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So I had this idea today that I ought to write down what a day in my life is like right now.  I think I’ll look back one day and wonder how I did it, because there are days now when I wonder how I managed to make it through the day only to wake up and start all over.  I have to warn you that this is very detailed and therefore long. 

Here is today:

Went to bed at 1:00 AM last night.  Ila only woke up once after that, but didn’t settle right back down after eating so I held her in my arms on the couch and went back to sleep—luckily she’s good at sleeping in my arms. 

5:56 AM:  I hear Nicole wake up and cry out.  I lay there and try to decide if I can stay in bed for 30 more minutes.  I convince myself that the last thirty minutes of sleep only seem like the most  important, they won’t really make a difference in how tired I feel so I carefully maneuver off the couch without waking Ila and gently lay her in her bed.  I get Nicole out of bed, change her diaper and carry her into the living room.  She seems so content to hug that I think maybe she’ll lay on the couch and cuddle with me and I can have some of my last 30 min of sleep.  It doesn’t work.  She’s way too wiggly. I’ve never been able to cuddle Nicole to sleep.   I give up, turn off my alarm and make her breakfast.

6:30-7:20 I wake up Isaac.  It usually takes a few tries.  I go in at 6:30 and wake him up just enough to ask if he wants a few more minutes of sleep.  He does.  The next time I go back to his room I pull some clothes out for him and remind him why he needs to get up.  Usually he has rolled off his bed and is hiding between his bed and the wall with his multi-colored afghan from Aunt Heidi over his head and I have to tap him so he knows that  I found him.  He usually laughs a little, but doesn’t move to get up.  Today he was still in bed.  He surprises me by coming out dressed before I go back in his room.  I make him breakfast, fix his hair, and help him tie his shoes.  Charlotte comes into the kitchen and I give her breakfast as well.  Zach gathers the family and we have family prayer before he takes Isaac to school and himself to work.

7:20-11:20  I help Nicole and Charlotte choose a few toys to play with and then clean the kitchen.  I feed Ila and she falls asleep so I lay her in her swing. 

The girls are all happy and safe so I decide to take the shower I that I neglected to take last night.  I started showering at night to guarantee a shower each day, but some nights Zach is asleep before Ila is settled and I don’t want to chance him waking up to a screaming baby while I shower. 

I take a quick shower and start to get dressed before I hear Nicole crying at the door.  It’s still better than last time when Nicole heard me start up the shower and cried at the door until Charlotte came along and opened it for her and I had to cut my shower short when both girls opened the shower door.  I had to wrap a towel around myself and set her up to play with some toys so I could dry off and get dressed without her in the room getting into her father’s things.  This time I finish getting dressed and open the door to let her in.  She gives me a strange look as I apply my deodorant.  I pick her up and carry her out of the room with me.

She wants me to read her a book.  After I read the book to her three times she’s still not satisfied. She’s just started to demand more attention from me, she used to prefer reading books by herself.  I’m expecting someone around 11:00.  I need to get some chores done before she comes so I turn on Curious George and try to interest her in a show and some toys.  It works well enough and I’m able to make all the beds and straiten up the books and other things in all the bedrooms.  I get out some clothes for Nicole and get her dressed.  Charlotte is wearing a different pair of PJs.  I know what this means so I look in the bathroom and find her other PJs and “night time underwear” on the floor.  She doesn’t want to get dressed in daytime clothes ,but I’m able to bribe her to get dressed by offering her a banana cookie that I made yesterday. 

I’m afraid I’ll forget to use the bacon we bought last week so I pre-cook it and put it in a Tupperware container so that it can easily be re-warmed for a quick breakfast.  As I cook the bacon I finish up some chores.  I take out the kitchen trash and pull the garbage can back to the house, re-organize Ila’s clothing storage by borrowing some better looking containers from Nicole’s room and from the cabinet under the TV.  I have to find a new container for under the TV and pick out a few toys to donate in order to make it work.  Fix my hair and make-up.

The house is all clean except for vacuuming.  This carpet shows everything so I have to vacuum.  Ila is awake.  I try to feed her, but she doesn’t want to eat so I try to lay her down somewhere while I vacuum.  It doesn’t work, she cries right away when I try to lay her down.  I ask Charlotte if she wants to hold Ila.  She does, but Ila isn’t content for long and I really need to vacuum.  I start to feel stressed that i won’t be able to vacuum.  I know it shouldn’t be such a big deal, but someone is coming and I’m so close to having my house perfectly clean.  I take a deep breath, sit down and settle Ila to sleep.  It actually didn’t take too long.  I get out the upright and check the bag.  It’s really full.  I take it out, but can’t find the spare bags, maybe I’m out.  Luckily I have a second vacuum, it just takes a few more minutes to put together.  Finally, I am able to vacuum the living room, hall, and children’s bedrooms. 

I feed the girls again.  It’s a little early for lunch but at least I’ll have time to clean up before she comes.

Ila is awake again.  This time she will eat.  I nod off while feeding her.  I feel strangely more rested after my catnap but Ila’s asleep time for more cleaning.  The girls have made some messes.  I help them clean up. 

The phone rings.  She’s not coming today.  I’m ok with it, but I think now I’ll have to do this all over again when she does come later in the week. Not that I let my house fall apart most days, but I usually don’t have it perfectly clean at any given moment.  I’m actually somewhat relived that I can go to the store now instead of going after school when I have one more child with me and am running into Nicole’s naptime.  The thought occurs to me how glad I am that I cleaned a little extra this morning because now I can just go and come home to a clean house. 

11:20-12:43  I get shoes on all the girls.  Ila is already awake again so I put her in her car seat.  I load up all the girls and head off to Wal-Mart.  Short phone call to Zach along the way.  The girls are perfect in the store but it’s a challenge to fit groceries in around Ila’s car seat with Nicole in the front.  It’s usually even harder to fit the groceries back in after they’ve been bagged, but I take out Ila’s car seat and turn it so that it can rest sideways on the back of the cart and I’m able to put a few things under the seat so that everything fits in easily.  I even get a compliment for how well behaved my girls are.  I unload everything into the car and select home on my GPS.  It looks like I’ll have just enough time to stop at home and unload.

12:43-12:50  I give Charlotte and Nicole each a bunch of grapes to keep them happy while I hurry to unload groceries and put all the perishables in the fridge (Zach would not be happy about them eating in the car, but they ate lunch early and I have to be at the school at 1:00, maybe I should have left this part out of the blog).  I get the mail so that I can sort it in the car at the school.

12:50-1:15  I drive to the school and get there six minutes early.  I park the car in the line of cars waiting to pick up their kids.  Even 6 minutes early I’m too far back to see the kids come out of the school, but I know I’ve got a little time.  I open some mail, but Ila is getting fussy.  I get out of the car and try to calm her in her seat.  It doesn’t work so I take her out of the seat and carry her to the driver’s seat.  With her blanket covering her, I feed her as I sit in the drivers seat and watch for signs that the kids are getting out of school or the cars in front of me are restarting and moving forward.  I can barely see the top of the door to the school, but I see it open.  I stop feeding Ila and give her her pacifier.  I burp her as I take her back to her seat.  She would have eaten more, but she’s content.  I have her bucked in her seat and I’m back in my seat with the car on before the line moves forward.  I pull up to the school and a teacher walks Isaac to the door.  As he gets in he enthusiastically says “Mom, Trevor said not to sit by Faith because she’s a werewolf”.  The teacher smiles as she shuts the door.  I ask a few questions about his story.  Soon he’s telling me that “the cold that made Mr. Burton’s foot hurt is giving me bad germs so that my foot is starting to hurt so I will have to hop on one foot, but I’m not very good at hopping on one foot so I need those things like Mr. Burton has.”  He means crutches, but still hasn’t embraced the name for them.  We drive home.

1:15-3:00  I gather the mail, my purse, the diaper bag and Ila.  All I can do is unbuckle the girls, I have no free hand to take Nicole in and Ila is awake.  Isaac takes his bag and jacket into the kitchen table then joins his sisters to play in the garage.  The house is clean and I need a few moments to take care of Ila and go through his backpack so the garage seems like a perfect choice.  I warn them to stay in the garage and not to unlock the door so that Nicole will be safe.  I take Ila out of her seat, put bags away and hold her as I go through the papers in Isaac’s bag.  I turn on the oven, knowing that cooking a snack will get the kids out of the garage quickly and efficiently.  I put away the things from the car, check to see if Zach left me a message on the computer.  He did.  I call him and he wants me to make a call.  I know it’s the kind that will have me on hold and then answering a multitude of questions, but the house is clean and the kids aren’t too needy.

I get the info I need and make the call.  I get through menu selections then put the phone on speaker as I put the kids snack in the oven.  I hold Ila and set the table. 
The timer sounds, the snack is ready.  I take it out of the oven and call the kids in.  As they sit down in their seats my hold time ends.  I put Nicole in her seat and dish up snacks as I talk to the person.  Her computer is responding slowly so the call is elongated.  I have to hold the phone with my shoulder with Ila in my arms to log into some info on the computer.  The kids finish eating and ask to get out train tracks.  I make a deal to let them if they’ll clean up before Dad gets home.  Ila is asleep in my arms.  I lay her down as gently as I can with my free arm while still on the phone.  She stays asleep.  Isaac starts describing something he’s building.  I still on the phone so I can’t really listen, but he goes on and on.  Nicole finishes eating and I take her from her seat.  She needs a diaper change, but I’m still on the phone and I know she doesn’t want to be changed so I grab a bag of fruit snacks and give her one as I lay her down on the changing table.  It works, she doesn’t scream and I’m able to change her diaper as I continue to talk on the phone.  I finish changing her and put her in her bed.  She is not happy and starts to cry.  Charlotte walks in as I’m leaving the room.  She has wet her pants and wants me to choose which underwear she should change into.  I have to pick her up and put her in the hallway so that I can get out of the room where Nicole is crying because I’m still on the phone.  I have to break away from the call to choose some underwear for Charlotte.  The lady on the phone asks a question I can’t answer so I’m back to my computer to type to Zach.  He responds and the call is finally over. I can’t believe how much I did while on the phone and it worked out ok—I have to let someone know how awesome I am and no one’s home so I update my status on facebook

I’m feeling good.  I”m on a roll.  With Nicole and Ila asleep and Isaac and Charlotte building train tracks I have a moment to myself.   Charlotte has peed her pants 4 times today so I decide to do some laundry even though I had washed all my dirty clothes yesterday.  I sit at my computer for a few moments and clear out my google reader.  I check my email.  Krista tried to call.  I realize my phone is still in my car, my hands were so full that I forgot it.  As I talk to Krista, Ila wakes up.  I pick her up and keep her happy while I talk to Krista.  I feed Ila and things are still calm so I call my cousin. We make tentative plans for Friday.

3:00-5:20  I wash and prepare some potatoes for dinner and put them in the oven, switch the laundry, have Isaac do his homework, turn on the oven, pack lunches for Zach and Isaac, put meatballs in the oven for dinner, set the table, cook some corn for dinner, and take pictures of Isaac’s train track so that he’s ok with cleaning it up.  I notice Charlotte go to the bathroom.  After a little while I start to worry and check on her.  She’s had an accident and it’s all over her legs and the toilet.  I have to let Ila cry while I clean Charlotte and the bathroom and then send Charlotte in to put clothes on.

5:20-5:40  Nicole wakes up.  I pick her up and hug her for a few minutes.  Ila starts to cry so I put Nicole in her chair with some food and I sit down and start feeding Ila. Isaac finishes cleaning up his mess.  Zach comes home. 

5:40-8:00 I put Ila down and pull dinner out of the oven.  We eat dinner.  Zach holds Ila while Isaac and Charlotte help me clean up from dinner.  The mess is small, but Ila cries the whole time.  I take her from Zach and we gather the children for Family Home Evening.  We sing a song, have a lesson on Abinidi and King Noah, then have our “Family Olympics.”  I record the competitions and awards ceremonies with my camera while holding Ila.  When the “Olympics” are over we send the kids to change into PJs.  I put Ila down to dish up ice cream for our family night treat.  Nicole doesn’t notice the ice cream  so I put her to bed while Zach takes care of Ila.  The kids finish ice cream and we start our bedtime routine.  Zach runs the show as I hold Ila.

8:00-9:30  With the kids in bed, we quickly  list a few items to sell (Zach lists 5 and I list 1 while holding Ila).  Ila is fussy so I take her to the living room to rock her to sleep.  She calms quickly and Zach joins me for a snack and a show.  I lay Ila down to sleep during the show. 

9:30-now  Zach watches a Jazz game while I use my computer and take care of Ila.  I start this blog.  Zach and I pray together.  He goes to bed.  At midnight Isaac’s alarm rings and he starts to yell and cry.  I turn it off and comfort him.  I reset the alarm so that if it gets turned on again it will go off at 9:00 AM.  I finish my blog—maybe I should have taken the opportunity to go to sleep early, but sleep will come another time.  I might not remember all the details tomorrow and now I’ll always have this record.  I’ll likely finish my night by editing my blog, posting it, and perhaps posting a few pictures and videos to flickr.

It was a good day.  I accomplished a lot because the kids played well and slept well and Ila was not very demanding.  It wasn’t necessarily atypical, though it had it’s atypical moments.  The days that are most frustrating to me are the days that I’m not able to keep up and my house gets messy and it seems like everyone needs me at once.  Those are the days that I need help, but I won’t ask for it because I’m too afraid to let anyone see my house in chaos and mess so I just do my best and I”ve usually caught up with the messes by the time I go to bed.

To anyone who made it to the end, I’m sorry for all the boring details.  Don’t blame me, you kept reading. . . .good night!