a day in the life

I met some amazing women through the Influence Network and started chatting with them monthly.  I am so, so blessed by this online community!  During our last chat, Cammie brought up how it would be fun to share what a typical day looks like in each other's lives.  We decided as a group to do "a day in the life" link up together.  We would love to get to know you better and have you join in!

After planning this post, I realized that there is no "typical" with our family.  Every day and night is so drastically different.  Not only is Ramsey rapidly changing his schedule as he gets older (no more frequent nursing and two-three naps a day...), but Sam and I are involved in ministry, so we have many different nights during the week that are spent with youth group or for a meeting.  We also have a weekly family dinner out at his parents house every Monday night.  Thursday nights are the only night that we guard like crazy and schedule absolutely nothing (if you have a crazy schedule, I highly suggest you do this).  Thursday nights have become our date night at home and mornings + meal times are coveted family time together.  This leaves our nights open for flexibility with our crazy schedule.

So, here's my attempt to write out what a day in my life looks like.  Enjoy the one picture I did remember to snap.  I think it accurately portrays the majority of my day.

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5:00
coffee starts brewing downstairs (thank goodness for the automatic brew setting!) and our alarm goes off.  it hurts to open my eyes.
5:15
our alarm goes off again.  my husband, sam, gets out of bed and sweetly turns on all the lights, so I follow.  i try not to make our wooden stairs creek too much so our babe stays sleeping.
5:15-6:00
i sit in my favorite chair in our living room and leave all the lights off because it's WAY too early. i decide to light a candle instead.  i use this time to soak up the little quiet (energetic boy, extroverted husband, and playful pup = a LOT of noise all day long) i'll have in the day and pray.  lately i have been writing out my prayers in my journal.  i definitely process through writing.
6:00
sam usually will come into the living room and we'll talk for a little bit before our babe wakes up.  i treasure this one on one time with him.
6:30 
we hear babbling and pounding from upstairs.  ramsey is awake and probably jumping in his crib.
6:35 
i sneak into ramsey's room and try to surprise him in his crib.  i love seeing him in the morning with energy and curiosity already oozing from him.
6:45
i feed ramsey and then sam will take over and have some morning fun with him while i pump.
7:15-8:00
family breakfast time!  banana, raspberries and yogurt for ramsey.  usually kitchen sink oatmeal for me (rolled oats with as much fruit+nuts i can fit into it) and whatever sam is craving (eggs!).  there is a lot of excited yelling and talking going on during breakfast.  as well as nudges and noises from our pup, stella.  ramsey tries to feed stella some of his breakfast.

8:00-8:30
i quickly do the breakfast dishes and throw in a load of laundry while sam and ramsey have some bonding time. i run upstairs to assess whether or not i can make it another day without showering.  i then do a quick makeup routine (under eye concealer!) and throw on my usual skinny jeans and grey tshirt (i might throw in a scarf or a funky cardigan on days i'm needing a little creativity) with boots.
8:30
sam gets ready to leave the house and go to work (which is about 3 minutes away from our house... thank goodness!)
9:00-11:00
ramsey and i play like crazy.  i usually try to read with him, but he just wants to move and wiggle.  we play music and dance, play with stella, build (and destroy) block towers, make animal noises, and anything else that looks interesting.  ramsey is pretty good with playing by himself, so i usually try to spend a quick 5 minutes assessing my email for later.  i'll also switch the laundry over and make a list of to do's for later. after about an hour of playing, we try to get out of the house.  we'll go grocery shopping, check out the library or storytime, visit a friend's house, or stop by the local coffee house.  once it's warmer outside (soon?!) we'll go for a walk and play outside.
11:00 
lunch time for ramsey.  usually left overs or some kind of a deconstructed sandwich (bread, cheese, protein) with fruit and hopefully veggies.  he could eat cheese and berries all day if he had a choice. (i seriously have to hide the cheese from him.)
12:00-2:00ish 
ramsey naps (hopefully for 2-3hours). at 12:30, sam comes home for a quick lunch.  we eat together, talk about our mornings, and what our night looks like.  right after sam leaves, i'll run around like a crazy woman getting as many of the "to dos" checked off my list as i can.  then, i'll sit down to write, catch up on emails, and read.
2:30-6:00
these 3ish hours are usually packed. ramsey wakes up and has a snack. i try to make sure i have all the ingredients for dinner and a plan for how it is all going to come together while ramsey plays in the kitchen cupboards.  i make sure he stays out of the garbage.  we make up some fun game on the kitchen floor until sam gets home.  once sam is home, i talk to him about his day for a few minutes.  then i make sure i have dinner timed out perfectly for 6:00 and head out for a quick run while sam+ramsey play.  once i get home from my run, i'm a blur in the kitchen. (why is it so hard to make sure everything is warm at the same time?!)  i love putting together creative, fresh and healthy meals for us.  i really don't like using anything pre-packaged and i've found it's super easy to put together meals if i plan ahead.

6:00-6:45
we all sit down at the dinner table and let out a sigh of relief.  we made it!  a typical dinner for us is chicken or pork carnitas with corn+beans, omelets, or tilapia/salmon with tons of dill + lemon, couscous, and roasted veggies.  we typically have a rendition of these three meals and leftovers (so easy) every week.  we have just started eating together as a family of 3 (sam and i used to eat after ramsey went to bed).  it's hectic, but we absolutely love it.
6:45-7:30/45
bed time routine.  sam and i love to be a team and get ramsey ready for bed together.  we usually will read with him and try to cuddle (which usually turns into a tickle fight) until it's his bedtime.  sam then sings a little song and we lay ramsey down in his crib.
7:30-9ish
we stare at each other and give each other high fives for getting through another day. sam is finishing up seminary right now, so there are nights that he'll start to work on reading+paper writing for an hour or two while i get some other projects done.  other nights we have meetings to go to at church or we will get together with family/friends. on thursdays, we will try to have some wine together, sit on the coach facing each other and have some quality time before we dive into whatever tv series we're watching on netflix (currently we're watching "the west wing".)  thursdays are my favorite nights.
9:00/10:00 
i get ready for bed and pump again.  i have the hardest time falling asleep, so i'll usually beg sam to turn on npr or the latest jon stewart episode.  i'm learning to just let my mind relax in the quiet though (and sam's thankful for that!)

Here's the one picture I remembered to snap during the day.  I think it does a great job representing the majority of my day. I loved writing this while trying to remember everything.  I might have to do a post like this more often!

Feel free to join the party and link up with us below!