Just one of those days...

Yesterday was "just one of those days" not a bad day, just a "blah" day. I felt that way pretty much from the moment I got up. I was sleepy, not feeling 100% and simply "blah". Then Gracie and Keane did not have their best day. They seemed to be sleepy too and we are working on getting them on a different schedule...you know moving from 5 bottles to 4 with more solids. I find it to be a difficult transition right now. Figuring out when to give the milk, when to give the solids.

The entire time that they were on just bottles, it worked amazingly well for us. It was pretty cut and dry, every 3 hours during the day give a bottle and then they would nap between practically every bottle. Even when they began eating a bit of solids it was fine too (see previous post about our schedule then) but now, at almost 7 months, that has changed and it seems to be changing so quickly, everyday I am having to re-evaluate what I am doing (I am sure many of you know what I am talking about). They are still sleepy but don't want to sleep as much because they are now so curious and into everything, they still definitely LOVE their bottles but also LOVE food. They get so excited when they see that little cup and spoon. And, trying to stretch them to four hours, figure out when to give them their solid foods (with the bottles, as a snack, some with, some separate) and figuring out when to carve out the best time for some naps in this new schedule has been tricky. I have been trying different options of schedules that are modifications of the schedule we were on and are ideas from other websites and books I have read.

Today is my third day really trying to nail a new great schedule down. I am finding that this is the first major time that trying to schedule twins has been pretty difficult. In our situation, feeding them bottles every few hours worked well and since they were eating at basically the same time for most of their feedings their nap schedule was also pretty much the same but now, with more components of the schedule to deal with, I am finding that they are more often napping at different times, waking at different times, etc.

I realize that with twins (or even for a single baby for that matter) and adding food and their personalities, that it is never going to be simple cut and dry "3:00 pm on the dot peas and then 4:00 on the dot nap for both of them for 2 hours..." I know that but what I am looking for is just a BETTER schedule then we have now. Now I know generally what is going to happen in the day but I am at a strange point where I am trying to figure out if they are sleepy and need more naps, if they are hungry and want more food, if they are missing that one extra bottle I am trying to drop each day, etc. Before when it was just a bottle every three hours, I knew (95% of the time) why they were crying and what they needed. Now we are in this muddled area that I am not sure what they are upset about because I don't have the feedings and naps down for this stage in their growth yet. They are still sleeping amazingly well through the night (6:30 pm - 6:30 am). I would like to be able to put them to bed a half an hour later or more but with the way things are right now they are SO ready to go to bed by 6:30 which works fine for me but I would like them to begin sleeping a little later in the morning and I know that won't happen until they are going to bed a bit later because they are already sleeping an amazing 12 hours...which I am SO thankful for.

And so, here in lies the dilemma which made my blah day a little more difficult yesterday because I was not in the best of spirits and neither were my two precious babies. I am looking forward to getting a good schedule worked out for all of us. The wonderful thing about having children is that even in the blah days it does not take much effort to find something that makes you smile or makes you thankful. Here are just a few things from yesterday that made my "blah" day a little brighter:

- My trip to run errands with Keane yesterday and having him fall asleep on me in the taxi.
- The fact that Gracie is beginning to crawl a bit and had the biggest smile on her face when she "broke free" from the play area we created for them on the floor.
- The times throughout the day that I would be holding Keane and he would pull my face into his just to be close to me.
-Watching Ryan lay on the floor and play with them while I got lunch made and seeing them smile at their dad.
- That even when they were both upset and crying before their bath we put them facing each other so they could see each other and they began laughing at each other so loudly for a long time.

I am so grateful to God for my family. I desire to serve them and love them abundantly. They are undeserved gifts from Him. Today I woke up feeling more refreshed and ready for the day. Right now Gracie and Keane are napping. We will see how today's "schedule testing" goes. I will let you know when we find one that works! Have a great day and don't forget to allow God to show you the many things around you that you have to be thankful for (small and big) even if today is one of your "blah days".

**Anyone have any advice for schedules that worked for you at this point??? I would LOVE to hear them!