things with three

It's no secret that having kids makes some things more difficult. You have to plan more and prep in order to do the things you usually do. I remember Gideon's three day well-check like it just happened.  I scheduled it for nine in the morning because I've always been a morning person and punctual so I figured I could get there on time. I forgot to take into consideration that I would be running low on sleep, therefore sleeping in. Plus time to nurse Gideon before we left, on top of getting myself ready. And to make it even more fun he peed through his diaper and all over my clothes of which I had no more pants options because no laundry done and postpartum which means nothing fits. Hello, thirty minutes late to appointment.

I've figured a few things out since then and with each baby we bring on board I've had to adjust and learn some ninja tricks to help me get things done, get places on time, and keep my general sanity. So here are a few things in my arsenal of magic.

+ Meal planning. Oh, I know those are dirty words to some people and I use to hate doing it, but now it makes life so much simpler. Every Sunday afternoon, I sit down and write out dinner meals for the week. Seven days. I ask Taylor his opinion on what he would like and then fill in the rest. And just so you don't think I'm planning gourmet, whole 30 compliant fancy things, we almost always have one night that says "pizza" and another that is "breakfast for dinner." I make a complete grocery list from my planned out meals which simplifies the shopping trip and ensures we don't need to make any extra runs later in the week.

+ Laundry/weekly prep. Sunday is my get it done day. With Taylor being a pastor, Sunday is technically the start of our week so I go ahead and get things going. I sort and prep all the laundry so it's ready to throw in on Monday morning.  I do little things to prep the house for the week. Clean litter box and sweep, stock diapers and wipes downstairs, empty trash from bathrooms.  It makes me not so frantic come Monday morning. {We also do laundry on Thursday so Wednesday is another prep night}.

+ Grocery shop. I do this every Monday morning for the week. Taylor thinks I'm crazy to do this with all three kiddos, but we've got to eat. I love Monday morning because the stores are empty of crowds.  I can maneuver my circus through there with minimal collateral damage. One thing that helps me get this done is the Shop Binxy cart hammock. I actually only discovered this after Lincoln was born because all of a sudden I had no where to fit actual groceries in the cart with the carseat in it, Nolan up front, and Gideon hanging on the side. This genius hammock fits most groceries carts, works for babies until they are sitting on their own AND can even safely hold the carseat if you don't want to wake your sleeping babe. Um, why did I not design this first.

+ Make beds daily. We make all the beds first thing in the morning. And by we, I mean me. I don't know why, but making the beds sets the tone for my day. It also doesn't give me the option to crawl back in it and set up camp which in all honesty is what I would love to do most days. But, duty calls. Taylor even saw an article recently that said people who make their beds every day live more peaceful lives. I need all the peace I can get.

shirt from declan and crew

+ Dry shampoo. Yep. I went there. I don't wash my hair every day. I'm mostly an every other day girl and sometimes push it to day three hair. This allows me to sleep a little longer on some days, to save time getting ready and to minimize hair damage. Win, win, win.

+ Use of TV, free grocery store cookies, and the dollar store. I'm not ashamed of these. Sometimes as a mom you just need time to get things done and if a show/movie, free cookie, and cheap toys helps then do it. DO IT.

+ Light a candle and ignore. When the crazy gets crazy I just light a candle and go to my happy place. Boys fighting? Mama doesn't hear it. In fact, my name isn't mom anymore.


* Binxy Baby provided the cart hammock to me, but as always this is me genuine opinion.  Feel free to use my referral code for 10% off your own genuis cart hammock.