Disneyland 2010

We made it back from our trip to Southern California over a week ago, so this is officially old news. Prepare for a lot of pictures!!

And, let me preface this by saying: Long road trips are officially right up there with potty training in that cozy little inner circle of parenthood hell. And, dealing with the potty while on a long road trip...well, I'll leave that to your imagination. Whatever you imagine it was like, it was probably worse :)

Sure, they look adorable here, all packed up and ready to go:

And Annie paused from chewing on her toes to smile here:

Those were taken before the 8-hour trip to Orange County to see Mop and Pop. The remainder of the trip was spent with the big girls debating (read: arguing) what movie to watch next; passing (or refusing to pass) books back and forth in front of Tessa's head; squealing about the cow smell intermittently; asking, "Are we there yet?" (I didn't think kids really said this that much on car trips. I was wrong about that. They say it every 10 minutes while they're awake, starting not five minutes out of your driveway); and, oh yeah, needing to pee about every 20 minutes. Or not really needing to pee, as Bridget demonstrated on more than one occasion, which led to Daddy telling everyone a little story called "The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf."

While the girls took turns getting unbuckled to use the potty while we were driving (I know - bad, bad parents!!), the babies took turns dropping their sippy cups, or dropping whatever toy they were playing with. As it turns out, keeping a 14-month old entertained for that long is not that easy! I'm not sure who had it easier - Matt driving almost non-stop for eight hours, or me, crawling back and forth from the front seat to the zoo in the back to manage the potty, shuffle movies and dole out snacks.

Thankfully, we stopped at a Denny's in Coalinga to eat, let the girls run laps in the parking lot, and change into pajamas. They were all asleep soon after, and we rolled into Mop and Pop's driveway at 1am with four sleeping kids to transfer in.

Once the journey there was over with, the fun began!! We had a full week of activities planned by Mop, and we started the next morning with a trip to their local Mission Viejo beach club. And, when I say "beach," I mean sand on a man-made lake. This is Orange County ;) And, it was perfect for the kids, with a sandy beach, grassy picnic area and even a little playground.

Megan, Bridget and Annie got a lift in from the parking lot in this little wagon (poor Tessa was getting a ride on me and missed the fun):

And, as soon as we settled down next to the playground, Annie wasted no time conquering this chain ladder that is most definitely not intended for babies. She climbed it several times and found a slide to go down all by herself!

Our little fish Megan loved the water!!

And the babies enjoyed this version of the beach, too. They'll get a shock later this summer with the cold water in Lake Tahoe!

Next up? Disneyland!! Our girls are spoiled, big time! They are lucky enough to have grandparents who live 15 minutes away from the park, and going to Disneyland is something we always work into our visits. Megan has now been at least six times, and she's only four years old. That's close to the number of times I've been in my entire life :) It's so nice to not have to rush around in the park. We hit up different rides every time we go, and never feel like we have to stay all day. And, this trip was much more enjoyable than last year's visit. Last year, the babies were only 10 weeks old - 'nuff said!

Stechers in Disneyland - 2009

For this trip, we took all four girls on the first day, and began in California Land, where we lined up the kids,

and Mop led the way:

We were tipped off to the need for swimsuits in the Bug's Life area, and we were glad we brought them. The girls had a blast! There were several water features with sprinklers and fountains that they had fun with, but they also took a little break for Ring Around the Rosie, a favorite at the moment:

A drenched Tessa:

Megan, Bridget and Annie:

These are happy screams from Tessa - trust me!

A wet, giddy Annie:

I love how the babies are looking at each other in this picture:

Mop and Annie were attached to each other that day, literally, since Mop was saddled with Annie in the Bjorn. But, Annie was very happy there. They have quite a cute little bond. Annie preferred her to me on more than one occasion during this trip!

Mop and Annie strolling,

cuddling,

and sleeping:

These two go way back. Last year, they had a good time together at Disneyland, too ;)

And, all of us got to pose with the big man, er, mouse, himself (minus Matt taking the picture):

What trip to Disneyland would be complete without a spin on It's a Small World? Megan and Bridget love this one!! I had to capture their reactions as we headed in on our little boat.

Pop and Uncle Kyle joined us after work, and were immediately put to use pushing and carrying kids:

The girls insisted that they ride Dumbo with Uncle Kyle,

and then conceded to another ride with Daddy.

Day Two at Disneyland found Matt and I with just Megan and Bridget. We left the babies back at the house with Mop. I know my perspective is crazily skewed, but it was such an enjoyable experience to just have two kids there that day! We were each able to ride with a kid on Autopia, and we were all able to go on the carousel and the teacups. The girls really wanted to go on Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise that day, too. Odd choices for the preschool set :)It was a lot of fun, quality time with the "big girls."

You'd think two days at Disneyland would be hard to beat. As it turns out, our girls are either very easy to please, or "Buckets of Fun" is even cooler than Disneyland. We spent the last day in Orange County relaxing around the house a little, and then headed to the rec center up the street to play in the water feature next to the pool. Megan and Joey have dubbed this "Buckets of Fun" because there are buckets of water constantly filling, overturning and splashing an unsuspecting child below. This was the highlight of Megan's trip, and the cause for at least one meltdown when we didn't go earlier in the week. Here she is, barely stopping for a picture, and sporting her goggles (very necessary that they be heart-shaped!).

If Megan is our little fish, Tessa is her little protege. Funny that a 14-month-old would so enjoy getting buckets of water literally dumped on her head over and over again, but she loved it. This was the happiest we saw her all week, without a doubt! She's on the right, with the wet hair. Annie carefully avoided wetting her do.

Meanwhile, Bridget surveyed these "fun" buckets from a distance after giving it a spin. After one dousing, she was out, and in her towel. I can't say I blame her.

The next day we headed home. Our daily routine here leaves a lot to be desired when compared to Disneyland and Buckets of Fun. The girls are already planning the rides they'll go on next time. Get ready for another invasion. Mop and Pop!

Summertime!!

I guess it's not quite summer yet, but Megan's last day of school was today, so we're officially on summer vacation! She's going to miss her new friends, but I will not miss our crazy mornings twice a week. We need the break!! When school starts up again in the fall, Megan will be going five times a week and Bridget will join her twice a week. My job description as a stay-at-home mom will soon be changing to kid-schlepper/taxi driver, so we'll soak up every bit of this summer vacation.

At Megan's preschool today, the kids had a little party and Bridget was invited to sit with the "big kids," too. Here they are eating their snack,

and then working on a little art project.

If Megan has learned nothing else this year, she's learned to always replace the pen cap after she's done using it. What a good student :)

Back in the car, Megan was excited (to say the least!) and Tessa was pooped!

The girls had a special meal of chicken nuggets and french fries when we got home. And, aren't Megans's little buns cute? ;)

Megan has grown so much this year! I didn't realize just how much until I looked for a picture of her first day of school. She looks so young here (and her little sidekick Bridget looks even smaller!),

and so much older now!
Megan is now learning to read with her set of BOB books, which she loves. She's also come a long way artistically! These two pieces of work are from the beginning of the year,

and the end of the year:

Another little Megan nugget? She's apparently some kind of Disney movie savant. I popped in the most random Disney CD ever made while getting the girls dressed to leave the house today. It's Volume 3 in the collection of Disney hits, and it includes songs from little-known 90's gems like Hercules and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I'm almost ashamed to admit that, upon the first playing of this CD today, Megan immediately recognized every song. Yup, she's seen everything from Aladdin to The Nightmare Before Christmas, and can pick out the hits from anything she's seen even just once. Our little dance party was capped off with a boisterous, "I'm going to go to every movie theater and watch every Disney movie ever made!!! Yeah!!" We have quite the ambitious little four-year-old on our hands. Watch out!

Up in the Air

While celebrating little Lily Miller's third birthday this weekend in warm Yuba city, I got some cute shots of the babies getting big lifts in the air from Daddy. Yes, they were matchy-matchy that day - they are not pictures of the same baby :) Annie's on top and Tessa's on the bottom.

As for those big kids? Luckily, Sara managed to get some shots of them, so this is snagged from her blog. This has the makings for a sorority picture, except for Joey in the background :)

Tessa's Turn

Annie is not the only one climbing the bunk bed ladder. Tessa has mastered it, too! Watching her do this is a little more comical, especially since she's only got a diaper on in this video. Warning: Lots of chubbiness to follow - viewer discretion advised.

Seen Anything Cute Today?

Tessa and Annie, Meet Elmo!

At 14 months, the babies are becoming more aware of everything around the house, and that includes the TV, for better or worse. They seem to really like Sesame Street, and they were pretty enthralled today. Annie even ditched her little rocking chair once she noticed Tessa sitting in one of the girls' folding chairs. Of course, Annie had to sit in one too. Thankfully, we seem to have two of everything around here, including two cute Elmo fans.





-- Post From My iPhone

Good Golly, Miss Molly!

We're so happy to welcome another little girl to the girls' club in our family. Our neice, Miss Molly May Cecchin entered the world at 6:22pm on Friday, May 14th, weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces. It's hard to believe she's even a Cecchin at that weight!! She's super cute and very good so far. Congrats Sara, Tim, Joey and Clara!!


-- Post From My iPhone

Happy (Belated) Mother's Day!

Party in the Crib

What started out as an attempt to get some pictures of the babies waking up, playing with each other, and looking out the window (this always elicits a "dada" even if he is nowhere in sight), turned into a party in Tessa's crib.

Annie

Tessa

Annie the Over-Achiever

Annie is proving to be quite the go-getter. As the youngest (by one minute, but still) she is entitled to act to act like a baby. She should be taking advantage, laying around, goo-goo-ga-ga-ing it up, but she's intent on leaving babyhood behind. She is one now. In the last month, we've been adding quite a few milestones in her baby book. (Okay, not so much a baby book as a tattered sheet of paper I've been scribbling notes on when I get a chance. Someday those notes will be transferred into her pretty baby book, though.)

Of course, she started walking. And, once she mastered that, she figured she may as well do something useful with her mobility. One of her favorite new "activities" is walking her diaper to the diaper pail to throw it away. She loves this!! She throws away Tessa's diaper, too, just because she's so helpful. (Tessa, our cuddlebug, has no interest in this, or any other chores, for that matter. She's definitely still our baby!!)

Annie's also taken up reading in a little green rocking chair we have in our living room. This is the chair she makes a beeline to with her sippy cup when a cartoon is on, or when she wants to just survey the action. Trust me when I say there is always something for her to observe from this chair. It's her spot (Tessa, did you hear that?), and she climbs in and out of it all day.

A milestone I have yet to see listed in any baby book, though, is one that she mastered today. I'll let you take a look for yourself.

Keep in mind that Annie is only 13 months old...

I'm afraid of what 14 months will bring.

How To Get Anything Accomplished...

while holding two cranky babies:

The hours between 4pm and 6pm in our house are pretty brutal. Trying to accomplish anything with Tessa and Annie hanging on my legs and wanting to be held is...hard. Of course, this is the time when I really need to be doing things like starting dinner, getting snacks for the girls, cleaning up a little -- things that generally require the use of my hands. I've resisted this set-up for a while, mostly because I'm usually too frazzled from the crying to think about grabbing the Ergo from it's home in the van. But, today, I'm glad I did it.

I present my patented hands-free method for doing it all while soothing babies. I have Tessa on my back in my Ergo, and Annie up front in my new Infantino Wrap and Tie (a freebie from Infantino after their Slingrider recall - score!). I'm actually watering the lawn here --- it needed it, the babies were in need of fresh air, and I couldn't stomach The Barbie version of The Three Musketeers again, which was what the girls were watching post-nap today. So, outside we went. The babies caught the attention of more than a few passing cars who did a double take and stopped to chat, and our neighbor Al came out to take this picture.

No need to start that working out I've been thinking about lately. I'll just strap on these weights once a day and I'll be in shape for summer in no time :)

A Love Pat

Minute by Minute

6:00 am - wake up to two hungry babies, delivered to me in bed by my loving husband

6:20 am - carry two squirrelly babies upstairs to greet two big girls up and already watching a cartoon

6:21 am - grab a cup of coffee, set it out of reach of two babies in the center of the coffee table, and proceed to forget about it

6:25 am - change one diaper while Matt changes the other, set up baby gates and start the day

6:30 am - play Words With Friends for a few minutes

7:00 am - say goodbye to Matt for the day :( and really start my day

7:10 am - begin dressing kids

7:30 am - unload dishes from dish rack, take orders for and make breakfast

7:45 am - jump in the shower very quickly to take advantage of the five minutes of quiet that happens while all four are busy eating. Get interrupted twice mid-shower.

8:00 am - arrive back to the breakfast table to find half of the food on the floor, mostly under Tessa's high chair. Locate two chucked sippy cups slowly creating milk puddles on the hardwood floor. Clean floor and clear table.

8:15 am - finish dressing kids, change two more diapers

8:30 am - start a load of laundry

8:35 am - pick up my abandoned coffee cup and trade it for a cold Coke. Quicky toast and butter a bagel, and throw this "breakfast" in the diaper bag, along with essentials for a day at the park with three kids.

8:40 am - Hurriedly put one minute's worth of makeup on and put my contacts in, while Tessa screams outside the bathroom door.

8:50 am - Gather a baby in each arm, my diaper bag over my shoulder, and order two little girls to follow, and head to the car.

8:55 am - Babies are buckled up, Bridget is taking her sweet time to get into her carseat and Megan is buckling herself in, not quite at the pace that we need.

9:01 am - Start the ignition in the van and the time appears on the dash - what?? 9:01?? Late again! Megan needs to be across town by 9:15, otherwise I'll miss the awesome drive-thru service at her school. Without fail, I am always one of the last cars in line. No matter how fast I think things are moving along in the morning, time escapes me and I'm always caught by surpise at the time as we start backing out of the driveway.

I can't think of any way to save time in our morning routine, besides getting up earlier and cutting out the Words With Friends addiction. Neither of these are acceptable options :)

9:16 am - Luckily, the teachers are still at the curb, and Megan hops out.

9:17 am - Head to Golden Gate Park's Children's Playground. Have used up excuses for not going to the park, and Bridget is due. She is ecstatic and the weather is beautiful!!

9:30 am - Arrive at the park, unload double stroller, diaper bag, and a giddy Bridget who wants to be carried in, but not before she uses the potty in the car. Buckle Tessa into the stroller and attempt to transfer a sleeping Annie into the stroller. Failure. Minutes Annie has slept so far today: 20.

9:45 am - Make our way into the park, and Bridget meanders from the toddler slides to the big kid slides, and from the swings to the sand pit. Let babies loose to walk (!) around and explore. See no less than three other sets of twins, and think (foolishly) how neat that I can talk to some other twin moms today. Make that twin nannies. Ah well. Talk to one mom while feeding cheerios to three kids and futilely trying to keep hats on all three heads.

10:30 am - Try to take some pictures of the girls playing. Have camera commandeered by Bridget.

11:00 am - Head back to the car with Bridget riding on the parent cup holder on my stroller. This works surprisingly well. I don't really care what the nannies think about this as I'm leaving.

11:10 am - Load stroller, diaper bag, babies and Bridget back in the car. Wait while Bridget pees again. Change both babies' diapers. Buckle everyone back in and head back out to pick Megan up from school.

11:30 am - Arrive 15 minutes early to wait in the pick-up line. Tessa falls aleep. Bridget reads a book. I play Words With Friends. Peace.

11:45 am - Our turn in line. Megan bounds in. Tessa wakes up. Minutes Tessa has slept today: 15. Megan unloads her backpack and her school pictures fall out!! Woohoo!!

All of the stress of the morning instantly melts away as I get a peek at Megan's first school picture, all smiles. She had this taken a few weeks ago, and I wasn't expecting a whole lot. Although I think Megan is adorable, she doesn't usually turn it on for the camera. So, I was pleasantly surprised at the result:

What a cutie!

Seeing this picture reminds me that Megan is such a kid now, and how quickly it seems time has flown since she was my only baby. It put my chaotic morning in perspective. Our life is crazy, and days can seem unending sometimes, but I have to remind myself to enjoy every moment while they're small!

As for the rest of the day, I'll spare you the minute to minute. This little smile definitely got me through it. (Total minutes slept by babies did not change. It was that kind of day...)