A Day in the Life: Two Child Edition

Because, you know, I’m the first person in the history of the world
to juggle two entire children. Surely you want every last detail. (I’ll justify it by saying that one of my readers, Aleta, actually emailed to see if I was planning to do one (I hadn’t even considered it, but you can bet I jumped right on the wagon).

I actually tried to do it a few weeks ago, but I seriously lacked the brain power to make it happen. When I sat down at the end of the day, there were whole chunks where I thought, “What did I even DO? What were my children doing?” I must be a little less sleep-deprived now, because I was actually able to remember my own life.

This was last Monday, February 4th, and I woke up in the morning and thought, “Today is the day I’ll do my post about my day” so I was paying fairly close attention to remember the details. And it just happened to be a pretty smooth day, in large part because Ani napped so well. The next day, she refused to nap for more than 45 minutes at a stretch, and then required extensive rocking to get her to fall asleep. Just further proof that a blog does not give you full picture of someone’s life.

5:45 a.m. – Bart gives me a kiss as he heads to the airport to catch a flight to Dallas, where he’ll be working for a couple of days. Ani makes a few sounds, stirring a bit because of Bart’s departure, but I give her back her pacifier and she settles back into deeper sleep again.

7:00 a.m. – Ani wakes up. I feed her while I check my email and look at the Internet.
7:15 a.m. – I shower and get ready, Ani happily observing from the bouncer.
7:45 a.m. – I strip the bed, sort the laundry and throw the first load in the washer.
8:00 a.m. – Ella starts making noises at 8 on the dot, making me wonder if she’s been awake for a few minutes, but just waiting for her clock to turn to 8. No complaints from me. I get her a cup of milk, and take the sheet off her bed and throw it in with the other whites.

8:45 a.m. – I unload the dishwasher and do the dishes, while Ella helps a bit and also plays in her room.  Next load of laundry in.
9:00 a.m. – I put away Ella’s clothing (Bart did a load of wash on Sunday night so he could pack), and Ella sets out Candyland. We play. Ella pretty much only cares about getting the Princess Frostine card (I remember feeling the same way as a kid).

9:30 a.m. – Ella asks if she can play on the computer and I tell her she can. She plays Curious George games on the PBS website while I read Just One Day on the couch.
10:25 a.m. – Okay, didn’t mean to let her play THAT long. I suggest that we make some more granola, since we ate the last of it at breakfast. She’s very enthusiastic about this. We also start some cinnamon rolls. While I clean up, she stacks various items on the counter.
11:15 a.m. – As the granola finishes baking, we play a game of bingo. Ani wakes up.

11:25 a.m. – I feed Ani on the couch, and Ella throws a tantrum about how hard it is to bring her library books over to the couch so I can read them to her. Eventually I talk her down from her fury, and we read two books.  
11:50 a.m. – After two books, it’s obvious that Ani can barely keep her eyes open anymore, so I lay her back down for another nap. Ella and I read a few more books.
12:10 p.m. – Lunch time. I have leftover lentil tomato soup, and Ella has yogurt and a homemade lara bar.
12:30 p.m. – Ella and I play paper dolls, then she uses the bathroom, and I remake her bed. She asks for a mint for using the bathroom and then requests that I hide it so she can find it. Once she does, and has eaten them, I put her down for a nap.
1:00 p.m. – Two babies sleeping! I turn on my audiobook (Days of Blood and Starlight) and work on the cinnamon rolls, then do the lunch and cinnamon roll dishes.
1:30 p.m. – Answer some emails, do some Disney Baby stuff, and pay some bills.
2:02 p.m. – Ella calls out “Mamaamamamama!” and then nothing. She appears to have gone back to sleep. I put the cinnamon rolls in the oven, and switch the laundry again.  I clean up a few things in preparation for music group. More emails and online projects.
2:55 p.m. – Ani wakes up. I get her out of her crib and start putting away the laundry.
3:00 p.m. – Ella wakes up (again on the dot – was she watching the clock? Usually she makes a lot of noise when she wakes up, but I’m suspicious of this perfect timing) and I get her out. I nurse Ani.
3:20 p.m. – I make a quick glaze for the cinnamon rolls and Ella and I sit down for a little snack. Holy cow, these cinnamon rolls are ridiculously good. Ella eats two. I eat. . .more than two. Ani watches from the bouncer. I say to Ella, “Should we keep her?” and Ella says, “Yes, Daddy likes her lots.”
3:30 p.m. – I finish putting the laundry away and remake the bed. I put the snack dishes away, mop the kitchen floor, and change Ella’s diaper. I try to vacuum but our vacuum appears to be suddenly and mysteriously broken. Bother. Ani’s sleepy again and I put her down.
4:00 p.m. – Friends start arriving for music. I set out the blanket and get out the supplies.
5:00 p.m. – We finish up music and pretty much everyone stays to play for a while. Ani wakes up (I’ve been listening for her, but someone tells me that she’s crying – I haven’t been able to hear her over the noise level of 9 children playing).
5:30 p.m. –  Everyone is gone. Ella eats another cinnamon roll. I nurse Ani and Ella asks for “her books” on my iPad. I read her two books aloud from Bookboard while she turns the pages. I tell her we can walk to the mailbox or take a bath. She says first a bath, then the mail.
5:45 p.m. – Ella in the bathtub, Ani in the bouncer, me with my book. Ella takes an unusually long bath, playing happily for close to an hour. No walk to the mail, clearly.
6:45 p.m. – I put Ani back down for a nap, and get Ella in her jammies. Teeth brushed, scriptures, prayer. At two minutes to seven, I settle down in the rocking chair with Ella and she say, “I’m hungry.” Darn. I was so hoping that cinnamon roll was enough. She says she’d like yogurt and granola with banana and peanut butter, so I quickly assemble a bowl and feed it to her.
7:10 p.m. – Bedtime attempt #2. This time it’s a success and she goes right down.
7:15 p.m. – I warm up some pizza I made on Sunday afternoon and slice up some apples and eat dinner while saving some recipes to Pinterest and reading a few emails.
7:40 p.m. – Ani wakes up. I feed her and read a bit more of my book. We go into my room and I get ready for bed (yes, at 8:00 p.m.) and then we lay on the bed and snuggle for a bit. She’s in a very smiley mood. I clean up a few things around the house.
8:45 p.m. Ani is starting to get grumpy so I put her down for bed. I start working on this post.
9:00 p.m. – Ani is clearly not quite ready for bed. She sits on my lap while I work more on this post. I chat with Bart online for a few minutes, then snuggle Ani on the couch while I read a few pages of my book.
9:25 p.m. – Okay, now she’s acting tired again. When she is unhappy even while being held, it’s a pretty good guess she’s sleepy. Down to bed. I heat up a bowl of the lentil tomato soup from lunch. I’ve already brushed my teeth, but I’m feeling super hungry.
9:45 p.m.  – Never mind. She really fighting sleep here. I finally lay down on the bed with her and snuggle her until she falls asleep and I’m sure she’s not going to wake up again.
10:05 p.m. – Work on this post a little more, write this 2×2 post, and tweak my Sisters Share It All post. Read a few blog posts in Google Reader. Read my scriptures.
11:00 p.m. – I should really go to bed, but I’m juuuuust about done with Just One Day, so I finish it up.
11:25 p.m. – Brush my teeth again, say my prayers and hop into bed. Goodnight.