a day in the life - jami

Good morning lovelies.  Today I'd like to introduce you to Jami.  I first came across her blog while embracing the camera with Emily.  I'm going to sound like a total creeper, but I believe in the first post I saw, Jami was dancing in front of the camera wearing bright pink pants that Mr. Nato apparently hated.  I found it rather hilarious.  And then I realized we live in the same area.  I've never met her in real life, but I do enjoy reading about her crazy kid antics and occasional crafternoons.  I hope you'll pop over to her blog and enjoy it too, not to mention this lovely little peek into her day!

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hi, i'm jami nato. this is my family. well minus penelope, she was in my belly. but we haven't taken a family picture all together since...ridiculous.

we pretend-live in the 50's sometimes. not really. we just wanted to make a funny christmas card. ok, so here was our day....

5am: penelope wakes up to eat. but then goes back to sleep. and i get up and do a 1 hour devotional and a 1 hour hot yoga class before all the kids wake up. JUST KIDDING. i go ahead and go right back to sleep too, don't you worry.

 7:30 we wake up...LATE. awesome. layne has to leave the house at 8 to be at school. so layne gets dressed, i make his lunch and he runs out the door with daddy. because daddy doesn't have a surgery this morning. thank goodness. and thanks layne for feeding the dog.

oh, i put those cold packs for lunch boxes on my eyes to make me not look so tired. what? i don't know...but i think it works. google it.

 

lila wakes up around 8:30-9:45. we get dressed. change diapers. i put m'face on. package up some gifts that need to be mailed out, because i'm an awesome friend. ok wait, these gifts won't even arrive in time for her birthday. whatevs.

  anyway, we need to get out the door on time, because we have to go to lila's mother's day out open house at 10 am. i'm a little nervous but lila is super excited...cheering in the backseat when we pull in the parking lot. why am i nervous? lila does not talk(we discovered she couldn't hear 6 months ago, but now, thanks to tubes, she can)...she is not potty triained(how do i potty train someone who can't talk?)...will she fit in? that's what i'm thinking. ball of insecurities.

10 am, lila rocks it at the open house. she doesn't hit anyone. but if they tried to take that stroller away from her, she totally would have. hooray! and we make friends. this is going to be great, i tell myself. it's only one day a week...quit stressing. she needs this. normally at this time, lila would have speech therapy, but today is really weird. why did i decide to document today?...who knows.

 11:00 we leave and we're off to run some errands. paper source for lila's birthday invitation envelopes...surprise, we're celebrating your birthday a month later because september is freaking nutty-mcNutterson, lila. bad mom? maybe. smart mom...yes. thank you.

11:15 hello panera...forgot to take a pic of this shenanigan. but don't worry, lila stood up on the booth and said HI! to every passersby. penelope slept. thank you, Lord.
11:45 i hop into forever 21 for a birthday gift for one of my besties. success! they have the cutest and cheapest jewelry there.

12:30 hit up the post office to mail little gifties out. when we get home, we play a little and then it's nappy time at 1:30. which just means, lila messes her room up and doesn't sleep. but penelope does, so i snooze off for 20 minutes on the couch. and then penelope wakes up from her very short nap and wants to eat. how rude. after eating, we stare at eachother. penelope thinks i'm funny and i think she's cute, so this goes on for quite a while. until i realize...

 
i have another child. in naptime.

3:00 lila gets up from solitary confinement. i mean rest time. at this point i'm about to go pick up layne but i remember he has a playdate after school with his buddy. this makes me a little sad because i miss him. so anyway, until like 4:30, i basically chase lila around and tell her 1800 times to take her fingers out of the mouth.  suggestions for how to get this sweet nugget to stop? i have no clue.

at some point in there then i'm all, hey wait, what are we eating tonight? i made my world famous sloppy joes(NOT). which is a pound of ground beef and a half a bottle of bbq sauce. generally we eat healthier than that, but i was like...hmmm, what can i do with a pound of ground beef in about 5 minutes. ha. so it worked out for my non-planning self that day.

at around 5-ish, we eat. because we are old people. like the old people you see at the buffet at 4:30 that are already done with dinner and are ready for bed. that's us.

you can tell from these photos who is the good eater and who hates anything i make. why do we have to fight about this every night, layne? oh my word.

 so after dinner we play. penelope lays the smack down on the older ones with the help of daddy. we call her "ninja baby".

then it's off to bath time at 6:30

and after bath...a little cuddle time with penelope. because who can resist?

 story time, and in bed by 7:30

i head out to go to michaels because i have to buy 30 wreath forms for a craft night next week. and nato hangs with some of his buddies while i'm gone. i come home and shower. i shower at night because in the morning, i can't escape the childrens. it just works for me...don't judge. and then at around 11, we go to bed. here is an awkward picture to prove it. nato and i talk in bed until 11:30. then we make out. just kidding. i fell asleep.

'twas a super busy day. thanks for joining us. let's take it easy tomorrow and do absolutely nothing.

and for the questions:

1) most surprising thing about mommyhood?  how selfish i am. everyday, the little nuggets need more than i think i can give. sometimes i get mad at them for being so needy. and when that happens, i say sorry a lot. because the reason i don't want to help them is because i love myself more than them. and that is a hard thing to realize. depending on God for energy in those moments is key. so ya,  i hate to get all spiritual there. but it's the truth. 

2) advice for new moms? stop comparing. stop comparing your kids with other kids. your body with other bodies. the way you mother with the way someone else mothers. it will get you nowhere but in tears. or resentful. or mean to people who don't deserve your mean-ness. remember where your identity is. and remember that if people look perfect, they aren't. you're making up things in your head.

3) top 3 baby products. 

1. arbonne baby rash cream. i don't sell it or anything, but i mean, this stuff works for the worst rashes. and quick.
2. a good jogging stroller. even if you don't jog, these are just great for walks and they last forever. we have a phil and teds and it's rocked my face of. it's a skinny stroller, not a double wide. those are so hard to maneuver. 
3. a good camera. if you can, get a nice camera that can capture a picture right when it's happened, not the second after it's happened. i used to hate that with my old point and shoot. canon rebels are great to get your mom-photography on. ask for it for christmas...

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Thanks so much for sharing with us Jami!