A Day in the Life – Working Mom Edition

It’s fun to peek into people’s every day lives. I know I enjoy reading “A day in the life” posts and posted one back in February during maternity leave when Siena was 4 months old. Now that I’m a full-time working mom, it’s time for an update. My day is pretty dramatically different, and not just because I’m working full time now. At 9 months old, Siena is a totally different baby with different needs than she had back then. Every day is different of course but I tried to pick one that is more of the norm (this was last Thursday). It’s not glamorous, but it makes me happy.

5:40 AM: My alarm goes off and I accidentally hit snooze twice (this is rare!). I was in such a deep sleep I didn’t even know I did it. I get up at 5:58 and jump out of bed. I brush my teeth, put on my running clothes and head downstairs to let Asia in. She lives about 10 minutes east so on the days we run, she comes over and we run and then she just gets ready for work at our house so she doesn’t spend another 20 minutes commuting home and then back out for work.

6:15 AM: We start our run. Since we have the half marathon on Sunday, we decided to only run 4 miles. We chat and the time passes quickly. My legs feel a bit heavy, which seems to be the norm lately.

6:55 AM: We arrive back at the house and Siena and Mike are in the kitchen and Siena’s standing up using her activity center (big girl!) and gives me a big smile. Siena has been waking up before her 7 a.m normal wake-up time lately which means that Mike has to get up with her when I run (thank you Mike!!!!). I quickly shower and head downstairs to nurse her while Mike finishes up breakfast. I check social media and email, including my 21 Day Fix Challenge Facebook group. Asia comes down and the four of us eat breakfast, drink coffee and chat (well, Siena babbles and flings food).

7:40 AM: I get out the lunches I packed the night before and fill Siena’s bottles for daycare. I head upstairs and get ready for work. Around 8 a.m. Mike takes off and I kiss he and Siena goodbye (Mike typically does drop off and I do pick-up).

8:20 AM: As usual, I’m out the door later than I had hoped. I turn on the most recent Beachbody coach call podcast and get fired up on the way to work! My commute is only 8 miles but takes me 20-30 minutes depending on traffic and how lucky I am with the lights.

8:45 AM: I get to my desk, turn on my computer and immediately head for more coffee and to fill my water bottle. I check emails until our 9 a.m. status meeting and then work work work. I work in corporate financial planning and analysis and it’s a busy time at work so there is a lot to do !

10:15 AM: I head to the “Wellness Room” and pump. I’m thankful that we have a nice, private room that locks from the inside with a chair, table, wi-fi, fridge and sink for me to use to pump. It’s also kind of nice to get away from my desk and have a quiet place to work in!

10:45 AM: Back to work. I eat my first snack which is roasted pumpkin seeds (orange container – 21 Day Fix).

12:25 PM: I’ve been slammed at work so I get away for 15 minutes to eat my lunch in our break room. We’re not supposed to eat at our desks so I step away every day for lunch. I go out with a friend at least a couple times a week and usually eat with a co-worker in the break room but my normal lunch buddy isn’t free so I eat alone and check social media, post a #tbt to Instagram and read a blog post.

12:45 PM: Back to work. I run a monthly meeting with our CFO and I’m stressing to get it done by 2 pm.

1:15 PM: Another pumping session (I refrigerate my pump parts between sessions so I don’t have to wash anything during the day) which I spend prepping for my meeting.

2:00 PM: 1 hour meeting with the CFO. It goes well!

3:30 PM: Shakeology snack time. I always have my Shakeology in the afternoon (just mixed with water and ice) to curb sweet cravings!

4:30 PM: Pump yet again.

5 PM: I run out the door right at 5, which is a little early for me, because I have a conference call with Carl Daikeler, CEO of Beachbody. I achieved “Success Starter” status and my reward was this call! I listen to it on my commute to daycare and wait in the car until it’s over. These calls really inspire me and get me excited about the business.

5:30 PM: Head into daycare to get Siena. She’s sleeping (she takes 3 naps a day at daycare because they are shorter than at home. Honestly they are still shorter than I’d like but it is what it is) so I wake her up and pack her up in the car and we drive home, which typically takes less than 10 minutes but takes 15 today because of a big accident.

5:45 PM: Once we’re home, I immediately start the rice cooker with brown rice, I play with Siena, we check the mail together (one of her favorite parts of the day), I let her play with the junk mail while I put the dirty bottles from the day and my pump parts in the dishwasher (buying more bottles and pump parts so that I am never hand washing anything has been a huge time saver) and start prepping dinner. I spend about 15 minutes playing on the ground with her until Mike gets home.

6:15 PM: Cook dinner (a veggie tofu curry using this pre-made coconut milk curry sauce we buy at Costco) while Mike plays with Siena. We heat up a 4 oz bottle (I stopped nursing her when I got home a few months ago) but she only drinks 3 oz. She has dramatically cut back on her evening milk consumption since we started sending solids to daycare (she used to chug down 6 oz after we got her home). Siena is crawling all over the place (normal crawling now) and has become an expert at pulling herself up. She’s also starting to cruise and will push her activity center slowly over to a chair and then grab the chair and pull herself onto it. She’s even starting to try to climb up it!

6:45 PM: We eat dinner together. Even though I typically give Siena what we eat (we’re doing Baby Led Weaning), since we are eating a pretty spicy curry so I steamed her some squash and broccoli separately and gave her a little bit of tuna I had saved from our lunches plus some brown rice from our dinner.  I’ve given her curry before, but its usually a less spicy version. We watch in amazement as she drinks from the sippy cup on her own. This is a recent development!

7:15 PM: We clean up and quickly head out for a 1 mile walk on the trails near our house as a family. we’ve been doing this almost nightly lately thanks to the long days and I really enjoy them! It’s really nice because Siena is sooo incredibly active and vocal lately and the only time Mike and I can get a real conversation is when Siena’s in the stroller!

7:50 PM: I nurse Siena for about 10 minutes and then Mike puts her to bed.

8:00 PM: While Mike puts Siena to bed (he plays her the ukulele) I do about 15 minutes of work and check in on my challenge group on Facebook and browse Instagram.

8:30 PM: We settle in for BIG BROTHER! I’ve been watching this show for 16 seasons. It’s definitely a guilty summer pleasure!

9:20 PM: After the show is over I put together Siena’s bottles for the next day, pack up the leftover dinner for our lunches and get ready for bed.

9:45 PM: We read for 15 minutes or so and then lights out!

How are our days alike? Any Big Brother fans out there?!