Our first week alone got off to a wild start yesterday with Dave going back to work after being off on paternity leave for 3 weeks.  Along with that, I decided to start taking Audrey and Andrew to day care a couple of times this week for a few hours.  This will get them used to being there, and more importantly, get us used to the daily day care preparation routine.

Audrey woke us up at 3AM with a robust cry to let us know she was ready for some breakfast.  We fed both twins and finished up about 3:45AM.  Dave decided he would go back to bed until 5AM and then get up to prepare for his first day back to teaching.  This was a great plan, except that it didn’t work.  At 6:45 AM,  after oversleeping, we were awakened by both kids, who were starting to stir in anticipation of their next meal.  Dave leapt out of bed, realizing he had overslept and would barely make it to school in time.  He sprinted towards the bathroom to begin getting ready.  I leapt out of bed, hopping to put my pants on while simultaneously heading towards the kitchen to start heating up bottles for the kids.  By the time I hit the kitchen, both kids were screaming at full throttle, the dogs were barking, Dave was rooting around in the dresser frantically locating work clothing, and the cat was persistently requesting his breakfast.

It is moments like this were I am very thankful for modern appliances!  I kept my cool, and in under 5 minutes I had prepared 4 baby bottles, cooked Dave an egg and toasted English muffin sandwich and prepared him to-go coffee.  This is all thanks to our super-duper egg toaster, which will cook an egg while toasting bread, our one-cup coffee maker, and our trusty bottle warmer, which can warm multiple baby bottles back to back.

I then sprinted for the nursery where I gathered both screamers up and began feeding them at the same time while shouting at Dave, “don’t forget your lunch!” followed by “don’t forget mayonnaise!!” followed by “get your coffee!!!”

About an hour later, I had managed to get both kids fed, changed, and dressed, the cats and dogs fed, and myself showered, dressed and ready for the day.  I packed up the kids and we drove over to the day care to get them settled.   Right away the women in their infant classroom grabbed them up and began loving them while another teacher helped me unpack the diapers, clothes, blankets, etc.  They got happily settled, I grabbed my purse, and headed out the door.

As I walked across the parking lot towards my car, I barely restrained my urge to charge towards the car while pumping my arm in the air and yelling, “FREEDOM!” Braveheart style.  I absolutely love being with and caring for Audrey and Andrew.  And I absolutely love a few hours of downtime.   I wish I could say that I went home and slept, but unfortunately, I ran errands and then did household chores.  As my mother likes to say, “a woman’s work is never done.”  I always cringe a little bit when she says this and then I decide that she is absolutely right.

In the end, their first day of day care was a smooth success for all involved and we will return most days this week.

Here is our first family picture together that Dave’s parents took late last week:

First family picture