Thursday, October 11, 2007

A day in the life of...

For your amusement, here is what a typical day in our house is like...Of course, all times are approximate since it's all up to the boys!

7-11am: change diapers, fix bottles, Poppa & I feed the boys. We try to keep them awake after eating and play with them, then put them down to sleep before eating at 11. But more often than not, one is awake and two are asleep or vice versa (see below). We take turns watching the boys so I can pump, either can shower, eat breakfast, etc. Think about putting a load of laundry in.

Here's how Charlie really felt about the situation...

11am-3pm: change diapers, fix bottles, Poppa & I feed the boys. They have given us a big long nap at this point, but again, it's a miracle if all 3 sleep at the same time. Poppa gets a much deserved nap at this point. Remember the laundry and actually bring it down to the basement and start a load. Julep, if she's lucky, gets to go out in the backyard for 5 mins while I do laundry. FInd time to pump again. Try to remember to eat lunch. Rob works in the office on his consulting work.
Here's Julep, trying to tell us she needs to go out...

3pm-7pm: change diapers, fix bottles, Poppa & I feed the boys. Again, we try to keep them awake right after and then put them down for a nap before the 7pm feeding. They often have other plans. To keep them awake, I either bathe them (they don't like) or take them for a walk, which of course puts them to sleep. Rob works on schoolwork. Pump, fix dinner, eat in record time. Dinner often includes having each of us bounce a baby in their bouncy seats while eating.
I'm slightly less of a walking freak show when I walk them in a twin stroller and carry one.

7pm-11pm: change diapers, fix bottles, Poppa & I feed the boys, Rob works on schoolwork. We try to put the boys to bed after the 7pm feeding for some nighttime sleep. Sometimes works, sometimes we end up rocking one for awhile. Pump one last time - this allows for the boys to have 2 full feedings each of all breast milk.
9pm-4/5am: Poppa sleeps
11pm-4/5am: Rob & I see eachother for the first time all day. Catch up over a bowl of ice cream. Change diapers, fix bottles, Rob & I feed the boys. Remember there is laundry in the washer. Decide to put it into the dryer tomorrow.
1am-7am: I sleep.
1am-3ish, 6-11am: Rob sleeps
3-4/5am: Rob settles the boys, changes diapers, fixes bottles, he & Poppa feed the boys,
4/5am: Rob takes Julep to the dog park. He has even run errands (no hassle parking in front of the bank at this hour!) and has cooked up chicken for the week to help make dinner prep easier.
5-7am: Poppa settles the boys, naps if they let him
...then we do it all over again!

The day normally contains: 20 dirty diapers, 40ish wipes, 18 bottles, 6 doses of Zantac, 3 crying babies, one neglected dog and a partridge in a pear tree. Things on the to-do list that get moved to the next day: listen to messages on the answering machine, thank you cards, emails/calls, cleaning, our laundry, getting out of the house, etc...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

How can anyone who is so sleep deprived, be so funny! For all your readers, Ginger is totally accurate about the daily routine! All rise above the exhaustion because of their great love and gratitude for the boys. Poppa Bunn and Nana Bunn have been a life savers with their support. Those little Bunnions are precious! Yippee! for their sleeping in until 5 AM!
Grammy Warner

Anonymous said...

You are so brave!!! Just reading about your day makes mine seem like nothing (and I stress enough about dealing with 1 toddler and another one on the way). Love the pictures though, the double stroller and walking the other around...mad kudos to you all!

Anonymous said...

Well things haven't changed much, but yeah for the extra hour after the 11PM feeding. Now if you can just start sleeping that hour. On Wed., Oct.17th CNN had a report about the "superbug" that is often picked up in the hospital. Thank goodness Wesley's wasn't drug resistant. Thanks for the update. It means so much to us. Love, Nanna