Our new typical MW

• 4:45 a.m. Natalie woke up. Jay was kind enough to get up to give her a bottle, but she was ready to play.
• 5-5:30 a.m. Mommy tries to get Natalie back to sleep, while Daddy snoozes.
• 5:30-6 a.m. Daddy tries to get Natalie back to sleep, while Mommy snoozes.
• 6 a.m. Mommy gets up for the day. Every "work" morning, I get up at 6 and get myself ready (teeth brushed, makeup, hair, dressed) before the girls. It's my 10 minutes of sanity.
• 6:15 a.m. Katie is up and taking over the bathroom. I brown the roast and put it in the crockpot with the vegetables I cut up last night, onion soup mix, and beef broth. Supper is done. Grab some toast-and-peanut-butter while packing up my lunch and supper.
• 6:30 a.m. Wake up Maggie and Lainie. These two do not like mornings. I cajole them downstairs with a promise to carry Lainie and a "oh, Maggie, you should SEE your hair!" Help them brush teeth, get dressed, and fix their hair. (top-only ponytail with ribbon for Katie, piggy tails for Maggie, and a ponytail for Lainie)
• 6:45 a.m. Maggie, Lainie, and Katie are getting their shoes and coats on, while I get Natalie dressed and Jay is loading all our bags into the car. "All our bags" means Natalie diaper bag, Lainie backpack, Katie backpack, Maggie backpack, my backpack *GULP, my work bag and laptop, my purse, and my lunch cooler into the Suzuki; Jay's 3 work bags into his truck.
• 6:50 a.m. Pull out of the driveway and drive carefully (in 4-wheel drive) through the muddy road.
• 7 a.m. Arrive at daycare. Carefully unload kids, one at a time, so that the big girls don't get mud on their pants.
• 7:10 a.m. Leave daycare, after much hugging and kissing.
• 7:13 a.m. Stop at gas station for a refill fountain drink. This morning, I was good; I settled for decaf iced tea instead of my usual Diet Coke.
• 7:58 a.m. Arrive at my office in Manhappiness.

And so starts the day.

The rest of the day includes 1 meeting, 1 lunch-run to Target for formula, and my first day of Anatomy & Physiology. I'm working until 5, and class runs from 5:30 to 8:55 p.m. That, too, is in Manhattan, so I'll get home about a quarter 'til 10 tonight.

It's 16 weeks, 32 class sessions.
One at a time.
We can do this.
I can do this.
Inhale.
Exhale.