A Day In the Life of a Twin Mom

When people find out I have twins they always ask, "How do you do it?" I don't really have a good answer other than I wake up and take whatever the day brings. We do have somewhat of a routine that we try to follow. Basically we live in 3 hour cycles throughout the day of eat, play, sleep but sometimes the babies miss the memo and have their own ideas for a schedule. I kept a little log today so you can see what a typical day is like for us. It's not too exciting but it's life.

6:00 AM- Lydia wakes up. It's too late for a night feeding but it's too early (for me!) to start the day. After a mini, internal debate, I bring her to bed with me and we snooze until Eden wakes up.
7:20 AM- We are up for the day. Babies have some snuggle time with Daddy while I get a drink, brush my teeth, etc.
7:30 AM- I breastfeed them at the same time.
7:45 AM- Diaper change. Rub the girls down with the delicious smelling, pink baby lotion and get them dressed for the day. I always tell them a scripture story while we get ready. Today was Jonah and the whale.
8:30 AM- Naptime for the babies. I eat breakfast and read my scriptures. Clean the kitchen from last night's dinner.  Throw in a batch of baby laundry. Jump in the shower and get ready for the day.
10:15 AM- Babies wake up
10:30 AM- Nurse
10:45 AM- Diaper change. Tummy time. Put laundry in dryer. Skype with Grandma.
11:30 AM- Nate comes home for lunch. Quick playtime with the babies.
11:45 AM- Naptime
Noon: Nate and I eat lunch together
12:30 PM- Girls wake up. What?!?! It's only been 45 minutes, what are you doing awake? If only one of them wakes up, I soothe her back to sleep. But when both of them wake up early, it's just impossible for me to help them so naptime is over and I prepare myself for grumpy, tired babies.
12:45 PM- Feed the girls applesauce. It's messy business, but they love it!
1:00 PM- Story time. Today featured The Little Engine that Could and Happy Birthday Moon
1:20 PM- Playtime in the baby gym while I throw dinner in the crockpot. This is when the breakdown starts. Fussiness turns to crying and screaming. Change their diapers amongst the tears and get ready to feed them.
1:45 PM- Nurse
2:00 PM- Put babies down for nap. Fold the laundry while they settle down.
2:15 PM- Eden is asleep. Lydia is screaming.
2:30 PM- Lydia is asleep!
2:50 PM- Eden wakes up. I quickly move her into my bedroom so she doesn't wake Lydia up. Give her a binkie and she goes back to sleep.
3:00 PM- Lydia wakes up crying. Give her a binkie and pat her back for 5 minutes.
3:15 PM- Lydia wakes up again. Soothe her again.
3:20 PM- Eden wakes up again. Red eyes and tired cry tell me she is not ready to be up. I lay down with her in  bed and we both fall asleep.
4:15 PM- Eden wakes but still seems tired so I put her binkie back in and she quickly falls back asleep as do I.
5:00 PM- Both babies wake up. Wow! We may have had quite a few interruptions but that was the longest nap they've ever taken!
5:05 PM- Nurse
5:15 PM- Diaper change. Playtime on the floor. Snap some photos of my cute girls for the blog.
5:30 PM- Nate comes home and plays with the babies while I finish getting dinner ready.
6:00 PM- We eat dinner while the girls play in their Bumbos. That lasts about 5 minutes and then we each hold one while we eat.
6:45 PM- Rice cereal for the girls and then clean up their mess.
7:00 PM- Put the laundry away that I started almost 11 hours ago.
7:15 PM- Diaper change. Rub the girls down with lotion and put their pajamas on.
7:30 PM- Nurse
7:45 PM- Bedtime. Go back in the room a few times to soothe.
8:15 PM- Both babies are asleep! Some nights we are are not so successful and there is a lot of crying but tonight was a good night!
8:30 PM- Put the food away from dinner. Contemplate doing the dishes but ultimately decide to save them for the morning like I usually do.
9:00 PM- Sit down and watch the Olympics with my hubby and type this blog post.
10:30 PM- We'll probably go to bed around this time and hope the babies sleep through the night. If they don't, I'll be up around 4:00 AM and then get up at 7:30 AM and do it all again. (Update: My hopes were dashed! Eden had an off night and was up 3 times.)

Bumbo play time

There you have it. A typical day for me. Occasionally, we have an exciting outing to the grocery store and when it's nice out we fit a walk in there in the afternoon. I tried to do the gym in the mornings, but it just threw off the girls' morning nap and made for cranky babies so that's on the back burner for the time being. The days can be monotonous and even tedious, but I remind myself that I am doing the most important work on this earth by doing my best to raise my children. I thank God every day that these little ones have been entrusted to me and I hope I am doing enough for them.

Lydia is trying to steal Eden's toy

Love that Eden is sticking out her tongue for the camera