Day 15 in the May Blogger Challenge was to show a "day in the life" with pictures. However, I am on week 1 of being a single mom with my man out-of-town and I am just plain exhausted. I have such an easy baby and yet today I found myself ready for a nap about an hour after I woke up and chugged 3 cups of coffee. On a positive note, time is going by pretty fast and I am really enjoying eating blueberry pancakes for dinner (sorry Joshua!) ;)
So back to the "day in the life" photos. They don't exist. I've always wanted to do one of those types of posts. I love getting a peek into other peoples' lives. Perhaps that's the Nancy Drew in me, ha!
So because the said photos do not exist, I thought it would be cool to give you a glimpse of what our day usually looks like. I say "usually" because we all know that life throws us curveballs and our days don't always look the same. And some days I really do just throw it all out the window and fly by the seat of my pants. There's the occasional doctor appointment or whatever and we do naps in the car and run around town. Usually on Joshua's days off, we like to be really active and so that's usually how our days go. But for us, personally, those days end up being the harder days. Way harder. The days I am literally looking at the clock and wondering when it's bedtime! For our family, things go way better and way easier with a flexible, daily routine. I don't like the word "schedule" because it sounds very boxed in, but I guess you could say we do a flexible one-- I don't live by the clock but I do find that the same pattern happens in my child day after day after day. She is a happier, easier baby when this happens. And also, a routine works better for us because my husband has a very weird, up and down schedule (shift work). This helps us plan our days and know what to expect (and I know that Eden rests secure because she knows what to expect, too). If my husband worked at home or had a more flexible work schedule, things would probably look different for us. That being said, this is what our usual days looks like:
6:30-7 AM: Usually Eden wakes up around this time. I pull her out of the crib and it's honestly my favorite part of the day. She's so giggly and happy. I give her some kisses, bounce her on my hip and we head into my bedroom where I nurse her and sing to her.
7-9 AM ish: I make a pot of coffee, Eden plays on the floor with Hartley. They will usually sit and read books and play with toys together, I kid you not. Those two are two peas in a pod. Hartley is actually helping Eden learn to crawl! He'll snatch her little plastic ball from her and go and hide it and then she starts scooting around looking for it! Yikes, I'm in for it! While the coffee is brewing, I usually will take Eden and put her in the high chair and she'll have some solid foods (yogurt, bits of bagel, pureed veggies/fruits, etc). Usually there's a diaper change and then there's more play time together, or some independent playtime while I throw a load of laundry in or whatever. I also enjoy going on a walk in the morning while it's still cool out. We live about 1/4 mile from a great park with swings and so I try to get over there at least a few times a week. Usually around 9ish, Eden will start getting red-rimmed eyes (my sign that she's tired) and I'll grab her pacifier and her blanket and she'll put her head on my shoulder. I'll head upstairs, lay her down in the crib and turn on the sound machine.
9-10:30/11ish: Eden naps. I'll read my Bible, do my devotional, and do my daily floor sweep/vacuum (this has to be done almost daily thanks to having a dog that sheds), perhaps do an exercise DVD (although I've been pretty bad lately), sip some more coffee and do a project of some sort (pay bills, send letters, return emails, blah blah blah).
11ish: Eden wakes and I feed her again upstairs and then return downstairs for some more finger foods. Then we'll head out of the house-- whether that's to run errands at Wal-Mart/Target, go to Costo, go to storytime at the library or you name it. We usually go to storytime twice a week, and I try to go to the farmer's market at least once. On Sundays, we have church during this time. I'll usually head back around 12:30 ish on the days that I do head out of the house in order to get home in time for me to make lunch, etc. Usually Eden is starting to get tired again and she's usually back in her room for her last nap of the day around 1/1:30 PM.
1-3 PM: Nap #2 Usually I try to re-charge during this time. Either I'll try to take a nap myself (pretty much impossible), watch mindless tv, look at blogs, read books/magazines, or organize (read my post yesterday-- I love to organize). I try to avoid doing anything like deep cleaning or being overly-productive during this time. I've found that I'm a much better mama when I'm a well-rested mama.
3 PMish: Feed again upstairs and head back downstairs for solids. Now that she's up for the rest of the day, I'll usually head into the city if I need to run errands, head to a girlfriend's house for the afternoon or do something else that involves me getting out of the house. I do have days where I stay home all day, but I really try to get out for at least a walk with Eden on the days that I do that. I find myself even more productive at home if I've at least gotten out of the house for a little bit. Otherwise, I feel even more lazy and tired, weird huh?!
If we're at home, Eden loves to play in her Johnny-Jump-Up, jump in the Baby Einstein jumper, swing outside in her swing, or move around on the floor playing with books, light up toys, etc. Sometimes she'll sit on the floor while I put away laundry or sit outside in the jumper while I pick up the garage or car. These are just some examples, of course every day is different. Usually around 6:30 PM we're starting the bedtime routine for the night... I only do baths once or twice a week (call me lazy, but Eden's skin gets too dry & she's not mobile enough yet to warrant really being dirty). We put on PJ's, read a few books, turn on the sound machine, turn the lights off and do a last nursing session. Usually she falls asleep (this is the feeding she nurses at the longest) and I unlatch her, put the pacifier in her mouth and place her in the crib. I love to say "Dream big" as I kiss her goodnight. Usually I'll stare at her for a minute or two... okay, maybe sometimes 15 ;) And many, many times... she'll stay in my arms and I'll just rock and sing to her.
The next day comes and we'll do it all over again... phewwww!
