Wanna know something?
It legit is a big job to have 2 kids home all day and be pregnant while taking care of the house and everyone's needs. It really is! I've never quite felt it the way I do these days and it's probably because as my pregnancy is progressing I'm getting more and more tired.
This morning I got woken up by my beautiful children. Joey takes off his night time diaper, wipes himself, and puts his own underwear on now which is a life changer (amazing!) while I change Frankie's diaper. Then it's off to the living room for play time. I hold Frankie while heating up a bottle for her in the microwave and then she sits in the corner of the couch with a big blanket on her and her bunny by her cheek drinking while I remind Joey 3000 times that I would love to play with him, but first need to start brewing my coffee and get fruit ready for him and Frankie.
I shovel fruit into the kids mouths and play with them until I hear the heavenly beep of the coffee maker and tell Joey that mommy needs five minutes to read the bible at the kitchen table. As I read, he stands beside me and asks me to read to him. I read it to him and he has no idea what it means, but he keeps standing there because he likes to be beside me.
Following my five minutes of not-so-quiet time, I feel guilty that I have taken that time and play with the kids on the floor for another 20 minutes or so before going to the kitchen to clean up the tornado of dishes that were left from the previous night when I was too exhausted to clean them up at the end of the day.
I tell Joey that I'm going to go wake up daddy and I sit in the quiet bedroom with Stuart for 1 minute, drinking lukewarm coffee and enjoying the quiet until Joey and Frankie come lumbering in. Breakfast time.
I make a smoothie for Stuart and I and in the midst of it, sneeze coffee out of my mouth and all over the wall. Joey thinks it's the coolest thing he's ever seen.
We all sit down to breakfast together. Joey now feeds himself (finally!) so, all I have to do now is put a bowl of cereal in front of him and remind him to keep eating. Frankie tries to do things on her own, but needs help and insists on mostly doing things independently.
After breakfast, I frantically get the kids dressed, prepare a healthy snack for Stuart (blueberries, strawberries, cut up celery, carrots, and grapes), a snack for the kids and I, and try to gather my gym clothes together, remember a couple diapers for Frankie, and assign Joey the task of finding his and Frankie's water cups (something that almost never happens with less than 5 reminders). I realize, while I'm doing this, that I have to ask Stuart a question. NoooOOOooOOOooOOOooo. While I'm asking Stuart a question about his Visa, or at least trying to ask it, Joey has a problem with his shoes that he's incredibly stressed about, and, as a result, is flailing and yelling for me to fix it. Stuart is now asking me a question about the question I asked him, we're late, and I need an answer before we head out the door. I snap at Stuart, I snap at Joey, and ask everyone to stop talking to me please. Once we're in the car, everything is peaceful and great again. We made it.
(that series of events was over the span of 2-2.5 hours)
At the gym, I bring the kids into kids club and make small talk with the employees. If there's one thing that I've learned is that if you want childcare workers to treat your kids super well, you have to be nice to them and tell them how much you appreciate them. Makes sense, right?
I set Frankie up at a table with some coloring so she doesn't get sad while I'm gone and Joey is so independent that he's off doing his own thing the minute we set foot in the place.
I usually take my workout time to speed walk on the treadmill for 45 minutes and listen to a sermon, but today my friend is there that I don't want to have to feel obligated to talk to, so I decide to do my power walk outside and call my mom because I hadn't talked to her in a while.
After a chat with my mom and a good pregnancy workout, I hit the sauna for 5 minutes of quiet before needing to go pick up the kids for Joey's 'Next Step' class.
When I arrive back to Kids Club, Joey RUNS to the door (something he never does) and he looks so red and sweaty and they told me for the past 20 minutes he's been running around in circles. As soon as he gets close enough to me, he blurts out, "MOMMY! I HAVE TO GO WEE WEE REALLY BAD!" I don't know why he never wants to tell the kids club workers, but it's always a frantic event when he has to pee at the Y. I quickly (with Frankie in tow) take him to the bathroom and we all head up to Next Step. A bunch of my friends are there today and we have a really nice time, as we all haven't seen each other since the holidays.
One of my friends and I decide to go to Costco after and have lunch with the kids and grocery shop. It's super close to nap time, but we badly need gas and milk, so we go. Lunch actually goes surprisingly smoothly with all of the kids, including the one year old's, sitting nicely at the table (a HUGE accomplishment) and the two of us and the four kids all go shopping afterward together. When we leave in the pouring rain, Joey says, "Mommy! I had such a fun time at Costco today!"
When we get home, I change Frankie's diaper and rock her, singing songs to her until she's ready to be put down to sleep, gather up all of Joey's stuffed animals, blanket, and pillow, and put them into our bedroom for nap time.
I make Joey a small snack and he and I cuddle up on the couch and read a story, head to the bedroom, say the Lord's prayer and sing two songs before I close his bedroom door.
I make myself a snack and watch 7th Heaven. Now, it's time to wake Joey up, clean the kitchen once again that looks just as bad as it did this morning with all the snack/smoothie making/breakfast dishes, play cars, clean the floor and gather up all the clothes that have been thrown around, and make two different dinners because Stuart has decided to try being vegetarian for a week and Joey, Frankie and I have not decided that. Then, it's toy clean up, read the bible, watch five minutes of Bob the Builder, brush the kids teeth, and put them to bed. Thennnn clean the kitchen all over again from making two meals for 4 people and briefly talk to Stuart, watch a show, and pass out in bed because, oh ya! I'm five months pregnant. *yawns*
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