Emma is a mum in a million... well, one in 24 million to be exact!
Those were the incredible odds beaten by the 34-year-old and her husband Loma, who turns 38 this month, when they welcomed their fourth set of natural twins.
‘At times it can be chaos and there is yelling and there’s fighting. But every day we are blessed beyond words,’ she tells New Idea.
‘When I recently had my hair cut and coloured for the first time in two years, they were like: “Oh Mummy, you look so beautiful, like a princess.” It pulls the heartstrings every time.’
The monumental daily routine in the Uhila household will leave mums busting to give Emma a high-five.
‘Loma will start by changing the youngest babies. I’m usually on breakfast which is anything from Weet-Bix, porridge or sometimes sandwiches to toast.’
With so many school-age children, Emma wants to avoid head lice so she spends an hour each morning tying up and plaiting the girls’ hair.
‘By about 7.45am, Loma and I will tag-team – one will leap in the shower while the other gets the bags and things ready.
‘Lunches we do the night before so it’s all ready to go in the morning because that takes at least an hour. We try to be out the door by 8am.’
After driving and dropping off Micah, eight, Lily and Ava, six, and five-year-old Eden and Isla at school and Emme and Indie, three, at kindy, Emma often takes the youngest two, Levi and Mia, who turn two in June, to music or playgroup.
‘We head home about 11am and have an early lunch. They go to bed for a couple of hours and I will start preparing dinner.’
Despite all the kids’ extra- curricular activities – including choir, hip-hop classes, rugby training and dance – the time-poor mum doesn’t resort to TV dinners or takeaways.
Instead, she spends 19 hours a week making delicious and nutritious family meals such as spaghetti bolognese, curried sausages, homemade pizzas and chicken, rice and veggies.
‘After preparing dinner, it’s onto the washing – hanging a load out, putting another load on, folding, and putting away.
‘I probably do two or three loads of washing a day. Sometimes it can be four or five.’
This article originally appeared in New Idea.
