A Day in the Life

I've been meaning to do a post like this for some time, mostly because I know this won't stay this way forever and I want to remember a snapshot of what a typical weekday looks like for us as a family of three with a toddler.  For the past several months, this is basically our daily routine.  So here is how we spent this past Friday:

5:50 a.m. - Kate wakes up.  Matt takes her downstairs for a bowl of oatmeal since she wakes up ravenous. In case I don't mention it enough here on the blog, I should say it again- I love my husband.  He does breakfast duty every morning just so I can sleep a bit longer.

6:10 a.m. - Matt and Kate come back upstairs and get in bed with me for a few minutes of morning cuddle time.  This is the absolute best way to start a day, better than coffee or a hot shower... snuggling a squirmy little girl in pajamas before you are even fully awake guarantees a good morning.

6:20 a.m - I get in the shower, and Kate comes into the bathroom too.  She loves to stand outside the shower and put her hand on the glass door to line up with wherever I put mine.  She also likes to hand me my towel, throw my pajamas in the hamper, and reach her hand in to splash in the puddles once I get out.

6:30 a.m. - I change Kate's diaper and get her dressed.  Shoes and ponytail are often a two person job that we tackle later right before we leave.

6:35 a.m. - Matt and I both get ready for the day while Kate plays in our bedroom.  She "helps" us pick out shoes, hands me my hairbrush, runs in terror from the blow dryer, reads books, and tries to swipe makeup off the bathroom counter.

Morning routine, books in bed and a rare pic of the bump today since I had planned to try to document the day

7:00 a.m. - We head downstairs to grab coffee, snacks, load the cars and head out the door.

7:05 a.m. - Drop off at daycare, Matt usually does the morning drop off and most days she just scampers off into her room without a glance back.

7:20 a.m. - I get to work and eat my breakfast (a Luna bar and coffee) while checking my e-mails and going over my to do list for the day.

Homemade iced coffee, our office building, the empty truck yard in morning sunlight, and my desk

9:00 a.m. - Working while gchatting with Claudia.

11:30 a.m. - Lunch break!  I often run errands during lunch since it's the only break I get and it's easier to go to the grocery or wherever without a toddler in tow.  I will really miss being able to catch up on errands once I spend all my lunch breaks at the daycare next year nursing a baby again.  Today I go pick up a gift for a coworker and grab some lunch too while I'm out.

Yummy Thai chicken wrap, truck yard at work filling back up in the afternoon as jobs are done for the day

12:00 - 2:00 - Nap time at daycare.  Kate usually sleeps only about an hour of this, and I'm jealous of every minute she gets.  The Friday afternoon unproductive blahs have set in and I'm ready to call it a day or take a nap as well.

2:00 p,m. - Payroll adjustments, enrolling new hires in health insurance, posting bank deposits, reconciling accounts, contacting customers regarding their past due balances... all in a day's work.

5:00 p.m. - Yippee!  Time to go get my baby!

5:15 p.m. - I get to the daycare where Kate is always very excited to see me and having a little one running full speed towards you with her arms up is a wonderful sight.

Sign out screen at daycare, some of Kate's friends, Kate buckling herself into the car seat to head home

5:25 p.m. - We get home where Matt has started working on dinner (seriously, he's the best, and Kate and I both know how lucky we are to have him).  I play with Kate to keep her out of his way while he cooks.  We swing outside or dance to the Doo Wop station in the living room depending on the weather until it's time to eat.

5:45 p.m. - Family dinner.  Tonight it's leftover grilled chicken from earlier in the week mixed in some pasta with olive oil, feta cheese, and cherry tomatoes.  It's quick and tasty and Kate is happy as long as we keep sprinkling more "cheeeee(se)!" on her noodles.

Devouring dinner, climbing in the stroller, crashing in the crib, relaxing with my feet up

6:05 p.m. - Some nights this is when Kate gets her bath while the other parent cleans up the kitchen after dinner.  Tonight though it's nice out, and a bath at the beginning of the weekend seems unnecessary, so we go for a walk in the neighborhood instead.  Half way through the walk Kate decides she wants to walk instead of ride and she slowly saunters along picking up pine needles until we convince her (force was used) to get back in the stroller.

7:15 p.m. - Depending on how cranky she is, bedtime usually falls anywhere between 6:45 and 7:30.  We read lots of books before bed to wind down, and currently her favorite thing to do is look for different objects on pages of her books that we ask her to find.

7:16 p.m. - I collapse in my chair and Matt does the same on the couch.  We browse the Internet on our phones or the laptop, catch up on the day, watch TV or read.

8:30 p.m. - Bowl of ice cream.  And not because it's a pregnancy stereotype thing, but because it's delicious.

9:30 p.m. - Go to bed, after peeking in our sleeping beauty first and marveling at whatever strange position she's gotten herself into that night.

That's a pretty normal day for us lately, and while it doesn't sound that exciting when you write it all out like this, I feel like we're in a very happy and comfortable place right now.  Everyone in our house is eating, sleeping, bathing, and functioning on a regular schedule.  Since we now know from experience the basic luxury of a predictable day will disappear in less than three months when Baby Boy arrives, I'm enjoying every daily (daily!) shower, glorious 8 hour stretch of sleep, and meal consumed while still hot.  We'll be in this place again someday with both kids, and I'll cherish it then as much as I do now, funny how parenting changes your perspective and gratitude towards the simple things in life like a nice normal weekday!