a day in the life - jess

Morning all.  First, I have to say thank you so much for all of your input in my last two posts.  I seriously love the blogging community.  It is amazing how more or less strangers (even though I feel like I know half of you) can come together and lift a person up, help them however they can.  Your words are encouraging and helpful and I greatly appreciate all of the comments that have been left.

It is somewhat ironic that a solo parenting night that spiraled downhill left Miss E awake for roughly three hours before bedtime last night, thus resulting in a 4.5 hour sleep stretch.  Not the way I want to get it, but by the second feeding of the night (2.5 hours later) I was already feeling much more rested.

Also?  I've gone two days without sweets or chocolate.  I'm totally hitting the fruit hard to compensate, but small steps, right?

Ok enough about that.  Today you get a look at a day in the life of Jess.  I hope you enjoy a peek at her day!

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Hello, hello!  My name is Jess and I blog over at Life With Crazycurls!  I've been following Ashley's blog for over a year now and am so excited to participate in her Day in the Life series!  The subtitle to my blog is 'Continuing to Find Myself While Living Life', this part is always a work in progress but I'm learning that making time for myself will only help me be a better partner to my husband and mother to our two beautiful kids Molly (almost 4) and Tommy (16 months).

Here's a peak into what turned out to be somewhat of a crazy day:

8:00AM: I wake up to the normal sounds of Tommy shouting from his crib and Molly running into his room to 'entertain' him for a while.  This is VERY late for us.  Tommy normally wakes up between 6:45 and 7 with Molly running in then but lately T has been waking in the middle of the night and last night was no exception. I am thankful he let us all get a little extra sleep.

Molly and Tommy hanging out in the morning

8:50AM: We are dressed; teeth and hair brushed and ready to head out the door to drop Molly off at preschool.  We were running so far behind schedule that while Tommy has his bottle and toast I make Molly's and my toast to eat in the car.

8:55AM: Have to pause outside to take a picture of this crazy weather we are having in MN.  We had a winter storm warning this day.

Really Minnesota?  Really?

9:30AM: While in the car, my hubby called to remind me that all our cable boxes need to be returned (you can read why here) and of course today is the last day so Tommy and I stop back at the house, pick up all the stuff and head over to the cable company.  It is surprisingly easy and we're back in the car within 20 minutes.

10:15AM: I take Tommy to the local rec center (St. Paul has AWESOME Parks & Recs) where they have open gym.  I made the mistake last time we were there of showing him how to make a basket in the hoop and now it's all he wants to do.  It's very hard to hold a squirmy toddler and 'help' him shoot a basket at the same time!

Trying to make a basket

11:45AM: After we pick Molly up we head into the house and I open a letter saying Molly got into the public school Pre-Kindergarten program!!!  Since it's not a required grade, not all schools offer it so it's a lottery system to get in.  I'm so happy I could almost cry! She didn't get in right away and I had little hope of her getting off of the waiting list.  However, apparently someone didn't want their spot so Molly got it!  This is such great news because it's the school we wanted which means she'll have a place there for K-5th and it means that Tommy will have a better chance of going there because of sibling preference.  Never knew how something like Pre-K would have such an impact on our lives!

12:30PM: Lunch is done and I put a very tired Tommy down for a nap.  Molly says she doesn't need a nap.  I suggest we try out her new window markers she received from the Easter Bunny.  We have a go but she's more interested in playing with the markers than she is with drawing on the window.  After a little bit she asks for 'Wreck It Ralph' and I oblige since she hasn't watched any tv yet.  I'm a little disappointed the window markers weren't a bigger hit because try as I might we don't do a craft or art everyday so I had hoped she would have been excited to do this.  One of my favorite/most hated websites is Play At Home Mom LLC. It's a group of mom's who do these simple yet amazing 'invitations' for their kids.  I have to remind myself that it's a GROUP of moms, it's not one mom who does all of these cool, creative, educational projects everyday (this is why it's also one of my most hated websites, as much as I love it, it can make me feel like I'm failing at motherhood).  I highly recommend perusing their website though; I've gotten great ideas from them.

I use this time to wash the dishes.  Our dishwasher broke down last week and this would have been the second pricey repair within a year for an 18 yr old machine, no thank you.  We're expecting our new one today!  I'm feeling pretty proud of myself because I did a major pick up last night and we haven't been home much today for the kids to mess it up so I do little pidly stuff like sort recycling, go through junk mail, empty Molly's overnight bag from a sleepover at Grandma's and put away laundry.

3:30PM: Molly and I end up doing some window coloring when Tommy starts fussing.  After getting him, I get a snack of Goldfish and milk and we sit in the 'boat' Molly made out of the couch to read some library books we're taking back tomorrow.

I swear he was happier just a second ago!

4:00PM: Dishwasher arrives!!!  Whoo-hoo! Both kids are fascinated by how the guys get the old one out and the new one in the house.

4:30PM: This is a little bit of my witching hour.  I'm trying to get dinner started, Tommy wants to help, Molly wants me to play with her.  This is usually when I break down and let her watch cartoons.  Today it's Caillou.

5:00PM: Keith gets home and we have dinner, pasta with meat sauce and broccoli.

5:30PM: Tommy is COVERED in sauce so I decide to let both kids have a shower playing with shaving cream I bought at the dollar store (this has been one of Molly's most favorite things lately, she will stay in there for an hour if I let her).  Tommy ends up peeing at least 4 times in the shower.  I am dying trying not to laugh when Molly points it out and then says 'it's ok because I peed too' Oh. My. God. They are too much. I wish I got that on video.  While this is going on, the satellite tv guy comes over to fix a remote that wasn't synced up with one of the tvs. I told you this turned into a crazy day!

6:30PM: Keith starts attempting to connect the dishwasher, making three trips to the hardware store for the right parts.  PJ's on, this is our 'quite time' which means they can watch a cartoon if they are playing. Molly kicks Tommy after he takes apart her castle which sends her on timeout but Tommy of course has to join her on timeout.  I don't think he gets the concept yet :-)

7:15PM: I take Tommy upstairs for bed. Molly wants to help so she sings with me.  Tommy slaps her away because he doesn't like sharing my lap.  I lay Tommy down and Molly tells me to go away so she can tell him a story. I mean, really now.  How sweet is that??!?!?!

8:00PM: Molly's turn.  I read a book, tell her a story and sing a song.   Usually I lay down with her for a minute but I want to get downstairs to help K; however when I leave Molly is bawling so after 15 mins I go back up.  I have to count to 10 before going into her room so I don't go in angry.  My motto lately is 'how would I act if I were babysitting'.  It's really helped me take a step back and try to let go of the little things that could so easily make my blood boil.

9:30PM: K gave it a real go but in the end I think we're going to have to call the professionals to hook up the dishwasher.  Crap.  That means I have to deal with all the dinner dishes in the morning.

10:00PM: K goes to bed, I'm a night owl so I stay up watching an episode of Dance Moms I recorded and surf the internet.  Also, I'm putting together a month's worth of menu planning and trying to prep to do one big grocery shop on the 15th.  I've been spending time tweaking it trying to make it economical as well as practical.

12:00AM: After doing a sweep of the house putting toys, shoes, books and dishes away I slide into bed and pray that Tommy sleeps through the night. Here's hoping!

Ashley's questions:

Q: What is the most surprising thing to you about being a mom?
A: How HARD it is! Seriously! I can't believe how naive I was. I have babysat/nannied since I was 12, I worked at after school programs during college, I couldn't even begin to estimate the hours I clocked watching other people's kids. And I LOVED it! I was GREAT at it. And of course I LOVE my kids but it gets emotional when they're your own. I lose my cool way more than I would like and it's something I'm working on every single day.

Q: What advice would you give to new or soon-to-be mamas?
A: Borrow baby equipment before buying your own. Especially the big stuff. I have a highchair that I absolutely hate but had to have because it was matchy matchy with the travel stroller set. I wish I had borrowed or even bought a cheap version before we invested in our pricey one. I would have found that it wasn't a good fit for our needs.

Q: What are your top three baby products?
A: This is hard because it is different for each kid. For Molly, 1) pack n' play 2) plastic rain cover for the stroller 3) Bumbo. For Tommy, 1) baby swing 2) Halo fleece sleep sacs 3) multi sectioned formula dispenser (for on-the-go).

I had a great time documenting our day, I hope you stop over at Life With Crazycurls and check out what we're up to.  Thanks for hosting us Ashley!

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Thank you for sharing with us Jess!