I love Lauren Conrad.  I didn't think that I would, but I do.  I love her recipes, I love her style, I love her pretty and positive outlook on life.

Being that I'm a mom now, I have pretty much stopped doing everything else that made me JESSICA before I was Mama.  I let my eyebrows grow wild, I wait until my pedicure looks like a French pedicure before I take off the polish (picture it...there you go), and I carefully consider any move I make for approximately 20 minutes before making the move.

So when I logged into LC's blog last night, it was a breath of fresh air to click around looking at her articles about love, fitness, and diet.  As I clicked through, I noticed a particular post titled Rise and Shine: How to Make Your Mornings Brighter.  I thought to myself, 'Wow, that would be nice,' especially considering the fact that mornings are pretty much the biggest shit show of my day.

However, as I began to read, I realized just how far away I am from this lifestyle.  I started to remember what it was like to make myself an omelet and sit down to eat it in front of the TV with my coffee, take a nice long shower, shave my legs, and blow dry my hair.  I remembered lazy Saturday mornings spent in bed.  I remembered getting a full night of sleep and getting out of bed at 9:00 on a Sunday to start my day, doing whatever I wanted when I wanted to.

I guess what I didn't realize when Hershey and I decided to start a family was just how much of myself I would be sacrificing for these tiny human beings.  I used to be a morning person.  I honestly enjoyed my mornings, and I really do feel like the morning sets the tone for the rest of your day.  Today I struggle to make it through my mornings, trying to get as much done in 55 minutes as I used to get done in a whole day sometimes!

Take a gander at my morning routine:

5:45 a.m. - Jane and Emma wake up and start screaming and babbling -- 20 minutes before my alarm is scheduled to go off.

5:50 a.m. - Stumble out of bed to change diapers and get the girls set up in their exersaucers.

6:05 a.m. - Daddy wakes up and comes out to make himself a cup of tea and me a cup of coffee, and gets busy filling the girls' humidifier, unloading the dishwasher, and making bottles.  I run to the shower.  I brush my teeth before I get into the shower, which takes about 2 minutes.

6:07 a.m. - Get into the shower.

6:13 a.m. - Get out of the shower.  Bust my ass because our shower rug is slippery. Dry off, lotion up, get into bathrobe.  Head for the kitchen.

6:19 a.m. - 6:35 a.m. - Accomplish all of the following:  Empty dish rack, make breakfast for Jane and Emma, make my coffee, make myself an English muffin and maybe some eggs (if the girls are happy, otherwise just stick to the muffin), feed the girls breakfast, shove food down my throat, clean up breakfast mess, load dishwasher with dishes leftover from last night and this morning.

6:40-6:55 a.m. - Take Jane and Emma into the nursery to change them and get them ready for their day.

7:00 a.m. - Give the nanny/grandma-squad instructions for the day, run down illnesses, and talk about whatever else is going on with the twins that's notable.

7:05 a.m. - Run back to the bedroom to do my hair, put on make-up, and get dressed.

7:20 a.m. - Go back to the kitchen to pack myself lunch and say good bye to everyone.

7:35 a.m. - Arrive at work, totally frazzled and disorganized.  Drop my stuff in my classroom and head to my first period class, which is in a different room across the school.  Get there just in time for the bell to ring!

I feel like I must be doing something wrong, but I imagine that most working-MoMs are just as frazzed as me.  I have tried to do everything I could to cut corners here and there, but I am so desperate for every moment with Jane and Emma during the week that I'm not willing to give up breakfast and dressing them for the day.  I have it planned so down-to-the-minute that the other morning when Jane dumped her applesauce upside down and Emma played finger paints with her bananas when I turned around to pick up my muffin that we were almost 10 minutes late for work!  But I refuse to spend only 3 hours a day with them, considering I don't get home most days until 4:00.  And I really don't want to miss moments like these:

What am I missing here?  Does anyone have any suggestions to make my mornings more ZEN??  I would love to hear what your morning rituals are like!

Happy Friday!  I hope you all enjoy your weekend!  xoxoxo

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