Little things that make a big difference

Derrick turned 6 weeks old on Sunday May 20th. The next day I celebrated that milestone by bursting into tears and sobbing for an hour and a half.   My emotional outburst was somewhat triggered by Brandon deciding (without consulting me) that it was a good time to train the girls to fall asleep without their binkies.  It was NOT a good time.

I'd actually been cooking for a meltdown since Mother's Day the week before.  Mother's Day itself had been nice - Brandon made me breakfast and dinner.  However, the day after I was left with a bunch of dirty dishes and a whole lot of guilt.  Mother's Day used to be hard for me because I wasn't a mom yet.  Now, it's hard because I'm not a perfect mom yet.

I felt bad because I was mostly hating my job as a stay at home mom.  I like being home with my kids, but I just felt so unappreciated.  No matter what I did it always seemed to end in screaming kids.  We'd go to the park and have a great time, but the girls would be exhausted and ornery when we got home.  Or we'd play a game nicely at home, but the girls would start fighting over something.  Or as soon as I was comfy Derrick would wake up.  And don't get me started on what it does to morale to have kids wake up mad after a nap. The house seemed to always be messy, and cleaning it up took all the time that Brandon and I would like to use for extra projects.

With all this going on it's not surprising that I fell apart.  Once Brandon got me calmed down (He had to tell me he loved me a lot, and remind me how well we usually work together,) we talked about ways to improve the situation.  The first change we made was that I was no longer in charge of dinner.

When Brandon got a job in January I told him he could either have dinner ready when he came home, or a clean house, but not both.  Up until a few weeks ago I had no problem getting dinner ready each night.  But then Lydia decided that she would become completely unhinged every night at 5:00.  Between her pushing on my legs while I tried to cook, and Derrick fussing, making dinner was a huge undertaking.  It was leaving me frazzled and mean by 5:30 when Brandon would come home.

Brandon offered to make dinner every night.  All he asked was that I have the house picked up.  This arrangement was a huge success from the very first night we tried it.  He came home to a clean house, a pleasant wife, and happy kids.  He made dinner while I ran interference on the girls.  Lydia was happy because I would pay attention to her.  After we put the girls to bed we were able to work on projects because the house was already clean.

In addition to rearranging the dinner assignment I made some other changes that have improved the feeling in our home.  One was all toys were banished from the living room.  The toys are still allowed to visit, but their permanent home is now the kid's bedroom.  I moved the toy holder out of the corner and replaced it with pillows.  That area is no longer a toy breeding ground.  Instead it's a quiet retreat.  I found Lydia reading over there the other day.

 Another change was to move the shoe holder out of our bedroom.  We've always kept our shoes in an over the door shoe holder in our room.  But putting the shoes away in there in a timely manner has become a bit of a hassle.  The girls usually aren't allowed into our room.  So if we ever open the door to go in there they instantly zip into the room and start playing with what ever is in sight.  Which is most likely something we are trying to keep away from them.  To save trouble we just never go into our room while they are awake.  Which means our shoes were taking over the living room.

Finally I realized that I life would be better if I made the shoe holder accessible by hanging it on the back of the hall door. I even boxed up some of the shoes I'm not wearing right now (high heels) and now the girls can put their shoes (any anything else) into the lower pockets.  This one change has been wonderful.

It's interesting how much these three little changes have helped me in just a week.  I'm back to hating the title "stay at home mom" more than actually being one.

And I've made notes for Mother's day next year.  To combat the dishes all meals will be served on paper plates.  And to combat the guilt I will read Glennon Melton's "Don't Carpe Diem" blog post.

Lift where you stand

Yesterday I was helping clean the church.  I like to go over and help vacuum because it gives me time to myself.  And I love time to myself.  I also like vacuuming rooms with very little furniture or dirt.  The last thing I had to vacuum was the stand in the chapel.  As I tried to maneuver the vacuum around the piano I remembered this talk by President Dieter F Uchtdorf from back in October 2008.

Some years ago in our meetinghouse in Darmstadt, Germany, a group of brethren was asked to move a grand piano from the chapel to the adjoining cultural hall, where it was needed for a musical event. None were professional movers, and the task of getting that gravity-friendly instrument through the chapel and into the cultural hall seemed nearly impossible. Everybody knew that this task required not only physical strength but also careful coordination. There were plenty of ideas, but not one could keep the piano balanced correctly. They repositioned the brethren by strength, height, and age over and over again—nothing worked.

As they stood around the piano, uncertain of what to do next, a good friend of mine, Brother Hanno Luschin, spoke up. He said, “Brethren, stand close together and lift where you stand.”

It seemed too simple. Nevertheless, each lifted where he stood, and the piano rose from the ground and moved into the cultural hall as if on its own power. That was the answer to the challenge. They merely needed to stand close together and lift where they stood.

I thought about how cleaning the church seems like such a small thing to do - will anyone really notice if this perfectly clean room was vacuumed?  It would be so easy think that my help isn't needed to clean the church.  And yet it is important to do each week.  The cleanliness of the church is maintained and everyone understands that the church should be clean.  

All of our responsibilities are like that.  Some times it seems like all I do is clean the house, wash clothes, and cook food.  And all I get in return are screaming kids.  But I know everything would be a lot harder if I didn't do those things.    

C-Sections, VBACs, and probably TMI

The other day I read a blog post where a women was talking about her C-Section.  She had not been planning on having one and she was upset that it happened.  To read her post click here.*  The fact that she was upset about her C-section reminded me that I'm kind of in the minority because I was, and still am, just fine with my C-section. I figured I should share my experiences with my C-section and my VBAC.  Sorry if there is too much TMI, but I want to let you know what it's all really about.

C-Sections

Part of the reason I liked my C-section was because I knew it was coming.  With twins C-sections are pretty much a given.  Getting both babies head down and then keeping them there is tricky.  I've only known one Mom who delivered her twins vaginally (props to you Kira).  So I started talking to people about their C-sections as soon as possible.  I recommend that every pregnant women a least consider the fact that she might have a C-section.  Knowing the what to expect will make it far less scary when it actually happens.

My mother-in-law was one of my best sources of information.  She also had twins so she really knew what I would be going through. She told me EVERYTHING.  Including the fact that they spread your arms away from your body like you are on a cross.  And then they strap your arms down.  This information freaked me out.  I didn't know if I could handle being in that position.  But when it really happened it wasn't that big of a deal.   My arms really didn't have anywhere else to be anyway. Brandon held my hand and it distracted me most of the time.

During the actual C-section the thing that drove me the most crazy was the curtain that was right in front of my face.  It made me feel really claustrophobic.  And since my body was numb I kind of felt like a disembodied head.

Some people complain that their C-section hurt their initial bonding experience with their baby.  This may or may not be true - I don't know.  All I'll say on that subject is that I didn't really see my babies until an hour after they were born. I didn't hold Charlotte until about 60 hours (yes, as in two and a half days) later.  But I don't feel like I loved my girls any less.  it was a little surreal seeing them for the first time in their hospital rooms because I didn't see them come out of my body, but I still knew they were my kids. And in all honestly the whole hospital experience was surreal.      

There is one aspect of C-sections that I totally cheated on.  The first few days and weeks of recovery are pretty painful.  Thanks to the fact that my babies had to stay in special care I didn't have to take care of them while recovering.  For the first 4 days I'd go over to special care in my hospital gown, help with diaper changes and feeding and then go back to my room.  Then I spent another 14 days living at the hospital and helping take care of the girls. (Here is my typical day post from that time) It was tough but it wasn't as tough as it would have been if I had been at home trying to heal and take care of twins.  I joked that I had a nanny and a maid because the staff took care of my babies and the cleaning lady cleaned my room.

Here are two tips I have to make recovery from C-sections far less painful.  1.  Ask the hospital for a velcro girdle thingy (sorry I don't know the real name).  This will hold your abdomin together so you don't feel like you are splitting open.  2.  The worst pain I experienced was in my sholder.  It was referred pain from gas.  It killed.  My nurse gave me a pill that took care of it.

Part of the blog with the complaining mom says,  "Did you read the part about getting my uterus sliced open? And taken out of my body and then put back in and stapled shut?" To which I reply, "Oh don't forget they first sliced your skin, ripped your abdominal muscles apart, and then sliced your uterus open.  And they also poured salt water in you before they sewed you up.  Oh and they pulled a baby out of you too - which was kind of the whole point."

Yeah a C-section is major surgery - that you are awake for.  It's kind of traumatic that way. But guess what?  Your body heals.  It gets better.  Yeah, you're left with a scar, but it's in an area most people aren't ever going to see.  And even the scar is pretty small.  I would post a picture of my scar, but given it's location (and the fact that I still have a punchy post-pregnancy belly) I'm not that brave.  Instead, here is a picture of a scar I've had on my foot since I was four.

You'll probably have to click on the image so you can see the scar better.  It's in a line down the middle of my foot.  This scar is about half as long and three times as wide as my C-section scar. (Kuddo's to any of you who noticed how long its been since I've had time to paint my toe-nails)

V-BACS

How do I know that your body heals after a C-section?  We'll because 17 months after my C-section I VBACed a 9 lb 2 oz baby without any complications.

First I have to say a huge thank you to all the women and doctors who pioneered the way for people like me to have a Vaginal Birth After a Cesarean.  I especially want to thank my friends Lina and Michelle for sharing the fact that they were able to have successful VBACs.  (Michelle VBACed after TWO C-sections!)  And my doctor was awesome too.  I was worried that I would have to fight with my doctor to even get her to consider doing a VBAC.  Instead, when I first saw her with my second pregnancy she asked, "Do  you want to try for a VBAC?"  And when I saw her for my 6 week post pardum check up she was bragging all over the office for me.  She even stole Derrick for a minute and showed him to all her coworkers.**  

Originally I was scared to do a vaginal birth.  A C-section seemed more appealing, because it was familiar.  And I might have asked for another C-section except for 2 very big reasons named Charlotte and Lydia.  I did not want to spend 4 days away from them while I recovered in the hospital.  And I did not want to come home and deal with a new baby, two 17 month olds, and an incision.  I'm glad I opted for the vaginal birth, because the very first thing Lydia did when she saw me after Derrick was born was jump up and down in my lap - right where the incision would have been.      

I had a spinal block with my C-section (but I always refer to it as an epidural because it sounds less scary) and an real epidural during the VBAC.  Both were kind of intense to get, but sooooo nice once they were in.    In fact I was able to sleep for the last 3 hours of labor before it was time to push.  I was monitored a little more during Derrick's birth than I would have been had I not had a C-section.  But it was worth it.

Before I went into labor I would think about the fact that I would see the baby as soon as it was born.  I knew that I would be able to hold the baby right away.  And honestly I thought, "why would I want that?  He's going to be all gooey and funny colored."  But I'm happy to say that I wasn't grossed out when they put Derrick on my chest right after he was born.  There was a blanket between us that the nurses used to wipe him off.  Once he was mostly clean I was able to put him on my chest for some awesome skin to skin time.

I was able to get up, walk, and go to the bathroom within an hour of giving birth.  With the C-section it took about a day before I could do any of those things.  I did kind of wish they left the catheter in after the VBAC.  I kind of lost sphincter control and had trouble making it to the bathroom in time for a few days.        

I'd say the only downside to a vaginal birth is that you have to sit on the area that is recovering.  And hospital beds do not help this situation.  It seems like every time I got the bed adjusted in a somewhat comfortable way someone would come in and need to examine me.  But the recovery is still faster than with a C-section.  Within a few days sitting is okay and within a few weeks everything is back to normal. Like I said earlier - your body heals.

Having done both I highly recommend vaginal births over C-sections.  But that doesn't make C-sections terrible.  If you have to have one, just go with it.  I think it's good that a lot of labors turn out differently than expected.  It helps you learn quickly that you're a Mom now.  NOTHING is ever going to go exactly like you planned it ever again. The sooner you learn that lesson the better.

* To read a childbride post that I do (mostly) agree with click here.

** I want to share how I picked my doctor.  After I found out I was still having twins I originally wanted a midwife.  But the office I called didn't deliver twins (most don't).  They referred me to the Salt Lake Clinic because all their ob/gyns are women.  When I called to make an appointment the receptionist asked me who I wanted to see.  I didn't have a preference other than whoever had an earlier appointment.  One doctor had an appointment open on the 15th of July, but the other had one open on the 9th.  I took the one on the 9th.  (Yep that's all the research I did, that's how I roll)

When I went to that appointment I was impressed by the modestly of the waiting room.  I didn't feel like I was paying for the building.  What impressed me most of all was how fast the doctor was able to come into the examining room.  I literally was not done undressing when she knocked on the door.

And then over the next two years I found out just how lucky I was to have this amazing, talented ob/gyn partner with me in bringing 3 lives into this world.  I recommend Dr. Allyson Servoss to anyone looking for an ob/gyn.    

Inspiration: Our deepest fear

For the past year I've had a quote from Marianne Williamson taped to my bathroom mirror.  I first heard this quote at my Stake's RS Women's conference.  I loved it the minute I heard it, but I forgot who said it.  I came home and told Brandon about it.  He immediately pulled out his mission quote book and found the same quote in there.  Then a few weeks later it was printed in the branch RS newsletter.  I knew it had to be the quote for this year.  Here it is:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

This past year has been an interesting one for me.  I've done a lot of "hard things," and I think I've succeeded at many of them.  And as I've done these things, and blogged about doing them, I've worried.  Worried that I'm making some of you feel bad, because you haven't done these things.  I worry that you read my blog or see me and want to punch me in the face because I'm succeeding at something you aren't.

But when I have that worry I see this quote.  And I think that maybe I'm helping some of you feel like you can do hard things too.  I'm trying to let my light shine.  I'm trying to be liberated from my fear.  And I'm trying to help liberate you.

PS: This has been the hardest post to write EVER!  I've been evaluating every word and phrase to make sure it doesn't sound arrogant. Paragraphs have been rearranged like crazy.  Half of it has been deleted.  Sorry, if it still sounds arrogant.

PSS: I love reading your blogs, facebook updates, and seeing you in person.  The things that you do give me encouragement.  Please keep them coming.

PSSS: If you want to punch me in the face you might feel better if I tell you that this morning Brandon and I took 3 babies to our regional stake conference broadcast.  It was 2 hours that took every trick in the book to survive.  I'm so glad we weren't sitting by anyone we knew.  

5 Years of wedded bliss AND road trips!

Brandon and I are celebrating our five year wedding anniversary today.  Well, sort of celebrating.  If you count him going to work, and me hanging out in my pajamas until noon with three little babies as celebrating. Tonight we are going out to dinner without any kids so that at least counts as commemorating.  

But compared to what we normally do for our wedding anniversaries this year is a little light.  In fact this is the first May 17th in five years that I will have woken up and gone to bed in my own house.  Let's recap:

2007: Our wedding day  I woke up on the couch in my parents family room.  Brandon picked me and my parents up and we all drove to the Bountiful Temple.  (I had everything I needed to get married in one car so I could keep track of them: Husband, rings, escorts, license, recommends, dress, and Brandon's tux.)  We were married at 9:45 am.  Then we took lots of pictures.  We had a barbeque luncheon in Brandon's parents backyard.  And then went to our hotel in Salt Lake.  (The reception was the next day - I highly recommend splitting the ceremony and reception up like that.)  After the reception we stayed one more night in Salt Lake and then drove down to Ephraim for the remainder of our honeymoon.

2008: Yellowstone  We decided to take advantage our new jeep and go on a road trip to Yellowstone for our anniversary.We spent 4 days and 3 nights there and saw tons of stuff.  We spent all of those nights in our tent at the Madison Campground (Its' the only one open in May).

2009: Southern California We decided to take advantage of the fact that I wasn't pregnant and go to Magic Mountain to ride all the cool roller-coasters. Originally we were going to fly but we'd enjoyed our road trip to Yellowstone so much that we decided to drive.  On our actual anniversary we woke up in Brandon's parents guest bedroom, and went to bed in his sister's guest bedroom. Here is my blog post about that day.  In addition to Magic Mountian we also enjoyed Las Vegas, LA, the Griffith Observatory, Camping on the beach, San Diego, the calico ghost town and so much more. 

2010: Southern Utah  By this time a road trip for our anniversary was pretty much a given.  So we planned a crazy 9 day non stop adventure around Southern Utah.  We saw 5 national parks, 7 state parks, and handful of national monuments.  We put exactly 1700 miles on the jeep.  On our actual anniversary we woke up in Bryce Canyon and fell asleep in Goblin Valley.  Here is the post about that.

2011: Northern Utah A full blown road trip was not in the cards for us this year.  We had 6 month old twins and very little money.  To save money and sanity we opted for a stay-cation.  We did lots of cool things in Northern Utah that we had never done together.  From looking at caves in Wendover, to hiking Ensign Peak, to finding spiral jetty we found tons of things to do.  Even though it was a stay-cation we still managed to put 900 miles on the jeep.  It also rained just about every day.  On our 4 year anniversary we woke up to rain on Antelope island and fell asleep all snug at the Sycamore Suites (we pretended our apartment was a hotel).  Oh and we also did an impromptu 3 hour walk to the Bountiful Temple (which we plan to repeat this Saturday).  Here is the post about that anniversary.

 2012: Colorado  We do plan on road tripping this year - we just have to wait about 6 weeks longer than usual.  And no, we aren't waiting because we have a 6 week old baby (though that thought should have crossed our minds.)  We are waiting because Brandon's work is pretty busy through May and June, and so he couldn't get time off until July.  Soon enough we are going to see my sister in Fort Collins, camp in Rocky Mountain National Park, Drive Pikes Peak, see cool scenery around Colorado Springs, and tons of other stuff.

These anniversary road trips are fun for me because I love spending time with Brandon.  We love hanging out in the jeep together, talking, listening to the radio, and enjoying the scenery.  I love how we work so hard and so well to put up and take down the tent, fix meals, and plan what to see.  I love the jokes we come up with when we are bored.  And I love how we remember these trips with such happy memories.

Weekend Advntures

The five of you who have followed this blog for a while will remember that in the early part of 2010 Brandon and I were BORED! So bored that the highlight of our week was usually a hike somewhere around Logan.  For the rest of you who are new to this blog here is a link to a post about one of those hikes.

Well now we are far from bored, but we've started going on weekly "family dates" to different parks. We pack a picnic dinner and go have fun every Friday night.  This week we took the girls on their first hike. 

First we all had dinner.  The girls are getting better at eating at the table.  

 Then we went hiking,  The girls love blowing on dandelions.

 We went by a little steam.

 I was paired up with Lydia and I learned something new about her personality.  She notices everything.  Rocks, bugs, sticks, berries, seeds, etc.  They grab and hold her attention  This makes her a very slow hiking buddy.

 Charlotte on the other hand is in "go mode" the whole time.  She charged up the trail.

 I was pretty bored with Lydia and Brandon kept try trying to get Charlotte to slow down so eventually we switched who we were paired with.  

 The path narrowed and the plants got pokey so we turned around and played in the sand on a volleyball court.

 Our hike wasn't the only thing we did last weekend.  We also went to Liberty park.  We came prepared with swim diapers and a change of clothes.  The girls played their hearts out in the fountain.

 When they got cold they warmed up with their towels.

 They had so much fun!!!  We are going to have to do this some more.

 Then Brandon's siblings showed up with their families and we had a picnic.  We all went to Tracy Aviary.  I haven't been there since first grade.  A lot has changed!

 I'm not much of a bird person so it's good I got in free with a Mother's day special.  Most of the time I forgot that we were even supposed to be looking at birds.  I enjoyed watching my girls see the birds and interact with their cousins.

 Charlotte and Lydia eventually abandoned the stroller in favor of Bestemor's wagon.

 The peacocks were about the coolest things for me.  I was impressed that they could get into trees.  I thought their natural habitat was a well manicured lawn. (Like I said - I'm not a bird person)

 Everyone had a great time, but soon it was time to go.  Derrick was hungry, the girls were tired, and my parents were going to be at my house to babysit so Brandon and I could go see The Avengers.  So we said good bye and went home.

 The Avengers rocked!!!!!!!!  I could totally geek out and tell you all about how awesome it was, but I don't want to spoil anything.  Lets just say that finally seeing SHIELD's flying fortress was one of the greatest film payoffs ever.  I've been waiting for that moment since Agent Colsen said that he was with SHIELD in the first Iron Man.  I was so excited when that happened that I fell off the couch.

I told Brandon that we need to make seeing the big summer blockbuster a Mothers Day tradition. Speaking of Mothers Day traditions I got my first ever child craft gift from the girls/their nursery leaders.

 The girls were exhorted from their big weekend, but we didn't want to totally screw up their sleep schedules by putting them to bed after church.  So instead we too them on a walk and they fell asleep anyway.  It worked out that my brother called me from his mission while we were walking.  So I was able to talk to him without four little hands trying to grab the phone.

It was a great weekend.  I can't wait for the next one (especially since we will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary.)

Inspiration: Leave it like it is

About two weeks ago the girls were "helping" me in my room.  They found a box of screws that Brandon had left on one of his tool shelves.  My first thought was, "when will Brandon learn that he needs to put things like this on the higher shelves?"  I thought about the stern reminder that I could give him when he came home from work. Didn't he understand that the girls got into EVERYTHING within reach?  Didn't he understand that the girls screamed bloody murder whenever I tried to take things like this away from them?  

And then as soon as those thoughts went through my mind I had another thought.  In four months Brandon will be gone for a while.  His tools will stay in their places on the shelves unless I move them.  The girls wont be unlatching his tool box, pulling out his mud trowel, finding his rope, or getting into the screw box.  And that thought made me sad.  As nice as it will be to not worry about the girls breaking his tools - I'd rather have Brandon around.  

So I let the girls play with the screws.  They put them in piles on the floor, then moved them to piles on my bed, then put them back in the box, and then put them in piles on the floor again.  I went and made bread while they were distracted.  

While I worked on the bread I thought about how fleeting everything is. The words to "Leave it like it is" by Cherrie Call kept running through my head.  The song is all about the way I was feeling.  In a few years the kids will be in school and I'll be working. All I'll have left are the memories of this time.  I think that's why I blog so much.  I want to remember all the silly little things that happened during this part of my life.  

In that spirit here are pictures from the last two months set to "Leave it like it is."

Another Typical Day

Once again another 3 months has passed and it is time for a post about everything that I did within 24 hours. This time it is for Monday May 7th.  As you read this post, please understand that I am not super mom.  Monday's just happen to be my most productive day of the week.  By Thursday I'm usually trying to sleep on the couch while the girls watch movies.  And yesterday . . . well I had a minor emotional breakdown in the morning, so Brandon called in sick to give me a break. (Hey, I've been doing this on my own since Derrick was a week old- I deserve a break!)    

6:40 am   I wake up to Derrick's cries.  I get up, go into the living room where he sleeps now, and feed him on the couch.

7:10   Brandon gets up and starts getting ready for work.  Derrick's done eating and falls back asleep so I head back to bed.

7:30   Brandon kisses me goodbye and goes to work.

7:55   All the babies are waking up.  The girls each get a bottle.  Derrick gets a diaper change.  Then both girls get their diapers changed.  I turn on the radio to the Chunga and Tysen show on 101.9 The End.  These guys help get my day started everyday.  The eight o'clock hour is my favorite.  I start a load of laundry because Monday is my laundry day.  

8:12   I have a bowl of raisin bran and Lydia decides she wants to eat too.  I put the girls in their high chairs and feed them bananas and scrambled eggs.  

I update my to do list for the day/week.  Washing laundry is the highest priority.

8:30   Derrick has been chilling out in his swing (he basically lives in this thing when he is awake)  He starts to cry, but I can't feed him because the girls are still in the high chairs. I clean off the counter while I wait for the girls to finish.

8:33   Lydia signs that she wants out (Hands up).  I get her out and she starts rocking Derrick.

8:34   I decide Charlotte is done so I get her out too.  She and Lydia play around the apartment while I nurse Derrick.
9:00  Done nursing.  The girls smell poopy so everyone gets another diaper change.
9:08  Derrick is fussing like he is ready to be wrapped up so I get him all swaddled and lay him in his bed. The girls find the box of shoes that are too big for them.  They have fun pulling all the shoes out.

I put in another load of laundry.  Derrick is awake, but calm.

The girls and I start cleaning their room.  We go on a binkie hunt behind their cribs and find six binkies.  They want to play in the scooted out cribs.

9:35   We take a break when the girls decide they want to get dressed.  Then it is back to cleaning.  The girls help put away their books.  

9:54   Charlotte takes an empty box into the kitchen.  She comes back to get me so she can show me how she gets in and out of it. Lydia wants a box too so I find her one.  They both sit in their boxes.

10:30  The room is clean and even vacuumed.  Derrick has drifted off to sleep.  Everyone is doing well so I decide to move onto cleaning my room. The girls love when they are allowed in my room. They like to get on my bed and thumb through my old scriptures.

They also like to help with the laundry.  Here is Lydia putting dirty clothes into the dresser drawer.

Then she started putting the piles of sorted dirty clothes back into the laundry basket.

Charlotte helped clean off my desk.

11:00  Lydia has joined Charlotte on the desk and is starting to attack my craft boxes.  Thank goodness it it time for Sesame Street.  The girl's favorite part of the whole show is actually the list of sponsors at the beginning.  They shriek with happiness while watching those.  I vacuum the bedroom.

Then I start emptying the dishwasher.  This is much more interesting than whatever is happening on TV so the girls come help me out.  

11:21  Lydia and Charlotte both go over to their chairs and want to get in.  This means it is time for lunch.  They have peanut butter on bread and apples.
11:30  Derrick wakes up.  The girls aren't close to being done eating.  I change him and then nurse him a little bit to make him happy.

11:43   Girls done eating.  I can really nurse Derrick now. The girls watch Elmo's World.
12:00   Super Why comes on.  This shoe blatantly reuses footage and it drives me nuts.  But the girls like the songs.  So we keep watching it while Derrick eats.
12:19  I'm completely done with the nursing/burping routine.  I'm also the only one still watching Super Why.    I gladly turn off the TV.  I start another load of laundry
12:30   It is time to put the girls down for a nap.  They cry a little bit when I put them in their cribs.  But they must like having freshly washed bedding.  By the time my 5 minute timer goes off they are quiet.  I put Derrick into his little chair. I have a baked potato for lunch.  I go online to move money from our tithing savings account to our checking account to cover the tithing check we paid on Sunday.  I also quickly check e-mail and facebook.
1:00   I've been bouncing Derrick in his chair with my foot.  He fell asleep like that.  

I move him into his crib.  I finally get dressed for the day (I had to wait for my load of jeans to be dry)

1:15  Everyone is fast asleep so I run the garbage out to the dumpster and check the mail.

1:20   It's naptime for me too.  I put my sign up on the door so I wont get any wake ups from well meaning visitors.  (We don't have a huge problem with this  -- I just would hate to have my sleep interrupted)

1:35  My nap is short lived because Derrick wakes up.  It's okay though because I was really just laying there thinking about our upcoming trip to Colorado in 6 weeks.  While I nurse Derrick I call the place we are staying in Colorado Springs and extend our stay another night so we have more time to enjoy the area.  I also call my sister, Emily, and tell her when to expect us to visit her during the vacation.  Derrick goes back to sleep during this.

1:35  I get off the phone when I hear Lydia awake and crying - I hate when she wakes up crying.  Charlotte joins in and then so does Derrick.  Crackers make the girls happy and a diaper change helps Derrick.  I also nurse Derrick so he will sleep during our walk.  I put in another load of laundry.  When I go into my room to get more clothes I find Charlotte sitting at my desk.  It's so cute!

3:00  We all go on a walk to the park.  The girls ride in their twin stroller and Derrick rides in the Mobi wrap on my chest.  (Yes, I get lots of strange looks)  Charlotte loves to slide.

And Lydia loves to swing.  I usually spend a lot of time going back and forth between them.

But sometimes they both like to swing.

And they both like to slide.  Actually, lately Lydia has decided it's too much effort to climb the stairs to the slide.  She just climbs onto the bottom of the slide and pushes herself off.  She even says "weee" while she does it.  

Thankfully, Derrick is content to sleep on my chest.

The girls also love to climb this wall, but they don't go to the top.

And they love to play in the sand around this thing that looks like a volcano.

They also like to climb in and out of the volcano's windows.

4:40  Eventually it's time to go home.  I nurse Derrick while the girls entertain themselves by pushing boxes around the house.
5:00  Earlier in the day I decided we'd have an easy dinner tonight. That way I could put more energy into laundry and cleaning the bedrooms.  So I start making my favorite easy meal - Lynn Wilson Burritos with rice and beans.  I'm glad it's easy because both Lydia and Derrick are crying.  Derrick wants to be held. Lydia is hungry.  Charlotte is content and just keeps pushing her box around.
5:20  Brandon comes home and we have dinner.  The girls love this meal and eat a lot.

5:45  Brandon and I relax on the couch while the girls jump onto the couch from boxes.

6:00 We have Family Home Evening.  This is how is usually goes:  We sing Popcorn Popping (the girls know most of the actions) and Do as I'm Doing.  One of the girls "says" the prayer.  Then we have Announcements and  discuss different things that are happening this week (this is my favorite part).  The girls usually wander off by this time.  Then we read a section or two from the For Strength of Youth pamphlet.  The girls usually wander back and want to get into Brandon's lap while he reads.  Don't be deceived by how perfect this picture looks.  The night we took this picture he stopped and started reading the heading for one of the sections about 5 times before everyone happy and well situated. 

6:30   Then it's time for every one's favorite part - Time to make the treats!

We always make something to satisfy our sweet tooth's.  Tonight it is brownies from a recipe I got at a RS dessert night exchange (Thanks Steffani!)

The girls love helping and they love licking the spoons.

7:15  The brownies are done and we enjoy eating them.  After eating their brownies the girls play around.  I nurse and then just enjoy holding Derrick while Brandon helps out the girls with their little random needs.

7:45  The girls are getting pretty ornery.  It's time for bed!  We get them into their pajamas then put them in bed with their binkies.  Brandon and I sing them a song, read a chapter from the Book of Mormon, read a page from the conference issue of the Ensign, write in their little journal, and say a family prayer.  Usually they calm down while we do that.  But not tonight.  They cry loudly through the whole routine.  As soon as we are out of the room I tell Brandon that he's in charge.  I head out to do some grocery shopping.

8:05  Before I can trust myself driving to the store I have to relax a little.  So I just sit in the car and enjoy the silence.  Then I drive to the store and then continue to relax in the car - it's so nice to be alone.  eventually I go into the store and get the shopping done.

9:00  I come back home to a quiet and clean house.  Brandon says the girls fell asleep within minutes of us leaving them alone. Derrick followed soon after.  Brandon, being the stud that he is, cleaned up the kitchen and living room.  Brandon and I get everything ready so I can take the kids to my mom's house the next day.  Everything has to be packed in the jeep tonight so we don't have to do it early the next morning.

9:35  I take a shower.  And then we relax and enjoy the fact the kids are all asleep.
10:15  Derrick wakes up.  Brandon stays up with me and we watch Seinfeld while I nurse Derrick.
10:35  Derrick is basically done eating, but he's no where near ready to go to bed.  So we watch the Simpsons
11:05  30 Rock entertains is while we wait for Derrick to get tired.
11:35  Derrick is pretty close to asleep.  We stay up for the Late Late Show because we love Craig Ferguson.  By the end of the monologue Derrick seems almost asleep.  We put him down on the window seat and head off to bed.  He cries a little bit in protest, but we don't care.

12:00  By midnight everything is quiet.  (Check out the fact that Lydia is sleeping in the exact same position as she was during naptime - that's really random)

2:30  Lydia wakes up.  This hasn't happened for at least a week and a half.  Brandon gets up, makes her a bottle of warm milk, changes her diaper while she drinks the bottle, and puts her back to bed.  (At least that's what I assume he does - I fall back asleep as soon as I know it isn't Derrick)

4:45  Derrick wakes up.  I nurse him on the couch without TV because by this time it's so late it's early and I'm not ready to watch any Wake up in the morning TV.

5:15  Derrick falls back asleep so I sneak back to bed without changing his diaper.

6:15  Though some strange coincidence all three kids wake up at the same time.  And the girls are WIDE awake. We suspect they know they are going to Grandma's today.  Brandon gets the girls ready while I feed Derrick.

7:00   I get dressed and have breakfast.

And that is 24 hours in my life with 18 month old twins and a one month old baby boy.