a day in the life - kristen

Is it seriously already the 9th of November?  I feel like November just started and we are already nine days in.  Thanksgiving is two weeks (ok 15 days) away!  Wow.  Something else random I feel the need to share... Ryann ate dinner with us last night.  As in the same dinner we were eating.  And it had a tomato sauce!  Big steps people, big steps.  The funny thing?  We had meatballs and pasta with bell peppers, mushrooms and onions.  The only thing she wouldn't eat?  The noodles...  My kid is crazy I tell ya.

Moving on, I have a day in the life post for you today!  I hope you enjoy a little peek at a day in the life of Kristin.  Have a good one!

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Hi! I'm Kristin, mommy to adorable 15-month-old Elle and wife to sarcastic and sweet Tim :) We live in Florida, and I blog over at Sea Cow Circus, where you'll find a little bit of everything - tales of parenthood, recaps of our trips, serious posts about everything from searching for a church to baby led weaning to weight loss, and ramblings about life in general. Oh - and lots and lots of photos of Elle!

I started a new job about two months ago - a change that has left me with little time to blog but a boatload of transition to blog about ... I used to work nights and weekends designing the sports section at Florida's largest newspaper. I now work 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at a small company that prints and supplies tape and labels, doing a little bit of everything.

If I had written this post a few months ago, it would be totally different, but here is a typical Tuesday in my "new" life:

5:45 a.m.: The alarm goes off. Ugh. I drag myself out of the bed and wash my face, brush my teeth and prepare to head to the gym.

6:02 a.m.: I'm out the door and on my way.

6:12 a.m.: The ONLY good thing about going to the gym this early is the lack of traffic. It's still dark out, people!

7 a.m.: I'm done with my workout (some free weights and a two-mile run on the treadmill) and head home.

7:10 a.m.: I get that precious first cup of coffee. I eat some cereal with a banana and surf the Internet or read the paper while I eat.

7:30 a.m.: I hop in the shower, then do my makeup - Elle and Tim are still asleep, so I'm trying to delay using the hair dryer for as long as possible.

7:55 a.m.: Elle is awake! I change her diaper and take her in to Tim, then crank up the hair dryer while Tim prepares Elle's breakfast. Tim works nights (he's in the newspaper industry), and since we're on opposite schedules he takes care of her in the mornings (often on very little sleep).

8:12 a.m.: I grab my lunch, purse and coffee, kiss Tim and Elle goodbye and head to work.

8:30 a.m.: After dealing with two school zones and morning traffic, I clock in at work right on time. I start my computer, check my e-mail and chat with my coworkers. I start returning e-mails and organizing what I have to work on for the day.

9:05 a.m.: The vice president of the company arrives. Within 30 minutes, he's usually blown my "plan for the day" out the window by placing work on my desk that needs immediate attention. I work on artwork, place purchase orders, process sales orders and update customer spec sheets for the rest of the morning. I'm also the backup receptionist, so when the receptionist is away from her desk or going to pick up lunch, I man the phones.

12:30 p.m.: The receptionist is usually back from her lunch, so I clock out for mine. The company is small, and we don't really have a large lunch room, so most of the office staff either eats at their desk or in their cars. It's nice to get away from my computer screen for a break, so I head out to my car and eat my lunch. I call Tim and talk to him and Elle and then breeze through the morning's FB posts and read a few blogs before heading back in to the building.

My chaotic little desk.

12:55 p.m.: More of the same from the morning. I receive approval from a client on some of the artwork I worked on in the morning, so I order printing plates so the job can run later on press in the week. I never seem to catch up on the work, but there's always something different going on and it never gets dull. I take a few calls from customers who want to check on the status on their orders, and I transfer several sales calls to the vice president.

5:08 p.m.: I finish up my work, tidy my desk and clock out. I call Tim on my way home and ask him to start preparations for dinner.

5:23 p.m.: I'm home! I play with Elle for a bit, change clothes and work on dinner. Elle joins me in the kitchen and points to a Target bag, saying "circle," then "red." She crawls by the oven and says "hot." Tim is off on Mondays and Tuesdays, so we get to have "normal" evenings and eat dinner as a family.

6:04 p.m.: We eat. Sometimes Elle is really interested in dinner, other nights she could care less. Tonight we're having tacos, and she loves taco meat. She has some string cheese and applesauce, too.

6:25 p.m.: Elle isn't exactly a neat eater, so she goes straight from the high chair to the bath tub. She loves taking a bath but has been getting a little too daring lately, standing in the tub and scurrying from end to end of the tub. She exhausts me and terrifies me but usually comes out of the bath cute and cuddly.

Squeaky clean!

6:45 p.m.: Tim heads to the gym, and Elle and I play and clean. She loves to help unload the dishwasher, fold unfold laundry and sort mail.

7:53 p.m.: We call my mom, and Elle talks to Grams, who she calls "Mee." Our family all lives 1,000 miles away (most of them are in Ohio), and I talk to my mom almost every day. Elle often chats with my family on the phone or via iChat and Skype. I'm grateful for the technology that allows us to do this, and it cracks me up that Elle will hold a remote or even just her hand up to her ear and tell me she's talking to "Mee" or "Aga," which is what she calls her Uncle Doug.

8:05 p.m.: Elle has a snack of vanilla wafers and water. I breastfed her for 13 months, but she's never taken to milk of any other variety - we've tried cow's milk, coconut, almond, soy ... but she loves her water, and she loves other dairy products, so we're not concerned about her milk snobbery.

8:30 p.m.: Tim is home, and he comes in to say good night to the princess. Elle and I work together to tidy up her room, and then we change her diaper, brush her teeth and settle in with her blankie to read some books before bed.

Elle is always asking us to "Rea? Rea?"
and I love her love of books.

8:50 p.m.: I put Elle down in her crib, turn on the fan in her room, blow her kisses through the crib slats and tell her I love her. Some nights she'll babble to herself for a few minutes, but tonight she goes to sleep silently and fairly quickly.

8:55 p.m.: I finish up a few chores - throw a load of clothes in the dryer, pack up my lunch for the next day, hop on the computer and answer a few e-mails or work on blog posts. I try to upload new photos and videos to Facebook and our family Shutterfly site at least once a week for all of our friends and family who live far away, but I also try to keep my computer and chore time to a minimum on Monday and Tuesday nights so Tim and I can spend time together.

9:45 p.m.: Since Tim takes care of Elle during the day, I try to make things easier by sketching out daily menus for them on a dry erase board in the kitchen. I fill out breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner and add anything he might need to know ("I'm expecting a package to be delivered" or "Elle has a doctor's appt. at 11") or anything I need him to take care of ("Please take the trash out").

9:55 p.m.: Tim and I decide on a snack to eat while we catch up on some DVR'd shows. We choose popcorn and grapes and watch some episodes of Modern Family, Parenthood and Happy Endings.

11:50 p.m.: I'm exhausted and prepare for bed. I'm not going to the gym tomorrow morning, but I still have to get up fairly early for work, so I'm off to sleep!

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1.  What is the most surprising thing about being a mom? I think I was most surprised by how completely it has consumed me - everything I do or think about involves Elle, whether it be what to eat for dinner or finding a sitter so Tim and I can go to a wedding. "They" always say that having a child will completely change your life, but I don't think you can completely prepare for it until you live it. I don't have a lot of spare time to craft like I used to, and I can't go out for drinks with friends at the drop of a hat, but I still feel like I'm "me," and I can't imagine what life was like before she was born. She makes me laugh more than I've ever laughed before, but she can also worry and frustrate me more than ever before.

2.  What advice would you give new or soon-to-be moms? I'm constantly reminding myself "this too shall pass" and "they grow up so fast." It's hard to balance appreciating each stage while wanting to wish away certain parts (rough sleep, teething, the "no" phase), but just in Elle's 15 months I'm amazed at how much she's changed and how hard it is to remember the "other" stages. Also, the best piece of advice I was given was the throw "should" out the window. Doctors, family members, friends and strangers will tell you what you "should" do, whether it be "you should never let your child watch TV" or "you should let the baby cry it out" - but you have to do what is right for you and your family.

3.  What are your top three baby products? We absolutely loved our Snap N Go stroller for Elle's first 8 or so months. It was so light and easy to use - I wish there was a toddler version of it :) We're also big fans of the Breathable Bumper, which saved Elle from getting her legs and arms stuck through crib slats many, many times. And while it encompasses more than just a baby product, I heart our cloth diapers. We save a ton of money, it's good for Elle's skin and the environment, and it hasn't been hard to incorporate in to our lives at all. We've used them almost exclusively (aside from traveling or for sitters who haven't used cloth) since she was four weeks old, and I love that we'll be able to use them for future kid(s), too.

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Thanks for sharing your day with us Kristen!