Buckle boy daily life...

Graham always wants to climb in Owen's crib when he wakes up from nap.
I let them bounce around like they're on the trampoline for a bit.
They both love it.

I always love reading other mom's posts about their daily routines, what real life looks like with toddlers, etc. And I love reading back on mine. So here's a glimpse of what life looks like with a newly 3 year old and a 16 month old...and a preggo Mama. ;)

6:30am- I get up. If I'm nursing a newborn or in first trimester of pregnancy or something equally exhausting, I just let the boys be my alarm clock, soaking up every moment of rest. But if it's somewhat normal life, I am so convinced my day goes WAY better if I get up before them. I either shower or start breakfast or stuff diapers, or whatever the need is for that day.. Because let's be honest- I don't shower every day.

7:00am- Owen is for sure awake by now, and usually Graham. Since he's given up his nap, he sometimes sleeps in til 8.00ish, but it's unpredictable. Diapers changed, clothes on for the day, and head downstairs for breakfast. Breakfast lately is usually scrambled eggs, pumpkin muffins, carrot muffins, banana bread, or oatmeal, plus a smoothie or fruit. I've been loving this granola lately too. We've been reading Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing at breakfast and praying for our day. After breakfast, I clean up and the boys immediately run to the living room and start fighting over the new workbench and toy tools from Graham's birthday. At least twenty meltdowns between the two of them before anything else happens. I seriously never want to get them new toys again. It's ridiculous. Good thing Christmas is just around the corner, huh?? The rest of the morning consists of us just trying to get things in order before we leave the house... Washing a mountain of dishes (have I mentioned we don't have a dishwasher?!), stuffing a millions diapers (we haven't even attempted to start potty training Graham yet, based on the pediatrician's recommendation with some other issues going on in his little body), packing the bag for our morning activity, making the bed, changing myself from pajama pants to yoga pants :), changing more diapers, etc, etc... Exciting stuff. I've realized I usually only even look in the mirror on Sundays. Not good, people. Not good. Andrew usually eats breakfast with us and then heads out to work.

Children's Museum 

9:30ish am- We usually head out around this time, depending on what we're doing. Our typical activities include grocery shopping/ running errands, MOPS, Music Class, the Children's Museum, playdates, parks, and plenty of trips to Target. :) I HAVE to get out of the house every day, and the boys love it too.

12:00pm- We're back home and everyone is hangry. HANGRY and in need of new diapers, shoes removed, coats unzipped, and they let me know it. Loudly. Lunch lately is grilled cheese/ black bean burgers/ dinner leftovers/ crockpot soup, along with a fruit and veggie. My boys can EAT, so they usually devour especially their first two meals of the day. After lunch, they play for a bit while I clean up.

Graham's latest favorite Room Time activity. 

1:00pm- Naptime for Owen/ Roomtime for Graham. I'm sad to say that Graham has officially dropped his nap, right around his 3rd birthday. It has been gradual; the last few months have just decreased in the number of days he would actually fall asleep. After a couple weeks of him not napping at all, I told him we were going to start doing "roomtime," which basically means he just has to stay in his room but can do whatever he wants- play with toys, read books, whatever. His favorite is probably to watch the neighbors out the window. Ha. I consistently hear him banging on the window and calling "hiiiiiiii!!!! hi megan!! hi johnny!! hi charlotte!!" Hahaha. We've only been doing this about a week or two, so I'm still figuring it out. So far he's lasted between 1-2 hours before melting down. So I'm not sure where we'll land on the length of time. But Owen for sure sleeps longer than this (usually around 2.5 hours), so I'll just go to Graham's room after his roomtime is over, and we read books until Owen wakes up. Since around the time Graham turned 2, I've been making sure we read every day for 30 minutes. He just couldn't sit and listen that long before, and I can see the same thing with Owen now. But Graham LOOOOOVES to read now, so sometimes we read up to an hour, if Owen is still sleeping. His favorites lately are the "How Do Dinosaurs...?" series, Clifford books, the Pigeon series, Little Critter, etc.

He became a teenager overnight. Seriously.
We love our neighborhood gardens.

3:30pm- Owen is usually awake now. Occasionally he'll sleep 3 hours, but whenever he wakes up, I'll change diapers and give the boys a small snack. Then, it's whatever the need of the hour is- sometimes play at home while I dinner prep, or a walk around the neighborhood, or a Target run, whatever.

Typical scene when Daddy comes home.
I LOVE THIS.

5:30pm- Andrew gets home and rescues us from all melting down. Ha. Something about the clock striking 4 makes us all lose our minds. The boys are like instantly whiny, I'm instantly impatient, and my eyes stay glued on the clock, counting the minutes until Andrew walks through the door. He swoops in like Superman, throws Owen up in the air, chases Graham around the table, and all is right with the world. I finish dinner in peace, and we sit down to eat. Dinner is usually a madhouse. Owen is still a mess in the high chair, flinging his sippy cup to the floor every 2 minutes, screaming if it's not food he likes, frantically signing "all done!" but then begging to be held and eat off my plate (which is always the exact same food). Graham screams at Owen to stop screaming, constantly interrupts us with "Graham's turn to talk!!!", and immediately declares "all done" as soon as Owen does- I'm pretty sure because he thinks Owen is going to run back to the toys and take all the good ones. So, yeah, madhouse!!! But both boys are usually done in about 10 minutes, and then they run off to play while Andrew and I can catch up on our days and relax for a bit.

A glimpse of dinner crazy.
Both boys in my lap, Owen screaming, Graham smearing my food everywhere while ignoring his.
You get the idea.

I love this guy.

6:30pm- We start the bedtime routine. It seems to take exponentially longer with two kids than one. Am I right?! We clean up the toys, fight over the dreaded toothbrush, triple-stuff cloth diapers, triple-layer our boys' PJ's on really cold nights, read two books, sing, pray, and then both boys collapse into bed.

7:00pm- They're out. Graham used to stay up later when he was napping, but he is beyond DONE at 7 since he gave up his nap. Andrew will usually relax by watching one episode of the Big Bang Theory or something, and then head off to study the night away. Did I mention he's getting his PHD?! We're all just trying to survive here, people!! I clean up the kitchen and then do whatever the need is. I've seriously had a 4-month long to-do list since I had ZERO energy during my first trimester to do anything but survive. So I'm playing catch-up still.

10:30pm- We usually collapse in bed around this time.

But seriously- I.JUST.LOVE.THEM.