The first week

I am grateful to say that I have survived the first week home with all three kids much better than I expected. Sad to say, but I was quite nervous and a little fearful when thinking of Shaun returning to work, and being on my own with the kids, but it turned out ok. I just decided I would do my best to figure out a routine that worked and a way for all of us to be alive at the end of the day!

So here it is in a nutshell:

I’ll start with the best part, the evening, where Brooke sleeps the best. At 9pm, I get her up, feed her, and put her back down. Lights are low, no talking, just business so she’ll sleep good. Amazingly, she sleeps until 1-2am, and wakes up for feeding. Shaun gets her up and changes her, brings her to me, and crashes back to sleep. In attempt to keep myself awake (or I will nod off holding her nursing) I watch my favorite stuff on youtube on the phone, or a ‘progressive nursing movie’ on the ipod, which is “Zookeeper”, at the moment.

I put her back down, and she wakes up at 5am for another feeding. After that, I try to go back to sleep, but it doesn’t always happen. The boys come in around 7, watch some Disney shows, and we eat breakfast at 8 while Brooke is sleeping. After that, I get her up, feed her while the boys watch “Curious George”. I tell them that when I have to feed nurse, we can watch one of their shows, but we turn it off as soon as I’m done. I already feel guilty over having the TV on too much, but it sure helps to have their favorite shows DVRd to watch for nursing.

Brooke is awake for maybe 30 minutes, if that, and goes down for a morning nap around 9ish. I then try my best to spend good times with the boys, school stuff, playing outside, and such. They have been wonderful, and have not shown any jealousy towards Brooke. Blessing.

We eat lunch around 11, and then get Brooke up at noon for her feeding. She goes back down a little before 1pm, and we get Kevin ready to take his nap at that time. So far, he does pretty good staying in his room and sleeping, because he sure still needs that nap! Sometimes, he wakes up early, and is a raging bear. It’s a hard afternoon when that happens. Ethan and I have some time together, and sometimes I’m still pooped and need a nap.

We get Brooke up around 3 for feeding, and thankfully, Kevin is still asleep during this time. Put her back down around 4, and work on dinner at 5. It really helps that I’ve been able to feed the boys while she is asleep, and they are fed and good while I have to feed her.

As most Moms know, the last part of the day before dinner and to bedtime can be the craziest time of day. Shaun comes home, and we do our best to have dinner together, me feed Brooke, bath the boys, get dressed in pjs, attempt to have scripture reading daily, (5 minutes) playtime with Daddy, wind the boys down, read books, and put them to bed.

Then, load the dishwasher, clean the kitchen, feed the dogs, lock up the house, shower, lay down on the bed and wish to go into a deep coma to recover from the last 3 hours, by 8pm. 8pm feels SO late to us, probably due to exhaustion. I wonder when we will stay up later than that. Maybe when the kids are teenagers

That’s our day for now, and I’m so glad that I’m alive and doing ok with three, wonderful kids. The house is in an array of pink baby blankets here and there, cute little girl onesies, the boppy pillow, and my big straw water bottle follows me everywhere. The dinners and sweet comments from friends on the blog and FB have not gone un noticed, thank you so much!

Today, there is a pork cooking in the crockpot for sandwiches. Simplicity at its best. Also, I treated myself to a gift for surviving the hospital, a copy of “Anne of Green Gables”. I love small sized books! It’s my favorite to have them fit neatly in my hands, not huge. Is that not one of the greatest books on the planet? The vivid description of Prince Edward Island takes me out of this desert and into a green, lush paradise. Not knocking the desert, there is beauty to be found here, but I do love trees, grass, creeks, and such

It’s so amazing to think we have three kids. I keep going “When did this happen? How did I get here exactly?” and remember the flood of chapters in my life leading up to this moment. The blissful college days at Ricks, the eye opening mission in Florida, the MTC alone, and the cast of wonderful people I’ve met along the way. I’ve got to write down my life story so far, ahh! Too many great adventures. So many good things to work on, but have to balance everything. Just glad to be alive.