Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Totally not babies anymore..
I have to say although I am sad that I will never have another sweet newborn of my own, I love love this age. The twins will be ten months old on Friday and I am loving every second. I feel like we are finally out of survival mode and can actually enjoy a few moments of rasing our kids. Both babies are into everything!!! Last week, I had two days with just the twins before Parker got out of school for summer. We snuck into his room to do some cleaning and my two monkeys got up onto his bed for a little fun.
Monday, June 13, 2011
It's summer!!! Attempt at keeping 3 kids busy and a Mommy sane..
I had to come up with some type of routine to keep all 4 of us from have daily meltdowns. We joined the YMCA which is a huge blessing. Two hours of free childcare seven days a week, where do I sign up? On the top list of things to do this summer if for Mommy to work on her fitness. Here is our first attempt at our summer schedule...
6am - Mommy and Daddy wake up to get ready for the day
6:30am - Babies up and ready for their bottles. Now that they can hold their own bottles, I usually prep breakfast or unload the dishwasher.
7am - Change diapers and get kiddies dressed for the day
7:15am - Breakfast for Parker and solids for the babies
7:30am - Clean up and play
7:50 - Load everyone into the car and head over the the YMCA (MWF); On Tuesday and Thursday we will attempt a walk around our neighborhood or head out for a field trip (Babies will nap on the go when we go out for day)
9:15am - Home from gym, unload, and change diapers
9:30am - Babies down for a nap - Play with Parker while I clean or catch up on email. Parker will also have snack time
11:00am - Babies up and want bottles
11:30am - Everybody plays together while Mommy gets lunch ready
12:00pm- Lunch time!!
12:30pm - Parker goes down for a 2-3 hour nap, play with babies for an hour
1:30pm - Babies go down for an 1-1.5 hour nap
3:00pm - Everyone starts to wake up from naps, bottles for babies and snack for Parker.
3:30pm - Play time or an outing if needed
5:00pm - Prep for dinner while kids play or watch TV (yes, my kids watch TV when I need them occupied)
5:30pm - Kids eat dinner
6:00pm - Bath time (usually every other night)
6:30pm - Wind down time - read books, P has a glass of milk and babies have bottles. Daddy usually arrives home about this time when he isn't traveling.
7:00pm - Mason and Audrey in bed
7:30-8:00pm - Parker goes to bed
8:00pm - Mommy Bliss...no kids, no bottles, a little bit of dishes, and a load of laundry. Cleaning the house usually gets fit in during playtime with the kids. We move from room to room while they play and listen to music while I clean.
6am - Mommy and Daddy wake up to get ready for the day
6:30am - Babies up and ready for their bottles. Now that they can hold their own bottles, I usually prep breakfast or unload the dishwasher.
7am - Change diapers and get kiddies dressed for the day
7:15am - Breakfast for Parker and solids for the babies
7:30am - Clean up and play
7:50 - Load everyone into the car and head over the the YMCA (MWF); On Tuesday and Thursday we will attempt a walk around our neighborhood or head out for a field trip (Babies will nap on the go when we go out for day)
9:15am - Home from gym, unload, and change diapers
9:30am - Babies down for a nap - Play with Parker while I clean or catch up on email. Parker will also have snack time
11:00am - Babies up and want bottles
11:30am - Everybody plays together while Mommy gets lunch ready
12:00pm- Lunch time!!
12:30pm - Parker goes down for a 2-3 hour nap, play with babies for an hour
1:30pm - Babies go down for an 1-1.5 hour nap
3:00pm - Everyone starts to wake up from naps, bottles for babies and snack for Parker.
3:30pm - Play time or an outing if needed
5:00pm - Prep for dinner while kids play or watch TV (yes, my kids watch TV when I need them occupied)
5:30pm - Kids eat dinner
6:00pm - Bath time (usually every other night)
6:30pm - Wind down time - read books, P has a glass of milk and babies have bottles. Daddy usually arrives home about this time when he isn't traveling.
7:00pm - Mason and Audrey in bed
7:30-8:00pm - Parker goes to bed
8:00pm - Mommy Bliss...no kids, no bottles, a little bit of dishes, and a load of laundry. Cleaning the house usually gets fit in during playtime with the kids. We move from room to room while they play and listen to music while I clean.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Favorites on Friday
I am going to try to post some of my favorite baby and toddler items each Friday. So stay tuned each week.
Our focus for this week is Dr. Browns bottles. When Parker was born we had no clue what bottles to use or if we were even going to be using bottles. We realized very quickly that bottles would be a part of daily lives. I settled on Dr. Browns because I heard so many raves about them and P suffered from some pretty severe reflux. If you use Dr. Browns you are familiar with all of the many parts. :::Shudder:::
I never had any kind of system with P, but when the twins arrived we had 24 bottles in rotation. Two babies eating every 2 to 3 hours around the clock equals a Mommy who doesn't want to stand at the sink on the little time I had to myself. I also use to be pretty good about rinsing dishes immediately. I had to come up with something since many of thse bottles were sitting for far too long in the sink. So here is my system....
Once the babies finish, I rinse and break into pieces. Bottles get filled with fresh water, parts all go into my glad plastic container.
"
When I get around to unloading/load the dishwasher, all of the "parts" get sorted into the Munchkin diswasher baskets. Love these and had 4 of them in rotation but now I use 2. Rubber parts and nipple rings go into the basket itself and the nipples go into the top part.
Then I line up all the bottles in the glass area on the top rack and all of the tubes get put on the spokes in the dishwasher.
When I unload I use two really cheap bottle racks from Baby Depot. I think they were $1.00. I put the tubes on the pegs and put a bottle on top. Then I put the rings, rubber piece, and a nipple on top on a paper towel that gets changed daily.
And here are the two cuties who like to help with the dishwasher...
Our focus for this week is Dr. Browns bottles. When Parker was born we had no clue what bottles to use or if we were even going to be using bottles. We realized very quickly that bottles would be a part of daily lives. I settled on Dr. Browns because I heard so many raves about them and P suffered from some pretty severe reflux. If you use Dr. Browns you are familiar with all of the many parts. :::Shudder:::
I never had any kind of system with P, but when the twins arrived we had 24 bottles in rotation. Two babies eating every 2 to 3 hours around the clock equals a Mommy who doesn't want to stand at the sink on the little time I had to myself. I also use to be pretty good about rinsing dishes immediately. I had to come up with something since many of thse bottles were sitting for far too long in the sink. So here is my system....
Once the babies finish, I rinse and break into pieces. Bottles get filled with fresh water, parts all go into my glad plastic container.
"
When I get around to unloading/load the dishwasher, all of the "parts" get sorted into the Munchkin diswasher baskets. Love these and had 4 of them in rotation but now I use 2. Rubber parts and nipple rings go into the basket itself and the nipples go into the top part.
Then I line up all the bottles in the glass area on the top rack and all of the tubes get put on the spokes in the dishwasher.
When I unload I use two really cheap bottle racks from Baby Depot. I think they were $1.00. I put the tubes on the pegs and put a bottle on top. Then I put the rings, rubber piece, and a nipple on top on a paper towel that gets changed daily.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
To Uncle Crystal...
I really don't know where to start this blog entry. Let's just start by saying we will miss you lots and we really do hope you love Seattle, but we wouldn't be disappointed if you came back sooner than we all expect.
During the summer of 2000(I think??), I worked at a summer camp for the YMCA trying to get some hands on experience working with kids to prepare myself for my career as a teacher. I met this beautiful and fun loving girl named Crystal who was also working at the camp during her summer off from UF. (Go Gators!) We "hit it off" instantly. Very quickly, we started spending lots of time together not only at work, but also outside of work. When summer was over I was sad to see my new BFF return to Gainesville, while I headed back to USF. The great part was my boyfriend at the time also went to UF, so I spend most of my weekends making the three hour trip from Sarasota to Gainesville. Crystal and I continued to grow our friendship bond. Eventually, my BF and I broke up so I wasn't visiting as often, but Crystal always made it a point to visit with me when she was home visiting her family.
Fast forward to Spring Break 2001 when she met my brother. One day while we were hanging out she saw a picture of a boy she thought was HOT! She inquired who this person was....ugh...my brother???!!! At the time, my brother was in the Navy and stationed out in Seattle, Washington. I promised her I would introduce them next time he was on leave. The big introduction happened that Spring Break 2001, apparently fireworks went off. At first I couldn't be more thrilled that my brother was going to be dating a good friend of mine. How perfect to pick your brother's girlfriend, right??
A few months into their new relationship, I started to feel like a Kindergarten girl who just lost her best friend. It was horrible!! And I was so disappointed. I wanted to take back that day I introduced them, so I could have my friend back. I did get past my resentful feelings, eventually. haha!
Once my brother was done with the Navy and Crystal graduated collge they moved to Clearwater to start new jobs. After a few years and a job change, Crystal bought a house. My brother went to college at USF to pursue a degree in Engineering. We all bugged them about getting married but they kept us all sitting on the edge of our seats for a long time.
Parker was born and they became the best uncle and honorary aunt a little boy could ask for. My brother graduated from USF in May of 2010. Then Mason and Audrey were born, we hoped they would share a birthday with Aunt Crystal but I guess they wanted their own day. My brother continued to search for a job for over 6 months with no real prospects. Finally, they decided that my brother would look in other states. He was offered a job in Seattle, Washington???!!! Things started to move fast. Looking for places to live, getting the house ready to sell, and looking at engagement rings were all part of the plan.
Yes, folks, after all these years my brother was going to propose to Crystal!!! I think we were all thrilled, but in disbelief. Overall, we were just plain happy!!!! He proposed and of course she said YES! Our family and friends got to celebrate with them before they will leave on June 8th at a BBQ at my parents house.
We will miss both of you and can't wait to help you plan the wedding.
During the summer of 2000(I think??), I worked at a summer camp for the YMCA trying to get some hands on experience working with kids to prepare myself for my career as a teacher. I met this beautiful and fun loving girl named Crystal who was also working at the camp during her summer off from UF. (Go Gators!) We "hit it off" instantly. Very quickly, we started spending lots of time together not only at work, but also outside of work. When summer was over I was sad to see my new BFF return to Gainesville, while I headed back to USF. The great part was my boyfriend at the time also went to UF, so I spend most of my weekends making the three hour trip from Sarasota to Gainesville. Crystal and I continued to grow our friendship bond. Eventually, my BF and I broke up so I wasn't visiting as often, but Crystal always made it a point to visit with me when she was home visiting her family.
Fast forward to Spring Break 2001 when she met my brother. One day while we were hanging out she saw a picture of a boy she thought was HOT! She inquired who this person was....ugh...my brother???!!! At the time, my brother was in the Navy and stationed out in Seattle, Washington. I promised her I would introduce them next time he was on leave. The big introduction happened that Spring Break 2001, apparently fireworks went off. At first I couldn't be more thrilled that my brother was going to be dating a good friend of mine. How perfect to pick your brother's girlfriend, right??
A few months into their new relationship, I started to feel like a Kindergarten girl who just lost her best friend. It was horrible!! And I was so disappointed. I wanted to take back that day I introduced them, so I could have my friend back. I did get past my resentful feelings, eventually. haha!
Once my brother was done with the Navy and Crystal graduated collge they moved to Clearwater to start new jobs. After a few years and a job change, Crystal bought a house. My brother went to college at USF to pursue a degree in Engineering. We all bugged them about getting married but they kept us all sitting on the edge of our seats for a long time.
Parker was born and they became the best uncle and honorary aunt a little boy could ask for. My brother graduated from USF in May of 2010. Then Mason and Audrey were born, we hoped they would share a birthday with Aunt Crystal but I guess they wanted their own day. My brother continued to search for a job for over 6 months with no real prospects. Finally, they decided that my brother would look in other states. He was offered a job in Seattle, Washington???!!! Things started to move fast. Looking for places to live, getting the house ready to sell, and looking at engagement rings were all part of the plan.
Yes, folks, after all these years my brother was going to propose to Crystal!!! I think we were all thrilled, but in disbelief. Overall, we were just plain happy!!!! He proposed and of course she said YES! Our family and friends got to celebrate with them before they will leave on June 8th at a BBQ at my parents house.
We will miss both of you and can't wait to help you plan the wedding.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)