a day in the life - beth anne

Well, some of you may know her better at Blair, but I'm so happy to have Beth Anne on the blog today.  I pink puffy heart her blunt writing style (I only wish I was as brave as her sometimes!), Harry is pretty stinkin' adorable, and her hubby wears a KU hat.  That pretty much stole my heart of course :).  On top of all that I have her to thank for kick starting my weight loss journey.  So pretty much, she rocks.  Enjoy a peek at her day! 

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6:00am, it's wake-up time!  The first alarm goes off & my husband gets the dog set for the morning as he has breakfast & I hop in the shower.  Since I take much longer to get ready (blech to curled hair & make-up & pencil skirts) while my husband gets to roll out of bed & throw on jeans, he's the one to get Harrison ready.  Coffee is poured while I grab my snacks & lunch, then we're out the door by 6:55am to get a head start on traffic.

My favorite part of the morning is after our commute, when Harry & I sit down to breakfast together.  The Momma is usually there, so she & I chat over a cup of coffee.  I love seeing her every morning.

8:00am, the work day begins.  It usually takes me about thirty minutes to fully caffeinate, check in with my team, & read emails.   I like to give my clients until 9:30am to wake up & get going, so I usually try to work on paperwork in the early morning.

11:30am, I rush out into the sunshine to meet my friend Pretty Swell for lunch.  She wraps me up in a warm hug & we laugh about motherhood over sandwiches & the usual cupcakes we always order.

12:30pm, back to the office.  ::sigh::  You know that weird post-lunch nap that you want to take?  I'm feeling it, but it's time to meet a client so I slap a smile on my face & get down to business.

5:00pm, quitting time!  I race to pick up Harrison & we start our evening commute.  It's tedious as always but I try to chat with Harry on the way home, practicing animal sounds & pointing out things.  Soon it will be dark on the ride home, which means he'll watch his DVD player.  We're usually home around 6pm, greeted at the door by a very excited pup.  My husband is usually home by then, so we load up on popsicles & beverages & head outside.

6:30pm, we head inside.  I start dinner & the boys wrestle upstairs or watch Cars.  Either way, the house is VERY loud at that point!  I start a bath, lay out jammies, & the small boy gets scrubbed clean by his daddy.  We both help dress him in jammies, then he kisses the dog goodnight & climbs into his toddler bed.  We kneel down & say prayers - this is a new part of my routine that is melting my heart on a daily basis.

7:15pm, Harrison is in bed & the oven timer is usually going off!  We serve up dinner & usually eat in front of the television.  ack, it's a terrible habit that we have!  My husband usually goes for a run with the dog & I sit down to write, answer emails, edit pictures. (or just piss around on Twitter)

10:00pm, lights out!  Night, y'all :)

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

I think the biggest surprise for me has been the joy I find in toddlerhood.  So many people are "infant" folks but talk about the "terrible twos" & how wretched discipline can be.  Yes, it is testing & hard, but I am truly soaking up Harrison's age right now.  He's so fun & exploring & doing something new all the time.  I love watching him become this little person that I am so, so proud of.

2.  What advice would you give new or soon-to-be moms?

Give yourself time to adjust to motherhood.  I wish I had been more gentle with myself on my expectations of how I would mother, how it would define & change me.  Give yourself time to lose the baby weight, to get back in the routine of working out & cooking.  Sometimes it's just about survival as a new mom & remember that it's not permanent.  You will get normal life back!  (we'll see how good I am at taking my own advice when we have baby #2!)

3.  What are your top three baby products?

oooohh, I love this question because I love seeing all the different answers!  For the first year, the Moby Wrap was an absolute must for having free hands with a fussy newborn.  I also loved big fluffy blankets from Target & fleece Carter's sleepers for a fall/winter baby.  I rarely dressed Harrison in an outfit - I preferred to just keep him in cozy sleepers all day until he was about 6 months old.

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Thanks for sharing your day with us Beth Anne!