The Week in Review

Monday

4:30am nurse baby.

6am get up.

Start laundry. This will continue all day, four loads total.

Open blinds and put away last night’s dishes.

Walk dogs.

Bible reading and prayer time.

Blog post.

Get dressed.

8am Annie and JJ get up. Help them go potty. Potty- training will continue whenever we are at home all week.

Call pest control.

Make breakfast (cereal, yogurt, and a clementine for the kids; cereal and cherries for me)

Wash breakfast dishes.

Help Annie and JJ brush teeth.

Have Bible time with kids.

Feed dogs.

Phone call with Mom.

Get Annie and JJ dressed.

9am Sophie wakes up. Nurse baby and get her dressed.

Do some more laundry.

Phone call with Tyler.

Take Sophie’s two month pictures.

Story time at the library. Make a new friend and catch up with old friends! Have a couple of grown-up conversations, interrupted multiple times by multiple children.

Feed kids lunch (ham and cheese pita with a banana for the big kids, “mama milk”—that’s what Annie and JJ call nursing—for Sophie).  

Eat some string cheese.

Wash lunch dishes.

More laundry.

Trim 30 little fingernails.

Put JJ down for nap. Nurse Sophie, put her down for nap. Read Annie story, put her down for nap. By 1pm they’re all in bed.

1:05pm Annie calls me to change her diaper.

Fold and put away two loads of laundry that were dumped on my bed earlier in the day. Iron a few things.

Make my lunch (salad, apple with peanut butter…we’re out of bread and I haven’t had time to make more yet).

Read a chapter in my book over lunch.

Catch up on emails and texts.

Straighten house.  Again.  I feel like I do this all day long.

Spend some time with the puppies.

Research dance classes for Annie.

More laundry…last load is in the dryer now.

Fill up baby pool for kids to play in after nap.

I’m hungry. Make popcorn.

Rest for an hour!!!

Feed dogs.

Get kids up from naps.

Feed Sophie.

Play outside with babies.

6:15pm Family dinner (black bean and zucchini chili, thawed from the freezer).

Put away last of laundry and straighten house. Again.

7pm Nurse Sophie and tuck her into bed.

Start bread.

Wash dinner dishes.

Clean up outside water toys.

Sort mail.

7:45pm Help the Gent put the big kids to bed.

Enjoy a glass of wine on the front porch with the Gent.

Finish bread.

Shower.

9:45pm Nurse Sophie one more time.

Sleep.

Tuesday

5:30am Sophie wakes up and eats (yay, longest night’s sleep yet!).

Dust.

Start another load of laundry. Only one today if all goes well.

Discover computer power cord has gone bad overnight.

Put away last night’s dishes and wash a few more.

Get set up on the Gent’s computer and send emails.

Eat breakfast (cereal and cherries again) and read a couple of chapters in my book.

Bible reading and prayer time.

Upper body weight training.

Brush dogs.

Swap laundry.

Get dressed.

8am Annie and JJ get up and have breakfast (cereal, yogurt, and a clementine…again)

Wash breakfast dishes.

Get kids dressed, help them brush their teeth.

Bible time with Annie and JJ.

Read books to Annie and JJ. Current favorites are Amelia Bedelia and A Birthday for Frances.

Wake Sophie up, get her dressed and fed.

Ladies summer Bible study at church.

Make lunch (peanut butter and jelly, cherries) for kids. Grab a handful of cashews.

Wash lunch dishes.

Tummy time with Sophie, read to big kids.

Nurse Sophie.

Tuck everyone in for naps.

Make my lunch (turkey pesto sandwich and more cherries—these things are so good!)

Catch up on texts and emails.

Schedule haircut.

Realize computer power cord had come unplugged from adaptor (it was still plugged into the wall, I’d checked that).

Write thank you notes.

Mom comes over to babysit kids tonight.

Practice piano.

Mama Rita and Papa Gene visit.

Get kids up from naps.

Nurse Sophie.

Feed dogs.

Heat up dinner for kids (leftover chili from last night).

Nurse Sophie one more time.

5:45pm Foster parent meeting.

Nurse Sophie.

Pump.

Watch baseball with Mom and the Gent.

9:45pm Nurse baby and head to bed.

Wednesday

4:40am Sophie wakes up to eat.

6am I get up.

Put away dishes from last night. Start dishwasher. Open blinds.

Write note for pest control.

Walk with dogs and Mom.

Draft blog post.

Change Annie’s diaper and tuck her back in bed.

Clean downstairs bathroom and kitchen.

Empty dishwasher

Get dressed.

8am Get big kids up, help them go potty.

Make breakfast (cereal, banana, and cheese for kids, cereal, apple, and peanut butter for me)

Nurse Sophie.

Call social worker.

Take Sophie to doctor for checkup while Annie and JJ stay with Honey.

Mail cards.

Bank.

Sign Annie up for dance class.

Drive to mom and baby yoga, learn yoga class is cancelled.

Call basement waterproofing contractor. Ongoing six month fiasco.

Get home, chat with Mom and Aunt YaYa, who came by for a quick visit and brought fresh garden veggies. Hear about the morning’s potty training adventures.

Make lunch for kids (turkey and cheese pita, peas, clementine)

Nurse Sophie, put down for nap.

Annie has meltdown.

Annie sits on potty forever.

Annie and JJ take naps.

Straighten house.

Lunch with Mom (turkey pesto sandwich again, with more cherries).

Clean off desk.

Finish blog post.

Schedule Sophie’s next doctor appointment.

Make grocery list.

Balance budget.

Pump.

Call new friend and schedule playdate.

Rest for 20 minutes. Hallelujah. Eat last bag of popcorn.

Feed dogs.

Kids wake up. Call JJ’s mother. Nurse Sophie.

Bible time with Annie and Jacob.

Read books.

Make dinner (white chicken chili, thawed from freezer).

Wash dinner dishes.

Nurse Sophie and put her to bed.

Monthly shopping: Aldi, Sam’s Club, Walmart, and Publix runs while kids are with Daddy. Did all that in two hours and 15 minutes, not bad. Long phone call with an old friend while I’m out .

9:10pm Home again. Put away groceries and household supplies.

Enjoy a glass of wine and the end of the baseball game with the Gent.

Get ready for bed.

10:15pm Feed Sophie again.

Go to sleep.

Thursday

1am Sophie wakes up to eat.

2:30am I wake up very, very hungry. So hungry I actually get up and go downstairs and eat a granola bar.

3:30am Sophie wakes up again. Growth spurt or a reaction to her shots?

6am I get up.

Straighten house, open blinds, put away dishes.

Start laundry (only two loads today).

Eat breakfast (apple with peanut butter, cheerios). Read a few chapters in my book over breakfast.

Help the Gent weigh the dogs, give them heartworm medicine.

File receipts.

Change JJ’s diaper and tuck him back into bed.

Bible reading and prayer.

Lower body weights and ab work.

Vacuum downstairs.

7:45am Sophie wakes up to nurse.

8am Annie and JJ get up.

Swap laundry.

Put clean sheets on all three kids’ beds.

Vacuum upstairs.

Make breakfast for kids (cereal, cheese, banana).

Gather things for pool.

Wash breakfast dishes.

Help kids brush teeth and get dressed. Apply sunscreen.

Get myself dressed.

Nurse Sophie again.

Phone call with Mom.

Target to buy diapers—Walmart was out of what I needed.

Swimming with friends!

Phone call with social worker.

Feed Annie and JJ lunch (Sophie wanted to nurse so I was in a hurry—clementine, dry cereal, cashews, and a cheese stick).

Nurse Sophie.

Tuck all three kids in for naps.

Fold laundry.

Eat lunch (leftover chicken chili and ice cream—couldn’t make it till Friday this week!).

Wash dishes.

Fill up baby pool for later this afternoon.

Straighten house and put away pool things.

Prep for dinner with friends tonight—set out dishes, cut up brie for appetizer, make salad, make marinated tomatoes.

Follow up with waterproofing contractor.

Rest for an hour.

Feed dogs.

Put away last of laundry.

Get kids up from naps. Feed Sophie.

Playtime with friends.

Make appetizer.

Dinner with friends!

Nurse Sophie.

8pm Kids all in bed.

Wash dinner dishes and straighten house. Put sheets on my bed.

Run dishwasher.

Do one last load of laundry,

Shower.

Relax with the Gent.

9:45pm Feed Sophie again, go to sleep.

Friday

3:30am Sophie wakes to eat.

6:30am I get up.

Empty dishwasher, straighten house.

Bible reading and prayer time.

7am Sophie wakes to eat again.

Water and fertilize plants.

Blog post.

Walk dogs.

Get dressed.

8am All three kids up.

Make breakfast (oatmeal, orange, and cheese stick for kids, cereal and more cherries for me).

Wash breakfast dishes.

Help kids brush teeth and get dressed.

Nurse Sophie, put down for short nap.

Bible time with Annie and JJ.

Read books with kids.

Phone call with Mom.

Art museum with friends.

Run by library and pick up books I reserved.

12:30pm Nurse Sophie, put down for nap.

Make lunch for Annie and JJ (peanut butter and jelly, banana, raisins, cheese stick, and graham crackers—bottomless pits today!).

Make several urgent phone calls trying to track down social worker to get paperwork so JJ can have his weekend visit with his birth mom.

County sewer crew is here with basement waterproofers trying to find solution to water problem.

Visit with social worker, who finally arrives 45 minutes late and well into naptime. Cut off multiple meltdowns before they start.

Get JJ off to his weekend visit.

2pm Read Annie a book and tuck her in for naptime.

Make lunch for myself (leftover chicken chili). Sophie wakes up before I can eat it. Nurse Sophie and put her back down for nap. Change Annie’s diaper and put her back down for nap. Reheat soup and eat.

Wash lunch dishes.

Start browsing travel guide for upcoming trip.

30 minute nap, interrupted by barking dogs and crying babies.

Catch up on email and text messages.

Prep steaks and corn for dinner tonight.

Feed dogs.

Sign up for fall consignment sale.

Nurse Sophie.

Read library books to Annie, make faces with Sophie during tummy time.

Help the Gent get Sophie to bed. Nurse again.

“Grown-up dinner” with Annie and the Gent (steaks, grilled corn, and marinated tomatoes with a glass of Malbec for the real grown-ups and milk for Annie).

Wash dishes.

Begin sorting kids clothes for consignment sale.

YAY weekend!!!

I know there’s more, but this is most of what I remember! I didn’t include every diaper change/potty break and all the playtime and book reading with the babies…but there was a lot of that, too. I like to keep track of my week a couple of times a year so I can see where my time actually goes. It is pretty mundane, day in, day out life—and I love it. The days are long, but the years are short. I don’t want to get caught up in the urgent and forget the important. My babies are little. They need their mama. A lot. And I like being such an important part of their lives. They won’t be tiny forever and I will miss it when they are grown up.

As I type this, I hear bits of the Gent reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie for the thousandth time this week, accompanied by sweet toddler giggles. Through the monitor, I hear a baby breathing deeply as she soundly sleeps. Soon the Gent and I will be cuddled on the couch, watching NCIS reruns and likely enjoying a second glass of wine, while the dogs sleep nearby. And life is good.