A day in the life: Fall 2016

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tazo® Tea. All opinions are 100% mine.

Whenever my favorite bloggers post their “day in the life” posts, I love reading about what their day to day life looks like.  I also love looking back on my previous posts like this (here’s one from earlier this year) and seeing how much life changes in such a short amount of time! Here’s a day in my life as a work-at-home mom with Isaac (3 years old) and Nora (16 months).

6:30 AM: I hear Isaac yelling in his bed – he sounds like he’s wide awake (yelling “Daddddddy! Daaaaaaaaaddddddddyyyyy!  DADDDDDDYYY!!” I run to his room and he’s still snuggled under his sheets with his eyes closed.  I tell him to relax in bed, and he can read some books if he can’t sleep.  I go back to my bed and plan on being in there until 7…

6:40 AM: That plan is ruined quickly!  Nora woke up in all of the commotion and is crying for mommy in her crib.  Knowing she won’t go back down, I scoop her up and we all make the trek downstairs.

6:45: We eat breakfast and slowly wake up together.  I purposely don’t schedule things early because I’m not a morning person.  I try to keep it low key and we just all sit on the family room floor, play, and read books together.

8:00: We head upstairs to get changed out of our pajamas. Why does it take soooo long for us to all get clothes on?  I’m always amazed at how accomplished I feel after we’re all dressed!

8:30: I let the kids play in the playroom for a little bit while I TRY to check my e-mail & social media accounts for a few minutes.  At this time, “checking” means literally looking at my accounts and making sure there hasn’t been a disaster on my site overnight.  I can’t really respond to any e-mails now, so I flag ones that need responses for later. I throw a load of laundry in the washing machine when I realize that Isaac has one clean pair of underwear left – whoops!

9:00: A few months ago, I made the best decision to hire Kayla to come watch the kids 2 mornings a week.  But, today’s not one of those days, so we’re going for a walk!  We take our double stroller out and walk around town.  I bribe the kids with graham crackers and we play “I Spy” as we walk. Isaac loves to tell me that I’m not exercising because “only running is exercise, Mommy.”  (insert eyeroll here…)  I snap pictures of old houses I love while I’m walking and post some of them to my Instagram story – I love finding new houses and try to vary my route in hopes of finding a fun one like this:

10:00: We come back from our walk and have a (sweaty) impromptu play date with friends who texted me on our walk and asked if we were free.  I told them that they were welcome to come play in our backyard, and we all enjoy some shade from our big weeping willow while the kids get wet from playing with the water table. By the time noon comes, the kids are starting to get kind of hangry and are ready to go inside. 

12:00: Lunchtime!  The kids love when I make them a “snack lunch”.  We love string cheese, nuts, avocado, berries, crackers, etc.  They love having a plate made up of these little snacks.  When I’m prepared, I have leftover grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken on top of a pre-packaged salad.  Usually by the time I’m finished making my own lunch, the kids are done with theirs and want to get down.  Ahh…guess I’ll eat it on the family room floor…

12:30: The kids are happier after food, but getting tired.  I eat my salad on the floor with them while we try to play.  I’m desperately trying to teach them to take turns, but today is not the day to learn that concept.  Yikes, it’s time to get them to bed!  It takes a solid half hour for me to read stories to the kids and get them into their beds/cribs.

1:30: I take a lightning-fast shower, head downstairs, quickly clean up lunch stuff, and throw the clothes in the dryer.  I sit down at my computer and respond to the e-mails I flagged earlier, as well as new ones that came in since then.  I also respond to comments on my previously scheduled social media channels.  I start to go down the social media rabbit hole after a little while, and quickly realize I’ll waste away naptime before I know it!

2:00: I need something to get through the nap time slump! I’ve been having Tazo® Tea tea in the afternoon and it’s been the perfect pick-me-up to get me through the rest of the day.  I switch back and forth between using Awake English™ Breakfast and Zen™ (going to try Passion® next!)  I’m choosing the one with more caffeine this afternoon!  I love it with a splash of milk and a little squirt of honey. (visit Tazo.com to find a retailer near you!)

2:15: I got a package! I love packages!  I rip it open and see that there’s some really fun handmade items from a new shop I’m partnering with – I can’t wait to share them!  I also ordered some white plates for my shelf ledges – I unpack them and start arranging my fall plate display.  I’m trying to figure out the best way to decorate this area of my kitchen for fall…quickly jot down a few ideas in my phone’s notes.

2:45: I get the clothes from the dryer, and I hear Nora waking up.  I stay absolutely still, tea in hand, and pray she’ll go back down.  Unfortunately, she does not.  I pick her up and we have some snuggle time on the couch.  Man, this girl is the BEST snuggler!

3:00: The clean clothes haven’t been folded, but there’s no way Nora’s going to let me fold them now.  I laugh at the text on my mug – it’s truly not a blogging day, but oh well!  Nora and I head outside to have some cashews and we both bring our drinks.  Milk for her, re-heated tea for me! Thankfully it still tastes great 🙂 3:30: Isaac’s awake!  We all take some time to hang out upstairs – the kids think its sooooo funny to turn the air conditioning units on and off.  I’m allowing it because they’re giggling at eachother and it’s the cutest thing ever.

4:00: After a snack, we head out on the porch and watch the activity around.  The kids wave at people walking past our houses, and we make conversation with our neighbors while I water the plants.

4:30: There was an epic toddler melt-down that I’m pretty sure the whole neighborhood heard.  We head inside for a time out, and I try to start thinking about dinner.  We get a call from Taylor that he’s on his way home, but his commute is an hour long, so we’ve got a long hour ahead of us!

4:45: Yeah, dinner prep isn’t happening before Taylor gets home!  Nora is a clingy mess, Isaac has recovered from his time out but it’s obvious that he’s easily able to slip into trouble again soon.  I decide to cut my losses and sit with them on the couch and find something to watch on Netflix.  And just like that – they’re calm little angels snuggling with me on the couch.

5:30: TV’s off and Taylor’s home!  We’re all so happy to see him, and I tell him ask him to take the kids outside so I can work on dinner.  Super simple tonight – I cooked some chicken sausage, broccoli and mushrooms, and put it over quinoa.   I try to check my e-mails while I’m waiting for things to cook – and quickly get stressed with the amount of work that needs to be done after bedtime!

6:00: The kids are cranky, but we all sit down together and eat dinner.  Nora gets more quinoa on herself and the floor than she does in her mouth.  Isaac declares that he only likes the broccoli and he doesn’t like sausage anymore (yesterday it was his most favorite. food. ever).  Toddlers, man!

6:30: Dinner’s done – time to relax.  We tell Taylor all about our day, laugh at the new trick Nora’s learned, and run around in circles in our hallway.  The kids love getting wild with their daddy, and I’m usually on the floor offering my lap for whichever kid needs a break from running!

7:30: Time to get ready for bed!  We prevent a massive melt-down with offering to read FOUR books instead of the typical three before bed.  Parenting win!  Brush teeth, stories, snuggles, and into bed!

8:00: Man, the house is a MESS.  Taylor & I whirlwind clean, but don’t get to half of the things we’d like to!  I vow to vacuum tomorrow (spoiler alert: it doesn’t happen).  We talk about our days, go over some bills, and I show him pictures of the kids from the day.  

8:45: Taylor and I both head to the office and work at our respective computers.  He only lasts for 30-45 minutes before he goes up to bed – he gets up so early in the morning!  I stay up and edit pictures, schedule out social media posts, update my media kit, and continue editing a video I started last night.  

12:00: Buckley & I head upstairs to get ready for bed.  I check on the kids, and linger for a few extra seconds to pray over them and stare at their sweet faces.  Also – I just realized I never folded the laundry from earlier today…   

Thanks to Tazo® Tea, I can #SipJoyfully even when the laundry has piled up, I haven’t showered in 2 days, and the thought of “alone time” is very foreign!  Being a mom is HARD, but these kids make it worth it.