A Day in the Life of this Mama

*I wrote most of this last night, so this all took place yesterday, October 22nd.  It's actually funny reading this today, since today was completely different.  But more on that later...*

There's a blogger named Hollywood Housewife who started a project called One Day HH.  Basically the idea is to document a normal day in your life through photographs and post them to Instagram.  You're not just showing off the fun, exciting parts of your life - it's just a snapshot of your real daily grind.  I thought this was a fun way to keep up with my theme of living in the present, as this post will be a pretty accurate view of what my present life currently looks like.  I didn't want to do it on Instagram, to avoid annoying all my IG followers, and I thought I'd put it here instead.  Because no one is forcing you to read my blog, right?

I also thought it would be interesting because I know some people wonder what a stay-at-home mom does all day.  I can't speak for all stay-at-home moms, but this is generally what I do every day.  To be honest, today didn't involve a lot of activities out of our home because the weather is crazy gray and rainy, and Ellery has a bit of a runny nose, so I didn't want her outside.  When the weather is nicer, we usually go for a walk, or go to the park, or at least go to the library or something.  Today was more of a hideout-at-home sort of day.

Here goes!  Also, all my pictures were taken on my iphone, and it was super dark and dreary today, so we had very little natural light.  Needless to say, the photos aren't top quality.

First thing I did when I woke up?  Made Sam's lunch.  Super exciting.  

Bible/prayer time while I drink my coffee and knit.  I've learned that if I try to pray early in the morning, I fall asleep.  Knitting helps keep my hands busy while I do some praying.  Only got to do this about fifteen minutes before the little monkey woke up, though.  Still, even that little bit got my day started off on the right foot.

Baby girl gets milk and a little Baby Babble time while I attack some dishes.  I'm a morning cleaner.  I'll totally go to bed with my house a mess, no problem.  But in the morning, I've got energy and so that's when I clean!

While Ellery eats breakfast, I start my workout DVD.  She actually enjoys watching it and tries to copy the movements with her arms.  Funny kid.  Sidenote: I would not be so diligent about exercise if it weren't for this silly diabetes.  Believe me.

Had some fun playing in her room, and then she started throwing Willow's ball for her.  It's pretty great when Willow plays with her.  Would you believe me if I told you Ellery loves it? ;)

Reading books to settle her down before nap time.  

While she sleeps, I start laundry.  I'm beyond thankful that we have a washer and dryer in our apartment.  While we were in Petaluma, Sam and I drove past the laundromat where I used to do our laundry, since our old place didn't have any hookups or machines.  I can't imagine doing that now, especially with a baby, and it just makes me so very grateful.  After living in that little home, with no washer, dryer, or dishwasher, I swore I'd never complain about laundry or dishes again.  With modern conveniences, they're really not bad at all!

Fortunately, she slept long enough for me to finish my workout, take a shower, and chop some veggies in preparation for dinner.  

I browsed Instagram while I had my apple and peanut butter snack. ^^ Then more dishes/straightening up the house/laundry.  Living the dream, am I right?

My back was starting to hurt and I hadn't sat down much by this point, so I decided I'd go read during the rest of her nap.  On my way to get my book, I heard a very angry little girl start to cry.  We were both pretty bummed her nap was over.

But then Willow came to say hi, and Willow always makes things better.  

Poor Willow. ;)  Next was practicing counting on her abacus.  I discovered she knows 5, 6, and 9.  Had no idea she knew those numbers???  She played in her room while I cleaned out her closet.  Packing up summer clothes and clothes that are too small always makes me sad, especially since I don't know if we'll ever be able to use these sweet girl clothes again.

Selfie before we head out to Costco!  Gotta document what we wore, right?  (Also, sometimes I wonder if I'll ever stop dressing like I'm a college student.  I doubt it.)

Our very rainy drive to Costco.  I've decided not to complain about rain, especially since I know California would love to have rain.  So we were thankful for the weather today.  Incidentally, I'm sort of in love with all the farms and fields near our home.  Love this little town!

Rain can't get us down, yo!  On rainy days, sometimes trips to Costco or Target are just fun excursions for the baby.  She was particularly enthralled with all the Christmas decorations displayed at Costco today.  Lots of snowmen and gingerbread men covered in Christmas lights.  Luckily we didn't need a ton of stuff, so it wasn't so bad carting our stuff around in the rain.

Lunch!

At Costco I found some super fun faux leather leggings!  While trying them on, I decided to check and see how big Abel is getting.  I used to go to church with a woman who was completely disgusted by bare pregnant bellies.  And to be honest, they used to weird me out.  But after having one myself, I have realized how miraculous they are, and that makes them beautiful to me.  So my apologies if you're grossed out by pregnant bellies.  Just keep scrolling.

But seriously, I love this stage when he's moving all around, and rather than just feeling random movement I can tell he's kicking or punching.  And how about them leggings?!  I'm impressed, Costco!  Just for the record, I will forever be an advocate for leggings as pants.  They're super comfortable - why wouldn't you wear them as pants?  Are you afraid of being happy?  Plus, I can never find a good pair of jeans that actually fits!  I blame my chicken legs and non-butt.  But those traits happen to work just fine with leggings, so that's what I prefer.  All you haters, keep hating, I'll just wear my Costco leather leggings.

Meanwhile, Ellery read to herself in her room while I unloaded our Costco haul and took ridiculous pictures of my belly.  (I feel obligated to document her day as well, so y'all don't think I just ignore her while I try on clothes.)  :)

 Then Ellery tried to coerce Willow out from under the bed while I folded four loads of laundry.  And no, Willow didn't come out from hiding.  ;)

Next was a song and dance party in the living room.  Super blurry picture, but she was spinning and loving it, and I had to capture it.  Currently she loves singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "If You're Happy and You Know It".  She's also a major fan of playing "Ring Around the Rosie" and requests it by saying, "ashes, ashes," and pulling on my hands until I stand up and play.  How do I resist that little love?

After more puzzles and books, it's nap time again for the monkey.  And mama gets to test her blood sugar again.  Yay.

I was feeling hungry and tired and my blood sugar was a little low, so I decided to take it easy and snuggle with Morty while I read and ate a gluten free pop tart.  Seriously, gluten free pop tarts.  Thank you, Jesus.  Had to set my alarm for twenty minutes, because if I didn't, I'd have sat there reading all day.

Don't let his face fool you.  He loves when I lay on him.  He was totally purring.

Fortunately, Ellery took a great afternoon nap, so I was able to start dinner while she was sleeping.  Typically, she's awake while I'm trying to cook, and really demands attention.  She plays with tupperware in the kitchen with me half the time, but eventually starts acting up to get me to play with her.  So I'm thankful for days when I can just get dinner together in peace.  Not that I don't love playing with her; it's just hard to keep an eye on things on the stove when she's crawling out the cat door onto the balcony.

And when she woke - more books!  She's pretty good about playing on her own, but she lets me know when she wants company.  Plus, I like to use times like these to help her learn.  We point out animals, do animal noises, point out colors and shapes, etc.  I'm responsible for educating this little lamb for now, and I don't take that lightly.  I know her brain is like a sponge right now, so I want to help fill it with as much knowledge as possible.

Sam had a work meeting, so it was just me and the kid for dinner.  Post dinner, pre-bath are generally when she's most hyper.  So while I straightened up her room, she ran around like a crazy child, mostly chasing Willow and trying to lay on her.  Willow's such a champ.  And I really can't blame Ellery for her obsession with cats and the deep-seated need to cuddle them.  (See above picture of me and Morty.) 

Pretty sure we both look forward to bath time the most.  She gets a bath every other day, unless she's particularly dirty, and she loves playing in there.  It's always a bit of a struggle to get her out.  And I like having the chance to simply sit and watch her play.  (Sitting is always very welcome when you're a pregnant, stay-at-home mom.)

Then we snuggled in our glider, baby smelling fresh and clean and perfect, and read books while she drank milk and clutched her blanket and stuffed cat.  And that's another favorite part of my day.

Baby sleeps, and mama has herself a bowl of sugar-free salted caramel ice cream.  Don't let the name fool you - this ice cream is actually not very good at all.  But sometimes you just need ice cream, am I right?

Sam came home and I worked on this blog for a while, then went to bed because I wasn't feeling well.  Exciting life, right?!  It's pretty simple but I really love it.

And if you actually read this far and looked at all the pictures, I'm impressed.  And maybe your life is less exciting than mine? ;)