A day in the life

I feel like my days will look the way they do now forever... but I know they won't, and I want to remember what they were like.

Wake up with a baby on either side of me when Shaun kisses me goodbye as he leaves for work. Drew sleeps in our bed all night, I bring Isaiah in around 6 a.m. to nurse and he falls back asleep and stays there. They had a late night last night and are snuggled together in our bed still sleeping right now (at 9:45!!) It's the best waking up in the world with my snuggly little boys in my arms on either side....

If I have a few minutes while they are still sleeping I check my email, sometimes blog, etc. Once they're up we make the bed, change diapers, and go down to get breakfast. Zion goes out in the backyard and I make either toast/cereal/waffles/smoothies and some kind of fruit. Zion comes back in, and it's a crazy morning of  play either in the back yard or living room or (if I have photos to edit) down in the basement with a movie on for the boys. Some mornings we clean, others we run errands, or I take them to the pool. It no sooner feels like breakfast is over and playing has begun than I feel like I am making lunch.... Isaiah waits in his highchair and Drew keeps playing til the last minute-usually driving around his backhoes or matchbox cars or tractors and "making ines" (making lines- he likes to see the tire marks in the carpet or furniture). Lunch is over and we have maybe an hr til naps. Zion usually goes into his crate so we have a little bit more "relaxed" time... When it's not so hot I take them for a walk in the stroller, sometimes we color, sometimes I get out the baby pool in our backyard, or if they're both entertaining themselves I'll get some work done around the house.

Nap time. My saving grace, but it can also be frustrating at times too... I usually try to get Isaiah down first, but if he doesn't fall asleep nursing I put him in his crib with some toys while I rock Drew to sleep. The hard part is that Isaiah is at the age now where he cries when I leave his room if he is still awake, and I can't stand listening to my babies cry. :( Drew and I usually read a book or I let him choose something to talk about (right now he always wants to talk about the dolphin show we are going to take him to see for his third birthday, which isn't til october, but he is super excited for anyways) Once Drew is asleep I either try again with Isaiah, or if he is already asleep I have some time to myself to clean, start making dinner, make my grocery list/pay bills, make phone calls etc. Once my goals for the day are done I reward myself with relaxation time, either blogging or reading or sitting outside with a glass of tea... it's the little things :) Shaun gets home at a different time every day, but he usually calls me to let me know when it will be. I try to have dinner ready when he gets home, the boys wake up between 4:00 and 5:00, we have dinner around 5:30 ish, I clean up the kitchen while the boys play with Daddy, and then we either head out to whatever our evening plans are or we have family time in the backyard or basement...

Bed time: bath nights for the boys are my favorites, they are so happy and have so much fun playing :) But ordinary nights Shaun and I have an unspoken system... I usually am ready for bed first, I change the boys into pajamas, start nursing Isaiah while Shaun gets ready for bed, then Shaun brushes Drew's teeth, which he gets cars stickers for if he does a good job that night. Then Shaun reads to him, I go lay Isaiah in his crib, lights out, Drew snuggles in my arms and falls asleep too. I am usually back up at midnight, three and six feeding Isaiah, but it only takes him 5 or 10 minutes to go back to sleep.

Sounds pretty ordinary, but this is the life that makes me come alive. I couldn't ask for more. I love spending my days with my little friends, my babies who are growing so very quickly. I feel like I spend the majority of my time feeding and changing them and meeting their needs and fixing boo boos and teaching them and hugging them and helping them and carrying them and holding hands and I end up covered in all kinds of baby foods and tears and runny noses by the end of the day.... but hey, I'm a mom, and possibly the greatest lesson of motherhood is self-sacrifuce. We either learn it willingly or grudgingly, sometimes back and forth between the two. But we learn it none the less, and it's a beautiful thing. :)