Time

Time is such a funny thing. Everything about caring for babies warps your sense of time which is a trip for your whole body.

For one thing, we are up at all hours of the day, which makes it hard to remember what day of the week it is. For instance, I was surprised to see so many garbage cans on the curbs the other night when we went out for a walk. I couldn't believe that it was already Wednesday and trash pickup was the next morning. It felt like we had just gotten over the weekend when in fact the week was half over already. Will and I have genuine "what day of the week is it?" conversations with no hint of sarcasm at all. Especially on weeks when we have no appointments or reasons to leave the house it's hard to keep track of the days.

We no longer have designated meal times and instead eat at strange hours. And I feel like I'm hungry around the clock now! My body isn't getting the full night's sleep that tells my brain to not want to eat, so it's not unusual for me to feel starved at 4:00 AM and look for a quick bite to eat after we feed the boys. The fact that I'm pumping/nursing plays into this too, I'm sure. But Will and I have both noticed that sleep deprivation reeks havoc on your digestive system.

It's also a strange feeling to not have daytime vs. nighttime hours mean anything. I took a nap the other day while Will stayed up with the boys. When I woke up, it took me several minutes to determine if it was 7:30 am or pm. 

The boys seem to have impeccable sense of timing themselves. You could set a watch by how punctual they are. They eat about every four hours, which means they start to stir about every 3 1/2 hours, ready to get the show started. Some days we get lucky and they last an extra hour beyond their typical wake up period, but for the most part we can rely on them stirring without our rousing them awake. Griffin is the one exception to that rule- that boy can sleep! Sometimes he's one of the boys stirring/fussing that he's hungry, but usually we're waking him up to change him when it's his turn to eat. No matter how we slice it, it takes an hour and a half to get through their care time, which should leave us with about 2 - 2 1/2 free hours before we start the process over again. But it's amazing how quickly that window of time passes when you are trying to cram in feeding yourself, showering, doing dishes, running errands, paying bills, doing laundry, and in some cases try to get a nap in. 

It's hard to believe my maternity leave is already halfway over.  It makes me so, so sad to think about returning to work in a couple months. The time is going by way too quickly! I know I'll be glad to be back in the office and to see all my coworkers once I'm there, but man- I'm not ready yet!  

We plan to make the most of my final weeks of maternity leave- the boys will be making their first of many, many trips to Hilton Head Island next month. Will's family has been vacationing there for over 30 years and we're excited to start a new tradition of bringing our boys there for years to come. We started planning their island wear today- we'll see if they can still wear these outfits next month!