A hodge podge of thoughts

When all 3 kids go down for a nap at the same time which actually happens everyday since Max takes about a 3 hour nap and the babies are often on a 3 hour time schedule meaning they're awake for 1-1.5 hours at a time and then asleep for 1-2 hours afterwards there's bound to be some overlap somewhere. I also give them an extra feeding before that nap more often than not so they really sleep a long time ;) As soon as a walk out of the room putting the last child down for a nap I literally think to myself "Free at last, free at last!" Ha. I love my children oh so much and love being so needed and busy but it sure does get tiring!

Most days I nap too, along with the crew but today I'm feeling energy enough to blog! I should first make it a priority to workout but…well as you can see that's just not quite my priority.

Making Home Videos
Speaking of priorities I wanted to say a word on the videos I make, or how much I blog, or making our family photo album, or or or. I get asked a lot how I find the time to get all that stuff done. The secret: making it a priority! The videos for instance: we take lots of cute videos of the kids which is really fun, but once those videos get moved to the back up hardrive it's really hard/inconvenient to watch those videos ever again. I learned that the hard way. If you look back there are no videos really of Max between 6-12 months because I didn't make it a priority to make a montage video of those. Sadly enough, that 6-12 month range was when Max was learning how to crawl and walk!!! That kills me that I don't have it! So before I move any pictures and videos onto a backup hardrive, I force myself to make a movie of all the little videos put together. It doesn't have to be super great and grand, just put together. Again quality doesn't matter, just put what you have together and you'll be so grateful for it! I love love love looking back at the ones I've made, they never get old to me (or Max, he's obsessed with them).

So there you have it. I make videos, pictures, blogging etc a PRIORITY and I get it done.

Also about priorities, a stake presidency member taught yesterday that you need to establish priorities that ADD VALUE to your life. I loved that point he made. He also said to look at your life and cut out the fat or any activities that don't add value to your life and replace them with something better. Personally I feel that this blog, pictures, and videos add value to mine and my family's life because it's our very up to date family history. As long as it doesn't take away from living and participating in the present, it is a good thing.

Reading your scriptures
Again about priorities, at the end of last year when my mom was in town again helping with the babies, I complained to her how hard it is to read my scriptures. There just is never enough time in the day to sit down and get a really good 15-20 minute scripture study session in. And I was feeling like whenever I did try Max or the babies were constantly interrupting me and I was getting nothing out of it. Some nights I'd go to bed and think "Oh gosh, there goes another day I couldn't find time to read my scriptures…"

Well come January 3, my mom challenged me to read my scriptures every time before I got on my phone for IG/facebook/blog/mail etc. EVERY TIME. Well it's been over a week and I can't begin to tell you how awesome it's been! I'm stunned at how much of the Book of Mormon I've read so far, just from reading a little bit at a time all day long. And because it's constantly throughout the day it's constantly on my mind and I'm still understanding the chapter as a whole even though I'm not reading it in one continuous sitting. I can't believe I gave myself and excuse before that I "didn't have time or any quality time" to read the scriptures, I made it a priority to check IG 50 million times a day (because of constantly sitting and nursing), I was just not making it a priority to get on my scriptures/the gospel library app before I did that. If I know it's just going to be a quick social media check, then I just read 1-2 verses/paragraphs. If I have a longer time like I'm going to sit and nurse a baby for a while then I read more, maybe like 10 verses and that 10 verses turns into a few more and a few more and then soon enough I just finish the chapter. I'm having more time to read conference talks and the Relief Society manual too when I feel like I've gotten a bunch of the Book of Mormon read in a day. It's truly incredible!

So my friends, how about you take that challenge? Every time before you get on any app on your phone, take a second to go to the gospel library app and read a little bit before you go on. I know you will be richly blessed because of it because there's POWER in reading the Book of Mormon!

The kitchen stool
Max's memory and enunciation of words has soared in the last  month or two. He's finally remembering   the words we teach him after just 1 introduction and using them again by himself. Plus he's beginning to distinguish sounds and copycat sounds so much better, it's been really fun. One of those words is stool pronounced "dool." He loves that kitchen stool of his. It's often folded and put away atop the fridge so he doesn't have complete reign of the kitchen countertops and cupboards all day long. But when he asks and I do get it down for him he sure is in love with it. More often than not he sits at the kitchen sink filling baby bottle and cups to the brim with water and puts them on the side of the sink. It's quite the cute sight. And even though the kitchen floor gets soaking wet, I just keep an old towel in the kitchen and clean it all up once he's done.

Breastfeeding time
Does anyone else find that the time when you're breastfeeding your babies is the perfect time to check in on their personal hygiene? Whenever I sit down to nurse I always find myself doing one or multiple of these things: getting eye boogers out, nose boogers out, get wax or dried spit up out of their ears, checking behind their ears for any unseen dried milk crusties, clipping finger nails, getting the lint from out of the crevices of their fingers, and probably some other stuff ha. Am I the only one?

Selfies
I had a talk with some SIL's about selfies on IG and selfies in general. There is definitely a fine line for women, especially moms, when you go too far/too much on the selfies. There are some people who are outrageous and post pictures of themselves way too dang much, I personally get fed up with these people and can't follow them. But on the other hand, some of my friends I follow NEVER post pictures of themselves! Funny thing is, I WANT to see pictures of them! THEY are my friend and I want to SEE them and not just their kids. Definitely post pictures of your kids (hello, look at my blog, it's FILLED with my kids) BUT get yourself in the picture too! Your friends want to see your face too!!!!!!! Just a thought…

Comparing Products.
I've learned the true art of comparing products. Use a bunch of different brands at the same time. I've now done this with diapers, tooth paste, and dental floss. And you can truly tell if price or brand makes a difference and what you prefer.

Diapers: My friends were so sweet to throw me a diaper shower before the twins came. I got tons of different brands of diapers. At one point I had 6 different diaper brands out at once that I'd just randomly pick from to use all day long. I thought target brand worked just fine enough but also thought Pampers was the best overall, but then both Casey and I admitted we liked the Huggies diapers more while rotating through them! I was really surprised. And then, we pulled out the Costco brand diapers and realized Huggies and Costco are pretty much identical. But when it comes down to it, a diaper will be filled (most likely with stinky poop) and thrown away soon enough. Does it really matter? Not really. So we're just rotating through all the different brands I stocked up on before the babies came (pampers, huggies, costco, and target) and will decide once they're all gone what to buy. PS- oh my Amazon Mom really does get their diaper costs down LOW!!!!!

Tooth paste: We get LOTS of different brand of sample toothpastes from the dental school, SHOCKER. Mostly they're the small tubes so we have out 2 or 3 at a time and use them all. I've come to the conclusion that toothpaste brand really doesn't make much a difference though. And I actually think it's good to mix up the flavor often

Dental floss: Again, lots of sample. They're are definitely some DUDS in this category and winners as well. By far the best one is Oral B's dark blue case ***** It's my favorite and it makes me very happy every time Casey comes home with that one. Honestly I love it so much I think I'll include it in future gifts! Ha, I kid I kid.

Sharing a room.
I'm at the point where I can't wait until we can stop sharing a room with the babies. My sleep isn't too affected by them more than it normally would if they were in a separate room it's just a matter of space. I don't really know how or when we'll transition them to Max's room, but I would like to do it sooner than later. Since they're in our room for all times of the day for sleep, I feel like I can barely get in my room to do a thing: get dressed, put away laundry, general clean up, etc. I've never wanted a 3 bedroom house more. But again, this too shall pass. I will look back at this 2 bedroom, 5 people arrangement someday, laugh, and can't believe that we got through it.

On being a relaxed mom
I'm amazed how often I get this comment, especially from people who work with families to take care of them. I heard it on the plane/airport a ton. People surprised at what we were doing and more surprised how not high strung I was. The one that made the impression the most was the flight attendant on our last flight. She said it a few times during the flight but really emphasized the point at the end when we were trying to get off the plane (which involved getting our wraps on us both, changing a suddenly poopy diaper, one or both babies most likely spitting up, backpacks to put on, random stuff to be gathered and put in bags, and the wild 2 year old trying to wiggle out of his seat belt since everyone else was getting off the plane (he finally did escape that seat and raced his way down half the plane before another flight attendant stopped him).  She said how moms with just 1 child get so stressed and she couldn't believe how relaxed Casey I were about it all. All I could think of was what's stressing out going to do? It can't help the situation at all. It won't hurry it at all. No one is going to die if it doesn't go perfect or we don't go fast. Stressing out WILL NOT HELP ANYONE. I've realized not stressing out about most things makes life better and easier and happier. (I am allowed to stress out abut being late to the temple though, Omaha Nebraska sessions are only every 2 hours! Better not miss you time! Or a wedding, don't be late to a wedding ceremony).

  My pediatrician (nurse practioner, Jamie) has mentioned it a lot too, very surprised that I'm so relaxed as a mom of multiples, to the point where she said she wished other moms could watch me, ha! Now I don't quite believe that and worry to a point that am I not a caring enough mom? Am I too laid back? But I don't sincerely think that's the case. My babies are loved and well taken care of and their needs and beyond are beyond satisfied. But again, not freaking out about little things, going with the flow of life, and not making a big deal over crappy little things makes life more enjoyable.

Poopy diapers ALL DAY LONG
Last week we went to the doctor and found that both babies had ear infections, Bryson even had 2! It was oh so sad. Poor babies. Dang winter. So they're on some antibiotics and that stuff is making them poop ALL THE TIME. I think we're going through more diapers/day now than we were when they were newborns! It's seriously every diaper change if not 2 diaper changes between feeding/sleeping and multiply that by 2 babies is a heck of a lot of poopy diapers. I'm so ready for them to get done with this antibiotic and go back to normal. Oh and then of course you add in Max's stinky bombs and I feel like all I do all day long is wipe poopy bums and feed children, ooy.

On going to bed late and waking up late.
I feel like I'm one of those few parents who puts their kids to bed late so that they'll wake up late. 7 o'clock bedtime sounds so unreasonable at this point because if they sleep a maximum of 12 hours that means they'd wake up at 7 am! Any of those 7 numbers sounds so unreasonable that I just can't do it. That time is like nails on a chalkboard to me. So we put Max to bed at 8/8:30 and he wake up around 8 everyday. Sure I miss out on an earlier "no children at night time" but I will gladly exchange that for longer sleep in the morning time.

(I've written all the above in the combined nap time of the children, is that insane?!)

That is my jumble of random thoughts.

Do you have any long winded thoughts to share with me?