As a first time mother I remember people asking me what I did all day. Thankfully I took the time to write a bit down when both little ones were babies about our schedules and it is definitely the main reason I continue to share about our adventures in parenthood. I love looking back at the early years and am ever thankful that the sleep-deprived states of newborndom are behind us. Gosh, two years ago I got up every two hours for over eight months without any help. Sleep deprivation is used as a torture method. Tack on a surly one year old and BOY were those days colorful! But- perspective.
The days are long, but the years are short.
Both of my little ones have far outgrown their babyness.
Diapers are a thing of the past. Bottles have been donated. No more baby items.
Day in the Life
So here I am sharing a true day in the life. No photos were staged-easily deciphered with closed eyes and smudged cheeks. And please know that I don’t get EVERYTHING done. If push comes to shove, I choose family time over cleaning. Unless it’s laundry. Clean clothes are very necessary.
4:45AM ALARM BLARES. I shut it off-brush teeth-throw on barre clothes-and grab a cup of cold brew my husband made for me. Oh wait, he is awake because he is a morning person… I see him smile and wish with everything that mornings didn’t hurt. I mentally calculate the fact that I lost two hours of uninterrupted sleep to get up and workout.
5AM I am on the road to Barre. The temperature shows 29 degrees and the car is taking forever to warm up. WHY do people get leather seats?!? I am a cloth seat person for life. I check all social media outlets for any messages I need to immediately respond to. I make sure my twitter feed is prepped, email is checked, and that invoices were accurate. Typically I would do social touts if a blog post went live… Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, Twitter(4+ tweets), FB Blog Page, and Youtube.
5:30AM-6:30AM Pure Barre. Sweat-SHAKE-Repeat.
6:35AM I literally RUN to the car and jump back in. 32 degrees. Leather is the bane of my existence. I sing songs WAY too loud and drink my still iced cold, cold brew coffee.
6:45AM Pass the keys to my husband and run inside. Guess who gets up the moment I get in? Both kids. Raymond takes a quick snapshot of me for this post. I’ve learned he needs to be on a dining room chair unless I want to go with the no-head look. Dining room chair for the win.
7AM They grab books and read to each other as I quickly hop in the shower and grab new clothes. Typically I can shower with them still just stirring in their rooms but they got up earlier today.
7:30AM Brushing teeth, washing faces, and gathering clothes for school later on in the day. Both of them brush on their own and then I do a quick spot-check.
8AM Breakfast. They catch a quick show on PBS and I clean the kitchen, start a load of laundry, and dust the downstairs. I try to clean on days he goes to school in the afternoon as we really can’t go anywhere in the mornings.
9AM They grab art supplies on their own as I finish another load of laundry, vacuum the downstairs, and take out the trash and recycling. I love that I can trust them with art supplies now and they take that responsibility very seriously. Since the chalkboard wall went up nearly a year ago we’ve never had an art incident. Chalk, markers, crayons, and coloring pencils are readily available. Knock on wood.
10:30AM Lunch comes early some days. We usually eat at 11AM-but both kids were hungry so we ate some chicken and steak burrito bowls. HELLO YUM. I check email and respond to clients.
10:45AM We play in the backyard. I clean up the chalk covering the back wall and move furniture around. The kids play dinosaur, pirate, and chase. The puppy gets in on the action and belly laughs echoed in our small backyard. I watered all of our plants and the grass.
11:34AM WHERE DID THE TIME GO?!? We were supposed to be in the car! Well, I didn’t realize what time it was so in less than four minutes both kids stripped down, went to the bathroom, put on their new clothes(Emma is still working on putting on her own shirts), put on their own shoes, and I grabbed preschool snacks, epi-pens, and the car keys.
12PM Raymond is dropped off at school. The teacher pulls me aside and asks if there are any gingerbread house substitutes I can make as that is their end of the semester activity. He is allergic to gluten, wheat, arrowroot, egg, nuts, peanuts, apple… and a bunch of others that don’t have anything to do with baking. Any ideas on substitutes for gingerbread houses?
12:25PM Emma Marie passes out in my arms with her purple puppy. Indiana is asleep in the room. I gently tuck Emma in and pick up our passed out puppy.
12:30PM-2PM I quickly make it into our room to check social networks, respond to emails, and edit a batch of photos for a campaign. The average blog post takes no less than four hours of shooting, editing, coding, and publishing. I then finish another load of laundry, clean both showers and tub, and grab a backpack for our walk to pick up Raymond from school.
2PM I wake up a sleepy Em and we start off on our walk to school. She stops to talk about all of the holiday decorations going up in the neighborhood and I am reminded about just how magical this season is. Seeing the world through a child’s eyes makes you remember to take time to appreciate the little things in life. Like miniature candy cane lanes. Those are what two year old’s dreams are made of.
2:30PM Both kids are happily hiking back to our house. Emma Marie and Raymond talk about all of the decorations and his day at preschool. I take in the sweet moment and remember why we wanted our kids to be close in age. THIS. THIS was why.
3PM Yogurt on the patio as we unwind from our day. The weather has warmed up to 70 degrees and is gorgeous. I enjoy an iced diet coke and try to sit down. Then I remember that my husband is going to happy hour and that there are no reinforcements in my future. I go and prep chicken and figure out what else should be eaten. I try to make sure that we actually eat our leftovers so that food waste is at a minimum-which also equates to less cooking 1-2 times a week. Mom win.
4:30PM Dinner is gluten-free chicken with allergy-free breading, veggies(all were demolished) and leftover chicken and pepperoni pizza. Raymond ate his pizza in less than a minute-hence the invisible slice on his plate.
PURPLE PUPPY(from Aunt Rachel)- must be taken everywhere and is Emma’s best friend.
She named the dog, Purple Puppy.
4:45-5:45PM We read books on the couch as the sun sets-waiting for the cover of darkness so that we can go look at Christmas lights.
6PM My husband comes home early from happy hour!
6:05PM Oh, Christmas lights. The kids talk like they’ve literally never seen anything as beautiful. Just TRY to be grumpy around them and lights. Doesn’t work. You will melt into a puddle of mush. Both my husband and I tear up each time we hear them talk about the next set of lights we see. ZooLights is going to knock their socks right off.
7PM Bedtime Routine. Both kids pick out pajamas-they don’t like to match(scroll up for further proof) and we read a book in Raymond’s room before splitting up. I take Em into her room and sing her a few songs. My husband sings Raymond a song and then takes Indiana for a run.
7:30PM Em and I blow kisses to each other and I go into our master bedroom.
7:30-9:30PM Flip on the computer and start editing a post. I’ve poured my little heart into writing this post for over two hours now. I am mentally adding the hours of sleep I will inevitably get if I go to Barre tomorrow morning. My brain knows that it is worth it, my body heartily disagrees.
Normal blogging schedule: Shoot photos day before. Edit next day at nap time. Upload, code, write content, and prepare SEO and social touts after the kids go to bed. All of my work is done when the kids are sleeping. This makes nights longer, but I can’t get back family time when they are little. And goodness does time fly right on by. Posts: 4-6 hours of work. This post: 3.5 hours. Now I am kicking myself for not taking GOOD photos. But I wanted it to be real, in the moment, and a perfect reflection of our imperfect life.
Plus I wanted a chance to thank all of you, my readers. You have been there for me when I needed you the most. This outlet, this community has saved me. This past year my blog, my business, has enabled us to endure thousands in healthcare bills with my breast cancer scare and both kid’s heart doctor bills and testing. Thank you so very much for always being there for me.
10PM Set alarm. Get out Barre clothes. And finally get a chance to chat with my handsome husband.
The days are long, but the years are short.
Day in the Life 2/2015
Day in the Life 7/2013
