A DAY IN THE LIFE

Here's a quick list of the most common questions/comments I get in public (most of the time not even with all five of the kids which always cracks me up!):

• "Wow! You have your hands full!"
• "Are they twins?"
• "Oh my gosh TWINS! Are they identical?"
• "Do twins run in your family?"
• "Don't you guys know how this kid thing happens?"
• "Are those all yours?"
• "I don't know how you do it!"

I think each one of these could warrant their own blog post, and maybe they will someday, but for today, we're going to focus on that last one ... how do we do it?! 

I would love to say that we have it all together and that we're complete pros at this parenting thing ... BUT, that's unfortunately faaaar from the truth.

Each day presents it's own challenges, and throws us new curve balls (like today when two little girls ages six and four, not naming names, decided to color with PEN all over my baby doll from when I was little while playing sweetly in the basement), and most days I lay in bed at the end of the night and feel guilty about all of the ways I fell short as a mama throughout the day -- lost my temper, didn't read enough books, didn't give enough undivided attention, didn't hold the twins enough, was on my phone when I should've been playing -- I could go on and on ... But, at the end of the day, I also know that we did our best and we're just taking it day-by-day.

So, without further ado, this is a day in my life currently, with five kids, ages six, almost five, 20 months and 13-week-old twins! This will change slightly with summer schedules :)

2:00-2:30 am: The twins typically wake up around this time for a mid-night feed. They sleep next to our bed in bassinets. I grab them, tandem feed them, and put them back in the bassinets. Note: there have been a few times since returning to work two weeks ago that they have slept through the night -- score, daycare, for exhausting them all day!

4:15 am: My alarm goes off. Get up. Wake the twins and tandem feed them. Swaddle them back up and put them back in their bassinets. 

4:45 am: Work out clothes on, brush teeth, hair in messy bun and out the door by 5:00 am.

5:15 am: You'll find me at Farrell's, where I'm on week nine of my 10-week-challenge. Yes, yes I am a crazy person. BUT, my brother (who just so happened to WIN the last 10-week challenge) somehow convinced me this would be a good idea. And, aside from very little sleep, it has been! I'll be doing a blog post later on about my post-partum fitness journey this time around, but this has honestly been the best thing I could've done for myself and our family!

6:00 am: Class ends and I head home.

6:30 am: If one twin isn't awake when I get home, then it's usually not long before one or both of them wake up. I feed them and put them back to sleep.

Sutton greeting me after a workout this past week.

7:00 am: Shower/get ready for work. Joey usually leaves around this time (if he isn't gone already).

7:30 am: Emma, Finley and Beckett typically start waking up. How long it takes to get everyone ready varies day-to-day. I've tried to get better about laying out their clothes the night before to minimize the "Noooo, I don't want to wear that!" arguments ... but that's not always the case. Beckett, on the other hand, well, getting him ready is like changing the diaper of a chicken while blindfolded (or what I imagine that would be like, at least) ... but mama always wins the battle! 

      

8:00 am: Kiddos are dressed, teeth brushed and we head downstairs for a (hopefully somewhat) nutritious breakfast ... hey, there's always a Flinstone multivitamin even if it's donuts, so that counts, right?

Proof that everyone is in fact clothed in the morning.

8:30 am: All five are loaded in the car (and mommy is thus normally sweating profusely). Who knew you could fit so many tiny people into a minivan? #minivanlove

For awhile, we didn't know if they'd all fit, but super dad figured it out!

8:35 am: Drop Emma off at school. Have a great day, love you!

8:45 am: Pull in the parking lot for work and drop the kiddos off at daycare (sooooo thankful for onsite daycare!).

***During the day, I feed the twins every 2 1/2-3 hours. It is SO nice to be able to do this instead of having to be hooked up to a pump that many times a day!***

5:00 pm: Leave my desk to go wrangle up the munchkins (my parents pick up Emma twice a week from school and I work until 5:00 ... the other three days I handle).

5:30 pm: Home and figure out something for dinner. It's usually something very gourmet like chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, or sometimes we get super fancy and do tacos. What can I say, maybe I should have been a chef?

6:00-7:00 pm: Play with kiddos, clean house, do laundry, baths (if bath night) ... Emma and Finley have also had a couple activities this year - gymnastics every Monday night and soccer on Thursdays.

7:00 pm: Beckett heads to bed. Right now he is in a complete daddy phase. I would say for the first 17 months of his life, I put him to bed 99.9% of the time and he wanted no one else but me. Now, he cries for daddy if I even try ... and even though that breaks my heart just a little, I love seeing how much he loves his dada and how their relationship has grown! Putting him to bed consists of reading a book, singing prayers, a little bit of rocking, and a sippy cup of water. He still sleeps in his crib, and if it's up to me, he'll stay in there until he's approximately 10 -- it terrifies me to think of what that little monster man could accomplish once he has the freedom to get out of bed!

Daddy's little buddy.

8:00 pm: Emma and Finley's bedtime. Read books, say prayers, turn on nightlight, kisses and good night! They share a room (and a queen-size bed). Most of the time I am tandem feeding the twins while this is happening ... like this night when Joey snuck a picture without me knowing. 

A typical night with me and my girls.

Once they are in bed, we usually have to go in a few different times and tell them to stop playing and to "go to bed or else...!" I'd say they are definitely asleep by 9:00 pm ... I think.

8:30-10:00 pm: Clean house, dishes, laundry, get things ready for the next day. The twins have also been cluster feeding/fussy during this time (insert eye-roll emoji here), which makes it hard for me to get much done other than sustaining the life of two little humans ... It's also time for Joey and I to catch up on our days, and more recently, to write super inspiring blog posts such as this one ;)

10:00 pm: Swaddle twins, feed them and lay them down for bed!

10:30 pm: I'm in bed and fall asleep approximately .2 seconds after my head hits the pillow. Not sure why I'm so exhausted??

REPEAT.

***

What does your daily routine look like? Any advice for me to make mine more efficient? How long after you had a baby did you feel like you hit a groove with your new normal?

I'm all ears for any advice I can get!