a day in the life - maria

Well, I apologize but there is probably going to be some radio silence around here this week, and maybe part of next.  The girls are rarely sleeping at the same time and we've barely been home between the holiday and a trip and this and that.  So sorry.  But I'm sure you'll live.  :o)  Who knows, maybe I'll surprise myself and get a few minutes!

Today you get a peek at Maria's day.  Enjoy!

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Hi  'The Domestic Wannabe' readers! Today you'll be reading a bit about my day-to-day life with my son Micha and husband B.  My name is Maria and my blog is called 'Micha and ME'.

We live in a small-ish city in Holland, but I'm originally from Australia(born there) and Canada(spent a chunk of my childhood there). My family moved to Holland when I was ten years old.  I studied Journalism in university, now I'm a stay-at-home mama, but I'm also a Barista two nights a week.  My husband is an elementary school teacher. We met in high school at the age of sixteen and got married on a beautiful, sunny afternoon in August when we were twenty-one.

Our son Micha (the dutch spelling of Micah) is almost eight months old and such a happy and active little guy, he's the love of our life. We struggled with infertility for almost four years before I got pregnant with him, and we feel so lucky that God blessed us with our precious baby boy.

This is how a typical day in our life looks like:

4.30 a.m. - Micha wakes up next to me. On Saturday night the clocks changed to an hour earlier because of Daylight Saving time and he's having a hard time getting used to it and has been sleeping in our bed the last few nights (whoever invented Daylight Saving probably didn't have small children, grrr).  I nurse him back to sleep. But now I can't sleep. I've been battling the flu or a bad cold the last few days and my sinuses are all stuffed up.

7.00 a.m. - I guess I fell asleep after all,  because the alarm clock wakes us. It's time to get up.
Micha is always such a happy little guy in the mornings so I don't mind waking up next to him at all!
We cuddle a bit in bed while B. hops in the shower and gets ready for a day in front of the classroom. I try to nurse Micha, but I guess he doesn't want his morning drink because he bites me ( ouch!) and turns away to play. (He has always been a difficult baby to nurse, he's very easily distracted and lately he's been on breastfeeding strike during the day, so now I offer to nurse him when ever it seems like he's thirsty to get us back on track. )

7.30 a.m. - We go downstairs and have breakfast together. Granola, yogurt and orange juice for the adults and a rice cracker, a pear and yogurt for Micha. We're doing Baby-Led weaning with him and he just loves it. He loves being in charge of what goes in his mouth and I love that it's so easy, no puréees or spoon feeding here! We do help him eat his yogurt by filling his spoon, but he brings it to his mouth by himself, and he's getting better and better at it!

8.00 a.m. - B. leaves for work and we stand at the window and wave while we watch him bike away.
I then plop Micha down on the living room rug with some toys. While he plays I clean off the table, check my email and vacuum the living room and the kitchen.

9.00 am. - Micha goes down for his nap, usually I sing him lullaby and lay him down and that's that, but today it takes a bit more effort. I turn on his music box and he falls asleep.
I take a shower, get dressed, and put on some make-up. Then I go downstairs, make some coffee, and while it's brewing I load the dishwasher and wash some bottles.
My coffee's ready, I take it to the living room and read some blogs and do some blogging of my own.

10.45 a.m. - Micha wakes up from his nap, happy and chatting. I love when that happens, there's nothing better than a baby greeting you with smiles after a nap. I dress him and then we head downstairs to eat some fruit.  Some more pear and a slice of avocado for Micha and a kiwi for me. I need the vitamins to beat my cold! When we're done Micha seems like he's thirsty so I nurse him and he drinks surprisingly well, and no biting, my nipples thank him, haha, TMI?

11.45 a.m. - We put on our coats, I put Micha in his stroller and we head out to do some groceries. We go for a walk at least once day. The grocery store is about a fifteen minute walk from our apartment and we usually walk through a park with a petting zoo on the way back. Micha loves animals and gets all excited when he sees the goats and chickens. For some reason the animals are inside today, I don't know why, it's beautiful outside!

12.50 p.m. - We're back from our walk, we have lunch together, Micha has a slice of bread with tahini and margarine on it and I make myself a tomato and avocado sandwich.

1.30 p.m. - After lunch we play together and I read him some books. Lately I let him pick which book he wants to read, I give him two choices and he grabs the one he wants to read. He definitely has a favorite: 'Oh no, George', by Chris Haughton.

2.00 p.m. - Micha is rubbing his eyes and is getting a bit fussy, so it's nap time again. He goes down a bit easier than this morning. While he naps I blog.

3.30 p.m. - I hear Micha chatting through the baby monitor and find him playing with his stuffed monkey in his crib. It's beautiful and sunny outside so I decide to take us out for a walk again. We walk to another petting zoo close by, and here all the animals are outside, Micha is so excited!

4.30 p.m. - We're home again. I put Micha in his walker while I prepare dinner. We're having Shepherds Pie tonight, one B.'s favorites. For Micha I make a little meatball and steam some carrots and potatoes.

5.15 p.m. - B. is home from work and plays with Micha while I finish cooking dinner.

5.45 p.m. - We eat together. We make an effort to eat together at the table every night. We really believe that it's such a good thing for our family, and we want Micha to grow up to see meal time as family time.

6.45 p.m. - Micha goes in bath every evening, and tonight's no different. After he's done splashing all of the water out of playing in the tub I dry him off and put on his Pajama's and sleep sack. We cuddle up on the pouf in his room where I read some books, pray with him and sing some lullabies. I turn of the lights and nurse him. When he's done I put him in bed, give him a kiss and sneak out of his room.

7.00 p.m. - We hear some sleepy noises through the monitor, but he quickly falls asleep.

7.30 p.m. - B. leaves for bible study, too bad it's not at our house this time because now I'm missing out. I make myself some tea (I recently stopped drinking coffee in the evenings) and curl up on the couch to watch some episodes of 'Parenthood' on the laptop.

9.00 p.m. - B. comes home.  He has a beer and I have a little glass of wine and we chat about our day and watch an episode of 'Downton Abbey' on the laptop.

10.00 p.m. - We hear Micha crying, I nurse him back to sleep and put him back in his own bed (hopefully he'll stay there tonight). I'm still not feeling completely better and B. is pretty exhausted as well so we both go to bed.

And we'll do this whole thing over tomorrow!

What is the most surprising thing to you about being a mom?
I’m most surprised by how much I love being a stay-at-home mama. I really thought I would get so bored, but I honestly am not. I just love hanging out with my baby. And of course it does help to have friends with babies to have play/coffee dates with.

What advice would you give to new or soon-to-be mamas?
Don’t let other people tell you how to raise your baby. You and your husband are his/her parents and know what is best for him/her. Of course there’s nothing wrong with receiving advice if you ask for it, but unsollicited criticism should be ignored.

What are your top three baby products?

- A baby carrier, we have the Beco Gemini and I love it!

- Lanisoh Soothies Gel Pads. Not really a baby product, but you’ll love these if your a new nursing mama.

- Lots and lots of burp cloths, they really are good for everything!

Hope you enjoyed reading and I hope to see you at michaandme.blogspot.com!

Love, Maria

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Thanks for sharing with us Maria!