Day in The Life {New Baby Mama Edition}

Phew! I love day in the life posts, but man, they take some work to get up! They’re fascinating though, right? I think it’s really interesting to see how people fill their days. This day in the life was from last Tuesday with my 4 year old and 9 month old and it was a pretty typical day for us…

2:30 AM I’m woken from a deep sleep when my preschooler, Harvey, climbs into bed with us. He’s been doing this a lot lately. I don’t ever really fall completely back to sleep again and mostly just doze off and on again.

6:30 AM Maxwell, my baby, starts fussing on the monitor so I get up and wake Hubs up. I get the coffee brewing and then change the babies diaper and feed him. Harvey is up now and a bit grumpy.

7:00 AM We wave bye to dad and then I get Harvey some breakfast- oatmeal. During the week I’m not much of a breakfast person so I just pour myself some coffee. On the weekend give me all the pancakes, eggs, etc. I take a minute to flip through the seed catalog that came in the mail yesterday. It’s time to start planning the garden!

7:30 AM Both boys are playing in the living room and I run down to the bedroom to quickly get myself ready for the day. Five minutes later I’m back. I alternate between cleaning up breakfast, rotating the laundry, and playing with the boys. By 8:45 I’ve managed to get both boys dressed, pack Harvey’s backpack and lunch and load them into the car.

9:00 AM Preschool drop off and then Maxwell and I head home. Max falls asleep in the car on the way home so I let him continue sleeping in his carseat which I’ve moved into the house. I’d like to say that I was productive during this time but I’ve taken the opportunity to finish my coffee and mindlessly play on my phone.

9:45 AM Max is up so I move him to his highchair and give him some applesauce and toast with avocado. I eat a chocolate chip cookie and silently remind myself that I need to eat better. While Max swipes toast around his tray I change out the white board calendar to March.

10:15 AM Since Max is going through an attachment phase and won’t let me leave his sight, I settle down on the floor with him to play and read books. I manage to get one load of laundry rotated without him completely losing it but that’s about it. I feed Max another bottle and then we’re back in the car again.

11:30 AM We pick Harvey up from preschool and head home for lunch. I pack Harvey’s lunch almost every day because a lunch box is a novelty for him and he’ll actually eat when it’s presented this way. He goes straight for the fridge and grabs it as soon as we get home.

12:15 PM My husband is home for lunch. He works about five minutes from our house which is insanely convenient. While he plays with the kids and eats I take the opportunity to bustle around the house making beds, putting laundry away and quickly wiping down both bathrooms. I heat up some leftovers and inhale them.

1:00 PM I have a board meeting for a moms club I’m secretary of. Never thought I’d see myself in a moms club, but here I am. We discuss the upcoming board elections, book club, and possible field trips and volunteer opportunities for next month while the kiddos play together. I feed Maxwell a baby food pouch and another bottle while we’re there.

3:00 PM We’re home and I’m feeling quite happy that we managed to kill the better part of the afternoon. Maxwell goes down for a nap which means it’s ‘rest time’ for Harvey. We snuggle on his bed and read one easy reader book. At this point he gets the choice to nap or play quietly while listening to an audio book. He always chooses the audio book option and sometimes falls asleep while listening. This is what happens today.

3:15 PM While Harvey has ‘rest time’ I try to sit down with my Kindle but I can’t concentrate. I hop on the computer for a bit and do some housekeeping for mom’s club and place an order for groceries to be picked up tomorrow. Then I check in with the Girlxoxo editorial calendar and make a note of some posts I need to work on. Finally I brain dump some random stuff into my Penzu journal.

4:00 PM Maxwell is up but Harvey is still sleeping. I know I should wake him but I don’t. Max has some sweet potatoes and then we play in the living room. Harvey is up by 4:15 and I let him watch a show while I play with Max and try to clean up the house a bit.

5:00 PM Hubs is home. He plays with the kids while I take a quick shower. Then we work together to get dinner prepped and on the table. We eat pretty early because I like to get the kids in bed and I’m usually starving by this point (from not eating well all day, of course.)

6:30 PM With dinner over, Hubs and I divide and conquer. I clean up the kitchen while he starts the bedtime routine. Tonight this consists of a bath for both boys. After they’ve got pj’s on we settle on the couch for book time. I set a timer for 15 minutes and we read until it goes off.

7:45 PM Hubs feeds Max and puts him to bed. After book time Harvey gets ‘quiet time’ in his room. He can play quietly until he’s ready for snuggles. He loves snuggles so he typically only plays for 5-10 minutes. Hubs snuggles with him in his bed for a few minutes before hugs, kisses, and lights out. During this time I lock up the house and feed the cats.

8:00 PM Sometimes on the weekend Hubs and I will watch a show before bed but we hardly ever do that on the weekdays. Tonight we talk and look up some hotels on our phones for our upcoming spring break vacation. He’s a night owl so he usually stays up and handles any night cap feedings Maxwell might wake up for. As for me… at this stage in life, I will basically kill for sleep.

9:00 PM I’m turning out my light and literally cry in relief as my head hits the pillow. Sometimes I manage to read until 10 or so, but not tonight. In fact, I didn’t read at all today. You win some, you lose some.

It’s kind of funny because I feel like I don’t accomplish much during the days when I’m busy with the kids but come bedtime, I’m exhausted as if I’d run a marathon.

So there you have it. A very fascinating day in the life of a stay at home mom. Ha!

What routines do you follow every day?