A Day in Our Life With a Toddler and a Newborn

14 dirty diapers (back to back to back), 1 public toddler tantrum, 3 chain reaction meltdowns, 7 of the longest minutes ever helplessly listening to a newborn scream in the backseat, 2 sets of visiting grandparents, 572 minutes on the couch nursing, and 1 bee sting. When you break it down in numbers, having multiple kids is pure insanity. It really is. Yet countless times throughout any given day Joe and I can't help but stop and marvel at how blessed we are with this chaotic, imperfect family filled with too much love to measure. These are the days I want to remember, so here's a little glimpse into our life right now with a 2 year old and a 2 week old. There really is no such thing as a normal day or routine over here just yet. This particular day was actually an exciting one for us, where we packed up everyone and left the house not just once, but twice. At the opposite end of the spectrum there have been plenty of recent days that could be quickly summed up like this: I sit on the couch and nurse continuously for ten hours while Ez watches a Cars marathon until Joe gets home from work and rescues us.

Thursday night July 9th - Friday night July 10th
9:30 pm - Yay! I just nursed Declan to sleep and I'm so ready for some shuteye. Almost immediately he's woken by Ez who has a complete screaming meltdown the moment Declan closes his eyes. Ez probably should've been asleep an hour ago so he and Joe head off to bed and I stay up with a now-crying Declan.
10:50 pm - I finally get Declan to sleep again, then lay down for what feels like ten minutes.
11:50 pm - Dec is crying. I nurse him for a few minutes then rock him in his cradle with white noise playing and a pacifier in his mouth. He fakes me out and falls asleep for ten minutes, long enough for me to be halfway to dreamland. I jolt awake to him crying again. This time we move to the couch where I nurse for about fifteen minutes.
12:20 am - I'm finally back in bed. Glorious, glorious bed.
3:00 am - We're up again. This time I nurse while lying down on the couch where we both wind up falling asleep.
5:20 am - Joe's up! Hallelujah! He takes over while I go back to bed.
7:20 am - Time to feed Declan again. Joe's been walking him and rocking him for awhile, but he's just not having it. He wants food. We both fall asleep on the couch again.
8:20 am - I wake up, look at the clock, and realize we need to be at the doctor in 40 minutes. I scarf down cereal, which Ez insists on sharing with me even though he has his own breakfast, gulp down coffee, pack up our library books and Declan, throw my hair in a messy ponytail and go. Thankfully Joe works from home on Fridays so I only have to worry about packing up one kid. Joe and Ez go out for some guy time wandering around the APU campus.

9:15 am - I'm only 15 minutes late when we arrive in the tiny, packed waiting room. Declan is sleeping in his carseat, but wakes up after about 20 minutes.
9:50 am - We're finally called into an exam room after I fill out a million forms while simultaneously rocking a newborn to sleep. 

10:15 am - The doctor arrives and gives Declan a quick exam. He's already gained a pound! Little chunker. Everything looks good and I top Declan off with a quick nursing session before we leave.
10:25 am - We leave the doctor's office and head to the library. This is the part where Declan wakes up and screams for 7 excruciating minutes before falling back asleep. Of course we hit every red light during this time frame. At the library I return our slightly overdue books, pay a fine, and quickly pick out a book each for Ez and I, all while carrying a sleeping Declan in his carseat. Part of me would like to browse more, but I rush to get home while Declan is still sleeping instead.
11:25 am - As soon as I walk through the door I grab some popcorn to snack on. Ez wants me to get down on the floor and play cars with him, but we compromise and read his new library book together instead.

11:45 am - I start lunch: Costco stuffed salmon & TJs quinoa pilaf. Quick, easy, and yummy!
12:45 pm - I finish up lunch just as Ez comes up to me carrying his toy school bus and demanding I sing wheels on the bus. He interrupts me to sing his own made up verse about my brother, Uncle Brett, who apparently said "Ow!" at some point while they were playing together, and it made an impression:

 "the Brett on the bus goes 'ow ow ow!'"

1:00 pm - Declan wakes up. I nurse him and turn on Cars for Ez.
1:30 pm - Declan goes back down for a nap so I start some chores while Ez is happily occupied (trash, laundry, dishes, and baking muffins).

2:20 pm - Just as I'm changing my shoes and getting ready to walk on treadmill Declan wakes up. Of course. I nurse Dec while Ez decides it would be fun to climb all over us.

This is an old picture, but this is pretty much how I spend my days.

3:15 pm - Joe takes over rocking Declan in his cradle with his foot while simultaneously working on his laptop. I spend ten minutes helping Ez search for one specific car out of the thousands he owns while he follows me around sporadically crying in despair. Examples of places Ez likes to hide cars: crammed in the couch cushions, underneath the couch (there's usually at least a dozen cars under there), in a half empty case of water bottles, under the pillows on our bed, in the bathtub... We finally find this one on a shelf that I didn't even realize Ez was tall enough to reach.
3:25 pm - Ez commands me to "get down!" so down on the floor I go to play cars with Ez, which actually means I watch while he plays, because all he really wants is an audience.

4:15 pm - We start straightening up and getting ready to meet Joe's mom at the farmer's market. A few minutes before we're supposed to leave Ez falls asleep on the couch. Of course. Joe and I procrastinate getting ready by giving Declan lots of cuddles and kisses.

5:05 pm - We leave to meet Joe's mom, only 15 minutes behind schedule. I step on a bee almost as soon as we get there. Joe has to pull the stinger out and go find me some ice, then we're finally ready to wander around the farmer's market. We stock up on fruits, veggies, and some agua frescas for Ez and I. 

6:45 pm - We decide to stop by a new sandwich shop and pick up dinner. We wind up waiting half an hour for a couple of sandwiches and salads, while Ez gets increasingly antsy and starts running around the store and into tables.
7:15 pm - We're starving and we've finally got our food so we make plans to meet Joe's mom and husband back at our house to eat. Ez decides this is the perfect time for a meltdown and starts crying and hitting at us and doing that limp, boneless toddler thing right outside the shop on the packed sidewalk. Joe winds up carrying Declan in his carrier while pushing an empty stroller and I carry a screaming flailing toddler back to the car. As soon as we get everyone buckled into the car Ez calms down but Declan wakes up and screams the whole way home. They've already got this whole tag team thing down. 
7:20 pm - I nurse Declan as soon as we walk through the door. 
7:45 pm - Joe and I take turns eating while feeding Ez and holding Declan. Team work. 

8:45 pm - Joe's mom and Brett head home. I nurse Declan again. 
9:00 pm - Another set of grandparents show up! My mom was just in town a few days earlier with my brother, drove all the way back home to drop off my brother and pick up my stepdad, and then turned around and came right back to visit us. She drove about 1,000 miles, and we appreciate it so much. Ez was super excited to get so much grandparent attention all in one day. As soon as they walked through the door Ez immediately demands that papa "get down!" and play cars on the floor. Declan falls asleep. Joe, my mom and I watch Food Network and chat.

10:40 pm - My parents head to their hotel and I finally shower.
11:00 pm - Joe and Ez go to bed. We may be doing this parenting thing wrong when our toddler asks us if he can go to bed. Sorry Ez! We'll figure out a better routine soon, I promise. I decide to wait up for Declan's next feeding, which winds up being 20 minutes later. 

So that's 24 hours in our life. Then we start the whole process over again!

Linking up with a really cool Day in the Life series Julia is hosting. Be sure to check out all the other blogger's DitL posts!