5 Under 6 Tips, tricks, and tales from the trenches... May 14, 2010 By Andrea Evans An Introduction   I cannot begin to count how many times over the course of the last 48 months I have heard that expression.  The open-mouthed looks, the calculations that they are doing in their heads, the strange comments and questions, it has all really become very normal, and expected.  I have 5 children, and the oldest as of the time this is written, has just turned 6 years old.             How our lives came to be this way is a bit of a tale, but surely not that uncommon, although as hard as I try, I can’t think of anyone else I know that has anything close to this configuration.  The oldest, a boy, was born after 9 years of marriage and over 5 years of trying, and my husband and I were thrilled!  The perfectly healthy, toe-headed little wonder came into the world so easily and simply, we considered ourselves completely lucky, and extremely happy!  Over the course of the next several months, we enjoyed being new parents and all the changes it brought to our lives, the good and the bad.  So, it was a bit of a shock when a pregnancy test revealed that we were indeed expecting again, our baby was 4 months old.  Perhaps that is why it was even more of a shock when an ultrasound (one that I scheduled while my husband was out of town) showed two little peanuts, not just one, twins!              The drama the ensued shortly after this is so long and detailed that there are far too many paragraphs, but the long of the short is that 2 little bundles of joy made their way into the world 3 months too early.  Eventually, the twins, both girls made their way home from the hospital to greet their big brother, who turned one on that very day.             As for the youngest two in our brood, it’s far less dramatic.   Our second to youngest daughter was born in April of 2007, and the final chapter of this tale (yet another daughter) was born on June 16, 2009.  So, if you’re counting, we have a total of 4 girls in our family, all under the age of 6, and our oldest son will complete kindergarten next month. Thus, is the short version of how our family ended up where we are today:  slightly crazed, thoroughly tired, and completely happy (well, most of the time anyway).   And yes, of course we have our hands full, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Notice to Reader: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of editor of the article or 219.com. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats