Friday, July 27, 2012

Day In The Life (with a 2 1/2 month old)

I decided to share a typical day for us. My husband works in retail management. He either works 7:30-4 or 3-10:30. This is a day for us on one of his closing days. We really like when he opens better, because our whole schedule is just weird when he doesn't leave the house until 3. 

6:08 I hear my little one beginning to rouse. (he went to bed at 9:00) I make a quick run to the potty (I have learned!), then go rescue him from his crib. I change my first diaper of the day and then we settle into my big red chair for him to eat. He eats for 14 minutes, and then we both head back to bed.

9:00 I have been laying in bed for a little while waiting to hear Logan, and have yet to hear anything! I sneak into his room and take a peek. He is still passed out, both arms above his head, mouth slightly parted. I take advantage of his sleeping in and make some coffee (1/3 caffeine, 2/3 decaff! woohoo! living on the wild side!) and have a bowl of cereal. 

I can hear Logan in his room slowly waking up on his own time while I eat my breakfast.

9:20 Daddy Low and I go to check on him together. He is laying peacefully in his crib and smiles when he sees us. Daddy is the lucky one to get diaper #2. Now we know what he was doing in there! ;)


9:35 Logan has breakfast again.

10:15 Diaper #3, dress Logan, and head out the door. The three of us are going to Hobby Lobby, the Dollar Tree, and the bank. 

11:15 Back at home. Diaper #4, and time to eat again!
Logan and I exchange smiles and sing songs in my lap. 
Then we all get in the floor and play and read books. 
He sits in his bouncy seat as Daddy and I eat leftovers and talk to him. 
Can you say, "deer in the headlights?"

12:10 Diaper #5. Logan changes from his going out clothes into a comfy at home outfit. 
Then it is time to eat again!

12:30 Logan is down for his first nap of the day. He slept much later than usual today. His first nap is usually around 9:30 or 10.

While Logan naps, Matt and I hang out for a little while. Then we may or may not have drifted off for a nap of our own...

2:40 Matt is out the door for work. I am astonished that Logan is still napping! We are lucky to get one hour naps, and now we are past two hours!
Before Logan wakes up I manage to empty and refill the dishwasher and start a craft project. Although most of my free time is spent searching for some paintbrushes that I was certain I knew exactly where they were. Aha! On top of the fridge... that makes perfect sense... not.

3:05 Logan is awake now. Once again, he wakes up as a happy baby. I love when that happens. Trust me, it doesn't always. Time for diaper #6 and another snack.

3:25 I spread out a quilt on Logan's floor and set up a fun play area for him, while I reorganize his dresser and closet. He has so many clothes. I am not sure he will have time to wear them all! During the time we spend hanging out in his room, I change diapers #7 & 8.

4:20 Time to eat again! Then Logan goes down for his second nap.

While Logan is sleeping, I start a load of laundry, work on my craft project a little more, and have some tuna made with jalapeno relish! Yum!

5:30 Logan is awake again. I change diaper #9, and then we sit down to read a book together. Logan has really taken an interest in books lately. I love to watch his face when he sees a new page. 

5:40 Time to eat again! Someone has some spit-ups, time for a new outfit! Don't worry, we have plenty. ;)
We settle in on his play area from earlier in the day and play with a few toys, and enjoy looking at Molly. 
Logan has never seen his colorful xylophone before. He stares in amazement as I play a few tunes for him.

6:15 Little man is starting to get fussy. Diaper #10
6:30 Diaper #11
6:45 I put Logan into the Moby, and he, Molly, and I head out for a nice evening walk. I take our usual circular route, but instead of coming back inside I go around two more times. The comfortable ride settles him down for a while.

After we come in Logan sits in his bouncy seat while I quickly make a cake that I have been wanting to make for a few days. 

7:15 I strip Logan down to his diaper and swaddle him tightly. My little glow worm and I go into the kitchen, and I wash his head and neck. He absolutely hates taking a bath. (sad face, right?) So we stretch baths out a little more by giving his head a good wash in between. He isn't a fan of that either, but it isn't nearly traumatic as an actual bath.
After his head is dry and he has regained his composure, I change diaper #12 and put Logan into his jammies for the night.
There is that cute little deer again!

7:35 Logan and I settle in for his night time feeding. After only ten minutes he is completely zonked! He doesn't rouse at all as I carefully put him in his crib and cover him up. Goodnight little man!

10 minutes later... he is back awake!

I change his diaper, and nurse again. 30 minutes this time, that's more like it!
Goodnight little man!

8:33 Logan is sleeping soundly again. Now is as good of a time as any to start my load of diaper laundry. I will do the final rinse and hang them on the line in the morning. Oh, hello load of laundry I started at 4:30! Into the dryer you go!

8:55 Guess who is awake again!? I change yet another diaper (#14 for those of you keeping track) while Little Man smirks at me sleepily. He seriously makes the cutest faces.
A little snack to top off and ease him back to sleep. 
Goodnight little man!

After I add the finishing touches to this post I will take a quick shower and read until Matt gets home. 
I won't lie, I will probably eat with him then too. I know it isn't good, but neither is letting someone eat alone!

Today was a pretty good day for us! We had a little fussiness, but being a baby is hard!
As you can see he eats just about every hour, but it is an easy trade off for him sleeping 9-10 hour stretches at night!

I have enjoyed chronicling our simple day. I can see myself doing this again in the future!

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Two Months Old!


Logan has changed so much in the last month. He is becoming more of a little person every day. 
He was very interested in the tiger. Even knocked it over a few times!
Now he smiles and enjoys being talked and sung to. 
His favorite song right now is "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." He starts smiling as soon as I start singing it. I think he likes it mostly because of the cheek pokes and nose boops that go with it.

He is almost always moving. He flails and kicks a lot. He gets very excited on his play mat, and now he has even started trying to hit the toys himself!

Just this week he has started noticing his feet. I have caught him several times watching them move. 

It is already clear that he is a very oral baby. He "talks" a lot and keeps his hands in his mouth. He has also started working his tongue and even clicking it sometimes.
"Hello Mr. Tiger, I have a secret for you."
I can't wait to see what the months ahead will bring!

Monday, July 9, 2012

I'm Back!

We spent a wonderful long weekend in Texas with my family. Just like every other time, long wasn't long enough.

Our time was spent well.

The guys (Matt, my dad, my bro-in-law, and their two oldest, Dale and Alan.) went bowling.


My mom did a photo shoot for three out of five grandkids.

Ate, ate, and ate some more. 


Lots of baby holding.

The girls (me, my mom, and sister) got fancy with our nails.


We played baseball in the backyard.

Watched the Rangers play.


Some of us even played Monopoly!

Matt and I were fortunate enough to be there for a wonderful event.


The whole gang gathered at the local Mexican restaurant.

And I didn't even get my camera out of my bag until Sunday!


Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Monday, July 2, 2012

Bulk Freezer Cooking

I did it!
I found the recipes, made the shopping list, bought the groceries, and made the meals!
I must say, I am proud of myself!

It took me four hours (including nursing and diaper changes), and it was SO worth it!
Want a popsicle? ;-)
 I assembled one meal at a time, and cleaned as I went.  I used the same big bowl to mix each meal. When I was done I basically had a bowl, cutting board and knife to wash! (except I didn't have to wash anything, because my husband cleaned the kitchen for me. :-)  )

My meals are stored in gallon freezer bags, and are all crock pot meals.
Each bag is labelled with basic cooking instructions.

What's for supper?









Eight recipes total, but three of them made two meals worth!
12 meals ready to go!

Neither one of us had heard of Calabacita before. It was the first dish we had, and it was delicious! We will definitely be making it again! We even had some leftover pinto beans, and put them on the stove to keep cooking and made our own healthy refried beans (minus the lard!).

As I was prepping these meals I kept saying to Matt, "and the best part is...!"
A few of the "best parts":
only one clean up
none of our produce will go bad
plenty of time for the flavors to combine and marinate
no meal planning for a while
the ease of just dropping one thing in the crock pot

You can bet that we will do this again! I can't wait to find out which meals we like the best. They are all new to us!