It's surprising, and then, really not at all, that
my last Day in the Life post was in August. That was the last month that things were "the norm" for us. We started house hunting in September, put an offer down in October, had two months to pack and enjoy the holidays, closed on the house and moved cross country in January! Along with a total industry change for Joel, I started a part time gig...and all of a sudden we're almost half way through March.
Me waiting for our new normal, or whatever will be our routine, will probably have me waiting for months, if not years to write a post like this, so while this isn't a glimpse at a "typical" day, we haven't had those in a long time!
So, here is our day on Tuesday, March 7th.
Leo is 17 months and we now live in Illinois!!!
6:13am: My alarm goes off and Joel walks in shortly with a pretty funny story. He said, "you'll never guess how my run ended" - which is never a good opener. I thought for sure he was pulled over by a police officer, or something, but he said he thought he saw a big log on our yard from last nights storm, so he went to go move it and it gnarled at him and tried to bite him.
Apparently it was a baby beaver. I got a large kick out of that.
6:20am: Joel brings me up a cup of coffee so I have that in bed and go through my phone.
6:40am: I decide not to shower and just get ready for the day.
6:55am: We had storms last night which have been really freaking out this is California dog, so we let him sleep with us and he does not want to move so that I can make the bed.
7:00am: Almost like clockwork, Leo is up right around now. Joel goes in to get him, change his diaper, and then I go in to feel him his bottle.
7:15am: Leo gets one bottle a day, in the morning, and chugs all eight ounces of his whole milk
7:30am: We brush teeth (kind of, since he mainly just chews and sucks on the tooth brush) and get changed into our clothes for the day.
7:40am - I finish getting ready and so does Leo before we head downstairs for the day.
7:45am - While Leo plays, I get his breakfast ready along with mine.
7:55am: We sit next to each other at the breakfast bar and have our breakfasts. Leo is a really good eater, and at about 3/4ths of his oatmeal and his banana - but the boy ain't clean.
8:10am: Once Leo is down, I wipe down all of the counters and vacuum. This dustbuster was a house warming from my mom and is possibly my most favorite item in our entire house. I use it 2 or 3 times a day, and it's a lifesaver.
8:20am: I do a few random things on the computer (like finally getting our favorite restaurant rewards card registered) while Leo plays with his little grocery cart
8:55am - We play for a bit, and then head out for the morning. We have a Tot Rock class through our park district. The sun is out and the weather is unseasonably nice. I think the high was 52 for the day.
9:15-9:55am: This is one of the best baby classes I've ever attended. There is a great balance between structured and focused free play, and the music, props, and teacher are incredible. I know they travel to a lot of park districts in Illinois, so if you live local, check out
Rock'n'Kids.
10:30am - Every Tuesday my mom, grandma, and uncle get together for breakfast. We have had a ton of fun joining them on Tuesday mornings.
11:00am: Leo crushes one big pancake, one egg, a side of avocado and tons of berries
11:30am - Leo and I head home to pack his bag for his afternoon at Coco's house and then we load up the stroller and walk to meet her. The weather is perfect, and my mom only lives a few blocks away, so it was nice to soak up a little sunshine.
12:15pm - I'm back home, sans baby, which is a weird new normal, and I spend about twenty minutes getting the house picked up, making a little snack plate for lunch, and getting to my desk.
12:30pm - 5pm - I'm working 4.5 hours in the afternoon, Monday-Thursday and it's actually pretty fun. I like what I'm doing and I also had a chance to get a lot of house admin-y stuff done too while I was working on the computer without a toddler at my knees!
5:05pm - I'm out the door to go pick up my little Leo. I missed him these last few hours - and my house feels empty!
5:20pm: My dad and Joel work together and they have a business dinner tonight, so my mom, Leo, and I are going out to dinner ourselves! We head downtown Crystal Lake to have dinner at Duke's.
6:00pm: We had a pretty good dinner. The food was a little greasy, but we were there early and there were tons of kids, so Leo was in Heaven! We had a drink, my mom and I split a salad and a burger, and Leo had a ton of fruit and 3/4 of a grilled cheese.
6:55pm: We dropped my mom off and headed home to get ready for Leo's bedtime. LeeLee was slap happy and adorable, and we ended up staying up a little past bedtime dancing and laughing because he was just cuter than cute.
7:17pm: I snuck out of my dancing jelly beans bedroom
7:20pm: I put on my sweats, went downstairs poured a glass of below-average red wine (the 1 bottle out of the 4 that we ordered through Winc that I did not like) and wrote this post!
7:45pm: I'm hoping to stay downstairs until Joel gets home which I think will be about 9pm. I'll probably watch an old episode of RHOBH and then we'll head upstairs, hopefully fall quickly asleep, and get ready for another busy day tomorrow.
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I have to say, as I was recording my day, I thought to myself multiple times....wow, life is so, so good right now. We are so happy to be in this house, this house that really feels like home. So happy to be around, and spending so much time with family. We feel so supported, so safe, so loved, and its so, so nice. We are so grateful.
