How I Do It

Besides getting asked if they are twins, or if they are identical (yes, we get that ALL THE TIME), one of the most frequent questions I am asked is "how do you do it?" My immediate answer is, I just do. I don't have another option, so I just do it. Some days even I don't understand how things got done. Here's the deal though, I am not doing this on my own. Everything I have has been given to me by God. My family, our home, our possessions, EVERYTHING. God has also given me the ability to lean on Him each and every day. He provides me the time, the strength, the courage and abundant grace and mercy to get through each day. Without His help, I would be a mess (and I am pretty sure my house and children would be as well.) Multiple times each day I find myself calling out to God to help me be patient, to help me show His love even in the tough moments. I flat out admit I can't do it on my own, I need His help, His grace, mercy and forgiveness.

On that note...I LOVE my job! I love being a wife and a mama! I love caring for my husband, our children and our home. Call me crazy, but I truly love what I do!! Some days around here are straight up crazy, and I fail over and over, but I still go to bed at night thankful for my life.

One of my techniques (for lack of a better word) for getting through a daunting task (like potty training, or loading all 3 kids up to head to Walmart, or cloth diapering to name a few) is to be READY. Ready to say, okay, I am doing this, and it needs done, and I am sticking to it no matter what. When I started cloth diapering at 2 months, I was NOT ready. I had set a time frame of starting at 2 months, and when the babies were 2 months, I was just not ready. I tried, and I failed. For some reason 2 weeks ago, I decided I was in a good place to start cloth diapering again, I was ready, and I was not turning back. I am now a cloth diapering mama (more on that another time). When I need to get something at Walmart, and I really don't want to spend another evening away from home (because time with my husband is precious), I take all 3 kids. It might take us 2 hours to get out the door by the time everyone wakes up, is changed and gone potty, and in a good enough mood, but if that is what I need to do, I do it. Do things always work out the way I plan??, ABSOLUTELY NOT! This is why I have to rely on God's help and strength.

Another thing I keep in mind every day is that I can't do it all. I just can't! I have a very active 2 year old, PLUS 2 infants. So I try very hard not to set my expectations of what I can accomplish to high. I try to make a reasonable list to accomplish each day, and even then I can't always accomplish that list. I usually include the normal things like laundry, dishes, keeping the kids alive and spend quality time with them, and cook dinner. On top of those things I try to clean one area of the house, I try to do one organizing project, and if I can, I try to do something crafty (because I enjoy crafting.) I attempt to leave the evenings after Aaron is home free of things to do. We get precious little time with him on the days he works, so the time we do get I want to use it wisely. That being said, since the babies arrived, some things have to happen after he gets home (like bath time). Our evenings are pretty relaxing after dinner and baths are out of the way.

So far I have been referring to times when I am home alone with all 3 kids. Another HUGE help is of course my sweet husband. Aaron is the BEST! He is a HUGE encouragement to me when he is home and when he is gone at work, and he is just the best husband and papa we could ever have around here! We LOVE him!! I couldn't do it without him! He is the bomb-diggity as I affectionately refer to him from time to time. He works so hard to provide for us, and his love for each of us is obvious.

 Being a mama of twins is a stretching (literally and in more ways than one) experience! I have learned how to feed both babies at the same time. Sometimes this looks like one bottle being held with my jaw and another with my foot, I mean hand. ;) Jason almost always has to go potty right when I sit down to feed them. You would think I would learn to take him first. So I set the babies down and take him to avoid accidents (because who has time for those?? :)).  Meanwhile the babies cry until I come back. We have learned how to hold two babies at the same time. We have learned how to get around the store and various public places with 3 little ones. We do what we have to each day, and at the end, we thank God for seeing us through!

So that friends, is how I/we do it!

Nope, not identical! :) I must say though, they are really cute!