[Best] Day in the Life of Baby E and T

Our rhythm of the day changes with each season, sometimes it seems like it changes every week. I thought it would be fun to share what our typical 'best' and 'worst' days look like. Most days are somewhere in-between, with some surprises and some predictability. Actually most days feel like a juggling act pictured above, balancing the needs of a toddler and infant and trying to not ignore my own completely. I'm the mom with the dirty oven, sticky floors, and happy kids. Well, actually my husband recently cleaned the oven, lovely. My floors are okay, but let's just say a lot of household duties get placed on the backburner, often. My family is first (including making nourishing meals for them), then comes work, then the rest of household stuff. If you want to get technical, my faith comes first - otherwise my household and sanity would have fallen apart a while ago!    

We don't have schedules, but we have a rhythm to our day. Here is our IDEAL day, keep in mind it looks like this maybe once a month at most.

Morning:

8:00 am Baby T wakes me up with a smile and gentle babbles. Hubby and Baby E still asleep. He works second shift and gets to bed around 2am, so I leave them two to sleep and escape with my infant. I change a diaper and we head to the clean kitchen for my morning treat - one of my homemade oatmeal raisin cookies. On a perfect day the jar is full, so eat two!

8:30 am I head to our home office, place baby in bouncer (he coos and smiles), check work emails and answer the important ones. Yes, it takes about an hour just to go through the email, even with tossing the inquiries I simply have no time to answer.

9:30 am Baby gets sleepy, fusses a little, I put him on the futon in the office, nurse, he quickly falls asleep and I get a whole hour and a half of uninterrupted work time! 

11:00 am Baby E wakes up without any tears, cheerful (I see her on baby monitor). By this time Baby T is awake as well, I go downstairs with him, help my toddler get dressed. She goes potty herself. We head to the kitchen to make brunch. Hubby wakes up and goes to check his email and take care of things.   

11:30 am We have a yummy omelette with sauteed mushrooms and onions for brunch as a family. Baby E eats all of it with no complaints. Yogurt and berry smoothie for dessert, yum! Baby T is content in his bouncer or Bumbo seat, watching us eat. 

Afternoon: 

12:00 pm After some quick tidying up in the kitchen I throw in a load of laundry and we play with the kids in the living room. We discuss plans for the day, bills that need payment, errands to run, etc. 

12:30 pm Hubby heads upstairs to the office, I dress the kids, nurse Baby T, and we go outside because I have plenty of time since I made my hubby's lunch last night and don't have to think about it now. It is sunny and warm, no need for bulky coats. [Sigh of relief] Baby T falls asleep in his stroller in a few short minutes. We walk to the playground. Baby E plays with some 'playground friends' who are all polite and amiable. Baby T wakes up shortly before we head back home. We take some lovely pictures outdoors.

2:00 pm We come home, pack daddy's lunch. I heat up some soup for lunch or we just have a quick snack. 

2:30 pm Kisses all around, daddy leaves for work early to stop by the bank/post office/city hall. Baby E watches him drive off in the window, plays the piano for a few minutes, then dances to pre-recorded piano music. I put laundry in dryer or hang diapers on a rack to dry.

3:00 pm We all head to the bedroom, I read to Baby E as I nurse Baby T, we all fall asleep for a nap. I wake up half an hour later, set up baby monitor. They sleep without me for another solid hour while I work in the office (dream that rarely happens).     

Evening:

4:30 pm Babies wake up, I take them both into the office to finish work. Baby E plays in her wooden play kitchen (set up in the office for her), Baby T plays with his teething ring in his bouncer. I nurse him on my lap for a few minutes when he gets fussy. I complete all the work that was important for the evening. 

5:30 pm We all head to the kitchen/living room area. Baby E plays and Baby T watches me make or heat up dinner. We eat some chicken drumsticks with quinoa, peas, and corn, side of fresh salad. I nurse Baby T while we eat or if he is perfectly content, after we finish our meal.

6:30 pm Baby E helps clean up in the kitchen. I take them all to the bathroom where Baby E plays with blocks and Baby T lounges in the bouncer while I take a short shower. We go back to the kitchen, make cookies/pie/treats together or Baby E plays and I set up bread in the bread maker for the next morning. Quick kitchen clean up, wash dishes. 

8:00 pm We draw, read, dance, play with play dough, and/or build forts. I do a quick email check and there is nothing pressing or urgent that needs to be done for next morning. I fold some laundry with Baby E.

9:30 pm We wrap up what we were doing and put toys away. The living area is fairly clean and ready for the next day. We have a snack before bed, either yogurt or some cookies (the ones I make are not sweet). 

Nighttime:

10:00 pm We are in bed and I read to Baby E for at least half an hour. Baby T falls asleep nursing.

10:30 - 11 pm Lights out. I hold Baby E's hand as she falls asleep next to me. I also drift off to sleep effortlessly. 

1:00 am Hubby comes home from work and I don't even hear him. He comes home hungry, so he has a snack and checks some email, heads to sleep around 2 am. 

3:00 am Baby T wakes up to nurse and falls back asleep. 

7:00 am Baby T wakes up to nurse again, and continues sleeping a little longer until our morning routine starts again. Sometime that means he will sleep until 9:30 am and I get some extra sleep, though less time to work. 

This is an ideal day, but of course it isn't real. Most days are a very real mix of the best and the worst. I may be caught up with work, but laundry is overflowing. Notice the ideal day does not have Baby E watching any cartoons, that is not always the case. We also do not nap together every day, most days she refuses her naps. Our best days almost always involve being outdoors for a while. Next up is our worst day, you're in for a treat! It will be a fun [appalling] read!

What does your ideal day look like? What's the highlight of your day?