Day in the Life…

The post is sponsored by Lance Gluten-Free Crackers.

Time for another installment of “Day in the Life…!” The last DITL post I wrote was over a year ago – WHAT?! I re-read it and noticed a couple things. One, Lincoln is wearing the exact same shirt in last year’s recap as today’s. Whoops! My bad. ? Guess we need to go shopping. Also, I remember that day over a year ago feeling hectic, but when I re-read it, it’s like a dream. The hardest stage is whatever stage you’re currently in though, right?

With that…

12:30am: Good morning! OY. ? Cam caught a cold from his brother and it’s been messing with his sleep for the past week or so. I feed him and am back in bed before 1am. Thank goodness he falls asleep quickly too.

5:30am: My alarm was set for 6am so this wake up call from Cam is good timing as I’ll be forced to get up versus hitting snooze. I feed him then head downstairs for 45 minutes of uninterrupted work time. It would have been an hour but I spent 15 minutes hunting for my cell phone. It was in my hand as I was walking downstairs but mysteriously disappeared while making coffee. Finally found it in the junk drawer. WHAT IS HAPPENING!?

6:59am: Cameron’s head pops up on the monitor and Lincoln starts calling out a few minutes later too. I head up to retrieve Cam who is all smiles then meet Ben, who has snagged a sleepy Lincoln, in the hallway.

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We all lay in bed for half an hour watching Nature Cat then Lincoln says he’s hungry, so I take the boys downstairs and make him a bowl of banana chia oatmeal topped with dried cranberries. Bon appetit, little dude!

7:45am: I unload then reload the dishwasher, kiss Ben goodbye, feed Cam his oatmeal + applesauce (can you tell its his favorite?!) check emails, then crank up the Moana soundtrack that’s available for free on YouTube – it’s our fave and I officially have every line of every song memorized. #iammoana

8:15am: Time to play! I get Cameron’s basket of toys out, Lincoln selects a puzzle, then we jam for the next half hour until Cam’s ready for his first nap.

I put him down, throw a load of laundry into the washer, then Lincoln and I build mega towers with his blocks. I’ll occasionally let him do his own thing and work while Cam takes his morning nap, but the times I put my to-do list aside in order to play with him are times I never regret. It’s one of the only 1:1 times we get during the day. “I LOVE building blocks with you, Mom!” Heart = melted.

9:30am: Lincoln and I head upstairs to get ready for the day. The sun is out for the first time in what feels like weeks, so we’re heading to the zoo – wohoo! My parents got us a Tri Membership to the zoo, Living History Farms, and Science Center for Christmas and we use our passes constantly. Cam wakes up as we’re finishing so I feed him then we head downstairs.

10:20am: I switch the laundry over, make and pack lunches for the zoo, then quickly scarf a peanut butter sandwich plus a giant bowl of leftover soup for breakfast – I am STARRRRRRVING! I was out of town the weekend prior and wasn’t able to prep any hard boiled eggs, breakfast casseroles, etc, so randoms for breakfast it is.

10:50am: We are zoo bound! Though this recap may make it sound like the morning is going smoothly (or maybe it doesn’t, I don’t know!) the past couple of hours have felt rushed for some reason. I’m glad we’re leaving the chaos behind and have our sights set on a fun morning at the zoo.  (Changed into more appropriate shoes before leaving!)

11:10am: We arrive at the zoo, check in, then have ourselves a great little time. Cam has fallen asleep in the car so he snoozes while Lincoln checks out the fish, seals, and rope bridges, oh my!

12:30pm: That’s a wrap on the zoo! The weather was perfection and we are leaving tired, aka naps are gonna be good. ? Cam chats on the way home while Lincoln eats the lunch I packed and watches a movie. We are in great moods.

1:00pm: Lincoln has leftover food from his car lunch so he sits at the counter to finish while I assemble the Breakfast Taco Casserole (which is EPIC, by the way!) I’ll be shooting for the blog the following day. Cam jumps away in his jumper beside us.

(recycled pic!)

I quickly assemble then eat a meat and cheese plate for lunch then we settle in to watch a movie for 20 minutes. Lincoln is obsessed with Disney movies so we let him watch 20 or 30 minutes of whatever he wants before nap and bedtime. Today it’s Return of Jafar (I’d rather watch Aladdin.) ?

2:10pm: Goodnight, Lincoln!

2:20pm: Goodnight, Cameron!

2:25pm: I settle into my chair at the kitchen counter then sit in the quiet for a moment. This is the hardest part of the day. So much of me wants to take a breather, or start dinner, or do laundry, but it’s the only big chunk of time I get during the day to work, so off we go. I pour myself a bowl of Lance’s Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Crackers then get to typin’.

Ben bought me these mini cracker sandwiches in individual snack packs for a road trip a few months ago and we loved them. Every Mama needs a secret snack stash she doesn’t disclose the location of with the rest of the family, and a box of these peanut butter crackers are included in mine. Love that they are certified gluten-free, don’t taste gluten-free (a must!) plus they really tide me over until dinnertime. I find them at CVS and Super Target – here’s a store locator!

I finish writing then schedule a blog post for the following day, write social media posts, and then tackle my inbox. It’s a disaster with a capital D!

4:21pm: Woot – epic naps out of the boys! Cameron’s crying like he had a bad dream so I quickly swoop him up before waking Lincoln. I don’t let him sleep past 4:30 otherwise he has a tough time settling down at bedtime. I feed Cameron then we all head downstairs to play before dinner. Poke Bowls are on the menu for Ben and me after the kids go to bed, so I’ll prep them later. CANNOT WAIT!!!!!

5:15pm: I make Lincoln Pizza Spaghetti for dinner – pasta mixed with spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, and shredded vegan cheese. Embarrassingly easy, yet one of his favorite meals. I also attempt to feed Cameron peas and oatmeal, which is an epic fail. Looks like he inherited his Mama’s taste for peas, which is NO taste for peas! At this age food is just for fun, versus nutrition, so fingers for dinner it is.

5:20pm: Ben’s home – whee! The boys play while I clean the kitchen from their dinners, plus pick up the tornado the rest of the house has become over the course of the day. Feels nice to have an extra set of hands.

6:15pm: Cam’s fading so I take him up for bedtime. It’s not a bath night so I wash his hands and face, put on his PJs, zip him into a sleep sack, read a few books, nurse, and then put him down smiling in bed. Couldn’t love this child more. After 47 kisses and 26 chubby baby thigh squeezes, I tell him goodnight and head downstairs.

6:40pm: I come down to find Ben and Lincoln hard at work chopping the ingredients for our Poke Bowls. Yes! We love teaching our boys that cooking and household duties are equal opportunity events!

I take over slicing the fish then craft a few pieces of nigiri while Ben and Lincoln continue to catch up. 30 minutes later we sit down to eat. Heck. YES.

7:25pm: Ben takes Lincoln up to get ready for bed while I clean the kitchen and start digging into work stuff. The boys eventually call me up then I read Lincoln one more book and go through 489 bedtime rituals, which now includes singing the happy birthday song before giving him his final kiss of the night. Sweet dreams, my funny boy!

8:15pm: Couch, meet my buns. BLISS! Ben’s been feeling off all day so he heads upstairs to doze and watch the NBA while I edit photos, answer more emails, then make my to do list for the following day. I can’t sleep unless I have that little piece of organization done before heading to bed.

9:30pm: I unload the dishwasher (anyone else feel like they load/unload the dishwasher 10 times a day?!) then grab a pint of Halo Top and watch the latest episode of Southern Charm on DVR. For the first time today, I am 100% fully relaxed.

10:15pm: Southern Charm was amazing, per usual. Can’t wait to go back to Charleston someday (hopefully!) soon. I head upstairs then get ready for bed and am asleep in less than 30 seconds. I don’t move an inch until Cameron wakes up the following morning at 6am. God bless pillow top mattresses.

And there you have it! Chaotic and filled to the brim, but GOOD, you know? I do wish I had just one extra hour per day. Really think it’d make all the difference. Either way, I know I’ll look back on these days in 5 years when both boys are in school full time and shed a monster tear over our tower building, zoo visiting, and Return of Jafar-watching days. Love these kids so, so much.

Thank you again to Lance Gluten-Free Crackers for sponsoring this Day in the Life Post! How do your days differ? How do they match up?