Day in the life: Winter 2020

Just like my Fall 2019 DITL post, I’m cutting this one close being that it’s March and HELLO SPRING! But I didn’t want to miss it, so here we go.

You can read more Day in the Life posts by clicking here.

Day in the Life: Winter 2020

Monday, March 2nd

Chris is 37, Risa is 34, Olivia is 4.25, Emelia is 5 months, and Toby is 12 years old.

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2:00 am: Emelia wakes up to nurse. I end up falling back to sleep with her.

5:05 am: She’s up and wakes me up. I nurse her again and once she’s asleep I put her back in her bassinet next to my bed. 

6:30 am: She’s up again and this time she stays with me until we wake for the day. Chris has already left for work. I fall back asleep.

7:35 am: I can hear the TV on in the living room so I know Olivia is up. The baby smiles at me from the crook of my arm. Even in my sleep deprivation, she’s adorable and I smile back and kiss her. I set her in her bassinet and get up to get ready. I brush my teeth and hair and throw on some clothes. I’m going to shower later. 

 

7:46 am: I changed Emelia’s diaper and head out of the room to ask Olivia to get dressed and then grab an outfit for the baby on my way back to the room. Olivia comes in to say hi to the baby while I’m changing her. We take a photo together, the only one I’m in for the rest of the post.

We all head out to the living room and I shut off the TV show that Olivia was watching. I set up her toothbrush with toothpaste in the bathroom and asked to brush her hair when she’s done. She’s definitely not happy with me brushing it, so I don’t get it as brushed out as I want it. I set her at the table with some blackberries and grab some mini muffins and a cheese stick for the road, with a water cup. We’re going to daycare. She goes down to the landing to put her shoes and jacket on and I buckle the baby into her car seat. 

“I don’t like boys anymore mom. I only like Charlie, Dada, Toby, and Pop.” The musings of a preschooler. 

I grab Olivia’s backpack of extra clothes and her winter gear for going outside and grab a swig of water. We go out to the car so I can buckle Olivia in first and then I come back and put Emelia into the car. 

8:11 am: We’re off to daycare.

8:14 am: She drops her bag of muffins and squeals for me to stop. Luckily, we’re still on our road and I pull off to go get her muffins, one of which has rolled out of the bag. I blow on it, inspect it for dog hair, and call it good. We discuss water and how good it is for you. “Like to make you POOP!” she hollers from the backseat. 

8:24 am: We arrive and I drop her off happily to go play with her friends. 

8:40 am: I pull into the driveway and Emelia is asleep in the backseat. I come in with her and wash my hands before taking her out of her car seat. Then I settle down to nurse her for hopefully just a few minutes before I can put her down for a quick nap before I take her to our babies class. After laying her down in her swaddle and kissing her, I close the door to our room quietly and hop in the shower. 

9:05 am: I’m out and see on the monitor she’s still sleeping. I get dressed and run downstairs to blow dry and straighten my hair before making breakfast. I decide on fried eggs and eating the last half of the cream cheese danish from Costco. 

I lied. I ate the whole thing. Diet starts Monday.

I eat at the kitchen table while reading a book. Then I load the dishwasher, wash the pans, and wipe down the table and countertops. I find the form I need to bring to the babies class and stick it by the car seat so I don’t forget it. 

9:45 am: I hear Emelia waking up. Hallelujah. I look at the monitor but it looks like she’s still sleeping. Ugh. That means I have to go wake her up. I hate waking her up. But I go in and her eyes are open. I change her diaper and I head out to nurse her for a couple minutes before we have to leave.

10:02 am: We arrive at babies class. Emelia plays on the mat with some toys and we do circle time and have a parent discussion. She makes it almost to the end before fussing and melting down. I’m glad she got a little nap in beforehand because last time was a disaster since the class is right during her normal nap. 

11:23 am: Class is over and we’re back in the car leaving for home. I can tell Emelia is tired. We get home and I wash my hands and take her out of her car seat. I change her diaper and we settle down to nurse on the couch. 

12:00 pm: She’s sleeping so I put her down in her bassinet with her swaddle and white noise and head downstairs to do a couple things for the kids consignment sale tomorrow. The grocery delivery will be here soon so don’t want to get involved in anything before they come. 

12:10 pm: The groceries are delivered (best decision ever) and I let Toby out so he wouldn’t bark at the delivery person. I put all the groceries away. I debate making the orange chicken recipe for tonight but decided it’s just going to be chicken nuggets and fries because Chris will be working from home tomorrow and he can help distract the kids while I make dinner then. I I heat up the leftover pizza for lunch and sit down to catch up on Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix. When I’m done I put the dishes in the dishwasher and do some picking up in the living room because it’s a disaster. Then I sit down and get some busy work done: rescheduling the baby’s physical therapy appointment, and responding back to some work emails. There’s a pile of laundry that needs to get put away, but the baby is in our room and so it has to wait. At least it’s folded but it bothers me. 

1:22 pm: The baby is still sleeping, so I catch up on notes for this post.

1:43 pm: I hear her waking up, so I go in to get her and see she’s barely wet her diaper. I bring the clothes in and put them away and then wash down Olivia’s old stepper she used when she was potty training that I’m selling at the consignment sale. I leave it to dry in the shower.

2:09 om: We come out to the living room and I distract her with a ball while I finish up some things. We do her tummy time and some stretches and I play with some of her toys with her. I keep doing a couple more emails for work in between coos and retrieving toys that have rolled away.

2:44 pm: I nurse her again and then we hang out on the floor and I keep trying to do tummy time and her neck stretches. I try putting her in her Sit Me Up but she only lasts a few minutes before she’s done. Then I change her diaper.

4:00 pm: She’s fallen asleep nursing on me. I go back and forth if I should just let her sleep on me or if I should put her down in her bassinet. I probably should put her down so I can start the oven. I lay her down without issue and work on my February monthly review post. 

4:40 pm: It’s time to start the oven. I continue working on the review post. 

5:00 pm: I put the chicken nuggets and fries in the oven and make sure there’s some frozen broccoli in the freezer. Chris texts me that he’s coming home with Olivia and that she wanted him to tell me she had chicken patties for lunch. It’s going to be a day of processed chicken and I’m not even sorry about it. I can hear the baby fussing so I wait a bit to see what she’ll do. They come home and Chris grabs Emelia. I put the broccoli in to cook and pull out the food. I make up Olivia’s plate and she entertains Emelia in her high chair until we sit down to eat.

5:50 pm: We’re done with dinner and Olivia clears her plate and goes to wash her hands. I take Emelia out of the high chair and put her on the floor. Chris and I clean up the kitchen while he tells me about his day. Emelia is squealing on the floor. Olivia asks for a sucker but I have to keep deep breathing as she keeps dropping it on the couch and floor.

I check her calendar for preschool tomorrow and she’s supposed to wear blue so we go and pick out her outfit to lay out before I forget. I nurse the baby and she spits up on me. Chris is coloring with Olivia at the table and I hand the baby to him. She spits up on him too. Olivia wants me to color with her but keeps interrupting me to suggest different colors for Elsa’s hair. 

 

6:40 pm: Olivia declares Emelia is now being “fussy Jane” so we know it’s bedtime. Chris takes the baby to our room to change her diaper and get her into her pajamas while I brush my teeth. He gets the humidifier going and I help Olivia dress her kitty into her pajamas.

7:00 pm: He hands the baby to me and she spits up again. Luckily, it’s just on the sheets. I wonder when I’ve become that mom that will sleep in sour breastmilk sheets. He turns the white noise on and shuts the lights off while I settle with her to nurse. The light is dimmed over us and I read some articles on my phone. 

7:30 pm: She’s fallen asleep, so I carefully lay her in the bassinet and close the door behind me. Chris is getting Olivia ready for bed. She’s out of pull-ups officially, so Chris added an extra mattress protector and sheet for her first night in underwear. 

7:41 pm: I don’t always make it, but tonight I say prayers with the two of them since the baby went down so well. We say good night to Olivia and then Chris and I and head downstairs. I work on this blog post and the newsletter I need to send out while we watch Love Is Blind on Netflix.

9:25 pm: Chris checks his phone and sees Emelia is awake. Sobbing, actually. Usually we are watching her on the iPad and tonight we weren’t. Damn. I send him upstairs so I can get the newsletter out and then come up. She’s crying in his arms. I’m surprised Olivia didn’t wake up from it. I get in bed to nurse her again and she falls asleep on me in a few minutes. I feel terrible that she was up there alone and upset and we weren’t coming to get her. She falls back asleep around 10:00 and I decide to put her back in her bassinet and go back downstairs for a bit. 

10:43 pm: We shut the TV off and head to bed.