One of the main things that keeps our family running is a schedule. I know there are a lot of people that say we shouldn't schedule babies and some that swear by it. When I was pregnant I really didn't know how we were going to handle it and were just going to go with the flow and see what worked best for us. To be honest, if we only had one baby we probably wouldn't have had much of a schedule but, it's a necessity with three. It hasn't been hard to keep because the babies have pretty much dictated it themselves. But, it frees up so much time and keeps everyone happy.
So, today we are attempting to go to the zoo with Patrick's Sisters, Sarah and Emily, and my Sister-in-law Aimee and all the kids. It should be very fun and exhausting! Sarah has Keira who's 5 and Riley who's 5 months, Emily has Gavin who will be three this month, and Aimee has Jane who's 2.5 and Timmy who's 1 month today!
7:00 am- Patrick gets up and gets ready for work, Owen starts to wake up and I change him and we cuddle.
7:15am- All the babies are up and changed and hanging out in our bed.
7:30am- Patrick is ready so we carry the babies downstairs and Patrick cooks breakfast.
7:37am- The babies are ready to eat so I get situated on the couch and start with Owen and Declan.
7:49am- Burp and switch, Patrick brings me a plate.
7:58am- Burp and switch
8:10am- All three are done and Patrick leaves for work.
8:15am- I pull out the big mat and lay the babies out with various toys for some playtime and tummy time.
(Declan practicing some pushups, Owen laughing at the hanging monkey, and Evelyn after I pulled a blanket she was playing with off her face.)
8:45am- The babies need to be changed and are getting tired. I changed them all and get them dressed for the zoo and then put them in their car seats because we are going to leave during their nap.
9:15am- They are all asleep so I go and get the diaper bag packed and get myself ready to leave.
9:30am- I grab a morning snack and then get the car packed. I brought the mountain buggy with bassinet because they will be sleeping still when we get to the zoo and will probably want to nap again before we leave. But I am bringing the valco baby too in case they dont stay asleep or dont want to lie down. I also brought 2 ergos, one for me and another just in case.
9:40am- I load the babies into the car and head off to the zoo.
9:55am- We all meet in the parking lot and get all the kids loaded (we have 8!). I successfully transfer all the babies into the bassinet without much movement (thank God they are great sleepers) and bundle them up with some blankets since its a bit cold still.
10:10am- We all make it into the zoo! We let the big kids (Keira, Gavin, and Jane) dictate where we went and it was just great to get out of the house and talk!
11:00am- The babies started to wake up and needed to be changed. We all made a bathroom break and then headed to the cafe that we would eat lunch. Emily took the big kids to the carousel and maze while Sarah, Aimee, and I nursed. This was quite the experience! I have nursed in public before, but not in such a populated area. And now that they are bigger it's not quite so discrete! It took a few minutes to get situated since i didn't have a boppy or anything. I got some looks and comments but mostly positive.
I also just tandem fed Declan and Owen first since Evelyn was pretty content and it would be hard to do the rotation.
11:30am- Emily came back with the kids and we went up to order food. I stayed with the littles since I was still nursing Evelyn.
12:15pm- We all finish lunch and the bigs are eager to get to the petting zoo so we head there next. The babies are wide awake so I put Evelyn in the ergo since she is most content looking around and hanging with mommy and I laid the boys on their bellies in the bassinet and gave them a few toys to play with. (They were loving it and im so happy I brought this stroller instead of the other one! I dont think they would have lasted as long.)
12:25pm- I thought the babies were a bit too small to be around the animals so Aimee left Jane with the others and we took the triplets and Timmy over to a grassy picnic area to relax for a bit. It was great because then the babies could get out and play. I brought a big blanket thinking we would do this and we layed them all down and they loved it!
1:00pm- We met back up and went on to the other side of the zoo. At this point I was carrying Owen since he was fed up with laying down. Evelyn and Declan were just hanging out in the bassinet.
1:30pm- We decided to take all the kids on little puffer train! It goes around most of the park and the big kids were really excited. We parked the strollers and since Aimee had Timmy in his carseat and he was sleeping she just kept him in that on the train and held Declan. I held Owen and Evelyn (and left the ergo in the stroller). They seemed to enjoy it but getting tired and normally I would have already put them down for a nap.
1:50pm- Once we got off the train and got all the babies changed and back in the stroller they fell asleep quickly. The big kids were getting tired too so we started making our way back to the other side.
2:00pm- We stopped in the store so all the kids could pick out a little toy. I got each of the babies a stuffed animal with the help of my nieces and nephew. We picked a baby tiger for Declan, a baby gorilla for Owen, and a baby giraffe for Evelyn!
2:30pm- We said our goodbyes and I successfully loaded the babies into their carseats without waking them up! (I was actually really worried about this and that we would have a rough ride home because we were at the 3 hour mark and I knew they would be getting hungry soon.)
2:50pm- We made it home with just a few squawks towards the end from Owen and I got them all inside and started to change him when Declan woke. I got them both changed and started nursing.
3:07pm- Evelyn woke up. Burp and switch
3:19pm- Burp and switch
3:30pm- Burp and done. I put the babies down on the play mat and we do some more tummy time, talking and singing.
4:15pm- The babies are getting tired again and I change them all and put them down in a crib in their nursery.
4:45pm- They are all sleeping so I go and do some laundry, I am a bit behind since we were out all day!
5:00pm- I start making dinner. Tonight it's Chicken stir-fry.
5:30pm- Patrick gets home and helps with some chores.
6:15pm- We sit down for dinner. We have to eat at this time or else we would never get to!
6:30pm- Owen is up and Patrick goes to get him and changes him. He puts him in the swing to try and buy us some time.
6:45pm- All three are up and hungry. We change Declan and Evelyn and then relax on the couch to try and catch up on tv, (tonight it's the Homeland season 2 finale just in time for the new season to start!) while I nurse.
7:30pm- They are all done and this is their cranky time of night. We try to hold them while we finish the show.
7:45pm- We made it to the (crazy!) end and take the babies upstairs for bath time.
8:30pm- They are all bathed, lotioned, and have clean diapers and pajamas on. We just hang out with them in bed while we watch some more tv.
9:15pm- Owen and Evelyn need to be changed again and then we get ready for one more nursing session.
9:25pm- I start feeding Owen and Declan since they are the loudest.
9:39pm- Burp and switch
9:53pm- Burp and switch
10:10pm- Finally finished. They eat a lot at this feeding to get ready for the night. We change them all again to their night time diapers and swaddle them and put them in their rock-n-plays.
10:20pm- They are all out.
4:41am- Owen is up. He is always first and he slept a long time! They were exhausted from the day. I get him changed and he is usually content with cuddling for a few minutes while we wait. They others are never far behind.
4:50am- Declan is up too so Patrick changes him and I start nursing them.
4:55am- Evelyn gets up and Patrick changes her and they cuddle for a few minutes.
5:02am- Burp and switch
5:14am- Burp and switch
5:25am- Burp and done. We get them all swaddled again.
5:35am- They are all out again.
7:00am- Patrick gets up and Owen isn't far behind. Our day starts all over again!
No comments:
Post a Comment