a whole day, from start to finish
Hi friends! Hope you’re having a wonderful morning. Sorry for the blog downtime yesterday! We are in the processing of upgrading another server, so hopefully the crashes will end. When we did the blog survey a while ago, I got a few requests for a full day post. I got another request last week, and thought it would be fun to go for it. While it isn’t exactly riveting haha, it’s a little glimpse into a pretty normal day around here. 🙂 It also reminded me of the “old days” of blogging and the types of posts I’ve always enjoyed reading.
Here we go!
3:12 am: P is yelling from her crib. It’s the second night we have her in the crib, unswaddled, so I was ready for her to wake up often, since she still doesn’t have great control over her arms while she’s sleeping. She’s usually a great sleeper, but finally mastered rolling from her back her stomach, so it’s not safe to keep her arms swaddled, so I’ve been swaddling below her arms. Her arms are out, and she’s screaming, but she smiles at me while I put the pacifier (“binky”) back in her mouth. She rolls to her side, closes her eyes, and I head back to bed. I don’t usually check the clock when I wake up with her -it makes me crazy to think about how much sleep I’m losing, so I just take care of her and go back to bed- and I also try to avoid eye contact. I try to get her back to sleep with my eyes almost-closed because she’s smiling the ENTIRE time and it’s everything in my power to keep from laughing, even though it’s the middle of the night.
Maybe an hour later: screaming, arms flailing. I run back in, binky back in, back to bed.
Maybe an hour later: forget it, I’m sleeping in her room. I sleep much better, and P seems to be OUT, finally, with her arms up by her head.
7:05 I’m awake and can hear P stirring next to me. I sneak out of bed, say hi to Liv and the Pilot, who are in the kitchen, and head to the bathroom to quickly wash my face, brush my teeth, and put in my contacts.
Liv is eating oatmeal that the Pilot made for her (he makes her breakfast when he doesn’t have to be at work super early), and I start heating a bottle as I go in to get Miss P, who’s cooing and happy as can be in her crib.
I feed P at the dining room table while Liv eats, and put P in her bouncy seat to get Livi dressed, teeth brushed, and hair braided. I put her lunch into her backpack, set it by the door, and throw on an old U of A sweatshirt and sneakers with the leggings I slept in. Sometimes I’ll get dressed before dropping Liv off at school, but most of the time, I go halfway in pajamas and pray that we’re not late. When we’re late, I have to park and take her inside. When we’re on time, we drive up, and the teachers get the students from the car. It’s the most glorious thing ever.
8:10 out the door and ready for school!
(Don’t worry, I adjusted the head support on P’s left side before getting her into the car)
I stop at Starbucks on the way home since I didn’t have a chance to chug any coffee yet, and look in the mirror to see P FAST.ASLEEP.
Fellow mamas know that a car nap is a wasted nap. We venture back to the house, and I transfer P to the crib. Of course, I wake her up in the process, but she magically rolls over and falls back asleep.
8:56: WORK BLITZ. I’m ready to tackle everything on my to do list for this nap: upload and edit photos for this post, make the workout graphic, send two contracts to partners, send an invoice, answer emails, respond to comments, and pre-write my newsletters for the weekend. (Two videos for my PBB friends, which I’d like to film during nap time this afternoon, and my Winter Shape Up email.) I’ll add to the latest Livi-isms post (she said a zinger this morning), add a photo, and set it up to publish later this afternoon. I use Co-schedule to plan my posts and social shout outs, and it makes it so much easier to post when I can’t physically be at the computer.
9:02: Juuuuust kidding. Remember when I said a car nap is a wasted nap? Haha. No lie. Miss P is awake, yelling, and I figure she’s still hungry since she didn’t drink most of her morning bottle. It’s tricky because you can’t overfill a reflux baby (or they’ll spit up everything they eat) and I also have to be strategic about how much she eats before going into the carseat. Instead of trying to get her to finish her morning bottle, I give her as much as she’ll take, take Liv to school, and feed her again when we get home. I start heating up a bottle, and go in to get her and change her diaper.
We watch the Today Show while she drinks her bottle, and play for a little while. We read a couple of books, I sing songs to her, and dangle toys in front of her face while talking in my high-pitched mom voice. 😉
We head to the kitchen, where I place her in the bouncy and eat breakfast: egg casserole from this meal prep post, a brown rice tortilla, and the rest of my coffee
Since she’s still happy playing, I get some chores finished: feed the dogs, empty the dishwasher, wipe down the table and countertops, and sweep the kitchen floor while singing “Wheels on the Bus.” From the outside, that probably looks a little nutty, but I talk and sing to P as much as I can. She’s ready for nap, so I change her diaper, put on fresh jammies (after a little spit up), and rock her until she’s drowsy but still awake. I place her into the crib with her beloved binky.
10:15 She’s still awake in her crib, so I do a couple more chores while I wait to see if she’ll crash, or if she needs me to rock her a bit more. I throw a load of laundry into the wash, fold the load that’s in the dryer, and make all of the beds. I wash a few bottles, and BOOM. She’s finally asleep! Back to the work stuff.
10:25: I start to crank through the to-do list: edit photos, make graphic, write my post, and
10:59 She’s awake! She’s talking to herself in her crib, so I try to tie up some loose ends until next nap time while she does her thing. If she’s not beckoning for me yet, I’m going to let her chill for a sec. She falls back asleep in 5 minutes. Yesssssss. Continue to blitz.
11:45 I have my post published, the Livi-isms post in the queue, but didn’t have time to do the newsletters or contracts/invoicing. I figure it’s probably time to get dressed so I put some makeup on, throw on jeans and a plaid shirt, and am ready to go just as P wakes up.
I heat a bottle, change her diaper, and feed her her bottle on our bed. We play for a little while -mostly smiling and making dinosaur noises back and forth, and she practices rolling- and I decide to head out for a walk since it’s a rare occasion where we don’t have a doctor’s or another appointment mid-day.
Grab two amazeballs and out the door:
12:45 We drive to Mission for a lovely 40-minute walk. [I’ve learned with babies, it helps to have zero expectations. When I put her down to nap, I don’t expect her to sleep very long, and when we go out, I don’t expect us to last very long without something going awry. This way, I’m almost always pleasantly surprised. For example, I thought maybe our stroll would last 15 minutes, and I was stoked when we were out there for 40.] Bell is SO happy. (Caro stayed home. It’s too hard for me to wrangle both dogs + the stroller since Caro takes a lot of encouragement to walk. I gave her a bone before we left, and she seemed happier about that than anything.)
1:45 back home! P is snoozing, so I transfer her to the crib and think about lunch. I eat some tortilla chips out of the bag, and heat up a leftovers creation:
chicken coconut curry with a sweet potato and salad.
I eat my lunch at the computer: start to answer comments, pre-write Friday Faves, and edit photos for Winter Shape Up. In between, I go back to P’s room to rock her back to sleep 3 times. She’s so tired, but still not used to the “no swaddle” thing.
2:30 She’s awake, and sad, so I go get her. We snuggle on the bed for a while, and she’s full of smiles, so I guess that’s it for that nap.
2:45 Pick up Livi from school, who can’t wait to tell us everything about her day. It was “cooking day” at school, so they made waffles. She also tells me about the games she and her friends play on the playground.
3:15 back home, feed P a bottle, make Livi a snack. We hang out together, read a couple of books, and P starts to get fussy and is ready for a nap.
4:00 rock P, in between getting Livi water, helping her go potty, and getting her another snack.
4:15 P is asleep, so Livi and I hang out in the kitchen and I start dinner while she draws at the table. We’re having a Champagne Turkey meal the Pilot picked out; a super simple slow cooker recipe that looked amazing. Our turkey is still semi-frozen, so the slow cooker isn’t happening. I defrost the turkey in the microwave while I layer everything else in a casserole dish: mushrooms, fennel, celery, onions, turkey, thyme, salt and pepper. I add the turkey, the champagne sauce goes on top, and it goes into the oven.
(Sandra Lee recipe. Lots of cocktail hour and tablescape jokes ensued later that night.)
4:45 P is awake. Not feeling the afternoon nap today, either. I start to heat up her bottle, change her diaper, and I change into my yoga clothes as she lies on our bed and Livi sings her “Old MacDonald” (had a banana…. haha).
5:00 The Pilot is home! We high-five, he takes over for the girls, and I head out to yoga!
5:30-6:30 I take a beautiful vinyasa class at Yoga Six. (Also wanted to remind you guys of the amazing discount code they offered for readers: fitnessista6 will get new students 6 weeks for $49, and fitnessista20 will give current students 20% off their next purchase. It only works online and is an AWESOME deal!) Class includes some arm balances (my favorite!) and a powerful flow sequence. I leave feeling sweaty and amazing.
6:45 I’m back home, Livi is eating dinner, and the Pilot has just started putting P to sleep for the night. The Pilot comes out to join us and the three of us enjoy dinner together: Champagne Turkey over brown rice.
7:15 I start to get Livi ready for bed, and change her into jammies, brush and floss her teeth.
7:40 Take my glass of champagne to the den, and it’s time to get back to work! The Pilot reads to Livi and tucks her into bed, then heads to the gym. (We alternate bedtime rituals each night.) I pick a giveaway winner and email her, finish my Friday Faves post and set it to post in the morning, invoice, send contracts, and start my newsletters. Then, I spend an hour editing and adding to the post baby bod plan, answer comments and emails.
9:40 The Pilot and I hang out in the kitchen. The Pilot washes bottles and makes the formula for the next day, while I clean up from dinner and pack Liv’s lunch. We get to chat, uninterrupted, for a while, and I look forward to it at the end of the day.
10:00 I take a shower, then heat up a fresh bottle that the Pilot prepared for P’s dream feed. I change her diaper as stealthily as possible, put on her Owlet, and snuggle with P as she drinks her bottle. I hold her upright for a little while so she can digest, and put her back to bed. (This is a technique we picked up from the Baby Whisperer. In a nutshell, you pick up the baby while they’re still asleep and feed them between 10-11pm. It’s helped both of our girls get longer stretches of sleep at night, and before the swaddlemaggedon, P was sleeping 7pm-6am or so. Also, for us, it’s been a great way to get in an extra feeding for P since she wasn’t gaining weight appropriately for a little while. All of the details are in the book.) I read in bed for about 20 minutes before calling it a night!
Did you make it to the end of this post?! *high five through the computer screen* haha
11:00 Lights out… and ready to do it all over again 😉
84 Comments
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I love this insight into your daily life! Thank you for sharing.
It makes me appreciate all that you do here on the blog so much more!
<3 thank you, lovely!
I”m not done reading yet. (love these posts btw). But, I was cracking up, picturing P all smiles when you go in there in the middle of the night, you not making eye contact. I did the same thing, makes me laugh! My son is 2 now, but you don’t forget those days! They’re hard! especially when you’ve got another one to take care of. 🙂 You’re doing an awesome job!
haha thank you. yes, it cracks me up! she’ll be crying and the second i walk in there, she’s making eyes and giant smiles at me
Whew, what a day! I was exhausted for you by 11:45am!
Whew! I felt like your day was never going to end. That must be how you’re feeling these days too. Keep it up!
hahaha i feel like that every day… i wake up, grab coffee and am like “here we go”
You are a legend. I am childless (by choice at the moment) and this seems so incredibly exhausting. And, I am used to teaching students with special needs from 7am-5pm!
Love these posts – thank you for sharing!
Question for you that I’ve often wondered about… Why brown rice tortillas over corn? Is there a major nutritional difference or another reason?
i like corn tortillas, too. i just like the brown rice ones for breakfast 🙂
And I thought I was having busy days…. OMG you are hero!!! I used to work 10-12 hour days back in NY but this sound so much more!
I’m very impressed you made it to a yoga class after that day and so little sleep! 🙂
i needed it so much!
P and Livi are so adorable! Just like Mama 🙂 I loved this post! We do not have kids yet but I can only imagine how hectic it can get at times. Have a great day today!
I loved reading this and knowing I’m not tje only person on earth awake in the middle of the night (which is what I feel like at 3 am haha)!
you are not alone 😉
Wow. Fascinating.
Haha!
This post made me want another baby but at the same time be glad my babies are getting older (2 & 4). You are so productive and organized-I’ve been trying to get dinner prepped early in the day and it’s been a huge help! I loved reading this and I love your meal planning posts!
thank you so much! prepping dinner during the day is a lifesaver. i didn’t do it today and we had beans, rice, chicken and strawberries haha
Props to you for putting on clothes and makeup. I don’t even have any kids and when I’m able to work from home I’m right in my sweats and no makeup or anything. Yesssss.
i love to hang out in sweats but it makes me feel kind of blah and lethargic. weird huh?
Suggestion – sprinkle 5 binkies in the crib so she can grab one without you having to go in at night. She might still be a little young for this, but eventually this will help you and her get a whole night’s sleep 🙂 Loved reading this, brings back the good ole days of babies!
What a fun post! I really enjoyed reading it! Not having kids myself its interesting the day to day! Thank you so much for sharing!
Way to go! You are awesome, the girls are so lucky to have you! Waking up in the middle of the night, sometimes I wake up around 3ish to use the bathroom, and I always keep my eyes closes as much as I can! Same if I have to take the dog out before wake-up time!
i do the same thing! when the light gets in, i have a hard time going back to sleep
I love these posts. It is amazing how much is done in one day rather 15 minutes 🙂 What a great post to look back on when the girls are heading to college and babies seem a million miles away.
that is so true! the sad thing is that i will be here before i know it
Oh my goodness! What is it with the dreaded car nap?! I used to really hate it when Charlotte fell asleep in the car because there would be no more napping for the day, why is that?!
i have no idea. we’ve spent entire car rides with me poking liv to keep her awake haha
I loved reading this!! Love seeing insight into other people’s days. I have to admit it makes me a little nervous about being a mama someday-not because it seems bad, but because you juggle a lot of hats! And you’re amazing at it! We don’t see the 2377238 other things you have to do during the day 🙂 Thanks for being such a superhero!
aww thank you, lovely. it’s busy, but it’s fun <3
I love these posts! I am 31 weeks prego and love seeing the posts of life with a newborn! I cannot wait to hold our little blessing!
ahhh so excited for you 🙂
Thanks for sharing…your day sounds super busy! I like how you are really efficient with your time…good reminder for me to do the same!
Livi is getting so big and P’s smiles are too cute!
thank you <3
God bless you! That sounds like a lot!
Thank you so much for the effort you put into these posts! They are definitely one of my favorite types! Question is Liv in preschool 5 days a week? I have a 3 year old and 20 month old and work from home part time. My 3 year old is only in school two days a week, half days…thinking I may need to increase that. Is having Luv in preschool critical to your ability to work from home as well as your sanity? Interested in your thoughts! I’m new to this game 😉
she is. she used to only go half days until p was born, and then we switched her to full-time after thanksgiving break. with all of the reflux issues and doctors appointments, she was bored and miserable, so something needed to change. she had been begging me to stay full days since she started in the fall (because she was the only one in her class who went home early) so she was STOKED when we switched her to full days. i’m so glad she’s happy and that it worked out. i think if i had them both home all day, i wouldn’t get any work done. i did it for a couple of weeks, and while p was really little, someone was always crying and it was hard for me to make everyone happy. liv doesn’t nap anymore, so there’s no way i could make her sit still and chill while i got work done if p was napping, or try to get her to be quiet during the naps. i felt mommy guilt for about 4 seconds until i realized that everyone is so much happier this way
Full day preschool sounds awesome, but I think I would miss my kid too much. I would have loved to have that much alone time with my second child. It was so hard entertain a toddler and baby, I always felt like I never gave the toddler enough attention.
Yeah, I was really sad about missing her until I realized that she’s way happier. Dragging her to all of the doc appts was hard and she was bored and miserable with all of the time I spent consoling p and cleaning up spit up. We still get a lot of special time together and I don’t feel stressed out when we’re together so we can all enjoy it more. Now that things with p have turned a corner, I asked her if we could do half days again and she cried haha
Fun! I have to admit by halfway through I was thinking, “AH! I miss those days!” And by the end, not so much. But kinda.
I’m curious– What do you guys call P amongst yourselves? P? I think Kourtney calls her’s P, doesn’t she? So cute. Like little rappers. ; )
seriously! there are so many great parts, and other.. not so fun parts 😉
we have so many nicknames for p. at our house she’s called p, p rose, the rose, miss rose, penelope rose, penelo-pie and miss p. i never thought about the little rappers thing but that cracks me up
I’m exhausted just reading this! My kids are 12 and 9 and I guess I’ve forgotten how absolutely exhausting those newborn days and nights are. I can’t believe how much you get done in a day!
thank you! i feel like i’m always scrambling though haha. i just keep in mind that it goes by quickly 🙂
Thanks for the great post! I was exhausted for you by like 9:00am… lol! I love seeing how you fit food and fitness into your day. You’re really good at being creative and organized and just getting.it.done.
thank you so much <3
I really enjoyed the post, thanks for sharing!
that walk sounds lovely! i usually just go outsife my house- never thought of driving to a nice park when i have the chance 🙂
yes, it’s nice to get a change of scenery 🙂
Goodness gracious! I’m a medical student (notoriously busy and sleep deprived), and I got exhausted just reading about your day! Way to go, mama; you’re an inspiration! 🙂
haha, thanks friend <3
I really enjoyed this type of post. Thanks for sharing
thank you for reading, janna!
It is exhausting, I keep telling myself, “Am I really ready for another newborn?” They are such sweet blessings though. Stay strong, P will be Liv’s age in no time, and your life will be so different again.
so true. i keep that in mind and it makes it seem less overwhelming. the time really passes quickly
Oh my god. You understand you’re amazing? Right? RIGHT? I couldn’t believe when you said you went to yoga. I’m a 29 yr old, working full time and I’m tired. I can’t believe you do so much!!! Kudos. Great to read a “real” day from the mommy journals. Thanks for sharing!
haha thank you! it definitely doesn’t feel like that most days- so i appreciate it <3
I enjoyed reading this post! I don’t have kids so it’s interesting to read how it is with kids in the mix. I like how you and the Pilot really help each other out and take turns with different jobs about the house.
Also that nail polish you have on is a lovely colour, what brand/colour is it?
thank you! yes, we work hard to swoop in and help each other. the nail polish is one of the sally hansen gel polishes: head bang 🙂
My boys are 1.5 and 3, and you are bringing me back!! I miss the smiles and love from that baby period but not the lack of sleep:) Sounds like you’re doing a great job!
the snuggles are the BEST, but the lack of sleep… not so much haha
Totally loved this post, and all your little details.
Loved reading this! Please do more posts like these!
I know you put a lot of work into making this post and I wanted you to know how much I LOVED reading it! Ah! Seriously loved this post! You are superwoman by the way! I am extremely impressed with your discipline and dedication!
Really enjoyed this post! Please do more. I really like how you both tag team it. That is wonderful!!
I have yet to find a brown rice tortilla I like. Which one do you buy ? I may need to try Trader Joes.
I’m so jealous of your beautiful weather. Okay so my little one – 22 weeks today – never took to a traditional swaddle. She could get it out of it from the moment go! But as we’re trying to get more serious about moving from the rock ‘n play to her crib, I’ve started using the super swaddle method. Even as a fully moving around, kicking and arm waving baby, she can’t get her arms free, and it’s the only way I can get her to sleep longer than an hour in the crib right now. Good luck!
I love reading these kinds of posts! I can imagine things are chaotic with the sleeping issues lately, but you’re doing amazing getting so much work done!
Please share the champagne turkey slow cooker recipe. It sounds delicious!
Cool! This post was full of great tidbits for me since Baby #2 is on the way!
Aww I loved this post so much, it was so fun to go through a day with you! Especially since you have two lil ones and I am a University student with only a dog haha, so it is really cool to get a glimpse into what it is like for you busy mamas out there!
I love this post Gina, especially since I will be transitioning from a work away from home mom to a SAHM as I am expecting twins. My son is Livis age and has been in school full time since he was 4 months old and how ironic is it that he asks to get out of school earlier…I find it interesting Livi wants to stay longer…Once I quit work we will have to pull him back to only two days, I wonder if he will beg to go longer after that, ugh! I am actually terrified thinking about having them all home at the same time for so many days
Thanks so much for the insight!!!!!
liv asks to go to after care! and i’m like NO. hahaha
i hope the adjustment goes well for you guys. it took us a little while but everything stabilized <3
Little P has the cutest big smile and looks just like your husband! 🙂
thank you! she totally does!
YOU HAVE THE CUTEST KIDS! Love these types of posts. Picturing sweet P “yelling” from her crib is so cute- I love that description. 🙂
thank you <3 haha she is quite a yeller when she's ready for someone to come get her. she's like "HEY I'M IN HERE."
I love these types of posts! Its what makes me an avid reader 🙂
Thanks for sharing your daily adventures. My son is 8 now and reading about day to day life with a toddler and newborn makes me a bit nostalgic, but also reminds me of the very real sleep deprivation!!
Whenever I read day in the life posts by moms I am fascinated! Seriously you guys should get awards haha. It also is crazy that I feel like I was just reading posts about Liv at that age and now she’s so old! Such beautiful little girls <3
Love P’s mermaid decor! My 3-year-old is big into mermaids these days! Such a sweet picture of your two girls together!
Is it weird I find these types of posts SO fascinating? Maybe because I don’t have kids yet? Anyways, 1. I am motivated to be wayyy more productive during my day after reading this and 2. Your family is adorable and 3. Keep the whole day posts coming!