a day in the life with two 10 month olds, a 5.5 year old, and an almost 3 year old (and a note about dinnertime meals)

I am always interested in what people who stay at home DO all day (ha! because I am one of them!) and while I feel like my days are so crazy busy it is fun to look back on old posts I've made about a typical day and see how they compare to what my life is like now (I had soooo much free time with only two kids but felt like I had none, haha!). I thrive on routine and a decent predictable schedule even though when I think about it, it can definitely be a little mundane but I guess the beauty of it is that I can cater it to whatever I want or need (or feel the kids want or need). This has only been an exciting thing to post about recently like as in two weeks ago since the babies finally started sleeping at night without me having to come in and feed them! Also, I feel like it goes without saying that peppered into every day is a delightful mix of crying, temper tantrums, and cleaning up after messes. Gosh there's so much cleaning and so many messes! This is a typical weekday when Drew is out of town, but honestly it doesn't change too much when he is in town, I just have an extra set of hands for mealtime and we usually divide and conquer the kids a bit better. Anyway.

5:30am The twins usually wake up for their first feeding of the day...it used to be also at 11pm the night before and 2am, but thankfully this last early morning one is the last of the mohicans and I am happy to see and snuggle their little warm bodies. Lo is usually the first to wake up, so I feed him then Lan, put them back to bed... this usually takes about a half hour (because I fall asleep on occasion while feeding!). Sometimes they fall asleep, sometimes they don't or it takes a long time but regardless I usually leave them in their crib unless they are really crying until about 7am. Also, I change into my gym clothes and then go back to sleep for another hour because I'm still adjusting and figuring out this whole "sleep" business.

7am. My alarm goes off, I get a little bit of reading to wake me up then put on my contacts and get ready for the day.... I can usually hear the big kids right when I wake up but thankfully little d usually keeps them in their room till he has to go to the bathroom, around 7:20. I really like that exra 20 minutes of quiet! (and someday I will wake up and actually get to do stuff before my kids wake up!!)

7:30am I help the kids change out of diapers, pajamas and into clothes for the day. We 5 all go downstairs and eat breakfast...big kids usually get cereal or waffles and the babies and I usually go with jammed toast or protein muffins.

8:00am Everyone is fed and sort of helps clean up after breakfast, I nurse the twins and we get on socks and shoes and coats after playing for a few minutes because...

8:20am Load up the car for the 30 minute drive to the gym (someday soon the one by my house will open and it will only be a 7 minute drive!!!). It never takes me less than 5 minutes (I've tried!) to get everyone in or out of the car and I try to plan accordingly. The kids get screen time (d with the tablet and a with the dvd player) because I figure the happier they are, the easier it is to get them to want to support my gym madness)

9am Ideally is when we get to the gym, right when the childcare opens. I drop off the kids, get in a 30-45 min sweat session (usually weights or running, occasionally some yoga), pick up the kids and reload the car for the ride home.

10:20am Is usually when we make it home. I nurse the boys as quickly as possible and get them down for naps by 11.

11am I get a blissful hour off of baby duty (assuming they both decide to nap and havent napped during the car ride) to spend with the big kids, usually legos or some sort of reading or we just play around in the kitchen (little a loves helping me cook!) and we prep lunch.

11:30 we eat lunch. Crazy early, I know, but if I want to eat anything in peace I have to do it... most days recently I swap the dinner plans with lunch since I actually have time to make a meal while the babies nap.

Noon Babies are awake and have lunch. Big kids are playing.

12:30pm We have pickup for carpool (something I am counting down the days until it is over/it stops being so freezing cold because I can't wait to just walk over to school, especially since it takes less time than driving) so I load up the car, drop off the kindergardeners and usually run an quick errand once or twice a week during this time since everyone is already in the car.

1pm we come home (unless we run an errand then it is usually around 2pm), the babies, little a and I hole up in the playroom and just hang out and play until they start getting tired then I start nursing the babies and putting them and sister down for naps...

3:15pm usually the time that all 3 kids are down for naps or at least in their beds. If I'm lucky. I tidy up the house, grab a quick 5 minute shower, and if I am really lucky and got them to bed any earlier I get a 20 minute power nap, but that happens so infrequently I no longer use that point to bribe myself out of bed in the morning because about 90% of the time it won't happen.

3:35pm Little d is dropped off at home after school. We chat for a bit, he gets a snack (I try not to faceplant into the nutella) and I get a little time with my oldest till

4-4:45pm is when all the littles start to wake up from naps. Sometimes earlier depending on 5 billion different factors. We play downstairs and by

5:15pm we are usually starting dinner. I try to wait till 6pm when Drew is in town but when he is out, all bets are off...I try to limit snacks so everyone is hungry and dinnertime goes as smoothly as possible. I have the boys in high chairs and I feed them as I get everyone else's dinner ready, usually by the time I sit down to eat (most of the time I eat standing, so I really try hard at dinner to sit!), Lo is done with dinner, and Lan and the other kids follow suit shortly thereafter.

6pm we play in the playroom back upstairs, and I start baths. I bathe 2 kids at a time right now, so one big kid and one baby. Usually A goes with Lan first and little d bathes with Lo. They all use the same bathwater (what can I say? I bathe them pretty fast), and whoever isn't bathing is back in the playroom.

6:45pm everyone is clean and happily playing together, we read a few books or do some "workouts" till the babies get tired and I nurse them and get them to bed. Usually a crazy amount of fighting ensues between the big kids during this time.

7:30pm Babies are in their beds with the last feeding of the day done (YAY!!!), I pray and talk with the big kids for a bit before putting them to bed.

8pm. I collapse downstairs. FINALLY some peace and quiet time to myself. Butttttt.... the kitchen has to get cleaned, food needs to be prepped, laundry needs to be done, meal plan or grocery list, stuff for my church calling, etc etc. So I usually spend the next two hours doing that.

10pm. IF I can get all my "chores" done I needed to, I will watch a recorded show and usually do my Mutu workouts or get blogging done while I have the TV on in the background. It's probably a terrible habit but I really cannot sit still and just enjoy a TV show anymore because THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO!

11pm Sometimes I make it into bed early and can read for a bit but most of the time I collapse into my bed, always promising myself that tomorrow I will go to bed by 10:30 so I can get a little closer to 7 hours of sleep.... According to my fitbit it never takes me more than 3 minutes to fall asleep. Also I always hit my goal of 10,000 steps on typical days because helloo I never stop moving! It's exhausting but also a relief that my days of insomnia when I was pregnant with the twins are a distant memory. I sleep soooo well and never have trouble going to bed anymore. I remember a quote from some famous person that said if you are not going to bed completely exhausted every night, you aren't working hard enough.

So I may not have any time to have any hobbies other than working out right now but at least I'm working hard, right? haha!

**Side note about dinnertime.... I get asked a lot about what I do for dinner since Drew is frequently out of town. Well I have tried a lot of things over the last 4 years and what it has boiled down to is I make what I want to eat! It's that simple. My kids may eat it, they may not, but at least if I have to have leftovers its going to be stuff I want to be eating! I do occasionally make mac n cheese or ramen with eggs, but once a week at most (because I really can't stand either!). I have found that the more I focus on having well rounded meals, even if it involves a decent amount of prepwork beforehand (chopping and roasting veggies the night before or crockpotting chicken that morning), the happier and more satisfied I am with the meals I am eating. Also I feel wayyyy less guilt about indulging in chocolate just about every day of my life if I have eaten 3+ servings of veggies that day. And since I am not a fan of fast food and I am too scared to go out to a restaurant with my crew, we rarely dine in or eat takeout at a restaurant. So yes, I spend a LOT of money on groceries, I buy a lot of produce that I eat the most of but it keeps me happy and I feel like most of the time, my kids at least are curious enough to ask about what I am eating and have a desire to try it, even if they don't like it. Little d has actually gotten to be a much better and more adventurous eater over the last year, while his sister probably lives off of fairy dust and air as far as I can tell... but it keeps my sanity that I can always save her meal for my lunch the next day ;)