Saturday, March 08, 2014

Just the Three of Us

Before Eleanor joined our family, I wrote a post titled "Just the Two of Us". You can read it here. It's a documentation of what our easy, laid back life was like before Eleanor arrived.

I can't help but think of how drastically our lives are about to change with adding 3 more kids to the mix. I think that if it were just one more, it wouldn't be such a big deal to write a post about. But 3? That's huge. So now I want to write about what life is like with just the 3 of us, pre triplets(and pre hospital stay). 

On weekdays: Spencer leaves for work around 6:30-6:45. Eleanor will usually wake up anywhere between 7-8. When she wakes up, I wake up. She usually likes to sit and cuddle for a little bit before starting the day. We make breakfast and watch some tv. She always prefers for me to lay on the couch with her and cuddle while we watch. After a cartoon or two, we get dressed and ready for the day. We'll either go to the park, library, beach, or sometimes a friend's house. I try to get her out of the house every day so she's tired enough for a nap in the afternoon. We eat lunch, then it's nap time. Sometimes for both of us. If I don't take a nap, I'll catch up on cleaning, laundry, blogging, photography, etc. Pre-pregnancy, I would often get a workout in. She'll usually sleep 2-3 hours. When she wakes up, I try to entertain her with coloring, toys, play dough, or anything that doesn't involve the tv/computer/kindle. If I'm on top of things, I'll start planning dinner before Spencer gets home. But let's be honest, that usually doesn't happen. Once Spencer gets home, he'll play with Eleanor, catch up on PTI, SportCenter, or any game that he is interested in. He'll usually get a work out in. Dinner is thrown together, then it's bath time and bed time for little miss Eleanor. 

It's a pretty routine schedule, and I love it. I spend so much time one on one with Eleanor and feel so much pride with how intelligent and sweet she is. 

On weekends: If the weather is nice it is almost always a guarantee that we'll be headed to the beach. We pack a lot more than we did when it was just the two of us, but it's always worth it to bring the extra toys for Eleanor. The beach itself isn't as relaxing as it used to be, but it is so much more fun to have a kid to play with in the sand. We have found a system where we can take turns watching Eleanor while the other takes the SUP board out or go for a swim. So at least we get a little bit of free time. Overall, it's a different experience, but not at all any worse than pre kids. Just different. Eleanor loves the beach, loves the water, loves all the dogs of other beach goers. To see her so happy there makes us so happy.

Now I try to imagine how life will change with 3 infants. I don't think we'll make it to the beach while still in Hawaii. Like not even once. I just can't picture it. I don't even know how often we'll be able to make it outside! But hopefully we'll get the hang of it quickly and be able to settle in to our new life with the 3 additions. 

I wanted to document our family of 3 to represent the last couple of years here in Hawaii. So, when I heard that Natalie Norton, a photographer whom I have always admired, was coming to Hawaii and offering mini sessions, I jumped on board.














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