A typical day

It's that time again . . . time for another typical day post.  This one is for Tuesday August, 14th. This is what life is like with two almost two year old girls and a 4 month old boy.

7:00  Derrick wakes me up by crying.  I get him out of his crib (he doesn't sleep on the window seat anymore) and feed him on the living room couch.
7:15  Brandon hasn't got up yet so I go into our room and wake him up.  I also take Derrick with to grab the battery charger from the car.
7:18  Lydia is awake.  Brandon makes two bottles and changes Derrick while I hold Lydia.  I've figured out that Lydia needs a few minutes of being held every morning.  Otherwise she whines for it all day long.
7:35  Brandon leaves for work.  Charlotte wakes up and I give her a bottle and change her diaper and Lydia's too.
7:43  Breakfast time for me - sort of.  As soon as I start pouring my cereal the girls decide they want to eat too. They hop up into their highchairs by themselves.  I give them cereal and milk in little bowls.  They are learning to eat with spoons.  Derrick doesn't want to be left out so he starts crying.  I put him in his blue chair on the counter and feed him rice cereal.  When the girls were 4 months old they could care less about eating cereal.  Derrick on the other hand LOVES it. He is so happy to finally eat food along with the rest of us.

7:50  I finally get a bite of my own cereal.  Good thing I hadn't poured the milk yet.  I eat while feeding Derrick, making scrambled eggs, making toast, feeding those to the girls, and planning my day.
8:00 ish  It's Tuesday which means Kenny D is on the radio today.  He is 101.9 The End's movie critic and I've become addicted to his Tuesday and Friday segments.  On Tuesday he does a top five list.  Today's list is Upcoming Teen Fiction movie adaptations.  He also has a website. I finish up breakfast and get the kids  and me dressed and ready for the park while I listen.
8:38  Somehow everyone is dressed and wearing shoes, the girls are in the stroller, Derrick is in the front pack, I have the diaper bag/water pack with me, the girls have sippy cups, Derrick has his hat, and I know where my phone and keys are  . . . . we are ready to go to the park.
  The park is only about 5 minutes away.  It's too hot and Derrick is getting too heavy for me to walk any further.  I've ordered my triplet jogging stroller so soon we should be able to go for long walks again.
  Some how we have the park to ourselves and the girls enjoy running all over without worrying about bigger kids pushing them around.    

There are certain things we do every time we go to the park.  One of them is get a drink.  I always like it when the bench is pushed up against the drinking fountain.  That way I don't have to lift the girls up while trying not to squish Derrick in the front pack.

This is what Derrick and I look like.  I've liked carrying him around like this, but now that he's getting close to 16 pounds my back is ready for him to move into the stroller.  

 Charlotte is kind of a clean freak.  If she finds any trash she knows where to throw it away.

 Charlotte also loves the teeter totter.  It's a good thing she has a twin to balance her out.  She's pointing her finger at me to tell me to get back to pushing the teeter totter up and down.  (She's the boss of our family)

The girls switched spots and then decided to get really adventurous.

Derrick conked out.  He usually sleeps for about 45 minutes at this time of day.

Soon it was time to go home.  The girls don't give me any problems about leaving the park.  It's pretty hot by about 10:00 so they are happy to climb into the stroller and head home.
10:04  Home.  Charlotte needs a diaper change so I lay Derrick on the couch while I do that.  I expect him to cry but he is content to lay there.  That rice cereal must be keeping him full.
    Derrick needs a diaper change too.  As I change him I'm thinking about what to do next. I'm thinking that I'll go clean the girls room.  That all changes as soon as Derrick does something that has never happened in our house before.  He starts to poo while his diaper is OFF!  I freak out and start saying "Eww, Eww, Eww"  which the girls start repeating.
    I decide he's telling me he needs a bath so I get that ready.  The girls are still carrying on with a chorus of Ewws.  They want to get up on the dryer so they can play with his bath water like usual.  But there is poo on the dryer so I don't let them.  They both cry.
10:23   I'm done washing Derrick and put him in a towel.  Right then Lydia falls off of something and starts crying hysterically.  So I go hold her and Derrick.  I hope that Derrick doesn't poo again until I can get him in a diaper.
10:30  Lydia has calmed down somewhat and I can get Derrick in a diaper and dressed.  I want to just turn on the TV and let Lydia watch it, but the Digital box remote has been missing for a little while.  So I have to look for that first.  I think it's under the couch.  I move the couch and find a bunch of Lydia's beloved Phase 10 cards.  But no remote.  
10:38 Lydia gets her head stuck under the couch and starts crying again. This is getting really ridiculous.  I give up on TV and turn on the DVD player which has "The Emperor's New Groove in it."  We all watch that while I nurse Derrick.
11:00  Derrick is done (he's a fast eater) and I'm able to go clean up his mess.  I start a load of laundry among other things.

Charlotte has wandered into her room and is playing with her toys.  (I wont find it until the next day, but the remote is actually stuffed between the quilts on the quilt latter.)

Lydia and Derrick hang out on the couch.  

11:15  Charlotte comes up to me with a tiny little play plate that she like to eat fruit loops off of.  She cries until I give fruit loops to her and Lydia.
11:25  Girls are crying again.  It must be nap time.  I make them bottles and put them to bed.  They are quiet right away (which is the point of the bottles).
    I put Derrick into his bouncy chair and set him by me while I work on the computer on a photoshop project.  I listen to the commentary for the Emperior's New Groove.  Derrick falls asleep while I work.
12:30  Derrick wakes up.  I take a time out and nurse him.
12:40  Then I wrap Derrick up in his swaddling blankets and put him to bed in his crib.  He falls right to sleep.  I wish there was a lever I could pull that would send confetti in the air.  Getting three kids down for a nap at the same time deserves a celebration.  Instead I take the trash out to the dumpster and check the mail.  Then I go back to photoshop.
1:00  I'm at a stopping place and the movie commentary is done.  I pull out my latest book, "The Pixar Touch."  And read that.  (Yes I'm slightly obsessed with the entertainment industry.  One of my dreams is to be a movie producer one day.)  I also eat something.
1:15  I only get a little bit read because the girls wake up.  Thankfully they are happy.  They get diaper changes.

Charlotte helps me with the laundry that Derrick created.  I filmed this movie on another day, but this is what she does every time she helps me with the laundry.

1:24  We go outside to play.  Danielle, my neighbor, has some fabric she is giving away so I go through that while the girls play around.  The girls love to push these chairs around on the sidewalk.

 They push them back and forth and back and forth.

 They also love to draw with Daneille's sidewalk chalk.

 Thankfully, she lets them.  I would hate to have to keep my kids away from all the interesting things on her porch.

2:05  I'm done picking out fabric.  I'm also hungry and pretty certain the girls are too.  So I say good bye to my neighbor and we all go inside to eat.  I also check on Derrick who is surprisingly still asleep.  

2:30 We all have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.  Just as we are finishing eating my neighbor, Alex, walks by the window with his dogs.  The girls see him and hear the dogs and immediately want out of their highchairs so they can say hi.  So we go back outside.  We talk to Alex and walk around the building for a little bit.
3:00  I bring the girls back inside because I'm convinced Derrick must be awake by now.  He's not. (But he is still breathing).  I have reading time with the girls.  We all sit on the couch and look at books together.  Well together is kind of an over-statement.  I look at a book with one twin on my lap while the other twin sits next to me and looks at her own book.  Then the lap twin gets off to find another book and the other twin takes her place.  We do this everyday for about 20 to 30 minutes.
3:30  The girls have lost interest in reading books.  Charlotte sits in a box in front of the TV, points to the TV, and says "Tee."  The remote is still missing so I turn on Emperor's New Groove again.  The girls watch that while I straighten up the apartment.  I also start packing my diaper bag for tonight.

3:48  Derrick finally wakes up and I nurse him. Normally I would watch Anderson Cooper at 4:00, but with the remote gone I have to be happy with Emperor's New Groove.
4:40  Nobody is really paying attention to the movie anymore so I turn it off and start making dinner.  The girls get into their high chairs and I keep them happy with peanut butter spoons and chocolate chips.  Surprisingly they got tired of chocolate chips and wanted out of their chairs.  They wanted to see what I was doing so I put them on the counter.  (This is so not normal! But I needed dinner ready when Brandon got home.)

5:20  Brandon comes home to a chorus of happy cries of, "Dah deee!"  We pull the girls high chairs over to the table and we all eat burritos, rice, and chili.
5:45  We're done eating and we start getting the girls ready to go.  My aunt Cheryl is helping my cousin Hannah learn how to babysit.  Our kids are the guinea pigs.  And we get a free date night.  Everyone is happy.
6:10  Brandon's parents stop by on the way home from work to drop something off.
6:15  Then we all go out to the car and drive to my aunt and uncle's house in Kaysville.
6:35  We drop the kids off and are free for the evening!
7:00  We drive to the Kaysville Theater and get tickets for Men in Black 3.  It's a very funny movie.  I used to hate seeing movies in the theater but now I love it because I COMPLETELY forget about my kids.
9:20  We go back to my aunt's and pick up the kids who had a great time.  Derrick needs to be nursed so I do that before we go.
9:50  We say goodbye and get the kids in the car.  On the way home I call my mom who I plan to visit the next day. I leave a message with my sister Hillary to tell Mom that I'll be out there after dropping Brandon off at work.  Then I look at the clock and realize how late it is.  I do not want to have to repack the diaper bag tonight and get the kids up early tomorrow.  Brandon offers to ride his bike to work so I can go to my mom's later in the day.  I call Hillary again and tell her to tell Mom not to expect me until the afternoon.  (This was a really good idea because I was able to clean my house in the morning.  Plus catch up on some sleep during the kid's nap time.)
10:20  We get home.  The girls are asleep.  Brandon carries them both in and puts them right to bed.  We give them bottles to ensure they stay asleep. We skip the usual bedtime routine.  Derrick stays up while we get ready for bed.  For some reason the palm of his hand is super tickelish at the moment.  I rub it and he cracks up with laughter.
11:00  Its bed time for Derrick.  Only he doesn't understand that. We put him in his crib and he cries off and on for the next 20 minutes.  We read our scriptures and say prayers.  Brandon falls asleep, but I stay up reading until I know Derrick is asleep.
11:40  I'm done with the chapter I was reading so I fall asleep too.
1:30   Derrick is awake again.  I get up and nurse him on the couch in the dark.
2:20   I must have fallen asleep because I'm still sitting on the couch with Derrick who is also asleep.  I change his diaper, put him back in bed, and go to my own bed.
4:00ish   I'm vaguely aware that Brandon gets up with Derrick and feeds him a bottle.
6:30   Brandon gets up to get ready to ride his bike to work.
6:45   Derrick wakes up and I get up to nurse him.
7:00   Brandon leaves.  I consider going back to bed, but the girls wake up a few minutes later and the fun begins all over again.