I’m asked all the time what life is really like with twins, especially when we leave the house. My only way to answer is that it’s a tiring blessing. You are always exhausted, but also just plain happy. Like you hit the baby jackpot, but it requires a lot of caffeine to keep going. No other way to describe it!
Saturday
My mom and I traveled to Freeport for my soon-to-be sister-in-law’s bridal shower! This was a 2 hour and 20-minute drive, the longest car ride I have ever taken the twins on. It went much better than expected! As many of you know, timing is everything or else it could be quite disastrous. My husband and I did our best to keep the babies up and skip their morning nap. The last hour was a little rough. Finally, we called in some reinforcement! My brother Ben (who is a resident) was home for the weekend, so he came over to be a baby holder. We ended up putting Oliver & Olivia in their bouncies so they could watch Ben do tricks with the pups! The babies are always so mesmerized by doggies, so it was a huge hit! I won’t lie, the first few months it was impossible to give Stella all the attention she was used to, but now she is the twins favorite kind of entertainment! She will simply just walk into the room and Oliver will burst out laughing. All in all, we were able to keep them awake until 10:30 a.m. and then made our way to Freeport! They slept straight through the first two hours but woke up with 20 minutes to go on the trip. I ended up crawling in the back and squeezing my way to sit between them. They instantly went from mad to happy in seconds- they just wanted mom to play with them!
We arrived and honestly it was just a pleasant fun Saturday. I got to spend time with my (almost) sister-in-law and her family! It consisted of lots of laughter, coffee, and sharing embarrassing stories about my brother, David!
Easter Sunday
This day started off smoothly. We woke up at our usual time of 7:00 AM, then fed and changed the babies as I sipped on my bulletproof coffee – yep, still loving it! After that, I had to get myself ready (hair & makeup) so I could then get my babies down for a short nap. After their nap, we put them in their outfits and before you know it, it was 10:30 a.m. and time to head to mass!
For those asking what it’s like taking twins to mass… you’ll never be bored hahaha. Matthew and I take the babies twice a week to church and we are very used to it being chaotic, loud and full of spit-ups onto our church clothes. This Sunday was our first Sunday not sitting in the cry room and well, that was a mistake! Our babies are starting to “twin talk”. One will screech just to hear their own voice while the other one watches in amusement only to mimic the same noise shortly after. Super cute but embarrassingly loud! I wrestled Oliver maybe 40 minutes of the mass. We ended up standing in the back of church because the only way he was happy was to be walked around and rocked. He loved looking at the church’s stained glass windows and that gave me about 10 minutes of him being content. Then, I heard him grunt and what do you know! POOP! I walked back to our spot in the congregation and point at his butt to Matthew indicating I need a diaper STAT. After he hands me the diaper and wipes, I made a beeline for the bathroom. Turns out the bathroom doesn’t have a changing table and I wasn’t about to put him on the bathroom floor so I take him into the back chapel and change the poopiest diaper I’ve ever encountered right in front of this big crucifix and where a few people are praying. Sorry, Jesus…and people! Then I returned to the service. Oliver wasn’t having it and my mom offered to take him so I said go for it! Five minutes later Olivia was handed off to me by Matthew and I was on baby duty once again! I’m telling you, there just really is never a dull moment with twins… or a break might I add! But it’s a blessing because you always get to hold a snuggly sweet baby!
- Some people might wonder why we bother to go to mass. All I have to say is that it’s important to Matthew and I. We know we won’t hear a word of the sermon or really any part of the liturgy, but it’s important to us that we receive the Eucharist and the babes get a blessing. That’s all we care about!
After mass, my sister-in-law and I took the babes on a drive and made Starbucks our top priority! I got the skinny caramel macchiato and it gave me LIFE. We drove the babies around until it was time to meet our family for a late lunch at 2. I have to be honest and admit every time I take the twins somewhere, I feel like I’m preparing for battle. I never leave the house with them without bottles, diapers, toys, fresh change of clothes for them both, baby spoons, solid food, blankets and the list goes on!
We arrive at our Easter lunch and I held Oliver until Matthew ate some food (my mom was holding Livvy). Once Matthew finished his plate, I plop Ollie right on his lap and rush to eat because I am HUNGRYYYY! I scarfed my food down so fast before either baby could cry or get upset. After that, I wrestled Oliver majority of the time because frankly, he was just a little crab and needed a nap! Meanwhile, Olivia was very content being passed around and played with. Her godfather, Tommy, gave her a small bite of his mashed potatoes and she was in baby heaven!
For any twin mommas reading this, something I would like to say is this- because I know you feel (or will feel) this too. My heart aches every time I can’t comfort both my babies at one time. I physically can’t do it… I don’t have two sets of arms! Today, I definitely spent a lot of the time wrestling Oliver which meant I held Olivia for maybe ten minutes total. As their mom, I want to be their #1 go to, their sole comfort. But there are times where one baby is fussier than the other and they get majority of my attention. That tugs on my heart strings every time BUT would you like for me to share a positive? By having twins and having to rely on someone else at times to comfort one baby while you comfort another, you are allowing them to actually get to know them. Something I have discovered as a first time mom- and from talking to other new moms- is that it’s hard to give your baby up really at anytime! You become very terriotial. It’s hard to not want to hold them and keep them all to yourself because you are so madly and deeply in love. I don’t have a choice of doing this. I’m forced to share my babies but this is amazing because our families have really gotten to bond with them! It’s super beautiful to watch your loved ones get to see why you are so smitten with your own children. There is beauty in sharing. *
After a few more wrestling matches with both babes my sister-in-law and I each had a sleeping cutie on our chest. Neither of us wanted to get up or move because it was just so darn peaceful. It’s funny because you can get so agitated when your baby is fussy for 40 minutes straight. Once they fall asleep on your chest, you forget all of that and your heart just melts. There is no greater feeling than a happy sleeping baby listening to your heartbeat. Nothing.
I have to say though – because this is hilarious to me- Oliver was sleeping so soundly when I noticed that there was poop starting to come out of his diaper. I had to act quickly or it was going to get on his white pants but I couldn’t change and wake him up because that would be a disaster. As he is sleeping peacefully on my lap (shown in the photo above) I grab some napkins off the table and shove them in the back of his diaper. One of the waitresses definitely saw me do it and I could tell she was appalled hahaha ohhh the things I will do to avoid a major poop explosion everywhere…. Matthew and I packed up the babies up- napkins and all! – and headed home.
We hung out until 7 and then got the babes to bed. Not going to lie, I felt kind of like I got hit by bus because I was physically so tired. I always get sleepy and achey after a day full of outings and lugging our 18 pound babies around! Once they were snoring their little baby snores I snuck away to take an Epsom salt bath and I sipped on a beer in the tub. For those that don’t know, I rarely drink, maybe 5-6 times a year. I have to be in just the right mood and tonight I was! So I treated myself. “Unmedicated” is a book a friend of mine was reading and passed it along to me because she thought it was interesting. I decided to give it a try…I’ll let you know what’s I think of it next week!
My Easter I just described might sound chaotic & tiring to you but to me it’s was filled with so much happiness and joy. I’m fine doing the work and I actually like a little chaos. It was the perfect Easter because it was filled with a lot of baby smiles & family and God.
I hope you all had an amazing Easter weekend with family & loved ones! Thanks for stopping by the blog today!
I have to ask…how was YOUR Easter? How do you handle the chaos of Easter with little ones? Comment below and share!
Thanks for taking the time to share your Easter weekend Rachel. I love the napkins down my boys diapy. The best. I am incredibly proud of you for exposing the twins to Mass. So RICH! Eucharist is Life. I love the joy you exude while being real with all that happens at this stage of parenthood. It truly is a heavy task (and I only have one) but I couldn’t agree more that the immense love and bond will always outweigh the poopie changes, spit-ups, and crying.
Blessings to your gorgeous family sis.
Love, Carolina
aka, @nicolitochulito on iG
Aw thank you so much! I try to keep it positive yet still very real at the same time, so thank you for saying that!!
What a blessed day! Sounds like you accomplished exactly what you needed to … you were able to get to church, spend time with family, (hopefully) ate really YUMMY and delicious food! p.s. Does your family have easter lunch at home or out somewhere? Any family favorite recipes?
Yes! It was a tiring productive happy day! We actually went somewhere for lunch! However, I do have some family favorite recipes I most certainly need to share!
I really like that you have made taking the babies to church a priority. We did that With our kids too. Even if we didn’t get anything out of the meeting we were going and it was important to us and a routine and it became important to our kids too. Your babies are darling and growing so fast!! You’re doing a great job! Both of you. 🙂
Thank you so much! Yes just establishing the routine super early has kept both Matthew and I accountable! As we are going to mass we always joke and say, “Okayyyy ready for our date?!” It’s important to keep your humor because you know its just going to be pure chaos hahaha