a day in the life - marie

Oops.  Apparently I forget to hit publish when I scheduled this post to run.  So it is a tad bit late on this Wednesday.  I hope you still enjoy getting a peek at Marie's day!

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Hi everyone! I'm Marie from Button'>http://www.buttonblossoms.blogspot.com/">Button Blossoms and I am new to blogging. My husband, Jason, and I have been married for almost 5 years and have two children, Brendan (5) and Lila (1). I'm a former preschool teacher and now enjoy my days as a stay at home mom and my husband works for a small printing business and a county park. Button Blossoms is my little hobby/business. I make hand sewn flower clips, ribbon blossoms, clippies, and headbands.

Our days are all different so I decided to pick a Monday because it is our most structured day of the week.  I hope you enjoy the glimpse into our day!

7:00-7:45am: I wake up and shower and get myself ready for the day since our son has preschool and my daughter and I go to a parent/child class.  My son scares me as I walk out of the bathroom because I find him standing on the other side of the door.  My husband gets ready next and I let our son relax in our room for a bit while I empty the dishwasher and get breakfast ready.

7:45-8:45am: Brendan decides he wants Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast (his new favorite cereal and picky eater approved!) and while he eats I get the diva, Lila, up.  She loves her sleep as much as she loves to eat so it is never a problem transitioning from sleep time to feeding time.

I get her up and dressed for the day and she looks at her birthday collage for a bit.  She has always loved pictures so it is an easy trick to distract her when she gets a little defiant on her changing table.  After she is ready it is time for her to eat.  Her meal consists of rice cereal and bananas and milk.  While I feed her, Brendan and I play the game on the back of the cereal box.

Then it is time for Brendan to get dressed and ready for school.  This morning he says, "Mommy!  My shoes hurt my feet."  Luckily I had bought a size bigger at Target last fall so I go find his new shoes and thankfully he loved them!

Jason leaves for work and we all give hugs and kisses to daddy and it is time for us to take Brendan to preschool.

8:45-11:45am:  We drop Brendan off at his preschool which is a one minute drive from our house (love that!) and then Lila and I run back home so I can make a coffee and grab a granola bar since I forgot to eat.  We get to our class around 9:30 and get started.  We love her play class and today we are talking about loud and quiet.  She made a shaker craft and we had Dairy Queen for snack!  Yum!

After class I usually drive around because Lila likes to doze off before we pick Brendan up at preschool and then I wait in the church parking lot to go in.  Brendan is always excited to see Lila and me after his busy morning.

11:45-12:30pm:  We drive home and get lunch started.  Lila is hungry and has cheese, green beans, rice, diced apples, and milk.  Brendan wants a peanut butter sandwich and says, "I know.  How about I put fruit snacks on it...it will be so yummy."  So I let him try and surprise...he thinks it's gross.  After lunch I clean up Lila and get her ready for her nap time.

12:30-2:30pm:  Lila goes right down for her nap and Brendan asks if he can have quiet time in his room to watch his movie.  I get him settled on the floor with his pillow, blanket, and best bud, Ducky and he watches Ice Age 2 and I decide to tackle a project...our downstairs pantry.

My husband, bless his heart, loves to coupon and find awesome deals.  This closet in our basement houses all of his nearly free or free treasures and I try and organize it the best to my ability.  I am pretty sure we could go awhile without needing food or toiletries.  After I put away his latest finds I text him to let him know I put it away and then check my email/blogs/facebook and head upstairs to see how the kids are doing.  Lila is still napping and Brendan is ready for some game time.  He picks Pretty, Pretty Princess (picked this out with a birthday gift card because his cousins have this game and the boys love it!)

Lucky me!  I won and Brendan took a picture because he said I was so pretty.  Little boys always say the sweetest things to their mommies!

2:30-5:00pm:  My mom and aunt call and they are on their way over for a visit and Brendan is so excited because his "white" grandma is coming over (my mom has white hair).  We visit and chat and play Wii.  Lila wakes up from her nap and is happy to see her grandma and great aunt.  She shows them her babies, purse, and books.

5:00-8:00pm: My mom and aunt get ready to go and I start thinking about what to make for dinner.  My husband and I are attending a district wide kindergarten meeting and my mother in law was heading over to watch the kids for us.  Lila starts dinner at 5 (I call it the 5 o'clock feeding frenzy) with peas and applesauce and Brendan has some time to draw, write, or color at the table to work on his fine motor skills.  I decide to make a teriyaki chicken stir fry with carrots and rice.  Easy and simple.

 

8:00pm-11:00pm: We get home and thank my mother in law and she tells us the kids were of course perfect and we show Brendan the fun things we picked up at the meeting (bookmark and calendar with daily activities).  We read a book together (Green Eggs and Ham) and Brendan helps too!  We put Lila down next with a hug and a snuggle in her sleep sack and with her stinky seal (her lovey that stinks!) and then Brendan brushes his teeth and says his prayers (Dear God, I am thankful for Mom, Dad, and Lila...same every night. so sweet) and then we basically crash on the couch and watch tv and talk.  Tonight I was cutting ribbon to make clippies in preparation for a Mom2Mom sale.

Around 11 we try and go to bed but it is usually around 11:30 or 12:00 before I fall asleep because I discovered Golden Girls is on Hallmark then:)

Now the questions from Ashley:
1. What's the most surprising thing about being a mom? How much love you have for your children!  I knew I would love them but WOW.  I am blown away by how much my heart has grown since they were born.

2. What are some tips you would give to new moms, or soon to be mamas? 
Follow your heart and instincts and do what you feel is best for your baby.  Lots of people will try to give you advice and take it with a grain of salt.  What works for one family may not work for another.  Also to document everything because you will forget!  I wish I would have written more things down or kept a journal/blog of my pregnancies and those precious early weeks.


3. What are your top 3 baby products?
It is funny how when you have more than one child some of your must-haves change so I will share what my son's were and my daughter.


Brendan's
1. Receiving blankets.  He would spit up so much that these were clothes and furniture protectors once he finished his bottle and you had to burp him.
2. Bassinet: He was a preemie (born at 30 weeks) and once he came home he slept in our room for four months because he was on a strict feeding schedule and it was so easy to have him right next to our bed for those late night feedings.
3. Swing: He loved the swing! He would focus on the fish and the music would lull him to sleep.

Lila's
1. Bassinet: I loved this for Lila too.  She slept in our room for the first 3 months and my husband joked that she was going to sit up and crawl out one morning.  It is so convenient for the middle of the night wake ups.
2. Halo sleep sacks: We love these! We swaddled her for the first 3 months (hospital gave us this) and if you have a baby that loves swaddling it makes it so easy because it hooks onto the sleep sack. She is now in the medium size sack.
3. Space saver high chair: We have a small kitchen and this is perfect for our table.  We can still eat as a family and a bulky highchair is not in the way when we aren't eating.  It reclines back so it is perfect for those first feedings!

Thank you so much Ashley for letting me share a day in my life with your readers!  I hope you all enjoyed!

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Thank you, Marie, for sharing your day with us!  And thank you for the cute little blossoms I received in the mail Monday.  That was so sweet of you!