Day in the Life: 2013

One of my favorite parts of blogging is that I have an official archives of our lives...at least the parts that I've blogged about.  Maybe it's lame, but sometimes I like to go back and read and see what we were up to at this time last year, or when Colton was Levi's age, or whatever.  Well, last week I was doing just that when I came across a "Day in the Life" post I had written on October 24th of last year. It really struck me that though most of our "routine" was the same now as it was then, many of the details had evolved, so I thought it would be fun to do another one...a year later.  So, here we go:

6:30AM: Josh leaves for work, and I wake up  In our 2012 version, Levi was already up and at em, but happily, in 2013's, he is still sound asleep in his crib!  Even so, I like to wake up and give myself a little bit of "get going" time before the boys wake up and the chaos begins.  I've found it really helps my mood!  I don't set my alarm or anything, but generally Josh's kiss goodbye does the trick (or if that doesn't work, Chipper bounding back and jumping on the bed does the trick).  So, I wake up at 6:30, watch the news, check emails, check Facebook, play a few games of Candy Crush, sometimes check on my fantasy football team or check out Pinterest, etc.  

7:15AM: Colton's trusty clock turns green, so it's only a matter of minutes before he is out of bed and wanting to play daddy's iPad (with a side of chocolate milk).  Levi usually wakes up shortly thereafter (and sometimes even a few minutes before), and we officially commence "go time!"  I need to get dressed. The boys need to get dressed (thankfully, Colton now does his own, while I get Levi dressed). I need to make breakfast for all of us and they need to eat it (I eat mine in the car). If it's a Monday or Wednesday, I need to pack Levi's lunch, diapers, and drinks for school.  If it's a Tuesday or Thursday, I need to get together some snacks and drinks to bring with us for the day.  I also try to get my daily cleaning jobs done for the day during this time, so I'm busy trying to squeeze in some vacuuming, dusting, bathroom cleaning, or something 

8:20AM: We are now heading out the door and loading up the car.  First stop is Levi's school, where I pay $3 a day to drop him off an hour early.  After he is dropped off, I take Colton to his school and wait in the car line to drop him off (he loves car line because he gets to climb up to the front seat and wait there, pushing all the buttons and things).  And once both boys have been dropped off, I am on my way to the gym. *That is our Monday and Wednesday routine.  On Fridays, it's basically the same, except Levi doesn't get dropped off and goes to the gym with me.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, neither boy goes to school, so we tend to  leave the house a little later and head straight to the gym.

our day's supplies all loaded up

9AM: Gym time!  On Mondays and Wednesdays, I'm doing Muscle Blast (the reason I drop Levi off early...I feel a little guilty about it, but I love the class and couldn't do it if I didn't drop him off early!).  On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, I am generally running on the treadmill and spending some time on a couple other torture devices.  The boys are hanging out in the babysitting room, usually with a few of their buddies so it works well!

sorry for the blur...I took it while I was still walking on the treadmill!

                                   
10AM: Workout is done, and if it's a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I'm probably on my way to run some errands.  Sometimes I choose to come home instead and get some stuff done there while it is peaceful!  And on Wednesdays, I sometimes really treat myself and meet some of my awesome mommy friends for some Starbucks.  On Tuesdays or Thursdays, the boys and I are off to do something: a play date at a friend's house, an outing, a seasonal activity, etc.  I try really hard to get my "work" done while the boys are in school, so that Tuesdays and Thursdays can be for the boys.  On this particular day, we're at the zoo with some friends.

11AM: Still errand running, working at home, or hanging out with friends, depending on the day.  Today we're still at the zoo!

11:45AM: On Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays, it is now time to go pick up Colton.  He doesn't eat lunch at school this year, so we usually come home and fix him something (he always requests peanut butter and jelly!). Every once in a while, we go out to lunch instead.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we're generally still out and about, although if it's just me and the boys (ie: we're not hanging out with friends), I try to bring them home for lunch instead of eating out!

12:45PM: On Mondays and Wednesdays, it is now time to leave once again...this time to go pick up Levi.  Colton loves walking into Levi's school to pick him up, and Levi gets very excited to show his big brother whatever he has created that day!  It may be my favorite part of the day to watch Levi excitedly walk out to greet us.  Once home, the boys usually head straight outside for some time on their swing set.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we are heading home now too, and probably trying to squeeze in some outside play time before naps.

today, we're still at the zoo, but finishing up with a train ride!

                             

2PM: NAPTIME!!!  Well, nap time for Levi!  Colton only takes a nap about once a week these days (tear tear tear).  He still goes in there every day and is generally pretty quiet for the first hour or so.  As soon as the boys are tucked in, I do my happy dance and get to work: crafting, baking, cleaning, whatever.  As long as I'm inside, I also probably have one of my DVR shows playing!

3PM: I'm usually wrapping up whatever nap time task I've worked on and settling in on the couch for some much needed email, Pinterest, Facebook time.  Colton is generally becoming restless and loud in his room, so I make him a deal that he can come out as long as he is quiet (so as not to wake up Levi).  That means he is probably playing iPad.

crafting and "Ellen"...two of my favorites

                                   

4PM: Levi wakes up from his nap sometime between 4 and 5 (usually closer to 4!).  As soon as he wakes up, he wants a snack...which means Colton wants a snack, so they eat!  Depending on what time it is by the time we are done, we will either head back outside or just play in the house.  If you read my post from last week, you know that play in the house is not quiet time for us!  Their favorite game right now is some version of "baseball" that involves bases, sprinting back and forth, and me constantly issuing "no tackling" warnings.  On this miracle of miracles day, both boys actually took naps (!)...and woke up around 4:30, so we just hung out inside!  They played iPad for a few minutes, but despite the picture, it didn't last long...

5PM: Josh usually calls between 5 and 5:30 to say he is on his way home, and once he does, I usually start making dinner.  Every once in awhile, Colton will actually sit down and watch tv or play iPad while I do it, but Levi still has no interest in sitting for even a minute.  So usually, Levi's antics get his brother going and they are busy being boys while I make dinner.  Once Josh gets home, he gets changed and then joins their chaos.

6:15PM: Dinner is ready, so we sit down and eat.  I am very proud of the fact that we sit down as a family to a homemade meal nightly (well weeknights anyway...on weekends, we usually eat out!).Both boys are horrible eaters (although Colton has gotten much better in the last few months), so we usually spend a good portion of dinner begging them to actually eat, but we also fit in a bit of conversation about the day.  After dinner, it's bath time for the boys and me while Josh cleans up the kitchen.

don't worry about the bath water color...
another part of our nightly routine is the color drops in the bath!

7:15 PM: Bath time is over, the kitchen is cleaned, and we try to get the boys to settle in for the night.  Levi has finally started to show some interest in the iPad, so we try to get him to play with that.  Colton is a much easier sell!  At 7:30 (or so), the house gets a little quieter as Levi gets put to bed by either Josh or myself.  And at 8, the other person puts Colton to bed (we rotate who does who each night).

                 




















8PM: The house is finally quiet!  I help myself to my 1/2 cup of ice cream, while Josh and I find something to watch on tv.  We're also both busy on the iPads, laptops, etc (a fact I really hate, but I think it's just a sign on the times?)  We'll also hear Colton go in and out of his room a few times to "go potty."

9PM: Colton has settled in and fallen asleep.  The house is very peaceful, and we're still tinkering away and watching some tv in the background.  There are only a couple of shows I actually watch these days (Modern Family and New Girl), so generally I'm busier on the laptop than on trying to watch tv.

10PM: Josh and I deplug and head back to the bedroom.  We turn on the tv in bed for a few minutes for some final decompressing, but we're both usually out pretty quickly!