After so much craziness, life has finally settled into some kind of rhythm with an air of permanence. I'm going to assume that most of adult life is like this - it's not normal to reside in three different states in one year, give birth to twins, graduate college, start a new job, and move far away from my family for the first time all at once. :) So I wonder what to write about, what to share. I settled on a day. Today. That is if I can remember what happened today...
4:00 AM
Peyton starts crying and Aaron gets up to get both babies while I sit up in bed and strap on my nursing pillows, or "throne" as we like to call it. Zoe is waking up and hungry too, just trapped in her dreams for a little longer. Aaron falls back to sleep while I sit and nurse. I can't open my eyes because the sleep glue is sooo sticky. I manage to open one eye and squint to read the time without my glasses. The time is important, I have to give the girls 20 minutes including a break so they eat their fill. They finally finish and fall asleep, arching backs to stretch when I disturb them by re-swaddling and checking diapers. Somehow they stopped peeing and pooping at night, so their diapers are dry. One less step, woot! Now I'm fully awake and I take my babies back to bed, swaddled in separate cribs now. I turn on their music, tuck them in, kiss their heads and go back to bed. They go right back to sleep. I wish I could do this so easily, but when I get a solid 5 hours of sleep, I wake up too rested and I lie awake with my thoughts and growling stomach. Good thing I keep a stash of nuts on my nightstand.
7:30 AM
Aaron's alarm has gone off twice already but I didn't hear it. Peyton starts crying again and I get her and try sleeping and nursing at the same time. Aaron leaves the house at 8 (I wish I could get ready that fast) and brings Zoe in to join our party. After feeding the twins, I usually go back to sleep and take a "nap" - it doesn't happen later in the day. The girls are usually happy or fall back asleep, but today Zoe is not having it. She doesn't need anything other than my open eyes and full attention. Oh well. I'm up, I'm up! Mornings are my favorite. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have two little people rested and happy, so excited to see me.
9:00 AM
I honestly can't remember this part… Usually we play for a bit, I check my phone, I or we do some kind of scripture study and prayer and I get dressed eventually. Today is a workout (and shower) day, so I don a t-shirt and yoga pants. By this time the girls are ready for a nap, so I put them down and I talk to Rachael on the phone while I eat some breakfast and mow our little front lawn. Once they wake up after 30 minutes, I put them in the stroller. I'm feeling energized today, so I decide to run a few miles. The wind is crazy! At one point I'm running after the stroller, then I turn a corner and I'm trudging in order to push against the wind. On the way back, our neighborhood manager drives past and stops to say hi and see the girls. She's a sweetheart and has that southern drawl. I LOVE that southern drawl.
10:30 AM
Okay it is seriously humid. And warm. My face is beet red. The girls are happy when I put them down on the living room rug, so I pick up the used diapers littering the floor throughout the house. Probably 20? I decide shower time is now or never, so I hurry because Peyton is getting that look… I hear both babies start to cry while I am showering, but hey, crying means they are breathing, right? By the time I'm done, their wails are harmonizing. Zoe has turned 180 degrees and Peyton is three feet from where she started. I scoop them both up and set up my "throne" in the living room in order to nurse (with half a hand available). I would prefer to wear clothes, so I set my babies on my bed and they immediately start screaming like they've been abandoned for hours. Great, so no clothes until after they eat. Aaron comes home for lunch while the babies are still eating and doesn't even react to the case of the mom with the missing clothes. I guess weirder things have happened.
Noon
Once my babies have been appeased and I manage to dress myself, Aaron and I eat leftovers for lunch and talk about our search for a dog. Because we don't have enough madness or little things to love… He only stays half an hour, but I love it when he comes. He takes a baby (changes her diaper and puts on her outfit), I eat lunch at lunch time at the table and we talk in adult English language.
Well Zoe is getting more and more grumpy, must be time for a second nap. I read them a story called "Duck". The sweet story throws me off and makes me tear up - the duck finally gets to fly! Haha... Peyton loves the pictures and they both love to hear me talk. Once they're sleeping, I waste time reading articles on my phone reading until I realize this is my chance to take a nap! Why I didn't realize that earlier… I'm just falling asleep and Zoe wakes up. Crossing my fingers, I give her a pacifier and rock her while I lay down. It works! We snuggle and both sleep for a half hour until Peyton wakes up.
2ish PM
Time to eat again. Nursing is easy these days, and the girls are pretty fast. I'm so glad we worked it all out! The twins are very much in sync with each other except in the afternoon. Today, Peyton just needs to be held, but Zoe is happy playing with her toes and cooing to herself on the rug. I play around on the keyboard and sing with Peyton on my lap for a while until she zonks out. I put her down on the couch and play with Zoe. Then Peyton wakes up crying again. She's been extra needy today… I turn on a movie for my entertainment while I hold my babies one at a time. Peyton and Zoe take alternating naps and I manage to cut all 40 finger and toenails. I feed them again at 5.
5:30 PM
Aaron comes home. Today I didn't do anything to start dinner yet, but at least I thought of something! It's tater tot casserole, easy. When Aaron walks in the door, I hand him a baby and we talk and change diapers. We put the babies in their Bumbo chairs in the kitchen and I get dinner started while Aaron mows the back lawn. While dinner cooks we sit outside in the backyard for a bit. The wind is just a little too crazy, and Peyton doesn't like that. She fusses until we go back inside.
6:30 PM
Dinner is ready and we manage to eat dinner while Peyton and Zoe hang out in their bouncer seats. We continue our dog conversation among other things.
7:00 PM
I get in the "throne" one more time to nurse my babies again. They take 45 minutes this time, while we watch an episode of Blue Bloods on Netflix. More snuggles, diapers and jammies. No bath tonight. We swaddle and kiss goodnight, turn on a lullaby, in bed at 8.
8:00 PM
Aaron and I watch another episode of Blue Bloods, then we do some cleaning up. I start writing and he plays his game. We like to sit by each other. Bedtime ritual with more chatter, asleep by 11.
Today is completely typical, yet far from typical. The days are always varied and repetitive. Some days we go out with friends, run errands, Skype with family or experiment in the kitchen. Every day my babies grow bigger and keep learning.
Love,
Lauresa
4:00 AM
Peyton starts crying and Aaron gets up to get both babies while I sit up in bed and strap on my nursing pillows, or "throne" as we like to call it. Zoe is waking up and hungry too, just trapped in her dreams for a little longer. Aaron falls back to sleep while I sit and nurse. I can't open my eyes because the sleep glue is sooo sticky. I manage to open one eye and squint to read the time without my glasses. The time is important, I have to give the girls 20 minutes including a break so they eat their fill. They finally finish and fall asleep, arching backs to stretch when I disturb them by re-swaddling and checking diapers. Somehow they stopped peeing and pooping at night, so their diapers are dry. One less step, woot! Now I'm fully awake and I take my babies back to bed, swaddled in separate cribs now. I turn on their music, tuck them in, kiss their heads and go back to bed. They go right back to sleep. I wish I could do this so easily, but when I get a solid 5 hours of sleep, I wake up too rested and I lie awake with my thoughts and growling stomach. Good thing I keep a stash of nuts on my nightstand.
7:30 AM
Aaron's alarm has gone off twice already but I didn't hear it. Peyton starts crying again and I get her and try sleeping and nursing at the same time. Aaron leaves the house at 8 (I wish I could get ready that fast) and brings Zoe in to join our party. After feeding the twins, I usually go back to sleep and take a "nap" - it doesn't happen later in the day. The girls are usually happy or fall back asleep, but today Zoe is not having it. She doesn't need anything other than my open eyes and full attention. Oh well. I'm up, I'm up! Mornings are my favorite. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have two little people rested and happy, so excited to see me.
9:00 AM
I honestly can't remember this part… Usually we play for a bit, I check my phone, I or we do some kind of scripture study and prayer and I get dressed eventually. Today is a workout (and shower) day, so I don a t-shirt and yoga pants. By this time the girls are ready for a nap, so I put them down and I talk to Rachael on the phone while I eat some breakfast and mow our little front lawn. Once they wake up after 30 minutes, I put them in the stroller. I'm feeling energized today, so I decide to run a few miles. The wind is crazy! At one point I'm running after the stroller, then I turn a corner and I'm trudging in order to push against the wind. On the way back, our neighborhood manager drives past and stops to say hi and see the girls. She's a sweetheart and has that southern drawl. I LOVE that southern drawl.
10:30 AM
Okay it is seriously humid. And warm. My face is beet red. The girls are happy when I put them down on the living room rug, so I pick up the used diapers littering the floor throughout the house. Probably 20? I decide shower time is now or never, so I hurry because Peyton is getting that look… I hear both babies start to cry while I am showering, but hey, crying means they are breathing, right? By the time I'm done, their wails are harmonizing. Zoe has turned 180 degrees and Peyton is three feet from where she started. I scoop them both up and set up my "throne" in the living room in order to nurse (with half a hand available). I would prefer to wear clothes, so I set my babies on my bed and they immediately start screaming like they've been abandoned for hours. Great, so no clothes until after they eat. Aaron comes home for lunch while the babies are still eating and doesn't even react to the case of the mom with the missing clothes. I guess weirder things have happened.
Noon
Once my babies have been appeased and I manage to dress myself, Aaron and I eat leftovers for lunch and talk about our search for a dog. Because we don't have enough madness or little things to love… He only stays half an hour, but I love it when he comes. He takes a baby (changes her diaper and puts on her outfit), I eat lunch at lunch time at the table and we talk in adult English language.
Well Zoe is getting more and more grumpy, must be time for a second nap. I read them a story called "Duck". The sweet story throws me off and makes me tear up - the duck finally gets to fly! Haha... Peyton loves the pictures and they both love to hear me talk. Once they're sleeping, I waste time reading articles on my phone reading until I realize this is my chance to take a nap! Why I didn't realize that earlier… I'm just falling asleep and Zoe wakes up. Crossing my fingers, I give her a pacifier and rock her while I lay down. It works! We snuggle and both sleep for a half hour until Peyton wakes up.
2ish PM
Time to eat again. Nursing is easy these days, and the girls are pretty fast. I'm so glad we worked it all out! The twins are very much in sync with each other except in the afternoon. Today, Peyton just needs to be held, but Zoe is happy playing with her toes and cooing to herself on the rug. I play around on the keyboard and sing with Peyton on my lap for a while until she zonks out. I put her down on the couch and play with Zoe. Then Peyton wakes up crying again. She's been extra needy today… I turn on a movie for my entertainment while I hold my babies one at a time. Peyton and Zoe take alternating naps and I manage to cut all 40 finger and toenails. I feed them again at 5.
5:30 PM
Aaron comes home. Today I didn't do anything to start dinner yet, but at least I thought of something! It's tater tot casserole, easy. When Aaron walks in the door, I hand him a baby and we talk and change diapers. We put the babies in their Bumbo chairs in the kitchen and I get dinner started while Aaron mows the back lawn. While dinner cooks we sit outside in the backyard for a bit. The wind is just a little too crazy, and Peyton doesn't like that. She fusses until we go back inside.
6:30 PM
Dinner is ready and we manage to eat dinner while Peyton and Zoe hang out in their bouncer seats. We continue our dog conversation among other things.
7:00 PM
I get in the "throne" one more time to nurse my babies again. They take 45 minutes this time, while we watch an episode of Blue Bloods on Netflix. More snuggles, diapers and jammies. No bath tonight. We swaddle and kiss goodnight, turn on a lullaby, in bed at 8.
8:00 PM
Aaron and I watch another episode of Blue Bloods, then we do some cleaning up. I start writing and he plays his game. We like to sit by each other. Bedtime ritual with more chatter, asleep by 11.
Today is completely typical, yet far from typical. The days are always varied and repetitive. Some days we go out with friends, run errands, Skype with family or experiment in the kitchen. Every day my babies grow bigger and keep learning.
Love,
Lauresa