Now that I'm back at work and we actually have a schedule of sorts around here, and I thought it would be fun to share with you what my day looks like. I ended up forgetting to take half the pictures I wanted to because I was busy running around, but here's what the average day looks like, give or take.
5:30
My alarm goes off. I try (try being the key word) to get up when it goes off, but sometimes I snooze for 15 minutes. However, this just makes me run around like a crazy person, and I like to take my mornings slow if I can, so getting up when the alarm goes off is preferred.
I have from whenever I actually get out of bed until 6:30 to do the following:
-Make sure bottles are filled for daycare
-Make sure I have all my pumping stuff for pumping at work (bottles, pump, cooler bag)
-Make sure R's diaper bag is ready to go
-Get myself ready for the day (on an average day this means make sure I have regular clothes on; on a good day, this means I actually had time to put on makeup!)
-Make my lunch
-Eat breakfast
At 6:30, if R is not already awake, I wake her up. Sometimes she is; sometimes she's not.
6:30-6:50
-Feed, change, and dress R
6:50
Load R and all my various bags into the car and head to the daycare, which is conveniently on the way to my office. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the daycare, so I usually roll in around 7:00-7:10.
7:20
Leave daycare and head to the office. Typically I drop R off and sit on the floor and play with her for a few minutes before I leave. It's always really sad because the mornings are her super happy times because she's just had a good sleep and a good breakfast, and she's being so cute! On the way in to the office, I usually pray for her to be safe and enjoy her day, and I thank God that we found a daycare that is on the way to my work. If I'm lucky, I am treated to a lovely sunrise.
7:30
Arrive at work. Today I heated up a frozen breakfast burrito because I hadn't had time to eat breakfast. I usually keep a container of instant oatmeal at my desk and eat that, but I had used the last of it the day before and hadn't been to the store yet. So breakfast burrito it was!
After I heat up my burrito, I log in and get to working. Our office actually opens at 8, but I have been getting there early and leaving a bit early. I like it because I miss out on the main interstate traffic, and I get slightly more time with R in the evening.
9:00
This is when I have my first pumping session. I grab my bag of supplies and head upstairs to pump. R has been taking 5-oz bottles, and I usually pump 4-4.5 ounces, so I'm not quite keeping up with her. Hopefully that I will adapt and be able to pump more, but we'll see. Sometimes I get 5, which always makes me excited.
Once I get back from pumping, I eat a snack. Today it was an apple and some hot water with lemon. <<< This is actually really good! Try it if you haven't. Just a cup of hot water and squeeze a quarter of a lemon in it.
(I know you can see both hands, and this picture looks horribly unsafe, but I promise that my car was in park when this picture was taken!)
11:30
Leave work to go see R at lunch! I take my lunch hour a bit early so I can be there in time to feed her for her lunch feeding. I drive like a crazy person and then literally run down the hall to her room. I just sit in the room and feed her there. Once it's not so cold out I will take her for walks outside, I think.
11:45-12:15
After I feed R, I sit down on the floor and play with her for about a half hour. It's my absolute favorite, and I am so thankful I can do this! I always take a picture to send to Jordan.
12:30
When I get back to the office, I eat my lunch at my desk while I work. I use up my entire lunch hour visiting R, but it's worth it. Typically I bring a pb&j, chips, a fruit (today it was another apple), and drink water.
2:00
My second pumping session of the day. I never get as much in the afternoon as I do in the morning, but I'm trying!
4:30
Leave work and go get R! Again, I literally run down the hall to see her. When we get home, I lug my armful of bags into the house. I drop everything on the floor and immediately get her out of the carseat and commence evening snuggles. I also make sure and put my milk in the fridge. I almost forgot one time, and if I don't do it immediately, it might happen again, which would be tragic.
5:00
On days when I know it's going to be not freezing outside, I try to squeeze in a run if I can. This particular day it was in the low 60s (crazy!), and it was the last warm day until temps dropped again, so I took R out for a stroller run. I have to know in advance that I want to go running, because I have limited time before the sun goes down. As soon as I get home, I get R bundled up, I change, and we head out. If it's too cold, Jordan watches R and I go myself.
I am really trying my best to fit running into my schedule (especially since I have a half marathon in April!), but some days it happens and some days it doesn't. It's been really hard to make time in this stage of life, but I'm trying. I definitely don't run as much as I would like to.
6:00
After getting back from my run, I take a very quick shower and then feed R. After that, I prepare dinner. This night we had sweet potato burrito bowl. One of our staples! So yummy. If R is in a good mood, I sit her in her seat in the kitchen so she can watch me cook.
6:30-7:30
During this time, dinner is cooking and Jordan and I are playing with R. She sometimes take a nap and sometimes doesn't, so every evening looks different depending on what type of mood she's in. Thankfully, she is a pretty happy baby and isn't fussy most of the time.
7:30-8:00
I feed R and put her to sleep. Hopefully she'll go down easily, but sometimes she fights it and this process takes a while. Depending on the day, we give her a bath before her last feeding, but today we didn't.
8:00-9:00
This is free time! Depending on the day, I do different things. Sometimes I do chores, sometimes I watch TV with Jordan, this day I read! I had picked up these two books at the library, so I started Because You'll Never Meet Me. Honestly, these days I read in bed for maybe half an hour before falling asleep, so I think this day I was asleep by 9:00.
One thing I am admittedly not very good about is making time for personal Bible study. But recently some girls from church started Beth Moore's Daniel study, so I will have homework for that, and I'm really excited to dig into the Word on a consistent basis!
During this hour I also make sure I have as many things ready to go for the next day as possible to make my morning easier. This involves washing bottles and pump parts if necessary and checking the diaper bag to make sure I don't need to reload the diapers or something.
9:00/10:00 at the latest
Bedtime! Thank goodness. By this point I am wiped out, and it seriously doesn't take longer than about five minutes for me to be asleep.
A few notes
While this post shares all the things that need to be done to get R ready for daycare, I need to make sure to mention that Jordan is a huge help in this area. He is great about asking what he can do to help, and he is the one who does all the bottle washing in the evenings. He also helps with getting my bags together and R in the car in the mornings since we leave the house at the same time. I couldn't do it without him!
I also just want to add that when I was taking these pictures and thinking about this post, it occurred to me that my life is not all that exciting. But I cannot put into words how grateful I feel for so many things. That we found a daycare where I can see R during the day is a huge blessing, and the fact that I like my job and my coworkers is not something I take for granted. Sure, I would probably change a few things if I could have whatever I wanted (like more time with my sweet girl), but I really love my life with Jordan and R right now. It is precious to me!
Time goes so fast, and these really are days to be thankful for, as exhausted as I am at the end of them.