Small victories

It snowed last night. In the mountains. Not down in the valley. (Today's weather: sunny and 65.) We just got rain, no snow. This was the first time I've seen snow since moving to Arizona. I almost ran off the road while looking at the mountains on my way back from Costco because it surprised me so much.

Making a trip to Costco, or any grocery store for that matter, with all three girls in tow is quite the accomplishment these days. Before I had kids, if I needed milk, I put another coat of lipstick on while grabbing my purse, jumped in the car and headed for the nearest store.

It's a little more involved than that now. It starts the Tuesday before, when all the grocery store adds come in the mail. I spend 20 minutes perusing to see who has the best deals on milk and meat that week. Then I make my weekly menu based on what's on sale, and use that to make my grocery list. The night before, I pack the diaper bag so I'll have one less thing to worry about in the morning. In the morning, I get up at 7 or earlier and feed and dress the twins while helping Easton get breakfast and get off to school. Thank goodness my friend from the ward picks him up for me in the mornings! After Easton is gone, I'll squeeze in 30 minutes of Pilates while the twins watch in their bouncy seats. Hopefully they're happy the whole way through. Then a quick shower, makeup, hair, and get dressed.

Usually I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror at this point and wonder if the Pilates are really doing anything.

It's 9:30 by this time, and the girls are really sick of their bouncy seats and ready to go down for a nap. While they're sleeping, I help Evi do her hair and get dressed. I balance my checkbook to make sure there's enough money to cover a Costco trip, because for some reason, I can never make it out of that place for under $60. If the girls are still asleep, I do a quick clean-up of the kitchen, because there's always dishes to do. Or laundry.

The girls wake up at 10:45. Bottles, burps, and diaper changes take almost 45 minutes. Loading them and Evi into the van takes another 10 minutes. We finally make it to Costco at around noon. Big bonus: the carts at Costco can fit TWO infant car seats in the child seat. So I don't have to try to navigate two carts around the store, one full of the babies and one for the groceries. I feel like a weirdo when I have to do that. It takes about 45 minutes to find everything I need and stop for all the people who want to ooh and aaah over the girls. (Some twin mommies say they find it annoying that everywhere they go they get stopped by people wanting to see their babies. I kinda like it. They're dang cute, and it's nice when complete strangers will validate that.) Wait in line for 10 minutes. Load it all into the van. Make it home in one piece.

I always feel like I ran a marathon by the time I get home. All that planning and energy for the priveledge of spending over $60 on diapers and wipes. Yikes.