a day in the life

Every other Friday my mom (Nana to the boys) drives one hour from her house to mine to spend the day with us. We usually spend the day playing at home, running errands, and having fun shopping. This is what a typical Nana Friday looks like. Isaac is almost 3.5 years old and Levi is 8 months old.

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5:32  I hear Levi cry out but I can tell he doesn't really need me. I check the monitor and see that he still has his paci in and his eyes closed. I listen to him fuss around for a few minutes and I can tell I'm awake for the day even though he settles back in.

5:40  Rodney's alarm goes off for the first time (and at 5:50 and 6:00 until he finally turns it off).

6:03  I check the monitor and see that Levi is awake.

6:17  I randomly flip the monitor to Isaac's room and just as I'm showing Rodney the monitor and saying, "Is Isaac in his bed?" we hear footsteps outside our door and a hand on the doorknob. Isaac comes in and lays with us (with a little tickling thrown in for good measure).

6:30  Rodney gets up and takes a shower. Isaac goes to the living room and I can hear him playing trains while I'm trying to soak up the last few minutes of rest. At one point it appears Levi went back to sleep, but Isaac was playing rather loudly and I think that woke him up again.

7:00  Rodney leaves for work and I get Levi up. After a bottle and diaper change, I set him up on the floor with some toys, turn on the Today Show, and make Isaac's breakfast, his usual waffle. He fusses because it's "too crunchy" but eats it anyway. Soon after this I look up just in time to see Levi fall backwards on the hardwood floor. He still does this occasionally but it's pointless to put a pillow behind him because he twists and scoots way too much. He gets his paci and some cuddles until he's ok, then it's back to the floor for more play time.

8:00  Breakfast for Levi, some yogurt a few bites of pancake before he lets me know he's done. Meanwhile, Isaac keeps checking out the window every few minutes to see if Nana is here yet.

8:25  Levi is getting cranky, so I turn on Little Einsteins for Isaac and take Levi to read a few books and wind down for nap.

8:37  Levi is down for nap but plays with seahorse for a few minutes before falling asleep.

8:46  Nana is here and she brought cheddar rounds, wonderful cheesy potato bites from our favorite local place, Pal's. Isaac and I both love them and she usually brings us some when she comes. She also brought some new summer clothes and pjs that she bought and some personalized Easter gifts from my aunt.

We talk for a while, then she and Isaac go upstairs to play while I take a shower and get ready.

10:09  Levi is awake. We get him up and everyone gets dressed for the day.

quick selfie before we head out

11:00  Levi gets a bottle, then we leave to run some errands. We stop by the bank and get to see Rodney for a minute since his office is in the same building as the bank, then we go to Arby's and get lunch to take home.

12:25  We're home and Levi is ready for another nap. I rock him for a minute then lay him in the crib and he passes out quickly. Nana and I eat lunch with Isaac. He spots a bag of jelly beans sitting out and asks for some. Isaac thinks he likes candy but he really doesn't, but I let him try one anyway. He half-chewed / swallowed mostly whole a red one, then tries and spits out a green, pink, purple, and orange jelly bean. Silly boy.

Isaac usually goes down for nap anywhere from 12-1 (typically whenever Levi does around that time). He naps some days and doesn't nap others. On Fridays when my mom is here we typically skip his nap because we're so busy doing stuff and he never used to sleep on those days anyway, so we don't fight it anymore.

12:53  I leave the house again to get an application for summer camp at the school Isaac went to last summer. We really liked the program last year and wish we could afford to send him there year-round, but it's a private school and we just can't swing that right now.

Picking up the application takes literally one minute, so I stop by the mall on my way home. The lady that cuts my hair works at a walk-in place in the mall, so I decide to see if she can fit me in. It's 1:40 when I get there and she says she can cut my hair at 2:30. I'm thankful that the mall is 10 minutes from home, so I have time to go pick up my mom and the boys. Isaac needs a haircut too. I've been cutting his hair at home since he was 18 or 19 months old but lately I have not been happy with how it looks and I'm ready for a professional to do it this time.

I had no idea when I woke up today that I would be getting my hair cut. I've been thinking about it for 2-3 months now and much more in the past few days/weeks. My typical pattern is to get my hair cut short then grow it out for a year or so, then chop it off again. I can't remember the last time it was this long. I'm over it.

I already miss it and wish I hadn't gone quite so short, but the good news is that hair grows

Isaac did decent getting his hair cut. He's just used to me doing it at home but I was proud of him (from what I could see from my chair). We got him a cookie at the mall as a reward, ate half of it, then came home with the other half.

3:40  We're home and Levi needs to get one last catnap before bed but he's so happy that I put it off for a few minutes. He has been in the best mood today!

4:00  Levi is down for nap and Isaac asks to watch a show. I can tell he's tired from no nap today so I let him sit quietly and watch a show.

4:50  Nana leaves and Levi wakes up soon after.

5:15  Dinner time for the boys. Isaac is having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and fruit, and I let him have the other half of his cookie from the mall. Not a great food day, but it happens. After dinner we go upstairs to kill the last bit of time before daddy comes home. Normally we spend this time after dinner playing outside but today is cool and cloudy and rained earlier so the grass is wet. (If the weather is nice we typically spend most of the afternoon outside)

5:49  Rodney calls to say he is picking up dinner (Subway) and coming home. Yay! Soon after this Levi gets cranky so I take him downstairs. Even after a great day like today he still gets fussy around this time. The whole day catches up to him and he's ready to wind down. I try to put him on the floor so I can pick up a little but he's much happier for me to carry him around while I clean.

6:20  Rodney is home! He changes clothes and takes Levi to give me a break. Levi gets so excited when Rodney comes home lately and gets incredibly mad if R doesn't hold him pretty much immediately.

6:35  Bath time for Levi in the duck tub. We still bathe the boys separately because L is so unstable with his attempts at mobility. I can't wait 'til we can simplify our bedtime routine with one bath.

6:45  Levi gets out of the tub and I do lotion, pajamas, and bottle while Rodney starts Isaac's bath. After Levi's bottle we hang out for a few minutes. He loves watching Isaac play in the bathtub.

Rodney gets Isaac out of the tub and helps him put his pajamas on. Isaac brushes his teeth with a little help from one of us, then we all go to Isaac's bed for a Bible story on the ipad (Bible for Kids app). I take Levi to his room for another book and some cuddles and Rodney stays with Isaac for nightly talking time.

7:17  I put Levi in his crib and leave.

7:25  Rodney comes out of Isaac's room and it's time for dinner. We eat our sandwiches while watching last night's Grey's Anatomy. 

8:30  I take a bath to relax and eat way too many jelly beans in the process.

After my bath I climb into bed to watch tv and play on the ipad. Rodney is playing video games. I honestly have no idea what time I went to sleep, but it was probably somewhere around 10, maybe even before. I'm such a wild party animal at night, sometimes I even make it to 10:45. Whoa! ;)