Day in the Life…

Howdy everyone, happy Wednesday!

Today I thought I’d share one of my favorite posts to read – a day in the life post! If you’ve ever been curious to know exactly what a work at home mom/blogger/chick from Iowa actually DOES all day, you’re about to find out. ? I haven’t written one of these posts in (gasp!) a year and a half and it’s insane to look back and see how times (and my itty bitty baby!!) have changed. I’d say dropping Lincoln’s morning nap has been the biggest game changer since that time, giving us much more freedom to do what we want until after lunch, whether that’s work, play, school, staying, going, or…well, read on!

5:45am: It’s Monday, my alarm is going off, and getting up at this moment is simply not happening. I press snooze two more times and am downstairs in the kitchen brewing coffee by 6:20am. I don’t always get up early to work but since we had to say goodbye to part time childcare for the time being, and I’m usually dead by the time 7pm rolls around, the work has to get done sometime!

I sip coffee and blaze through my inbox for the next hour and a half while Ben gets Lincoln up and they watch Nature Cat then Curious George in bed with a banana, naturally.

8am: I get a text from Ben asking me to come get Lincoln so he can get ready for work, which I happily do. The little man and I come downstairs to play for a bit before breakfast. BTW, this Elefun Busy Ball Popper has been the best toy investment we’ve made yet. He’s consistently played with it since he was 6 months old!

8:20am: We sit down for breakfast just as Ben “no pictures please” comes down to leave for work. We all kiss goodbye then dig in.

Breakfast for yours truly is “Monkey Salad”, aka a sliced banana topped with unsweetened coconut flakes, full fat coconut milk, lots of cinnamon and usually raw cashews, though I’m out so have been subbing in raw almonds. My sister-in-law shared the combo with me and I’ve been eating it every single morning lately – it’s a great option when you just can’t stomach another egg/bowl of oatmeal/cereal in the am. The cinnamon + coconut milk is deLISH!

Mr Lincoln has a Nature’s Path Chia Plus Waffle topped with peanut butter (I like Justin’s Classic Peanut Butter, which is GF) in addition to his banana in bed, plus we split a few links of Jones Dairy Farm sausage which I buy in bulk from Costco because it is SO good.

While he eats, I unload/reload the dishwasher and tidy up the kitchen. Usually I try and do this at night, especially on Sunday nights so I don’t wake up on Monday to a disheveled kitchen (a Type A’s biggest nightmare!) but well, I ate a lot of ham and cinnamon rolls on Easter and it took everything I had to roll myself to bed on Sunday night versus tidying up like I usually do.

After I clean up our breakfast dishes, it’s vitamin time. Multi + DHA + Vitamin D3 for the little man, probiotic, multi, and B vitamins (aka ENERGY!!!) for me. I use and love Country Life vitamins because they’re certified gluten-free. I can’t tell you how many vitamins labeled GF made me sick before I finally found these. The labeling laws for GF products are HORRIBLE!

8:50am: We head upstairs to get ready for a walk. It’s chilly outside with a “feels like” temperature of just 32 degrees, but the sun is blazing and I know we’ll warm up once we get moving. I get changed while Lincoln builds a rocket ship at his tool bench then I bundle him up and we head downstairs.

9:35am: After cleaning up toys and loading up the stroller we are OFF! It’s cold, and Lincoln looks like a little glo worm under his blanket, but the sun is out for the first time in what feels like weeks, and feels awesome. This is the first time this year that we’re venturing past the neighborhood playground and onto the trails. I am giddy!

9:55am: Lincoln asks for the “surprise” I promised him on his walk (hey, the toys had to get cleaned up somehow!) and I deliver. Nothing makes this toddler more excited than a box of raisins, even if they’re as hard as pebbles (seriously how old is this box?!) He holds it tightly, repeatedly asking if the birds and squirrels we are seeing in abundance on our walk will try and eat them. (They don’t.) ?

10:30am: The park is in our sights so I let Lincoln get out and show us the way. He zips right over and starts climbing on the equipment.

What a difference a year makes! Last spring when Lincoln was 1-1/2, we’d have to stay two inches behind him at all times to make sure he didn’t walk off the end of a slide or opening in the playground equipment but today he is sure-footed and showing me he knows exactly what to do and where to step (and more importantly, not step!)

Must admit it feels awesome to be able to sit down at the park and watch your child play independently. (The 5:45am alarm is catching up to me at this point…)

11:40am: Two hours later, we are home! My stomach is audibly growling by the time we get washed up and I get lunch on the table. A salami (we love Applegate Naturals Uncured Genoa Salami) and low-sodium deli turkey sandwich on GF bread, green beans, plus green grapes and blueberries for Lincoln.

Leftover spaghetti and Incredible Italian Meatballs (chopped up to heat faster,) hummus, crackers, and fruit for me. Plus 100 pieces of salami.

12:15pm: We are done with lunch and I tell Lincoln I need to work for a little bit before nap time. It doesn’t feel great to say this, but I know it’s important for him to learn to play independently, which is something he’s been getting good at recently. His imagination has taken off in the past couple of months which has really helped. Of course it comes at a cost, though I can’t tell him not to make a mess when he’s doing it on his own while I answer emails and prep ingredients for the dish I’m going to cook during nap time.

1:00pm: Eventually the novelty of playing alone wears off so he climbs back into his chair for a pre-nap peanut butter spoon snack and coloring session alongside me. Complete with a sticker “beard like Dooda.” (Dooda = daddy = obsessed!)

1:15pm: Nap time! Usually Lincoln can hang until 1:30 or 2 but all that running around on the trail + two playgrounds has completely tuckered him out. I put him to bed and he is asleep in no time. Meanwhile I cook a recipe for the blog, answer emails, and work on social media stuff. Although my brain is still working it feels so good to finally SIT.

3:30pm: Lincoln wakes up and is resting in his crib – a 2+ hour nap, sweet! Pretty much everyone I know has children that sleep 3+ hours in the afternoon, but not my little cat napper. 1.5 hours is the norm these days, so I’m digging the extra 45 minutes of work time. He usually likes to hang out for 10-15 minutes before getting up which is perfect because I’ve got a recipe to shoot. I head upstairs to setup and take photographs of this lovely soup (recipe coming Friday!) before swooping him up and heading downstairs.

3:50pm: After a post-nap cuddle Lincoln is rearing to go again so we play catch from the couch. He counts down from three, runs at me, and I throw the ball at him when he gets close. It’s a hit! About 30 minutes later we turn on Frozen and cuddle until it’s time for me to start dinner.

5pm: Luckily dinner is the soup I cooked for the blog this afternoon so I put the pot back on the burner to warm and prep some fruits and vegetables to go with. While I prep, Lincoln reads a few books (he’s OBSSESED with Maddie on Things, to the point of laughing out loud while rolling around on the floor by himself while reading. ?) A little while later I hear him pushing his little stool up beside me and the next thing I know he’s swiping the strawberries I sliced for dinner straight out of the bowl. Fruit thief!

5:20pm: Dinnertime. Lincoln gets a bowl of soup aka “bone sauce” aka his favorite meal on the planet. I was making bone BROTH in the crock pot late last fall and when I told him what it was he heard bone “sauce” for whatever reason. Anyway, now all soups are called bone sauce in this house. “Mmm, TASTY bone sauce!” Tasty smile is more like it – I want to eat this child for dinner!

We also have a side of roasted broccoli (just broccoli florets tossed with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper then roasted for 15 minutes at 400 degrees,) and what’s left of the strawberries (ok, ok, I had a few too.)

I have the same, including a bowl of bone sauce, I mean soup x….3. I LOVE this recipe – can’t wait for you to try it!

6pm: We are done with dinner and Ben’s finally home! Usually he’s back by 5pm but I got a text earlier in the afternoon letting me know he was having “a day” and would need to stay at work late. The boys go upstairs to play while I sit and watch the news without really watching the news. I’m so tired from that walk!

6:20pm: I swapped bedtime with Ben last night because I had some work to finish up, so it’s my turn tonight. Truthfully it’s the last thing I want to do, but a deal is a deal and Ben is just as wiped as I am. Lincoln and I head into the bathroom for a bath then get into PJs, read books, and hit the hay.

7pm: Sweet, sweet veg time!!! I can’t plop onto the couch under a blanket fast enough – though not before grabbing the last cinnamon roll that Ben made sure to save me from the pan for exactly this moment. It’s as good as it was on Sunday morning and, as much as I limit excess added sugar, I cannot wait to get this recipe tested and nailed down. It is perfection.

I enjoy while catching up with our DVR. I know many bloggers work at night, but it’s just never been in me. Rest is extremely important to both Ben and me and this is really the only time to do it. We wholeheartedly embrace it!

9:30pm: I can barely keep my eyes open so I head upstairs and am asleep in minutes. Another day in the books!

So there you have it! How does your day differ or match up? Honestly, outside of mealtimes and nap time, our days are different pretty much everyday Lincoln’s not in school (which is 2 days/week right now.) While this day was fairly unplanned and carefree, we ran errands the entire next morning and played outside after his nap. Today Lincoln has school so I’ll be able to fit in a few extra hours of work then. Some nights I’m free to relax and watch trashy television, while others I’ve got to put in a couple hours of work.

It’s a schedule that might not work for some – and honestly it’s a daily struggle feeling like I’m not nailing the balance between work and home because work is at home – but for a gal who always knew from the time she was little that she’d do anything to work for herself, and stay home with her kids in some capacity, it’s completely worth it!