Three under three - a day in the life

All THREE of my babies are asleep.  Right now.  At the same time.  *Cue happy dance* so what am I doing?  I'm thinking and being thankful for the madness that has settled into our home since August 28th.  I've seen so many mothers of twins doing these "day in the life" type posts and I'm sure I won't remember much of this time in 10 years... or 10 months so I wanted to jot down what a typical day is like for me on maternity leave.

I'll start at 5:00 AM since that's around when our days start here.

Somewhere between 5:00 - 6:30 AM: The twins start to stir.  I jump up and run to warm the water for their bottles.  Jon gets up and usually grabs Junior first because he's ALWAYS the loudest and the first to be hungry.  I come back with the bottles and unswaddle Rylie so she can start waking up too.  We change diapers and give them their bottles.  Jon heads to the shower while I finish burping and changing the twins.

6:30 - 7:00 AM: Natalie wakes up and comes straight into the twins room.  She wants to see the twins FIRST and kiss them both.  Then we talk about her night, did she sleep well, is she looking forward to school, etc, etc.  She's so happy in the mornings, all the time. :)  She tells them she loves them at least 5 times each and "gets all their sugars".

7:15 AM: I get Natalie dressed and herded into the kitchen for breakfast.  If the twins aren't already back to sleep they come in the kitchen in their bouncy seats and watch the morning chaos from there.

7:45 AM: Jon and Natalie leave for the day.  Natalie goes to "school" and Jon goes to work.  The twins wake up after about an hour or so.  Sometimes they sleep at the same time sometimes they tag team.  Whichever is awake is the who I'm talking to/playing with.

8:00 - 9:00: Laundry!  Oh dear LAWD the laundry.  The twins are both PROLIFIC spitters.  They have NO LESS than 4 wardrobe changes per day (per child) thanks to the occasional blowout diaper and the constant spitting up.  They are HAPPY children but boy are they messy.  At some point Junior starts "asking" for his next bottle.  They eat every three hours during the day and he is like a flipping ALARM CLOCK about it.  He does NOT miss a meal. :)  I warm both bottles, feed Junior then either feed Rylie then pump or feed Rylie while pumping.

10:00 AM: Clean the kitchen from breakfast/dinner the night before, start dinner if possible or just get things cleaned up a bit.  If they are awake - their naps are sporadic at best - they are doing some jungle/play mat time.  They are getting pretty good at entertaining themselves and can go for long stretches of happy, awake time during the day.  It is awesome!  So many big, gummy grins now and the beginnings of a giggle every now and again. 

12:00: Bottles for babies and more pumping, wash bottles, more laundry.  

1:00 PM: Tummy time which always turns into Bumbo chair time because they HATE tummy time.  The bumbo is supposed to be an okay substitute and I can see/talk to/encourage them to hold their heads up in the Bumbo chairs.  This also typically leads to epic spitting up which leads to complete wardrobe changes for both babies.  And sometimes for me too.

3:00 PM: Bottles/Pumping/Changing and if the weather is nice a walk once all that is done.  They love being outside and do very well in the stroller.  I can even tilt them up a bit so they can look around.  Of the 1 hour walk I typically do, they can usually manage to stay awake for about the first 10 - 15 minutes.  This is a sure fire way to get them to take a good long nap.

4:30 PM: Pump again and try to feed the babies a little early so we can welcome Natalie home without too much going on and get through dinner before we need to do it all over again.  I like to be waiting for Jon & Natalie when they come home so they both get a warm welcome.  No crying babies or things to do for at least the first 30-45 minutes, if possible.

5:20 PM: Jon and Natalie get home.  YAY!  We talk about Natalie's day, Jon tries to get a word in edgewise about his day, since I asked, but usually it is just Jon and me smiling at each other while we listen to Natalie talk.  We LOVE it.  Jon takes whichever baby is awake and/or fussing and spends some quality time with each while Natalie and I start/finish cooking dinner.  

6:20 PM: We all eat dinner together at the table and again are entertained by Natalie's constant dialogue.  The twins are either being held by Jon and me or in their bouncy seats, depending on the level of fussing going on.

7:00 PM:  The dishes stay right where they are and we either head straight to the playroom or the living room to do some playing with Natalie.  Reading books, painting, pretending, and playing with the babies. The twins get bottles and I pump again.

7:30 PM: Start getting Natalie in her PJs and get ready for bed.  I read two-four books per night, sing songs, say prayers and she is usually down by 8:00 PM.  While I'm putting Natalie down Jon is playing with the twins doing Bumbo chair time, rocking, feeding, burping, etc.

8:00 PM: Clean the kitchen from dinner, prep Natalie's lunch for tomorrow, fold/put away laundry.  For the first time all day ask and actually get to HEAR how Jon's day was and talk about what the twins were up to that day.

9:30 PM: Start getting the twins ready for bed.  They get their 1 formula bottle for the day at bedtime, we think it helps them sleep longer - and since they are sleeping NO LESS than SEVEN hours/night, we aren't going to mess with a good thing.  Jon changes, swaddles, feeds one baby; I'm doing the same with the other.  We usually have them asleep by 10:30 PM and Jon goes to bed.  I sit down to pump and I'm in bed by 11:30.

2:30 AM: I'm up to pump.  Everyone else is asleep!  The twins are GREAT sleepers!

5:30 AM: We start all over again!

And it is sooooo worth every crazy, busy minute!  Just look at those sweet faces!