a day in the life - aja

Morning lovelies.  Happy Wednesday.  I'm currently debating how productive I want to be on this glorious MDO day where I get six hours to myself.  I'm sure there is a whole bunch of cleaning to be done, and some design work that I definitely need to attend to, BUT I'm definitely considering hitting up Forever 21 in search of cheap tops that can pass as maternity clothes.  Decisions decisions.

Anyway, this morning I'd like to introduce you to Aja.  I hope you enjoy getting a peek at her day!

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Hi! I'm Aja from It's a Strange and Lovely Ride. I'm a stay/work at home mom to Evie, who will be 2 at the end of November. I blog about mommy & wifehood, home decor, projects, cooking failures attempts,  my random musings and other fun stuff. Oh. And lots of pictures of my adorable blonde child. Here's a typical weekday at our house these days. 6:??am Feel a muffled kiss from my husband before he leaves for work. 6:27am Wake to a ringing noise in the house. What the heck? I stumble out of bed, trying to figure out where it's coming from. At first I think it's the weird buzzing alarm on the stove, but once I get to the hall I realize it's coming from Evie's room. Yikes. I dart in there and fumble in the dark, grabbing the offending clock. I can't believe it didn't wake her up! Someone around here likes to play with buttons. Head back to bed. 7:05am Finally come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to fall back asleep. Blerg. I typically like to sleep as late as possible, ie, until 8am, if at all possible. Oh, well. I sit up and do my morning reading.

7:26am Head to the kitchen to start some tea. I've been trying to cut out coffee this month and it's actually been a lot easier than I thought. But I do miss it. WAIT! Hubby has fulfilled all my lifelong dreams by picking up a QT coffee (cinnamon bun latte. mmmm) & long john donut for me. God bless that man, he knows my love language is pastry.

7:30am I hear Evie Girl waking up. Hmmm. This is earlier than usual. She'll typically sleep until at least 8. Oh, well. I head in to get her. She's been bothered by the light in the morning, lately. I turn the lamp on and then back off at her request and we rock for a few minutes while she wakes up. I totally understand- I'm not really a morning person, either. At one point she even asks for her sunglasses :)

7:44am Milk! Then breakfast of champions: a frozen waffle and fruit for her, coffee and a few bites of the long john for me. I eat the other half of her banana for good measure.

8:12am I clean up breakfast and hear a request of "mama read to you?" We read a quick Bernstein Bears book and then I dash to get dressed.  8:24am I get Evie dressed and am able to braid her hair while she's still for 3.67 seconds, reading a book.

8:29am Time to run! Kicks on, grab some snacks and we're out the door. 9:00am Meet up with our friends at the park for a long walk. We used to run together with a Strolling Moms group put on by a local running club, but since the class ended, so did my swiftness. Hoping it returns when the fall session starts up in a few weeks. Soreness from walking = ridiculous and pathetic. I have no one to blame but myself. (And possibly the pastries). 9:55am Head to the playground for some slide action. Evie was getting anxious the entire walk. Sister takes her playground time seriously.

10:33am A quick diaper change in the back of our friend's SUV and then we load back up in the car. We stop by TJ Maxx on a whim, since it's on the way home. I find numerous items I clearly "need".

11:42am Back home and time for lunch! Evie eats string cheese and baked snap peas while I unload the car, check my work email and start a load of laundry. I'm starving but usually wait until she naps to eat my lunch. Probably not the best idea, but it's just my routine. 11:54am Evie decides she wants to color after lunch, so I run around doing random things like finally making the bed, tidying up the kitchen and picking up random toys. She plays and reads for a bit after she's done coloring.

12:19pm Nap time! As soon as I turn on the noise machine and turn off the light, she says "rock a minute, okay" and I can hardly turn her down. I've been trying to soak these sweet moments in lately. We only rock for about 30 seconds before she says "bed, okay!". 12:24pm I take a quick shower then finally sit down to eat. I was hoping to watch the latest episode of Bachelor Pad today, but it's not showing up on On Demand. Grr. I decide to check Hulu. SCORE! I keep one eye on the drama while I eat and start some work. I work from home (writing content for a website), so my schedule is flexible. It's seriously an awesome setup and I'm very thankful for it. I bang out a couple of articles and emails while keeping up with all the shenanigans. Please tell me Chris goes home this week! Aaannnd, it's possible I polished off the rest of that long john. :) 1:41pm I take a break from work (but not the Bachelor Pad- sheesh these people are ridiculous!) to scrub down a new toy I found for Evie at a consignment sale a few weeks ago. We're going on a road trip this weekend and she LOVES Mickey Mouse and friends, so hopefully this will keep her occupied in the car! I also pull out some new jewelry that just came in to tag for our booth. I always want to keep most of the earrings for myself!

2:14pm I hear someone squawking from her crib, so I scramble to clean up everything I'm doing before going in to get her. 2:15 - 4:15pm Snack, play, etc. Evie is really good about independent play, which I encourage and am thankful for. She reads books, wanders around the house, playing with various toys and following me around as I finish laundry, hang new curtains in our bedroom (I think I like them!) and start to gather some of her clothes and essentials for our trip this weekend. Oh- and let's not forget her grand idea to pull out and try on the greater portion of her shoe collection. It's possible, but not confirmed, that I buy her too many shoes. Ah, well, we all have our faults.

4:20pm I settle Evie on the couch to watch an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Arguably the highlight of her day.

4:55pm Daddy gets home! Cue the hallelujah choir. 5:22pm Evie realizes Daddy is outside mowing the lawn and calls/waves/beseeches him from the front door.

5:35pm We head outside to play for a bit, but it's pretty hot, so it doesn't last long. Her favorite thing to do outside these days is "play dirt". I find this hilarious, since she basically comes unglued when she gets food or anything else yucky on her hands at any other time.

6:05pm Dinner! (I didn't write down what we ate this day.. probably because it was less than memorable). 6:30pm After dinner, Evie runs around playing while I clean up the kitchen. Lego trucks, toy stroller and games of BOO are all on the evening play menu. 7:10pm Bedtime routine starts up: bath, brushing teeth, jammies, milk and books. I typically do bedtime. We read 3 or 4 books (though she always asks for more), then say prayers. Then it's lights out, noise maker on, and our "I love you to the moon and back.." routine in the dark before rocking for a few minutes. She's usually down sometime between 7:30 and 8 and will sleep for a solid 12 hours. Glory hallelujah.

8-10:30pm After Evie goes to bed, we typically veg out on the sofa. TV, blogs, messing around on our phones, reading, etc. If I'm feeling particularly ambitious, I'll do some cleaning or stuff some pillows or some other project for our booth. That's all she wrote!

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What is the most surprising thing to you about being a mom? Probably how much she consumes my thoughts. Every little thing she does is delightful to me. I just can't get enough of her... I miss her when I'm gone and want to talk about her way more than is socially acceptable. Sometimes I just can't believe she is mine. I love her so much! It's unlike anything in the world.

What advice would you give to new or soon-to-be mamas? Trust yourself. A mother's instinct is not made up! You know your baby better than anyone, and if you think something is wrong or that some unpopular idea might be best for your child (I put Evie to sleep on her tummy at 8 weeks and never looked back)... trust yourself! Also? Go easy on yourself. Everything will not always be perfect or go the way you think it should go. But it will be okay. The more relaxed you are, the more relaxed your baby will be.

What are your top three baby products? My girl had silent reflux and lots of tummy troubles when she was tiny, so sleep was beyond precious to us. I tried all sorts of things! So my top products are related to what helped encourage sleep. 1. Noise machine. We started out with the dinky one from Target and quickly moved up to the (much louder) Homedics version from Brookstone. That baby gets turned up all the way for every nap and each night. If we want to wake her up for some reason, all we have to do is turn the dang thing down and up she pops! 2. Baby carrier. I have a Bjorn and a few sling versions. Oh, and a homemade Moby. The first time I mummy-wrapped myself up in all that fabric and slipped her in, it was like the heavens parted and I suddenly had two hands to actually do things. I'm not a typical baby-wearing mama, but for those times when she just wouldn't be put down, this was a lifesaver. I'd like to get a K'Tan and/or an Ergo for the next bambino. 3. Blackout curtains. Not exactly a "baby" item, but another necessity for Evie to sleep. When we travel, the first thing I do is figure out a way to block out all the light in our room. I see all these adorable nurseries on Pinterest and other blogs with sheer curtains and light streaming in, and wonder how in the world that baby is ever going to sleep! I know not all babies are the same, but at our house, darkness = sleep.

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Aja, thank you for sharing your day with us!