day in the life

So it's been...awhile...(*ahem* like 1.5 years) since I've done a riveting Day in the Life post. Mainly because these posts are A LOT OF WORK. And I'm essentially lazy, when it comes down to it. But I'm finally getting around to doing it, because let's face it: my life is fascinating. HA.

So in case you want to pre-game, my previous DITL posts are from January 2013 and September 2014. Sorry, 2015. You missed out. 

I'm going to keep it really real and just keep using the ugly graphic I created in 2013. Ha. I'd been at my new job for like three weeks and therefore had been using Illustrator for about...three weeks...and this is what my graphic design looked like back then. A treat, for sure.

January 27, 2015

I am 33, Matt is 32, Millie is 17 months

6:23 a.m.- My alarm goes off. In the interest of full disclosure, this 'day' actually already has some undocumented moments that took place in the middle of the night. I didn't look at a clock, so I don't know when or how long it lasted, but Millie was evidently unsatisfied with life for a bit...so Matt and I were both up with her for like 10 or 53 minutes...hard to say, what with middle-of-the-night-grogginess. At any rate, she eventually went back to sleep, but 6:23 hits me hard. I hit snooze, as per usual. 

6:26 a.m.- Sike. My little darling thinks it's a great time for her to wake up. Sometimes she wakes up around this time, sometimes she manages to snooze until we wake her up closer to 7:10. Today is apparently an early day for her! I get her from her crib and bring her back to our bed to cuddle with Mommy and Daddy for a few minutes before we crawl to the bathroom to get ready.

On her "early days," Millie gets to drink her milk and play in the pack-n-play in our bedroom right outside our bathroom door while we get ready. This usually works out pretty well and today was no exception.

(P.S. Her bed head is not normally this impressive. Ha. She didn't get a bath last night (Tuesday nights are hectic because we have small group and get home late), so this is the remnant of yesterday's ponytail.)

Since I shower at night, it doesn't take me too long to get ready. I curled my hair today, which happens approximately 10% of the time...but I figured I'd bust out of my normal bun/ponytail/braid tradition since I knew I'd be taking lots of pictures today. While waiting for my eyeshadow primer to set, I run to the laundry room to continue the diaper washing process I started before bed last night. Around 7:00, Millie starts frantically waving her hands in the air and bouncing around, which means she wants to dance. There's nothing like Kidz Bop blaring at 7:00 a.m. to get your day going, right?? I finish getting ready, accessorize, and make the bed before heading to the kitchen to get Millie breakfast. Matt has already dressed, walked Lola, and made coffee while I got dressed. 

7:12 a.m.- Breakfast and coffee.

We eat (peanut butter toast and blueberries for me and Matt, cereal/banana/blueberries for Millie), drink SUPER DELICIOUS COFFEE (see how happy I am?), and take my morning medicine. I'm trying to get over strep and am on day 3 of antibiotics, but I still feel like crap, so it's easy to remember to take them. Ha. 

7:27 a.m.- Matt heads out the door to work. Millie and I finish up breakfast, clean our dishes (well, I clean our dishes...and as you note, I mostly eat on a paper towel, so this doesn't take long.), and I start the final rinse on the diapers. Then we head to Millie's room to change her diaper and get her dressed.

Getting Millie ready goes surprisingly fast this morning and we're basically ready (including having her teeth brushed!!!! Miracle of miracles!!) by 7:40 a.m. I packed her bag for school last night (diapers and extra clothes), so we have some time to play. Usually she wants to play in her room with...ya know, toys. But today she only wants to play in the laundry room with the shoes Matt and I left on the floor. Because clearly. But I let her play while I attempt (and fail) to get a full-length picture of myself in the mirror. The outfit pic is a no-go, but Millie comes in and is happy to pose in the mirror with me, so it's kind of a win. Then she helps me unload the clothes from the dryer so that we can put the diapers in. She's pretty proud of herself and especially loves closing (slamming) the dryer door when we've loaded it up with the dipes.

8:07 a.m.- We're ready to hit the road. While Millie played, I threw a few things in my bag for Matt and me to eat for lunch. We load up the car and Millie escapes to the driveway (normal, haha) where I snag a picture in the daylight. I strap her in, give her her beloved paci and blankie, and cue up my podcast (Gilmore Guys episode 603) for the commute to Millie's school. 

8:31 a.m.- We get to school, get her signed in, and walk down to her classroom. She happily greets everyone she sees with a wave and a smile, and I love that pretty much every adult in her school knows her by name. When we get to her classroom, her teacher squeals as Millie reaches out for her to hold her and calls her her "little caterpillar Eskimo"-- caterpillar because of her two "antennae," (pigtails) and Eskimo because of the (adorable) winter coat/hat/hood that she wears outside on cold days. She does look like a little Eskimo. And now that I've written that three times, I'm starting to wonder if it's acceptable to say Eskimo anymore. I may or may not Google this issue before I publish this, but if I don't, feel free to let me know if I've offended anyone. At any rate, it's a term of endearment from Millie's teacher, because she looks adorable when she's all bundled up (which thankfully isn't today- it was a balmy 50 degrees or so, so no jackets were necessary for the short walk from the car to the classroom). Millie heads straight to the table to sit down for breakfast and is happy as a clam as I put away her diapers and kiss her bye-bye.

8:47 a.m.- It's a quick drive from daycare to work, so I roll in with a few minutes to spare before I need to get started. Since we have an indoor walking track, I head there to walk before I settle into my chair for the day. I like to have 2,000 steps done before I start work and I'm already pretty close today. I make these photo collages while I walk, and by 9:00 I already have 2,300 steps!

9:00 a.m.- Get my Pandora station (Harry Potter soundtrack) going, start checking emails, and chat with my coworkers in the break room as we get our coffee.

9:15 a.m.-12:20 p.m.- Work. Nothing particularly newsworthy here, except for the fourteen-ish cups of coffee I consume.

12:20 p.m.- Matt arrives, which means it's time for lunch!

Today we dine on leftover Zuppa Toscana (a regular on the wintertime meal rotation), blueberries, and some impulse-purchase granola bars I bought while waiting for my prescription to get filled on Monday. They're Girl Scout cookie-flavored...so I have this idea that if I get Samoa granola bars, it'll mean I won't feel compelled to actually buy (and consume) Samoas. This 'healthy alternative' idea is totally not going to work, but whatever. It's still a good lunch dessert! After we eat, we head to the track. It's nice enough to walk outside, but I still feel bad, so I'm feeling too lazy to walk all the way outside. I try to have at least 6,000 steps done by the time my lunch break is done each day, and today I succeed at that. Step goal 2 of 3: met. After Matt heads back, I spend a few minutes uploading these collages and jotting down all of the fascinating details about my day.

1:20 p.m.- Back to work.

5:00 p.m.- Done with work! Head to my car and drive to daycare with quite the sense of urgency- I am anxious to squeeze my Millsie Lou! Sometimes Matt picks her up, sometimes I do, and sometimes we both do (because we're both too anxious to see her that no one is willing to wait another half hour to get home). Today it's just me- Matt is heading home to get started cooking dinner.

5:15 p.m.- Arrive at school and get lots of hugs and squeals from my girl. She had a good day at school and is actually still wearing the clothes I sent her in this morning- no small miracle. Her daily report informs me that she napped for about an hour and a half, which is on the low end of normal. I'd assumed that since she was up during the night and woke up early, she'd be extra tired. She seems extra tired right now, though, so it's no great surprise that she falls asleep approximately three seconds after I strap her into her carseat.

5:42 p.m.- We arrive home. Millie is asleep when we get home, which happens about 90% of the time. The tricky part is getting her to stay asleep as I try to transfer her to the crib. That happens about maybe 50% of the time. Today isn't one of those days, though. She wakes up as we get into her room and she starts frantically signing "food! food!", so I take her to the kitchen for a snack. Matt is already working on dinner, so he supervises snack time while I change clothes.

5:56 p.m.- She's finished her snack and is yawning and rubbing her eyes, so I decide to take another stab at getting a little nap out of her. This time it works, so while she naps and Matt cooks, I fold the clean laundry from the morning, then work on stuffing the clean diapers.

6:23 p.m.- Annnnd she's back up! Not a very noteworthy nap, but it's fine. It'll give her enough energy to stay happy til bedtime, and dinner is ready.

6:28 p.m.- Dinner! Millie starts getting frantic as soon as I put her in her highchair- she doesn't like that there's like a 20 second delay as Matt and I get our drinks, bring our food over, etc. When it's time to say (sing) our blessing, we ask Millie if she wants to hold hands or fold hands (she usually feels strongly about one or the other). She's not game for either, tonight. She yells "NO NO NO NO NO!!" while Matt and I say the prayer by ourselves and try not to laugh slash try not to let her get struck by a bolt of lightning. Matt made Pad Thai tonight and it's delicious. Millie agrees- once it's FINALLY eating time, there's pretty much no noise coming from her as she inhales her bowl of food! She even picked up and ate the leaves of cilantro, which I think is pretty impressive. She's a good eater, our Millsie!

6:47 p.m.- Done eating. I work on the dishes while Matt and Millie go play in her room. Apparently Millie wasn't totally satisfied with Matt's dinner offering, so she went to her own kitchen to whip up a second course. When I finish the dishes, I join them and she plates my food. Apparently she thinks I need to go back on Whole 30, since she gave me a depressing meal of steak, chicken, and fish. Waaaah. 

7:20 p.m.- I head to the bathroom to start getting ready for Millie's bath. Matt and I alternate nights taking a bath with her, and tonight it's my turn. 

Bath time is always one of Millie's favorite parts of the day, and apparently my Bath Game was on point tonight. She babbled and giggled and scream-laughed the entire time.

7:45 p.m.- Millie decides bath time is over and screams "DAAAADAAAAAA" and "MAAAAAAA" ("Matt" hahaha...she notices that that's what I holler when I want his attention!!) (even though Matt is sitting there in the bathroom with us, approximately 18 inches away) to let her daddy know she's ready to get out. Matt takes her to get a diaper, jammies, and her milk. I dry off and finish stuffing the diapers and put them away. While they finish up her milk, I get her school bag ready and pick out her clothes for tomorrow (tough job, but someone's gotta do it).

After she finishes her milk, we play with Lola and some magazines in the living room for a few minutes.

8:10 p.m.- Head to her room and start her breathing treatment. Since she's healthy and not wheezing today, we only have to do one steroid treatment tonight, which is fantastic. I hold her (and her blankies and her baby) and Matt reads stories, since I've lost my voice (strep, remember?). 

8:22 p.m.- She falls asleep and Matt is kind enough to finish reading the story just to me, haha. Then he cleans up her room while I hold her and the breathing treatment finishes. She doesn't wake up when I pull the mask off, so we decide to forgo teeth brushing (once a day is a great accomplishment anyway, in my book) and just put her straight to bed. She never wakes up, so it's the simplest bedtime ever tonight.

8:30 p.m.- Park myself on the couch to write this post. Before settling in, I consider trying to finish off my 10,000 steps goal for the day. I'm at 8,559 steps...I know that I could reach my goal by walking in loops around the house. I do it often. But it's boring and I'm exhausted and sick and really need to work on this post, so I decide to pass. Which is what I've decided to do most nights this month, let's be honest. My house is really small. Walking in 'laps' for 2,000 steps is incredibly obnoxious. Plus: sick card. Play it when you've got it, right?

9:10 p.m.- Finish up this post. Making the collages from my phone throughout the day REALLY helped this be much quicker and less obnoxious. And the time stamp on the pictures really helped, too. Maybe I'll do one of these things more often! Hahahaha.

Instead of actually tracking what thrilling events take place between now and when I go to sleep...I'm just going to guess at how it'll go so that I can finish writing this and call it a night.

9:30 p.m.-ish- Go eat a piece of banana bread for dessert. I'll read a chapter or two of the book I started the other day. Swallow a delicious teaspoon of my codeine cough syrup, in hopes I don't spend the entire night coughing.

10:00 p.m.-ish- Take a shower.

10:20 p.m.-ish- Go to bed. Pray Millie doesn't want to party in the middle of the night. Try not to hack up a lung coughing. Sleep.