A Day In The Life: Fall 2014.

I've done quite a few of these posts now.  They're always so consuming and I feel guilty for being on my phone so much, but it's really fun to look back at them (SO MANY PHOTOS), so here we go again!

Friday, October 24, 2014.  Rowdy is 4, Myra is 1.5 and I am 24 weeks pregnant.

1ish am I got up to pee.  Looking back, I maybe should have tracked all my trips to pee for the day, but I didn't.  Maybe that's a good thing, might be depressing.  I pee more than a newly potty trained toddler.

4:53 am Myra is whining, this hasn't happened in a while (waking in the "middle of the night").  She can't find her baby, Trevor gets up for the day.  I think his alarm was set for 5 or 5:15, but this will have to do.  He would have gone in to see what her deal was but Myra is quiet by 4:58.  He will spend this time working on school stuff and Army stuff.  He's got a full plate right now with school, the Guard, dental school apps, and preparing for the DAT (dental school admission test).

7:03 am I give in as it looks like I won't be falling back asleep. Thank you pregnancy insomnia. It hits me every few days, but at least today I didn't wake up completely randomly.  I usually give it at least 30 minutes of trying to fall back asleep before I grab my phone for some mindless web surfing.  Podcasts often do the trick, too.  This will probably be an incredibly productive start to my day, followed by crashing and burning.

7:11 am Myra is awake, but she's going to get some alone time to wake up while I do the same.

Check out that battery life after close to two hours of use.

7:27 am I check the video monitor (love Dropcam!), Myra maybe back asleep? I finally get out of bed. I dump my maternity clothes tote on the bed since I'm running out of non maternity options (photo)

7:40 am Post face wash, pre-make up selfie. This is how excited I am to be awake for 2.5+ hours already.

7:56 am Time to get Myra up (video)

8:04 am I give Myra her morning bottle, Trevor went up to snuggle with her.  He's leaving for the weekend today, plus she has school this morning, so he won't see her much before he goes.  I eat my breakfast (Cheerios) all over the house while doing other things like my makeup.

8:09 am Today is day two of our orange food trial so I give 1/2 an orange slice to Myra and she gobbles it up.  This will be a great pass as it would allow us to add fortified orange juice to get Myra a great non-formula source of calcium and vitamin D.  I know these posts draw a lot of new readers, so for those of you wondering what this is about, Myra has Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES).  For LOTS more info, click the FPIES tab above.

In case you're not familiar with what an orange looks like?

8:12 am Myra requests to listen to "Hey Jude" so Trevor obliges.

8:16 am I get Myra ready to leave for school.  We went a little early so our newly potty trained girl could test drive the bathrooms there before class.  I love our ECFE.  It's 1.25 hours long.  The first 10-15 minutes is free play, then brief circle time for songs and discussing this week's topic, then the parents separate to the other side of the divided room.  The kids do activities and play with their teachers while we discuss a different topic each week.

So excited for school!

Easel hog.

Sensory bin full of Halloween colored paper, pumpkins, and spiders.

Today's projects were a pumpkin and a spider web.

10:05 am School is done, I have a text from my dad about him visiting this morning.

10:26 am Myra gets a snack (corn Chex) and "juice" (Neocate Splash) with Daddy while he nurses his headache.

10:34 am I give Trevor an overview of school today, Myra requests "Hey Jude" again. Then Trevor plays "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider." I shut off the dryer (Trevor did laundry and uses the wrinkle guard cycle that never stops running and buzzing grr) then start my coffee.  This is embarrassing.  We're a bit of coffee snobs and have a really nice coffee pot that stores whole beans on top, grinds with a burr grinder, and has a water filter inside.  Because I'm too lazy to switch Trevor's beans out when I want coffee (pregnant or not, I almost always drink decaf), I have resorted to using pre-ground Folgers decaf which requires some sort of creamer (otherwise I drink coffee, good coffee, black).  I do have some Caribou decaf waiting for when this stuff is gone.  Oh, and yes, that's a litter box.  Our awesome, fancy coffee maker occasionally leaks which is a terrible start to the morning.  We had this on hand from when I washed breast pump parts every day and was a much cheaper solution for the mess than a new coffee maker.  Maybe I should start a GoFundMe for a new coffee maker?

10:57 am I borrow Myra for a potty break then I bring her back to Trevor.  They hang out while I empty the dishwasher.

11:16 am Myra comes upstairs and requests "Hey Jude" again then starts dancing and frolicking around the kitchen. Trevor is packing. Time to plug my phone in--low battery already... 

11:31 am Myra and I are waiting for Grandpa to arrive, let's take a playing and silly face selfie and read some books.

11:42 am Grandpa is here!  She always distracts him with her silliness and chatting.  They read part of a book, and she puts on quite the entertaining act for him.

12:33 pm Grandpa had to leave, Myra eats lunch (Cheechas dipped in spinach dip - spinach and coconut milk and "sauce sauce" - squash pureed with quinoa flakes and applesauce). Myra starts putting her Cheechas on the floor and wiping her messy hands on Rowdy's kennel AKA she's done eating.  She knows she isn't supposed to do this and says "no!" then flashes her "I'm doing something naughty" face.  She cleans up what she can then shows her "bright face" while saying, "bright! so bright!" Silly girl.

Naughty face aka "the look"

"Bright! So bright!"

12:43 pm Myra wants down because Trevor is starting to bring all his packed gear upstairs and he's in uniform (Myra tells him "Army") and she wants to help.  I wipe her off and get her down.

Nope, not a tantrum.  She just thinks she's being funny and clever and Daddy won't be able to leave.

12:52 pm I have the blender soaking in the sink (used it last night to make Myra's "sauce sauce"), so I can't rinse Myra's tray and bowls. Bummer. Myra asks to sit on my lap and look at "babies" (I look up #babylaugh #toddlertalk and similar hashtags on Instagram and we watch videos of babies and kids, she loves it). Myra gets whiny-Trevor is almost ready to go. Myra asks Trevor to read her a book, so he reads one book then they say bye. I take her to pee and put her down for her nap.

1:10 pm I say bye to Trevor, heat up more coffee, grab my water, and start a load of laundry.

1:17 pm I sit on the couch and browse the interwebz, mostly doing some checking/posting for my babywearing group.

1:38 pm Enough of the internet, time to read my current book, Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh.

1:56 pm The early morning+reading is catching up to me, nap time for me too.

4:02 pm Mother of the year: I wake up to Myra talking in her crib.  I'm guessing she's been quietly awake in there for at least an hour.  This happens sometimes, more often in the morning.  She will just lie in her crib quietly for a very long time after waking up.  I nap on our living room couch which is right up against her room, so if she makes any significant noise, I hear her.  I guess she likes some alone time, too!

4:28 pm I get Myra her bottle and return a phone call regarding our ECFE Fall Bazaar event.  I have to get some info from our Chairperson for advertising purposes.

4:42 pm I sit down at my laptop to create a Facebook event for the Bazaar (free advertising!). Myra is having more Chex and some of her leftover "juice" then plays solo upstairs for a while.  I sneak up and spy on her for a photo.  I'm grateful to have a laptop for work that I can bring home with me, but this computer is taking forever to start! I do the dishes while waiting and finally rinse Myra's tray and dishes from lunch.

5:09 pm The computer is still updating.... It's on its third cycle of waiting til 100% for one thing or another.  I get the clothes out of the washer and hang them up.  I line dry most of our laundry.

5:12 pm Myra comes downstairs to the kitchen and brings me book after book.  I try really hard to read to her when she asks, even though I'm not always able to do so.  But, taking a break from finally creating this Facebook event is not a big deal, so we read a few books.

5:40 pm Pee break for the ladies then we leave for a walk with Rowdy.  November is a week away yet the weather is absolutely gorgeous! We have to take advantage of this.  Note: I don't actually live in Minneapolis, but I don't feel the need to post my actual city and it's close enough that the weather is the same.

Myra talked about this "tractor" most of the walk.

They don't even need me.

She loves to hold his leash.

When Myra was very young, I started to point out/label everything on our walks.  She picked up on it quickly and often does it to me now, too.  She especially likes airplanes, grass, vehicles, and mailboxes.  When she saw this one, she said, "Hey Rowdy!"

Myra pointed out the sky, clouds, and that it is "bright," then reached for her sunglasses.

So we put them on.

"Money!"

6:01 pm Still on our walk and I have to pee.  Exciting.

6:21 pm We're home from our walk, time to get supper ready.  Myra plays by herself upstairs.

I suppose I should add lightbulbs to the Target list.

Sausage and mashed potatoes (made with coconut oil and coconut milk) for the kid.  Sloppy Joe and yogurt for me, fancy. 

The look.

6:52 pm One last pee for Myra before bedtime.  She still wears diapers for naps and at night, but she knows why.  She tells us, "sleeping...learning..." whenever we put one on her.  We recently got a hand-me-down sleep sack in her size so I decided to give it a try since she is way too wild for blankets and honestly doesn't really understand covering up with them yet.  She loves it.  So, pajamas and sleep sack then I get her bottle.  I'm not sure how long diapers will be needed for sleep times, but we're pretty flexible with that considering how much liquid she is required to drink in a day (her "juice" is 8oz and she drinks 12oz of formula a day, plus a lot of water).

7:04 pm I feed Rowdy while Myra drinks her bottle.  Then we brush her teeth, read two books (I Love You, Stinky Face and Good Night, I Love You), turn on her fan and sound machine, then sing the ABC's (or the "bee cees" as Myra calls it).  I shut off her light and put her in her crib.

7:12 pm Myra is in bed, I turn on Parenthood on my iPad and tidy the kitchen/living room.  Myra is very good about helping me pick up her toys ("away? away?"), but a lot of this mess is mine: clothes, dishes, etc.

7:59 pm I make myself a snack of cheese and crackers and apple cider to eat while working on some work stuff.  My job is very part time.  I go to work one day per week, then work sporadically/as needed/as desired from home.  I really love what I do and the flexibility I have is amazing.

8:52 pm I have some photos waiting to be posted, so I do some blog stuff with Scandal on in the background.  I feel like I probably missed an important thing or two, oh well.  I don't really get into TV much, but I have kept up with those two shows, mostly.

9:35 pm Scandal done, I kill about 30 minutes on the computer reading other blogs then I go brush my teeth, wash my face, let Rowdy outside, and go to bed to hopefully finish my book.  Totally forgot about the dumped tote of clothes-I meant to actually sort through them and hang them up today, but that nap was much needed.

11:16 pm time to sleep! This is way later than I should be awake, but my book is done and luckily I got a nap earlier.  

To see the rest of these posts on Navigating the Mothership's round up post, click here.  To read my previous Day in the Life posts, click the labels "24 hours" or "A Day In The Life."