I love love love day in the life posts. They are definitely my favorite post to read in the blogging world, so I am committed to doing them regularly. They are so fun to read and I always enjoy putting them together as well. I know I will love looking back on these posts when Ella gets older. Hopefully you all enjoy reading them as much as I do... Here was our Monday!
[Little disclaimer, I normally work from 11-7 on Mondays, but due to Michael's Mom being out of the country, I was off on this day. Ella and I had a very full day together! So this is not a 'typical' Monday.]
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If I don't have to work and have no major plans for the day, I don't set an alarm. On this day, I woke up just before 6. I love when I get to 'sleep in.'
I realized my battery was nearly dead, not a good thing when I had to take pics of my whole day! I immediately got up and made myself a cup of coffee!
The sign above my coffee area is on point. I always start my day with a cup of coffee.
I sat down to work on some blogging, check emails, browse the internet, etc.
After some 'me time' I try to work on a few morning chores.
I put away some dry dishes. We have the smallest sink in the world and no dishwasher... so it's a daily process to stay on top of it. I started heating up Ella's morning cup of milk and making her some breakfast.
Right around 7 I heard miss Ella on her monitor.
Going to get her in the morning is my favorite! We keep bumpers in her crib now that she is old enough. It helps contain her pacifiers (which we are trying to get rid of!)
I always let Ella snuggle up on the couch with blankies, pillows and stuffed animals while she waits for her milk.
Ella loves drinking her milk on the couch. Normally there's a small break before she is ready for breakfast, but on this day she was hangry and signing to eat. (She pats her belly when she is hungry!)
I had cut up some fruit for her and made her a small bowl of peach oatmeal.
Ella ate everything up!
After breakfast, I cleaned up quickly, and got Ella's dressed. We brushed her teeth and then I put away some of her laundry while she played on the floor.
She loves her doll house and safari truck. They were both on clearance at the store and are 'big girl' toys compared to a lot of what she has. I just packed away some of her rattles and baby toys to make room for her newer things.
I went for a jog around town and headed to the beach. It was only around a mile but it felt good to get out there and get some exercise.
And wow it was SO gorgeous out.
Ella got to play on the playground while I recovered from my jog... It's amazing how hard it feels to run when it has been a while and when you are pushing a stroller!
We got home around 9 and It was time for my breakfast. I ate the rest of Ella's banana and some strawberries with 2 scrambled eggs.
Ella had been acting tired, so I was thinking of giving her an early nap at 10. I wanted her to have a snack before she slept so I gave her some applesauce, raisins and crackers.
As you can see, she was in heaven. Not the healthiest snack, but she absolutely loved it.
While she ate I did some dishes. I'm telling you, it piles up fast!!!
I put Ella down for her nap a little before 10, but she did not fall asleep. Her yawns and eye rubbing were all false signs, so I just grabbed her out of the crib and set her up with a movie so I could shower.
I moved her monitor to the living room so I could make sure she didn't do anything crazy and luckily she didn't move during my entire shower. Thanks Mickey Mouse!
Freshly showered and feeling good!!!
I quickly did my make up and got dressed. Since Ella wasn't going to take a morning nap, we had time to go to story time at the library at 10:30. We walked over and Ella had a great time. Toward the end she got a little disruptive, so I took her to the play area instead.
We stayed at the library until 11:15 before heading back home!
It was lunch time when we got back, I'm telling you this girl can eat! Ella had some veggies, turkey meatball, pasta, yogurt and fruit.
She ate almost everything!
I cleaned up from lunch and put Ella down for her long nap around 12. While she slept, I made myself a lunch! A chicken salad sandwich, pickles and strawberries.
I watched a bit of The Minimalists on Netflix and became inspired... so I then tore apart our entire apartment!
Trying to organize is not easy in a small space with limited storage!
In the process put together a memory box of Ella's things... Melts my heart!
When I say I tore everything apart, I am so not joking... I went through every drawer and cupboard to minimize clutter and things we just don't need.
I am so a cleaning product hoarder. Anyone else?
Ella woke up while I was in the process of organizing around 1:30. Normally she naps until 2, but she was sitting up in the crib ready for me to get her.
I was still able to accomplish a few things off my 'to do' list while Ella played with her toys.
I wanted to take advantage of my random Monday off and didn't want to sit at home. So instead, I packed up a bag and we headed out for some fun.
(I wore my hat and Ella thought it was so funny!)
We went to We Play Loud where Ella ran around like crazy and had sooo much fun!
I mean, how much fun does this place look?? I couldn't believe it when I first went there. It's like a child's dream!
Ella even went down the big slide by herself... Although that was an accident. We went up together and were supposed to go at the same time, but I slipped and slid down without her. She was my brave girl and met me at the bottom. She was all smiles at the end!
After about an hour and a half of play, we decided to go home to start dinner.
Michael was home when we arrived, and he helped get Ella's dinner ready while I worked on ours.
Ella had some mac'n'cheese, tofu and green beans. She also stole some beans and rice from my dinner!
Chicken and rice bowls! I like the freshness of the cucumber ribbons, lime and cilantro.
After dinner, we did some playing, Ella worked on her flashcards and made sure her toys covered nearly every inch of the apartment!
At around 6 I gave Ella a bath. I wanted to put her to bed a bit early since her nap was a bit shy of 2 hours.
I love that Ella loves bath time now, but that definitely was NOT always the case. Read about Ella's bath time routine here, to see what changes we made to help her love bath time.
After her bath, we do lotion, a fresh diaper and pajamas. I don't always give Ella a cup of milk before bed, but she didn't have any milk with her dinner so I wanted her to have some.
We brushed teeth and Michael read Ella some books.
I love when we all sit on Ella's floor, reading books before we put her down for bed. We do this as a family almost every single night and it's so sweet.
Ella was in bed by 7, and that gave Michael and I time to clean up from dinner, play time and bath time. We finally sat down together to relax from a long day. I was browsing realtor.com for houses in our desired areas and found this gem...
Michael and I are almost always asleep between 9-10. We spend the evening cleaning up Ella's toys/mess, doing dishes and spending some time together.
-Ashley & Ella xoxo
That was a busy day! Looks like fun though and you got things done. The food all looks so good!
ReplyDeleteLove day in the life posts! Looked like you had a nice balanced day of fun & productivity! Purging, cleaning, & organizing can be a lot to tackle but always feels so good to get done. And that play place looks amazing.
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