i know i'm not, like, a "real" mommy blogger. or blogger at all, honestly. but i read a lot of blogs and they sometimes do things that i think are interesting or at least something i think i might like to look back on and remember at some point when i turn the ol' blog into a book.
one of those things is a day in the life, where you chronicle a "typical" day in your...life. yes. it's not just a clever name. anyway...i'm doing just that for thursday, november 6, 2014.
2:03a.m.: hear hollis crying. he's not usually up in the middle of the night (at least not THIS middle), but he's been rocking a mean cold since weaning, so i'm guessing he is just sleeping more lightly than usual. debate going in to check on him, but pee and hear that he's settling himself down, so i crawl back into bed and am asleep again within seconds (this rarely happens but i was so tired).
5:36: wrist alarm on my jawbone thingy buzzes at me, letting me know this would be the time to go for a run if i am committed to excellence. promptly decide i am not committed to excellence this morning since it's sorta rainy and sorta cold out (55 degrees. we are wusses in texas). decide i'm going to work from home, so a mid-morning run can happen and have sufficiently justified falling back to sleep.
6:08: emme appears at the side of the bed telling me she has to potty. i point in the general direction of our bathroom and get some face licks from etta before ek crawls into bed with me. we have some delicious snuggle time - she is extra warm and cuddly in the mornings and i really love it when she comes to our bed and it's after 6.
6:21: justin gets up and hits the shower. emme and i discuss what she might want for breakfast and then mosey our way into the kitchen.
6:27: make coffee, cut up pear, peel banana, mix greek yogurt with a touch of agave nectar and granola, throw cheerios into the mix. pour milks and set kids' breakfasts at the table. em is annoyed that we don't have applesauce and that her yougurt and granola are not in a parfait glass, but she's mostly handling it for now. she asks me if she can go wake up hollis, who has never slept this late probably ever in his life and i say absolutely not.
6:44: make hollis's lunch. emme had a pizza party for one of her classmates' birthdays the day before, which i had forgotten about when i was packing lunches the night before, so her lunch is ready to go. i heat her leftover gumbo to put back into her thermos - she's also got an english muffin pizza she made, roasted cauliflower which i know she won't eat but insist on including anyway, and clementines. hollis is getting pb&j (one of the few things he regularly eats), a pear, and roasted cauliflower, which he also won't touch.
6:52: decide i'm a little concerned that we still haven't heard from h, so i crack his door and see him on his back, heavy breathing, sound asleep. my baby. tiptoe out of his room knowing it won't be long now, but glad he's ok and getting good rest.
6:55: down a few sips of coffee and let the dogs in and out a few times.
6:59: hollis is calling for us. justin is out of the shower and dressed now, so all three of us go into h's room to tell him good morning. spend some good time snuggling and holding him. he lets us know his nose hurts, which is obvious since it's all red and crusty. poor kidlet. head back to kitchen and encourage kids to eat while i sip on more coffee and get their water bottles ready.
7:08: kids are eating to the refrain of my reminders to please stay at the table while it's time for breakfast. i put away the random items from lunch and breakfast creation and drink more coffee.
7:18: begin the getting dressed battle with the children. coerce emme to wear tights and a sweater dress that is adorable because it's only 55 but isn't going to warm up and the wind chill feels like it's in the 40s. also, it's damp and might rain some more. clearly we are not a winter people. she's pretty furious about it and wants to wear a sun dress. i should point out her protests are mostly due to a lack of "twirl" factor and the decidedly non-elsa qualities of this dress. at some point she erupts in tears, pulls off the sweater dress and is in child's pose on the ground. justin moves in for triage and gets her into an alternate dress (not as warm, but not a sun dress, so i'm ok with it). meanwhile i change hollis's diaper, get him in clothes, including a hoodie, socks, and shoes. wheee.
7:41: i scramble into jeans and a hoodie that disguises the fact that i'm still wearing my pajama shirt. flip flops on, i load lunch boxes and water bottles into the car while justin corrals children into carseats. he's usually gone by this point in the morning, so it's nice to have the extra hands for buckling, etc.
7:43: off to school! drop emme off first. she's a little clingy but i remind her that tomorrow is her birthday and i'll be making treats for her class. remind her to leave her doll in her cubby until nap time.
7:46: walk hollis to his classroom. give his teachers the good news about his sleep this morning.
7:50: back in the car heading home. call my mom for our usual morning chat and de-brief on kids' sleep, my uncle's visit the night before, etc.
7:55: drink another cup of coffee while beginning the work day. make lists, check emails, begin working on some data i'm analyzing for a planning session.
8:42: brief pause for more coffee and to toast bread. slam some butter on it and chow while continuing to work.
8:56: decide this is probably the opportune time for a run. change into clothes and lament my lack of cute running clothes in general and serious lack of cool weather running gear. begin searching for headphones that justin used the night before while simultaneously apologizing to the dogs that they aren't invited on this run.
9:07: headphones are MIA and i'm super annoyed, but head out anyway. it's cold and damp, but i have a decent run. maintain my normal pace, though it feels slower. possibly because i choose to listen to the andrew bird station on pandora to reflect the climate. running without headphones sucks and i spend most of the run cataloging my to-do list and trying to figure out when all the things will happen. the run smells like trains and honeysuckles and puddles and i see some cute dogs on my route. vow to take the pups for a little stroll at some point today.
9:40: home. did the 3 mile loop so i take a minute to peruse my nike+ app. i seriously love that app.
9:43: back to work with more coffee and water to rehydrate since i'm terrible about that when i work from home. prep for 11:00 conference call, send first draft of my analysis to a co-worker for thoughts. start my personal-life list in my calendar - write thank you notes; get a bday card for emme; pick up a gift for my godchild; prep linens for MIL's visit tomorrow; plan to create these classroom treats for emme's class; etc.
11:00: conference call for work. short and productive - i scheduled it for 30 minutes and we were able to figure out a plan in 11. win!
11:12: gather laundry and throw on a load while bread is toasting.
11:14: throw cheese and lunch meat onto bread, refill water glass, let pups out again, back to computer for more work.
11:49: technically lunch time even though i already ate. decide showering is probably appropriate during this juncture and think i may be able to swing a quick trip to the grocery store before my 1:00 call if i'm speedy.
11:55: check in with alison via text to confirm i'm still babysitting for her tonight. notice she texted me a pic of carrie contey with a giant laugh-smile earlier and chuckle at her snarky comment.
12:06: 1:00 call just got canceled, so this frees up time. decide to work a bit longer since i'm in the zone with this analysis.
12:24: quick shower, finally.
12:28: back to computer. hoping to wrap stuff up fairly quickly and still make it to target.
2:53: realize it's almost 3 and there's no way target is going to happen today. sigh.
3:00: dial in to my conference call while unloading dishwasher. the best perk of work from home days is being able to multi-task while on a call that's not super relevant to me.
3:08: call is still going, so start prepping dinner. wash and massage (!) kale for salads, roast chickpeas, steam tilapia to make homemade fishsticks for kidlets. get irrationally excited about how gorgeous this avocado is.
4:00: call is over and dinner is somewhat ready to go. spend time wrapping up my work day and making lists for tomorrow's work priorities.
4:30: get a text from justin that there's a wreck on the bridge on his route home, so he'll be late. i offer to pick up the kids and hop in the car, hoping we'll all meet at home around the same time.
4:38: leave to get kidlets. they are fun and cute and easy to pick up today, which is a nice treat.
4:52: back home and jb is home too - yay! kids are excited about that. we see our neighbor lindsey and her son jackson and visit with them for a few minutes outside. emme randomly hugs lindsey like three times even though she hardly knows her. such a funny kid.
5:16: dinner time! the kale salad is pretty delicious - could have used a little more flavor, but on its way to delicious. the fish sticks for the kids were pretty amazing, even if they were ugly as sin. shockingly, kids refuse to eat fish sticks or roasted carrots. i'm super frustrated by the pickiness and vow to draw a hard line on alternate food options.
5:46: emme and i head to the grocery store to get the treats for her class. my original idea of fruit pizzas (don't be disappointed in me, emma!) is clearly not going to happen, so i'm going with fruit kabobs. ek is super sweet and funny at the store. we pick out grapes, blackberries, pineapple, kiwi, and clementines. she also picks out marshmallows and declares she wants them with breakfast for her birthday tomorrow.
6:09: back home. hollis toddles out of his room and he's clean and in jammies. so cute - i love freshly bathed children. he's also, understandably, ravenous. he grabs random bowls and demands cereal. i finally cave and offer him a banana. after he squawks at me for showing him his untouched dinner plate.
6:22: emme is finishing up bath and demanding a banana also. i'm super glad there is one left and silently curse myself for not picking up some more while i was JUST at the grocery store. i'm cutting and counting fruit for the kabobs while semi-monitoring hollis.
6:31: emme is finally out of the tub and in jammies. i snap a couple pics since she will only be three for a few more hours. i head back to the fruit station.
6:47: fruit is cut and counted and a sample kabob is assembled for justin. head to hollis's room for reading.
6:49: gather kids on my lap and rock while reading some random martha speaks book from chick fil-a and "i love you stinky face", one of my faves. i love how hollis giggles when i whisper i love you stinky face in his ear.
7:01: emme and jb kiss hollis goodnight and it's lights out. he's sleepy today, so we have a relaxing time rocking and cuddling for a few minutes. he drools on my shoulder and i whisper prayers to him then lie him down and kiss him good night.
7:13: run to the kitchen to get emme's water, then back to her room. she and justin have finished reading additional books and are discussing her day and impending birthday. she's really excited about everything, but we manage to get the lights off and do the whole routine: talk about her day, say our father, talk about how grateful we are for our family, recite goodnight moon. at this point it's intermission - daddy says the last refrain of goodnight moon then heads out. ek runs down the hall to potty and hug daddy once more, then returns for the second act of bedtime routine: sip of water, sing you are my sunshine, tell me five good things to think about while i close my eyes, say the end of goodnight moon, lay with me for 2 minutes. whoosh. bedtime for this girl is intense and loooong, but she is too sweet to deny.
7:33: emerge from emme's room. put on shoes and grab phone, wallet, keys. drive to alison's house to babysit her girls so she and brian can go on a date night.
7:49: arrive at alison's and take over bedtime routine for cameron. also get excessively barked at by their new rescue dog, hazel. i manage to get cameron down in one try (a first!) and hazel becomes my buddy. i grab some chex mix and halloween candy and lament the fact that i forgot my kindle. but i flip through trash on cable and snuggle with hazel and peruse instagram and facebook, read some random articles, and doze a couple of times.
11:07: they are back! we laugh and talk about our frenetic lives for a minute, loosely scheduling the babysitting exchange for next week.
11:13: drive home.
11:28: home - turn out the lights jb left on for me and have a sleepy conversation with him about ek's birthday.
11:46: sleeeeeep!
6:27: wake up to hollis calling for me. go grab him and hit the kitchen to make pancakes for my sweet birthday girl!
