A day in the life

I thought I'd do a little "Day in the Life" post so you can get a window into what a typical weekday is like for this stay-at-home mommy.  Some parts of this day (Tuesday, November 10) were very typical, and others were not.

  

My day started at 6:30 AM, when my alarm went off.  I reset it for 7, though, because I could.  I wanted to get up to do some barre3 since I've been having some sciatic nerve pain lately, but I felt that I needed another 30 minutes of sleep.  Then at 7:10, Max started screaming out of nowhere in his crib.  Like, one second he was asleep and the next he was screaming bloody murder.  I didn't want to run in to him right away (we cry it out--for a certain amount of time--in this house), but I watched and listened to him on the monitor to make sure he was okay.  He calmed down after about 5 minutes and then was asleep 5 minutes after that, so that was my cue to get up, get dressed, and get down to the basement. By the time I was downstairs, let the dog out, and was all set up in the workout room, it was nearly 7:40.

I did a 30 minute Standing Slim video, which I love.  One of the things I love about barre3 is how low-impact it is, but it's still so effective and I always break a little sweat (sometimes a big sweat).  

After my workout, I showered and got ready for the day.  It was supposed to rain all day, so I didn't bother doing anything with my hair (curly hair problems).  Then I went in to get Max up.

Lately, Max has been waking up around 3 or 4 AM.  He just rolls around in his crib and babbles to himself for about an hour, then falls back asleep.  This makes him want to sleep a bit later in the morning.  On this particular morning, I went in to get him around 9 AM, which is about 30 minutes to an hour later than he usually wakes up.  He immediately wanted to sit in the glider and read his little Bible.

After getting Max dressed, we headed downstairs for breakfast.  Victor was still home on this particular day since he had a morning court appointment and was leaving straight from home instead of going to his office first.  We got to have breakfast together, and Victor made us English muffin sandwiches with egg and cheese.  Of course I smothered mine in ketchup because it's my favorite condiment and it just made good sense.

I want another one of these right now.  So yummy.  Also, I can't say enough about Simply Heinz ketchup. All natural, simple ingredients.  Tomato paste, salt, sugar (not high fructose corn syrup), onion powder, etc.  We love it.

After breakfast (around 10 AM), Victor left for court and Max and I headed to Costco.  I really didn't want to have to go to Costco on a rainy day, but I needed to pick up some canvas prints we had made, plus we needed a bunch of other stuff.  So we braved the rain and headed into the madness.  About an hour later, we were heading home with all of our bulk purchases.

Once we got home, I unloaded the car and put everything in the kitchen, then started on lunch--peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and applesauce.  Max inhaled his (after a few minutes of protesting being put in his high chair), and while he was eating, I made some trips to the basement to put some of our Costco purchases in the basement fridge: 6 half-gallon cartons of milk, Eggo waffles, vegetable soup, and some party appetizers.  I had to make about 3 trips, and I don't like to do those when Max is not restrained in some way because I'm afraid he'll try to follow me downstairs (he can open doors) and he's not the best at navigating stairs by himself.

After lunch, Max and I sat down to watch his pre-naptime episode of Sesame Street.  At 1 PM, I took him upstairs, went through our naptime routine (close drapes, turn on white noise, change diaper, read book, sing, put Max and his 3 bedtime buddies + blankie in his crib), and grabbed some laundry to throw in the washer.  Max was asleep by 1:15 after some rolling around and rearranging his stuffed animals, and I got started on repackaging our meat and fish that I bought at Costco.  Costco days can be a little stressful and overwhelming if I have to get a lot of stuff.  It takes a while to get everything situated at home, especially when I have Max with me.  Luckily I got a lot of easy stuff done while he was eating lunch, so all I had left to do was the meat/fish and washing/slicing the berries.

  

This is what I started with, meat/fish wise.  Lots of chicken breasts and thighs, salmon, and tilapia.  I like to bag the salmon and tilapia separately to make it easy to grab meal-sized portions.  The chicken is easy--just separate the packages.  But the fish takes a bit of time.  After about 20 minutes, I had this cake pan loaded up to take to the basement freezer.

After arranging this stuff in the basement fridge, I grabbed the meat and fish I'd need for the week's dinners and brought them up to the kitchen freezer.  Then I washed and sliced the blueberries and strawberries I had bought.  I also did a load of laundry and prepared the dry goods for my overnight oats jars for the rest of the week.

At about 2:20, I was able to sit down and eat my lunch, read some blogs, and read a bit of my book. I'm still reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult.  I'm almost finished and very enthralled.

The Ellen show came on at 3 (I never miss an episode, if I can help it.  She makes my day), and during commercials, I read more of my book.  Max was still asleep at 4 when Ellen ended, so I took a little nap until I heard him wake up at 4:30.  Max and I came downstairs, played with some Mega Blocks, vacuumed the rugs by the front door and back slider, then we snuggled up on the couch with some apple slices and Pete's Dragon, one of my favorite childhood movies.

Max lost interest in the movie after about 30 minutes (much to my dismay), so we went into his playroom to color, and he swept the room with his play broom.  Victor got home around 5:45, and I got started on dinner.  I am usually already making dinner by the time Victor gets home, but this night was a special exception. His parents, brother, and brother's fiancee returned from Portugal on this day and were driving home from the airport in New Jersey.  They were coming to our house for dinner and wouldn't arrive until close to 8 PM, so dinner was going to be about an hour later than we usually eat.  

I made spaghetti with meatballs, and while the sauce was simmering, I switched over/folded some more laundry, took out the recycling, and read to Max.  Victor and Max played a bit, too, while I was finishing up dinner.  Victor's family arrived around 7:30.  We ate, they filled us in on their trip, and Max showed off for our guests.  They left around 8:45 (it was a long day of traveling for them.  I give them credit for coming over for dinner.  I always just want to go straight home after returning from Portugal), and Max finished is bedtime bottle and Sesame Street episode (he loves the Street!).  He got to bed late due to our dinner get-together, so we had to postpone his bath till the morning.

After Max was asleep, I changed into my PJs and headed downstairs to blog and read my book. It was a long, productive day!

And there you have it!  I hope your week is going great!  And I wanted to wish a Happy Veterans' Day to those who have served or are currently serving in our armed forces.  Your sacrifices for our freedoms are endlessly appreciated. 

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