A real day in the life...

I thought I should lay out in realistic terms what a day in the life of Mae's (and Nate's) mommy is really like. So here goes...
Jon and I receive our first wake up call anywhere from 3am to 6am, anytime after 6 we give up trying to put anyone back to sleep. I turn over and alert Jon that Mae is awake and waiting for someone to rescue her from her room. He snoozes on the couch with her while she watches a show on PBS. I snooze in the bed for about 30 minutes to an hour when Nate wakes up for his first feeding. We join Mae and Jon in the living room. I start the coffee and give Mae a sippy of milk. We change diapers and start breakfast around 7:00 (usually homemade waffles with fruit or eggs). We all sit down to eat around 7:30 or 8:00 then get dressed for the day after we've finished. Jon leaves for school and I leave to take Mae to preschool by 9:00(Preschool only on Tuesday, Wed., and Thursday). I come home and put Nate down for a nap in his crib. After I tidy up from breakfast, make beds, start a load of laundry, empty the dishwasher, and then load the dishwasher, I pray that I have enough time for a devotional and shower before Nate wakes up. He usually naps until 10:30 or 11:00, then he's ready to nurse again. Once he's finished, I'll try to play a few minutes with him alone before it's time to pick up Mae. I've been trying to do a "Baby and Me" miniworkout with Nate...we both benefit from it! We leave at 11:45 to pick Mae up then come home and eat lunch together. They both go down for naps around 1:00 and are supposed to nap until 3:00. I try to get a half hour nap in for myself, especially if I know Jon won't be home to help with the next half of the day. I'll make/return phone calls, do a little housework, shuffle laundry, or do various chores or planning that might be necessary for that week. Mae wakes up for a snack, Nate wakes up for more milk. Thus begins the most difficult stretch of the day. If it's warm enough we'll go play outside and/or go for a walk (I love our double jogging stroller and our neighborhood!). I'll try to occupy them as much as I can without resorting to a video...this might include play dough, puzzles, finger painting, rolling the ball to each other, etc... Sometimes we'll run an errand or go the gym if it's too cold to go outside. If we have playdates, this is the time we schedule them. Some days Jon will come home around 3:00, but some days he's gone all day long. Nate goes down for a nap at 4:00 or 4:30 (a short 30 or 45 minute nap) and Mae and I will do Kindermusik activities or play on the computer together. Sometimes we'll play baby dolls, tea party or dollhouse, pretty much anything that is quiet. We both enjoy our time alone together, and if the weather is nice we'll go outside to play and I'll hook the baby monitor on my waistband. Once Nate wakes up, I will usually put in a video so I can get dinner started (I have 30 minutes max to get it on the table at this point, unless Jon is home to entertain them). We eat at 6:00, take baths, brush hair and teeth and read bedtime books together. I tuck in Mae along with a green bear named Boz at 7:00, then let Nate nurse as long as he likes. He usually won't fall asleep but will begin to squirm and let me know he's ready to get in his bed. (Note: If it happens to be a Wednesday we do all of the above except going to bed. After baths, we all have to get dressed appropriately for church and be out the door by 6:30! Jon doesn't come home until after church, so I'm on my own with this one.) After putting them to bed, I tidy the bathroom and kitchen. Wipe the table, sweep the floor, clean off two highchairs and rinse out clothes and bibs that took a beating from broccoli and baby food. THEN, I have my time. Around 8:00 I get my chance to watch TV, check email, blog, facebook, scrapbook, read, look through my stack of magazines, etc... I usually have a little more laundry lying around at this point too. I try to wait up for Jon to come home and talk with him about his day. Then it's time for my bedtime routine and I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow. Thankfully, Nate is sleeping through the night now! Mae, on the other hand, is regressing and waking up at night some. She does fine some nights, but other nights has a hard time getting back to sleep. We're working on finding out the problem and coming to a solution. All in all, I love my life as a mommy and I'm thankful I don't have to work outside the home on top of everything else!!