their schedule…well, and mine….

The babies schedule is very strict. They wake up at 7:00 and have a bath, change diapers and put on clean clothes. Then they are put back into their cribs until all of the babies have had all of the following done. Then after all of the babies are ready to go we take them one by one into the living room and put a bib on them. After that we have one auntie stay with them while the other fixes the bottles. As of right now I have 10 babies. All of them have different formula, milliliters of formula, milliliters of water and different bottles. We keep up with all of it by a chart that is on the wall. The chart changes as the baby gets older. So when the bottles are made we go and distribute them accordingly. The older babies we make hold their own bottle and the smaller babies we assist them and try to teach them to be independent as well. The learn so fast. Some of the babies are much like myself and are very lazy. They refuse to hold their own bottle. I'm sure they have figured out that if they don't they can ride out the lazy train longer. Smart kiddos. After their first bottle feeding they are able to play and have tummy time for a little while. After tummy time the smaller babies are changed and put into bed for a nap and the older babies are fed their cereal. This is always an adventure. All of the babies have their own personality. It shows very clearly during this time. There is a trick to feeding the babies their cereal or baby food. You have to set them in your lap, put their arm closest to you under your arm pit and do not let it escape, while holding their free arm down with one hand and the spoon with food in your other. It's a process and if not executed correctly you will have cereal or baby food from the spoon to your face to the babies face to the kitchen to Timbuktu. While we feed the babies one at a time the others who are waiting watch Praise Baby DVD. It so fun because they really enjoy it. I don't know this because they tell me, I know this because their legs are bouncing like they are racing Michael Phelps in the 100 meter freestyle. After our break we wake the babies up, change them, take them to the living room and repeat the process as before. This time they get baby food instead of cereal. Now this is super tricky. They HATE their vegetables. This we have in common. So I have a lot of grace during this feeding. Seriously if you gave me butternut squash and roast beef I would probably try to see how much I could spit out as well. It's like the babies play a game to see how far they can spit it, how much they can get on their clothes, how much they can get on you and how much squirming they can do before you finally give up. Love is a battlefield? Try feeding a baby butternut squash and roast beef. After that they go down for their afternoon nap. In other words its Aunties afternoon break/lunch time. After that we wake the babies up one last time, feed a bottle and play with them until the night Auntie comes in. My day starts at 7:00 and ends at 5:30 with 2 breaks in-between. So it is a fairly solid day. Your day may be filled with working on a computer, teaching a classroom or dealing with the general public. My day consists of giggles, smelly diapers, spit up, gummy smiles, cooing, crying, army crawling and snuggling. I love everyday and cherish everyday because these babies are here for a short amount of time and I want them to know how loved they are so they never remember how they were abandoned. 

I will not be able share the babies name or pictures of their faces. I hate that but it is for their safety and a legal thing as well. That is just a side note.