Little Picassos

Today I decided to cater to the whims of one little Megan, who wanted to paint. With Joey, actually, but she settled for Bridget. Resisting the urge to think about the havoc this could create in my house, I got out the paints, and the girls had a great time! A good hour of entertainment, and some priceless artwork that is sure to be worth big bucks someday!

Best Hide n' Seek Spot Ever!

Now that cabinets are installed in our bathroom, Megan and Bridget love playing in them, and show absolutley no originality in finding a hiding spot during Hide n' Seek now. I'd also like to draw your attention to the fact that this is one of two cabinets they can both fit into at the same time. That's right - we'll have two sinks in there!!! Yay for a functional, pretty bathroom!

No babies yet, thank God!

Well, we made it to 34 weeks, and I honestly didn't know if we'd be here 2 weeks ago. But, I had a great round of appointments on Tuesday. Things seem to be looking up! I saw a different OB since Dr. Wiggins was on vacation, and this one was so optimistic she even said she thought I would go full-term with these girls. Ask me in a few weeks if this is still my desired outcome! And, I took another FFN test, which came back negative, indicating it'll be at least 10 more days before labor starts. After that, I went to the perinatologist again, for the first of several non-stress tests I'll need to have. The babies did great, and I only had a couple contractions over the course of about 30 minutes, which is totally normal. Yay!

I decided to celebrate today by talking the girls on a small outing to the "indoor park" at the Rec Center down the street, basically a big gym with slides, tons of little cars and trikes, and a jump house. I think they were really confused that I was actually going with them, since all other activity outside the house these last two weeks has been with fun aunts and doting grandparents. They got to play with Joey and Clara (who they hadn't seen in 2 weeks!) while Sara and I caught up. It was a great morning, and I don't think my cervix is any worse for the wear (I know, too much information yet again!).

My next goal is to get to 36 weeks. Even at 36 weeks, the babies may have to stay in the NICU for a little while. I'm really hoping we can avoid that - keep us in your thoughts!

Meanwhile, we have plenty to do before little girls 3 and 4 get here, namely:

Minivan shopping. Ugh. The thought of dealing with car salesmen and figuring out car seat scenarios in each different van is more than a little overwhelming. I am really looking forward to all of the features, though, like automatic sliding doors and more space!! I just wish we could skip the shopping part.

Finish our bathroom remodel. We'll see how that goes, but we may be in the home stretch. Matt's been working so hard, in the middle of baseball season, no less. We hope to have this done in the next two weeks. A bathroom on the same level as our bedrooms (and not two flights downstairs in the middle of the night, multiple times/night) would be handy right about now. Either that, or Pull-Ups for both Megan and me! I can't wait to have this done - we'll definitely post pictures with the finished result.

Organize lots of little girl clothes. I started this last night, and I also put the bedding in our bassinet, where one of the girls will sleep. Going through little newborn clothes got me really excited. Or was it because I was watching The Millionaire Matchmaker at the same time? Hard to tell.

Name little girls 3 and 4. You'd think this would be a piece of cake since we can narrow it down to two and call it a day. It's almost harder to come up with two that sound cute together, fit in with Megan and Bridget, and come up with middle names we can agree on. I have a feeling we'll be on day two at the hospital again before we decide! Some contenders are: Mary, Theresa (Tessa), Anna or Annie, Caroline, Kerry. Comment away :)

Get ready for our lives to be insanely busy for the next 18 years.

Almost 33 weeks!

Luckily, my bedrest situation isn't as dire as I feared. New doctor's orders: "modified" bedrest. My OB was much more lenient and relaxed when I met with her on Friday. She says I can still have the girls at home with me as long as I spend a lot of time lounging around and not doing anything strenuous. Translation: Lots of cartoons and less of a need to change out of PJ's. The girls are sticking to a pretty similar routine :) And, my FFN test came back negative, which is almost a guarantee that these babies won't be here for at least another week. I'm really hoping to make it to 36 weeks, though, and avoid any NICU time with these babies! This whole pregnancy is just so different than my other two, and I realize how important it is to stay off my feet and really limit my activity. Looking back, I'm amazed at what I did in the final weeks of my pregnancies with Megan and Bridget, namely cleaning the garage, installing shelving (actually using Matt's power tools!) and going to Tahoe a couple of weeks before Bridget was born. Oh well.

The fact that I can't even consider taking the girls out on my own at this point is the hardest thing about being housebound. Megan still asks every morning, "Where are we going today?" Most days, the answer is not what she wants to hear! Fortunately, we have had lots of help in getting them out out every couple of days. I'm optimistically thinking I'll be able to resume some of our normal activities like going to the park, library and the zoo once the babies arrive. We'll see if that happens. The bigger barrier might be transportation. You'd think we would have figured that out by now, but we still need to go minivan shopping. Yes, I said the "m" word. When you have 4 kids, you can have an opinion on whether you want one or not :)

So, having whined about all of the terrible things about bedrest, the best thing is being able (forced) to lie back and just watch the girls play, or cuddle with them without thinking about all of the housework or errands I need to do. It's nice to appreciate this time before our life becomes a zoo!!

Bedrest - 'nuff said

Need I say more, really?

I've been banished to bed by my perinatologist after my routine 32 week ultrasound on Wednesday revealed that my cervix has shortened - I know, too much information. I'm hoping this "prescription" will change after my OB appointment today. I'll have an FFN test done to determine the chances that I'll go into labor in the next 10 days, and get more of an explanation about how strict this bedrest should be. Cross your fingers for us!

I keep thinking this would be so much easier, and really a plus if we didn't have two cute little girls to take care of. I feel terrible not being able to take care of them during the day, and am indebted to everyone stepping up to help!! Thanks Pat, Amy and Sara! And, thanks to Sara and Tim for the use of their laptop, without which I would not be able to bring you all this fun news!

On a happier note, the babies are still growing right on track. Baby B weighs 3 pounds, 15 ounces and Baby A weighs 3 pounds, 13 ounces. So, I have nearly the amount of actual baby weight that I did at 40 weeks with each of the girls. Sadly, no cute ultrasound pictures to share. This late in the pregnancy, everything is so squished that they can't get good pictures. Oh well. I think we can wait a few weeks (hopefully!) to see them.

Bangs!

Bridget can now officially see more clearly, and we can see her beautiful eyes, thanks to the bangs I gave her. Crooked? Yes. Does she now sport the baby mullet? Possibly. (Definitely, according to Matt. You won't be seeing a picture from behind on here.) But, she's a happy camper now, and her new do is much safer for (backseat) driving.

Do you think she likes this?

Just for Mop

At Grandma Mop's request, I got some shots of this look that Megan is pretty fond of lately. Usually it's accompanied by an "Oh, no!" or an "Oh, my goodness!" It didn't take much coercing to have her model it for the camera. Here you go!

The Weight of it all...

While putting away all of our Christmas decorations the other day, I reminded Megan that we would have two more little girls by next Christmas. Her reply? "Perfect!!" I couldn't quite rule out sarcasm, especially since she has high exposure to it. I'll choose to think that she really does think it's perfect that she'll share Christmas (and everything else!) with two more babies next year - something most three year olds would take in stride :)


Regardless, this pregnancy has a way of trudging on. I went in for another ultrasound yesterday, and both girls look great! For now, they're both head down, which is ideal, but that positioning can change very quickly. Baby B has scooted herself into position to deliver first, and she tips the scales at 2 pounds, 13 ounces. Baby A is 2 pounds, 11 ounces. Really good weights from all I can gather. The average singleton baby is 2 pounds, 7 ounces at 28 weeks, so they're ahead of the curve, especially for twins!

Finding out how much each baby weighs at each appointment = lots of fun
Finding out how much I weigh at each appointment = not so much fun!


These latest 3-D pictures are great of Baby B, but Baby A had her hand in front of her face, as well as some placenta. Here they are anyway, with Baby B first . Can you tell I'm partial to Baby B? We Baby B's need to stick together!


We may still be calling them Baby A and B after they're born if we can't decide on names. We're hoping we can figure it out in the next 10 weeks or so!

Sick day!

This is what two lucky little girls were treated to the other day, on account of having some post-Christmas sniffles -- lunch in Mommy and Daddy's bed, while watching Little Bear (sadly, we have 22 of these episodes currently saved on our DVR).

Four Days of Christmas

Christmas was an extravaganza this year, celebrated for four days straight, starting on Christmas Eve with the Stechers. Stacy and Michael hosted everyone at their place, and the kids opened up most of their presents that night. As you can see, Bridget was laughing hysterically at her new Madeline book (and showing off her Fighting Irish spirit!).


Megan practically flitted around the room in her new Cinderella nightgown (and headband!). Did I mention Megan sort of has a thing for Disney Princesses? In my former kidless life, I thought one could possibly avoid this road when raising girls. Not so. It may be a bad sign when your 17-month old can conduct "Once Upon a Dream" from her car seat.

Christmas morning was quite the event, too! Megan really "got it" this year, and was so excited to wake up and see what Santa Claus brought for her. Apparently, not as much as she expected! We actually have video footage of her arriving on the scene. Until I learn how to upload video from our camcorder, this play-by-play will have to do:

Matt: (as Megan rounds the corner into the living room) "Megan, did Santa Claus come last night?"

Megan: (scanning the room with a dejected look) "No, Santa didn't come."

Then she turned and walked out! What?? It must have been a smaller pile than she was expecting - whoops! Maybe we shouldn't have built it up so much. Actually, we got her quite a bit, but we didn't even attempt anything big since they were both spoiled by their grandparents later.
Matt also opened quite the stocking stuffer. At my last ultrasound appointment, I had the doctor write down the sexes of the babies and give it me in a sealed envelope. I wrapped it up in a little box, and put it in Matt's stocking. It was a really great surprise to find out that we're having ..... two more girls! (I know, old news for most of you who we blabbed to right away, but still worth documenting, right?) Needless to say, we're still getting used to the idea of 4 little girls. I don't even want to start thinking about 4 big girls, 4 weddings, etc. Here's a picture from Christmas day of the four of us, enjoying our small family while it lasts.

On the day after Christmas, we enjoyed a leisurely day and beautiful dinner at Sara and Tim's with Mop, Pop, and Uncle Kyle. It worked out really well - Mop and Pop had their own time with the kids, without the rush of Christmas day. Megan had the best seat in the house, briefly:

But, Bridget also got center stage for while. Here's one of her cuter moments.

She also has a new freaky party trick was only caught with Sara and Tim's camcorder, and it's probably better that it never makes an appearance here. She now thinks it's hilarious to roll her eyes into the back of her head, repeatedly, and for an audience. (She's done this since she was a couple of months old, but has recently gotten back into it!) Usually, she'll do it if we ask her, "What can you do with your eyes?" Strange!
And, on the 4th day of Christmas, for those of you still reading, we went to my uncle Joe and Aunt Libby's house for a Field family Christmas - a treat that we normally miss since it's usually on Christmas day. With 22 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren (and 6 more currently on the way) this is a big event, with the highlight being Uncle Joe moonlighting as Santa. FYI - He's wearing a Hawaiian shirt over his Santa outfit because he flew in from vacation to come to our party - duh! Anyway, Joey and Clara each took their turn on Santa's lap,
while Megan and Bridget contemplated from afar, but decided to wait until next year.

Speaking of next year, Megan is already thinking about what she'll ask for. Hmmm....

Merry Christmas and Happy 2009!

In Stecher Christmas tradition, we all gathered at the Olympic Club downtown for lunch, with the hope of walking around Union Square afterwards. The walk ended up being very brief and rainy, but we all had a great time inside during lunch. Before everyone arrived, Megan and Bridget both checked themselves out in the mirror - Bridget wanted to make sure her hair was sticking up just so. Check!

We had a private room, so the kids had a little room to run around and look out the windows.

For the sake of comparison, and cute pictures, here's Megan at her first Christmas lunch...

... and now. Time flies! But, she's still Daddy's girl!

Our smallest diners tried to order Reimer's fizzes, but they had to settle for water - maybe next time, Charlie and Bridget!

Megan proved she can (sort of) hold her own sitting next to cousin Jack. They spent most of lunch eating their bread and butter, zooming around under the table, playing with their little trinkets from Grandma, and of course, discussing the status of the greens on the Lakeside course.

Just for the record, I had to include this picture. Bridget does allow other people to hold her - occasionally. Nate won her over!We managed to get a couple shots with all of the kids (except Jack Sullivan and Abby - we missed you! If only I knew how to photoshop them in - someday!) Charlie meandered in for the second picture here.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Christmas has completely snuck up on us - what a whirlwind! Luckily, we got our tree right after Thanksgiving, so we've been able to enjoy it all month. The girls love it, and Megan is in charge of turning the Christmas lights on every day. She's very intrigued by Santa, so this year, Christmas morning should be really fun. Even Bridget can recognize and point to Santa, a snowman, angels, and the Christmas tree - she's a smartie!

The process of getting the tree and setting it up took about a week, of course. With kids, everything moves much slower than it used to! We set up the tree, strung the lights, hung the ornaments, and decorated the rest of the house all on different nights. Here's a little look at the progression, starting at the Christmas tree lot in Burlingame:

In order to fully educate our daughters on everything Christmas, we are currently in the possession of at least 20 Christmasy library books - I'm not joking - we have a good chunk of the holiday selection. (Sorry Meredith, since you're the only other person I know that might care about the Westlake Library children's book inventory!) And, once fully acquainted with Old St. Nick, we headed to SI to meet him in the flesh. This is a cute annual tradiiton for kids/grandkids of faculty members, and it was a lot of fun! Of course, as grandchildren of faculty, Joey and Clara were there too!

This was the best we could do for a Cecchin/Stecher family photo:

Megan was very excited to meet the man who's supposedly bringing her a Snow White toy!

But, when it came time to sit on his lap, she wasn't so sure. Incidentally, how cute is her little vest?

Bridget was not quite as excited to see Santa walk in,

and this picture speaks for itself! We'll try again next year!

Here's Bridget in a calmer moment:

Trouble, Trouble, Trouble

Bridget. That starts with "B," that rhymes with "T" and that stands for Trouble!!

Music Man, anyone??

Okay, well, we definitely have a little troublemaker on our hands here. Bridget has developed a personality bigger than her 17 months. She is in for a huge shock when two more babies make their way here in a few months, as she is a definite Mommy's (and Daddy's) girl, who loves to cuddle, hates to eat, and loves to sleep in our bed - every night. Our room might not be such an attractive option with two newborns wreaking havoc - maybe things will just correct themselves in that department soon enough. She's also very dramatic, emotional and high-maintenance! I actually took her with me to my most recent round of doctor's appointments rather than leave Sara with a baby that would probably scream for two hours, which is what happened last month.
As it was, she cried every time a doctor or nurse attempted to even touch me. And, right after they would leave the room, her crying would stop instantly, and she would go back to eating her Goldfish and reading her pop-up book in her stroller. Lovely. This was especially convenient during a 30-minute ultrasound.

As for our eating issues, this babyish girl sure likes to prove that she can do everything her big sister does. We recently figured out that Bridget is over her high chair, after every meal involved hysterical crying and a stubborn refusal to eat anything on her plate. She now sits on a booster seat with her own place setting. She's a new girl!

But, as you can see above, she's not quite so smiley on demand anymore. Her favorite expression when the camera comes out is this one, a darling one when attempting to get a good Christmas card shot!

Lest you think she's a troublemaker all of the time, she is a very loveable little girl. Even though she only sleeps for an hour on her own at naptime, she will go back to sleep if I lay down with her on our bed. She is the reason I'm able (rather, forced to) take a little nap every day and get the rest I wouldn't take on my own. And, she's already a good little mommy to her dolls - she loves to read to them and sing them songs. She'll be a very doting big sister! I'll leave you with some recent cute moments.

And, there's no description for this picture. It's just plain strange.