But first, three tiny points of interest:
**The pictures are from a few Sundays ago, when we were just hanging out at home.
**The last time I did a day in the life post, Claire was the age that the twins are now, and the time before that it was my first year teaching 5th grade.
**The good news is that Sam's Tuesday schedule is drastically different this semester. As in, he's actually home sometimes and we get to see him. It's fantastic.
Here we go!
3:15 a.m. Addison starts screaming at the top of her lungs, which I can hear both through the baby monitor and from down the hall. I sleepwalk into her room and give her the pacifier that has fallen out of her mouth and she immediately goes back to sleep. Lincoln snores on four feet away.
3:16 Back asleep
6:00 My alarm goes off. I sit up in bed, do some stretches, and say a prayer. I scroll through social media for a few minutes before remembering I'm trying not to use my phone for the first hour after waking up. I walk out to the kitchen, open my laptop, and answer three emails. I turn in some links for a previous campaign and plan a post for next week.
6:43 I can hear Claire awake in her room and thank whatever brilliant human being invented the Ok to Wake alarm clock. I work for 17 more minutes until I hear, "It's glowing! It's green! It's glowing!" followed immediately by Claire opening her door and padding down the hallway. She announces that it's time to get up, she tells me she did a good job taking a nap last night, and she pulls up her pajama shirt to show me how empty her tummy is.
7:01 I contemplate making a healthy, balanced, wholesome breakfast.
7:02 Rice Chex it is.
7:09 Lincoln starts mooing in his room (I swear the phrase "the cattle are lowing" describes exactly the noises he makes in the morning). I make two bottles and go in to feed the twins. Claire has a gigantic meltdown because I got Addison from her crib before she had a chance to climb in and say hello. She remains prostrate on the floor screaming for four minutes, until she is pacified when I tell her it's bath day.
7:25 The chaos of bathtime ensues. Three piles of clean clothes, three towels, lots of splashing, lots of rubber ducks, one tub that starts out very warm and ends up barely lukewarm, and one screaming baby who got soap in their mouth.
8:04 Three clean babies. All of us play and read books on the floor of the living room. Claire convinces me to play Candyland with her, but abandons the game halfway through because daddy is awake and she would rather follow him around. Somewhere in this morning play time, I post on Instagram and get distracted on Facebook for a while too.
9:30 Sam kisses me goodbye for the day. I feed the babies again and tuck them into their rockers for their morning nap. I change and do an exercise video while trying not to get annoyed by Claire, who is constantly bumping into me as she also tries to do the exercise video twelve inches away.
10:00 I finish my workout and we end by dancing to the Gummy Bear song, as always. Claire giggles more than she dances.
10:02 I walk past my cluttered work desk and think I should clean it. I do nothing.
10:02 I walk past my cluttered work desk and think I should clean it. I do nothing.
10:03 Claire is set up with her Endless ABC app and the babies are still sleeping soundly, so I take a shower, get dressed, put makeup on, and blow my hair dry. I listen to the EO Fire podcast while getting ready, and I also make it halfway through today's episode of Happier and text my friend confirming our playdate today.
10:42 Claire and I do learning time at the tiny yellow table in her room. Today it's a review of the letter we learned yesterday, L. We make playdough Ls and then do some watercolor painting. As I grab the watercolors from my desk I think again that I should clean it. I do not clean it.
11:15 The twins are awake. Another round of bottles + diaper changes. Claire has a snack (yogurt and plain tortilla chips, eaten with the chips dipped into the yogurt). I eat a Fiber One bar.
11:23 I get ready to leave the house. This involves food, diapers, wipes, a few toys, a picnic blanket, and a waterbottle. Then I load both babies into the double stroller and coax Claire into going to the bathroom (convincing her takes a full five minutes). We finally make it to the car, where I buckle all three children into their carseats and then collapse the stroller and put it in the van.
11:39 I vow I will never again leave the house with all three children. Too much work.
11:44 Arrive at the park (14 minutes late - although I did text my friend letting her know we were a bit behind, so she also arrived late and I don't feel quite as guilty). We walk our babies in our strollers and chat while the older children run around on the playground. We decide this park is definitely not our favorite. It's hardly shaded and so small the kids get bored quickly. But still, we have time for a nice conversation about teething and nap schedules and other mom-related subjects that it's nice to chat about with other moms.
12:23 I vow I will continue to leave the house every single day with all three children. So worth it for some good adult interaction.
12:50 I realize it's 12:50 and we say goodbye to our friends. All three of my children fuss the entire drive home. I am also feeling fussy because I'm a little sweaty and I don't like that our days of perfect Arizona winter weather are coming to an end.
1:03 We are all home and unloaded from the car. The twins eat black beans in their bumbos. Claire gets a peanut butter and honey sandwich and strawberries. I eat strawberries and leftovers from this recipe, and think how great it is that my children are young enough to be happy with peanut butter and honey while I eat the good food. We are all happier after we eat.
1:17 Claire convinces me to give her five minutes of phone time before her nap. She watches Peppa Pig while I try to get the babies to read a book with me. Neither of them are interested, although Addison does make a valiant effort to chew on the book and Lincoln makes a valiant effort to steal Addison's pacifier.
1:27 I put Claire down for a nap, but not without two bathroom trips, one sippy cup refill, a search for both green blankies, and an almost-meltdown because I had the audacity to turn on her fan instead of letting her do it.
1:45 Addison is fussing, so I make two bottles, feed the twins, and put them down for their afternoon nap.
2:06 They're all asleep (hooray!) and I have my afternoon quiet time. Afternoon quiet time / work time is the best.
2:10 I pour myself a soda and get some work done. Today, that entails taking pictures of the living room and scheduling social media posts.
2:45 Lincoln starts fussing in his room. I try rolling him over, giving him a pacifier, and adjusting his blankets, but he won't go back to sleep. His fussing gets louder and Addison starts to stir, so I pick him up and we leave the room before she wakes up.
2:46 I have a serious conversation with Lincoln about the importance of a long afternoon nap. He grins his one-tooth grin and gives me a little giggle in return.
2:52 I try to keep working, but he's just so cute sitting there flashing those chubby dimpled cheeks at me that I decide he's officially cut quiet time / work time short today. I make myself a bowl of popcorn and eat it while playing with him and reading my book. It's a pretty great alternative to work time, that's for sure.
3:30 Claire wakes up and we play Candyland together. She wins one round, I win one round, but only by a cruel twist of fate that sends her red person all the way back to the peppermint square at the last second. I've been trying to teach her how to act when she loses a game, and feel proud when she doesn't have a huge meltdown about not winning.
4:03 Addison is awake. Claire has a snack and then wanders to her room to do a puzzle. I chat with Elisabeth on the phone about blogs and brands and life while I unload the dishwasher and change diapers.
4:47 I finally tidy that messy desk, but only because I know I'm recording everything today and people will know if I did it or not. Thank you, readers, for unknowingly keeping me accountable.
5:04 A trip to the mailbox with the twins in their stroller and Claire on her bike. It also turns into a trip to look at the swimming pool and a trip to the park and a trip to the dog park (all within our community), mainly because it's such a nice day, and walking around in the late afternoon sunshine of a 75-degree day is my kind of heaven.
5:49 I make dinner (breaded chicken and roasted veggies) while Claire plays with the magnets on our fridge and the twins have another bottle. We listen to Disney songs.
6:22 Dinner. We have chicken, leftover rice pilaf, and roasted vegetables. This dinner is pretty simple and plain and probably made too often at our house, but we eat it anyway. We often end up eating bagels for dinner on the nights Sam is gone, so I'm counting this a win. The twins sit in their bumbos eating cheerios and steamed carrots.
6:41 The witching hour begins. Lincoln has been awake for way too long and starts crying if I set him down. Addison is also fussy, and Claire is only happy because I let her watch a few minutes of Cars. In the end, I manage to clear the table, sweep the floor, and read one whole verse of family scriptures before all three kids are crying and I declare it bedtime.
7:02 Bedtime begins. Three piles of pajamas, three fussy children, two bottles, one sippy cup, one bathroom trip, and one tantrum because I made Claire turn off the water when she was done brushing her teeth. But then I get to snuggle Claire while I tell her a story ("Firefighter Claire," her favorite story) and rock each baby for a minute before putting them in their crib, which makes me forget all about the tantrums and fussiness.
7:34 All three babies are tucked in their beds. I really want to just collapse on the couch for the night, but I remember how badly I hate waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes and I load the dishwasher instead. I also spend 30 seconds throwing toys in the toy bin and putting pillows back on the couch so the living room is presentable. While I do this, I finish the Happier podcast.
8:01 I chat with Sam on the phone during his evening class break. I try to accomplish more things for work and am reminded that I'm about 5x more productive working early in the morning than late at night. It takes me almost 20 minutes just to edit the pictures I took earlier today.
8:28 I call it a day, and spend the next hour sitting on the couch watching Netflix (I just started Call the Midwife and I think I like it). I also read blogs and browse Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I also paint my nails (this color, which I love).
10:28 I've brushed my teeth, taken out my contacts, and migrated to bed by this point. I have grand plans to be fully awake so I can spend time with Sam when he gets home, but the noises of him coming in and changing his clothes wakes me up so I must have nodded off. I try to chat with him, but honestly cannot remember what was discussed, so I must not have accomplished my goal of being awake or spending quality time with him.
11:52 Addison loses her pacifier and starts screaming, but Sam takes care of it before I'm even fully awake.
And that's a wrap! A day in the life these days.
5:49 I make dinner (breaded chicken and roasted veggies) while Claire plays with the magnets on our fridge and the twins have another bottle. We listen to Disney songs.
6:22 Dinner. We have chicken, leftover rice pilaf, and roasted vegetables. This dinner is pretty simple and plain and probably made too often at our house, but we eat it anyway. We often end up eating bagels for dinner on the nights Sam is gone, so I'm counting this a win. The twins sit in their bumbos eating cheerios and steamed carrots.
6:41 The witching hour begins. Lincoln has been awake for way too long and starts crying if I set him down. Addison is also fussy, and Claire is only happy because I let her watch a few minutes of Cars. In the end, I manage to clear the table, sweep the floor, and read one whole verse of family scriptures before all three kids are crying and I declare it bedtime.
7:02 Bedtime begins. Three piles of pajamas, three fussy children, two bottles, one sippy cup, one bathroom trip, and one tantrum because I made Claire turn off the water when she was done brushing her teeth. But then I get to snuggle Claire while I tell her a story ("Firefighter Claire," her favorite story) and rock each baby for a minute before putting them in their crib, which makes me forget all about the tantrums and fussiness.
7:34 All three babies are tucked in their beds. I really want to just collapse on the couch for the night, but I remember how badly I hate waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes and I load the dishwasher instead. I also spend 30 seconds throwing toys in the toy bin and putting pillows back on the couch so the living room is presentable. While I do this, I finish the Happier podcast.
8:01 I chat with Sam on the phone during his evening class break. I try to accomplish more things for work and am reminded that I'm about 5x more productive working early in the morning than late at night. It takes me almost 20 minutes just to edit the pictures I took earlier today.
8:28 I call it a day, and spend the next hour sitting on the couch watching Netflix (I just started Call the Midwife and I think I like it). I also read blogs and browse Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I also paint my nails (this color, which I love).
10:28 I've brushed my teeth, taken out my contacts, and migrated to bed by this point. I have grand plans to be fully awake so I can spend time with Sam when he gets home, but the noises of him coming in and changing his clothes wakes me up so I must have nodded off. I try to chat with him, but honestly cannot remember what was discussed, so I must not have accomplished my goal of being awake or spending quality time with him.
11:52 Addison loses her pacifier and starts screaming, but Sam takes care of it before I'm even fully awake.
And that's a wrap! A day in the life these days.
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