A Day in the Life of a Working Mama

Well Ive been back at work a month now so I thought I would write a post on being a working mama! It was very hard to go back and I miss Kinley so much during the day. It's been tough to be up 2-3 times in the night and still function at work and then at home with her in the evening. But we are making do and I am loving every minute of it. It's a long day but nothing a cup or two of coffee doesn't get me through.

6:15am - Get up and shower as quietly as possible. She is still in our room right now and I swear she hears everything and wants to get up with mama. There have been many mornings I push snooze until 6:30 but I try to get up at 6:15.

6:35 am - Tip toe out of our room and go down stairs to dry and straighten my hair. Hook up the pump because I won't get to pump again until 10:00 and that makes for some sore boobs! Put on some makeup as I hear Matt and Kinley get up.

7:03 am - Change Kinley and enjoy her smiley face. I am amazed at how smiley this girl is in the morning despite being up so often and not sleeping very late. She is one happy girl. Seeing her smiles in the morning makes it all worth getting up in the middle of the night. Feed her and enjoy the last little bit I get with her before going to work.

7:34 am - Throw together some lunch, usually dinner from the night before. Pack up the bottles I need for pumping and all the pump parts. I carry so many bags to work they make fun of me. One day I forgot half my pump parts at home and had to come back and get them. Good thing I work only 7 minutes away.

7:47 am - Brew coffee. This is a MUST! I have come to love coffee even more since becoming a mommy. I don't have more than 2 cups a day but I love it! I find myself going to bed thinking about my coffee the next morning.

7:50 am - Soak up some last minute snuggles with my love bug before heading out the door for work.  Kiss Matt and the girl and I'm off.

8:05 am - Check emails and get ready for the day. The mornings are crazy busy at work and my 10:30 pumping session comes fast.

10:36 am - Pack up my bags and off to pump. I pump for 20 minutes looking through pictures of Kinley.

12:00 pm - Lunch! I am thankful we have lunch built into our day or I don't think I would ever get a chance to eat. I try to snack throughout the day because I want to make sure I am getting enough calories while breastfeeding.

2:30 pm - Off to pump again for 20 minutes while enjoying the pictures Matt sends me throughout the days. Sometimes I even get videos and I love them so much!

4:00 pm - I am out the door and headed home to see my baby girl!

4:15 - 6:00 pm - Sometimes I try to get her down for a small nap depending on how her day went. If she doesn't go down, which is about 90% of the time we play and go for walks.

6:02 pm - Start dinner while talking to Kinley. She loves being in her bouncy seat watching me make dinner.

7:00 pm - Bedtime routine starts with a bath. Kinley loves the bath and I think could stay in the water forever. It is such a great time with her smiling and talking. After bath we do lotion and pjs. Mood depending on story time. She eats and then I put her in the rock and play. She usually falls right asleep until..

7:56 pm - 45 minutes later she is up. Happens every time she goes down. This 45minute intruder is killer and the struggle starts to get her back to sleep for the night. This is anywhere from a 1-2 hour battle. By that time I am beat and ready for bed myself.

10:04 pm - Brush my teeth and get into bed. I know she will be up soon to eat again. We are experiencing 4 month sleep regression and she is up every 3-4 hours now.

12:10 am - Kinley is up to eat. I feed her and put her right back down.

3:17 am - Up to eat again. This is definitely taking a toll on me. She usually goes right back down but there have been a few nights where she doesn't and we are up until 5 or 530.

4:03 am - Back to sleep for a few hours until it starts all over again.

I love my baby girl so so much but I am really looking forward to getting more than 3-4 hours of sleep at a time.

Happy Hump Day!!

Our Weekend...A Day Late

I was off yesterday because I had a few doctor's appointments so I got to enjoy a long weekend! We had a pretty mellow weekend and got lots of outside time because the weather was gorgeous..for the most part! It rained all day Saturday so we got our inside things done and then spent pretty much all of Sunday and Monday outside. I am so ready for spring! My birthday is in a week so I hope this beautiful weather stays!

We went to Sams Club on Saturday and had to walk around a few times because Kinley was very happy eating all the samples! It was so cute! Of course she couldn't get the strawberries in her mouth fast enough. We also played at the park and she went down the slide by herself. She loved it! Check out the video on IG.

She was pretty excited to help daddy vacuum the floors. She even asked for her own rag to dust the tables! Teaching her early we are :). She has started this new thing of laying on the floor while working on her puzzles or reading her books. She looks so grown it is kinda sad! I can't believe how fast she has grown up. It truly is amazing! 

Well now that my weekend is officially over it is back to reality tomorrow. This is my last week at my job and then it is on to new adventures. I am pretty nervous but am trying to take one day at a time. It will definitely be an adjustment but we will all get through it! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Hope you all are wearing your green today! 

Sharing Some News....

Happy Wednesday Everyone! I really have been meaning to share our weekend with you all but things have just gotten so busy I haven't had a chance! I am sorry! I'll start with a brief weekend update and share some pictures, because lets be honest I am sure some of you just come for the pictures :). That's ok! I love you all!

We had a pretty intense weekend! We have a lot of changes coming up (I will share more in a few) so Matt and I had some things to discuss. That called for a date night!! My in laws are so great to have kept Kinley for us. My mother in law fell at our house Friday night and come to find out she broke her fibula! We feel awful! She insisted we still bring Kinley to her as that was the medicine the doctor ordered. It is pretty impossible to argue with them so kept our plans and brought them Kinley. She had a blast and so did they!

This picture is a little blurry but it really captures her attitude...sassy!!

We have had Cheesecake Factory gift cards since Christmas so it was about time we use them! It is my favorite place to eat and I love having cheesecake for 3 days. Those pieces are huge!

Cheesecake Factory was packed but luckily we grabbed a seat in the bar area and enjoyed our dinner! We both tried new dishes and they were so yummy!!! We enjoyed a drink together and some adult conversation. We went to pick up Kinley, came home gave her a bath and put her to bed. Then continued our date night with some wine and Mockingjay Part I. I was so excited for it to finally be at red box.

Sunday we ran some errands and took Kinley to the park. It was so beautiful out! I really hope Spring is here to stay!

I truly believe when one door closes another one opens!

Monday came and I was dreading it. There was a lot weighing on my shoulders. After countless conversations on daycare options for Kinley we decided an in home was best. Monday was her first day and I was a wreck. Well.....she did awesome! I got many smiley pictures and when I went to pick her up she was happy as a clam. My heart could not have been happier. Tuesday she did awesome again, not wanting to go home! She kept giving Elizabeth hugs and blowing kisses to everyone. She even napped there! WOW that was a shocker! Matt and I are so so happy with the decision we made and know she will continue to thrive where she is. We will see what the rest of the week brings!

And for some bigger news!! I was offered a new job! I interviewed not long ago and was offered the job the next day. This is a huge opportunity for our family. It is so scary to step outside your box and do something different. It would have been so much easier to stay where I am and pass on the offer. Matt and I decided we need to take the leap and go for it. We know it will be a HUGE adjustment and there will be obstacles along the way but we also know we will over come them and it will make our family better. I start March 23rd so I had to give my notice on Monday. I was nervous, sad, overwhelmed, happy, anxious along with many other emotions. I am still feeling all those ways. This was a really tough decision but Matt and I think it is best so we are going with it! Wish us luck! I hope this opens many more doors for us!