How to get out of the house in a timely manner

There have been a few times in my twinning experience that you must get out of the house in a timely manner, instead of 3pm when it is actually doable. This is even more difficult by yourself when you are outnumbered. However I think I'm getting a system. Most recently I've found that 9am seems to be our lucky early number, so that will be our goal time for this example.

10pm (the night before) - You pack up your diaper bag with a day's worth of snacks, diapers, wipes, a change of clothes, a few toys, and anything else you might need for your outing. You also lay out your kids' clothes, socks, and shoes so you don't have to think in the morning. You also lay out your clothes so you don't waste time trying on 10 different outfits.

10:20pm - Make a list of everything you need to grab/do in the morning that couldn't be grabbed/done tonight. This includes things like getting sippy cups, snuggly things, breakfast, etc.

10:30pm - In bed with your alarm set for at least 2 hours before your scheduled departure time.

6:45am - The alarm goes off and your head pops off the pillow and you immediately say your prayers (because heaven knows you need the strength and patience to get through the busy morning.)

6:48am - You are in the shower before those kids of yours wake up.

7:00am - You are hopping out of the shower and into your pre selected clothes, doing your hair and makeup, and anything else you do in your morning routine. Make sure you are completely ready prior to waking the monsters (or if they are already awake, let them entertain themselves as long as humanly possible.)

7:45am - Get the crazies out of bed and change their diapers. DO NOT put them in clothes at this point. That's just asking for disaster.

8:00am - Consult the list you made last night so you remember what you're eating for breakfast. Fix whatever that is (preferably something quick like cold cereal or quick oatmeal, yogurt, string cheese, toast, etc.).

8:20am - Pull the kids out of their chairs and dress them in their adorably matching clothes.

8:30am - Goop their hair into mohawks and put shoes on.

8:35am - Clear off the table and put dishes in the dishwasher.

8:45am - Get your shoes on and put everyone's coats on.

8:47am - Take a picture of your cute children and prove how awesome you are. (Although you might be bribing your children with cameras and chapstick and they still take less than optimal pictures, this doesn't make you any less awesome.)

8:48am - Start heading to the car with kids and diaper bag in tow

8:55am - Everyone is strapped in and you're ready to go!

Of course, that's how it would go in a perfect world. Here's what really happens.

6:45am - Alarm goes off and you push snooze.

7:15am - You hear the kiddos starting to stir (earlier than they have woken up in the last week, of course) so you leap out of bed and rush into the shower wishing you would have gotten up when your alarm went off because you would already be done with your shower by now.

7:25am - Your kids have climbed out of their cribs and are banging on the door to get out. You are only half dressed from your shower but let them out anyway.

7:30am - You hurry and change diapers and start working on breakfast

7:50am - Put food in front of your children but expect them not to eat anything on their plate and instead demand all of your food. Because obviously the exact same food tastes better off your plate. I call this the Goldilocks effect.

8:15am - Start panicking because you are down to crunch time.

8:18am - Pull your children out of their chairs whether they have eaten or not because you remember you overpacked snacks and can feed them goldfish later. (Kids can survive on goldfish, right?)

8:22am - Chase the kids all over your house trying to force them into clothes. Just ignore the state of your kitchen. It can wait to be cleaned until you get home.

8:35am - Your kids are screaming, but they have clothes on so you grab the hair goo and throw their hair into a mohawk so it looks like you worked hard to make them look cute.

8:40am - You sit your children down and work on getting their shoes and socks on.

8:45am - You somehow got a few things done very efficiently and think you're actually going to make it, and then you smell the all too familiar stench of a dirty diaper.

8:48am - The smelly child is changed, but much to your dismay, the stench assaults your nostrils once again.

8:55am - Both children have been changed again, you have repacked the items the kids have pulled out of the diaper bag, and you start herding them to the car... right after you take a picture because you feel so accomplished, of course.

8:56am - One child runs amok in your car while you get the other one strapped despite the kicking, hollering, and standing in their chair.

8:58am - The other child gets strapped in.

8:59am - You remember three things you've already forgotten and run back in the house for them.

9:01am - You are finally ready to pull out....but wait, what is that smell??

And now, for dad's timetable.

7:00am - Sleep.

7:30am - Pretend you don't hear the kids waking up.

7:45am - Remember it's your day to watch them and their diapers aren't getting any fresher.

8:07am - Change diapers.

8:15am - Fix whatever for breakfast. They won't eat it anyway.

9:00am - Promise yourself that you'll do the dishes when they take their nap (AKA, the big lie). Put on a show.

11:45am - Ok, seriously now, just one more show.

12:00pm - Wrestle.

12:17pm (Or whenever the first one cries) - Lunch. Fix whatever's easiest to scrape off the floor.

1:00pm ON THE DOT - Naps.

1:05pm - Daddy naps.

3:00pm - Wake up. Change diapers.

3:15pm - Realize that was a dream. Wake up for real. Change real diapers.

3:30pm - OK FINE. ONE show.

5:30pm - Dinner. Fix whatever your wife won't hate coming home to.

6:30pm - Realize you forgot to leave the house. Again. I'll mail the rent check tomorrow.

Things I Love | 23 Months

{As of Feb. 28}

I can't believe my babies are going to be TWO at the end of this month. I'm kind of dying inside. 

It goes by so darn fast. Hence the reason I take thousands of pictures of them. And I am not apologizing for that.
{I}                {B}

They love cameras. They pack these little ones around and say CHEESE!
{I}                 {B}

{B}

They still absolutely love to help in the kitchen. 

 {B}    {I}

 {B}        {I}

 {B}              {I}

We got this cute little table from my in-laws and the boys think they are hot stuff sitting there.

 {I}                     {B}

 {I}                   {B}

 {I}                   {B}

Naps with Grandma are the best!

{B}                {I}

These kids love climbing.

{B}        {I}

And dirt.

 I love this little family of mine. I am one blessed mama.
{I}                 {B}

 So much personality in these boys!
{B}                    {I}

They are getting so much better at grocery shopping in one cart with only one seat. The basket baby is getting better and better at listening and staying seated, as long as we are only picking up a few things.

 {I}              {B}

Ice cream cones are a favorite.

 {B}                {I}

This is one of my round-about best friends who used to be Jesse's friend. It's awesome. And so is trying to take pictures with our kids. Ian in particular was making fabulous faces. 

 The rest of the kids decided to come join in the fun!

 {I on top, B on bottom}

 {I}               {B}

I love it when they are so snuggly with one another. I really try hard to teach my boys to be nice to one another and they do great at giving each other loves.

{B}    {I}

 {I}      {B}

 {B}                        {I}

Ian
{Let me just apologize now for the awful posed pictures I have of the boys this month. I seemed busy taking pictures of other people (I'll have to blog about that later) and neglected my own children}

 1. He cries when he has to come inside nearly every single time. If it were up to him, he would be outside all day every day.

2. If I put him in his crib for a nap with socks on, he likes to take them off and stuff them down the back of his crib.

3. He has been a little stinker lately and he likes to crawl into Briggs' bed and jump on him. And Briggs is too sweet to fight back and instead just cries until I come save him.

4. He still mostly eats left handed.

5. He has been waking up at least once and sometimes twice a night fairly consistently. It has been kind of rough, but we are making great improvements over the last couple of weeks with only a wake up every few days. This mama is loving sleeping through the night more nights than not.
Also, naps are the best with Grandma.

6. He doesn't get as involved with playing, he is more of a wanderer. He is just content to wander through the house and and look adorable.

7. He enjoys going through the cupboards looking for snacks. Usually he finds something he likes and starts eating. Or else he brings me boxes of Thai noodles or muffin mix asking for a "nack."

8. I moved some furniture at my parent's house the other day and Ian cried and cried. It was the strangest thing.

9. He loves carrying wii remotes around his arm. He also loves carrying my camera around his neck.

10. He is learning to drink from a regular cup instead of just a sippy cup.

11. He loves having his blanket and binky for as much of the day as I will let him.

12. It is so hard to clip this kid's toenails. He squirms so much while I try to clip them that it is darn near impossible.

13. He LOVES balloons. As in completely obsessed. He calls them "Mo" and he will pack a balloon around for days, taking it in the car, sleeping with it, and of course finding it first thing in the morning.

 

14. He runs in a zig zag pattern. It is so funny. It looks like he's trying to get away from someone who is shooting at him. I have no idea where he picked up on that but I laugh every time.

15. He has gotten so chatty! He tries to repeat nearly everything we say here's a little list of what he says: apple, knees, elbow, remote (mote), helicopter (something awesome I can't even type), arrow, bubbles, milk (melp), nice, mess, hello, yellow, purple, tree, practice, oatmeal, spoon, no, yes, go.

Briggs

{His little cheesey smile makes me laugh}

{Along with all his other obsessions, this child loves birds.}

1. He always closes doors behind him.

2. He also still eats left handed.

3. He loves it when I draw on the magna doodle. Usually he signs (as in sign language) things for me to draw for him. His favorite is fish. He will sign fish over and over and over and over again.  He is a little obsessed with fish in all their varieties of stuffed, plastic, play-doh, drawn, on dvd, etc.

 

He also loves birds, and luckily Grandma gave us this gigantic parrot that he adores.

 He even had to bring his bird in our little group picture where he signed bird...

 And then showed me where his bird is! haha.

4. He likes my necklaces. Usually he packs them around on his arm but occasionally he wears them around his neck.

5. If he sees two of something, he will do the sign for that thing twice. Such as signing fish  or bug with both hands. It's adorable. Also he likes having two binkies... and not being put down. :)

6. He has started being quite consistent with sleeping through the night. Oh how I love that child.

7. He is obsessed with trains. He loves pushing them all over the house. Also, he says "Chug-a Chug-a Choo-Choo in the cutest way!

8. He is such a good player. He loves toys and entertains himself really well. If I can't find him, he is usually off in a corner somewhere pushing a train or car around, or playing with other toys.
{Seriously, this boy melts my heart. He is just so awesome.}




9. He says "no" to everything. It cracks us up. There was one moment that stands out in particular. We were down in St. George and he kept banging on the bathroom door while I was in the shower. As soon as I got out I opened the door and asked him if he would like to come in, he said "Nooooooooo!" in the sweetest possible voice with a crinkled nose. I laughed so hard.

10. He also loves to carry remotes around his wrist.

11. He is learning to drink from a cup and does pretty well, until he dumps out the last little bit every time. It drives me nuts.

12. Every time he has his binky in his mouth but wants to eat or drink something he will pucker up his lips so his binky sticks out and he wants me to take it out or he spits it in my hand.

13. He loves his dad and thinks he's hilarious.

14. Every time Briggs takes off his shoes and socks he has to check his toes for sock fuzz. Every single time. It is so funny! 

15. Briggs still signs more than talks (he requests to watch signing time multiple times a day) but he is picking up more words daily, such as: knees, helicopter (digadigadiga), stairs, Elmo (Melmo), tic tac, no, meow, ruff, hat, rhino (nino), spoon.