A Day in our Life

Kim

A Day in our Life

A normal weekday for us begins at 6:30am when my alarm goes off.  I am not a morning person and doubt I ever will be, but I also don't like to be late and know that this awful morning wake-up time is a must if I want to get to work by 8:30am.  Everyone else in the house is still sleeping.  Well, actually let me rephrase that...everyone else is still in bed.  Matt is slumbering peacefully in our bed - he barely even flinches when I get up.  Fisher is tucked happily into the corner of the loveseat downstairs that she has claimed as her own.  And Henry - well, he's in his crib, but often he wakes up at this time too.  I think he hears my alarm.  Or maybe it's that he goes to bed at 8pm and has had his full night's sleep.  Either way, this is the sight I usually see on the monitor as I get up:

Happily playing and rolling all around.  

Fortunately, he's usually happy to play around for 45 minutes while I get ready.  Some days he goes back to sleep, some days he gets upset and demands I come and get him...but most days he rolls all around, plays with his pacifiers and just generally entertains himself as he's waking up.  

Fisher usually wakes up when she hears the shower and is waiting for me eagerly when I get out.  We play the same game every morning.  She is desperate to eat.  I make her wait until I am completely ready.  She follows me all around our room as I am getting dressed and putting on my make-up.  Some mornings I lose patience with her and shut her out in the hall.  She is sweet nonetheless though.

Finally, it is time for Fisher's breakfast.

Happy girl.  Finally.

Fisher eats, I make Henry's morning bottle and then Fisher goes outside.  Most days, I leave her in the backyard until Matt comes down for his breakfast.  A little fresh air never hurt anyone.  

Now, it's time to get the babe...

Sleepy eyes when I first turn on the lights.

The smiles come out once I see mom!

I get Henry ready and we head downstairs for breakfast. 

It was raining this morning, so Fisher got to stay inside.

Henry has his bottle while I do morning chores (usually emptying the dishwasher).  Once he's done with that, it's time for fruit and cereal or yogurt.  Today, it was yogurt.

Yum!

We finish up, kiss Matt goodbye, and head off to work/preschool.  I am so very thankful for my schedule and that Henry gets to come with me every morning.  It really is the perfect balance for me right now.  

I have to be at work at 8:30am but preschool doesn't start until 9am, so Henry hangs out with me in my office for the first 30 minutes of the day.  We usually check emails, chat with the other ladies in the office and just generally get our day started.

Hanging out in mom's office.

Sitting on mom's desk in my car seat.

Once I get Henry off to his classroom, it's back to work for me.  My hours are shortened, but my job responsibilities are the same as when I was full-time, so efficiency is the key.  I like it though - I do much better when I am busy.  And it is completely doable...I am in no way over-extended.  I am always anxious to get Henry at 1pm though.  Like I said, this schedule offers the perfect balance for us right now.

We load up at 1pm and usually head home.  If I have errands to run, this is the time to do it.  Most days though, we head straight home, let Fisher out, and then enjoy our lunch together.

The next part of the day is my favorite.  After eating, Henry's usually in a great mood and ready to play.  This is truly our quality time together of the day, and I try to cherish it.  Some days I am distracted by laundry or computer work, but most days I try hard to savor this time and just enjoy our sweet boy.

We jump.

We play.

We have a good time together.  

Around 3pm things start going downhill and I know that it is time for a nap.  Just these past two weeks, we've really started to get into an actual routine with napping.  I don't want to jinx us, but Henry's been doing great at napping in his crib for at least an hour, and sometimes more. (Maybe I should've written that post about his 45 minute timer sooner.  It seems as soon as I wrote it, he set out to prove me wrong.  Fine by me!)  I am still finding my groove during nap time because I am just now getting used to its existence.  Mostly, I do chores around the house...some days I take a little nap myself...sometimes I do work...eventually, I'd like to squeeze in a workout.  As I said, I'm still figuring it out.  It's such a novelty!

Nap ends, and we have another bottle...

Now, it's keep-Henry-entertained-and-happy-until-dad-gets-home time.  He's played and jumped, and usually he's ready for something more exciting.  We sing, play on the floor, watch Fisher, take walks outside...whatever we're in the mood to do.

Inspecting the pumpkins on the front porch.

Mom and Dad's bed is nice for a change of scenery sometimes.

Every other day is bath day - I usually squeeze it in now.  It is too much to try and do it just before bed.

Henry still relishes in his baths.  He loves to kick and splash until all of his toys fly out of his little tub into the big tub.  I pick them up and put them back in his tub and we do it all again.  He also loves playing with the washcloth.  He'll wave it over one side of his tub into the big tub, then switch hands and wave it on the other side - back and forth - amusing himself to giggles sometimes.  I so wish I could know what he's thinking during moments like this.

The evenings are filled with bottles, usually a second meal of solid food and quality time with dad.  

He is fascinated by Matt's wireless speaker.

More bottles.

Things start to wind down for Henry by 7:30pm.  Our bedtime routine consists of putting on his PJs and sleep sack and then one last bottle.  He knows when we start getting ready for bed, and is usually half-asleep by the time he finishes that bottle.  His sweet little half-opened eyes usually portray what I hope is satisfaction with his day, and complete trust and safety in where he is.  With a kiss goodnight to dad, we head upstairs and I lay him in his crib.  Kisses from mom, a reminder to say his prayers and a wish for sweet dreams, and his day is complete.  He may roll around a little bit, but generally he's asleep within a few minutes.

Now, Matt and I get to enjoy a few precious hours together before it is time for us to head to bed.  A lot of days, we don't eat dinner until after Henry goes to sleep.  We catch up on the day's events, watch mindless TV, and relax.  Eventually, the bed calls our name, and we head off to dreamland ourselves.  

These days are routine, but they are precious.  I wouldn't trade them for anything and I am so thankful of the time we have.  I know this post is long and a bit mundane, but I don't want to take one single second for granted, and I know that compared to how things may be down the road, these days are relatively calm and easy.  I want to remember how that feels.  Looking back, I also remember the first few months after Henry's arrival, and feeling like I had no idea what I was doing, desperately wishing for some semblance of a schedule, and hoping that one day things would fall into place and we'd hit our groove.  Things are always evolving and changing, but we're making it...and loving it....and finding peace and joy in each day.