wake up when we want, get ready, go to work, run errands, lazily walk around the grocery store while we decide what to have for dinner, go home, play with the dogs, water the garden, cook, eat, drink some wine, watch TV, go to bed whenever we want, read our books, etc.
essentially, we did whatever we wanted, whenever we felt like it while still accomplishing the usual adult things like paying bills and doing laundry.
what our days are like now:
6:00 am
alarm goes off. I check to see if the baby's awake or close to awake...sweet, he's still asleep. back to sleep myself. :)
6:30 am
baby's usually awake by now, nursing. Nick's in the shower while Alden eats. baby's done eating, we snuggle and play in bed until Nick gets out of the shower. Nick takes Alden to get a diaper change and outfit and I go pump (since I have so much milk from no overnight feedings I have to pump in the mornings to relieve the achy boobs). Before getting settled on the couch for my morning Medela date, I put frozen milk in some warm water to thaw, let the dogs out (feed them too, if we're having an efficient morning) and get bottles (both for pumping and for Alden) ready to be filled.
7:30 am
hanging out on the couch pumping, reading my 10 minutes of Real Simple (it seriously takes me months to catch up on my subscription since this is the only time I have to flip through them) while Nick finishes getting the baby cleaned up and ready for the day. I actually really enjoy these few minutes- they force me to slow down a little and take a second for myself. Nick takes the baby into the bedroom with him to start getting ready for the day. when i'm done pumping, i put the milk in the fridge, check on the thawing milk (add more warm water if it's still frozen) and get my pump packed up. i check the diaper bag to make sure everything is there for daycare (cloth diapers, wet bag, extra outfit, wipes, etc.) and get Alden's bottles filled and packed up.
8:00 am
Nick is ready so he leaves the baby in the bedroom with me while he gets our breakfast and lunch packed. I get ready for work and sneak in some play time with Alden. Alden goes in his swing for the few minutes before we head out while we get everything packed up, put the dogs away, lock doors, etc.
8:30 am
usually out the door (some mornings earlier, some later) headed to daycare. since we all ride together, this is a nice few minutes for Nick and I to chat and listen to NPR :)
8:45 am
drop Alden off at daycare. chat with his teachers for a couple minutes, hug the boy and head to work.
9:00 am
we park the car in our campus lot and have a relaxed few minutes together as we walk from the parking lot into downtown. after a few blocks, we kiss goodbye and Nick heads onto campus while I head downtown to work. (most mornings I'm actually in the office by 9 but it totally depends on when the baby wakes up, i'm really happy when I get in by 8)
...WORK...
4:30-ish pm
i leave work, walk to the car and head to pick up Nick at his building. we head to daycare to get Alden, talk with his teachers and take our time getting in the car while we "chat" with the baby.
5:00 pm
leaving daycare, headed to run errands or going straight home.
depending on what we've done that afternoon...
5:30-6:30 pm
home. let the dogs out, play in the backyard for a little while (frisbee with Buster, walking around with Alden, watering the garden, checking on the veggies, etc.) and get everything unpacked. at the end of each day we have: dirty diapers from daycare, dirty bottles from daycare, bottles from the milk i pump at work, shields, valves, membranes, etc. from my pump, and empty lunch boxes (mine & Nick's) that all have to be cleaned! I normally try to start some dishes and laundry ASAP when we get home while Nick has the baby.
6:00-7:00 pm
start dinner. Alden usually eats somewhere in this hour so I take him and we play in his room or read books or he hangs out in his Jumperoo with Nick in the kitchen while he makes dinner & Alden nurses whenever he gets hungry.
By 7:00 or so Alden is usually ready to be in his swing (we've found that he benefits from a few minutes in the swing in the evenings to help him "chill" from all of the stimulation of the day) for his "evening nap". the baby typically falls asleep and we eat dinner while he's napping. this is also the only real time during the day that we watch TV anymore (if you know us, you know that we like our TV shows so this is a big change for us...). We can usually watch one or two (if they're short episodes) recorded shows a night, which means that we have a DVR full of stuff that we haven't seen (which, incidentally, has made me very careful to get on facebook when a show we love has recently been on...spoilers galore, people!)
8:00 pm
Alden is awake so one of us grabs him from the swing and the other takes in the dinner dishes and cleans the kitchen a little. we'll all hang out on the couch together or go in Alden's room to play and change his diaper, etc.
8:30-8:45 pm
we get the baby's bath going and do our bathtime routine (lights dimmed, humidifier on, white noise on, warm bath, cuddling in the towel when we're finished)
9:00 pm
Alden is out of the bath and he gets some diaper time before getting dressed for bed so he can cool off and relax. Then, Nick puts him in his sleep sack and he nurses. He usually falls asleep eating and I put him in his crib (lately I'm trying to catch him before he's really asleep so we can start reinforcing his ability to fall asleep on his own).
9:15 pm
Alden is asleep. Video monitor is on and with us in the living room. This is when one of us is usually finishing up dishes and cleaning the kitchen, moving laundry, etc.
9:45 pm
We, finally, are both sitting down at the same time. We either watch some TV, read, play on our phones or just hang out. Most of the time we don't talk a lot, we just chill and relax from the day :)
10:00 pm
Laura's usually headed to bed since the baby still wakes up at night to eat (some nights and only once, but still, it messes with your sleep patterns) and she needs a lot more sleep than Nick does. Nick hangs out on the computer or in the living room until he comes to bed (which is at who knows what time since I'm normally out like a light as soon as my head hits the pillow).
And then the next day we wake up and do it all over again :) Things may be a little crazy right now but our sweet little family is enjoying the ride!
much love, L&N
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