Six and a half years, and three kids later

I was searching for something on my blog the other day and ran upon this post (October 2006) where I wrote about a day in the life of a mother of two kids.  I remember that day clearly.  It got me to thinking about my days now.  In some ways, I feel like a new mom all over again.  I know that I had a baby between Eli and Piperleigh but that period only lasted three months out of almost five years.  So, it's been awhile.  Anyway, I thought I'd document my day today.  It's funny really--I don't know that too much has changed. I still feel frazzled and crazy by the end of the day.

January 29, 2013  (three kids later)

Mike woke me up at 6:45 to pray with me.  After praying and giving each other a kiss, he left and I rolled back over to seep for another 15 minutes.  At 7:00 I heard the boys so I said my morning prayers, put on my slippers and a jacket and went downstairs to get breakfast.  Thankfully, the baby slept a little longer than normal this morning (she is usually awake at 7 right when I need to be helping the boys) so I had time to make Isaac's sandwich and make pancakes (from a mix of course because there is no time lately for anything but fast).  After getting the boys settled with breakfast I ran upstairs to get the baby and feed her.  After feeding her I double checked to make sure the boys were all ready--teeth brushed, hair combed, lunch in backpack, homework in backpack, shoes tied, etc.  I turned on the car to make sure it was warm enough (thankful our cars can fit in the garage and I don't have to try and scrape the windows before school).  We said a family prayer and off to school we went--7:55.  I dropped off the boys at school, rushed home and changed the baby's diaper.  Then I found the Batman costume for Eli (they are learning the letter P this week and so the theme was pretending) and loaded up the baby and Eli in the car (forgetting his coat on this cold, snowy day).  I dropped Eli off and got home.  The baby was sleeping.  I left her in her car seat, hoping she would stay asleep while I showered, but knew she wouldn't.  When I got out I heard her wailing downstairs so I threw on some pj's and ran down to get her.  I wrapped her up tight and rocked her for about five minutes then put her in her swing.  I was fairly certain I'd listen to her screams for the next hour but oh my goodness, miracles of all miracles--she went to sleep on her own and didn't wake up ten minutes later.  That is such a rare, rare occurrence.  So rare, in fact, that it worried me and I had to check on her a few times to see if she was actually alive and sleeping.  While she slept I got dressed, curled my hair, and brushed my teeth.  I might even have done some squats, lunges, leg lifts, and other like exercises while I curled my hair (I've got to do whatever exercise I can whenever I can these days).  Then I rushed downstairs, got the dog fresh food and water and ordered pizza and cheesy bread for Will and Eli (and a salad for myself) from Dions.  Will had a special lunch for being chosen student of the month and he requested pizza.  By now it was 10:45 and the baby was still sleeping and I had to wake her up.  It is such a rare thing for her in the day that I dread waking her up when she sleeps.  But, I had to pick up Eli and get to Will's school.  I got her up, put her in the car seat, and drove to Dions where I got our food and then made my way to where Eli had preschool today.  We drove to the school, where I am sure I looked pretty ridiculous trying to push the stroller across the unshoveled parking lot while carrying the food and shepherding Eli into the building.  All while Piper cried, I might add.  After signing us in I walked to Will's class but seeing they were busy at work and the baby was still crying, I choose to just wait in the hallway.  I could see that Piper was not going to stop crying so I went to unhook her and turned to see Will's teacher poking her head out of the door with a quizzical look on her face and I realized that while my back was turned Eli had knocked on the door.  The teacher said they were taking a timed test.  And just then Piper let out a scream at the top of her lungs.  So I'm trying to shush her, and get Eli off the floor.  He decides he needs to go potty so we walk down the hallway to the bathrooms and I wait outside while he goes and try to rock the baby so she'll stop crying.  She doesn't.  Finally, after about a billion times telling Eli to get off of the floor and out of the way of passing classes on their way to lunch, Will's class comes out.  I asked Will to push the stroller for me and he agrees but can't seem to stop running into the girl in front of him with the wheels.  She was very patient...By the time we got into the lunch room there was no room to sit at the special table reserved for the students of the month and their parents so I had Will and Eli go sit with his class and I stood off to the side.  The noise of the lunch room was probably a shock for the baby because she stopped crying and only fussed a few times.  After lunch I deposited the baby back into her stroller where she promptly started crying again and we clumsily made it back out to the parking lot.  But first I had to sign us out.  While putting the badge away and signing out the secretary says, "She doesn't sound happy does she?  She wasn't happy when you came in either."  We got home and Eli immediately started watching a show while I changed the baby's diaper again, wrapped her up, and fed her.  I put her back in her swing and came downstairs to eat my lunch finally.  And now I'm here.  But, the day isn't even half way over yet!  I still have to meet a friend at Hobby Lobby where we are going to get some supplies to make a vintage hairband for the baby, followed by picking up the boys from school.  And since it is cold and snowy, they will have indoor release, which means parking and getting Eli and the baby out of the car so I can get the boys from their classes.  Upon getting home I will need to feed the baby again, help the boys with homework, and make dinner.  Halfway through dinner prep I'll have to drive Will to his sewing class (he asked if he could learn to sew so I found someone in the ward that teaches sewing classes) and then rush home to finish making dinner in time for Mike to eat so he can go to scouts.  Then he will leave and I'll pack up all the kids in the car and go pick Will up.  We will get home and I'll feed everyone (including Piper in there at some point) and send them all off to clean rooms, the basement, and take baths.  After baths we will read scriptures, say family prayer and sing a bed time song.  Then the boys will go off to have quiet time and eventually bedtime, and I'll bathe the baby, change her, and hopefully get her to sleep for the night.  Mike will come home after scouts and home teaching and there may be just enough time to talk to him before we both crash for the night.  And hopefully at some point I'll get the dishes done and a load of laundry.  And then it will all start over tomorrow....

And here it is 7:52 PM and I am just finishing this post, which I started at 1:00 this afternoon.  But, the kids are fed, clean, and in bed.  It's highly unlikely that the basement or their bedroom got clean and I'm fairly certain that the bathroom has huge puddles of water and towels all over the floor.  I did get the dishes done though (but have dinner dishes still to do) but no laundry.  Such is life.  And truthfully, today was a really good, smooth day as far as days go lately.  The baby, who frequently only sleeps one hour (not in a solid block) in a 10-14 hour block, actually took about three one hour naps today.  Her crying was minimal and she went to sleep easily and quickly tonight.  So, a very good day in my book.

Oh, and no, there is nothing about the above pictures that relate to the post but I took the pictures of Piper this week and thought I'd include them.  She IS adorable.