Parents of quadruplets settle in just in time for Mother's Day

<p>After Ellen Bishop gave birth to quadruplets in September, she and her husband rarely got more than an hour's sleep, but as Mother's Day approached the couple said they've found a melody among the racket of four infants and their siblings.</p><p>Quiet moments come at a premium in the Bishop household. On a recent afternoon, the four infants gurgled and giggled as their 3-year-old sister Hannah rummaged through a cabinet looking for tea bags and 5-year-old Sydney Claire stomped across the living room in search of a hug.</p><p>"We finally feel like we're getting settled," Ellen said.</p><p>Two children are a handful as it is, but when Ellen gave birth to Evan, Garrett, Patrick and Kenneth, the Bishops had to employ the neighbors for help with cooking and grocery shopping just so the couple would have time to feed the babies and change their diapers.</p><p>"It was crazy for a little while," said father Adam Bishop. "The sleep deprivation was tough."</p><p>Added Ellen, "I'm just glad we're at a point where it's not a struggle to get everyone fed."</p><p>Taking a page from Henry Ford, the Bishops set up high chairs like an assembly line and feed the quadruplets from the same bowl. They've also coerced the infants into a normal sleeping pattern.</p><p>Hannah and Sydney Claire have even chipped in, helping hold the infants' bottles or playing with them on the floor. Adam and Ellen are careful not to neglect the older sisters amid the bustle of caring for quadruplets. Just to spend time with the two, the Bishops often bathe the girls or read to them after the toddlers are asleep.</p><p>The couple are developing a rhythm to their child rearing, to the point that Adam and Ellen didn't think twice about taking trips to Florida and Kentucky with the toddlers in tow. Ellen admits, however, that it still takes about 30 minutes to load the gang into the car.</p><p>"I'm late wherever I go," she said with a chuckle.</p><p>Despite having six children, Ellen said she didn't have anything grandiose planned for Mother's Day. In fact, she is quick to point out that Adam is just as integral to rearing the children as she is.</p><p>"It's really a team effort, and we depend on each other," Ellen said. "It takes two for sure."</p><p>But Adam shrugs off any credit: "She's the one in charge of it all. I'm just glad to be a part of it."</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc640)</p>