A Day in the Life of a Vanderwal

I wanted to take a post to document what our days have been like lately because frankly some days are absolute chaos. Don't get me wrong--I completely love it but they are busy. A typical day goes something like this. Alarm clock goes off at 4:41 am....for some reason Kevin has convinced me that you cannot set an alarm for an even number so that's why 4:41 not 4:40. Before I had the girls, Kevin and I were really good about going to the gym before work. Well since then we have canceled our gym membership and I have been slacking. So the last couple of weeks I have been trying to get back into working out. So four out of the five days this week I got up early and did a workout in the basement or went for a jog around the neighborhood. By 5:20 I am in the shower and by 6 am I should be eating breakfast and getting dressed. At 6:15 we wake up the girls, get them dressed and out the door by 6:30. At 6:45 I drop them off at Kristi's and at 7 I am at work and ready for a huge cup of coffee. I then work from 7-4 which includes a one hour lunch which usually involves some kind of errand or grocery shopping. By 4:20 I am back at Kristi's to pick up the girls and we are home by 4:45. The girls get a little snack while I start their supper which they eat about 5:30. After that we play in the basement or go for a walk in the wagon. All the while Kevin has been at school from 7-3:15 and then volleyball practice until 6. He usually gets home just in time to quick eat supper, play with the girls for half an hour, and then give them their bottle before bed around 7:30. Usually we then let out a bunch of big sighs while I clean up the food the girls have thrown on the floor and make sandwiches for the next day while Kevin plans volleyball practice for the next day. Add a little laundry to the list and then bedtime by 10.

This week Miss Amelia got 4 teeth!!! We figured once they started coming in they would come in bunches. She now has two on the bottom and two back molars on top. I felt the top front teeth and they do not seem to be close to coming in.
The girls have been cracking us up so much lately. Tonight I gave the girls a "toddler muffin." They are very healthy muffins made from all kinds of vegetables that my mom made for them. Well the girls LOVE them and after Quinn's was gone, she went up to the fridge door and started knocking on it and doing the sign for please. How can you not give the girl another muffin after that. So funny!
Both girls have been very chatty the last couple weeks as well. Some frequent words are: ma-ma, da-da, uh oh, all done, Amen (they are very good at their prayers ;) ) and hot. I even had Amelia trying to copy words like grandpa, grandma, Amelia, and puppy. Quinn was also trying to say Ho ho ho, he he he, and ha ha ha....we listen to kids praise songs on the way to daycare and their favorite is "Ho-ho-ho-Hosanna". The girls have also gotten so much better about going to Kristi's. The first week was a little rough with major meltdowns when they got dropped off. But since then they willingly go to her when we arrive and there have been very few tears. They are always ready to have me pick them up though! Kinda crazy but next week will be their last week at Kristi's and then they will go back to Sharla's. I know Kristi and her daughters are going to miss them but we have already discussed how she can be our backup so that will be nice to have a familiar face in place for the girls if we need it.

Anyway, we are looking forward to a relaxing and long holiday weekend. We hope to hang out with some friends and family and relax. Hope everyone has a great weekend too!

Here are some pictures from the girls One Year Photo Shoot: