November 30, 2011

a day in the life - sarah

Good morning lovelies.  I hope this hump day treats you well.  I'm so happy to introduce you to Sarah, and allow you to peek at her day.  Enjoy!

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Hi there! I'm Sarah, wife to the ever-charming Patrick, and mother to the extremely adorable and feisty 18-month-old Manny...as well as a sweet little girl coming this May! I'm a former marketing exec turned 2nd grade teacher turned marketing exec turned stay-at-home-mommy. Yes, you read that right...I tend to jump around a bit. Which, if you read my blog, comes as no surprise to you. My career path took all sorts of interesting turns while waiting for our family to start, as things don't always go as planned. In short, after over 2 years of trying to conceive, we were told it wasn't possible, so we began the adoption process. We were home study approved and listed with our agency for about a month when we had a surprise miracle pregnancy! Emanuel (Manny) William was born on May 17, 2010, and the Lord has blessed us beyond measure with this little guy. I am blown away that we are expecting again...I never would have imagined what the Lord had in store for us if you told me this 3 years ago!

I blog over at Life {Sweet} Life, mostly about Manny, though I also like to include crafts and DIY projects when time permits. I love the idea of documenting a day in our life, because it definitely changes so fast. Thanks for having me today Ashley...now let the fun begin! :)

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7:45 am - I hear Manny stirring. He had been sleeping pretty regularly til 8 - 8:45, but Daylight Savings Time did a number on us. I was thankful he made it to 7:45 today! Hopefully he'll be back to normal soon...mama loves her sleep. We must start his day with a cup of milk...it's really like his morning coffee. He's so dramatic as he drinks it, barely opening his eyes and wincing at the light. Of course his Curious George is nearby...that's his new buddy, and I think it's just precious!


8:00 am - After a diaper change and finishing off his milk, he's ready for some morning reading. He is absolutely obsessed with this book he got from Chick-fil-a...I am soooo tired of reading it! He gets so excited though and it's pretty cute. :) We read it a few thousand times, then he plays for a bit while I start some laundry and unload the dishwasher.


9:00 am - Time for breakfast! Everyday is a new day with seeing what this kid will eat. Today applesauce and a banana made the cut. Along with his beloved vitamin juice...he gets super excited when he sees this container! I drink a protein shake and have a banana while he eats, and work on my to-do list for the day.


9:30 am - I turn on the 2nd half of Sesame Street, as Manny has recently taken an interest in it. He starts out in his chair, rocking some serious bed head. Soon enough he realizes that's boring, so naturally moves to the tray on the ottoman. Anything he can climb, he will! After watching a little tv, he plays for a bit. One thing I love about our new house is that his room is downstairs, so he'll go in and out of there to play. Though he's recently started shutting the door...which is hilarious to me.

11:00 am - I decide to try to put him down for a nap earlier than normal because we're supposed to be somewhere at 1:30. It wasn't successful, and he ended up playing in his crib for nearly an hour before falling asleep. I am so thankful he's pretty good at playing in his crib though! While he naps, I get ready, then work on putting together a little gift to take to the ultrasound tech who is going to do a gender ultrasound for us as a favor. I also work on some Christmas card & birthday party designs I'm doing for clients. This is something I've started doing on the side, and hope to get my act together and actually open an etsy shop soon!


1:15 pm - Manny wakes up, and I quickly get him ready so we can head to the ultrasound. Unfortunately it was pouring rain and the place was over 30 minutes away, so we were pretty late. Luckily she was just doing this in between appointments so it wasn't a big deal, but I still hated being late. Story of my life though!


2:30 pm - The ultrasound tech took a quick look and was certain of the gender, so she wrote it down and sealed it in an envelope so we could have a gender reveal party with our family on Thanksgiving. It was so fun, but the suspense killed me! After that, Manny and I ran a few errands to the bank, Michael's, and Old Navy to return some stuff.

 

5:00 pm - We returned home, and Manny was excited to check out one of the new books he got in the mail as part of a book exchange we signed up for. We read for a bit, work some puzzles, and then I start getting stuff ready for dinner.


6:00 pm - Daddy's home at a decent time tonight - yeah! Manny is thrilled to see him and immediately requests a back ride, and then - of course - the reading of the beloved book.


6:15 pm - I finish up dinner - Ranch Turkey Sliders & sweet potato fries. These pictures don't look all that appetizing, but they are really good and easy! I got the recipe from my sister and plan to blog it soon.


6:30 pm - Dinner time! Manny starts off with his shirt on, but we quickly remember why we don't allow that and strip him down. He's such a mess at mealtime, and loves to wipe his grimy paws all over us!


7:00 pm - We play a little bit more, get ready for bed, and then have a cup of milk to start the wind-down process around 7:30. Daddy is so tired by this point he's starting to fade...but not Manny - he seems to get a second wind of course! He plays for a little longer, then it's lights out at 8 pm sharp.


8:00 pm - Patrick and I catch up on the dvr with a little Modern Family, Big Bang, and Castle. Things have been busy so we fell behind! In the meantime, I do some designing on the computer then some crafting. I make onesies with my Cricut for the gender reveal party and paint a few more chalkboard frames for gifts. They've been a huge hit and are so simple - they're definitely my new go-to gift!


10:45 pm - Patrick heads to bed, and I realize I've never had my quiet time today - prime example of why I need to do it earlier in the day. Needless to say, this is something I need to be more intentional about, but I figure late is better than not at all.

11:15 pm - I straighten the living room and kitchen, and decide to call it a night. Now that I'm in my 2nd trimester, I'm finally able to stay up past 9 pm (some nights anyway) but am still trying not to let my night owl tendencies get the best of me. Especially since Manners will be full of energy and ready for another busy day tomorrow!

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1.  What is the most surprising thing about being a mom? I'm going to be cliche' here and say that the love you feel for your child just overwhelms you. I had no clue it would be so consuming like it is. Every night when I put him to bed, I can't wait to see him in the morning! And of course we think everything he does is the neatest thing ever. It really is such an amazing feeling.

2.  What advice would you give new or soon-to-be moms? I would say to do what you feel is right as a parent. It's great to reach out to friends, family, and other moms for advice and support, but I have been blown away at how judgmental other mom's can be. I think just taking things with a grain of salt will help from getting your feelings hurt. Also, when you're going through the hard times - just remind yourself that this is just a season, and it will pass, and believe it or not, you will miss the tiny screaming baby stage! (kind of) :)

3.  What are your top three baby products? As far as newborn baby products, we LOVED gripe water, and I wish I'd known about it sooner than I did! Manny always had the hiccups, and this cured them instantly. The Wubbanub pacifier holder/stuffed animal thing was also super helpful when Manny was tiny. It helped keep the paci in, and Manny would cuddle the monkey...so sweet. :) My third thing would be some kind of white noise or sound machine for when they're sleeping. We actually just use an iPod docking station with a playlist on repeat. You can download all sorts of white noise "songs" on iTunes, and we liked the option of an iPod because then we could also listen to fun music during the day on the same piece of equipment.

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Thank you so much for sharing your day with us Sarah!

1 comment:

Kelly said...

Yay! We love Sarah :) Thanks for sharing!