The Daily Grind

A friend of mine just recently posted her day to day agenda and I was amazed at how different it was from mine even though we are both stay at home moms. She does have slightly older kids and one small baby so school is in her schedule and she home schools, none the less, I thought I would post mine as well. Mainly, for me to hopefully look back and say "I'm so glad it's easier now."

Morning
6am nurse Rhyan and snuggle in bed till brother wakes up at around 7.
7am change diapers and carry both kids downstairs. Put kids in high chairs and get Bruce his milk (he needs milk like most people need coffee in the morning.) Make breakfast and feed Rhyan solid food while Bruce eats. Clean up kids and let them free play while I unload and load dishwasher, sweep kitchen and vacuum dining area. Bruce also likes to "watch" mickey mouse club (but he really doesn't watch it.)
9am Rhyan's nap time, put her down and then get Bruce ready to go to the park. Dress him and myself, scramble for snacks, water and whatever else. It takes me about an hour.
10am out the door and in the stroller or sometimes we drive to a park. Let Bruce play until lunch time.

Afternoon
Noon - feed Bruce lunch, clean him up and change him into sweats and put him down for a nap. Then I feed Rhyan solid food and nurse her let her play with me and then put her down around 1pm

While kids are napping I clean up lunch, think about dinner and get whatever I need out of the freezer to thaw. Put in a load of laundry and vacuum crumbs, make my bed and tidy up the bathroom. Then I sit down for a show or facebook or some kind of break (this blog.)

Between 3 - 4 pm the kids wake up. Bruce likes a snack and Rhyan needs to eat as well. I feed the kids dinner at 5pm and in the process I am making dinner for Kiel and me. Bruce likes to trash the house while I'm cooking so I also have to do a complete run through so Kiel doesn't come home to a messy house. Depending on what I decided to make depends on my house cleaning success, sometimes the toys are on the floor, sometimes they're not. Rhyan likes to take an evening nap at 6pm so throw that in there as well.

Evening

7pm, kiel gets home says hi to the kids, eats dinner because he is starving and then takes the babies up and gives baths. I clean up the kitchen and then clean bruce's room while he is still in the bath. We put Bruce to bed and then put Rhyan to bed at around 9 or so. I finish folding laundry and put it away. Chat with my husband, maybe, or watch a show and wait for Rhyan to wake up at 11pm. Give one last feeding and then try to unwind and go to bed. I usually nod off around midnight and then do it all over again!

Once a week, throw in going to the grocery store (usually on Mondays) and the farmers market (usually on Thursdays) and taking Rhyan to "Nail night" on Tuesdays and exclude all house chores on Sundays and that is my Agenda. Although Sundays is my hardest day by far.

What does your day look like?

The Time Out Chair

Time out looks like this...

or this... I HATE the time out. I didn't mind it as a kid but enforcing it as a parent just sucks. A one minute time out is actually ten minutes of my time insisting that he takes his time out and doesn't move from his chair or the naughty step.
But afterwards he gives me a kiss and says "sowwy" (r's are still hard.) And then goes right back to what got him in a time out in the first place (usually beating up on his sister.) Anyway, we've decided to hold back on time outs for now and start again when he's two. For now we redirect, redirect and redirect.

New Years Resolution

I'm back at it again. But hey, my new years resolutions for the past couple of years have been successful so I will make another this year. This year it's more personal. This year it's been something I have been struggling with after the birth of my babies.

It is about me and body image. Heck it's about Women and body image.

Women = Bad Body Image.

Even women who have BEAUTIFUL bodies.

Smiling eyes and warm smiles

Pure hearts

Legs to the ceiling

Booty round and bouncy

Sassy hair and luscious locks.

Everyone complains.

Even when they shouldn’t.

I do it and I don't like it.

This year I will work hard to eradicate it.

(I’ll never be 100% – But, perhaps a proud 97%)

I have a daughter.

I don’t want them to suffer the same body image issues I had growing up. I was way too skinny, practically see - through. I ate a TON to try and gain weight.

Never happened.

Until I turned 19.

It was a long journey before I came to appreciate the body I have.

It still is imperfect.

In all it’s perfection.

I can run, I can jump, I can throw, kick and catch. I can dance (kinda-ish) and I can climb. I can type, I can think, I can braid little Princess braids and change baby diapers. I can build Lego castles and chase toddlers around the park. I can move heavy boxes. I can carry tender babies.

Because of my imperfections, I can perfectly DO.

I might have some extra bumps where I don’t want them and droop where I want perk.

But it works.

And it works phenomenally.

So this year, I'm going to appreciate every extra roll.

The one thing I could do for my daughter is love my body and appreciate it in all it’s imperfect perfection. In hopes my daughter does the same.

Not judge it.

Nit pick

Complain.

Diet excessively.

Follow crazy fads.

Take pills.

Buy clothes too small in hope of losing my way into them.

I will

run and hit the gym. And eat (mostly) well.

And I will celebrate my body.

And wear it proudly.

And I will do what I can to make it as healthy as I can.

So, I have my hang-ups.

I have my problem spots.

I have two kids….use your imagination.

BUT – it is the only body I’ve got. So, I’ve decided I better appreciate it for what it does.

I won’t think about the stuff I don’t like.

And I will focus on the stuff I do like.

It is a trained skill. I'm in training.

Healthy in mind, body and spirit.

I don’t like when women degrade themselves when they don’t see perfect.

Perfect is subjective.

This is not to justify unhealthy, inactive, poor-eating habits.

It is to support the development of healthy body images.

And part of having a healthy body image is knowing that you are respecting your body.

Feeding it what it needs to perform at its peak.

And when you feel good, you act good.

And then you realize you are Good.

Blog posts!

So, it may look like I haven't blogged much. But what I did is write a bunch of posts and saved them as drafts until I loaded my pictures. So go ahead and scroll down and then browse in the month of January, I bet there are two more posts you never knew about. Two AMAZING posts that will change the way you view life or me or probably neither. Anyway, I've spent too much time on this as it is.

The Scoop