Ahndea May: A Day In The Life WIth 5

Sometimes I sit down at the end of the day, well if there is an end of day, and am truly amazed at how much can be accomplished, or not accomplished, how I could possibly be more exhausted or energized, an emotional wreck or confident optimist. I often have people tell me "I don't know how you do it?" It kind of makes me chuckle a little because I don't know either! And half the time I am not really doing anything other than taking care of lots of needs and trying to keep a little of myself in the process.

I thought it would be funny to just give you a play by play of my day today...

4:30 am - Woke up, nursed Adie
4:50 am - Gave Arlie to Nate and pumped
5:30 am - Arlie fell back asleep but woke up at 5:30 so I gave her the bottle
6:00 am - Adie was stirring so I went in and patted her gently until she went back to sleep ( she does not take a passy!)
7:08 am - woke up in a panic because we have to leave the house by 7:35 to get to school
7:15 am - Nate and I deciding who is going to take the kids to school and who is staying home
7:16 am - I am taking kids so pumping to leave bottles, the idea of using my free starbucks coffee I had earned was enough to motivate me to get out the door
7:25 am - brushed my teeth ( and folks that is all) threw on one of Nate's hoodies
7:28 am - quickly making lunches because I was too tired to do it the night before
7:32 am - made cereal and fruit for kids and telling them to hurry and eat it!!!
7:38 am - GET IN THE CAR!
8:07am - dropped kids off at school
8:15 am - Starbucks!!!!!
8:35am - Realized Abryn has gymnastics at 9!!!!
8:45 am - throwing babes in their carseats, getting Abryn in clothes and deciding if I should at least put on something that is not Nates!
9:00am - throwing things in diaper bag and running out the door
9:15am - 15 min late for gymnastics, sitting in car with babes nursing Adie!
10:00am - Leave and drop of garage opener to Linds house
10:20am - stand outside for 20 min talking and then decide to come in for a bit
10:45am - feed babes
10:50am - Abryn has now said she was hungry 18 times!!!!
11:00am - Linds offering everything in her pantry because she is like an Italian mom!
11:30am - I need to go to grocery store, out of milk and wipes (we have been using wet paper towels for 3 days)
12:15am - Linds decides she will watch my 3 so I can run to the store since it's right by her house! :)
12:45am - I have been waiting in the checkout line 20 min and see quickly that there is only 1 bagger who is an elderly man and happens to be bagging on another isle which means I will now be in the line 30 min!
12:55am - Get the kids and head home
1:10pm - Abryn's friend Max wants her to play, so I drop her off
1:20pm - Make it home both babes are crying and tired, bring groceries in
1:45pm - Feed babes, put groceries away
2:00 - 4:00pm - Babes decided not to take naps, so I proceeded to go up and down the stairs for the next 2 hours holding, rocking, patting, putting passy in Arli's mouth, changing poops, and then bringing them back down stairs because they were not going to nap today!
4:00pm - Ain and Anded dropped off by grandpa. Homework review
4:10pm - Babes in highchairs ready for food
4:30pm - Lay babes down, work with Anden on book report
4:45pm - Have Ainsley stop her homework so she can help me with babes so I can help Anden
5:30pm - Babes finally taking cat naps, now whats for dinner
5:40pm - Decided on ground sirloin burgers stuffed with spinach, feta, mozzarella, and basil tomato soup
6:30pm - ate dinner, babes back up, holding babes in Anden's room working on book report
7:15pm - Arlie down!
7:30pm - Me asking when the last time the kids have showered????
7:50pm - Adie in bed but not down
8:15pm - pumped for Adie just in case she needed it
8:30pm - house is quiet and I am well exhausted!

First off even if I did not have lots of littles my personality is one that just DOES! I am a fast paced mover and the more tasks I have the quicker I can get them done... I thrive in chaos and change and stress really. I have no idea why but when I look at my twins and see how different their little personalities are even this tiny, I assure you, I was "born this way." Sometimes I dream of having a personality like the Pioneer Woman, who just loves to homeschool, live off the land, make beautiful food daily and have a spirit that gushes buttery sweetness. But then if we were all like that, this world would be pretty one dimensional. As I get older, I become more and more comfortable with who I am, which allows me to be able to look at those around me and cherish their gifts and abilities even those different than mine or ones I may wish I had. I always want to work on myself, grow, challenge the parts of me I need to work on, but I also love myself and feel very blessed God created me to be me. Isn't it amazing that you can have multiple children from the same parents and they can be completely opposite and unique? Doesn't that just validate we couldn't possibly have been created from anything other than a creator!

This past weekend I was busy making baby food. I have been asked a few questions about "how to" and "what to" so here it goes. I like making my own baby food because honestly it is easy, and I find it to be more convenient to make it in large quantities once a week vs buying little jars that cost $1.00 for 3oz of food.

Little Gem
*Now this is where if you choose not to make your own baby food, awesome! And hopefully you can say awesome to me too! Sometimes we succumb to comparing ourselves and feeling guilty or like we don't measure up. It happens, we are human! The good news is we don't have to do that! We can embrace where we are, what we are good at and maybe not so good at and be truly happy for those around us who are doing it different. Just be confident in your abilities and if your challenged by what someone else is doing, rise to it and if your not, then let it go.*

My babes are moving onto a 6 month schedule soon, so we are working on eating 2 meals a day and nursing (or bottles) 4 or 5 times per day. It has been a transition for all of us since the babes are requiring much more interaction and play time. Here is what I made this weekend.

2 bananas + 1 avocado = this one is the babes fav for sure

2 pears + rice cereal = yummy first cereal

1 banana + little water = nannas!

This round was enough to last 1 week, it took me 20 min to make in the blender and it cost about $4.00. If I would have bought baby food it would have cost over $20.00!

Easy Tip - Fill ice trays with the baby food and pop out and take with you on the road. This an easy storage option. I usually buy some jars to have on the go and keep my food fresh in the fridge for 3 days at a time.

*If you do make small batches and store in the refrigerator, please keep in mind that you should not feed your baby from the container and then re-store. Saliva may contaminate the food and bacteria may evolve. Always take the portions you will serve from the container and transfer to a feeding bowl.