a day in the life - amber

BAH.  I scheduled this to run at 7 this morning, and of course blogger didn't do it.  Go figure.  Oh well, here you go!

Good morning all.  Sorry I left you without your weekly installment of 'a day in the life' last week.  No worries, it's back.  Today you get to meet Amber, I hope you enjoy peeking in to her day!

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Hi! My name is Amber, and I live in Australia with my Texan husband, Johnny and our 11-month-old daughter, Eva. You can find us over at Happiness is Eva where I blog about my journey through parenthood and document Eva's life.

I'm currently still on maternity leave and am lucky enough to spend my days watching my beautiful, cheeky and wilful little girl change and grow. Here is a little peek into our lives.

6:03am: Eva wakes and after a night of numerous wakings (we are still working on trying to get Eva to sleep through the night) and having just been up to nurse her at around 5am, Johnny gets up with Eva and lets me sleep in for another 30 minutes. During this time Johnny changes her and lets her roam around her bedroom exploring her various books and toys.
6:30am: Johnny puts Eva in bed next to me as he gets ready for work. After she pulls at my hair, I'm up. Eva's initial grogginess turns to excitement as she cruises around our bed, pulls at our dangling clothes in the closet and attempts to crawl into the shower with her daddy.



6:47am: I rescue Eva from the shower and take her downstairs for breakfast -- fresh fig and banana and a quarter of a wholewheat muffin.
7:05am: Johnny leaves for work and after waving goodbye to her daddy, we finish having breakfast.
7:20am: I clean the kitchen as Eva plays with some of her toys and chases a ball around the living room. While we are downstairs I check her baby bag to see if we need any extra supplies, put in a fresh sippy cup and a pack of Mum Mums in preparation to leave the house.
7:45am: I take Eva back upstairs where I attempt to have a shower while trying to distract her by placing bath toys on the floor, only to give in and let her sit and splash around in the bottom of the shower.
8:25am: Both Eva and I are dressed and are ready to leave the house.
8:55am: We arrived just in time for Eva's Baby Sensory class to begin. These classes are specifically designed to simulate their senses using a range or activities -- baby sign language, nursery rhymes, music, puppetry etc.

Eva loves these classes. She loves socialising with the other babies and is beginning to really assert her independence as she sits in the middle of the room and watch the instructor unlike most of the other babies who happily sitting with their parents.



10:23am: We arrive home and after a quick nappy (diaper) change, I nurse Eva and then she is down for her nap. During this time I take a break -- check emails, Facebook, the news and my Feedly where I catch up on all of the various blogs I follow.



12:19pm: Eva is awake. And after another nappy change, I fold Eva's washing (which had been sitting in her basket since the day before) and put it away. Eva insists on "helping" me by unfolding piles of folded laundry. After refolding the same pieces of clothing, I put a youtube video of Justine Clarke on the iPad, which gives me enough time to finish putting everything away.




1:00pm: Our Autumn weather is very changeable at the moment, which has meant that our cool morning has turned into a sunny afternoon and an outfit change is in order.
1:05pm: We go downstairs and have lunch -- mashed avocado on toast with some left-over homemade pumpkin and ginger soup.
1:50pm: I leave the dishes in the sink, take Eva back upstairs and wash her face after a rather messy meal. Afterward, we read books together (one of Eva's favourite things), listen to music and dance up a storm in her bedroom (sorry, no photographic evidence of this).
As a side not: It is funny how all of the foolish things you could never see yourself doing, you do once you have a child simply because it makes them smile and laugh.
2:55pm: Eva seems tired and a little grizzly, which usually indicates that she is hungry and/or wants another nap. I nurse Eva, however; after 10 minutes or so, she seems uninterested and is crawling around the bed and pulling herself up on our headboard. After letting her explore for a while, I offer to nurse her again, which she does only momentarily.
At the moment Eva seems to be both weaning herself from her afternoon feed and nap! Some days she takes two naps and others, like today, she fights sleep.
3:40pm: After struggling to put Eva down for a nap, I finally give up. I take Eva back downstairs and tidy up the kitchen as Eva crawls around the living room, pulls herself up on the furniture and bops to music.
4:00pm: Johnny is home from work and is greeted by an overly excited Eva. Once he changes out of his work clothes, and I change Eva's nappy (diaper), we head out to our local park for an afternoon picnic of coffees, cake and sushi for Eva.
I love this time of day -- when we spend time together as a family. Johnny and I watch on as Eva rips up grass with her tiny fingers, crawls towards birds excitedly, and kicks her legs and squeals as she watches them fly away.
While out, we fed Eva her dinner -- half a cooked tuna and avocado sushi roll.




5:37pm: We arrive home and after skipping her afternoon nap, Eva begins rubbing her eyes and lets out a yawn.
As Johnny prepares her bath, I organise Eva's pajamas, nappy (diaper) and towels in preparation for bedtime.
5:45pm: Johnny bathes with Eva, she uses this time to show off her clapping ability.



6:00pm: I get Eva out of the bath, dress her and then Johnny reads to Eva her bedtime stories -- her current favourite being How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? After a number of books, Eva crawls towards me and lays her head down on my chest, signalling that she is ready to sleep.



6:15pm: I nurse Eva on our bed and after a while she is relaxed enough and rolls away from me and then falls asleep on her own (this is a huge improvement as I have had to fight Eva's fed-to-sleep association).
6:39pm: Eva is asleep and I move her to her cot (crib), she doesn't wake and settles perfectly to sleep (another huge improvement).
Once Eva is asleep, I use the time to check my emails, Facebook and the news.
7:10pm: I begin making dinner -- baked gnocchi.
Johnny and I sit down for what seems the first time of the day. We eat dinner together and watch a couple of episodes of Justified. While lounging on the sofa, I work on a blog post.
10:37pm: While getting ready to go to bed, I see Eva stirring on the baby monitor and quickly pat her back to sleep before she fully wakes.
10:45pm: I get into bed and fall asleep within minutes of my head hitting the pillow.
12:23pm: Eva wakes up. I find her crying and standing up in her cot, pick her up and lay down with her on a mattress we have temporally  moved into her room and she falls back asleep. After laying next to her for a few minutes, I then put her back in her cot.
3:04pm: Eva wakes up again and this time she won't fall back asleep easily. After battling with her for over an hour, I finally manage to get her asleep without nursing (success!), however; I fall asleep next to her (fail!).
5:47am: Eva wakes and I nurse her. Eva is wide awake and our day begins again!

Thanks Ashley for letting me be a part of your 'a day in the life' series. And now for the questions:

1. What's the most surprising thing about being a mom?
 I think I was most surprised about how selfless you become once you have your child in your arms. You will forgo showers, straightening your hair, new clothes, meals and of course sleep.
2. What are some tips you would give to new moms, or soon-to-be moms?

• Do what works for you. I breastfeed, co-sleep, make homemade baby food, use cloth nappies (diapers), but this may not be for everyone. Trust your own instincts and do what you think it best for your own family. 
• Take lots of pictures. It is true what everyone say, babies change so quickly. I document Eva's growth by taking weekly pictures and writing a reflection of her week. Sometimes it can be time consuming, but I'm so glad I did it.

3. What are your top three baby products?
For the first 6 months we couldn't live without:

• Swaddle Designs Ultimate Receiving Blanket
• Sophie the Giraffe Teether
• Burt's Bees Baby Bee Shampoo -- We still use and love this product. 

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Thank you for sharing your day with us Amber!