And Then There Were 3

So I haven't blogged in a while. And the following is why. Last week I had a super fun experience getting a little taste of what life would be like if I had an older child in addition to the twins. My darling little 4-year-old niece came to stay with us for the week while her mom went hiking in Havasupai (I know, I'm soooo jealous! I really wanted to go, but Forrest is too busy at work and since I'm still nursing, it just wasn't practical for us. Next year for sure!). So anyway, while her mom was hiking, she came to stay with us. And we had an awesome time! She is absolutely hilarious and she kept me laughing the entire time. She's a good girl and she follows rules very well and listens to what she's supposed to do. Let me tell you though, regardless of all of that, it was EXHAUSTING!

I'm so used to having 3-4 hours of down time during the day while the twins were napping. But when you have a 4-year-old around, that down time completely disappears. (Thankfully I could turn on a movie and she would be glued to the tv for as long as I left it on. So if I really needed to, I could get some resting or housework done.) Normally while the twins nap I clean the house, do laundry, wash dishes, eat, watch tv, blog, and occasionally nap. Last week while the twins napped I played hide-and-seek outside, colored with sidewalk chalk, blew bubbles, pushed bikes and scooters up and down the sidewalk, and ran through sprinklers. It really was so much fun and it made me excited for when Charlie and Caroline are old enough to play like that! But it was also exhausting. My hat goes off to you moms who do that all day. I am 10000% grateful that the twins were my first and that I don't have older children to chase down. I know it's possible and I know plenty of moms that do it quite successfully, but man oh man.. I'm just not ready for that yet.

We had a lot of fun adventures last week, just the 4 of us. We went on walks, played at parks, played outside with all the kids for our apartment complex, and went to the zoo. We all had a great time and the twins LOVED having their cousin here! Especially Caroline. She was like a little sidekick all week. She watched her cousin take baths, stared at her from her highchair, followed her everywhere she went around the house, and literally never took her eyes off of her. It was adorable! 

So while we did have a great time and I'm so glad we had the experience, I'm very grateful for the time that I have now to rest and relax during nap time, and to only have 2 little ones to worry about for now.