A Day in the Life

I haven't done a Day in the Life post in FOREVER, so I'm well overdue for one...

Presenting: A Day in the Life: 3 Kids Edition!

3:45 AM 

Why, yes BENNETT, I am starting at this point because you decided to wake up at this time!

So usually Bennett will make it until 5 AM before waking up, but I guess he got hungry this night and wanted to get his breakfast party started early. I feed him quickly, then put him back to sleep.

5:00 AM

This is usually what time I will get Bennett and feed him, but since he's already just eaten an hour ago, I sleep in (!!!) until 5:15. I quickly throw on some makeup, yoga pants and a sweatshirt before heading downstairs...

Time to teach some Chinese kids! I teach 5 classes pretty much every morning: 5:30, 6:00, 6:30, 7:00 and 7:30. I'm done by 8:00! In between classes (I usually get 3-5 minutes depending on when I finish), I make coffee, drink coffee and set up for the next class!

8:00

Time to head upstairs. Ella's clock has turned green at 7:30, so that's when she comes in our room to watch a show. Travis usually goes to get Lucas if he hears him around 7:30, too. I keep the baby monitor downstairs with me and will get Bennett if he wakes up, but usually he stays asleep until 8:00. 

Anyway, at 8:00 everyone brushes their teeth, turns off their sound machines, and B & L get diapers changed.

Then we head downstairs for breakfast! 

Our mornings are absolutely insane, especially on Ella's preschool days (Monday-Thursday), so we started putting everything we needed from upstairs in that basket Ella is carrying. Clothes, hair brushes, extra diapers, etc. The less trips we have to make back upstairs, the better...and the more on-time we will be! I also put everyone's pajamas in the bin to take back upstairs later, which is nice so pajamas aren't strewn all over.

While the kids eat breakfast, we say bye to Trav as he leaves for work and I feed Bennett on the couch!

9:00

Preschool drop-off!

Beyond grateful that Ella's preschool has a car line because I look pretty much homeless every day at this point. My 5 AM makeup has worn off and I am still in my random tutoring clothes! 

9:30

Back at home with the boys! I put Bennett down for his morning nap, while Lucas joins me in the bonus room! He plays while I run.

Well, this day, Lucas decided he wanted to watch the Bachelor with me. There were pirates, helicopters and roller coasters on this episode...what's not to love?!

10:15-ish

I run between 3 and 6 miles every day (currently following this training plan...no, I'm not training for a half marathon! I cut the distance of the long runs in half, ha!), so this time varies. I take a shower while Lucas gets to play on his new tablet he got for Christmas!

10:45

Bennett is up from his nap (he usually wakes up the second I get in the shower!) and I feed him. Then we go on our daily adventure...this day, we went to my friend Tammy's house to try on clothes from the new Shrimp and Grits Kids line for spring/summer!

12:30

Preschool pick up! 

By the time we get home, it's closer to 1:00 so Lucas finally gets some lunch!

I eat lunch too, while I also do my feedback for tutoring from that morning. We are required to complete feedback for parents on each child's lesson within 12 hours of the lesson or our pay gets docked! 

While I'm doing that, these 2 hang out and play :)

1:45

Nap time!!! I also feed Bennett again and put him down for his afternoon nap!

Then, I do ALL of the things while my kids are asleep! 

Today's task: laundry!

And Bible study homework!

Some days, if I don't get to my run in the morning, I will run during this time instead. But I prefer to run in the morning! 

4:30

If my kids aren't up yet, I always wake them at this point. They get to watch Peppa Pig while I feed Bennett.

5:00

We usually don't run errands in the afternoon, but this day I HAD to return some things to Old Navy that I kept putting off....so we finally just went!

I had every intention of not buying anything, but we saw this dress and Ella had to have it! 

We also stopped at Buy Buy Baby next door to get a sound machine....for my husband! Ha! I apparently am very loud when I tutor at 5:30 AM that it wakes him up (our bedroom is directly above where I teach). So being the good wife I am, I decided to get him a sound machine that hopefully drowns out my loud voice! 

6:00

Once we get home, Ella helps me set up and pull props for the next day's tutoring classes! This is probably her FAVORITE thing that she gets to do all day! Seriously!

Then, Bennett gets a bath....

...while the big kids eat dinner!

I also feed Bennett again while they are eating. 

6:45

Night, night Bennett!

7:00 

It's now time for the older kids' bath! If Trav is home from work, he will give them showers, but usually that only happens on weekends.

Then Lucas gets a story while Ella reads independently in her room...

...then after I put Lucas to bed, Ella and I read together! Right now we are working our way through Love Does for Kids, which is a super sweet book!

7:45

After both kids are down, Trav and I eat dinner (he usually comes home sometime while I am putting them to bed). Then I clean up the kitchen, prep my coffee for tomorrow, and pack Ella's lunch.

I end my day the same way I started it...

I usually don't tutor at night but right now all of the Chinese kids are out of school for Chinese New Year. Since China is 13 hours ahead, it is morning there when it's night here, and since they don't have school, they are able to take English lessons during this time! 

9:45

After I'm done teaching, I head upstairs and get ready for bed!

I aim to go to sleep by 10:00...but that usually doesn't happen! If I get more than 6 hours of sleep per night, I am doing well! 

Whew! And there you have it! I think we stay pretty busy!!

{For previous Day in the Life posts, see here!}

Another Day in the Life

I can't believe it has been almost a YEAR since my last Day in the Life post.

I freaking love a good DITL (that's Day In The Life, in case you're like me and bad with acronyms) post, so when I saw that the next Show and Tell Tuesday was DITL, I haaaaddd to document! So here's a look at last Friday, October 6!

6:30 AM: Good morning to me. 

Yes, I really do get up at this time, Mom! I've learned that if I don't get up and run when everyone else is still asleep, it usually doesn't happen! 

I will occasionally sleep in on Mondays and/or Fridays (the hands-down hardest days for me to get up!) if we don't have something going on that morning and I can run outside later with Lucas. But this Friday, we did have plans, thus the 6:30 wake up time! 

6:45 AM: Treadmill time

I'm so incredibly lucky that we have a treadmill at our house so I don't have to get up even earlier to drive to the gym! 

7:20 AM: I'm about 2 miles away from finishing my 6 mile run, when I hear a little voice on the monitor. 

This sweet boy makes a mess in our bonus room helps me finish up my run! 

7:45 AM: Ella's clock turns green at 7:30, so she is already in our room and has yet again convinced Daddy to let her watch an episode of Paw Patrol. Lucas joins them when he's done "running" with me  for some milk and cuddling!

I take a shower and get ready as fast as I can while these 3 are still in bed. 

8:05 AM: Paw Patrol is over and everyone is out of bed. Time to brush teeth!

8:20 AM: Breakfast for both kids. 

Pretty much every morning they get a waffle with peanut butter and a bowl of yogurt. I eat a Balance Bar and make coffee!

8:25 AM: Trav leaves for work and always waves to Ella! 

(Yes, she still eats breakfast in just her undies!!)

After breakfast, I have about 10 minutes to clean up the disaster Lucas has made with his yogurt (he won't let me feed him anymore, so it's literally like a yogurt bomb has gone off in my kitchen) and get both kids dressed. Thank goodness I am already dressed and ready myself, or else I'd have to roll up to preschool in my pajamas (this may or may not have happened a few times before, though).

9:05 AM: Preschool drop-off

Ella's preschool technically starts at 9, but let's be real: that's the time I'm pulling out of our driveway if I am lucky! Thank goodness her school is super close; otherwise, she'd definitely be late every day! It's SO hard to get everyone dressed and out the door! 

9:20 AM: Back at home, I put on make up if I haven't yet, and make our bed. Lucas "helps" by getting into as many bathroom drawers as possible (anyone know of an easy way to child-proof these?!).

This is the time I will go run outside with him in the BOB if I haven't run yet...but we had things to do this day!

9:35 AM: I have a little laundry assistant who is helping me put away his clothes!

10:05 AM: Off to the store!

He ripped his shoe off about 3 seconds after I got him in the car seat. Every time. I'd estimate I probably spend a good hour a week putting this kid's shoes on. 

10:15 AM: Trader Joe's run!

Lucas very much enjoyed his pumpkin waffle sample. We stopped at Trader Joe's to pick up some things for dinner to take to my friend who just had TWINS!

11:15 AM: We made it to my friend's house and Lucas is mostly interested in her dogs.

Such sweet little babies!!! Ahhhhh I love them!

12:35 PM: My friend and I couldn't stop talking (this happens to me a LOT), so I had to majorly book it to Ella's preschool to get her by 12:30! 

I rolled into the parking lot on 2 wheels, a few minutes late, but thankfully there were other cars in front of me in the car line and Ella wasn't the last kid there. That's always my biggest fear: poor Ella just sitting there by herself! 

12:45 PM: We make it home, unpack, and Ella shows me her artwork she made at school...

...while Lucas eats lunch!

1:30 PM: NAPTIME!!!! So glorious! 

Ella wanted to pretend she was already sleeping and asked me to take her picture "with the flashlight."

During nap time, I eat lunch, clean, read some blogs, and try not to buy things on Facebook groups. 😉 Today, I also catch up a little bit with my Bible study....

...and organize my Pinterest boards!

I am a big loser, I know. But I couldn't find recipes because they were all lumped onto one board, so I created different boards for soups, salads, crock pot meals, fish, pasta....I was pretty proud of myself. And then, the kids were still sleeping so I decided to tackle my teaching pins too. Now they're all thematically organized. :) I know you are as excited as I am about it! 

4:30 PM: Both kids took CRAZY long naps today, so I woke them up at 4:30.

Lucas is mad, but I promise he got over it quickly. 

{Pro tip: our sleeping consultant said to never let your kids sleep past 4:30! So I always make sure they are awake by then, so they will go to sleep at night!}

5:00 PM: Time to run some errands!

Trav's sunglasses got a little messed up when we were in Curacao, so we took them to Nordstrom to get fixed. If we don't have any errands to run that day, we usually go to a nearby playground! 

6:00 PM: My friend knows it's time to eat, so he tries to pull himself into his high chair.

While they eat dinner, Ella loves to FaceTime my parents or her bestie Mackenzie! 

This is somewhat of a miracle, but while the kids were eating dinner, I actually started making Trav's and my dinner. This night, I made stuffed peppers, and the kids ate these leftovers the next night for their dinner. 

I just cannot at this stage of life get dinner on the table for 4 people by 6 PM. And since Ella won't eat anything anyway, its kind of like why even try? So for now, my kids eat leftovers, macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, or basically whatever I can get them to eat at 6, and then Trav and I eat after they go to bed. 

6:35 PM: Bathtime!

Trav hasn't gotten home yet, so I give them both a bath...but if he's home, he loves to give them their bath! 

7:00 PM: Both kids get their PJs on, hair brushed, and Lucas gets some milk. We read quite a few books during this time, too!

Daddy finally gets home and changes real quick before letting the kids jump all over him! 

7:15 PM: Time for bed! Lucas always crawls into this position in his crib and it cracks me up! 

Guess who wanted another picture with the "flashlight?!"

Trav and I eat dinner, catch up on the day's happenings, and then he decides to watch baseball. I would personally rather watch paint dry (whyyyyy is baseball so boring?!?!?), so I head upstairs to watch Real Housewives of New Jersey and fold some laundry--woo hoo! 

11:00 PM: Baseball game is over so Trav comes upstairs, and we watch our favorite weekend show, Live PD. Have you guys watched this?!?!? OMG, it's such a train wreck but we are SO into it. 

I'm usually asleep by 11 most nights, but since it's Friday, I stay up a little bit later knowing I don't have to get up at 6:30 the next morning (I can sleep in till like, oh 7:30...WOW!).

Hope you enjoyed a little peak at a normal day around here!