What Do You Do All Day??

As I've said before, I am not one to really celebrate or make a big deal out of Valentine's Day.  Tomorrow will be just another day for me with some acknowledgement of the hearts and candy but otherwise just another day.  Another day where some would wonder "What Do You Do All Day?".  I would imagine that quite a few stay at home moms are asked this question by those moms who work or their husbands which is probably worse.  When I was working, and people asked what I did I would tell them I was a NICU nurse and sometimes they would jokingly respond, "Oh, so you just sit around and feed babies all day and change diapers?".  Ha ha.  Yep, that is all and for quite the price too.  I was a pretty expensive babysitter and oh, by the way, sometimes I was in charge of keeping someone alive!

Well, now some days I feel as though my brain is mush.  I don't have to calculate medications or figure out which IV medication is compatible with another or divide and multiply and figure out how much milk to order for my patient to eat over the next 24 hours.  So, What Do I Do All Day?  I wrote this post mainly to remember my day-to-day life with little kids.  Even though my brain is mushy right now, I know I am doing something important even though most of it will not be remembered!

It depends.  On the day.  But, for the most part, it's a cycle.  A cycle that I thrive on actually.  I know what to expect from the kids and they know what to expect from me.  There are days of course that vary but for the most part it looks like this...

4:40am-Justin's alarm goes off so he can go instruct bootcamp ( I roll over and pretend I don't hear him and admire the fact that he works out that early in the morning)
6-6:30am-Anna wakes up and comes into our room "Come rub me some more."  I take her back to her room, give her back a few strokes and then a kiss and then I go get back in bed to contemplate the day
7-7:30am-I hear Justin and Brice get ready for school and Anna talk about anything and everything and then I decide to get out of bed myself and to get Kyle up for the day.  He is usually awake, just laying there sucking his finger.
7:30-9am-This is breakfast time, which includes, feed Kyle, feed myself, clean up dishes, turn on some TV show for Anna, get Anna dressed for the day which takes forever some mornings, get Kyle dressed, let him play...
9-9:30am-Kyle goes down for nap but before nap time, this is what it looks like

At this point I usually play with Anna or do laundry (if it's Wednesday or Brice needs a clean uniform) or make the beds or shower myself, or workout.  I like to change it up each day so as to keep the mush in my head from getting mushier.
10-11-Anna begs me for lunch which I keep denying her until 11:00.  I will sometimes give her a snack if it is closer to 10 but if it's nearing 11am, I make her wait.  Then I make her a "butter-jelly".  Here is what she looks like if she doesn't want to help clean or do laundry...

11:30/12-Get Kyle up if he hasn't already woken up, feed him, and change him and play with him.  Feed myself while answering five million questions and demands from the princess.  Basically, I'm her Lady in Waiting.  Sometimes, we will go outside at this point just to get a breath of fresh air if we haven't been to the grocery store or Target or some place.  Lately, I have been trying to limit the places we go where there are five million other germy kids hacking, and snotting all over the place.
12:30-1:30-I try to get Anna to have rest time and put Kyle down at some point depending on when he got up.  I then sit on my computer in a haze or workout or get little things done.  Have you noticed that I haven't mentioned cleaning in this post yet??  That is because I rarely do it, not kidding.  Today I spilled an entire cup of milk all over the kitchen and myself which FORCED me to clean the floor.  Otherwise, I do the bathrooms every two weeks, dust when I can and vacuum even less.  Some days it drives me nuts but most days, I just look past it.
I so wish that I could have a glimpse into what my great-grandmother, grandmother and mother did on a day to day basis with little children running around because I'm willing to bet they HAD to get the cleaning, laundry, ironing and cooking done.

Anyway, 2:30 rolls around very quickly and that is when Brice gets off the bus and homework begins.  Kyle gets up around 3:30 and Anna is released from her room around this time.  That is when the real fun begins and the countdown to bedtime begins in my head!  Hopefully, the weather is nice so that after Brice completes his work, he and Anna are let out the door.

If it's not a nice day outside, and we are forced to stay inside then this is what goes on in the basement.  Stir crazy, slaphappy, call it what you want...

 Around 5pm, Kyle goes down for his third nap and then I fix dinner.  I try to plan three or four meals a week and sometimes I get to make them and other times I don't due to sports or time or Justin needing to work or what have you.  The point is, I do try but we eat lots of grilled cheeses and tomato soup around here.
6:30pm-Depending on Anna's mood, I will sometimes go ahead and put her in the tub and then bed around this time or I will get Kyle up.  Brice is totally self sufficient and can shower by himself...

By 7pm I am so ready for the day to be over so that I can make lunches and then collapse on the couch and watch whatever Justin has turned on.  While this is not too glamorous of a day, there are moments of the day that fill me up so greatly I think my heart might burst.  I took some cute videos of Anna the other day and will try to post those soon.  My big boy will be 7 in just a few short days, Anna was so sweet today and with her little face in her little hands, leaning on the counter, said, "I am so sorry that you spilled that milk all over yourself, Mommy" and then there is Kyle who as soon as he gets tired, whimpers and upon being picked up puts that left middle finger in his mouth and his head on my shoulder.  I could hold onto those moments forever.  The hours fly by somehow and some days I do not feel productive at all and even though I do truly now feed babies and change diapers all day long, it is so worth it.  I love them and know they love me back.  And, that my friends is 1000x better than chocolates, flowers or hearts and truly what love is about.  Happy Valentine's Day!