Day In the Life - Mom of Two Littles

One of my favorite things to do is write down what a day in our life looks like with the kids at different ages. It's like a snapshot of how chaotic our days can be with little ones and how that changes as they grow. This day happened to play out the way my ideal schedule would go. However, at least a few days a week this schedule gets thrown out the window for errands, commitments outside the house, lazy days, etc. I believe kids thrive on schedules so we try our hardest to give them routine. I also try to remember that deviating from the routine is just as important for them to learn! So here's what our days currently look like with a 1 year old and 3.5 year old.

7 AM: I try to wake up and be downstairs by 7 just to get a few minutes to myself. I read a quick devotional on my phone, make the bed (this is new so I don't expect that to last), and sneak downstairs. I've been trying to get my yoga in right away in the morning before the day gets in my way. A lot of mornings one or both of the boys join me before I can get started. Jax has been feeling kinda icky this week so he was extra snuggly when he woke up. He nursed and then snuggled in my lap while I started yoga.

8 AM: Once we've all woken up the boys usually play and watch PBS while I attempt to throw breakfast together. I'm not a huge breakfast person even though breakfast food is my favorite. Both the boys love to eat breakfast though and are usually hounding me for food as soon as they're fully awake! Sometimes the TV distracts them long enough for me to get food ready in peace. Usually Jax is hanging off my legs and Mav is blasting me with questions about the world.

 9 AM: Breakfast is finished anywhere between 9 and 10 depending on how long they've played while eating. I used to get the kids dressed as soon as they woke up. Then I'd end up changing their food covered clothing after breakfast almost daily so now we eat in our jammies. Getting dressed has become a game of who can run away from mama the most before you're dressed haha.

10 AM: After several rough months we've finally gotten Jax on a regular 2 nap schedule so he goes down from 10-11. This is usually when I attempt to clean up one area of the house. It's also when I try to give Mav some one-on-one attention by doing his "school work." Every day he says "Mama, you know what we haven't done today?! My schooooo werk!" (He says it in the sweetest sing-songy voice, I need to record that before he stops saying it.) I wasn't ready to send him off to preschool this year so we chose to work on some things at home. A friend shared this workbook from Costco and it's been the perfect starter to his school work every day. Then we finish up with some sort of activity if there's time.

 11 AM: If we have errands this is when we usually try to sneak out of the house. It becomes a bit of russian roulette because it's so close to lunch time and the boys often get hangry. Sometimes I feel like it takes an hour just to get all the shoes, coats, and hats on everyone to get out the door. I know I'll miss helping them some day so I try not to get too wound up about how long it takes.

12 PM: I didn't feel like braving errands with my camera so there's no shot for this one. If we weren't running errands this is usually when I'm throwing together lunch and trying to get a load of dishes going. I try to make sure I sit down with the boys during lunch and actually talk with them. This also forces me to eat like a functioning adult instead of just snacking here and there.

1 PM: Since we were running errands we didn't get back until 1 which made lunch more rushed. Gage waiting under Jax's chair is how 100% of mealtimes go unless we put him outside. Once they finish up lunch its straight down for naptime, the goal is asleep by 1:30. They're both exhausted by then so they fall asleep pretty quickly.

2 PM: Since we're in BSF this year I've started using the first part of naptime to read my Bible and get at least a few questions done. This is also when I do my daily gratitude list, finish writing my to-do list if I haven't already, and get distracted by my phone for longer than I want to admit.

 3 PM: I work on my to-do list once I'm done with my Bible study. This day I had some computer work to get done. This is only a small view of how chaotic our office/mudroom is right now. I had it nicely cleaned and then the winter gear came out and everything else piled up in here too. I wish I could avoid it but both of our laptops crapped out this year so the only access to a computer we have is in the office. That's also why I'm terrible about blogging on a regular basis. It's hard to get down here and still keep a good eye/ear on the boys.

4 PM: The boys wake up anywhere between 3:30 and 4:30. I let them sleep until they wake up but more often than not I'm in there to wake them up at 4. We hang out and play until Mark gets home from work.

5 PM: If we're on our game (which doesn't happen often) then someone will cook supper right away and we can eat before 6. That's what happened this day but usually it's closer to 6:30 before we're eating. When we moved to this house I made it a rule that supper is to be eaten at the table as a family. That's how I grew up and it's really important to me that my kids have that too.

 6 PM: This is usually when we are eating supper and having some family time. Rough housing, video games, books, building with blocks. Every night is different!

 7 PM: Family time and the beginning of their bedtime routine. This night they decided to "help" me decorate the Christmas tree. This is usually one I do myself since I let them help decorate the other tree. But they were having fun so eventually I broke down and stopped trying to stop them from decorating it. I can always move the ornaments later.

This is generally bath time on the nights they need one and then we follow their bedtime routine around 7:45. If I had my way it would be lights out by 8 but it usually crosses over into the 8 o'clock hour. I don't mind because usually bedtime is full of snuggles and giggles.

8 PM: We finish up the bedtime routine with books and prayer. Jax nurses for a minute before jumping up to join in on the book. The boys get snuggled into bed with one last kiss and the we cross our fingers that they go right to sleep. Right now they're falling asleep within 10-15 minutes but sometimes it's rough. Mav has been known to still be awake when we check the monitor around 9 or even as we're getting ready for bed around 10.

I want to know, how similar does your routine look to ours if you have little ones at home?

Oh Christmas Tree

I grew up putting up our Christmas tree piece by piece in the warmth of our home. Every color-coded branch slipped into it's spot until the tree was whole. Then we'd spend a good chunk of time fluffing it out before putting up the ornaments. I have fond memories of getting the tree decorated just so!

Our first home together was a tiny apartment in married student housing in college. Even if we could have found room to cram a tree in our living room, real trees weren't allowed. When we moved to our second apartment a few months before Maverick was born, it was just a few weeks before Christmas. I barely decorated that year, just putting up a few lights and our tiny artificial tree. Maverick's first Christmas we decided it was time to cut down our first real tree! We froze our buns off and Mark cut that thing down by hand. It was so fun to start a new family tradition!

The next year we got smarter and brought an electric saw with. Mav had fun running through the rows of trees while Mark chopped it down. Last year was Jaxon's first Christmas and our first year in Minnesota so we had to track down a new tree farm. Jax slept the whole time and Maverick helped finish cutting the tree down.

This year I convinced Mark we should grab our tree before Thanksgiving because we had a string of warmer days earlier this month. He agreed to go, left work early, only for me to realize we were 3 days too early for the farm to open. I was so disappointed! After the long Thanksgiving weekend we trekked out to the farm to snag one. We went at the warmest point in the day but it was still only mid-twenties. Brr! The kids were in full winter gear minus we couldn't find Jaxon's gloves and only one of Mav's. Needless to say they were not happy to be so cold!

We walked out to find that most of the good lookin trees were already claimed. It took going to four different sections and a wagon ride to finally find one that would fit in our house! By this point both boys had been wailing for awhile so we snapped a few pictures and walked back as quickly as we could.  We got plenty of looks because both kids were losing it and all we could do was laugh! I love this tradition but this year had me reconsidering for a few minutes. Here's to next year, maybe only one of us will have a meltdown!

Are you team artificial tree or do you chop your own down?

Current Jams - Fall 2018

In our house about 90 percent of the day is spent with some kind of music blasting from the TV. If you've ever been to our house, chances are you've experienced this first hand as I often have to turn down the volume after you come in. Our boys love dance parties and will dance to pretty much anything! Maverick will even belt out his own songs if there's nothing playing. We spend a good chunk of time in our car dancing too! Good music playlists have become a must for us.

Jax mid dance party

I used to have an extensive Itunes library until my laptop crapped out on me one day. And then I plugged my phone into our other computer and accidentally wiped all the music off it! Oops. So these days we rely on our free Pandora and Spotify accounts. I've debated paying the monthly fee to ditch the ads since we use them so often but we're on a debt-free journey and that just doesn't fall into the category of necessary. We usually rotate through the same few playlists during each season. Once we get sick of them then I try to add a few more in! With the exception of my favorite Christmas stations which get played year round haha. A lot of these stations are safe for little ears but not all of them are PG, just to give a heads up.

Pandora:

Bing Crosby Radio -- Christmas classics!

Disney Children's Radio -- I started listening to this station when I was a nanny years ago. It's still a favorite!

Toddler Radio -- Good for dance parties!

Thomas Rhett Radio -- My favorite country station. Such a good mix of old and new!

Christian Contemporary Radio -- I've been listening to Christian music more over the last year and this is the best station I've found for it.

Relaxation Radio -- Mostly instrumentals, good for when I'm reading or taking a bath.

Dance Cardio Radio -- Our favorite witching hour station since Mav was a baby. Also good for working out!

Today's Country Radio -- Classic country station.

Paperweight Radio -- My favorite mellow station for rainy days!

Boyce Avenue Radio -- Oldie but goodie. Check them out if you've never heard of them!

Spotify:

Dance Party -- The boys' favorite station! We listen to this one multiple times a day, every day!

Throwback Jams -- This station reminds me of middle school and high school!

Rise 2018 -- Rachel Hollis made this station. There's a lot of stuff I had never heard before!

Songs to Sing In the Car -- I mostly listen to this one when I'm showering so I can sing stuff I know haha.

Country Coffeehouse -- Good for laid back days.

A Capella Christmas -- Pentatonix has quickly become a favorite around the holidays so this station is a must for me!

Now that I've shared my favorite playlists, would you share yours with me? I wouldn't mind adding a few new ones to my rotation!