Moving on from me, today you get a peek at Laura's day. Enjoy!
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Hi there! I am pleased to be a guest on Ashley's blog again! I'm Laura and I blog at LookingAbove. I am so blessed to be where I am in life. If you want to read about how my life took a 180...you can read my family's story here. I hope you will be encouraged! Here is a pic of my family...I love my family.
I stay home with my three kids Brooklyn age 4, Natalie age 3, and Nathan age 1. It is crazytown over here sometimes...but it is great! I am documenting a typical Friday, which is basically a typical day for most days.
6:00 AM: My husband's alarm goes off. I never hear it. I just hear him get up and get ready for his work day. I go back to sleep usually, or just lay there. He leaves by 6:30...and then...my day begins.
by 7:00 AM: I hear Natalie walk into my room. She climbs into bed with me and quietly says "can I watch Curios George?". She gives me the remote...I find Curious George on the DVR and we are set for a little bit. I sleep for maybe ten more minutes and then Brooklyn sleepily comes to my bed and crawls in on my other side. I LOVE this part of my day. 15 minutes of snuggle time with my girls.
7:30: I get up and take a quick shower while my girls lay in my bed. I admit, this spoils me.( Kids are easier as they get older! ) I dry my hair, do my make up and get dressed.
8:00: I homeschool my girls (Just pre-K for now) and we usually do some sort of school activity each morning. However, today is Ballet school day for my girls. So I let them get their dancing clothes on (leotard, tights, skirt and shoes). I make their breakfast and they eat. They ask for oatmeal most every day. I boil water, pour them 1/3 cup of plain oats into a bowl, add a tablespoon of raw local honey, add the water, add a little milk, add their vitamin powder and call it good. I also give them some OJ. I fill a sippy cup about 2 inches full of OJ, add about 4 inches of water, 1 teaspoon of probiotics and they chug it. I sip my coffee during this time :) I do their hair while they eat. I also get a bag ready to take with us...filled with toys, snacks etc for Nathan. We are there for TWO long hours...it is not easy to keep my little guy amused for that long. Natalie on the right...is tiny for her age...although I think my camera angle is exaggerating it big time.
9:00: AM: I get my little guy out of bed (yes! He does sleep this late!! YAY). I get him changed, put him in his high chair and feed him his breakfast. He eats the same as the girls, but not as much. I feed him a banana and some kiwi. He doesn't like juice so I give him water. He used to drink milk, but we are transitioning out of the bottle, so he refuses it. Oh well...I know he gets calcium in all the other weird things I feed my kids :) Here is is standing on the fire place...he is quite the climber.
9:40 AM: I get all the kids in the car to head to ballet. Thankfully the girls can climb in and snap themselves in. I get Nathan settled in his carseat and then I tighten up the girls. Our ballet school is seriously a little over a mile away. It takes ten minutes to get there....only because of the stop lights.
10:00 AM: Brooklyn has her dance class. Natalie plays with other little kids that are there and Nathan is learning to play with them too. I like this time because I am friends with the other 5 moms who are there and it's like a little playdate for us all!
11:00 AM: It's Natalie's turn to dance. So Brooklyn plays with the kids and I talk with the mom's. Although, it is a new set of moms and kids because of the class switching. So I basically get two playdates in a row every Friday. I really like it! Although....by 11:30 Nathan has HAD it and he is cranky and ready to get out of there. So I try and keep him happy until we leave.
Noon: We load up the car and head home. We unload and head to the table to eat. For lunch we eat pretty simple. If you are looking for an amazing way to get your fruits and veggies into your kids try this. My girls call it their ice cream drink and it is SUPER healthy, super easy, and we all drink it every single day. When I give this to my kids I never worry the rest of the day because I know they got a super immunity, vitamin, mineral boost to keep them healthy! Seriously try it. Today we had yogurt, some left over baked chicken, and some banana muffins that I made. We always drink water. Here you see my girls, mine, and Nathan's (I mix with applesauce) "ice cream" drink. We make some for Daddy too at night :)
1:30 PM: After we eat, I clean the kitchen, the girls change clothes and Nathan runs around for a bit. I closed all the curtains and window blinds. This is a cue for my kids that it is rest time. My girls sit on the couch and watch Curious George again (they love that show) while I get Nathan settled for a nap. I change his diaper, rock him, give him a bottle of milk, give him his pacifier and put him in bed. Awake. I shut his door and he sleeps. Usually for 2-3 hours. He is a great sleeper at nap time. :)
2:00-4:30PM. My kids rest. Usually during this time I try to clean or do laundry. Today I am worn out from the day and I have a major, major headache. So today I decide to lay with my girls on my bed and we all three take a nap together. Hello. Heaven on earth.
4:45PM: i wake up, realize everyone else is still asleep. So I get up and straighten the house a bit. The girls hear me, so they get up and ask for a snack. I give them some almonds and a tiny bit of dark chocolate :) Just because they took amazing naps :) I hear Nathan waking also, so I get him up, change his massive poopy diaper, ugh, and the kids play together in the living room while I get dinner together. My husband usually gets home between three and five. So he showers, and plays with the kids. Lately it has been nice so they play outside...yay! I can make dinner in peace! :)
5:30 PM: We eat dinner. Tonight dinner is easy. Pancakes and fruit. I usually try to make something more elaborate, but since I took a nap I really didn't put much effort into dinner. We eat dinner as a family at the table every evening. Actually, we eat every meal at the table together. That is something my husband and I decided we would do way before we had kids. No TV on, no toys, just us. Usually the kids keep us entertained with their silly stories. They are hilarious :)
6:15 PM: Our family time is very special to us. Almost every evening we take a walk in our neighborhood. The girls (even though they are older) sit in our double jogger and Nathan is in the single. My husband and I each push one and we walk for about 30-35 minutes. This is my favorite time because Philip and I talk about our hopes and dreams for the future. We talk about projects we would like to do or vacations we would like to take. Our kids love it too. The air is good for them, they love socializing with other people as we walk by, and they sing songs and laugh at each other. This is the most recent pic of our family....taken October 7th...my son was not very happy :)
7:00PM. Bath time. I get the girls in the bath and get them ready for bed. Philip will bathe Nathan and get him ready for bed. I love that my girls can clean themselves, dry themselves, and dress themselves. So nice!
7:30 PM. The girls lay on our bed and we let them watch the Berenstein Bears. Tonight they also watch a DVD we have called "Praise baby". It is worship music with images and videos...sort of like Baby Einstein. I lay on our bed with them while Philip and Nathan chill in the living room. Sometimes we switch it up and Philip is with the girls and I am with Nathan.
8:00 PM: Nathan gets to go to bed. Ever since I quit nursing, Philip has put Nathan in bed. Nathan just responded better to him, especially with a bottle. So Philip rocks him in his room, gives him a bottle and Nathan goes to bed. Usually, it is pretty uneventful. Although lately, he has been crying when Philip leaves the room. and cries and cries. not easy!
8:15 PM: Philip and I each carry one of the girls to their bed (they share a room). They have twin beds so we take turns each night laying with each of them. We pray, they pray, and we give hugs and kisses and we leave the room. They whisper and giggle sometimes. They are really easy to put to bed. I think we have a nice bedtime routine.
8:45 PM: Philip and I will watch a show we DVR. We like "The Voice", "Up All Night", "The Office" and I like "19 kids and Counting" haha! (I think it makes me feel better about being able to handle my three).
10:00 PM: We go to bed. We go to bed together every night. We read. We talk. I usually fall asleep within 15-20 minutes. It was a great day :)
What is the most surprising thing to you about being a mom? I never ever knew that I could love like this. After my first daughter, I cried ALL THE TIME because I was so in love with her. With my second pregnancy, I was afraid that I could not share my love. I was soooo wrong. My love grew. I love them so equally. When Nathan came along...I was scared because he was a boy...but this little guy stole my heart and he has it in the palm of his hand. I also realize how much I love my husband. He is so amazing and seeing him within my kids...is so beautiful.
What advice would you give to new or soon-to-be mamas? If it is your first child your are pregnant with....go on as many dates as you can with your husband. :) other than that, just take care of yourself. Sleep when you can. Eat when you can. Just go with the flow. Love on your baby. Love on your husband. Do what you think is best for your family. Just enjoy it :)
What are your top three baby products?
1) If you are nursing, a breast pump and a good one. and a comfy nursing pillow.
2) a bouncy seat. My kids all had spit up issues and they all slept in the bouncy seat for probably the first two months! (buckled in and secure of course!)
3) A baby carrier. I loved mine. I didn't use it daily, but with three kids, there were times that I needed to "wear" nathan and use my hands to hold my daughters hands when we were out. Get a good one, it is worth the money.
Thanks for reading about my day! Thanks Ashley for letting me share!
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Thank you, Laura, for sharing your day!
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