Q & A Part 2 {31}

Posted on by
Q:What is the most difficult part of raising four little ones?
A:  Right now it is the physical demand they require – being fed, changed, carried up the stairs, picked up, woken up in the middle of the night, bathing them, etc.  Yet, emotionally I am full on the love and sweetness they give over and over to me.  So, I wonder if when they are teenagers if it will be harder then…I will physically be rested, but emotionally poured out.  Will have to keep running to Jesus to filled! 
Q:If you could have anything in the world to help you (in terms of raising triplets and a little girl) what would you wish for? 
A: More arms, but that would be weird.  I just wish I could hold and cuddle each baby at once.  Many times, 2 or more babies will be crying, and it is heart breaking to have to choose one baby over the other to comfort.  I know I will eventually get to that one who is crying, but it is hard to hear them cry.  And a minivan – we don’t have a vehicle large enough to carry our family one place. 
Q:I have had lots of questions about our schedule & how I manage it: take a shower, go to the grocery store, when is Chris home, etc.?

Trying to recount a day has had me tripped up on this post.  Why I don’t know. Maybe because even when I type out what our day is supposed to look like, there are always variations.

So, when do I shower: If I wake up with an alarm & not a crying baby & I’m feeling ambitious or have somewhere to go, then I will get into the shower before anyone wakes up.  If not, then I will shower during nap time #1.  One thing that is great about having a girl is that she does not have the need to destroy things, so I usually will put her in the bathroom with me, give her 2 Q-tips and ask her to clean the shower door while I shower.  And she does it! It is fabulous! 

When do I go to the grocery store: I usually go on Thursdays when these two wonderful women come to love on my babies.  They are usually here in the morning and stay through early afternoon.  If my trip isn’t extensive (not a lot of coupons), then I will take Harper.  Also, I go to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings to get meat, veggies, flowers, eggs, & milk.  Sometimes we take the whole fam & it is crazy fun. 
When is Chris home: I won’t disclose his exact schedule, but we start celebrating the beginning of our weekend on Thursday night & he is home all day Friday & Saturday.  I love having him home.  On Thursdays I am soooo excited for our weekend to begin!  Friday we usually have some sort of special breakfast made by Chris, and Saturdays are usually Farmer’s Market days. 
Here is how our day is supposed to go:
 The morning usually starts off at 6:30 or 7.  Chris wakes up first and makes bottles for the day.  I am NOT a morning person, so I usually stumble out of bed around 7 or 7:30 needing coffee!  I love starting my day with coffee & time with Jesus, but that doesn’t always happen.  I will sacrifice sleep though if I’m feeling especially depleated or I have a really long day ahead of me.  I need the wisdom of the Lord & good communication with Jesus to get me through my day!
As the boys drink their bottles, I drink my coffee.  It’s great because now, they just sit up & crawl over to me to play!  They usually burp themselves on the way over.  Gone are the days of trying to coax out a burp :-(  They are growing up!  We play for about 15 minutes and then I make breakfast & get Harper up.  
Breakfast is served for the boys around 9ish, then we play or I clean up the kitchen.  They will help as they eat the leftover cheerios off the floor.  



Around 10-12 is nap time.  I will get ready, do laundry, straighten the house, do my “chore” of the day,
 and make sure I have snuggle time with Harper.  This is hard to sometimes stop in the day, but it is so rewarding.  We will sit on the bed read some books or watch a DVD.  It makes such a difference to the way she behaves the rest of the day.  After snuggle time, we will go start lunch.

12/1230 – lunch time.  This time is difficult b/c Harper still wants to just have my attention and the boys think they are starving to death…and they are still very dependent on me feeding them.  It is very crazy & loud.  But once tummies are full, life is much better.   **Side note:  I started giving them table food this week at lunch.  Oh. My. Word.  I didn’t know whether to laugh because of the obscene amount of food all over them and my kitchen.  I mean, it was disgusting.  Times three.  And they are boys, and boys are very very different than girls – even as babies, and even in the activing of eating.  I called my mom and told her this.  She replied to me that one of the most vivid memories she had was of her identical brothers throwing peas at each other at dinner.  After she said that, I realized that I had a tiny glimpse into my Mama Dot’s life.**

After lunch I wipe the boys down which sometimes just results into a full out bath.  We will sometimes go on a walk, but that is only if it isn’t blazing hot outside.  Otherwise, i will put on a DVD while I clean up & get everyone geared to naptime.

2- Bottle #2, but I think they will be dropping this one soon… once they get more food into their bodies than ON their bodies.

2:30-4/4:30: Naptime – woot! woot!  I have me time for the first hour.  Then, I do laundry/house stuff or phone calls or emails and try to start dinner.

5:30- Dinner time!  Crazy again.  But more baby food is included here than table food, so that is nice!  I feed them usually about 4-5 jars total + some oatmeal+ a banana.  This is just a weird time for Harper.  I usually just let her wander around and graze-eat.  She is tired with a finicky appetite.  When Chris is home, he can sit with her & she does much better.  She is at a lovely phase when she says ” No like it!”  Oh it drives me nuts!

6:15- We will go for a walk or do bathtime depending on the night.

7:30- bottle #3

8:00- night night babies
8:15- night night Harper
8:30- clean kitchen, start dishwasher, finish laundry, get ready for the next day, blog, hang out with Chris, etc. – usually not *all* of these things, but at least 3 of them
10:30/11 – night night

Q:What do you do when one baby wakes up after only a few minutes, and it is clearly nap time? 
Well, I’ve tried a little bit of it all, but I think there are a couple of factors in having a successful naptime.  


#1- whitenoise to drown out other babies cries.  We have 3 noise makers under each crib.  It sounds like a tidal wave is in the boys room!
#2-Babies need to be tired.  Sometimes I want naptime to arrive sooner, so I will try to force it.  That only makes all of us miserable.
#3- Once babies are crawling, nap life is sooo much better b/c they really work out to get tired!  
#4 – I have tried to seperate them.  We went through a period of a month or so where we kept one in a pack n play in our closet with whitenoise (the closet had a vent – important if you try this!), one in our bathroom with whitenoise & the window covered with a towel, and one in the nursery.  It was good b/c babies slept.  It was bad b/c breaking down & setting up a pack n play was inconvienent as well as trying to dance around the one in the bathroom.  They are all sleeping in the nursery again.
#5 – a little crying won’t hurt em (this is when they are separated).  Especially as they get older.  With Harper and Crews, they have both had to cry it out at one point for 30 minutes.  I didn’t start the CIO really until they were over 6 months (many start sooner than this, I just couldn’t do it).  Warner & Maverick havent’ needed to (yet).  :-)  But with C & H, it never last longer than 30. 

Do you and Chris get one on one time together?  

Yes we do, but we have to be much more conscientious about making time together. Many nights we fall into the bed exhausted.  However, there are some days that I start gearing towards bedtime at 2:00pm!  I will make the coffee for the morning then, get in my pjs, get the babies in their pjs, make sure the kitchen is clean & dinner is ready.  That way, once everyone is down for the night, Chris and I can have uninterrupted time together, and we can get in bed early if we so choose. :-)

Part 3 coming tomorrow!

MLB