a day in the life - nikki

Sorry for the slight delay, but I've got another day in the life post for you.  Hope you enjoy getting a peek at Nikki's day!

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Hello everyone! I'm Nikki from If I could only find the words... My husband and I have a beautiful little girl Harper who is 15 months old. Here's a peek at our day.

7:00: Harper wakes up. Joe and I just got back from our anniversary trip to NYC so we are super excited to see her. This is one of my favorite times of day because Harper comes and plays in our bed. We have lots of fun and tickle time. As a perk, Daddy is going to work a little late so he can play.

7:30: Time for Breakfast. This morning we have blueberry waffles and apple slices. Daddy eats cereal and Harper steals a few bites. Her new favorite thing is to eat off a spoon, although she hasn't quite mastered the skill yet herself. After breakfast we read books, get dressed, brush our teeth and sing songs.

8:45: Tuesday mornings we go on a Park Tour with our playgroup friends. It's all stormy this morning so we decided to hit up an indoor playtime for toddlers. There are lots of things to play with and we have fun running around practicing the brand new skill we learned over the weekend...WALKING! That's right. Harper decided to take those precious first steps while she was staying with her grandparents. They loved getting to experience such a wonderful first moment with her.

11:15: We get home from a very busy playtime and have lunch. The veggies and peaches go down quick, along with a snack stick of cheese, but the egg salad I made as an attempt to get Harper to eat more protein was not a hit. It ended up smeared all over her lunch tray. After lunch we read some more books and hit the hay for a well deserved nap. While Harper naps I take a shower, unpack and then take some down time to read a book.

2:00: Harper is awake and since she didn't eat a very big lunch, she's ready for an early snack. We have yogurt and graham crackers...one of her favorite snacks. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, so Harper spend a couple of hours at her daycare. I'm a teacher, so even though I have summers off, we still have to pay for daycare to keep her spot. Luckily they let us drop down to three days, so I try to schedule appointments for those days so Harper has somewhere to go. She loves her daycare, and all her friends, so I don't feel at all bad about getting her out to play with them. I figure this will save a huge mess in August when I have to go back to work.

4:30: We are home and cooking dinner. Harper pulls out her cupboard full of pans and "cooks" while I through together a turkey, pasta spinach and mushroom casserole; yet another attempt to sneak some protein into Harper's meal. She loves all things pasta and sauce...but as predicted leaves the turkey untouched on her plate. Oh well, she still has a good time with dinner.

After dinner we practice more walking, taking many laps around the house. We also have a family dance party.

8:00: Harper is in bed. We skipped her usual bath because she was so exhausted. All that walking practice wore her out. Joe and I get chores done, including dishes and mopping the floor. Then I catch up on email and blogging while Joe watches a little t.v. We watch some DVR together and head up to bed around 10:30.

Questions

1) What is the most surprising thing about being a mom?

How fully it takes over your life. At first I wasn't sure how I was going to keep up my own identity, but I quickly realized that Harper was part of my identity. She is a big part, and realizing that has helped me create what I think is a pretty awesome balance in my life.

2)What is some advice you'd give to new or soon-to-be moms?

Take some time for yourself. I have the blessing of being a working mom part of the year and a stay at home mom part of the year. No matter which situation you're in, remember to take some time to yourself. I like to get pedicures, or go read at the coffee shop after Harper goes to bed. These times help me regenerate so that I can continue to be a good mom, wife and teacher.

3)What are your top three baby products?

a) A sound machine. We got a hand me down one from a cousin. It makes lots of different white noise sounds. We use the waves, and from a very early age Harper recognized it as a sleep cue and I swear it helped her learn to put herself to sleep.

b)A stroller. Duh, I know. But we live in a neighborhood that is very walker friendly so we have logged many miles in both our strollers. I don't have specific reccomendations, just one that is durable and comfortable for your height. Right now we use the Babies R'Us butterfly which is a good mid-price range umbrella stroller.

c)Board Books. We don't actually own a ton, but we check out a bunch from the library. We probably spend 30 minutes 3-4 times a day reading books, so a fresh stack keeps me from going crazy. Plus they are free, which makes it great for me.

Thanks for spending the day with us. Hope to see you visit the blog soon!

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Thank you for sharing your day with us Nikki!