One of my goals for 2016 was to share more of my reality. It seems like we’re all a little tired of trying to live up to images of perfection that we’re bombarded with in our virtual worlds. (You always tell me this on Instagram when I share a less-than-perfect picture!)
I love a pretty space just as much as the next person, but I want to make a point to share our everyday life in our house with you. This is a long post – I’m totally not offended if you skip past it! But for anyone who’s interested, I thought it would be fun to give you a glimpse into our everyday life with two little kids as a work at home mom (idea from one of my favorite food bloggers!)
5:00 AM: Nora (10 months) wakes up crying, and I’m exhausted. I take her out of her crib and nurse her in my bed – thank goodness she falls back asleep next to me! Now to try to go back to sleep myself…
5:30 AM: Isaac (2.5 years old) wakes up way too early. He probably heard his sister crying (such a light sleeper!). I run to his room, rub his back, and sing him a song after I tell him that he’s awake too early and needs to go back to sleep. This doesn’t always work, but it did today. Hallelujah!
7:00 AM: Nora wakes up, and is so happy to see me next to her. We snuggle in bed and pet Buckley, then head downstairs to heat up the steel cut oatmeal I made last night (recipe here). Some days we have my mom or my mother in law come over in the mornings (and my brand new assistant/nanny on Tuesdays!) but on Fridays it’s just us! We usually schedule play dates on Fridays, but it’s been a LONG week and I’m looking forward to chilling out at home with my kids.
see more pictures from our hallway makeover here
7:20 AM: Isaac wakes up and seems to be in a good mood. He cries when I tell him that Daddy is at work (this happens almost every day) but we call my husband and leave a message letting him know that we love & miss him.
7:30 AM: Breakfast time! Everyone loves oatmeal – we put walnuts, raisins, chia seeds, and a touch of brown sugar in ours (just plain for Nora though).
8:00-9:00 AM: I remembered that Gina Luker from The Shabby Creek Cottage is hosting a big Periscope session with amazingly successful bloggers this morning, and I try to hop on. I set the kids up next to me on the family room floor and imagine them playing angelically while I had Periscope on in the background. Anddddd nope. Not going to happen. There’s lots of tears and meltdowns – I take the hint and sadly say goodbye so I can go back to focusing solely on the kids. We build block towers & make messes (and yes, we’re still in our PJs!)
More pictures from our office makeover here
10:00 AM: Nora goes down for her nap. Isaac knows the routine from here! We make coffee together (he loves pressing the button to “bwew the coffee”), and then we do our daily devotions on the couch snuggled under a blanket (this one is the snuggliest! We love it!) He’s not a snuggler, but he will chill out with me for a few minutes while we act silly, read devotions (this is the book we’re currently using), and pray together. One of my absolute favorite times of the day!
10:30 AM: Isaac stays snuggled on the couch & I put in a Daniel Tiger DVD for him. I go pour myself some coffee, turn on the computer, and get on my phone to check on my social media accounts. I throw in a load of laundry, and once my computer starts up, I monitor comments on my blog and my social media marketing job. Oh, and every single morning, Isaac must eat his trail mix. I swear we go through gallons of trail mix a week (we’ve found the best price at Aldi)
10:50 AM: You’ve got to be kidding me. Nora’s crying. I try to let her cry for a little while, but she’s not calming down. I finish responding to a few work emails, try to jot a few notes down about what I can hope to accomplish later, and go get Nora from her crib.
11:00 AM: Nora’s super snuggly and sad after her too-short nap. I nurse her on the couch next to Isaac, and we all chill out for a little bit. We finally get changed out of our PJ’s and into some play clothes.
11:15-12:15: Playtime! If it was nice outside, this is usually our time to go for a walk or just run around in our backyard. But today is 40 and rainy – boo! I am thankful that our playroom has really bad WiFi signal – I leave my phone out of the room and just get on the floor to play with the kids.
12:15 PM: Lunch! I cut up some veggies yesterday, and we dip them in some hummus. I make macaroni & cheese (don’t judge – at least it’s organic?) and we all eat lunch together. I try to sneak into the other room to finish an e-mail once the kids are settled with their food, but it lasts less than 5 minutes.
12:45 PM: We head back to the family room and read some books, play with Buckley, and listen to some music while we try to relax a little bit before nap.
1:30 PM: We head upstairs & get ready for naptime. I nurse Nora on Isaac’s bed while we do a Bible story on the iPad (this is the free app we use) and read a book. I get him in his crib, put Nora down in hers, and go back to Isaac’s room to tuck him in. After a story, prayer, and a song, I think he’s good to go down.
2:00-2:30 PM: I have to go upstairs FIVE times to get Isaac to settle down enough to sleep. I think that’s a new record. I’m making up for not going on a walk this morning by climbing these stairs so many times!
2:30 PM: Thank goodness the house is quiet! So very quiet! I try to get to work, but I’m just so tired! I make myself another cup of coffee, check up on e-mails, make sure my scheduled Facebook posts went out OK, and respond to some comments.
3:00 PM: Nora’s up – I was so hoping for a longer nap today! Ah oh well – I pick her up before she wakes Isaac. We head downstairs and have some quiet snuggly playtime. She’s so happy to have me to herself!
4:00 PM: Isaac’s awake! I bribe him downstairs with his usual granola bar snack. He’s usually slightly cranky after naptime, so this helps to soften the blow.
4:30 PM: My husband calls & tells us he’s on his way home. YAY! But his commute is almost an hour, and this can be one of the longgggest hours of the day. We try to clean up a little bit and I attempt to run the vacuum (this one is still our favorite 2.5 years later), but I only get a little bit of that done. Clean floors are overrated anyways.
5:00 PM: I attempt to make dinner. We’re having our easy tomato basil soup tonight, and I give the kids a light snack of some berries to hold them over until dinnertime. I start making dinner, and halfway through, Nora is DONE sitting in her highchair. I try to hold her and make dinner with one hand – never so easy!
love this clock in our kitchen
5:30 PM: Taylor comes in & we’re all so excited to see him! He takes the kids into the other room while I finish up dinner before I call everyone to the table.
6:00 PM: We purposely leave our phones in another room and focus on family time. We talk about our day, read books, chase Buckley around the house, make a fort, and play “wild Daddy games”. The kids get baths and we work on getting them ready for bed.
7:15 PM: Nora goes down for bed easily – she’s tired from not napping well today. Isaac, on the other hand, had a later nap because he fought it this afternoon, and is now fighting bedtime. Isaac, I love you, but just go. to. sleep (he doesn’t fall asleep until close to 9:00! Yikes!)
7:30-8:00 PM. Taylor & I tag-team and clean the kitchen together. This is the first time we’re really able to talk all day! It’s so nice to catch up with him, even if it’s over dirty dishes. We go over some bills, open up mail, and finally finish the laundry I started this morning.
8:00-12:00 PM: Work time! Taylor works on his schoolwork (he’s a student while working full-time) and I work on my website. I pull up the Periscope I couldn’t watch earlier this morning, and feel so inspired by these women! I edit pictures, put together a project proposal for an upcoming post, and work on scheduling out some Facebook posts for next week. Then I sit down to write up half of this blog post – until I realize it’s past my midnight bedtime. I drag myself upstairs, get ready for bed, and look at pictures on my phone of the day. Gosh, these kids are so much work, but they are so darn cute. I can’t wait to see them in the morning 🙂
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This post was so worth the read and whoever would give up on reading it due to the “length” is for sure missing out. Such an inspiration to read. I know we have days where I feel like the house is coming along at snail pace and it doesn’t look as “perfect” ad the social media world but just know amidst all the chaos I think your house is pretty perfect and you and your husband make a great team! Sending some love from park avenue. 🙂