Monday, March 22, 2010

Cool Rider

Have you guys seen the Grease movies?? I have to tell you, I have loved those movies for years. My favorite growing up was Grease 2. Come to find out as I hit adulthood, these are not the best movies for a youngster to be watching (who would have thought??). Although I will say they are extremely tame compared to today's standards. ANYWAY, one of my favorite songs when I was young was Cool Rider. That is what I have been calling Ella lately. She's a C-O-O-O-O-L RIDER, C-O-O-O-O-L Rider...
My Mom (Ella's Neena) bought a tri-cycle about 6 months ago for Ella, and she couldn't reach the pedals at the time. Well, she can reach them now...WHOA NELLY, WATCH OUT!!! As if I didn't have enough craziness already!! She just L-O-V-E-S it! As you can see, we have been using it indoors because it has been so cold outside. Well, not to disappoint, Ella's Grandma came to visit for Spring Break last week and brought up a REAL bicycle from Ella's cousin Reese (with training wheels of course) and she had a blast with this as well. Thank you, Reese!! It was VERY apparent we needed a helmet, and I am so surprised she loves to wear it too.
Grandma treated us to lots of fun stuff, but one thing worth mentioning is this two-seater wagon that we found at a resale shop...and we LOVE it!! Thanks, Grandma! We were able to sneak in a ride the day before the Spring snow storm arrived.

Molly enjoying the ride
Ella had to be apart of the action, until Molly and Ruby started pulling her hair
And the sweetest pic of Ruby having her night-time bottle. She was SO tired, but hungry too!

Hope you are having a GREAT week!

Happy Monday, Ya'll!

Keep the Faith,

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Quote to ponder...

On my way to the store yesterday I saw this on the marquee in front of one of the churches I pass. I thought I would share.

JOY IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF DIFFICULTIES, BUT THE PRESENCE OF GOD.

It's been a while since I posted. The twins are mobile. They are crawling and cruising everywhere. I'm pretty sure they will be walking in a few weeks. Needless to say, I am even busier than I was before...now chasing after 3 mobile little people. I hope everyone is doing great! I can actually see blue sky outside, so I'm thinking we will be outdoors today.

Happy Thursday, Ya'll!

Keep the Faith,

Friday, March 5, 2010

Show Us Your Life - My Typical Day

Today at Kelly's Korner it is "Show Us Your Life - What is your Typical Day Like?" I have so enjoyed reading about everyone's daily happenings and routines. I am sure this is a TOTAL bore, but I thought I would join in....

Show Us Your Life with Kelly's Korner

If you can't tell, I am a creature of ROUTINE ; )!!! I find there is no other way to get through a day with 3 little ones (2 yr old and 11 month old twins).


5:00-7:00 WAKE-UP
Depends on the day, but normally one of the twins starts calling out around 6:00ish. I get up and make bottles and then bring them both downstairs to eat (If only one is awake, I wake the other so they will be on the same schedule for the day). If one wakes at 5:00, I usually just grab the one awake and bring her to bed with me for an hour. Sometimes they fall back asleep, sometimes they just lay and talk to me. It's funny that they sometimes switch off who is the early bird, but I look at it as my one-on-one cuddle time that is so hard to come by when you have multiples. Ella normally wakes around 6:30-7:00ish. She will lay and cuddle with her baby-doll for a while...I watch the monitor for when she sits up and then I usually go and get her. I bring her downstairs and she has a cup of milk while she watches Mickey Mouse Playhouse. While everyone is having their morning drink, I take 10-15 minutes to get dressed and put on some make-up.

7:00-9:00 BREAKFAST
We have breakfast. While the twins sit in their bouncy seats with a few puffs, I normally fix Ella and I breakfast (oatmeal, cheese toast, yogurt, cereal, etc). When Ella is done, she will usually play or color while I feed the twins. Monday and Friday are our stay at home days, so the girls usually stay in their pajamas and we play after breakfast. On Tuesday-Thursday, I get the girls dressed one at a time and usually get the twins loaded in their carseats. I load the car with bags and then make a few trips to get everyone loaded and in their carseats (this process usually takes about 10-15 minutes)

9:00-11:00 PLAYTIME/NAPTIME
On Monday and Friday, this is play time. The twins usually go down for their morning nap around 9 or 9:30 and if I'm lucky will sleep for an hour. This play time with Ella. We read books, play with toys, color. Lately on Monday and Friday, I am able to grab a quick shower while Ella watches Sesame Street. I also start some of my chores for the day. I have specific chores slotted for each day, so depending on the day I will start laundry, etc. I save time intensive chores for Wednesday when the girls are at MDO or for the weekend when Wes is home.

10:30-12:00 LUNCH
The twins usually wake up from their nap about this time and have a bottle. While they are having their bottle, I usually fix Ella's lunch. Most days we are lucky to see Daddy at lunch time and when he gets home I will make a quick lunch for us. After my lunch, I will then feed the twins their lunch.

12:00 PLAYTIME
After lunch, we usually play for an hour or so before afternoon naptime.

1:00-3:00 NAPTIME
This is afternoon naptime. If we've had a morning out, I try my hardest to make it home in time for naptime. Our household does not function without this naptime. Ella normally falls fast asleep and the twins normally talk, play, and sometimes cry in their cribs for about 30 minutes before going to sleep. If my day had an "early" start, I may lay down myself. This is also when I get a few moments to pay bills, do my bible study, look at the computer, etc.

3:00-5:00 PLAYTIME/SNACK
The twins almost always wake up before Ella. They have an afternoon bottle and when Ella wakes up, I bring her downstairs for some juice and a snack. We then play until about 4:45-5:00 ish when I start thinking about starting dinner.

5:00-6:30 DINNER
I get dinner started and around 5:30 I will feed the twins their dinner. Some days, Ella is hungry for dinner before Wes makes it home from work, so I will feed her dinner. Most days we are eating dinner at 6-6:30 ish.

6:30-7:00 BATH TIME
After dinner, Wes and I take all of the girls upstairs for baths. After bath, we normally play for a little bit before coming back downstairs for the twins night time bottle and Ella's story time. We usually read a few books, play, cuddle and most nights we will Skype grandparents.

8:00 BEDTIME
I put Ella down for the night. We sit and rock for a few minute and say our prayers. The twins have usually finished their bottles and fallen asleep and get taken upstairs for the night.

8:00-10:00 DOWN TIME
After the girls are down for the night, I do the dishes, and Wes and I do a quick tidy of the downstairs area. If I haven't had the chance during the day, I will finish folding any laundry and put it away. This is also when I get things prepared for the next day. Some nights, I get to sit down and prop my feet up with a glass of milk and few oreos while watching DVR'd Barefoot Contessa, CakeBoss, or a new guilty pleasure Housewives of whatever. I then take a shower and am usually in bed by 9:30 ish. I may read a few pages of a magazine and then turn my light off by 10:00.