Life with three...

So since having Rae (and really, since getting pregnant with Rae) I've been asked a lot "So how's life with three?" and actually, its pretty darn easy.  I know I know, you're thinking WHAT?! Don't get me wrong, I don't have a lot of free time or time to do what I want to do, but I also don't have a super stressful, chaotic life (okay, it gets that way everyone in a while).  My kids are very routine based and so life as commenced as usual since Rae came into it. It also helps that Rae is quite the easy baby.

Here is a snippet of how our days function.

Mornings are a little more laid back than they used to be.  Unfortunately for my husband, I have stopped getting up and making breakfast each morning.  I'm sure he'd appreciate it if I'd start again, but that time will come once my brain has decided that I have sufficiently caught up on sleep that has been lost over the past year of pregnancy and toddlers learning to sleep through the night.

The kids and I typically can get showered, dressed and fed and ready to go by a little before nine.  I typically have one of three things happening - a bible study, us heading off to a kid - friendly place to play or errands to run.  I have just about a three hour window to accomplish anything I need to seriously get done for the day at this time....because naps come up quickly and if I'm not careful I end up with two tantrum throwing toddlers on my hands.

Naps (thankfully) are the same for both Keller and Lucy right now.  They both take 2 hr naps and both do best when they get to sleep sometime between 11 AM and 12 noon.  Raegan often times will comply with this same naps schedule ;).  So it has been a very common event to have a triple nap (I know many are thinking - why oh WHY aren't you napping too? Well...I'm not a napper, simple. as. that.)  This time is what should be a very productive time of my day...and some days it is.  I get laundry, dishes, floors, etc cleaned up and often times food prep is done too...but there are those other days when this time is really just about me taking it easy and balancing out the non-stop requests of me doing something for other people the rest of my day.

Afternoons, similar to mornings, consist of only a few things. Sometimes I attempt an errand or two and more often than I'd like to we end up at the grocery store getting a final few things for dinner and I come out a little more worse for the wear than when I went in thanks to two very confident and adventurous toddlers.

The hardest part of the day are what many of my friends and I call the "witching hours" of motherhood....4-6 pm.  It's past nap time and toys/indoor playtime has been exhausted and dad isn't home yet to create a new distractions AND it's time to get dinner ready and tidy up the house.  This time seems to be exponentially intensified if I have somewhere that I need to be soon after dad gets home.  We (obviously) survive - and to be honest - I turn on the t.v. at this point or a movie for them more often than I'd hoped I would when picturing my life as a mom.  But I will give myself some grace, it's winter, they are young and I am way outnumbered here.  At least they get fed..right?!

Moving onto the evenings - once dad is home anyways - my load gets a little lighter since dad takes on the task of rough housing or dancing around in the living room with the older two while I finish up in the kitchen or get going on my way to whatever I have going on.

Admittingly, bedtimes were a rough go there for awhile.  I'm not sure how much it actually had to do with the transition to three kids though as much as it did with the holidays and the chaotic schedules we had going around that time.  Now that we're a solid two months into this whole adventure, bedtimes are pretty much back to routine.  Lucy goes down at 6:30; Keller at 7:30 and Rae typically goes back to sleep for the night at 9:30.  Nighttime has also settled down - which has been a huge blessing for me -.  Keller still typically ends up in our bed, which is fine, since he just crawls in and falls asleep...sometimes I don't even know that he has gotten into bed until I wake up for Lucy.  Lucy, herself, sometimes wakes up around the 2AM mark - but if I leave her to herself, she'll just go back to sleep...however, since we are still tandem nursing - by this time, I typically need her help! lol.  So I go down to her to have her nurse and she falls back asleep.  Raegan is a gem.  She has been sleeping solid 7 1/2 hr stretches lately, so if she goes to bed at 9:30, we nurse at 4:30...it shifts if she falls asleep later.

All of us tend to be awake by 6:30AM.  And the cycle repeats itself.

Not too shabby huh?! So for any mommas out there expecting a second or third...have hope, it's not as crazy or scary or difficult as many people make it out to be.  It is actually quite enjoyable!

Until Next Time..