Walkers!!

Allow me to introduce our two little walkers!!

Since Annie was the first to perfect this new skill, she can go first. This seems only fair, since Tessa will always be Baby A/the "oldest." So far Annie has managed to wiggle herself into the number one position with the first tooth, crawling, and now walking. That's my Baby B!

Here goes...

Tada!!

She's obviously very proud of herself!

And, now, Tessa's turn:

Lookin' cute,

"Is anyone watching this? Are you getting this?"

and, bam!!

They are both walking, but one is a little steadier than the other. InTessa's defense,she has a little more chub to move around, so she's doing her best!

All of that activity can make a baby tired!! I had to take a picture of this. This is honestly the first time I've ever had a baby fall asleep in something other than what they should be sleeping in. I thought I'd have plenty of pictures like this by now, but none of the girls have ever fallen asleep in the exersaucer, jumperoo or highchair until this shot. I was making breakfast in the kitchen, and came back into the dining room to find Annie like this. Tessa did the same thing the very next day, but I don't have a picture.

Off to chase after these babies!!

Take Me (and 4 Little Girls) Out to the Ball Game!

Last week, Matt coached his big game at AT&T Park against Sacred Heart Cathedral. The two schools have an annual tradition of competing for the Bruce Mahoney trophy. The school that comes out ahead after the three major games of the year (football, basketball and baseball) takes home the trophy. SI won in football, but lost the basketball game, so the pressure was on for Matt to deliver a win for the baseball game. An added twist? The baseball game is played at the Giants stadium, which is an absolute dream come true for the players and coaches alike!

So, like any good coach's wife, I went to support Matt and brought along his good luck charms (all four of them!). I did it last year with 2-week old babies, a 20-month old and a barely-three- year old, so I knew I was in for another adventure. Suffice to say, 2-week-olds are much easier than squirmy one-year-olds!!

What follows is my list of Do's and Dont's for taking four little kids to the "big city" to see their Daddy coach his big game:

Do plan backwards from the game start time of 3:45pm, even though you are absolutely sure you will be late anyway.

Do allow for the 1.5 hours it will take to change diapers, feed babies, dress all four kids and place them in the car.

Do put said children down for a nap before lunch, and convince them of the perks to this plan all morning long to ensure they will go right to sleep, even if it is only 11am. Main perk: Eating lunch at the game - woohoo!! (These kids are easy to please, obviously.)

Do realize that this requires keeping two babies awake until 11am to ensure a window of time when all four are asleep in order to prepare and pack essentials for the game. Since the babies usually take their first nap at 9am, do plan on cranky babies!

Do, as a fun mornimg activity, an inventory of all (insert appropriate school colors here) clothing appropriate for each child and steer said children in the direction of what you want them to wear, all the while letting them think it was their idea.

Do run around like a crazy lady while all four are napping and pack any (but not too many) essentials for the game, including aforementioned exciting lunch! Deposit diaper bag in car to make the exit from the house that much quicker.

Once the kids wake up from their nap (insert the sigh that always comes with the first sound of a little person arising), start getting them dressed in their school colors, and Do be sure to get a group shot of said children (even if some look like they are taking mug shots), mostly because you will not remember any part of this day otherwise.

Upon arrival, Do take pictures of your cute kids outside the stadium.


Once inside, do be sure to pass around those squirmy babies and break out that lunch! (I had a lot of helpers once inside!!)

Do take plenty of pictures of your superstar husband out on the field. (He's the speck coaching third base in this picture.)

Do take more cute pictures of your kids once inside the park, especially when they're out of their seats dancing!

And, upon a WIN!!, be sure to capture the scoreboard showing the 3-2 score.

Do get shots of your kids with their daddy, too!

Lastly, Don't look quite this old and disheveled...and especially...Don't allow someone to photograph you looking this way!

Go Cats!!

Words with the Girls

Since I can now blog from my phone, thanks to the blogpress app, I thought I'd give it a whirl by documenting what came out of the mouths of my babes today.

Motormouth Bridget, peeking her head into the babies' room for the third time while I put them down for their morning nap: "Mommy, Megan's pretending this (princess snack container) has gum inside. Can I pretend I have a black circle on my nose? And can I pretend I'm a different girl? And can I pretend I'm Megan?"

Megan, as I'm checking the car before we go to the park today: "We have four hats for four girls?Why do we have four girls? Oh, because that's how God made us." (enter a content sigh and a happy smile on her face after answering her own question to her satisfaction)

Annie started walking on Friday!!

And, nothing new from Tessa besides more cuddles and lots of laughs.

I can grab pictures from my phone, too! Here's one of all four girls a couple days ago:




-- Post From My iPhone

Coach Daddy

Most people assume that Matt must want a boy when they find out we have all girls, especially since coaching boys is such a big part of his life. He maintains that he could not be more thrilled with his girls. Can you blame him when his girls are so clearly Daddy's girls? And, although they bring their princesses (and sidewalk chalk to draw castles for them) to his games, they're pretty comfortable on a baseball field.

Last weekend, we were all there at the SI Alumni Game where the current varsity team trounced the old-timers who wanted to relive their high school baseball days. While Matt was coaching the boys, I think we was kind of rooting for his old teammates. There was a great turnout of alumni, as well as a lot of future Ignatians in the 5 and under set.

The winning coach and his doting fans:

Even the babies showed their support. They sat in the best seats, too. Without their infant car seats, they now ride in style in their big stroller seats that can face each other. Of course, this seating option allows them to play footsie, which is a nice way to pass the time when you're not so interested in the game.

After the game, Matt took a tractor-load of alumni kids for a spin around the field. For once, not all of the kids in this full vehicle were Matt's -- just some. A nice change.

When Daddy's Home...

our days are a little more fun!

I came downstairs from getting the babies up from their morning nap today to find this scene:

This little slide has been on the patio next to our back door for three years, but it was refashioned into a waterslide for the first time today.

Megan and Bridget approve!

Easter 2010

Someday we'll get a nice family portrait of all of us. Until then, I'm appreciating any opportunity to capture all six of us, crazy as we may appear. This photo was taken after mass and an Easter egg hunt on Sunday. I promise Megan isn't always this unhappy!

Hot Tubbin'

What was once Megan and Bridget's special activity with Daddy has turned into a family affair. The babies have officially been introduced to the hot tub, and they love it! Megan had her own ideas about this change, which is part of the reason she's looking a little put out in this picture. The other reason? The "nice whale" needed to finish telling her a story. The nice whale wasn't me. Just sayin'.

Meanwhile, I had no problem getting a smile from Bridget.

Tessa claimed this little floatie and was content in there for a while.

Tahoe, here we come!

Couch Fun

The babies woke up from their afternoon nap a little early a few days ago, and they had the couch to themselves while Megan and Bridget were still snoozing. I shoved the coffee table into the corner of the sectional, and covered it with pillows, so the babies could roam a little up there without falling off. Playing on the couch is probably the most fun these girls had all week :)


With the couch up against the window, these babies are quickly becoming little busybodies, Tessa in particular!
Of course, all fun must eventually come to an end. This is Annie's favorite face when she feels she's suffered any kind of injustice. The crime this time? Removal from the couch. For now at least, they don't know how to climb back up there. Life will get even more interesting when that skill is mastered...

Musical Car Seats

Tessa and Annie have been using their feet to tell us something for a little while now. (Yes, their feet are obviously adorable, but that apparently was not the message here.) The message was, "We are one now, and we are way too tall and heavy for our infant car seats!! Just look at our feet hanging off the ends of these seats!!"


Here, Annie presents Exhibit A:

Message received.

We spent the better part of Saturday cleaning the van and rejiggering our car seat situation. Like all tasks most people might expect to be able to complete in a reasonable time frame, in our little world with four small kids, this took all day and necessitated a playpen and lots of sidewalk chalk in the driveway, and then a picnic on our front lawn. Simple things are complex here.

First, some last smiles in these seats before we shoved them into the no-man's storage land underneath our house:

I present our newly arranged minivan full of four big-girl car seats, and complete with four big girls (boo hoo!). The babies graduated directly from their infant seats to the Cadillacs of the big-kid car seat world: Britax, and pink to boot. What more could two one-year-olds ask for? These seats were given up without a second thought by Megan and Bridget, who relocated to some cheap seats that came from ... you guessed it: Daddy's car! Although these Cosco Scenera seats represent the other end of the car seat spectrum ($35 from Target compared to the $200+ we spent on each Britax), all that really matters is that these seats were in Daddy's car, and they are obviouly superior and more desirable.

This arrangement gets a thumbs-up from Megan especially, who can now easily tickle the baby sitting next to her - a bonus :) The tickling doesn't produce the desired effect when said baby is sleeping, though. And, speaking of sleeping, the best indicator that everyone's comfy with the new set-up? Kids sleeping in their car seats!

The new layout works perfectly and everyone's happy. (I'm really happy we didn't buy two new Britax seats! Just another example of the kids liking the cheap stuff we have laying around!) Three seats fit better across the back than I thought they would, mostly because the Cosco seats are a little bit narrower. We decided to have the babies sit facing forward since they're at the 1 year and 20 pound mark (okay, so Annie probably has a couple ounces to go, but who's counting?), and they're so much happier that way! We now have one empty captain's chair in the middle row, which we've stowed in the floor of the van to gain some space. It's really easy to crawl in and buckle everyone up now, without having to squeeze behind car seats, and we have a huge space to change diapers, or I can sit there and nurse the babies if necessary. Of course, our little potty has a home in this area too :) This may be the most important seat in the van!

With every change comes a new set of challenges. In this case, without the infant car seats, I'm trying to figure out a system to get the babies out of the house and into the car safely, and vice versa. When they were in their seats, they were heavy, but contained. I could carry both and a couple of bags if necessary. I could set one seat on the lawn while I plopped the other in the van. Now, I'm lucky if I can manage to press the button to open the van door with a squirming baby on each hip. And, once the door's open, I have to set a baby down and make sure she doesn't topple out while I buckle up her sister. Forget the diaper bag or two other kids that either want to be carried or need to be dragged from one location to another. I figure this will be hard for a couple of months until they're walking, and then I can walk out to the car with all of my little ducks walking behind me :)

Lastly, just becasue she's so cute: Megan all smiles after preschool today.