a day in the life - karis

Sometime in middle school we had to write a paper about what we would be doing in 10 or 15 or 20 years or something.  I remember mine said something to the affect of I would be the mother to twin girls.  Now, with just one toddler to keep track of, I simply can't imagine having two kiddos the same age, surely it would be crazy!  But Karis seems to handle it just fine.  I hope you enjoy a peek at her day, and you should probably make sure to read the whole way through, she might just have a little surprise for you!

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Hello! My name is Karis and I have a little blog called 1+1=4 (unfortunately, because of some issues we were having, I've gone private - sorry!) I have been married for just over 3 years and 16 months ago, I became the mom to two precious little girls, Avery and Lexie.

The most recent picture I have of me and my girls was taken 4 months ago... the most recent picture of our family of four was taken when the girls were 2 weeks old... yeesh!

I get to spend my days chasing after these two little monkeys. Here's a glimpse at what a typical day looks like as a mother of twins...

7:00 - The day begins like most other days, with the sound of babies. And as I usually do, I roll over and go back to sleep. Some mornings they play with each other through the crib rails and some mornings they go back to sleep. Either way, they're happy and I enjoy a few extra minutes of sleep.

7:42 - The alarm goes off. My husband and I both roll out of bed. He gets ready for work, and I wander over to Avery and Lexie's room, where I'm greeted by squeals and big smiles. While I get Avery dressed, Lexie goes digging through the diaper pail... Awesome! I clean Lexie up, then get myself looking presentable as quickly as possible. We're a one car family, and I have a doctor's appointment this morning, so that means we have to take Daddy to work.

8:18 - We leave the house... While Daddy sets to work, the girls and I head to the kitchenette in the building to heat up some breakfast for the three of us.

8:45 - With full tummies, the three of us get into the car and drive the 15 minutes to the doctor.

9:00 - We arrive at the clinic only to find out that I wrote the time down wrong and we're an hour and a half early! It's not worth it to drive home again, so I haul the stroller out of the trunk and we set off in search of a park.

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9:12 - We find a park, and not just any old park - a splash park!! It's a beautiful morning and already pretty hot, so I decide to give it a shot. I obviously didn't come prepared for this, but since we're the only ones at the park at the moment, I figure it's okay to let them go in just their diapers. I take off their shoes and dresses and let them go free. Now that they're walking, many aspects of life have gotten much easier (I'm not constantly carrying around two 20lb babies!) but it can also be challenging to keep track of two little toddlers when they're running in different directions!

10:22 - We had a blast and all three of us are soaking wet. No change of clothes for me or towels to dry them off, so I just put them back in their dresses and wander back to the clinic.

10:30 - My doctor's appointment. Very uneventful... besides trying to answer questions while the girls try to open all the cupboard doors, empty the contents of my diaper bag, and climb all over the doctor's bed.

11:30 - Lunch time! Lexie eats half of her pb&j and then is so completely tuckered out from her morning that she falls asleep in her highchair! This has never happened before, so I laugh pretty hard (and of course take a picture!). I carry her to her room and lay her in the crib and she doesn't even wake up. I go back to the kitchen and clean Avery up and lay her down too. She's out within minutes as well.

11:35 - This is my time now. I have lots to do, but I'm struggling to find motivation. I play on Pinterest a little bit and catch up on Facebook and blogs.

12:15 - How have I wasted this much time already?! I change into my workout clothes and spend 30 minutes with Jillian Michaels (I'm alternating days of doing the C25K program and 30 Day Shred). I finish up and head to the shower to get cleaned up. Jillian sure kicks my butt!

1:00 - I hear little voices... That was a much shorter nap than usual. Oh boy, we could be in for a rough afternoon!

1:03 - Diapers are changed, we have cuddles on the rocking chair with a cup of milk and then it's time to play! The girls sit happily on their mats and read books while I wash the huge stack of dirty dishes.

1:15 -  I need to get some buns going, so I pop the ingredients into the breadmaker (what a time saver!)

1:23 - The girls come into the kitchen carrying their shoes saying "shoooos, ees!" (shoes please!) I put on their shoes and they run to the door, clearly wanting to go outside. I throw my keys, sippy cups, sunscreen and bug spray into a bag and we head outside.

 

1:40 - The girls are at the age where every rock is worthy of inspection and showing off, so it takes us a while to walk to get the mail. Then it's off to the park next door!

1:42 - The girls love the park. The swing, the slide, the sand and dirt... it's all good! I'm fairly certain if they could spend every waking moment outside at the park, they would be the happiest children on earth.

2:30 - As I chase after the girls, I discover there's a puppet show for the kids going on just around the corner so we sit and watch and Avery and Lexie giggle and make barking noises at the wolf puppet.

3:00 - Avery and Lexie are kind of like celebrities at the park. All the girls in the 7-12 age range that play at the park adore "the twin babies" and come running to play with us. They pepper me with questions that I never quite know how to answer, "Why does one have red hair and one have yellow hair?","One has a different colored dress?","Why is she putting sand in my hand?"

3:40 - The sky is looking ominous and I realize that my bun dough is probably ready back home so I brush as much sand off the girls as I can and tell them to say "bye-bye" to their friends. My little monkeys aren't too thrilled about leaving the park, refuse to walk and I end up having to carry them home, one in each arm.

4:00 - Buns are shaped and rising and I play with the girls. We read "Oh my, oh my, oh dinosaurs" through 4 times before they decide it's time for a new book.

4:21 - This is always the time of day when they start to get hungry and cranky. I need to get supper ready to go, but Avery and Lexie need attention so it's a little crazy. I give them pots and spoons to play with and cheerios to snack on.

4:50 - I pack up the girls to go pick Daddy up from work. I sing them songs to keep them happy as we drive. They fall asleep in their car seats in the last 5 minutes of the drive.

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5:15 - We're home again, I quickly get supper heated up and we eat together as a family.

6:00 - Once Avery and Lexie are cleaned up, they play with Daddy while I do the dishes and put away the left overs. Apparently they just needed him because now they're happy and giggling! Makes my heart happy to hear the three of them play.

6:30 - I take the girls to their room and change them into jammies. Then we all sit on the couch together and cuddle and they drink a cup of milk.

7:00 - We brush their teeth, read a story, and then it's bedtime!

7:02 - They must have been exhausted because they're both asleep already!

7:03- We relax on the couch, watch TV and I finally get a chance to work on some orders. I have a small business making handmade items, Odd Duck Creations, and I have a a stack of orders that are half finished so I set to work!

7:54 - Break time! I need a snack...

8:10 - I continue to work on my Odd Duck orders and we watch old Office reruns.

9:30 - I run out of yarn on the last step of the order. I could go looking for more in my huge basket but decide instead that it's just bedtime. The hat will get finished tomorrow.

10:00 - I play some Scrabble moves in my iPhone, make a few comments on Facebook, and then it's time for bed! Another busy day keeping up with my girls tomorrow and I need my rest!

What is the most surprising thing about being a mom?
How very different it is when it's your own children! I worked in a daycare until my babies came and I really did love some of the kids. But nothing on earth can compare to being a mom and playing with your own children and seeing them grow and learn new skills. I've never been more proud of anything in my life. Every new accomplishment is huge and makes me swell with pride that these are my children!

What is some advice you’d give to new or soon-to-be moms?

I think every one says this, but it's so true: do what works for you! I read so many parenting books while I was pregnant, but when my babies were born they had their own personalities and strategies I had read about didn't necessarily work for them or us as parents. If it makes you uncomfortable and isn't working for your family, try something else! No book can tell you how to raise your family the "right" way!

What are your top three baby products? 

1. A bouncy/vibrating chair. We had two very basic ones and they were a life saver for the first few months. When I was up nursing one baby in the middle of the night, I could put the other one in her bouncy chair and it would keep her content until I was ready to feed her.  
2. A baby sling. Again, a life saver. My girls spent many, many hours "helping" me around the house while in a sling. 
3. Muffins. Ok, not a "baby product". But I am convinced these are God's gift to new moms. I literally lived off muffins for the first 5 months. I would make enormous batches of some kind of healthy muffin (think flax and bran and pumpkin) and eat them whenever I got hungry. So easy to grab and eat in the midst of baby craziness! These are always included in my gifts to new moms.

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Thank you for sharing your day with us Karis!

GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED

Oh wait.  You all wanted the surprise?  Ok fine.  Karis kindly offered to do a giveaway in conjunction with her 'day in the life' post!

That's right, she is offering up this adorable little owl hat to one lucky reader.  It is a 3-6 month size.  To enter the giveaway head over to Odd Duck Creations, then come back here and leave a comment telling me your favorite item Karis has available.  For extra entries you can do any or all of the following (leave a separate comment for each entry):

like Odd Duck Creations on facebook

be a follower of the domestic wannabe blog

like the domestic wannabe on facebook

You have until midnight tomorrow (Thursday the 18th) to enter the giveaway.  And even if the hat wouldn't fit your little one, you should probably still enter the giveaway.  Surely you know of a cute little babe or a soon to be momma that you could gift it to!