COFFEE, COFFEE, COFFEE
Hence the name of my blog! :)We get up around 8:am, when one wakes up usually the other is up too, if not then I wake the other one before I start feeding the first so I can keep them on the same schedule; this is a key essential! Then I put them in the living room, change their diapers and they play with toys while I make coffee and bottles. Once bottles are made I set them up in the living room propped up on their boppies with their bottles, I use a blanket to help support the bottle; I'm a cautious mom (as I'm sure all of you are) and I don't leave the room when I prop them up with their bottles cause I read about them possibly choking on the milk. So that scares me a bit. Thankfully since we are in a small house right now my desk is set up in the dining room and I can watch all activity in the living room and kitchen. Then we burp and move to the high chairs and have some solids. I really wanted to make my own baby food but I really don't have time for that since I am trying to work from home, so instead I use Plum Organic baby food, they have training meals that the babies are now eating. Plus, they are now eating table food. Once they are done eating we get down, play on the ground and change diapers. They will literally go down for a nap 1 1/2 hours after they had their bottles, so around 9:30 they start getting cuddly and easily upset; that's my clue.
Their morning nap will typically be for 1 to 2 hours. I usually put one in the swing and one in a crib. They nap forever in the swing so I take full advantage of that! I just alternate each time which baby gets the swing. :) Can't play favorites!
While they nap!!! I spend time with the Lord and then I get work done either freelance wise or house wise. I LOVE designing though so it is usually my freelance. Side note: I just finished working on All God's Children (AGC) website! Check it out at allgodschildrenkc.com you can donate to their cause or sponsor an orphan, widow or pastor! (And again, my designing on this gots done when babes are sleeping during naps, nighttime, or if I got a babysitter; in this case the founder of AGC watched my babes for free since I was designing her site!) So now that the AGC is done I can focus on my Etsy business. And since cleaning can sometimes get overlooked I save that for when my husband gets home in the evening, or on the weekend we do a one big cleaning day taking turns watching the babies! :)
So once the babes wake up from their naps we repeat the same schedule as above, see the schedule of their day that I mapped out below.
When they are having playtime I am usually with them playing or helping them learn new skills, right now we are working on waving and walking. I keep a milestone chart on my fridge so i know if they are developing at the right pace. Now there are days I will work on the computer or clean during their playtime but I find if I do that more than 2 times in a row then I start to feel like I am not giving them the proper attention. I've been convicted about that some. It will usually happen when I get excited about what I'm designing and don't want to stop or if I have a deadline to meet. God always pulls me back to my primary focus and that fact that He called me to stay home for a reason (He made that VERY black and white for us a week before I was supposed to go back to work) and the babies are my TOP PRIORITY. It's really just a balancing act and I rely heavily on God to help guide me through it. And I definitely ask for advice and help from my sisters and close friends, my poor sister-in-law always gets phone calls from me asking random questions!
Random info:
- They are on the EAT, PLAY, SLEEP (Baby Wise Schedule)
- They eat every 3 hours.
- I don't always get a shower some days, if I do it's at night before bed.
- I will randomly run to Starbucks with the babes for a Carmel Mocha. A treat for me!
- Right now I fit in brushing their teeth during playtime, soon we'll make it a morning and night sort of thing.
- We do bath time either after dinner or Night cap, and we usually do it in the kitchen sinks so we don't have to bend over a tub.
- The swing - I started consistently using the swing again once Holly started standing up in her crib. I would have to go in once a minute to lay her back down for nap time, so I put her in the swing and once she fell asleep I would move her to her crib. But then I started just leaving her in the swing and noticed that she slept forever in it. So now I alternate babies in the swing and if Holly is not the one in the swing then I just hold her until she is almost asleep and then put her in the crib.
- I have a bouncer and a walker so if I need to cook or run downstairs or get the mail, I put them in those so I know they won't get into anything while I'm busy. A pack and play would probably be a good use too but we don't have one.
- At bedtime, we do the same thing, hold the babies until they are almost asleep and then put them in their cribs.
- A lot of freelance or cleaning also gets done once the babies go to bed at night. I just can't do this too often cause I need my sleep to and I don't usually nap with the babies during the day cause I am trying to get other stuff done in that time.
Our Daily Schedule:
8:am - wake up & eat breakfast (bottle & solids)9:am - playtime
9:30am - morning nap
11:am - 12:pm - wake up from nap and have lunch (bottle & solids)
This time is adjusted depending on how long they slept for their morning nap.
12:pm - playtime
12:30pm - naptime
2:pm - eat (bottle only)
2:30pm - playtime
3:30 - nap (usually only 30 min if they wake up before 5:pm then they just play while I work.)
5:pm - eat dinner (bottle & solids)
6:pm - playtime aka: Daddy-time! This is when I get our dinner together. (I usually leave them up at this point so they will go to bed at a decent time)
8:pm - 2nd dinner (bottle only)
9:30pm - bedtime! Then they are out until 8:am.
So there it is! How I manage twins and freelance!
