a day in the life - katie

GOOD MORNING!  Please blame my exceptionally chipper mood on the fact that I got some lovely meds from my on Monday that have made my headaches much more bearable, and yesterday I was relatively productive, so I'm feeling like superwoman.  I mean, I made the bed (I know, I don't get a cookie for that), loaded and unloaded the dishwasher, ran five miles, actually called the guy to come out an look at our leaky toilet, took Ryann to gymnastics, checked out party supplies at Party City, made lunch, got Ryann down for nap, designed some wedding invitations and had dinner marinating before 2:00.  That my friends, is a productive day for me.

However even feeling like superwoman I'm not sure I could hang as a single mom.  Meet Katie, she does it, and I hope you enjoy a day in her life!

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Hello everyone! My name is Katie and I am 24 year old single mom to 2 year old Bella. I blog over at Lifes a Dance.  I work full time between 40-50 hour weeks for a large apartment rental company on the university of Illinois campus. I have worked for my job for 7 years. While I love my job and everything about it some days are harder than others to leave Miss Bella boo! 

Our everyday routine rarely changes. Bella is with her dad on Tuesday and Thursday nights until 830pm and then he brings her home for bedtime. She also goes to her dads every other weekend but only for one night. For example he will pick her up at 10am on Saturday morning and I will pick her up from him at 10am on Sunday morning. Hints why it’s even more difficult to be a full time working mom but I have to do what I have to do to provide for myself and Bella. I am glad to have a job that allows me to own my house and drive a nice car and provide for myself and Bella. Some days it works to my advantage to go to work all the time when my darling toddler is being very strong willed (like her mama.) As I said before our day to day routine rarely changes. When Bella is with her dad on Tuesday evenings I hit up the gym and then the grocery store. On Thursdays when she is with him I hit up the gym and then I do the laundry and pick the house for the weekend! Well here goes the start to our VERY busy lives…

6:15am:  Alarm goes off. I usually jump up and in the shower. Some days I will snooze until 6:30 however it is very rare. I am off and running from this point on. I get myself completely ready shoes and everything before I go in and wrangle the toddler out of bed.

6:50am:  Dump dinner in the Crockpot. I could kiss whoever invented the Crockpot because without it Bella and I would never eat a home cooked meal!

7:00am:  Bella is stirring and (demanding) asking for milk nicely. I take her to the living room to rock her and watch the morning show for 20 minutes until 7:20am when it is time to get her ready for the day. She’s up and uses the potty, gets dressed, teeth brushed, hair brushed and shoes on by 7:30am.

7:40am:  I take her to daycare. On Mondays, Wednesday & Fridays she goes to a home daycare in our town. On Tuesdays & Thursdays she goes to a Montessori preschool.  I live in a small community that is 20 minutes away from my job.

7:50am:  Drive to work.

8:15am:  Arrive to work and walk a couple of blocks to the local starbucks it’s a very bad habit but I have a starbucks every single morning.

8:30am-12:30pm:  Work work work! I am the office manager for the apartment rental company so I am in charge of 15 employees plus my own tasks plus keeping the tenants happy! Mornings are usually always spent in meetings.

12:30pm - 1:30pm:  Lunch time! I head over to Atlanta bread for a cup of French onion soup and to read some blogs!

1:30pm - 5pm:  Work work work. I use this time to accomplish some of my daily tasks.

5pm - 5:20pm:  Head home. Because I work later than my daycare is open my parents pick Bella up for me on Mondays & Wednesdays and I pick her up and we head home for dinner.

5:30pm:  Dinner time! Today was roast, potatoes and corn.

6:00pm:  Done with dinner and on to walk to the mailbox to retrieve the mail and then free time!

6:30pm:  Decide because of the crappy weather outside we would do an indoor pinterest craft which was a success!

7:15pm:  Bath time. My little girl is defiantly a fish and loves her bath time.

7:30pm:  Read books and snuggle before bed.

8:00pm:  Bed time. Shoot me now but I am one of those mothers that still rocks her two year old to sleep and I wouldn’t change if for the world my time is oh so precious with her!

8:30pm:  Bellas out and placed in her own bed. I use this time to prepare dinner for the next day (in the crock pot), do the dishes, pack our bags and lay out our clothes for the next day. I 100% believe that the reasons our mornings are so smooth because the bags are packed and clothes are laid out for the next day. It is defiantly the key to our lifestyle.

9:30pm:  Finally sit down for a glass or 9 of wine. And watch a show on the DVR. Without the DVR I would not be able to watch any television shows.

11pm:  LIGHTS OUT! To repeat again!!

So that is our everyday life a working single mom. Of course not every day is sunshine but most days are like a well oiled machine and work out great.

 

What is the most surprising thing to you about being a mom?

**  The most surprising thing to me about being a mom is that my daughter has really taught me how to live life.  She has taught me more things in her two years than I ever thought possible.  She has taught me the true meaning of love and laughter.  It truly is like walking around with your heart on the outside watching them explore life and get the occasional bumps and bruises.

 

What advice would you give new or soon-to-be mamas?

**Sleep when they sleep!  Also they are only little for so long so soak it all up.  EVERYONE says they grow so fast, but until you have a child you won't believe it.

 

What are your top three baby products?

1. Hands down the Chicco Liteway Stroller.  We orginally had the car seat/stroller combo and I only used it for the first year, then I switched to the Liteway.  I tell every new mom that I would register for this.
2. Bella loved her bumbo.  I know there is a huge recall right now, but they can be fixed and it was great to take to use as a high chair on the go.
3. Sounds crazy but the mommy hook.  I buy one for every new mom.  Basically it attached to the stroller and holds your diaper bag or shopping bags when you're out and its super convenient.

 

Thank you Ashley for letting me guest post for you!

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Thank you for sharing your day with us Katie!