7:15 - I'm roused by the sounds of a happy toddler shrieking from her crib in the room next door. I feel groggy because I couldn't fall asleep until well past midnight last night, so I let myself lie in bed and listen to Nicole chatting to herself for a while.
7:30 - I finally get up (bladder reasons, mainly... #pregnancyproblems) and then go in Nicole's room and sit in the chair in the corner and listen to her talk some more. 5 minutes later Doug comes in to say goodbye before work, toddler gets a fresh diaper, and then it's into her high chair for breakfast. I make a single-serving waffle recipe out of my Trim Healthy Mama cookbook, eat it, and get the breakfast mess cleaned up before Nicole's even done eating her small bowl of cereal. Slow eater, you guys. Very slow eater.
- My brother Johnathon emerges from the downstairs den (he's staying with us for the week, and I'm reminded once again that we really need to get a guest bed) as I'm finishing up cleaning. Nicole is very excited and forgets about her last little bit of cereal. It takes her 15 more minutes to finally finish the last handful, and by 8:30 she's getting a thorough wipe-down and is set loose to terrorize the house.
- While Nicole is distracted by playing with Johnathon, I go and get my exercise clothes on, gather up a warm outfit for Nicole, and get Doug's Frisbee gear together because he forgot it and wants me to bring it to work for him so he can play with his coworkers during their lunch hour.
9:15 - We (Johnathon included) are out the door and heading up to Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon so I can do some uphill powerwalking while pushing Nicole in a stroller. Quite the workout, folks. It's a mere 10 minutes away, but by the time we get to the parking lot the car thermostat has dropped to 56 degrees, plus wind chill. There are trees changing to fall colors in every which direction. Nicole and Johnathon come with me a bit past the waterfall, and then I have him go back with her so that she can get out of her stroller and explore while I continue up the trail further. I get to finish my cardio for the day by myself in the beauty of early-autumn nature while Nicole gets to run around and feed giant fish by the waterfall with my brother. Win, win, win all around. Not to mention that I get nearly halfway done with hatching my 10 km egg on Pokémon Go. That's a plus. ;)
^^^A view of Provo Canyon from Sundance Resort. Just to give you an idea of the beauty we're working with here. Picture source here.
10:15 - We get back to the car and head over to drop off Doug's frisbee gear. While we're out, I run a couple errands to Target and Michaels. I forgot how dangerous it is to go into Michaels at the beginning of the autumn season. I want to buy the whole store. I resist. We also pop into a Halloween shop next door, but it's mostly costumes. I was hoping for décor.
- Today's T-Mobile Tuesday food item is a free 6" sub at Subway, so we stop there on the way home. Free food, can't resist. We don't get home until a bit after 12:30, which of course means that Nicole goes down for her nap late because she takes forever to eat her pesto panini and grapes. Such a methodical eater.
1:30 - Toddler is finally done with lunch. Straight into the crib for naptime. She babbles to herself for almost an hour before finally falling asleep. Sometimes, I don't get that kid...
- Naptime for Nicole = time for me to do whatever I want, pretty much. I wash my hair, make a hanging planter for my new Lemon Button Fern to hang by the piano (yay, another plant baby! What should I name her?!), get some laundry folded, make the kitchen sparkling clean, eat my favorite chips and dip combo for a snack... a pretty good afternoon, all while my brother got in some good video game time whilst singing a bunch of annoying pop song parodies. Weirdo.
^^^This is the plant of which I speak :D
4:30 - Nicole wakes up. Or rather, I go in and wake her up because if she sleeps any later than this she'll never go to sleep tonight. She rewards me with 15 minutes of snuggle time, then finally gets down from my lap to watch for daddy out the window. He gets home at 5 (pretty much on the dot) and he keeps her entertained until dinner is ready shortly after 5:30
- At some point in all of this, Nicole gets into our renovation-zone master bedroom and picks up hammers and screwdrivers. A couple pictures for this blog post seemed necessary before gently taking the pointy metal objects away and guiding the toddler back out of the room filled with paint fumes (despite the open windows and running fan). A bit later, she sticks a block and a little (empty) makeup bag in the downstairs toilet. 2nd time in her life she's pulled a stunt like that. She's feeling a little rebellious this evening, I guess.
^^^Waiting to open the door for daddy when he gets home.
- The boys head out shortly before 6 to go play Frisbee, and Nicole finishes eating only a minute or two later. After getting wiped off, she hangs around in the kitchen for a minute or so to watch me start cleaning up, then heads down to her playroom to entertain herself. Cleanup takes less than 10 minutes. It feels good to have a clean kitchen.
- Clean kitchen = rest of the evening to spend with Nicole, guilt-free. She turns on the TV as I come downstairs, so I sit down to watch an episode of Little Einsteins with her. She snuggles with me the whole time, and spends more than half of the time with her head resting on my 7.5 month preggo belly. Her little brother kicks her in the face a couple times, but she doesn't even seem to notice.
- After the episode finishes, we spend 10 minutes reading and then another 10 minutes cleaning up all her toys and books. When I say the words "Bed time!" she decides that it's a good time to play a quick game of chase-the-toddler-around-the-couch. I humor her for a minute, then scoop her up and whisk her away up the stairs. Or rather, huff and puff up the stairs. Let's be honest. #morepregnancyproblems
- PJ's, a quick game of chase-the-toddler-around-the-rocking-chair, brush the teeth, read one last book, and then she snuggles against my shoulder while I sing her a song. We say her prayers, then I cradle her like a baby and ask her about all the things she liked doing today. She smiles and plays with my hair and runs her hands on my cheeks. I only tickle her a little bit ;) Then it's into the crib, and the happy toddler settles down for the night. She still babbles to herself for an hour, just like before her nap. Every now and then I can hear the high-pitched whistle made by her sippy cup filled with water as she sips from it.
7:30 - Freedom! I light an apple-scented candle, flatiron my hair, do a quick 10-minute general house tidy-up, and get this blog post nearly all the way finished by the time the boys get home from Frisbee at 8:20.
- Doug heads upstairs to paint another layer on the walls of our master bedroom. (After this we'll just have to do edge touch-ups and paint the trim! And maybe the ceiling. We haven't decided yet. Then the carpet guy is coming to measure and give us an estimate on Thursday!) I get the blog post finished, except for these last couple points, which I type as the evening progresses:
- After prepping the blog post, I go upstairs just in time to help Doug paint along the ceiling/baseboards/doors. Once we're done (after 10 PM) we join Johnathon and settle down around the kitchen table with our laptops to play a good round of Age of Empires II (a classic game that I used to play with my dad and brothers all the time growing up). Standard difficulty so it'll be a quick game ;)
- It's still shortly after 11 PM by the time we finish. We head our separate ways to get ready for bed. I settle down with phone in hand so I can spend time browsing online and reading some scriptures until I feel drowsy enough to fall asleep. Who knows how long that will take. #MOREpregnancyproblems
- Hit publish on the blog post. Goodnight.
Oh my goodness gracious! Where did your baby girl go?! Holy cow she's a toddler! In time for a baby brother I guess!
ReplyDeleteRight?!? How do mama's deal with this whole "growing up" business? Goodness.
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