there truly is no "typical day" in this house. ty works monday thru friday 8 to 5. i work three days a week (7a-7p), all different days every week (i have my schedule in 6 week blocks, so i know what those days are but they arent really consistent). our parents watch henry in our home on days that i am working (not a weekend), and sometimes tys parents stay overnight so we have help in the am... seriously, not one day is the same.
on a work day for me my day looks like this:
4:00am alarm goes off. i (almost always) hit snooze
4:05am alarm goes off again. i decide whether i really want to run or not (i usually dont and hit snooze again, or in some cases reset my alarm for 5:15). i then lay there thinking about how im not going to get faster or stronger or any closer to boston unless i get out there and run. sometimes i say screw it (not usually though)
4:10am garmin is turned on, laces tied, pink mace in hand, out the door to hit the pavement
4:11am questioning why i dont stay in bed
5:15am back in from running, start coffee, take a shower. get dressed. pack lunch if i didnt pack it the night before. sometimes hen is already up, sometimes he is still asleep
6:15am leave for work
6:40am arrive at work, get report
6:50am -
6:50pm save lives. no big deal.
6:50pm give report
7:15pm leave work
7:40pm arrive home, sometimes hen is awake, sometimes hes already in bed. i may or may not eat dinner (sometimes i eat before i leave work). usually have a beer and head to bed before 8:30
on my off days, things (today) go something like this:
2:18am i wake up to check on hen (and pee... i never woke up while i was pregnant but now i cant sleep through the night. go figure). i change him ninja mom style with hopes he doesnt wet thru his pjs and sleeps later than 5:15 (his size 5 diaper for sleeping weighs at least 5 pounds in the am if we dont change him overnight, and usually he soaks through all his clothes)
5:57am we start hearing babbles on the monitor. usually im up by now and running but im on call this am for work so i figured id try to get a little more sleep
6:05am ty gets up to take care of hen so i can sleep in. thanks husband!
6:08am chips does a daring leap over duke (who is laying watch at our bedroom door) and she darts across the bed, landing right on my stomach before resting in the window
6:10am guess im awake. and glad i didnt pee the bed. anyone want a cat? ill send her with some snacks
6:22am awake, but still in bed, answering a few texts that came in overnight. can i just stay here all day? i check to see if work called (they didnt) (i leave my phone on silent at night... which is good because of mornings like this the other day...)
seriously.
6:25am i smell coffee brewing, throw on my sweatpants and zensah calf sleeves, and head downstairs. heres my lovely family:
everyones so excited to see me, clearly. and hen needs longer pants apparently
6:30am we go through multiple rounds of "sit on your bottom please" while hen stands and walks around with his bottle, seemingly ignoring us. its gonna be a long 17 years
"oh hey, did you want me to sit down?"
at least hes cute
6:33am news is on (channel 6). grab my coffee and daily meds
6:37am give hen some banana and make him oatmeal cereal with maple syrup and cinnamon. he eats half the banana and two bites of cereal. we throw a few puffs onto his tray
6:40am breakfast is over when he starts throwing puffs on the floor. i let him out of the high chair and he heads over and starts pushing the cable box power button over and over, then comes over and attempts to climb the coffee table
6:50am let the dog out and grab the laundry i forgot to fold last night
6:52am let the dog in. hens back to pushing the cable box power button
7:00am the today show starts. no surprise, matt lauer has an "exclusive interview" coming up
7:02am i remember to put my phone ringer on incase work calls (they havent)
7:03am i ask hen to bring me some books to read
so excited!
the three he brings me. he has a sophie obsession. i kinda do too
7:10am (the books are pretty short) we head upstairs to watch daddy iron. hen pushes buttons on the radio and baby monitor, walks into the guest room and finds the printer buttons to push
7:15am back downstairs and pushing the cable box button again. he loves watching the tv turn on and off. this drives my batty
7:21am i distract hen by pulling out some blocks and stacking toys for him
7:25am hen gets a little fussy and starts rubbing his eyes. i take him upstairs and put him in his crib
7:30am immediately sleeping with no fuss at all (usually when we put him down for a nap or to sleep at night theres at least a few minutes of crying or fussing before he falls asleep). not a normal nap time (normally nap is closer to 9am), but you do whatever works. i use this time (not knowing how long i have) to finish folding the laundry, take out the trash, take the nail polish off my toes, and clean the downstairs hallway and living room floor (so much dog hair)
7:56am let the dog out (he goes out a few times in the morning but then will sleep most of the afternoon)
7:57am hen starts talking on the monitor. maybe he just needed a little tiny nap? ill let this go for a bit before going to get him
8:00am hen is quiet and i decide i should take a shower just incase work calls (they dont) and i need to quickly get my mom over here and head in. it used to be so easy when i could just put hen in the rock and play and take a shower, knowing he would be there when i got out. now, not so much. i remember while in the shower that i had let the dog out im sure ill get out of the shower to him barking his head off at nothing and hen screaming to get out of bed
8:05am quick shower over, hens quiet, dukes quiet/just laying on the deck
8:11am getting some more coffee, watching big brother from last night
8:23am i guess breakfast would be a good idea... bowl of cheerios with a banana
8:53am i start transfering pics from my phone to computer and backing them up (my lap top is getting old and wont hold battery charge and im getting nervous one day it just wont start and ill lose all my pics). hen is still asleep
9:01am i get an email about maines half price online outlet selling $18 to "the holy donut" for $9. at the same time, i get a text from the bff about a "great pumpkin race" where you eat one piece of pie before running a mile... 3 pieces of pie, 3 miles. i send her the link to the donut certificate. we love food
9:30am hen is still sleeping. i check to make sure hes breathing (he is). bff sends me a text that the 40 gift certificates to the holy donut sold out in 3 seconds and she missed it. apparently people love donuts around here! (and shes pissed)
10:30am henry finally wakes up and he is SO happy! we play around in his room for a little while (changing his clothes and his diaper take forever!)
11:00am we finally get clothed and head downstairs for lunch! hen eats half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, two strawberries, and a few cinnamon graham bunnies and some white cran peach juice. (and instead of jelly i actually spread some of his earths best apple peach oatmeal pouch on the other half of the bread before folding it. he didnt notice the difference, but it was much messier than jelly!) mom has some ham and cheese roll ups and cous cous with cranberries & almonds
11:35am out for a walk and then playing on the porch and in the plants/under the deck til grammy arrives. hen loves throwing all of the water table toys off the deck and then going to get them from underneath. he also tries to eat rocks. yum
clearly someones totally into the walk. busy making important calls on his phone. cant be bothered
but he loves being outside, throwing his toys, climbing down stairs, and retrieving the thrown toys
1:00pm grammy stays with hen while mommy goes to run some errands. first up, i stop at dairy queen to pick up bff and her son who got caught biking in the rain!
1:30pm arrive at the gym. run a few miles, did my lower ab routine/back exercises from physical therapy, snuck in a loser gym selfie. because im a loser. no shame
3:15pm down for afternoon nap after an 8oz milk "ba" (bottle)
3:25pm realized im still watching curious george
3:30pm make a 2nd lunch for myself (half a box of spongebob squarepants mac and cheese and half an avacado, leftover coffee with ice. iced coffee! picture of health here, folks)
3:50pm sitting at the table to do some stuff on the computer and one of the guys outside working on the house across the street from us just backed his truck into the other guys truck. whoops. i play around with pics for this blog on pic monkey, listening to youtube videos playing of whitney houston, celine dion and various acapella groups. its just what i do
4:25pm hen starts fussing a little on the monitor but it doesnt last. ty calls asking if i want pizza for dinner (duh) and i ask him if he wants to take hen to dairy queen after dinner (obviously he says yes). gonna be a good night on everett street!
5:15pm the UPS truck stops right in front of my house, honks the horn three times, makes duke go crazy with barks and i meet him on the porch so he wont ring the doorbell. what is with these people? and he honks as he drives away too! i should make a door sign (yes, the ups guy is a regular at our house. yay online shopping!) related: my new oiselle sports bra finally arrived! i think im officially ready for marathon #10!
5:20pm hen starts to fuss awake. he isnt as playful up in his room and throws his arms up to be picked up and taken downstairs
5:40pm dad comes home and we get set up for dinner (mac and cheese, avacado, and red grapes for hen, pizza for mom and dad!) hen rubs his eyes, wont eat much, throws most of it on the floor, and refuses juice. how can you be tired after taking a 3 hour am nap and a 2 hour pm nap!?
but we get him to smile playing silly games with the cat door
6:04pm dad and hen sit down in the living room to watch a few simple songs videos, and hen takes an 8oz milk bottle
6:20pm ty and i attempt to have dinner, which results in one of us chasing hen away from the cable box, the other chasing him away from climbing on the coffee table after being shooed away from the cable box, meanwhile trying to keep duke under control. dinner time is a fun time in the sterling household. can i have a beer yet?
6:40pm we decide to take a family walk instead of going to dairy queen. hen still seems tired but probably needs a little bit more food when we get back before bed
7:15pm we return and run around the front yard for a few minutes before heading inside, eating a few strawberries, then heading upstairs to brush teeth
7:30pm hen is in his pjs (2T... this kid is huge!), diaper changed (luckily its not much of a wrestling match because he is sleepy), nighttime lotion song is sung, we read "llama llama red pajama", say goodnight to all the animals, and he goes in his crib. soothing sounds sheep is turned on, mobile wound up, lights out, walk out the door
7:32pm not a sound
7:35pm i come downstairs to find ty watching cops. i join him
8:00pm were upstairs, brushing our teeth, getting ready for bed. i dont have to work (or run!) tomorrow so i dont set my alarm. we browse through "the chive" for a few minutes, and shut the lights off. goodnight! sure it might still be light out (not for much longer!) but were usually so exhausted. feels good to get more sleep than to just be up at night watching pointless tv.
so thats a "typical" day in the sterling household!
