post.  Anyway, here goes Version B of Easter 2011 ***

Easter was a big treat for us this year! We woke up on Easter morning at Mop and Pop's house in Orange County, where the girls mysteriously had twice the loot they would normally get at home :)  As soon as they donned their new Easter dresses, they were let loose in the living room. 

Tessa, ever the candy hoarder, thought she was pretty sneaky with goodies.  We even had a moment right before we left for mass when we couldn't find her anywhere.  Sure enough, she was tucked behind the living room sofa, unwrapping a Starburst. 

Meanwhile, Annie was equally happy just holding hands with Mop during the walk to mass.

After mass, we headed to brunch at Mop and Pop's country club, and I'm not sure what the bigger hit was -- sitting next to Uncle Kyle or seeing the Easter Bunny.  Megan and Bridget loved goofing off with their uncle!

What I didn't get a picture of, though, was the twins' reaction to the Easter Bunny.  They had their eyes on him during the entire meal as he floated around the room, and whenever he came within 30 feet of our table, their lower lips jutted out and the waterworks started.  And Tessa employed an interesting defense: she put her head down on the table, and didn't flinch for at least 20 minutes.  We had a lot of people wander by with comments about the "sleeping baby" at our table.  I'm sure she was never asleep, though.  This is just her well-honed defense mechanism for pretending someone unsavory is not there.  She also uses it when strangers approach her and Annie in their stroller to chat and coo at them.  She has always been sooo shy with strangers, and will turn her head to the side and bury it in the stroller, waiting for people to walk away.  Maybe she was expecting the Easter Bunny to ask which one was older, if they were twins, if they run in the family, how they were delivered, or if they were "natural."   All of these seem fair game for the average fellow shopper, cashier or passer-by, so why not the Easter Bunny? ;)

Of course, now, when Annie relates the story of seeing the Easter Bunny (because she is a chatty one!!), the details have changed a little.  Her version goes something like this: "I see Easter Bunny.  I say hi Easter Bunny. I like Easter Bunny.  Tessa no say hi.  Tessa put head down on table!"  Hmmm.  I seem to remember Annie being pretty scarred as well. I must have that wrong...

We did manage a family shot, too, complete with my 27 week belly!

Annie

Annie (left) and Tessa (right)

The girls were pretty tuckered out after brunch, but perked up right away for an impromptu Easter Egg hunt orchestrated by Uncle Kyle!

Tessa

Annie

Mother's Day 2011

We spent a wonderful Mother's Day with Matt's family at The Olympic Club today, and managed to get a shot of me with our crew.  I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever get a picture with everyone looking at the camera and smiling.  On a bright note, though, the girls did a great job disguising my nearly 28 week baby bump!  It's always nice to have a pile of little girls to hide under :)

And, another failed attempt at a group shot...

Contrary to how it appears in the pictures above, the girls did have fun.   Although Matt gave up his membership to the club almost a year ago, half of his family still belongs.  We're lucky to frequent it often enough that the girls are well-acquainted with it's many kid-friendly perks.  I still remember what a treat it was to join my Aunt Adele at this club when we were kids, and I'm sure the girls will have similar fond memories. 

They had fun running around on the grass outside after brunch,

and Tessa savored her big girl glass of orange juice!

Annie didn't cooperate for the camera, but they all had fun making buttons in the "button room" for themselves and for me.

The best thing about The Olympic Club, though, in their eyes, is the immense dance floor that's usually deserted when we go for a non-holiday brunch.  They love to pretend they're at a fancy ball, and Bridget and Megan begrudgingly take turns being the prince.  Today, most of the dance floor was consumed by the brunch buffet, but they still managed to find some space to dance, with Prince Daddy to boot!

I know it's Mother's Day, but I can't resist posting these daddy-daughter dance shots.  Somehow, I missed capturing Bridget's turn, though :(  Maybe these will make it into some wedding slide shows in our future!

 Tessa

Annie

Reading in Bed

Curling up with a book in bed is one of life's many pleasures...as an adult. This is not something we've ever encouraged with the girls, though. The idea in putting them to bed is for them to go to sleep, right? So, no books in bed. End of story.

But, like most seemingly clear-cut parenting techniques, this "rule" went out the window when we had twins. Quiet and in bed currently trumps immediate sleep in Tessa and Annie's bedroom, where they each have a menagerie of small objects that have taken up residence in their cribs, including tiny figurines and stuffed animals. And, they are permitted and even encouraged to "read" in bed. Of course, down the hall, in Megan and Bridget's room, books are still not allowed. Yep, we're inconsistent like that :)

Dora books are the current naptime and bedtime favorite, and this is how I found the twins about an hour into their nap today.







Whatever works!

- posted from my handy-dandy iPhone, with Blogpress

Deja Vu! (sort of)

I think my mom (Mop) has been plotting out this photo re-creation since the news sunk in that she was having twin granddaughters, or at least when it first became clear just how similar Tessa and Annie are, in appearance and mannerisms, to Sara and me when we were little.  It's pretty freaky, really.  I think it's probably very surreal for my parents to experience this "twin-ness" all over again, especially this toddler phase!  Having identical twins is not proven to be hereditary at all, so the random splitting of an egg that produces identical twins just happened to occur in back-to-back generations for us.  I still believe there's something genetic there.  Either way, it's very special!!

So, in an attempt to commemorate this weird little branch of our family tree, Mop actually recreated the long-lost sailor dresses that Sara and I wore for the picture below, taken when we were two years old.  (All twin stuff aside, isn't she a talented seamstress??  She just whipped them up from looking at the photo!) 

Once she'd finished sewing, and Tessa and Annie had received these adorable dresses for their second birthday, the ball was then in my court to recreate the original photo.  Should be an easy task, right? Umm, no.  Anyone with more than one child can relate to the struggle to get them to both smile for a photo.  Add to that the difficulty in getting them to sit still.  When they are both the same age, and you can't exactly have one hold down the other (like a toddler holding a baby), they both go running in opposite directions before you can snap even one photo.  Never mind the difficulty of getting them to seat themselves in the exact positions you have in mind. 

Naively, I thought I could pull this off, though.  I set a date and a time to show up to Picture People with my little sailors, freshly napped, and sister-less.  I even paid for said sisters to stay longer at preschool to accomplish this crazy trip to the nearest Picture People 20 miles away.  Suffice to say, it did not go as planned.  These sailors were a smiley hit in the waiting area, where I took the opportunity to confidently show everyone the picture I was attempting to recreate.  I even had a plan for where each girl was going to sit -- Tessa behind Annie.  But once the camera came out, all smiles disappeared and shyness and squirminess set in.  I had granola bars, candy and milk in my arsenal to motivate them to say cheese, all to no avail.  Tessa was either looking down and avoiding eye contact (her defense mechanism with strangers -- finely tuned and practiced daily when strangers accost their stroller with incessant questions and conversation about twins) or crying for the entire shoot.  And, Annie kept high-tailing it out of the shot and exclaiming, "I want Mommy's camera!!" 

Considering how poorly the session had gone, I didn't have high hopes for a picture to turn out, and had entirely ditched the idea of ending up with anything remotely similar to the "inspiration" photo.  Luckily, one (and only one!) was halfway decent, and since I had a coupon for a free print, I "purchased" it.  (Obviously, Sara and I were angels.  I mean, how did we both smile like this for this photo??!!  I really would like to know.  Not that I'm likely to attempt something like this again.  But, in the event that I do, I'll tighten up their ties and cut their bangs so they don't look quite so unkempt in comparison.)

Here are all four little sailors!

Me (left) and Sara (right)

Annie (left) and Tessa (right)

School Pictures!

School pictures are in! This is highly anticipated in our house (okay, it's just me - I'm pretty sure Matt wasn't losing sleep over this), mostly because we get no proofs of the pictures before we buy a package.  I know -- it's a racket!  So, we buy the smallest package at $29, which is an expensive gamble considering the likelihood for a cute shot.  Megan had a cute shot last year, so I was hoping for a similar outcome this year for both girls.  I'm pretty happy with our cuties, and since the payments are non-refundable, I've decided it was totally worth the $29 for each girl.  (I can't not get the school pics.  I just can't.  I guess I'm sentimental like that.)

So, without further ado, here's the last school picture of Megan without a uniform on until 2020!  Since she's entering our parish's grammar school in the fall, she'll officially be a little Catholic schoolgirl next year. I think we might get tired of Megan's school pictures in the same navy sweater every year.  For now, she loves picking out her own clothes every day, and especially loves wearing pink! 

And, little Miss Bridget.  This picture pretty accurately portrays the "School Bridget."  She's as goofy and outgoing as can be at home, and is a ham for my camera, but is still a shy observer at school.  I'm not surprised that she looks so shy for this picture.  Still a framer, though :)