A Day in the Life | Spring 2014

It's time to participate in the quarterly DiTL post round-up lead by Laura at Navigating the Mothership!

I really struggled with choosing pictures for this Day in the Life. But in the name of memory preservation, and specifically to the Julia of the future who NEEDS to remember every teeny detail of this day? Here is the entire Flickr album of all 401 pictures I deemed worthy to keep. Perhaps linking to all of them will make me less likely to feel it's necessary to include 300 in this post? One can hope. Who in the world would take that many pictures of one measly day? What a loser. ;)

I picked a work day since it's been awhile, and was worried it would be pretty boring since we had nothing 'fun' planned in the evening. But this is real life and a very typical day for sure, so mission accomplished.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014 : Nate and I are both 32 years old (I'm hanging on by a thread for 11 more days!) | Truman is 4 years, 1 month | Cecelia is 22.5 months | I am 28 weeks, 1 day pregnant with baby boy

5:30 am | I wake up from the creepiest pregnancy dream ever.  Disturbed. Grossed out. I think Nate's alarm is what woke me but I'm not totally sure.

5:40 am | Yep, that's his alarm. And again 5:50. We are having some 'issues' with the snooze button on that side of the bed lately. Should I keep sleeping or just get up for the day and steal my turn for the shower, to prove my point about snoozing too much (and how it is the WORST sleep anyway and totally not worth it!!)? I guess I will ignore my wrath and attempt to rest longer.

6:00 am | My alarm goes off, which means I should be getting in the shower. Nate gets up out of bed. #@!$@! I gently kiss him and ask how he slept, as I fight the urge to unleash my irritation. He says he can't breathe and is getting a cold, as he heads to the shower. He was at a late meeting for work stuff when I went to bed last night, I didn't even hear him come in. The baby kicking super low and it turns into his first of many hiccups for today.  My arm is asleep but I manage to start this note on my phone, amped to do a Day in the Life (I'm a nerd)! I should really get up and do some part of my morning routine but prefer to wait on the shower. Check video monitor to see both babes snoozing away. They both slept all night, too, which might be a first for any DiTL post in the history of ever (for me)! Check weather. Better than snow and temps in the 20s but still a pretty pathetic representation of 'Spring' for this post. 





6:09 am | My snooze keeps going off. My own snooze does not bug me as much as my husband's. Peek at emails. Need to get up but Nate still showering. My first patient is not until 9:00 today, which will make for a more leisurely morning. I'm planning on spending a bit of time taking 'real' pictures this morning anyway, so I suppose I can relax about staying on schedule. I start to worry about Truman for today---he got his four year appointment shots (four vaccinations in three different shots) and was a bit out of sorts last night with a low grade fever, pain at the injection sites, and extra whiny. I hear him whimper, video record him getting down from his bunk to the bathroom. He goes back to room after without seeming too 'sick' so I feel more confident about him going to Lori's and being somewhat normal today. (Sidenote: I am 100% pro-vaccinations even though my boy always 'feels' them for a solid 24 hours after).

6:15 am | Nate is done with the shower, so I get up and get the real camera from downstairs. Going for it! I ask Nate if Truman seemed okay in the bathroom. He said 'Yep, he says he feels better...uh-oh,' as he notes the giant camera around my neck. I explain my DiTL goal for today and he pretends to understand. I shower after contemplating my first pic with camera--nobody needs to see me fresh out of bed in all of my eye-bag glory, but a foggy-mirrored- selfie with camera hiding my face shall do. 



6:25 am | Get out of real/ full shower. I really only wash my hair every 2-3 days at the most anymore because it looks acceptable straight out of bed now that it's short. But today I'm doing the whole shebang, I suppose. Dry hair, straighten the front, call it good. I like mixing nicer products with really inexpensive stuff, obviously.



6:36 am | Truman comes in to see me. "I feel good a little bit, and I don't feel good." Hmmm, okay? He goes downstairs to hang out with Nate for a few minutes before daddy leaves for work. I love that my boy will just lay in bed until 6:30 when his clock turns yellow now! Sleeeeeeep. So important. So bittersweet to know good sleep will soon be ending again :/



6:42 am | CC cries out. She dropped her water cup according to my video monitor on my phone (best invention ever, #lazy). I go in and fish it out of the radiator and sister is obviously very confused about my camera. She wants to be left alone a bit, so I leave the step stool by her bed and tell her to come and get me when she is awake. 



6:50 am | Cecelia struts in with her pacifier still in her mouth. I tell her, 'Put that silly thing back in your bed, goofball! And she laughs at me, knowing that is our rule. She runs back and follows my command (!!) Nate leaves after kissing us girls goodbye in the bathroom. He is very happy about me snapping his pictures today, but I inform him that I want him in at least ONE picture and this is probably our best shot. Mondays and Wednesdays he is gone for at least 12 hours. Hate it, but at least it's not five days per week. 





Then I'm forced to hold CC while I do my makeup. Selfies, duh. She asks me, 'Tickle?' over and over again as I brush my teeth. I love our girlie primping time together sometimes.



7:00 am | The girls come downstairs, a little later than the norm due to pics and 'full on' hair processes--I'm usually down at 6:45 am as Nate leaves for work. C wants to bring Truman his teddy bear and says, 'Beep beep, mama,' as I snap her picture on the stairs. Pretty sure this is the best light in our house so I have to act quickly. 


Truman is  watching a Daniel Tiger episode---gets one show before Lori's and one show after Lori's on work days. Time for me to get going on this morning! CC needs water and milk stat. I make two waffles for the littles, get my beloved coffee, ice water and milk for myself (liquids rule). Tru is complaining of his legs hurting and looks a little glassy-eyed. Proves to me that he 'can barely walk' and hobbles across the room. For good measure/pain relief I give him Ibuprofen and CC needs her 'fake' meds (water in the medicine cup). And she needs a bandaid because Truman has some. Of course. I make my bagel as the kids sit down to eat.



7:20 am | We all eat. CC is giving us all her kitchen toys. Tru is still whining. Trying not to stress about this slow moving train before work here, but we are going to be late! Usually try to leave by 7:30-7:45 but truly, we can chill a bit today. Why must I keep reminding myself of this? Work mornings are always so rushed, man. I check IG while I eat, clear emails, check that my blog post went up as scheduled. Neither kid is eating well right now. CC is telling us to be quiet, since her baby sleeping on the floor. Sigh. Might as well take a belly pic;)





7:30 am | They are totally not eating their waffles. Convince Truman to get dressed. Make my lunch. CC makes a huge mess in playroom with diaper liners and random things I did not even know we had. She happily steals my chips for my lunch: breakfast of champions. Get her dressed. Get kids to brush teeth. Pack up. 




7:55 am | We leave!! Not too shabby although I already feel a little worn down (as always). It's spring break this week, so traffic is very manageable . We see lots of working trucks on the way to Lori's and hear Pharrell's song, 'Happy.' One of Truman's many favorites right now. I love our minivan, by the way. LOVE. Will attempt to get a good picture of it for you later today, don't you worry.



8:08 am | Lori's house. She is super talkative this morning. Kiss kids goodbye and watch them run in to see their friends. Talk about Truman's shots, hopeful that he does alright there today without mommy. Leave her house at 8:15,  plug in my first patient's address into my Garmin (nope, the pimped out mini-van doesn't have GPS). Stop for gas. Want to take pic of my van here but, lame. Check email while filling. Expensive. Broke my freaking nail and will surely die without my nail clippers that used to be on my key chain but are no longer! Stop at Walgreen's parking lot to prep my notes for the day. Usually I do this the night before but I knew I'd have this time before patient number one. I like my flexible job a lot. Get into PT mode and try to stop thinking about photo-ops. Sort of can't believe I brought my SLR camera with me today, but my patients all live in moderately safe areas, so whatever. Make calls to a few patients, check work email, prepare paperwork. 





9:00 am | Patient 1: a patient who has cancer (will share a teeny bit of info this time, without any real patient identifiers in the name of HIPAA). Paper work for that visit. Texted Lindsey about my dream I remembered. CVS to pee and buy nail clippers, added into budget ;) Drive to next patient, super close to my first which always makes me extra happy and allows for paperwork time. Most of my patients I see for 45 minutes and then I have 15 minutes to drive/wrap up paperwork. If I have to drive more than 3 miles between patients I get very annoyed;)

9:55 am | Patient 2: my last day with a patient who had bilateral knee surgery. Will need to do the paperwork later and call the Dr. on this one at some point, but need to get moving. Drive to next patient, eat my apple. Hungry already. Call another patient. Traffic is shockingly bad right now. 

11:05 am | Patient 3: patient with internal bleeding and balance issues. Needs lots of reassurance. Starved and tired after this one. Eat the rest of my lunch on the way to my next. Blasted construction in this city! I have to pee again but will ignore that for now.

12:05 pm | Patient 4: patient with knee surgery. Also needs lots of reassurance. Longer appointment than planned, have to call the doctor right away. This patient says I look like I swallowed a beach ball and we talk about the baby a bit (first time of the day, never the last it seems). I really need to pee but can't afford to stop since I'm already late for my last patient! Head back up four miles north, right where I was earlier today---annoying scheduling on my part. Baby is now trying to kick his way out of my belly button-- it started during the last visit and will continue. Wonder if that is because my full bladder makes him angry? I want to check my personal email as I see 6 new emails but I can't!

1:10 pm | Patient 5: last day with this patient who has balance issues. Again, needs a lot of encouragement, so basically my final three patients were a tad draining. She wished me luck with the baby as I left (brownie points from me), and I will just have to do the paperwork later. Bladder about to explode and although I've used this patient's bathroom before, I just cannot deal with the plastic toilet riser today. Five patients in a day is considered to be 'full', but sometimes I see more or less. No brand new patients today, which are always the most time consuming, so that means being done at 2pm! Nice. 

2:00 pm | Head home, about to pop! Select my current favorite song, 'Every Stone' by Manchester Orchestra, and am playing it through my phone (fancy 2014 stereo system trumps my old 2001 six disc changer). 

2:08 pm | Home. Van pictures. Bathroom. Henry outside. Check personal email, mostly blog comments and some are super sweet. Focus on my paperwork while playing The XX iTunes Radio station. Greek Yogurt. Text Mom (first time of many this date).



3:00 pm | I'm done with work, yay! Want to do all of the following in the next 45 minutes before getting my kids: pick up the house, dishes unload and re-load, return my friends' emails, walk the dog, and polyurethane a shelf. Riiiight, must choose between options. I pick up the house a bit. Damn you Nate for setting out Easter candy! Reeces PB eggs are calling me. Check our mail-packages from mom! Should I wait for Truman to open them? He might be majorly upset if there are no toys (spoiled) and I know she made their Easter outfits...so I open them myself. ADORBS. Text mom again to say so. I'm 32 years old and 'care packages' sent by my loving mother still get me every time. Unload dishes and reload. Take out overflowing trash and recycling. 






3:25 pm | I'm done with house management stuff, I guess. There's not enough time before I get kids to walk, or email really. Change my clothes and make our bed. Selfies of belly. It seems bigger now than this morning again. Crap. No time to poly the shelf. Eh, whatever.



3:53 pm |  Leave for Lori's, trying to pump myself up to take a few real pictures of her with the kids but I just feel so awkward being all, 'Here, let me take pictures of you guys for my blog.' Weird. Traffic not so hot. Check IG at stoplights (bad bad bad). Put on another favorite song through my phone. I swear to you there is a headless driver behind me in a black truck--I cannot see the driver at ALL over the steering wheel and it's freaking me out!! Is that a really small person, a child, or someone disabled...or a ghost driving the car? Wish I could get a good picture to show you. Legitimately freaky stuff. Trust.

 4:04 pm | At Lori's, too chicken to wear the camera around my neck into her house. Got two more huge bags of baby boy clothes from her, which is now a total of five bags. Her son is done after two boys and Lori tends to get a little nuts with their wardrobes--happy to have hand-me-downs since my kids never get them! Both of my babes had good days, I get hugs and kisses and then get yelled at to 'goooooooo' because they never like when I stand around to talk with Lori. CC pats my belly and says 'baby...clothes' and then pats my boobs and asks, 'What this?' Not the baby, child. I tell her 'boobs' and she says it back to me. Hilarious. Kids are super thirsty as we load into the van--I wish they'd just drink some water before they come home with me, but of course they wait to ask me for my last drop instead. Refill their cups with the rest of my water.



4:14 pm | 'Let It Go' is on as per their request. Kids sing along and it's totally video worthy but not really possible while driving. Chapstick insanity ensues, since Cecelia has a major obsession and needs to hold mine at all times in the van. 'How was your day?' I ask. Cecelia immediately answers in an annoyed/drawn out tone: 'Good...play... Kate... Greta... cracker... CC... Lori.' LOL. About sums up her day! We all discuss Truman's shots for the 100th time--he wants to make sure he isn't getting anymore until age 10 (true statement, apparently). CC want them now and is very upset that she has to wait until her four year appointment to be stabbed by a needle. (And yes, flu shots, but we can also opt for the flu mist if we want). 

4:30 pm | Home. Kids grab a few rocks on their way inside. I wish it was warmer than 46 degrees out, with killer wind--we should be playing outside in the Spring, mother nature! Henry licks the kids' faces to say 'hello'. Medicine is given yet again, as Truman says his legs hurt 'really bad' and he didn't need anything all day at Lori's. Helicopter goes over our house and CC must observe out the window. CC needs a cracker. We all play a bit: the kids are surprisingly very excited about their Easter outfits and also the coloring books GoGo sent them. We color for awhile and I realize Truman is getting very into mixing primary colors to make secondary colors. A boy after my own heart! 







5:10 pm | All is going really well until CC messes up Truman's puzzle on purpose. A necessary diaper change irritates her more. I read Truman a random comic book we got in a cereal box recently. 



5:15 pm | Cecelia seems really hungry and crabby. TV show for Truman--Martha Speaks. Text Andrea. Check the meal plan for the week: breakfast for dinner, a new weekly fave for us all! Upload 322 pics off my to make room for more. Whoops! C likes to watch the pictures on the computer, at least. 

5:30 pm | We (the girls) make dinner. CC wants a sucker. Bonks head. Tears x 2. This is my least fave time of day, by the way. How many meltdowns so far? I'd say at least five. She is mad that the backyard bunnies are not out. Almost drops an egg as she 'helps' with dinner. Consumes shredded cheddar straight out of bag. I add tub yogurt and ketchup to our ongoing grocery list. 



5:45 pm | Dinner is served, my little hooligans! Truman has to color while eating, apparently. CC is now doing really well--she eats seconds and thirds of my eggs and thirds of her yogurt. CC is also yelling at Henry, while Truman is pretending to feed him. I raise my voice for everyone to knock it off, and consider putting Henry in his home. As if it's his fault that dinner time is nutso around here.



6:05 pm | CC and I are done with our meals, although she didn't eat all of her toast. 'No sert,' she tells me, since she knows I like her to clean her plate for dessert. Truman requests a bathroom break, and it never fails---his daily occurrence during dinner. How old do they have to be before they can efficiently wipe their own tail pipes? I should have asked that at his appointment yesterday. I tell Truman he needs to eat 3 more bites for dessert but both kids are distracted with coloring books right now. They are playing so well together at the moment. Love it. I clean up from dinner, listening to them converse about princesses and crayons. Truman is also singing, "Wouldn't you think my collections complete? Wouldn't you think I'm a girl, a girl who has everything? I got gadgets and gizmos of plenty." Name that tune;) I love when they sing randomly.

6:15 pm | Wow. Still happily playing together! CC asks for a Jo-Jo cookie for dessert. She did eat pretty well and although she didn't clean plate it was a lot of food. T finishes his final bites and both kids decide they want 3 conversation hearts instead of Jo-Jo. Ok, your loss, kids! Eat hearts and look outside by the radiator. Have a moment of loving them a lot, which equates to a lot of pictures.





6:25 pm | Go up to the baby's nursery, where we go through Lori's clothes. Sneak peek of yellow crib!! Kids run off to hide behind the shower curtain. Off come the clothes and it's time for their bath. We've been rotating between baths, showers, and 'wash cloth baths' (ie wipe them down really quick) and tonight Truman selected a real bath. Fine by me! Picture time.



6:35 pm | 'CC stinks,' she says. Another poo. Another butt wiping for mommy. Bath.






6:55 pm | Get out of bath. Die from the cuteness. Truman says, "Hug your fox brother, CC," when all I did was ask for a picture. Pick out jammies.



7:05 pm | Nate calls, just got off a little later than normal. CC wants to talk to daddy and tells him about GoGo's chapstick gift. Downstairs. I am officially deeming this an awesome night full of laughs and little drama. They are happy and playful! Smoothie time and Frozen iTunes Radio. The best.







7:25 pm | I clean up, feed Henry, and get Nate's food ready for him. Sometimes I can be a good wife---12 hrs (13?) away from the family sucks for us all. It's the least I can do and the kids are not being extra needy, so it works for now.

7:40 pm | Nate is home ---stopped at Target to get ketchup (cannot handle eggs without?) so it took awhile. Kids are pumped. CC hit her head and needs snuggles. Nate eats, kids take pics with my camera and want to try on their new Easter outfits without prompting from me. Text mom again. So stinking cute.





8:05 pm | Nate and the kids go upstairs for their bedtime. Later than usual 7:30 time,  but Nate literally just got home. Decisions: polyurethane the shelf, email my friends, or work on this post? Computer time for sure and I'm tired, man. Start on my emails to Erin, Diz, Erin, and Hannah. I truly enjoy keeping up with friends via email even though it obviously takes some time. Worth it to me! Where would my girl friend relationships be without email?? ;)

8:30 pm | It's my turn for bedtime-- -CC is showing me her Chapstick GoGo gave her and Truman shows me his Legos. 'When do I go to church to wear my ribbon and shirt?' he asks me. He means his tie and new shirt;)  Tired kids tonight, just like their mama. I tell my three stories which is basically a review of our day. Kiss my buddies goodnight and hope that is it for bedtime (it is! Sometimes it's not, but tonight there weren't any other trips up and down stairs for added tuck ins!). 



8:40 pm | Back to emails. Nate is exhausted. Baby kicking me like crazy. This is his favorite time of night, like his mama. ;)



9:20 pm | Nate goes to bed, poor guy. I am done with my 4 friend emails. Cereal time. What's on TV? Nothing. Upload rest of pics (200 more!) from my camera and decide to IG one of them. Getting the shakes without Instagramming for a whole day! 

9:50 pm | I look up my old DiTL posts. Yep, summer was done in the beginning of August last year so this is officially it as a family of 4! Awww. Type a few things to start this post and nearly fall asleep. Didn't exercise or poly the shelf but it was a great day otherwise! Emails caught up, pics off card, house (was) picked up. Happy kids. Good work day. Ah. Check Feedly, text Erin, call it quits. This is the time of night I can easily waste entirely too much time mindlessly staring at the computer screen, but tonight I'm proud of myself for getting my butt to bed 'early.'

10:05 pm | Brush teeth, wash face. Worst selfies ever to end the day. Good night! 



5:15 am | Wake up/move for the first time. Nate's alarm, I think? No wake ups from the kids, yet again!

5:45 am | CC cries out and I go in to check on her. She has her pacifier in her hands, so I just cover her up and walk out. Still crying a bit later so Nate goes in and works magic somehow. She continues to sleep until 7:00. I feel rested, so I lay there waiting for Truman to wake up as I check my phone and put a few screen shots together for this post.

6:30 am (on the dot) | Truman comes in with monkey under his jammies, like he is pregnant. Says he wants to have monkey like this when he gets dressed. Then he let's me feel monkey's hiccups. Better get up and start the day at home!



Tally marks/Summary:

Tearful moments from Cecelia: 6
Texts: 4 different people, at least 6 times to my mom specifically
Hours on the personal computer: 2
Minutes spent outside playing in the 'Spring' weather: 0
Times I thought 'this is an awesome day': 2
Times I thought 'this is a hard time of day/I'm exhausted': 2
Patients seen: 5
Rounds of Ibuprofen: 2
Total pictures taken/kept: 401
Total pictures posted: 46 jpegs (collages hold way more than that!)
Total number of Instagrammed shots: 1
Total number of belly pics taken: (no comment)
Headless drivers of trucks: 1
Hours spent creating this blog post: 6.5 (insert wide eyed emoticon here)

And other posts in case your eyes aren't bulging out of your skull quite yet:
Winter 2014 (weekend)
Fall 2013 (weekend)
Summer 2013 (Friday, work day)
Spring 2013 (Friday, half day at work)

Winter 2013 (Thursday, SAHM day)
Fall 2012 (new as a working mom of two, a Wednesday)
Summer 2012 (new mom to two kids, maternity leave!)

Summer 2010 (just Truman, new to these posts)