What our lives look like right now

First, thanks so much for all the congrats on my last post. :) I really appreciate it! I will do my next post in response to the question about the difference between being an IM and being pregnant!

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I thought it would be interesting to document a little about what our daily lives are like right now. I was thinking the other day I'm going to end up with all kinds of documentation about milestones, etc., but nothing about the day to day. So here's what it looks like for us at the moment.

N & K wake up between 6 and 6:30 most mornings, but I don't go get them until 7. I can usually hear them chatting with each other for a while. This morning I actually heard Nathan say "Uh oh" and it made me laugh out loud in bed wondering what on earth prompted that (he only says it periodically). Right now, with the morning sickness, I usually get up to throw up (lovely!) about 6 because I just can't stay in bed any longer while sick. Then I trudge downstairs to determine what I can eat that I think will stay down that morning. I work on stabilizing until about 7 and then go back up to get them.

When I open the door, Nathan is usually jumping up and down in his crib in excitement. Kenna is waving. And generally there is a profound smell of poo in the air that makes me question how stable my stomach is at that point! I change each of them into clothes for the day, and brush their teeth and hair. I then put one in the crib to wait while I take the other downstairs. I open the door and whoever isn't in the crib knows to walk down the hall to the stairs. I give him/her a "ride" down the stairs then put him/her in the pack n play in the living room to wait for the other. (Repeat process for other one now.) The other then goes in the second pack n play and I'm now free to make breakfast. It's usually 7:30 at this point.

For breakfast we vary between oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, toast and eggs. They generally like all breakfast foods, though scrambled eggs are much preferred to eggs over easy (I do cook the yoke all the way through). I often sing to them while feeding them breakfast. We start every morning with "This is the day the Lord has made", which I hope as they get older becomes meaningful to them as a way to start every day with a grateful heart!

At any meal, breakfast or otherwise, we have several rules:

1. No dropping ANYTHING from the high chair. No food or bottles. If one drops something when it was clearly intentional, they are scolded for it and I turn the high chair around so they can't eat for 2 minutes. (I don't do this if it's an accident.)

2. No spitting EVER. If someone spits food, I promptly put the food back in their mouths and hand them milk. I want to teach them that if they don't like something, they can say "all done" with their hands but they may NEVER EVER spit. And if you don't like something once it is in your mouth, wash it down with a drink! This has really worked well as they rarely spit anymore. Kenna just asks for milk a lot. :)

3. No playing with food. Kenna does this when she doesn't want to eat something sometimes. I just put it on a fork and feed it to her and then she gets going again.

4. If it's possible to eat it with their hands, they self feed. If it is fork food, I put the food on the fork and hand the fork to them, which they put in their mouths.

5. NO whining/complaining. They are free to feel how they want but not free to act how they want! If they are mad or upset, I turn the high chair around immediately and let them know it's OK to feel that way, but it's not OK to make their mommy and brother/sister upset at the same time so they need to fuss on their own. When they stop crying, I turn the chair back. This works GREAT!

6. When they are done eating/drinking, they are asked to hand me their plate and cup. I then present them with a wipe and ask them to wash their hands (they place their hands on it and rub). I clean them up the rest of the way. When they are all clean I tell them it's time to clean up breakfast. They sit in their chairs and watch while I clean up the counter. I describe everything I'm doing and they watch intently (the plate is dirty so we need to wash it...I'm washing the plate with water...look, the plate is all clean! Now the spoon is dirty, let's wash it too...etc.) I'm not cleaning the whole kitchen or anything, just the basics of what we used so they understand eating comes with responsibilities! They are great about watching patiently (and one never gets to be done eating before the other). If anyone does fuss during this process, they are last to go play.

After breakfast I ask, "who wants to go play?" And they both say "pl! pl!" :) I take them from there down to our playroom, which has a gate across it so they are contained. At that point I usually leave them to play independently for 30 minutes so they get used to not always having me there. During that time I eat my own breakfast/check email/etc. I then go play with them for the remaining time until 9 am, which is nap time (but not much longer, Nathan isn't very tired for this nap anymore!). One at a time, I have them walk all the way through the house, to the stairs, climb the stairs and walk down the hall to their room. They know the whole way!

They sleep for an hour and that's when I shower and get ready for the day.

From 10-11:30 we either go back to play in the play room or we'll go on an errand of some kind. Most mornings I'm dying to get out, because truth be told it gets pretty boring being in the playroom all the time. But lately I've been so sick in the morning that we usually play at home instead. Sometimes we'll go for a walk during this time around the neighborhood.

At 11:30-12 is lunch time. They eat just about anything - pasta, toast with jelly, fruits and veggies, etc.

12-12:30 they have more playtime and then they sleep from 12:30-2:30.

2:30-6:30 is the big open window to fill each day. We almost always leave the house during this time. We might go to the park, go on errands, go shopping, go see a friend, do something with daddy if he can take a break from work that day (he works at home).

5:30 is dinner time, then we head upstairs for bath time. I bathe each of them independently while the other waits in the crib. Bryan joins me at 6 and we get them in their PJs and play a little in their rooms. We then turn the lights down by 6:30 and that is their cue it's bed time. Nathan goes from being all wound up to having his head down on your shoulder in one second. It's so cute. We pray outloud on their behalf and then I sing a couple of songs. We put them down and give Nathan "tortue" (his favorite animal, a turtle). He gets a huge smile EVERY time. Kenna doesn't care about stuffed animals at all! We leave the room and close the door. Most nights they don't even make a peep.

Throughout the week this only changes slightly. On Mondays we have a nanny so they are with her (here) all day, but she follows the same schedule, etc. Tuesdays I have them all day. On Wednesday I work in the afternoon and Bryan's mom comes to watch them. (I have them in the morning.) Thursdays I have them all day. Bryan's weekend is Friday and Saturday, and we agreed long ago that we would switch off Fridays having "personal days". Personal days are the key to my sanity. Every other Friday Bryan has the kids all day and those are my "personal days" to just relax or do whatever I want. Every other Friday I have the kids all day so Bryan has a day to just relax. It's a great system. :) Saturday is family day and we do everything together all day. Sunday morning we are at church (kids in the nursery) and then Sunday afternoon is back to normal with me and the kids.

So that is what things look like around here right now!