A Week in the Life: Monday

I've been wanting to "document" our daily routine for a week for a while now, but for one reason or another kept putting it off, waiting for the "perfect" week to come along.  Well, we're down to the last week of my maternity leave, so it's now or never.  I was looking back at the journal I kept the first few weeks of Anna's life to record her feedings and diaper changes ... goodness knows I was too tired and emotional to remember 10-12 feedings and 8-10 diaper changes a day ... and was shocked at how different our days are now that we've fast-forwarded 4 months.  So, here goes ...

-- 6:30am:  Up a little earlier than usual, I heard Anna stirring as Mike's alarm went off and knew I wouldn't go back to sleep, so we all rose before the sun.  Anna feeds while Mom watches Local News and The Today Show.  It's POURING down rain!

-- 7:15am:  Breakfast for Mom, tidy up the kitchen and family room while Anna plays in her Bumbo, and we visit with Daddy before he heads out for two days.

-- 8:00am - 9:00am:  Playtime on the activity mat, jumping, books, and tummy time.

-- 9:00am:  Second feeding of the day.  Heavy rain knocked out the satellite for a few minutes, so I started watching the movie Whip It; HBO and Cinemax both had preview weekends and Mike and I recorded a TON of movies.  Who needs Netflix or RedBox when you have a savvy eye on the movie channels : )

-- 9:30am:  Down for her morning (ok, let's be serious, only) nap.

-- 9:30am - Noon:  Misc house chores ... tidying up, folding laundry, read a bit of Southern Living while eating lunch (turkey sandwich and an apple) and decide on the remaining meals for the week.  (Normally all grocery and meal planning is done on Sunday, but I was in a funk and broke down about going back to work, so I put it off until today), showering and actually styling my hair as I'd gotten it cut on Sunday and wanted to see if I could manage the shorter "do" on my own.

-- Noon:  Wake Miss Anna up from nap time (yes, she'd gone on 2 1/2 hours!), diaper change, sing songs, dress her for the day, and a feeding.

-- 1:00pm:  Play for a few minutes, then load up for afternoon errands.

-- 1:30pm - 3:00pm:  Drop off a medical release required by daycare at her pediatrician's office and run to Lowe's to exchange curtain rods.  While at Lowe's the return clerk informed me that she'd take the baby, but not the curtain rods ... sadly for her I only had a receipt for the rods : )

-- 3:00pm:  Anna naps a little on the drive home and I let her sleep for a few minutes in her car seat while I unload the car and notice a package on the front porch ... it's her Halloween costume!  I couldn't resist trying it on her for a second before feeding her ...



A perfect fit for our Anna Banana!!

 -- 4:00pm - 5:30pm:  Cuddle-time and playtime with Mom, call Grandma, call Dad, and general  afternoon fun.

-- 5:30pm:  Someone starts to get a little fussy and the weather has done a complete 180 from the morning rainstorm, so we pack-up and head on a walk in the Baby Bjorn.  As I was changing clothes, I laid Anna on our bed for a second and when I turned around she was being the cutest thing ever, so we had an impromptu photo shoot (proof to come, issues with downloading pictures right now).

-- 5:50pm:  Finally head out on our walk, notice a praying mantis on the window, take a picture to send to Paw Paw, knowing he'll love it.

-- 6:15pm:  Walk is over, fussies have set in and there's no use in fighting a feeding and bedtime.  Sing songs while diapering up and changing into a sleeper.

-- 6:15pm - 6:45pm:  Feeding and cuddles with Mom.

-- 6:45pm - 7:00pm:  Asleep in Mom's arms, I just couldn't take her to her crib yet ... and I was almost finished with Whip It that I'd started earlier in the day ... a cute movie : )

-- 7:00pm:  Anna goes down for the night.

-- 7:00pm - 11:00pm:  Tidy up the house, make dinner for myself (salad and leftover spaghetti with bolognese sauce from Sunday), talk to Mike, and spend several hours hanging rods and new curtains in the living and dining room (a surprise for when Mike comes home on Tuesday ... we'd started the project over the weekend, but ran into a bit of a snag). 

-- 11:00pm:  Pump and indulge in watching E! News for a few minutes before enjoying a sugar-free Dark Chocolate Jell-O pudding pack and heading off to bed. 

-- Overnight:  My dear friend, April, delivered her baby boy ... I was very reminiscent as I dozed off and couldn't wait to hear the good news when I woke up!