a day in the life - annie

You know one of the things I love about this series?  I get to see pictures of so many adorable little babes.  Millie is no exception, she is a cutie!  I hope you enjoy a day in the life of Annie!!

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Hey all! My name is Annie and I post random bits and pieces about my life and my little lady Amelia over at clementines and monkeys. My husband, Bradley, and I live in Chicago where we met over five years ago (on the el (train) because WHY NOT) and Amelia just turned one a few weeks ago. After Millie was born I decided not to go back to work full-time and instead have been working on various part-time grant-funded projects since then. Recently I have started to look at job postings again, just to see what's out there, so who knows! Here's a little peak into a day in our life.
7ish: I hear Millie stirring or crying or calling out for us. If Brad hasn't left for work yet, he likes to get her (and I like that I can stay in bed). They usually hang out for a few minutes before he brings her into bed with me. She's really been getting into sign language and requests her "milk." I nurse her and we hang out in bed until she gets antsy so we go out into the living room and I put some toys out for her.

7:30: I start to make my coffee (I'm officially addicted) and get her breakfast started--usually oatmeal and banana, fruit, or some of our green smoothie. She's still a bit finnicky with the eating thing and likes to keep me guessing. One day she LOVES blueberries and melon and the next day she's all "awhellsno." I try to have a couple of different options to suit her ever-changing taste buds. Millie's usually digging around in the tupperware drawer at my feet while I'm in the kitchen and/or dancing to whatever Pandora station I have on. The girl loves to dance.

8:00: She's in her high chair eating slash throwing food on the floor. She signs "more" again and again and I think she's just messing with me. Eventually, I ask if she's all done and she waves her little hands around and rips off her bib. Guess so!

8:30: She learned to walk a couple weeks ago so she is still mastering it and doing the "mummy walk." She walks all around chatting (or yelling) and she loves to get into my purse (and WALLET) or any other cupboard that has yet to be child-proofed. I usually let her explore since I know she can't really do too much damage or get hurt. She also loves to carry around a purse with a few toys inside and some socks. She likes socks. I mean, not to wear them but to carry them around (in her mouth) or chew on them. Naturally.


9:15ish: Since she's been waking up a little later since daylight savings time, her nap schedule has gotten a bit screwy. I'm not sure if it's because she's getting ready to drop a nap or what, but the naps are not always successful like they used to be. I bring her into her room and we play a bit before getting ready for her nap. I change her, close the curtains, put on her sleep music (basically white noise), and get her into her sleep sack. She starts waving
"night night." I nurse her and rock her and put her in her crib, but she's clearly not into it. I rub her back a little and tell her it's time for her nap. I leave the room and turn on the monitor and see she's already sitting up playing with her animals.

9:45: I check my email and some blogs and get changed into my workout clothes. I check the monitor and she's still playing (but quietly). I check again 10 minutes later and she's out. Success! I do my workout DVD since we have playgroup today and we won't be able to make it to the gym. (Most days we go to the gym around 11:30ish and she goes to the gym daycare while I workout. She LOVES it. It's such a relief since I really need to work out to stay sane (ish).)

11:00: I take a quick shower since I assume she'll be up any minute. I bring the monitor in with me and sure enough, she's up before I'm dressed. I hurry but luckily she settles in her crib and plays until I get her. When I get her out of bed she points to tell me to turn off the music and then points to the curtains, so I open them. Bossy much? JK. She just knows the drill! She plays around in her room for a while, pulling everything off the shelves. Good times.

11:30: I give her a snack of whole wheat graham crackers and grapes. We're starting to offer her milk and she usually only takes a few sips before she's over it. Shocker. I throw a load in the wash. It's always laundry day around these parts.

12:00: We head out to playgroup and it's a beautiful day. Spring is almost here! While playgroup is often a bit chaotic, I believe it's valuable for her to spend time with other kids her age and learn from them (and get to play with all of their cool noisemaker toys that she doesn't have at home). Plus, I can chat with other moms who are going through similar things. (She would usually be eating lunch around now so I brought some leftover oatmeal and banana from this morning and some avocado.)

1:30: We make a quick stop at the grocery store for some dinner supplies. She insists on wearing her headband, bracelet, and purse. I don't know how I got such a girly-girl but I love it.

2:00 We're back home and it's time for another nap attempt. This time it's the same deal. I nurse her for a while, lay her down, and she decides she would prefer to play. Fine by me, as long as she's quiet and will eventually go to sleep. I throw in a load of cloth diapers and fold another load that just got out of the dryer.

2:30 And she's out. I get my sewing machine out and get to work on a few projects. I'm making a baby blanket and some bunting for a friend's baby shower that I'm co-hosting this weekend. I'm kind of (slash totally) obsessed with crafting right now. I love being productive and ever since having a baby, I need to find that fulfillment wherever I can get it. Brad texts that he's coming home early--woohoo!

3:30: Millie's up and Brad gets home just in time to get her. We decide to go out for a walk and enjoy this rare mild March day. We stop off at one of our favorite corner pubs. Apparently we are the first people to sit out on their patio in 2011 so they make a big funny fuss and buy our first round. Can't complain about that! I of course have to share that one year ago (to the day) we brought our then two-week-old baby here as our first family outing. (Uh, thanks for sharing lady!)

5:00: Decide we should head home so Mills can eat more than pretzels for dinner. I suggest stopping by the park for a quick swing. Millie is not pleased so we head home after 2.2.

5:30: Back at home...she mows down on her appetizer of frozen veggies. We heat up some frozen purees (squash/potato/pea and homemade applesauce) that I made a while back. We've got to use them up, right?! I spice it up with some cinnamon and it's a hit. She also has some edamame, which has become a new (temporary) favorite. And water. The lady loves her water.

6:00: Brad and Millie play on the floor. She is obsessed with "DA." I do a little dinner prep, throw the diapers in the dryer, and then start getting her bath ready.

6:20: Bath time. There's a lot of splashing going on these days. And bath water drinking. Can't forget about all of the bath-water-drinking. Brad thinks it's gross but I don't mind so much. What I DO mind is when she poops in the tub. POOP. In the TUB. Now that's sick. I take tubs in there dude! Thankfully, this is only her second time doing it since birth. I would call those pretty good odds. Anyway, I pull her out of the tub immediately and Brad jumps in the shower with her. I scoop out the poop. (TMI?) We recover and move on.

6:40ish: We get her in her jammies (as quickly as humanly possible--she doesn't love diaper changes and dressing sessions these days) and play on the floor a bit and then read some stories. She then makes it very clear that she's ready for bed. I nurse her for a while until she practically wriggles out of my arms. OKAY THEN. I put her in her crib, rub her back, and say goodnight. I can hear her whimper a bit as I close the door but she quiets down quickly. Sometimes she cries for a minute or two, but settles herself before long.

7:00: Brad's been making dinner (he's the best) and it's almost ready. I turn the monitor on and Amelia is up and at it. She's walking around her crib. Awesome. She doesn't make a peep though, so whatever.

7:30: We eat dinner and decide to watch a show online. (We recently got rid of cable...SOB-WHINE-BOO except really it's fine. I guess.) We were out of town for almost a month, so we've got a lot of catching up to do. I also finish wrapping the fleur de sel caramels that I made as favors for the shower this weekend (Brad salts for me).

9:30: And we're ready for bed. Literally. I love going to bed early. It's lame but it's my life. I put my special sleep oils on and I'm out until Miss Mills wakes in the morning. (Sometimes I hear her cry out in the night. But it's literally one cry, so we don't go in unless she's really upset.)

SO there's that--our life! Exciting times. Hope you enjoyed it! And thanks for having me, Ashley!

1. What's the most surprising thing about being a mom?

For me, the most surprising thing about being a mom is how borderline obsessed I am with my child. I mean, it's understandable, but also ridiculous. In the beginning (and even sometimes now FINE), I would spend hours just talking about how cute and adorable and funny Millie was/is. When she was awake (and possibly being a fussface), I couldn't wait for her to go to sleep and to have some alone time. But as soon as 10 minutes went by I'd be like, I miss her. It's weird. It still blows my mind that I helped to create a human. A real live person. Who is seriously the most darling thing I've ever seen. I guess they have to make them cute to make up for the exceptionally frustrating times. BUT I can talk about other things. For real.

2. What are some tips you would give to new moms, or soon-to-be moms?

People always used to tell me to sleep when she sleeps, which I'm sure you've all heard before. Yeah, well, that didn't really work for me. I tried, but I can't just go to sleep on command. Instead, my mom suggested that I put my feet up. Literally, just put your feet up. I would still get things done while she napped, but I would also try to make some time to just put my feet up. It really works. Do it!

3. What are your top three baby products?

• White noise: In the beginning we used the ever-popular sleep sheep. But then it seemed like Millie was waking ever 45 minutes which ODDLY ENOUGH coincides with this guys soothing cycle. So Bradley downloaded a natural rainfall track and we set up an iPod dock in her room. GENIUS. And now, wherever we travel, we bring her sleep music and she still sleeps great.
• Carrier/sling: I got a little ahead of myself with the whole carrier thing while I was pregnant and bought or registered for a bunch and now we've got plenty. In the beginning I used the sling most (and she napped there) and now we use the Phil&Ted's carrier ALL THE TIME. Still. Yes, she's a lightweight, but I think we'd use it regardless. We bring it with us everywhere and I highly recommend. I found it to be easier on my back than the bjorn.
• Swaddle/Sleep sack: At first we swaddled her for every nap and at night. Then she turned three months and decided to start rolling over. I almost had a breakdown when I learned we couldn't use the swaddle anymore. But then I was introduced to the sleep sack. And it saved my life. We still use it, although, I'm guessing she's getting kind of old for it. But it keeps her warm. And we have a lightweight one for the summer. I believe that it helps to signal "bedtime" for her. But who knows.

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Thank you so much Annie, for sharing your day with us!