a day in the life - jennifer

Sorry I didn't get this up until this afternoon, but here is a peek at a day in the life of Jennifer from It's A Wonderful Life.  Enjoy!

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Let me preface by saying...I lead a totally boring life. 

I never dreamed in a million years that I would be a stay-at-home-mom.  I always dreamed about it, but just never felt like it was entirely possible.  I don't intend for this post to sound whiny, ungrateful, unthoughtful, or even exciting.  I do love my life as a mom & wife, but some days it's very monotonous.  Other days it's super fun & exciting.  To sum up my life as a stay-at-home mom I would have to say honestly that NO TWO days are EVER alike.  No matter how hard I try...and you know what? I'm perfectly fine with that! 

So here goes...

a day in my life....

I am a mom to a 3 and a 1/2 year old boy and a "nana" to a sweet 20 month old little girl.

(I nanny for a friend of mine.) I logged my day the best I could.  This how Monday, March 5th, 2012 went for us.

7:30 am--up and at 'em.  Lil' man is still asleep (in hub's and my bed..ha!  Bad habit.  We're trying to break it.) 

7:30-8:00 am-- "ME" time.  Usually I make a cup of coffee, do devotions, and then turn on the morning news.  If lil' man sleeps until 8:30am I check my e-mail, FB, etc. 

7:45am--On this particular morning lil' man woke up early.  We snuggle on the couch and talk about our dreams from the night before.  He is so cuddly in the mornings. 

8:05am--The baby arrives at our house.  Bradyn (whom I'll refer to often as lil' man) loves playing with her, and she adores him as well!   

8:00-8:30am--I get the kiddos some milk and we watch cartoons & cuddle on the couch.  

8:30am--The baby signals that she's sleepy.  So I lay her in her bed in the guest bedroom and give her "night-night" milk to her.  (The baby isn't much of a morning eater.  If she's awake when we have breakfast she'll eat with us, but generally she wants her milk and doesn't eat much in the morning at all.)

8:30-9:00am--I start tidying up the kitchen.  (unloading/loading dishwasher, cleaning up the counters, etc.) 

9:00am--Breakfast for lil' man.  He is a finicky eater these days.  How he eats at dinner the night before signifies how he'll eat the next morning.  This particular morning he had probably 3-4 grapes and a small handful of dry cereal.  Normally I'll cook biscuits and gravy or eggs and cheese for him, but we had a play date to get to so I didn't have time to make a hot breakfast.  

{Lil' man in his "pirate" attire}

9:15am--I put some muffins in the oven for our Pirate themed play date.  I set the timer for 17 mins. and then start getting lil' man & myself ready to go. Bradyn is dressed up in his normal clothes with Bandana accents.  He LOVES Jake and the Neverland pirates...he wanted his hair sticking up like Jake.  ;o)

9:35 am--The oven timer beeps and I remove the muffins.  (I'm so thankful for an oven TIMER!)

9:45am--Wake the baby and get her ready.  Play date starts at 10am and it's across town at a friend's house.  We leave at 10:12am. =(

10:35am--We arrive at our friend's house.  We play for a bit and eat a snack.  The kids LOVE getting out of the house.  I SO love it too.  It's great to actually have a nice adult conversation while the kiddos play with their buddies.  I'm thankful that the baby and Bradyn get along so well.  On the weekends he always asks if she's coming to play.  =)  

Around 12:00pm--We leave the play date and I head to the nearest gas station since I'm on empty.  (Story.of.my.life.)   

12:30pm--We're back home, and both kids have amazingly  acquired some SUPER empty stomachs since we left the play date.  They ate RIGHT before we LEFT.   So I fix them each a sandwich and give them juice and cheet-o's.  I pour another cup of coffee for myself and sit down to "log" my day.  (Not a usual habit of mine to log my daily doings...but I realize now that it does help to see what I actually accomplish.  SO many days as a SAHM I look around and feel as if I've done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!)

12:45pm--I text my uncle to see if my cousin has had any progress in labor.  She's back in my hometown (3.5 hrs from our house) and was induced at 5am with her first child.   The kiddos are super good at entertaining one another and sitting down at the table.  (That took LOTS of patience and hard work on my part getting to this place....) No big news on the baby's arrival.  Just hanging in there...and still waiting for some progress.

1:00pm--the kids are ready to get up and play.  So I start cleaning up and they run around like wild animals.  It's nice to get some energy out.  (Especially since they were quiet and so well behaved--for the most part--at the play date!)

1:00-2:00pm-- Free play time and then focused play time near the end of the hour.  

Bradyn loves to jump on the bed.  I'm just crazy enough to let him.  We've started a really bad habit of jumping on the bed for the baby.   Her mom hasn't complained yet.....After a "jumping spell" we pick out some books and sit down in the floor to read them.Bradyn loves Curious George so we read about "Curious George Visits the Zoo".  The whole time the baby is pointing at the pictures and shouting, "MONKEY!!!".  

2:00pm--The baby goes down for a nap.   Normally lil' man would go down about 30 mins or so after the baby, but today daddy has the day off.  NO naptime for our family of three!

2:00-4:00pm--is spent having focused play time with daddy.  I get to do the dishes again and research online for an upcoming visit to the beach.  We are attending a  beautiful wedding in SC soon!

Bradyn and daddy pretend play as pirates for an hour or so.  (Dress up REQUIRED!  I wanted SO badly to get a picture of the two of them, but my husband REFUSED.  I don't blame him... ) I am instructed that I need to hide this play treasure chest of Bradyn's so they can write out a map and then follow the map to find the treasure.  I'm lacking in the creative play skill department BADLY.  (Thanks dad for magnifying that deficiency!)  So I hide the treasure chest in the foyer.  They eventually find it, and then come back with another "treasure" that I'm instructed to hide.  Bradyn LOVED being the one to "follow the hints" from the map and finding the treasure.  He is ALL about winning these days.  

4:30pm--The baby wakes.   I change the baby's diaper and get her ready to play!

4:30-5:30pm--Play time!  Bradyn wants his BIG train set out from the top shelf of his closet.  His daddy gets it for him and he and the baby play trains.  They fuss a bit, mainly because Bradyn is a bit cranky from not napping, but it's TOO late to nap now.  Early bedtime!  YEA!!!!!!

5:30pm--The baby goes home.  Bradyn blows "bye-bye" kisses to her and she returns them.

We'll do this all over again tomorrow.  She's at our house M-F.  =)

5:45pm--I start dinner and Bradyn goes out to the garage with his dad to work on some woodworking projects.  Bradyn basically asks his dad a bazillion questions and rides his bike and stuff while he's "helping".  He doesn't stay out long.  He has to come in and go potty then he wants to watch a movie on the kindle.

I have nothing really in mind for dinner other than chicken, rice and veggies.  Nothing fancy.  Bradyn usually eats whatever I make if it's not TOO grown up.  This particular night I fix him some lasagna with tomato sauce and serve him some roasted chicken as well.

6:00pm-6:30pm--We sit at the bar for dinner.  Bradyn cleans his plate except for the chicken.  ;o)After dinner I clean up our plates and then start some bathwater.

6:45pm--ME time.  =)  No worries...my "ME" time is normally interrupted.  Today was no exception. ;o)  Lil' man bursts into the bathroom to ask me what I'm doing, and proceeds to steal the kindle...haha!  I tell him he needs to find daddy and mommy needs some alone time.  Daddy appears and then they both leave the bathroom together.  I then get a text saying that my cousin's baby arrived!!

7:00pm--I'm back in the kitchen and lil' man comes in from the garage.  I tell him the baby is here.  He asks me "what baby is here?"  I reminded him of cousin Charlsie and how we went to her shower last month and Grandma was there...he remembered after a few minutes.  He randomly asks "Did the baby open his prizes???".  ;o)  We've been doing some shopping for Baby Logan.  His mommy and daddy are big University of Tennessee fans.  We recently bought the baby some paci's and bottles with Orange T's on them.  =)

8:00-8:30pm--We spend some family time in the living room dancing & singing to some church music on YouTube.  (Xbox live now has capabilities to watch YouTube videos! I can't tell you how much fun it is to watch Disney World videos in HD and pretend we're there....)

8:30pm--Bath time for the lil' man.  By now he's worn down from all day with no nap.  So are his daddy and I....

9:00pm--Brush lil' man's teeth, say his prayer, and read a Bible story.  He falls asleep in the bed beside me.   =)  He snores lightly.  I love it!

Daddy goes back into the garage to work on his project.  (I'm so excited to do a post about what he's been working on.  It should be completely finished soon!!!)

So I plan on getting to bed early as well....but I make the mistake of picking up the kindle to read "Choosing to See" ~ written by Mary Beth Chapman.

I cry, laugh, and get sucked in....she is a tremendously good writer.

I fall asleep reading, and eventually when hubs is done in the garage he puts lil' man in his bed.

..and that's our day.

Seriously NO two days are EVER alike.  I sometimes wish I had more of a daily schedule

but honestly I feel like it would just leave MORE room for "mommy guilt" to enter my life.

I tend to do things in level of importance.  Although I feel as if I may could accomplish MORE if I had more of a scheduled life.  This day I logged was really non-typical.

We don't go to play dates every day, nor is daddy home from work often during the day...but it is what it is.

The questions...

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

The energy required to be a mom to a preschooler amazes me.  Please don't take me wrong, I do adore being a mom.  I never thought I would be so "hands on" with lil' man.  I am not perfect, but I do like to get down in the floor and be silly.  (even if I find it to be challenging at times...)  The way he laughs when I'm being silly is surprising and I enjoy being able to be "corny" while I can....soon he'll be too cool to laugh at my silliness. 

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

As repetitive as it sounds...ENJOY your sleep.  Bradyn is up and at em' as early as 7am.  When he's up...he's UP.   Also, don't let the mommy guilt settle in.  If you realize that you're lacking in a certain area of your life, just try your best to do better.  No one expects you to be perfect.

3.  What are your top baby products?

I am a sucker for good smelling baby washes and lotions.  Bradyn is 3 and a 1/2 and I still use both on him.  I will as long as I can!  His daddy thinks I'm crazy....  ;o) 

I'd love to hear feedback on your daily schedule as a stay-at-home mom!  I'm always up for new ideas!  Thanks for reading!

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Thanks for sharing your day with us Jennifer!