A Day in The Life: Maternity Leave

Trish from Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity is hosting the Day in the Life event again, where we record a typical day and share it with one another.  This was one of the highlights of my blogging life last year, so I’m back to participate again.

I recorded the happenings of Wednesday, March 16, 2016.  I’m currently on maternity leave with my 7 week old baby, Malcolm, and also have a newly 3 year old (her birthday was Sunday), Lydia.

3:40am- Malcolm stirs, I go heat up bottle and change his diaper
3:50am- feed Malcolm
4:06am- put him back in his crib with a pacifier and some white noise, I have to get up to put the paci back in his mouth a couple times
4:12am- I go back to sleep
5:50am- Lydia wakes up and comes into my room, I walk her back to bed
7:23am- Lydia is up again, this time I let her in my bed for wake up cuddles
7:36am- I get up, feed the dogs and let them outside, I make Lydia breakfast (frozen waffles), and heat up a bottle for Malcolm who is now waking up
7:46am- I settle Lydia down for breakfast in the living room with an episode of Doc McStuffins, I ask Zack (husband) to get Malcolm up and change his diaper
7:50am- feed Malcolm
8:11am- take Lydia to her room to get her dressed, she is stalling so it takes a while
8:27am- Lydia is finally dressed, I change Malcolm’s diaper and put Lydia’s hair up

8:35am- put on another episode of TV for Lydia and help her get her shoes on
8:50am- Lydia and Zack are off to school/work, Malcolm starts getting sleepy, so I settle on couch with him and a paci and play on my phone while he falls asleep
9:03am- put Malcolm in his swing, so I can grab coffee and a bowl of Cheerios, I eat breakfast while reading (Wild by Cheryl Strayed)
9:21am- put away some laundry
9:31am- Malcolm wakes, but is quiet, so I put white noise on and grab a shower
9:47am- he is fussing when I get out, I give him paci and that helps for now
9:54am- never mind, he’s back to fussing, so I put him on his playmat (which he loves) so I can finish getting ready
10:00am- we play together- he is having fun, cooing too himself and looking in the mirror

10:10am- he is getting tired of playing, so I change his diaper and get him dressed, get the diaper bag ready so we can go out
10:23am- feed Malcolm a bottle and watch the end of an episode of Melrose Place
10:48am- get ready to go
10:54am- we are on our way, Malcolm’s quiet so I put on my audiobook (rereading Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid)
11:10am- we reach the chiropractor and I get adjusted
11:23am- head to Target, pick up a few items I missed at the store yesterday
11:52am- text my mom to ask if she wants to walk later, head out and remember I have a book on hold at the library for Lydia
12:10pm- stop at the library to pick up the held book
12:15pm- go home
12:23pm- we get home! Malcolm has slept most of our outing! I make myself some lunch, turn on the air conditioner, pray Malcolm stays asleep so I can eat
12:37pm- I eat lunch and read some more Wild
1:01pm- Malcolm is stirring, I reheat a cup of coffee, warm his bottle and change his diaper
1:10pm- bottle time and another episode of Melrose Place
1:30pm- Malcolm falls asleep, I trim his nails, then play on phone and watch TV while he sleeps on my chest

2:00pm- put him in his swing so I can attempt to do some chores, unload dishwasher, start cleaning guest bathroom
2:30pm- Malcolm fussing, I change his diaper, he’s still fussy, give him paci and put on Hey Jude (which is the song that magically calms him down almost immediately)
2:49pm- he falls into a light sleep on my chest, so I play on my phone and put more Beatles music on
2:54pm- he’s awake, but quiet, my mom texts to say she’s ready to walk, I tell her to come on over
3:10pm- my mom arrives, she and Malcolm play while I finish cleaning the bathroom, then she feeds him and we chat
4:10pm- my mom and I take Malcolm in the stroller for a walk, he is quiet and awake, while my mom and I chat
4:50pm- we get home, I feed the dogs, Malcolm fusses and I give him a paci, my mom and I talk a little more
5:11pm- my mom leaves, Malcolm is sleeping, so I put him in his swing and pick up a little bit
5:18pm- Lydia and Zack are home, I get Lydia out of the car at her request, Lydia comes in and finds the book I got her at the library and asks Zack to read it to her, I check my email on my phone and see something I need to follow up with on the computer, deal with that and also find a promo email for a free Hello Fresh box, so I sign up for that (we’d been talking about renewing our subscription to one of those meal in a box services so this was good timing!)
5:45pm- we decide on sandwiches for dinner, Zack goes and gets sandwich stuff on the table
5:50pm- Malcolm starts fussing, I grab him, have Lydia wash her hands, and we sit down to eat, I rock Malcolm and eat one handed with him snoozing on my chest
6:30pm- Lydia and Zack serve us ice cream for dessert, Malcolm wakes up, gets hungry, and I realize he ate an extra bottle at some point that day and we’re all out, Zack goes to the kitchen to make bottles and I entertain the kids with songs
6:57pm- I give Lydia a bath while Zack feeds Malcolm, Lydia and I listen to Frozen songs, brush and floss her teeth, put on her pajamas

7:53pm- Zack puts Malcolm in his swing asleep and goes to read to Lydia and tuck her in, I clean up dinner, load the dishwasher, and prep coffee for the morning, the hot water is running low so I decide to save hand washing dishes for a little later
8:10pm- I put on my pajamas and send texts to my dad and sister regarding plans for Lydia’s birthday on Sunday
8:25pm- I go back to the kitchen to wash bottles, Malcolm wakes up, but Zack gets him
8:50pm- I sit on couch with the husband and a beer, Malcolm is restlessly sleeping, Zack puts on the first episode of Master of None (we just decided to get with the times and are on a free Netflix trial), he’s already seen it, so he leaves the room
9:23pm- the first episode is over and I want to watch rest with Zack, so I play on my phone for a bit
9:39pm- Zack comes back in the room and we browse Netflix for a while
10:10pm- Malcolm wakes up, I change his diaper, find out he’s had a diaper leak so I change his clothes
10:25pm- Zack feeds Malcolm while we watch Brooklyn 99
10:50pm- I talk a little with Zack and go get ready for bed, while Zack gets Malcolm ready for bed and they go out to relax together in living room
11:07pm- I settle in bed with Wild, intending to read for just a couple minutes, but get caught up in it
11:33pm- I finally turn the lights out and go to sleep

 

A Day in The Life

Trish from Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity has posted a couple of these Day in the Life posts and is hosting this event so other bloggers can share a bit of their lives with one another, too.  As a kid, I kept really boring journals accounting for my days, but I always loved going back and seeing what I did on a particular day, so I thought this would be a fun way to kind of recapture that spirit.

I recorded the happenings of Thursday, March 26, 2015, which wasn’t a totally normal day because I had to take Lydia (my 2 year old) to the doctor and to school (school drop off is usually the husband’s job), but other than driving all over town in the morning this is pretty much how an average weekday goes for me.

5:45am- My alarm goes off, I hit snooze twice

5:55am- I get up, shower, do my hair and makeup

6:30am- Lydia wanders into my bathroom as I’m finishing up my makeup, startling me since she’s only ever gotten out of bed on her own in the morning one other time, I finish getting ready

6:33am- Lydia and I feed the dogs and let them outside

6:38am- We go to change Lydia’s diaper and get her dressed, we also end up playing with her new Minnie Mouse nightlight that she discovered in our living room while I was letting the dogs out

6:48am- I make breakfast- frozen waffle for the kid, Honey Nut Cheerios for me

6:52am- Ask Lydia to go wake up Zack (my husband)

6:55am- Sit down to eat breakfast with Lydia

7:04am- I’m done eating, so I go to pack lunch while Lydia finishes eating

7:07am- I realize that the husband hasn’t gotten out of bed yet, so I yell at Zack to get out of bed and also get harassed by Lydia for not sitting and watching her eat

7:11am- I clean up breakfast dishes and pour coffee into travel mugs

7:14am- We go to brush our teeth, the toddler whines, I get dressed, we both put our shoes on, give kisses to Zack, and get loaded into the car. Carseat drama is minimal, which is rare.

7:33am- We leave for the doctor’s office.

7:56am- We arrive at doctor, check in, and wait

8:04am- We get called back, the nurse gives Lydia her shot (and she doesn’t even cry!), we check out and get loaded back into the car. Some carseat drama this time.

8:14am- We leave for school.

8:45am- I drop Lydia off at school and that goes very smoothly.

8:50am- I finally head to work, listening to my audiobook, Debt: The First 5000 Year

9:15am- I arrive at work and park the car

9:25am- I start working, checking email, chatting with my coworker

10:01am- Another coworker comes over to chat

10:17am- I go to grab water, say hi to a third coworker

10:28am- Back to work

11:55am- Time for a snack break, I check my email and Twitter and renew my library books

12:05pm- More work

1:00pm- I go eat lunch in the Student Union and I read Carnival at Bray

2:00pm- Back to work, intermittent Twitter/email checking

4:24pm- Start drafting this post

4:42pm- Do the couple of work items that have come in since I last checked

5:00pm- Head home, deal with construction-related traffic

5:40pm- I arrive home and notice our sprinklers are on, but shouldn’t be, Zack resolves that quickly, Lydia comes out to the garage to get her stuffed giraffe which was left in my car, we all go inside and I turn the oven on, and change into comfy clothes

5:50pm- Zack and I reheat dinner (leftover lasagna and garlic bread)

6:05pm- We sit down and eat dinner as a family

6:38pm- I give Lydia a bath and brush her teeth

7:02pm- Put Lydia into her pajamas, she says good night to Zack

7:08pm- I read Lydia several books, get her tucked into bed and sing her a few songs, kisses and hugs good night

7:21pm- Lydia is down for the night (though she fusses a bit), I play on my phone, talk to Zack, we joke about the jungle in our backyard (it has rained constantly the last few weeks) and he decides to mow the backyard

7:34pm- Zack mows and I decide to watch TV and cross stitch, Dirty Dancing is on TV so I put it on to watch for the millionth time

8:25pm- After mowing, Zack ran to Sonic for a snack, so we eat a snack and watch more Dirty Dancing, Zack makes fun of me for knowing all the songs (even the mambo routine one)

8:41pm- I go back to cross stitching and watching the movie, my sister and I text about her plans for her first anniversary

9:20pm- I boot up the computer and attempt to finish up this blog post for tomorrow, while watching the end of Dirty Dancing

10:00pm- Get ready for bed, I stayed up too late blogging/watching TV so I won’t bother trying to read

10:??pm– Go to sleep