Day In The Life: Summer 2013

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Tory is 22 months old
I am 24 weeks pregnant with Baby #2

3:37am
I'm jolted awake by a painful charley horse in my left leg. Argh! I try to massage it out while laying in bed but it's only getting worse. I finally get up to walk around the house and stretch my leg muscles. In the process, I have a coughing attack (all three of us are sick with summer colds this week) and I wake Tory up from her sleep. Tory's crying wakes Andi up and now we're ALL UP at 4:00am. Good times.

I go into Tory's room to settle her back to sleep and cave by bringing her back to bed with me. This is a nasty habit we've been getting into lately when Tory wakes up early morning. I'm too tired to care at this point and honestly, she's only my baby for a little bit longer so I secretly cherish the snuggle time with her. BUT ... I quickly remember Tory is the worst bed-mate and her flailing around finally forces Andi out of bed all together.

7:00am - 8:45am
Tory's awake and demanding food, so I drag my tired butt out of bed and stammer to the kitchen. I see Andi asleep on the couch in the three-season porch which is very un-characteristic of him. He's usually at work by 6:00am, so I know he must not feel well.

Today's breakfast is an asiago cheese bagel with plain cream cheese, grapes and ice coffee for me; "bagel toast," banana Greek yogurt and grapes for Tory. My pregnancy craving for asiago bagels is still in high demand as I drove to FOUR DIFFERENT STORES on Monday and Tuesday to find them. (Seriously, Target, why are you always out of these?) In the meantime, Tory has developed a serious love for cream cheese and demands it every time I eat a bagel for breakfast. Except, a bagel is too difficult for her to chew so I started putting cream cheese on toast for her. Enter: bagel toast. It's her favorite.

Breakfast

Andi's sleeping in there ... somewhere

Tory's favorite meal time (aka: the one where my picky eater will eat the most food) is breakfast, so I let her take her time eating while I bust out a few household chores. I unload the dishwasher, clean up breakfast, sweep and mop the floor and wipe down counter tops. Tory finishes breakfast and I give her some Dr. Seuss cards to play with while I finish cleaning.

Meanwhile, Andi wakes up and hops in the shower. He comes into the kitchen to say good-bye to Tory and I. She is so surprised and excited to see him as he's usually gone by the time she wakes up in the morning. Andi asks what we're up to this morning and I say swimming class. Tory asks Andi, "come?" and I think he's going to burst into tears right there as I watch his heart break into a million pieces. "I have to go to work right now," he tells Tory, "but we'll swim at the lake this weekend, okay kiddo?"

8:45am - 9:30am
Time has slipped away and we're suddenly running late to swimming class. Somehow, I always mis-judge free time in the mornings and am usually left rushing at the last minute. I hurry Tory into my room so she can monkey around in the bathroom while I pick out clothes to wear, style my hair and brush my teeth. Not much effort put forth today as I'll be in a pool in less than an hour.

Today: Gap Maternity Favorite Tee, Gap Maternity jeggings (so two years ago, but whatever) and flip flops)

I also get Tory dressed, brush her teeth and brush her hair (although I don't style it because she'll also be swimming soon). Tory makes a complete mess of the bathroom counter in the few quick seconds it takes me to complete those tasks, as per usual.

I quickly throw our swimming suits, two towels and baby soap into a tote and somewhere in there, I also make my bed for the day. On my bedside table this morning: Good Night Gorilla, Moo Baa La La La, Ladybug Girl Plays Dress Up, The Going To Bed Book and Barnyard Dance.

We're out the door to swimming at 9:21am (class starts at 9:30am and it's at least a ten minute drive away - yikes). 

9:30am - 10:30am

Yet somehow, we're not late. I pull into the parking lot, rush inside, change Tory and I into our swimming suits and high-tail it out to the pool. I think swimming class expects parents to run late and purposely sets their clocks slow. Knowing this fact does not help me make it to class on time each week.

Tory does a great job at swimming class today. When the teacher asks the kids to "hide their eyes in the water," Tory says "un, uh" -- like, are you crazy, man? She back floats with ease now and "zooms" under the water for six seconds, advancing to Baby float Baby Level 3 during her progress assessment.

After class, Tory and her little friend, Ashley, run full-speed into the neighboring Kohl's within the mall. They play peek-a-boo with each other and hide in the clothing racks while Ashley's mom, Lindsey, and I chat for a few minutes.

11:00am - 2:00pm

Tory and I drive home, then I set her up with some Dora while I quickly hop in the shower. She's always pretty zoned-out after swimming and usually needs a few minutes of rest in order to make it through until nap time. If I don't use this chance to take a shower, I'll smell like chlorine until mid-afternoon.

After my shower, I get dressed and brush my hair. Then, I grab Tory's hair stuff and style her hair for the day. I'm obsessed with the webbing technique my cousin Jen taught me while I was visiting her in Nebraska last week. As I'm sectioning and ponytail-ing Tory's hair, she takes the opportunity to dump all the little rubber bands out on my bed. Luckily, they're pink and show up easily against my white comforter.

Next, I make lunch for Tory and I. Today, she's having an egg and cheese burrito with ketchup for dipping and I warm up a bowl of Trader Joe's French Onion soup for me. While Tory eats her lunch, I take the opportunity to type up a quick blog post and check my email. I dump out most of my French onion soup as it tastes overly onion-y to me today. I pour myself a coconut water over ice instead to help with the charley horse leg cramps I've been getting lately.

Despite wearing a bib, Tory's covered in ketchup after lunch. I clean up the mess and change her clothes. She occupies herself in the bathroom with her potty chair and foam bath letters, so I take the opportunity to clean the bathroom while she's in there. We have a potty chair, but I haven't started potty-training Tory yet. Every time I ask if she wants to use the potty she says, "No. Diaper?" Fine with me, I guess. She sure likes sitting on it, though. 

"Help clean?" Tory asks. I give her a paper towel and she follows me to clean the second bathroom. This job is far overdue and my least favorite part of being a housewife. Oh, how miss the days of a cleaning lady!

While I'm cleaning the toilet, the lid drops and somehow Tory gets her fingers slammed. She cries loudly (poor girlie!) so I drop everything and decide it's time for nap. We cuddle up on my bed and I read stories to her while she snuggles into the crook of my arm. I nearly die from the cuteness when she rests her hand on top of my pregnant belly.

Chloe the Dog's there, too. She rarely gets any blog shout-outs these days, but she's always beside us during the day. I put Tory down for a nap at 2:00pm and she falls right to sleep.

2:00pm - 4:00pm

During nap time, I finish cleaning the bathrooms. Then, I throw in a load of laundry, wash bath toys in the dishwasher (while I was cleaning bathrooms earlier, I noticed how grimy the toys were) and bake the M&M cookie dough I made up yesterday. In between cookie batches, I work on pink elephant cupcake toppers for the baby shower I'm co-hosting for my cousin, Jes, next weekend.

  

4:00pm - 5:00pm

When Tory wakes up from her nap, I give her a warm cookie as a snack and hurry to wrap up my crafts spread about the table. 

Tonight, Andi and I are visiting Noerenberg Gardens (the place where Andi and I were married four years ago next Wednesday). Every year, Andi and I re-visit the very spot we said our vows, take a few pictures and reflect on our life together. This is one of my favorite traditions we have as a couple. Since we're bringing Tory along with us, I decide to make a picnic dinner to eat there. I begin assembling the makings of Portobello Pita Pockets and a green salad for Andi and I, and toss an applesauce, Uncrustable sandwich and cheese and crackers in the picnic basket for Tory. Of course, Tory is still a bit sleepy and wants to be held during all of my preparations, so I cook and pack with her perched on my hip.

5:00pm - 6:00pm

Andi arrives home from work extra early (5:00pm!) for our date night. We change our clothes, pack the car and drive to Noerenberg Gardens.

6:00pm - 7:00pm

In all honesty, it's not the best night to visit Noerenberg. Andi, Tory and I all have colds and Andi's feeling super crappy - I can see it in his face. Neither one of us are feeling the extra "lovey dovey, let's celebrate our love" vibe, but life is busy and we've had this date night on the calendar so we're going. The drive to Noereberg is a quiet one; Andi and I briefly recap our days to one another and he stops by Wal-greens to pick up some cold medicine. 

Once we arrive at Noerenberg, we unload Tory and the bags and walk up to the place we said "I do." As I round the corner and see the pillars before me, something comes over me - a feeling - and I'm suddenly transported right back to our wedding. I look over at Andi and he feels it, too. We smile and talk about our wedding day, how perfect the ceremony was and how much we love each other. For better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and health. Our marriage isn't rainbows and butterflies every single day, yet we're still in love. Perhaps even more than we were that day.

Four years!

More on our visit to Noerenberg in a separate post. After our little photo shoot, we spread out a blanket overlooking Lake Minnetonka and had a picnic. Tory is the most well-behaved outdoor diner I've ever seen - she's growing up!

  

7:00pm - 8:00pm

We pack up our things and decide to stop by the mall on the way home so Andi can go to the Apple Store. While we wait, I take Tory to play in the kid's area. There is another little girl there, probably about three or four years old, and my little monkey follows the girl all around the play area, imitating every single thing the girl does. Tory climbs on top of the car, scurries up the slides and runs circles until she was ready to drop. About fifteen minutes later, Andi comes to get us and we drive home.

  

8:00pm - 9:00pm

Once at home, I change Tory into her pajamas and read a few bedtime stories. My Beanie is so tired she falls right to sleep when I lay her down in her crib. Andi and I are exhausted, too, and collapse into bed shortly afterwards. He's asleep within minutes while I read social media on my phone. Light's out at 9:00pm, just the way we like it.`

11:30pm
Tory wakes up screaming from her crib, so I go into her room to see what's the matter. It's either her summer cold throwing her for a loop, nightmares or SOMETHING. Girlfriend has not been sleeping well this week. Really, none of us have. I pick Tory up and snuggle her for a bit in the rocking chair before laying her back down in her crib again. Thankfully, she goes back to sleep and I stumble back into my own bed to do the same.

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Click over to Navigating The Mothership's blog to read other Summer 2013 Day In The Life next week!