A Day in the Life (of a stay-at-home mom of a two-year-old and two one-year-olds)

I'm pretty sure that right now is my favorite time of my life thus far. I am absolutely LOVING spending all day every day with my three sweeties. It is going to be very difficult for me when we move to Missouri to continue our training and I have to be away from my kids in the mornings. (But I know that of course it will be worth it!)

The kids and I have fallen into a bit of a routine on the days that we're home this summer. We are enjoying this summer quite a bit more than last summer because: 1) I am not exhausted 24/7 because I don't have a newborn right now, and 2) I now basically have three toddlers instead of three babies, which in many ways is more fun!

So here is what a typical day looks like for us. (This would be a day that we don't go to my parents' house to swim...we do that quite a bit too, and those days look a little different.) ;)

5:30 AM- Aaron's alarm goes off. I barely wake up enough to say good-bye to him. I go back to sleep.

6:30 AM- My alarm goes off. I press snooze a few times.

7:00 AM- I get up. 

7:00-7:40 AM- I get ready for the day (clothes, contacts, hair, etc.), get my breakfast and the kids' breakfasts ready, and usually check our email and facebook.

 (Normal breakfast for the kids: banana, peanut butter toast, and cereal)

(Normal breakfast for me: peanut butter toast)

7:40 AM- I get the kids up. Sometimes one or two or three of them are already awake, but they know they have to wait for me to come in to get them, so they just talk or sing or play quietly in their beds until I come in. If they are all still sleeping at 7:40, I wait until 8:00 to get them up...but I never let them sleep past 8:00, just to ensure all of them will still take their three-hour nap in the afternoon! ;)

7:40-8:00 AM- I get the kids ready for the day. Ivy goes to the bathroom and gets dressed pretty independently now, so I just have these two to get ready :)

8:00-9:00 AM- We eat breakfast. 

After breakfast we stay at the table for awhile and sing some songs, say some verses (complete with hand motions), and just talk for awhile. This is one of my favorite times of the day!

9:00-10:40 AM- The kids and I play! We always go outside for at least part of the time,

and almost every day, we go to the park. Israel has become my little buddy on my back for our walks...he is the easiest one to carry now (Abel just surpassed him in weight) :)

These two get to go in the stroller together.

Israel always likes to push them a little bit. He actually can pretty far! Strong little guy.

The swings are the favorite at the park.

Most days, the kids make cards to send to people as well. This has become a favorite activity of all of us!

The kids usually do "blanket time" for about 15 minutes in this time period as well. During this time, they each get a book and a toy on their blanket. Then one at a time, I sit on their blanket with them and read them their book. The other two listen, but it's just a good way to spend a little "one-on-one" time with each kid AND teach them some self-control (they aren't allowed to get off the blanket the whole time) at the same time. We all love this :)

10:40 AM- Snack time! The kids usually eat their snack outside.

10:45-11:00 AM- Abel takes a 15-minute nap (we're just about ready to drop this).

While he sleeps for 15 minutes, the other two do "quiet time" in their beds. They each get a book to look at, but most of the time they just talk to each other...it is really cute to listen to them. :)

While they do quiet time, I get our lunches ready.

(A normal lunch for us: hummus with carrots, crackers, and pretzels, fruit, black beans)

11:15 AM- We eat lunch. We usually stay at the table for a few songs and verses afterward, just like at breakfast.

12:00-2:00 PM- The kids usually play in their little pool for most of this two-hour time period. I sit with my feet in their pool :)

2:00-5:00 PM- All three kids nap. I take a nap about once a week as well. The other days, I keep busy doing a variety of things. On this particular day, I made a big batch of black bean burgers to freeze,

and worked on our profile for our adoption.

A lot of times I read the Bible, read a book, work on blog posts, make supper, do laundry, and clean during this time as well.

5:00-5:15 PM- I get the kids up from their naps, and we go outside to wait on Papa to get home.

5:15 PM- AARON COMES HOME. Yay!

5:15-6:00 PM- We eat supper.

6:00-8:00 PM- We hang out as a family. We usually go on a walk or just play outside. This particular night we went to Kaine's t-ball game.

8:00 PM- We put the kids to bed.

8:00-11:00-ish PM- Aaron and I hang out, I pack Aaron's lunch for the next day, I take a shower, we sometimes read, and once in awhile we watch a movie. We love this time :)

11:00-ish PM- We go to bed.

And that's it :) A typical day in my life. I feel utterly blessed and privileged to spend my days like this.

(To read other "Day in the Life" posts, click here or here.)