A Day with 2 Under 2

Many people have asked me what it is like to have two children under the age of two, so I figured I'd just write out an example of a normal day in my life.  Normal is a stretch because nothing is really normal anymore, but I'm referring to just a plain old day with nowhere we have to be and nothing that we have to do.  Brad's work and school schedule allows for him to be at home a good bit of the time with me and the kids, which is a HUGE help.  On any random day though, I have the kids by myself for at least half the day.  So, for your enjoyment, here goes my day:


(Starting the day at 12am)

3:30AM - Change Keegan's diaper and give him a bottle

3:45AM - Try to go back to sleep

6:30AM - Turn the monitor down because I can hear Jeremiah is wide awake and I'm not ready to get up yet

7:00AM - Keegan is crying

7:30AM - I've had enough of listening to Keegan cry, so I get out of bed and get him

7:45AM - Change Keegan's diaper, put him in his first outfit of the day, get Jeremiah up

8:00AM - Change Jeremiah's diaper, put him in a new outfit (possibly give him a bath if he woke up wet)

8:05AM - Give Keegan a bottle

8:20AM - Cook breakfast while J plays and K watches me from his bouncer

8:30AM - Put K in his Bumbo at the table, put J in his booster seat, set the table and bring out the food.  Feed Jeremiah while making sure K doesn't push himself off the chair.  Sometimes feed K because he refused his first bottle but decided he was starving to death when we sat down to eat.  Feed myself if possible.

9:00AM - Wipe Jeremiah down and get him out of his chair, change Keegan's diaper because he pooped.

9:15AM - Clean up from breakfast, wash dishes

9:30AM - Go pick up Keegan and snuggle because he's crying, tell Jeremiah he can't watch Thomas again and he needs to play with his toys

10:00AM - Give Keegan another bottle, lay him down for his morning nap

10:30AM - Give Jeremiah his bottle of milk, lay him down for his morning nap

11:00AM - Sit down with a nice cup of coffee....wait, scratch that.  Keegan's crying again.  Go try to figure out what's wrong with him.

11:15AM - Decide nothing is wrong with him and he needs to sleep so put him back in his crib.  Sit back down with said coffee and try to relax...scratch that, the house needs to be cleaned, laundry needs to be folded, etc

11:40AM - Think "wait...did I brush my teeth?"  Go brush my teeth.  Shower ....ehh...showering can wait.  Get myself a snack because I had hardly anything for breakfast.  Try to talk to Abby on Facebook.  She's busy with her kids.

12:00 PM - Pick up toys and straighten living room. Sit back down, finish coffee, and cruise Facebook

12:15 PM - Keegan's awake again.  Get him up and give him some milk.  Snuggle and play

12:30 PM - J is awake.  Go get him and give him some water.  Make lunch

12:40 PM - Change J's diaper

12:45 PM - Put K in his Bumbo at the table and J in his booster seat.  Feed J lunch.

12:55 PM - Go lay Keegan down because he's crying again and I've decided he just needs to sleep

1:00 PM - Finish feeding J.  Feed myself

1:10 PM - Pick up the food off the floor.  Scold J for throwing his food.  Wipe his mouth and hands and hair.  Decide he's clean enough and send him off

1:15 PM - Wash dishes from lunch

1:25 PM - Change J's diaper again because he pooped

1:30 PM - Read J books, identify body parts on his face and mine

2:00 PM - Go get Keegan, he's crying again.  Decide he's had a pretty good nap

2:15 PM - Give Keegan a bottle, change his diaper because he will poop while he drinks.  Change his outfit because he pooped on it

2:30 PM - Put in the Thomas movie because J is asking nicely (so cute when he says "please")

2:45 PM - Realize I haven't peed all day.  Rush to the potty before I pop

2:50 PM - Figure out what we're having for supper, start preparing for that if necessary

3:00 PM - Lay Keegan back down because he won't sit quietly while I'm in the kitchen

3:30 PM - Go get Keegan, feel bad because I lay him down so much.  Play with him for awhile

3:45 PM - Movie is over, cut it off and tell J to play with his toys

4:00 PM - Give J snack, have some of whatever I give him

4:10 PM - Put J in his crib.  He can go to sleep or stay awake...doesn't matter to me

4:30 PM - Give Keegan some more milk and lay him down.  He finally goes to sleep.

5:00 PM - Cook supper

5:30 PM - Get J up, give him some water, change his diaper, tell him to stop fussing because we're about to eat

5:40 PM - Set table, pour drinks

5:45 PM - Sit down to eat.  Have a nice dinner in peace...wait...is that Keegan crying?  He'll just have to cry.

5:55 PM - Decide to go get Keegan and voila, he's pooped again!  Change his diaper, hold him in my lap while I try to eat (while feeding Jeremiah if Brad's not home)

6:15 PM - Realize I put a load of laundry in the wash and it never got put in the dryer.  Go restart the wash and make a mental note to put the load in the dryer this time

6:20 PM - Clean up from supper, wash some dishes

6:30 PM - Bathe Keegan, get soaked from his splashing, put him in his sleeper with a fresh diaper.  Give him a bottle, lay him down for bed

6:45 PM - Bathe Jeremiah, get soaked from his splashing, put him in his sleeper with a fresh diaper.  Turn on Wheel of Fortune

7:00 PM - Put load in the dryer (YES!), finish washing dishes/cleaning up kitchen

7:30 PM - Give Jeremiah some milk, brush his teeth, lay him down for bed

7:45 PM - FREEDOM!!!  What should I do?  Well, I could workout but I'm so tired and don't feel like getting all sweaty.  Then I would need a shower and that's just too much trouble.  Brad and I could watch a movie...yep, that sounds better.

11:30 PM - Just after I've slept for about 30 minutes, Keegan is awake crying.  Get up and feed him and change his diaper.  Put him back to bed and try to go to sleep...lay awake and think about ISIS and ebola and the world my boys will grow up in.  Try to think about something else.  Wonder what I ever did with my life before I had kids.  Decide to pray.  Fall asleep praying


Wake up at 3:30AM and start all over  :)




Life is easier now that Keegan is a little older and not quite as demanding as a newborn, but he is still pretty demanding.  The first 3 months of his life are a blur to me.  I just did what I had to do and tried to enjoy every minute of it.  It went by very quickly.

Next month Jeremiah will be 18 months old and Keegan will be 6 months old.  I can't believe how time flies.  This season in my life is the best one yet and I am trying to soak up every single second of baby love.  I know they will only be this small for a little while and I don't want to miss any of it or take it for granted.



Children are a heritage from the Lord, 
offspring a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior 
are children born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

Psalm 127:3-5


Thank you Lord, for this precious gift of motherhood.  Thank you for my healthy growing boys and any other children you decide to send my way.  I love them with all of my heart.

Jeremiah's birthday, 6/6/13

Keegan's birthday, 6/19/14

With love,

Hannah Elise

Just the Two of Us

I woke up this morning thinking, "did that really just happen?"


After rubbing my eyes and yawning, I realized that yes, that did really just happen.  And by "that" I mean the dream of a day I had yesterday.  My wonderful mother-in-love offered to keep the boys for the whole day (yes, I said WHOLE day) to let Brad and me have a date.  We took her up on that offer and dropped them off around 9am.  We didn't return to get them til 9pm.  It was wonderful.  I was sad to leave them at first but Brad and I haven't had a whole day just to ourselves since I was pregnant with Keegan.  We decided to go to Charleston.  Charleston is just our "our" place.  We love it.  It's so great to go and visit where we spent the first year of our marriage.  Lots of memories made there.  We didn't make a plan, we just hopped in the car with snacks packed and drove off!  We rode in the sunshine with the music blaring and the windows rolled down.  Backroad driving is wonderful on a day like that.

Here we are ready to go!

We drove to the Tanger Outlets to do the one thing we wanted to do:  eat at Jim 'N Nick's!  (You were thinking shopping, right?)  We did some shopping, too.  Brad got a new pair of tennis shoes and I got a few shirts and a vest for winter.

The grub 

 The kicks

When we left Tanger Outlets, we continued to stop and shop at various places, including the store I most wanted to visit called "Once Upon A Child".  I got Jeremiah several toys there last year for Christmas for a great price.  We got him just a couple of things for this year but what I am most excited about is my new double stroller!  They had a side-by-side umbrella-style reclining double stroller with 2 little baskets beneath in great shape for an even greater price.  I could hardly believe it.  I pushed it around the store, we looked it over several times, and decided we couldn't turn it down.  It is the perfect size...not too wide, but wide enough for both boys to sit and relax.  It also has 2 retractable sun-shields and it folds down to a really small size.  In case you can't tell, I love this stroller.  I can't wait to pack up the boys and take them to the park (on my own!)

After shopping, we decided to go visit the beach.  You can't go all the way to Charleston and not visit the beach, right?  Right.  We wanted to visit Folly (our old stomping ground) but took the wrong road and instead of turning around, we just drove on to the Isle of Palms.  It was a beautiful drive and we talked and sang and took pictures.  It's fun being a couple.  These days my time and attention is filled with taking care of our babies, so it was so nice to just relax and be together as man and wife again.  Just me and Brad.  I love that man.  Our kids aren't that old at all but it is hard to remember life without them.  This trip reminded me of life before them and it was good, but I still wouldn't trade it for the life we have now.  

Anyway, here are some driving and beach pictures for your enjoyment:

What a nice, refreshing day.

With love,

Hannah Elise