A Day in the Life…

The approaching (impending?!) arrival of our baby girl, and the complete havoc that I know she will wreck upon our daily schedule, makes me realize how easy and low-key our days usually are at this stage of Nathan's life.  So I wanted to record a snapshot of how our days usually run (all times are either goals or very general approximations).

7:01 Most mornings these days I awake to a cheerful voice calling “Clock GREEN!  Hooray clock GREEN!”.  I go in and greet Nathan with a sippy cup of milk and he tells me “Mor-ning!”.  I fix some hot chocolate for myself and bring it back into his room while he guzzles down his milk.  We brush the cats, give Oreo his hairball medicine and generally have a slow start to the day.

7:30-7:45 Its time for breakfast.  I cut up two prunes for Nathan and he selects his morning cereal from “Dada wheat” (frosted mini wheats) and “Mama’s cereal” (cracklin’ oat bran).  Both of these are placed on Dada’s chair and promptly get ignored by Nathan.  (I have recently decided that Nathan is channeling his Papaw in that he likes his cereal sogged to mush before he eats it!)

8:00-8:30 My goal most days is to be in the shower by 8:00.  I like to hand over the Ipod to Nathan before I hop in (great incentive for a peaceful shower for Mama), but my rule is ‘no Ipod until Nathan’s breakfast is all gone.’  So, usually with some cajoling (meaning I practically force-feed him), Nathan finishes his breakfast and takes command of the Ipod.  He reminds me of my rules for him “No yell.  No bang on door”, we hug and I go shower.  I finish with all my stuff in the bathroom, and set out both our toothbrushes (if I brush my teeth now, I’ll forget to do Nathan’s at all, so I use my yucky mouth taste as a reminder/motivation to get both our teeth brushed within the next little bit). 

8:30 I’m out of the shower and Nathan always comments “Mama shower out.  Mama hair wet.”  I agree and let him touch my wet hair to confirm. 

8:30-9:00 I get dressed and do my hair and make-up.  Nathan usually joins me for some part of the hair/make-up, sitting on the counter in the master bedroom.  I also try to have Nathan dressed and teeth brushed by 9:00 as well.

9:00-9:30 Nathan helps me unload the dishwasher and we usually sweep at least one room.  I may also do some additional cleaning or baking with Nathan's "help", depending on when I want/need to get out the door for errands, playgroup, etc.  Some days we go downstairs to play while I do a load of laundry or two.

9:30-11:15 Always different, depending on the day.  We may spend the morning playing upstairs, downstairs or outside, helping Mommy clean, baking bread, running errands or at playgroup.

11:15-12:00 Somewhere in here we have lunch.  Nathan can be a VERY slow eater, so it usually is a half an hour long process from the time we sit down to eat until he’s done.  Then Nathan plays while  I clear the table, clean the high chair, load the dishwasher and put away any remaining clean dishes that were finishing drying on the counter.  By this point, I try to have decided what I’m making for dinner so I can start thawing meat, etc.

12:20-12:30 Nathan gives the cats hugs, we round up his sippy cup of milk, Rara and Kitty Cat (his two favorite stuffed animals that always join us on the loveseat for is pre-sleep routine) and we close ourselves in Nathan’s room.  We read a few books, then turn out the light and sing 2 songs and put Nathan in his crib for naptime.

12:45-1:00  Nathan is in his room with the door closed for his nap and generally gets quiet pretty quickly.  I’ll usually putter around for 10-15 minutes tidying up, checking my email, etc. before I lay down for a nap as well (before I got pregnant again, this would be my computer/project/down time, but these days I’m always more then ready for a nap myself!)

3:00-3:15  Nathan and I both get up from our nap and Nathan gets another sippy cup of milk. 

3:15-5:30  I try to stay home in the afternoons (because more often then not we've gone out of the house for some reason in the morning) and we both just putter around the house or outside.  Hopefully Dada gets home during this time. 

5:30-6:30 Dinner prep, eat dinner and clean up the kitchen.

6:30-7:10 More play/free time.  If Dada’s home, this is usually his and Nathan’s special time to play while Mama hangs out in the room with them. 

7:10-7:45 Get Nathan ready for bed, including picking up his room, bath (some nights), brush teeth, diaper change and pjs, say goodnight to Oreo, Princess and Mama.  Dada and Nathan head to his room armed with the sippy cup of milk, Rara and Kitty Cat for books, songs and bed.

7:45-10:30 Free time for Mommy and Daddy (which mostly consists of us sitting on opposite ends of the couch staring at our respective laptops).