A day in our life

This was Tuesday, July 7.  Collins is 2.5 and Brooks is 10 months.

7:10am- Everyone is still sleeping so I jump in the shower.  I get the coffee started and Brooks wakes up about 7:40.  I change his diaper and feed him a bottle

so so happy when he wakes up

8:15am- Collins wakes up and Derek's out of the shower so he goes in to get her.  Me and Brooks follow behind him and she wants to hold baby Brooks. Her and Brooks wrestle around for a bit on her bed before she's ready for breakfast.  She requests eggs so I scramble some up for both of them and they chow down on that and some fruit while me and Derek drink our coffee and unload the dishwasher.

8:45am-  Derek works from home a lot but this morning he had some things to do.  Once he leaves, me and the kids head to the basement to play in the playroom.  I run upstairs to get them clothes since they're playing nicely and I get them dressed downstairs.

9:30am- I lay Brooks down for his morning nap and let Collins play on my phone while I finish getting ready.  She plays on it for a little while before she's ready to eat a snack. We brush her teeth and do her hair after she's done eating.

10:10am- Brooks wakes up right as I am getting ready to go wake him up.  I change his diaper and we are out the door to a playdate. 

10:20-12:30- We hang out and eat lunch at Steph's house.  Ashley and her girls are there as well so Collins got to play with all her friends.  I was busy keeping Brooks out of things and feeding him a bottle that I didn't take any pictures. 

1:00pm- Home from Steph's and I change Brooks diaper and put a diaper on Collins before laying them down for a nap.  Brooks goes right to sleep and Collins doesn't fall asleep at all.  I have to go in there a couple times before I tell her the door isn't opening up again until naptime is over. 

2:00pm- Brooks is up early from nap so I let Collins out of her room as well.  It's not very hot today so I strap them into the stroller and walk to the park.  We play for a bit before walking back home and having a snack and playing in the backyard while daddy mows.  Brooks drinks a bottle when we come inside.

3:15pm- The kids are driving me nuts so to Target we go.  Derek goes to Lowe's to get weed spray so I take both hulligans with me.  They do great at Target and we make it out with the formula we needed and not much else.  For once! Miss No Nap falls asleep on the way home from Target.

5:00pm- Me and Collins get our suits on and head to the first day of swim lessons.  It was supposed to start Monday but we were in the basement due to a tornado warning.  It's only in the lower 70s and sprinkling off and on but the swim lesson hotline says classes are still going to take place.  I contemplate making Derek take her but leave him home with Brooks and to cook dinner instead.  He lucks out when my mom shows up and takes care of Brooks while he is grilling.   

6:15pm-  We are home from swim lessons and Derek pulls the pizza off the grill.  Brooks couldn't make it past our usual 5:45pm dinner time and eats before we get back.  I give him some puffs to keep him occupied while we eat.  Collins tells nana and daddy about swim lessons and how she's too advanced for the class :).  She can't be bumped up into the next class since she isn't 3 so we'll just have to stick it out. 

6:45pm- I get the kids in the bath and after I get Brooks washed and out of the tub, Derek comes in and washes Collins and gets her pajamas on.  Collins gets her hair brushed and Brooks' gets his teeth brushed. Derek feeds Brooks a bottle and he's asleep by 7:15.  Collins has a little snack and plays on my phone till about 7:45 and then we brush her teeth, read some books, pray and into bed she goes. She pulls a few "I need to give so and so a kiss." "I need to pee" before she falls asleep about 8:30.  Me and Derek watch TV/spend time on our phones before heading up to watch TV in bed about 9pm

Sorry about the flash.. She's a hard sleeper

10:00pm- I'm pretty sure I was asleep by 10 but Derek usually turns the TV off about 10 and falls asleep. 

A Day in the Life

It's been a long time since I shared a day in our life.  I stopped working in December so it's just me and C bug during the week.  We try and get out every day or we both go crazy.  Between story times, play dates, the store, etc. we always find something to do.  Derek travels off and on but he is home this week.

 

3/25/14

 

1:33am-  I'm 18 weeks pregnant and wake up for the second time to use the restroom.  2 times before 2am is just ridiculous. 

 

7:23am- I jump awake to the sound of "dada! dada!" I'm guessing she's been up for a bit because she plays quietly before shouting out to us.  I slowly get out of bed, use the restroom and brush my teeth before going to get her.  Derek gets up to and lets the dogs out while I change her diaper.  We all head downstairs while she drinks her sippy of milk and watches Mickey. 

 

7:50am- She runs to the stairs and signs "eat."  I fill up a cup of water for me and make her oatmeal, mandarin oranges and water while Derek unloads the dishwasher and then goes to shower.  He's working in KC today so he doesn't have to leave very early.  I take the opportunity to shower after him so he can entertain Collins. 

 

 

8:30am- He leaves for work after I shower and I let Collins play in her bean box so I can finish getting ready.  We keep some toys in our room to entertain her but the bean box was a special treat this day. She plays with it until she sees me get my make up bag out and then she demands to sit on the counter and "help" me with my make up. 

 

 

9:10am-  I grab a granola bar and water for myself and then we head downstairs to play.

 

9:40am- Diaper change, get her dress, coats and shoes on and out the door for an indoor swing set place.  Kansas hasn't got the Spring memo yet so we have to entertain ourselves indoors since it's only in the 40s. She eats some goldfish in the car.

 

10am-10:40am- We don't last very long before Collins gets cranky.  I didn't think it would be crowded because Spring break was last week but it was super crowded and she wasn't happy when her turn was over on the trampoline. 

 11:00am- We are going through a very picky stage so I try to make a healthier version of one of her favorite foods.  Pizza on whole wheat English muffin, grapes, corn and water.  I change her diaper while the pizza cooks.

 

 

 

11:20am-She eats the grapes, no corn and a couple bites of pizza but doesn't like it.  I eat it myself along with grapes and my 1 diet coke a day I allow myself to have.  I give in and melt some cheese in a tortilla for her.  She ate the whole thing.  Clean up lunch and load dishes and then head downstairs to play.

 

12:15pm- Derek comes home for lunch so we sit in the kitchen with him while he eats.  I start a load of her laundry and restart the dryer that has had clothes sitting in it for 2 days now.  Derek rocks and does our laundry on Sundays and "forgot" about the clothes in the dryer. 

 

12:35pm- Put Collins down for a nap and she is out in about 5 min.  Derek heads back to work and I use nap time to catch up on facebook, instagram, email, etc.  Pregnancy is still making me pretty tired so I take a 20 min nap and then fold the clothes in the dryer and put Collins clothes in the dryer. 

 

3:05pm- Collins wakes up.  She usually sleeps 1.5-2 hours so this was an abnormally long nap.  I change her diaper and get her a snack.  She eats some homemade applesauce and a maybe a bite of graham crackers.  She isn't a big fan of vegetables so I made applesauce over the weekend with apples, carrots and bananas.  She loves it.  Win for me! Back downstairs to play.

 

3:40pm- Upstairs for a  #2 diaper change.  Back downstairs to play and work on animal sounds.   Daddy gets home about 4:15pm and he joins us in the playroom.

 

 

 5:00pm- Head upstairs to start making meatballs for dinner.  4-6pm is usually her cranky time.  Has been since she was a newborn.  She always wants to be in the kitchen helping with dinner so we turn on the music and dance to try and keep her happy.  It doesn't last long so Derek and her play on the ipad while I get the meatballs in the oven and her some noodles cooking.  She's still not happy so Derek gives her a couple animal crackers.

 

5:45pm- Meatball sandwiches and chips for me and Derek and noodles with meatball and marinara, peas and carrots and pears for her.  She eats all her fruit and vegetables (except the carrots) but won't touch the pasta.  I hate making her a 2nd meal but she's already on the little side so I don't want her to starve.  I melt some cheese and butter into the noddles I made and she eats all of it. 

 

6:10pm- Play downstairs

7:00pm- Daddy's turn on bath night (we do every other night) and I fold her laundry and clean up the play room.  After she's in her pajamas he brings her downstairs with her sippy of milk and we turn on Finding Nemo while she drinks it. 

 

 

 7:40pm- Whoever doesn't have bath night does book, brush and bed.  We read If you give a mouse a cookie and brush her teeth.  Sound machine on, lights out and lots of newly learned eskimo kisses and giggles.  She gives me a real kiss and into her bed she goes.  She's really been cuddling with her aden and anais blankets lately so I give her one and she finds her binky (I know, weaning is happening soon).  Don't hear a peep from her and she's out in less then 10 min.

 

 

 7:45pm-9pm- Me and Derek watch TV downstairs and I work on a blog post.  We don't have a ton of shows we regularly watch but The Voice is on and it's one we both like. 

 

9pm- I'm an old lady and head up to bed.  I watch Teen Mom and surf the Internet on my phone.  Derek usually comes up and steals the TV about 9:30pm and it's TV off and sleep time at 10pm. 

 

There you have it! I'm all ears if anyone has recommendations on what to do with a picky eater.  There will be a 2nd baby the next time I do one of these so I'm sure things will look a lot different. 

A Day In The Life

I was a guest on my friend Ashley's blog yesterday. Here is my 'a day in the life' post.

I'm Sarah and I blog over at Little Moments Like These. My husband Derek and I met at a sports bar that he worked at with my sisters. We got married in April of 2011 and just welcomed our first baby, Collins, November 21.  I met Ashley 2 years ago at a moms group when I was a nanny for twins. We eventually ditched the moms group and just had our own weekly play dates. Her and Ryann still come visit me about once a week and I can't wait for Ryann, Collins and baby E to be best buddies!

 I was on maternity leave until Jan 3 so I am just getting into the hang of handling the daycare kids plus Collins. I watch three 1 year olds and a 4 year old. Here's a look at a weekday at my place. It varies each day how many kids I watch. This day, I had all 4 plus Collins. I change a lot of diapers so just assume I am changing someones diaper about every hour.

12:30: I hear Collins stirring and she lets out a couple little cries to warn me that I better pick her up before she gets real mad. She usually sleeps till about 2am but since she hadn't ate since 7:30pm, I figured she might get up earlier. Luckily after a quick diaper change and nurse session, she is back asleep. I usually pump after the first night time feeding cause it's usually been 4+ hours and she doesn't eat much when she wakes in the middle of the night but since I had just pumped at 9:30 before I went to bed, I decide to skip it.

5am: I hear her again and look at my phone expecting it to be 3:30am. 5?! Good girl Collins! Another quick diaper change and nurse session and she is back asleep. I should really pump but my alarm is going off at 6:30 and by the time I pump, it will be close to 6 so I choose sleep over comfort.

6:20am: Freak out that I forgot to set my alarm and I'm relieved when I realize I just woke up 10 min. before it was going to go off. I figure I might as well just get up and get in the shower then sleep another 10 min.

7:05: I am ready (I purposely slept late so I don't have time to blow dry and straighten my hair and opt to wear it curly) and the first 2 kiddos arrive. Luckily these 2 only come twice a week so usually I am just waking up. Collins is still sleeping so I bring the monitor downstairs with me and the kids. The kids are still tired so I turn on cartoons for them and go and pump.

8:15: Another one of my kiddos arrives and Collins wakes up. I change her diaper and she seems happy so I put her in her bouncy seat while I make the kids breakfast. I grab a granola bar and water for myself while they chow down on toast, apple and milk.

8:50: We are back downstairs (where my daycare is) and the kids play while I nurse Collins.  She finally doesn't take 45 min. to eat and finishes up in about 15 min. I sit on the floor with her and we all play. My daycare kids do amazing with her and the little girl I watch loves helping me with her.

 

9:40: Collins has had enough playing and is ready for a nap. I swaddle her up, let her get drowsy and then take her upstairs and lay her in her pack in play in our room. We are trying to put her down drowsy so she learns to put herself to sleep. It usually takes a couple times of her crying, me picking her up and soothing her and then laying her back down before she falls asleep.

10:05: Snack time for daycare kids. Derek calls and checks in on me. I think he wanted to make sure they hadn't killed me :)

10:20: Collins is back up. She cat naps in the morning and takes a long afternoon nap which I love. She plays a little bit before I give her a bottle. I try to do at least 1 bottle of breast milk a day so she will take one when we need her to. My 4th kiddo arrives around this time.

11:30: Lunch time! I feel like all I do is feed kids! They are great eaters though and all of them usually clean their plates (vegetables and fruit included). I put Collins in her swing and she falls asleep. Derek comes home for lunch at noon and the kids are usually just finishing up lunch. I clean them up and herd them downstairs to help pick up toys before nap.

 

12:45: Kids go down for nap and I clean up lunch, usually vacuum kitchen, start a load of laundry and then sit down and catch up on blogs and recorded shows.

3:00- Collins is up and nurses. Other kids start waking up about 3:25 so Collins goes in bouncy seat and kids come and eat a snack. After snack we go back downstairs and play until parents come.

4:05- Collins takes another cat nap and is up by 4:35

4:55- All the daycare kids just left and Collins nurses. This is usually when her fussy time starts and today is no different. Derek has something to go to after work so he won't be home at 5:20 like he usually is. We are having chicken ranch tacos tonight so I boil some chicken while I walk around trying to calm Collins.

6:00- Collins nurses again. She eats a lot in the evenings. They say its normal for babies to eat frequently in the evenings and then sleep for a long stretch at night. Luckily she usually sleeps 5+ hours after she goes to bed so I let her nurse as frequently as she wants in the evening.

6:35-She falls asleep nursing so I lay her down and finish dinner. Derek gets home about 6:45 after stopping to get taco seasoning I forgot when I did our weekly grocery run. I finish up the meat and we sit down to eat. Collins has her radar on and wakes up when we sit down to eat. Never fails. Derek holds her while I eat and then I take her so he can eat. It's bath night so into the bath she goes. She finally tolerates baths but hates when I put lotion on her. She broke out a couple days ago so I put some Aveeno eczema cream on her and get her jammies on her. She loves staring at her bows while I get her ready.

                                      
7:50- Derek spends some time with her before she is ready to nurse again. She is still fussy after she eats so we take turns trying to get her to sleep and watching our nightly shows.

9:15- She is finally asleep and we are both exhausted.  I do my nightly pump session and then crawl into bed. We are usually both asleep by 10.

1. What is the most surprising thing about being a parent? I've been babysitting since I was 12, have nannied for several families and have been doing my daycare for a year. I figured when I had my own child, I would be really laid back and know what I was doing. Wrong!! I am constantly worrying if she is ok and if we're doing everything right This little girl doesn't leave everyday and go back to her parents, she is ours to keep and we are learning just like everyone else how to raise her the best we can.

2. What advice would you give to new or soon-to-be moms?  Trust your instinct. If you think something is wrong, don't be afraid to call the doctor. If they tell you she is ok and a couple weeks later you still don't think she is, take her back in (they finally diagnosed Collins with reflux). Nobody will know your baby like you do.

3. Top 3 products?
Swaddlers and/or Aden and Anais blankets. Collins loves to be swaddled tight when she sleeps so we use the blankets during the day and the stray jacket aka swaddlers at night.
Britax B-Agile stroller. It's so easy to fold and unfold, rides really smooth and turns very easily. We love it.
Summer infant video monitor. We don't have to constantly go in the room and check on her if we aren't sure she is sleeping or not.  We can just look at her on the monitor and not disrupt her if she is in fact still sleeping.

Thanks for taking a look at my day and thank you Ashley for letting me be a guest on your blog!