Snapshot

I often find myself looking back on life and it's usually really hard to remember the details. I wish I had kept a better, more insightful journal. This afternoon, I thought I'd jot down a quick snapshot of our lives right now - in this fun baby stage - so that maybe some of those details will stick in our memories.

Mornings

"Routine" - however unscheduled we are - is probably the best word to describe our lives these days. Mornings are generally pretty groggy (Seb and I like to squeeze in as much "veg" time as we can in the evenings - meaning we get to sleep at around 12:30p each day - ugh). Hudson in usually the first person awake, and he almost always comes into our bedroom to say "hi." Occasionally he'll crawl into bed with us, but usually he begs Daddy to turn on morning cartoons and Seb usually does to save us a few more minutes of sleep.

Beau is such a light sleeper that he's up pretty soon after Hudson. I bring him into bed with me and he gets his morning supply of milk. He's starting to wean, though, so pretty soon he's crawling onto Daddy saying "Daaaaad," trying to pull my glasses off the night stand, messing with the blinds, and playing peek-a-boo in the curtains. Seb gets ready for the day and if I'm feeling ambitious, I'll whip together a nice (or sometimes blah) lunch for our hard working Papa. Seb eats breakfast and reads the news or sports on his iPad and I feed the boys breakfast. Feeding time has been a bit of a challenge these days having two lactose intolerant kiddos. What up with that!? Thank goodness for vanilla almond milk!

Housework

I've been having a hard time getting into a good groove with two boys; we haven't quite pulled together a nice schedule so far. I like to try and get dressed as soon as possible because if I wait too long it seems like I never find time to shower! I also try to make sure all of the beds are made in the morning (Hudson's been doing his own bed this week just for fun! That's been a nice surprise!) and try to get the dishes cleared out of the sink. I've divided my housework up so that I have one main chore to complete each week day:

• Monday: Laundry 
• Tuesday: Vacuum
• Wednesday: Groceries + clean refrigerator 
• Thursday: Laundry
• Friday: Bathrooms
• Saturday: Finish the week's Etsy orders

It seems, though, that I either have to do the chores and have crying boys or just save the chores for night time or the weekend! Ugh! Guess this just isn't the season of life to have a clean home!

Play Time

If we don't have somewhere to go, I usually read a few books to the boys in the morning and get Beau down for his morning nap around 10:00am. Beau's favorite book is "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear." Hudson likes Curious George or anything about Halloween or bugs. When Beau's down, it's one-on-one playtime with Hudson! Some of Hudson's favorite things to play these days include:

• Pirates: He has a backpack full of pirate dress up - a hat, bandana, necklace, hook hand, compass, and more. Basically, playing pirates involves dressing up like a pirate ... and that's about it. Then, he remembers how much he loves watching Jake the Pirate and begs for me to turn it on. Such a TV addict!
• Cats: Hudson likes to pretend he's a cat. Or sometimes a cheetah. Or a tiger. He asks me to make him a bed out of blankets and to feed him some water and "nasty" cat food (coco puffs). He usually tells us he is a girl cat and that he's going to have babies. He always gives himself a really unique name, too - like Hunkson, Rudy, Hush, Rue, or Rasabina. Other times he'll want to be a dog and he gets very specific about what breed he is. Last night it was a Dalmatian wiener dog. 
• Other favorites include superheroes (the imaginext toys), "tiny" legos, monster trucks, or witches (where we put together a nasty brew in one of my kitchen pots using his plastic bugs). 

When Beau wakes up, we usually have lunch and run errands (or just continue playing). Beau is such an independent little man that he usually just likes to walk around the house and cause trouble. He likes playing in the toilets, touching all of Hudson's toys (Hudson hates this and usually slams the door in the poor baby's face), pulling all of the DVDs off the shelf, and finding anything that's not a toy and banging it around. What a crazy little man! 

In the afternoon (around 2:30p), I like to try to get the boys to both take a nap, but this is usually hit or miss! If they do nap, I run around like a mad woman either getting housework done or fulfilling Etsy orders. If Hudson doesn't go down, he has a little independent playtime and then some structured playtime (coloring books, play dough, etc). If he does go down, he's usually out until dinner time! On those days, when Beau wakes up we have some one-on-one. I like to read with Beau and play with him in his room. 

Dinner Time

I usually start dinner around 5:00pm while the boys play almost right on my feet. They always like to be right there! Beau loved sorting through the plastic cup drawer, which is down low on purpose. Not sure if this is a good idea, though, because I find sippy cup parts all over the house! They are elated when Daddy comes home around 6:30 - Hudson runs for his hug and Beau squeals with joy! He has a fit if Daddy doesn't pick him up and hug him too! 

Bedtime 

After dinner, we get the boys ready for bed (potty/ diaper change, jammies, teeth, face washing, stories, prayer). We like to get them down by 7:00, but it's usually more like 8:30. I spend the rest of the evening fulfilling Etsy orders. I usually finish around 11:00, when I spend a few precious moments with Seb, read the scriptures (right now it's the Old Testament!), and get to sleep around 1:00am! Oye! I need to fix my evenings pretty quick because I am running out of steam. 

That's all folks! A day in the life. It's pretty boring some days, but I count my lucky starts to get to be a stay-at-home mom. This time at home with my babies is so precious and fleeting!