A Day in the Life

Wednesdays are a crazy day in our family, and I've been wanting to document a Day in the Life on a Wednesday for awhile, and I finally got around to it today. I know I'll treasure these posts someday, thinking back to our day to day lives with babies.

We cram a lot into a typical Wednesday, especially this Spring. I feel like I'm constantly packing and unpacking bags, loading the car and watching the clock so we're not late for our next activity of the day. Thankfully, it's sandwiched in the middle of the week between some easier, less scheduled days. Here's what we did today:

7:00am- Elisabeth and Samuel wake up. I change their diapers and bring Elisabeth downstairs. Samuel wants to stay upstairs and play. I nurse Elisabeth and feed her a bottle

7:15- I get dressed and ready for the day. Nathan and Samuel come downstairs about 7:30 and Nathan asks to watch a show while I finish getting ready

7:45- I fix breakfast for the boys (waffles and strawberries) and feed Elisabeth breakfast (rice cereal and a jar of fruit baby food... and some cheerios)

8:00- While the kids finish eating, I pack Nathan's lunch for school (PB&J, goldfish, grapes and yogurt) and make sure he has everything he needs in his back pack. I also pack the diaper bag with snacks for Samuel and lunch for Elisabeth (and refill diapers, etc)

8:30- I take Elisabeth upstairs to get her dressed and pick out the boys' clothes. I come downstairs to dress Samuel and take the boys to the bathroom to brush teeth, wash faces, and comb their hair.

8:45- I get a few minutes to eat a quick breakfast while Elisabeth bounces in her jumper and the boys play and watch Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood in the Living Room.

9:15- We load up and drop Nathan off at school.

9:40- I stop by the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and then head to the library for Storytime

10:00- Elisabeth snoozes through the first half of Storytime, but Samuel participates. The librarian reads one of his favorite books, and he loves all the finger plays and songs.

10:30- We have a few minutes to kill until our lunch plans, so we head to the children's area of the library to read books and play with some of our Storytime friends. I make Elisabeth a bottle while we're playing too.

11:10- We head across town to meet my friend Shana for lunch at Panera.

11:30- Samuel is a handful during lunch, climbing up and down out of his chair and not eating. It is a stressful hour,  but I still have a chance to visit a little with Shana in between the disciplining and wrangling. Elisabeth is sweet, and enjoys some bites of Samuel's sandwich that he wouldn't eat.

12:30- We tell Shana goodbye and head home. Both kids fall asleep in the car.

1:00- Samuel manages to stay asleep when we get home, but Elisabeth wakes up. I give her some toys to play with in the living room to keep her occupied while I get some chores done. I straighten the living room and sweep and mop the living room floor.

1:30- Elisabeth has had it by this point and demands some attention, so I sit down and play with her.

2:00- Desperate to get a few things done  since nap time was a bust, I give Elisabeth a snack in her high chair. It lasts about 4 minutes before she's screaming and wakes Samuel up.

2:15- I load the kids up and pick up Nathan from school. He gives Samuel the biggest hug when he sees him. I just love their sweet relationship.

2:45- We're back home. Samuel shows Nathan some of the new books he checked out from the library, and while they're reading books, I give Elisabeth a bottle and put her down for a nap, since she missed her earlier nap.

3:30- The boys play upstairs while I clean up the kitchen. I wanted to remember this conversation that happened:

Nathan: "Samuel keeps messing up my toys while I'm playing"
Me: (in a sing song voice) "Find a way to play together"
Nathan: "No, Samuel needs to find a way to play together, NOT ME. He's ruining my fun"
Me: "You need to figure out how to play with him Nathan. Have you asked him to stop messing up your toys?"
Nathan: "No"
Me: "Why don't you try that?" (He runs back upstairs)
3 minutes later, Samuel comes down crying
Samuel: "Nathan taking my toys"
Me (in a sing song voice) "Find a way to play together"
Samuel: (Still crying until he sees the fruit bowl) Pointing at the fruit bowl- "Banana! Want Banana!"
I hand him a banana and he sits down to eat it and the conflict is solved

4:00- Elisabeth is still asleep and I pack Samuel's dinner to take to Nathan's soccer practice, and pack up Nathan's AWANA bag

4:20- I wake up Elisabeth and change diapers as Matt walks in. Then we load up and head to Nathan's soccer practice.

5:00- Nathan's practice starts. Samuel eats for a minute and then decides he wants to practice too.

5:30- My parents join us at practice so they can take Nathan to church with them as soon as it's over (they run by Sonic to pick up dinner for him)

5:45- We load up Samuel and Elisabeth and tell Nathan and my parents goodbye

6:15- We make it home. I feed Elisabeth dinner (and Samuel finishes his dinner) while Matt eats. Then I heat up leftovers for my dinner.

7:00- Samuel asks to watch the Jungle Book. I turn it on for him, but he ends up playing on the floor with me and Elisabeth more than watching it. We do all dance during the "Bear Necessities" song and Daddy gives horsey rides to Samuel and Elisabeth. And Elisabeth practices her crawling. She is getting REALLY close!

7:40- I take Elisabeth upstairs, change her into jammies and feed and rock her while Matt changes Samuel into his jammies and reads books

8:00- Elisabeth is having a hard time falling asleep, so I let her read a bedtime book with me and Samuel. Then I brush Samuel's teeth and put him to bed and try to get Elisabeth asleep. She recently learned to sit up in her crib (from a lying down position) and it's causing some problems with her falling asleep. I come downstairs and unload the dishwasher and then make her another small bottle which does the trick and she falls asleep.

8:30- By the time I get Elisabeth down, Matt is almost asleep too (He's been going to work at 5:00am all this week). I kiss him goodnight and finish straightening the house and work on the computer. My mom calls and asks if they can take Nathan to Cherry Berry since his teacher bragged and bragged on what a big helper he was at church. After a particularly trying day with Samuel, it did my Momma heart good to hear Nathan was so well-behaved at church. It was a reminder that training and being consistent when they are young will pay off in a couple years.

9:10- Nathan gets home, and we change into his jammies, brush teeth, and he reads books in bed.

10:00- I'm finishing this blog post and heading to bed. Maybe I'll read for a bit before falling asleep.