A Day in the Life: January 15, 2016

1.26.2016


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.
Rachel Emily said...

Your day looks perfectly exciting to me! I love day in the life posts and I actually took pictures yesterday to do one so I can remember this time of my life (pre-baby). How awesome R is so close that you can go feed, snuggle, and play with her during your lunch hour! Side note, that sweet potato bowl looks fantastic - I'm going to need to try that!!

The Girl who Loved to Write said...

It makes me so happy for you that you found a good daycare near your work, and that you're able to go visit her at lunchtime! So so sweet.

Caroline @ In Due Time said...

I love this post! I am so glad you can see her at lunch too! How sweet is that?!

What half are you doing in April?

Ali said...

Looks like you're doing a great job balancing it all! It is so hard to get in enough time with the Littles, especially as a working mom, but I kind of feel like that feeling never goes away. We just have to make the most of the time we do have together, and it seems like you're doing a great job!

Carolann said...

I love that you get to see your sweet baby girl on your lunch breaks! You are an amazing mama. I'm so glad that you are continuing to blog too, because I love reading your posts, and because I know it's something you love to do!

Victoria said...

You are amazing!!!! :) I love that R is soooo close by and that your schedule allows you to have as much time as possible with her. :) I bet you never imagined what these days would look like when you used to spend your lunch breaks reading in your car and THAT makes me smile. God is so good!

Rebecca Jo said...

I love these kind of posts. :)
You are so blessed to get to spend your lunch with your girl ... I'm sure it helps you get through a work day every day

Saba said...

I live in England where most mothers take a year maternity leave and I cannot begin to imagine how you deal with already going back to work & leaving title R Button at day care. And juggling all those tasks - even with two people! You are super woman!

Saba said...

I live in England where most mothers take a year maternity leave and I cannot begin to imagine how you deal with already going back to work & leaving title R Button at day care. And juggling all those tasks - even with two people! You are super woman!

Kristen @ See You In A Porridge said...

my life isn't exciting either! i keep thinking i would do one of these posts but between 8-5 it would just be a picture of my computer haha. not exciting. i love that you can see R on your lunch break, and that is fabulous that Jordon is a huge help in the getting her stuff ready and whatnot. i hope you are able to find more time to run soon :)

Beka @ Sunshine to the Square Inch said...

I love these kinds of posts. They are super interesting. I kept wanting to do one of these in Myanmar but I never did with the internet there. =)

I'm glad you guys have a good routine and system down. I think that makes a world of a difference. I'm also AMAZED that you get up at 5:30 and still have energy to run when you get home. That is amazing. I think I would be too tired!

It's neat to see that God put a daycare where you get to visit R and be close by. That's a huge huge blessing.

Laura Darling said...

I love seeing peeks into people's average days! I think it's so interesting! That's great that you can see R during the day!

Michelle said...

You are killing it, girl. SO happy to hear things are going so well.

Leslie Lukens Martin said...

Seems like you've got this working momma world down, girl! Way to go! I get to see Huston over my lunch hour too...and it truly saves the day. There have been a few days when I've had lunch meetings, and it felt like those days lasted FOR-EV-ER! Also, pumping at work (well, anywhere) is probably my least favorite thing to do...but we just do what we gotta do, right?

Kayla MKOY said...

I love how you said your day may not "seem" all that exciting but its absolutely everything you want. I admire you, girl! Your day looks amazing - and what a blessing to be able to go see baby R at lunch, too!! :)

Miss Nutralicious said...

This was a fun post!

Ok, this might be weird, but before I read the entire caption under the car picture, I thought that you were going to say "I know you can see both hands, and this picture looks horribly unsafe... but I can do no-hands pumping while driving."

I don't know why I thought that.

Also, for some reason, the 9 month mark was when adding running to my schedule suddenly got easier. I'm sending happy running vibes your way!

Kristen Skelton said...

I was just saying to a friend, Remember when I wrote those Day in the Lide posts? I should do that again. :) I always forget to take pictures, though. I love reading them and love to see other people's daily routines. I find that my life is not all that exciting either, and I'm okay with it, too. I have a wonderful family and more than I could ask for and I'm super happy to be home on my couch.

Courtney said...

I think it's very exciting! Or, at least, super crazy busy :) It sounds like you guys have found a great balance and a really good routine!

Kari said...

Reading all that makes ME exhausted! No wonder you fall asleep so quickly! Super Mom, for sure!

Awesome Amy said...

Because of course you need advise- I hear people swear by oatmeal and loads of water intake.. But you know- these 'people' are far and few between- you are doing a fantastic job keeping up on the pumping/feeding!

And to what the other person said- my young one is sitting at 8.5 months (big one coming up on 2) -and I am actually thinking I can manage going back to the gym I the AM again.. (I would wake at 4:50- sleep in work out gear, and be there at 5am for 45 min to shower/come home by 6am, and get 1 ready, while my husband gets the other ready. We are exclusive formula- so a little 'easier' here with no bottle prep. Just figuring out a (now pre-portioned) snack for the big one, milk in a sippy for her- and *fingers crossed* only one diaper changed for each.. Then on to the daycare .. Then work, 40 ish min after we make it out the door.. Heh. #WeGotThis!

Unknown said...

Man, you're day is busy, you should wear super woman gear! Also, super awesome that you have found a good routine, you go girl!

Katie @ Live Half Full said...

I think constantly how boring my routine is these days, but I actually really love reading these posts so maybe not! You're rocking the working mom thing and this post is so encouraging. Keep it up!

Rachel said...

I don't think anyone's life sounds amazingly thrilling when you look at a workday schedule (vacations and weekends and special events are called 'highlights' for good reason), but it's very comforting to have a semblance of routine and to actually be able to fit in all the work of life without letting it be exhausting. I like my new routine. I challenged my youth group to read the Bible every day for a month this month and I'm doing it with them which explains why I'm doing the best at individual Bible study than I have in a long time. :P Maybe I should do a "Day in the Life" post one day if I can remember the whole picture thing. That's by far the hardest part!

Charlotte said...

You're such a superwoman! :)
It's so cool that you found a daycare near your work. And you seem to get gorgeous sunrises where you live!

Unknown said...

This is SO inspiring. no joke. How do you have time for all of that? Wow - i should strive to be more like you. I am the top couch potato during colder months - no one can get me out of the house unless it's a trip to home depot, church, work or fun things to do. Exercising is so not my thing. So happy to get to see your little bug everyday on your lunch break - such a blessing :)

Megan said...

What a jam-packed day! I love these "Day in the Life" posts. :) Also, I've tried the lemon water before because I've read up on the benefits, and it gave me horrible heartburn! I wonder if I just used to much lemon. I should try again- I see so many positive comments about it!

Rach said...

Sounds like a good sort of day. I'm so glad to hear that Jordan is an active part of raising his daughter. It seems like so many men miss out on the joys of being a father because traditionally it is women who do most of the parenting (including caring for babies). Obviously men can't breastfeed, but there are so many other things they can do and it sounds like Jordan is in it with you. I love that. :)

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