A (not normal) Day in the Life

My friend Shana recently posted a "Day in the Life" of her toddler, Marla, who is just a few weeks younger than B&H. I imediately wanted to steal her idea and do the same for Ben and Hannah. I brainstormed Monday and Tuesday this week and thought about doing it about today - Wednesday. But then Wednesday happened and it was not at all a normal day for us. But, that just makes it all the more interesting, right??

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

6:30 a.m. - Momma's alarm goes off. She snoozes twice. Daddy gets up sometime in that timeframe and starts to ready himself for work. This 20 minutes is some of the best sleep Momma gets all night.

6:50 a.m. - Momma gets up and thanks heavens she showered at night last night. Stumbles downstairs and washes face, brushes teeth, all while hearing chirps, giggles, and apparent jumping up and down in the cribs coming from the babies' room.

7:15 a.m. - Daddy gets B&H up and changes diapers. Momma starts scrambling 4 eggs for them to eat. She chooses to have Muesli for breakfast today, rededicating herself - once again - to Weight Watchers.

7:30 a.m. - Babies are up, changed, and wandering the main floor. Hannah is buckling her highchair and Ben is pushing a grocery cart around. The words "eat" and "milk" finally corral them back to their spots in the kitchen and they begin to clamor for food. Daddy leaves for work.

7:40 a.m. - Eggs are gone and Momma tries to feed babies some strawberries, blackberries, bananas and Cheerios. Everything except Ben's portion of the blackberries ends up on the floor.

7:45 a.m. - Sippy cups of milk are thrown on the floor. Momma pours another cup of coffee.

7:50 a.m. - Ben demands a banana once he sees Momma eating one. So she peels another one and gives him half. He inhales it.

7:52 a.m. - Sippy cups of milk are thrown on the floor.

8:00 a.m. - Babies are banished to play in living room. Momma cleans up kitchen while drinking another cup of coffee.

8:15 a.m. - Momma frantically gets to work on her Moms of Multiples newsletter that was supposed to be done the day before but isn't yet. Editing like crazy, she loses track of time.

8:50 a.m. - LATE! We should be in the car on the way to ECFE by now, yet babies are still in jammies. Corral them in their room and shut the door so they don't escape. Pick out clothes and find something "interesting" (in this case: a tube of diaper rash cream) that will distract them enough to do a superfast change of diapers (both poopy) and clothes.

8:55 a.m. - Strap B&H into high chairs, shove a puree food pouch in their hands and turn on PBS. Cat in the Hat is on - the only distraction good enough to allow me to put on shoes. Stuff purse full of snacks for later. Run one, then the other out to the car. Come back in for cell phone and one last chug of coffee.

9:20 a.m. - Arrive at ECFE just a tad late, but get a GREAT parking spot. Thank the cute 2nd grader who's holding the door open for me and chuckle when he replies "I got in trouble and have to do this every day this week."

9:25 a.m. - Finally arrive in ECFE classroom and greet friends and start to play.

9:40 a.m. - Ahhhh. Separating time. B&H play in the classroom with Teacher Lynn, Teacher Collette and Teacher Tammy. Momma heads off to the parent room for discussion (and more coffee and cinnamon rolls) with Teacher Debbie. Whoops. Off the Weight Watchers bandwagon again.

10:40 a.m. - Drat. Time is over. Back to the classroom to get the kids.

10:45 a.m. - Walk kids to their stroller. Hannah immediately begins putting the buckles in "her" seat together. Ben runs off down the hall and around the corner. Momma trusts that Hannah will not leave until her buckles are done and takes off after Ben. He makes a complete loop around the small wing of the school and we end up back at the stroller.

10:55 a.m. - Shove a puree food pouch in their hands and strap them in the stroller. Head for the elevator, then door, then home while chatting with another twin mom. Head home.

11:15 a.m. - Make lunch while B&H scream at the gate demanding to be let in. Open the gate. Hannah - of course - heads strait for the buckles in her highchair. Ben heads for the cat food. Momma sighs and makes some toast.

11:30 a.m. - Lunch commences. The menu today is cottage cheese (inhaled), strawberries & blackberries (but not the same exact ones from breakfast that ended up on the floor), and veggie burgers. Every.Last.Piece. of veggie burger ends up on the floor - never mind that when we had them last week the burgers were inhaled. Go figure. Milk cups end up on the floor no fewer than 5 times during lunch.

11:50 a.m. - Momma's tired of food getting thrown on floor, so she declares lunch is over and banishes B&H to the living room to play while she cleans the kitchen again.

12:10 p.m. - Whiny babies head to bed for nap. Momma sits down to finally finish that newsletter while (guiltily) watching Days of Our Lives. As soon as the newsletter is sent out, she finds 5 more errors. Ugh. Proofreading and editing is never done.

1:00 p.m. - Head to the basement to start a new load of laundry, fold the existing load of laundry, organize toys and vacuum. Find babies' friend Samantha's missing sock under the couch!

2:00 p.m. - Head back upstairs and put on workout clothes. Intend to go on a long walk with the babies in the nice weather this afternoon. Get sucked into Bejeweled Blitz and play no fewer than 20 rounds while eating more Teddy Grahams than is healthy. Whoops.

3:00 p.m. - Babies begin to stir. Momma goes to get them up, change diapers (both poopy) and put clothes back on.

3:30 p.m. - (not lying. Afternoon diapers take that long!) - Babies get a snack of Pirate's Booty and Fruit snacks, the junk food of toddlers. Momma wolfs down a bowl of Cinnamon Cheerios. Get invites to friend's house to play with their water table. That sounds way more fun than a workout walk so agree and head over there (in stroller, they live nearby).

3:35 p.m. - Get 2 houses away and see a neighbor we never have met before. She comes up and says, "Oh are these the twins?" and gets sucked into a discussion about how old they are, do they walk and talk, how full my hands are, how they sleep and eat, were they born early and did I nurse them (MYOB, lady!). Finally start walking again.

3:45 p.m. - Arrive at friends' house and let B&H run around with Z&K. The two Mommas sit down and gossip. The other Momma notices Ben's eye is red. This Momma chalks it up to getting bomped in the eye with a water toy. All 4 toddlers continue to play.

5:20 p.m. - Bid farewell and head home for supper. Babies melt down and the other Momma gives them puree food pouches to eat on the way home. Whew!

5:35 p.m. - Arrive home and sit in living room reading books.

5:55 p.m. - Reheat Chicken Lo Mein leftovers for supper. Get babies set up for supper and give some cheese to tide them over while Momma dishes up. Ben cries and cries and cries and Momma notices his eye is getting red and poofy.

6:00 p.m. - Lo Mein thrown across the floor. Sippy cups dropped.

6:05 p.m. - Ben continues to melt down and reaches for Momma. She takes him out of highchair and tries to console him while eating Lo Mein. This is a major failure and Ben & Momma both get frustrated.

6:10 p.m. - Daddy comes home. Looks at Ben and says "He's sick!" Momma and Daddy decide Ben needs to go to Urgent Care. Daddy will stay with Hannah and Momma will take Ben. Momma rushes to change his diaper and make a peanut butter sandwich for herself (remember, Lo Mein all fell on the floor). Momma remembers the beds are stripped and throws new sheets on the mattresses quick and lays out jammies for Hannah. Grabs him and heads for the door. Hannah immediately melts down.

6:50 p.m. - Arrive at Urgent Care and check in. We are informed that the wait is up to 2 hours to see a doctor. Sit down with some picture books and call Gaga. She says to go home and take Ben to his regular doctor in the morning.

7:20 p.m. - Go to the check-in place and say we are going to leave. The receptionist looks at Ben and says "Whoa, is his whole face swollen?" I said maybe, he's been crying and she pages the RN that it's an emergency. They get us right in.

7:50 p.m. - Finally see the doctor and in 2 minutes he determines Ben has double ear infections and pink eye and sends us on the way with prescriptions. No chit-chatting here (which the people still in the waiting room waiting for 2 hours probably appreciate).

8:10 p.m. - Arrive at Target for prescriptions. Wander around for 20 minutes while they get the medicine ready. Random things jump in the cart like strawberries, Mr. Bubble, night time diapers, cat food, and monster cookies.

8:25 p.m. - Check out and head home. SO very surprised that Ben isn't konked out asleep by now, an hour after his bedtime.

8:40 p.m. - Arrive home. Change diaper & put Ben in sleep sack (in the dark - praying Hannah doesn't wake up). Administer first dose of antibiotics (easy, he loves medicine) and eye drop (not easy, Daddy has to hold him down). Put Ben to bed.

9:15 p.m. - Ben is still chit-chatting to himself in his crib, but thankfully Hannah is sleeping. Momma heads to the basement to watch TV and eats a piece of cold pizza and a monster cookie. Whoops. Really, really off Weight Watchers plan today. Better rededicate to the plan tomorrow!

10:00 p.m. - Bedtime. Ben finally fell asleep. Whew!


So, a different day for us. Our evenings don't usually have that much action! We usually eat, go for a walk, take a bath, and head to bed. Poor Ben had to trek all across St Paul to get the bad news of pink eye and ear infections.

These mark his 6th or 7th in 12 months and his 4th since January. I am certain tubes are in his future. I feel sad that he'll have to have surgery for that, but I am also relieved that maybe he won't be so sick all the time if we do it!!

I'm tired. Today wore me out. Night Night all!

Momma's Bucket List

For the most part, this has nothing to do with B&H, but I've been thinking about a Bucket List for myself for some time now, and I need a place to corral all my ideas. Since I am the WORST journal-er ever (another one from this January sits nearly empty...), I've decided to start my ideas here.

So, here goes.

1. Run a marathon.
2. Go to Europe.
3. Learn how to French braid.
4. Try a short-hair do.
5. Be on a game show.
6. Buy a lake cabin.
7. Learn how to make home-made pasta sauce.
8. Pay off my student loans. :(
9. Visit all MLB stadiums (if not go to a game in each one, then tour them).
10. Learn how to play the piano - and have B&H learn, too.


Those are my first 10. I am sure I will think of more. What is on your bucket list?

My life as Momma … in 6 words.

I recently saw on one of the parenting blogs I read the challenge to write your life as a mom in 6 words. It's surely based on the Six-Word Memoir, which is fun to read through! Some people are so creative with just six little words.

Well, being the over achiever I am, I have to write more than one. How can I describe nearly 17 months of ups and downs in just 6 words? (This from the lady who, in college, used to decrease the font on papers to 11 or 10 and change the spacing to 1.5 instead of double spacing so my papers didn't appear "too long").


Here are my favorites:

This face made my heart melt.

Twenty little fingers; twenty little toes.

 Why won't they go to sleep?

But it is a good tired. 

Remember the 12 poopy diaper day?

 Hugs and kisses every single day.

They mean the world to me. 

Luckier than I could ever dream.

 Ben is still bald on top.

 

Bubble Exploration

Bathtime is easily Ben's favorite time of day. We can't get that kid out of the water!! We don't often put bubbles in the bath (it was drying out their skin in the wintertime), but when we do, they are SO excited. Tonight, Ben needed to do some Bubble Exploration.

First this....

Then that.

It must not have tasted too bad because he did it again and again. Bubbles are non-toxic, right?

Then, out of nowhere, he started telling me all about it:

Insta-Spaghetti

I made spaghetti for dinner the other night. It was a big hit!

Easter

What a difference a year makes!

Here are B&H at Easter in 2011. They were 4 months old. Notice how excited they were about their Easter baskets. Ha.

Here they are at Easter in 2012. We couldn't even get a decent picture of them! Not that they really understood that the Easter Bunny brought them these new toys, books & sippy cups, but they sure thought they were cool!

Checking out their own goodies

Yes!!! A MN Twins Sippy Cup!

Hey, what's he got?

Ooh, I like that!

Easter this year was great! We had a birthday party for the babies' cousins the day before, so we got to see all the family there. The best part was their BFC (Best Friend Cousin) who is just 2 months older alternating bear hugs to Ben and Hannah. So. Cute.

Sunday itself was a busy day - we aimed to be at church for the 9:00 service. I don't usually make it *anywhere* by 9 a.m. and church is a good 20-25 minute drive away! But we did it, all dressed up and ready to go! We also took the babies into church, something we haven't done since they were about 8 months old. (They usually go to the nursery). We found a great spot to sit in the back and were prepared with toys, crackers, water bottles, etc. They did so super! So proud of them.

 After church we came home for a short Egg Hunt with Grand-Dad and Aunt Dee. B&H were more interested in just walking up and down the sidewalk, though. :) Then a delicious brunch and they went down for a much-needed nap. But not before scarfing down some marshmallows! (I wish I would have taken a picture of that - after the first bite, both B&H got bug-eyed and signed "more more more." Perhaps they've inherited my sweet tooth...)

Found the Bunny!

Hunting with Dee

Found some!

Overall, it was a great day!

A good family shot. It's an Easter miracle!

No, not pointing to Easter eggs...
pointing to the puppy she hears barking.

Best picture of the day: daddy & daughter Easter stroll

Sweet Sixteen (Months)

Oh heavens. I know you think I sound like a broken record, but 16 months ALREADY??! Time is going TOO fast. Slow down; the toddlers are growing out of control!

This month brought lots of adventures - Minnesota Zoo, Minnesota Children's Museum, the park almost every day and playing in our own backyard. We even have taken to letting them walk up and down the block after dinner as opposed to us pushing/pulling them in the stroller or wagon. The way I figure - the more energy they expel, the better they'll sleep, right?

Haha. Ben walks just like the
Grizzy Bear at the Minnesota Zoo!

Hannah crawls in the Bee Hive at the Minnesota Zoo

Water tables at the Children's Museum: Ben's favorite place to be.

Stopping for a snack. (About the only photo of them together I have in months!)

We also got struck with sickness! At the end of March Hannie came down with a bronchial infection and passed it along to Benjo where it showed up as an ear infection (his 2nd in 3 weeks). A round of super-strong antibiotics for both - and Hannie is fine. Ben still has a touch of infection. We're going to try a different route to combat it (using nasal spray and Claritin to clear up his stuffy, runny nose so it stops draining into his ears). If in 2 weeks things don't look better, we'll start talking ear tubes (this latest ear infection was Ben's 5th in 12 months or so). Boo!

Sometimes when you're sick, you need to put your Lovey on your head!

 Ben & Hannah each added some new words this month, too! Ben can say car (comes out like "gaaah" like he's from Boston!), truck ("uck"), "moo" and "ech ech ech" (which is code for bark bark bark). He's also getting better at his "quack" and every now and then will blow raspberries for a horsie sound. Hannah says hi, "ech ech ech" and more (or maybe milk? it comes out "meh"). She's also really into saying "Mommeeeeeeeeee" and "Daddeeeeeeeeeee." Both are babbling like crazy - especially to each other. I wonder if they're creating their own language....?

Also more and more prominent this past month: tantrums and meltdowns. Sometimes I induce them (if I take something away or don't let them do what they want - like walk out into the street). Sometimes they induce them in each other (if they take each others' toys/books). And sometimes, I'm not sure how, they induce them on themselves. Crazy kids!

In a matter of seconds, we go from happy storytime..

To taking Sister's book...

To crying little girl!

Most fun this month, though, is we are really starting to see their individual personalities. Hannah can be a bit sassy, but is so content playing by herself with her babydolls (she's a good mommy!), blocks, or buckles. She's also a HUGE fan of the sand!

Ben is a bit more sensitive - he gets frustrated easily and needs lots of hugs of reassurance. He also has a *bit* of separation anxiety when I drop him off at the daycare at the Y or at church. It only lasts for a few seconds (maybe up to 1 minute) and then he's fine - until I come back! Then he cries like he just realized I was gone! He continues to be SUPER silly, very giggly, and more of a daredevil than Hannah. He's starting to climb on things like his new "bike" (on and off and on and off and on and off.... all afternoon!) and is in constant motion!

Together, though, their personalities and secrety language collide and they can cause TROUBLE! The other day it was super quiet while I cleaned the kitchen. I walked into their bedroom to find this:

Those are my two at 16 months! Love them more and more every day - even on the days when they push my buttons and I can't wait for naptime! :)