Every so often I get the itch to share a typical day around here. I love reading those posts on other blogs and I love having my own to look back on. I’m combed through my archives and realized I tend to write them every 6ish months without realizing it. For example I have:
A Day in the Life with My Two Year Old
A Day in the Life: 6 Weeks and 2 1/2 Years
A Day in the Life: 6 Months and 3 Years Old
A Day in the Life: 7 Months and 3 Years Old
A Day in the Life: 12 Months and 3 1/2 Years Old
It’s so much fun to see how our schedules have evolved with each stage. It’s tempting to highlight a day where we are slammed with commitments in an effort to show how OMGBUSY I am, but the truth is I’ve purposely focused on building more space to breathe into my days, so it’s nice to show you yesterday, a day that reflects that effort to slow down.
3:00 am: Koda is whining to be let out. She is on a new medication and the prednisone makes her appetite ravenous and her bladder seemingly shrink. I hear David get up to let her out. I wait for her to hop back in bed and snuggle up to me, give her a head rub then slowly fall back asleep.
5:30 am: My alarm goes off. I hop out of bed, feed Koda and let her out, grab a cup of half caf and head to the office. I don’t blog on Wednesday mornings, but I use the time to catch up on emails, reply to comments and work on upcoming post ideas.
7:00 am: Both girls are still sleeping so I decide to shut down the computer and try to get ready for the day before they wake.
7:25 am: Kaitlyn is stirring (this is a little late for her- usually it’s closer to 7:10 am) so I head up to get her. She hears me open the door, giggles and plops face down to pretend to be sleeping. She routinely opens and shuts her eyes and giggles until she hears me say Oh she must still be sleeping bye bye, then she pops up and laughs. I love mornings.
While I nurse her I hear Hailey’s door open. She has a new analog clock in her room and I tell her which numbers she has to wait for before coming out. Apparently the 7 is now followed by a 3. I have Mema’s helping hands this morning so we play and get dressed.
9:00 am: A special treat- breakfast out at The Toastery!
It appears chaotic, but only because it was. Ha. I got a quinoa and kale breakfast bowl that I’m definitely going to recreate at home. I run into Molly and get to give her a birthday hug! We finish up breakfast, give Mema big hugs and load up in the car.
10:00 am: E-group. I really am growing to love this group of women as I get to know them.
It’s so nice to have women that support each other through our unique struggles and triumphs. The morning feels like a giant therapy session to me and I leave, a little later than I intended because I’m chatty like that, with the calm of a giant exhale.
12:45 pm: Home and scrambling to make some sort of lunch for the girls and me. They eat pear, yogurt, crackers and hearts of palm. Proof that our meals don’t always make sense. I eat a salad right out on the clamshell.
1:15 pm: I take Kaitlyn upstairs to get ready for nap. She turns on her white noise, grabs bunny and crawls up in my lap with a big grin because she knows it’s song time. We sing 4-5 songs (most recently it’s a lot of Christmas songs), then I give her a big hug and kiss and put her in the crib. She plays for a few minutes before going to sleep.
1:30 pm: I tell Hailey it’s time for her rest and she can come out when her clock has a 2 in front. Surprisingly she goes without much protest- probably because I promised her it was short one.
2:00 pm: I had planned on doing something productive but honestly just wanted to zone out in the beautiful weather. It was the right choice and at 2:00 on the dot, I hear Hailey come outside. I just lay there while she plays. I love listening to her make the Minnies talk to each other or the princesses get stuck in the dungeons. She is at such a great age for imaginative play.
3:00 pm: I realize I’ve just been bumming for a while now and get up to start on dinner and switch out some laundry. I love spaghetti because it can simmer for a couple hours and makes the house smell so good.
3:30 pm: Kaitlyn wakes up crying, so I go get her. She takes a few minutes to wake up from naps, so I soak in the extra snuggles. The sun is shining after many days of rain and it’s a perfect 68 degrees. We head outside to play. The girls gather “groceries” (leaves) and I sweep out walkway.
4:00 pm: YAY our friends show up to play! Alise and I manage some semblance of conversation in between saving babies from being hit by swings.
5:30 pm: We say bye to our friends and head inside. I boil water for pasta while the girls empty out my tupperware cabinet and bring all the contents into their play kitchen. It’s a predictable daily occurrence now- they take my stuff from the kitchen and when they go to bed I take it all back. The struggle is real.
5:50 pm: Dinner time for the girls! I sit with them while they eat and eat a mini portion of spaghetti myself. Hailey asks me to tell her a story about a million times and I silently remind myself to try and learn some stories. I end up telling a really weak version of Frosty the snowman, but it satisfies her request.
6:00 pm: I hadn’t originally planned on a salad for Kaitlyn but when Hailey asked for her second bowl, Kaitlyn noticed and, true to little sister fashion, demanded the same. I was seriously shocked when she actually ate it. Monkey see monkey do.
6:20 pm: Straight to the bath after dinner. The girls are tired, which equals silly. They toss their clothes in the hamper then proceed to crawl around and yip like little puppies as I say tirelessly We’re going to run out of time for playing in the tub over and over again. Finally this gets Hailey to hop in, so Kaitlyn follows suit.
6:40 pm: David arrives home from Crossfit as we are getting out of the bath and the girls scream shrilly with excitement. Chaos ensues.
7:00 pm: David is reading to Hailey and I briefly nurse Kaitlyn. Both doors are shut by 7:10- success! We grab our dinners and catch up on our days on the couch. Koda begs for a bite. She gets one. We’re spoiling her rotten.
8:00 pm: We clean up the kitchen then turn on an episode of Black-ish. We hit play afterwards on a Mindy Project, but 10 minutes in my eyes are struggling to stay open.
9:00 pm: David lets Koda out and we take our time washing up for the night. Lights out by 9:45 pm. We’re a wild bunch.
Did I leave anything out?
What’s your favorite part of your day?
John J. says
Nice commentary on a day well lived. You are fortunate as you raise these two beautiful gals. Looking forward to seeing y’all soon and joining in on the fun!
Tricia says
i am just so shocked at how long your girls sleep. I have read your blog long enough to know this has always been the case but I’m so jealous. My 3.5 yo goes to sleep at 9:00 no matter what time we lay her down. And up at 6:20 this morning. I will admit she still naps bc the daycare is required to do that but I still don’t get your level of sleep. Thank you for sharing your day. I love these posts.
Brittany Dixon says
I know I have good sleepers and trust me when I say I am SO grateful for it. H hasn’t napped consistently in months, so that definitely helps with her beng tired at night though there are still times she will play by herself for a solid hour before falling asleep. It’s amazing how kids just don’t appreciate sleep as much as we do π
Molly says
I love these day in the life posts! It was so nice seeing you yesterday, too! Afterwards I realized I kinda introduced you, without names! What in the world?! Haha. I want to know more about your e-group. I’ve been hesitant to commit, but think I’d like to!
julie @ peanut butter fingers says
I see Chase chillin’ in the background of the small group pic! π LOVED seeing you yesterday. You are always a breath of fresh air in my life! <3
Brittany Dixon says
It took all my willpower not to ask all the cute babies to line up for a group picture haha! Chase is so precious and I love how smiley he is now! Loved seeing you too, as always <3
Kate says
What a great day!
My favorite part is the morning nursing session, because then my son is so incredibly snuggly. I also love when I come home from work, because he gets superexcited that I’m back.
brynn says
I love how the girls get along so well and you have their days coordinated. What is egroup and what do the girls do during this time?
Brittany Dixon says
They usually get a long well but they have their moments for sure!! The e-group is through our church. Ours is a group of young moms and right now we are doing a book club type set up reading Desperate. It’s great!
Jennifer says
PLEASE tell me how you get Hailey to go to bed by 7! I have a 2.5 year old and we start the bedtime routine (after bath) at 7:30 and she will not go to sleep unless I lay in her bed with her and most times I can’t leave her room without her throwing a fit til 8:45! Insanity. Any tips to ease her off of needing me to be there to go to sleep? As much as I miss her during the day (work full time) I would LOVE to have more free time in the evening with my husband!
Brittany Dixon says
I should clarify that H doesn’t always go right to sleep at 7! Sometimes it will take her up to an hour of playing by herself before she falls asleep. To me, I don’t care what she does up there, as long as she is quiet haha. I was pretty big on my girls learning to fall asleep on their own from the start (which I know some people find heartless) so I don’t have any real tips on how to transition out of laying with them. I know when I was little, my mom would say she’d come back and check on me in 5 minutes, then would slowly extend that time little by little to 10 minutes, 15, etc. I hope you find a solution that works for you because I know how much I value that alone time with David. Good luck!
Josephine Sharpe says
Oh and as far as the late bed time my daughter used to do this too until I forced her to cut out her day time nap, which starts difficult and gets easier, also perhaps more physical activity ie. the park would help tire your child out. My daughter used to go to bed at 8pm now she gets up at 6am goes to bed at 7pm. I hope this helps.
Jennifer says
So true about cutting out the nap! As much as I love when she does nap b/c it lets me get some stuff done during the day, I know bedtime goes much more smoothly if she doesn’t take a nap. Though it usually comes with a meltdown before bed. But I’ll take a meltdown if it means she’s asleep by 7! π Thanks!
Jennifer says
Yeah I wouldn’t mind if she just played quietly either, it’s just the fact that when I try and leave she throws a fit and bangs on the door- I wait to see if she will calm herself down but she rarely does π I even try having my husband put her to bed while I put our 1 year old to bed, but she again throws a fit unless I do it. I think we definitely will have to implement some tough love with her :/ I think part of it is we just transitioned her to the bed (I was all about keeping her in the crib as long as possible!) so I think since it’s still new to her she likes having me there. I’m hoping the more she gets used to it the less drama bedtime will be. The mom guilt is real though…I know I give into her b/c I don’t see her all day and hate having to tell her I can’t stay with her. I know it’s for her own good though. Thanks for letting me ramble! π
Josephine says
Bedtimes can be so hard, my daughter used to throw fits too banging on the door. I found it impossible to do sleep training when she was a baby as she would get hysterical and vomit. So I rocked her to sleep until she was too heavy to rock. Then we lay together on a single bed, me putting her to sleep. Me more often than not falling asleep with her. At some point we also had her sleeping in our bed with my husband, too. I think if you want your evenings back you will have to be tough about the tantrums. This too shall pass. Everything is a stage. Honestly my daughter has slept beautifully since 3 1/2 with her doll, a story and a kiss goodnight. You will get there, just maybe not as soon as you would like. I really wish I had sleep trained, I made my bed and then I had to lie in it until 3 1/2!
Jennifer says
Oh and I don’t find that heartless that they learn to sleep by themselves. I do that with my 1 year old and she is a great sleeper! We did that with my older one too but after she turned 2 it’s just been a battle every night. I’m hoping it’s just a phase but want to do whatever I can to make this phase pass more quickly!
Josephine Sharpe says
I was in the same position as you until my Daughter was 31/2. I have a friend who still has to lie with her child who turns 4 next month. You may have to persist a little longer. My daughter was still not good at seperating from me at 2 1/2. At 3 1/2 it happened that we had company over for dinner, my husband had grilled steaks too early just when I needed to put my daughter down to sleep. So I told her she had to go to sleep with her teddy. She did cry but by that age I knew nothing was wrong except she didn’t want to do it and I stuck it out and she fell asleep. From then on I told her she was a big girl now and didn’t need Mummy to go to sleep, cuddle your dolly and teddy and go to sleep Mummy is just downstairs. I ignored her calling out the first few times and she now goes to sleep without me no problem. I would try the big girl/boy line and make sure they have a toy to sleep with.
SHU says
I know i always say this but I am also amazed at how much the kids sleep! Annabel is up between 6-6:30, goes to bed at 8, and ditched the nap right as she turned 3. Although Cameron may turn out to be more like your girls, actually. LET’S HOPE. π
I like the rest period idea! I haven’t done that with A but she might do well with a structured independent time to play.
That day sounds amazing. π
Jeannie says
Love these posts and love when they pretend to go back to sleep my 22 mos old does that too hahah. Your so busy with the girls it’s great but when do u find time for the chores and cleaning laundry etc. its so difficult.
Julia @ Lord Still Loves Me says
Canβt believe your day (semi) started at 3 in the morning! You continue to confirm for me that moms have special powers delivered to them after labor.
Also, when I am tired, I get silly too. π
Kerry says
I love these kind of posts! Sounds similar to my day π x
Edye says
I love starting my day by taking 20 or so minutes to read my devotional, have a cup of coffee and read a few pages in whatever book I’m reading at the time π