Hi everyone! Sorry I have been a little MIA. I'm just trying to just soak in everything that has been happening around us with COVID-19. We have many cases here in California and several right in our own community. I can't even put into words how I feel right now, and I am sure you all feel the same. It feels like we're living in a movie, doesn't it? Sort of surreal.
I am going to be off from work for at least the next 2-3 weeks, but perhaps even longer. (I truthfully suspect much longer...) My gut reaction is sadness, and just knowing how both businesses will suffer in the meantime. I love the offices I work for, and highly value and respect my bosses and coworkers. I don't want to see good people suffering financially because of this. However, I know this decision is for the best interest of all staff and patients, and we'll come back stronger. As health care providers, it is our job to help "flatten the curve." In the meantime, I am going to enjoy spending some extra quality time with my family... and do my best not to end up on the show Snapped :)
When the virus first started spreading, I kept thinking how lucky we are to be somewhere sunny and warm... so at least we can play outside and stay busy that way. Well, ironically, for the last week or so, it has been cold and rainy. And it never rains here. Trying to keep Ella and ourselves entertained has been hard, but here's what we have been up to over the last week or so.
We've bundle up and watched movies!
Or in Ella's case, 2 seconds of a Youtube video before she's begging us to change it to something else. Please tell me this is a phase, and a phase that will end fast? It's driving Momma crazy!
We prepared ourselves for lock-down.
Like most of you, we have been trying to take stock of what we have at the house, just in case we are unable to buy it later (due to the hoarders) or if California decides to mandate a lock-down. Fortunately for us, we shop at Costco on a regular basis, and already had a bunch of toilet paper and paper towel products in our hall closet. We only really needed to get things for Ella and some extra food.
But we did swing by Costco to get a case of diaper and wipes. They were out of wipes, but we did get our diapers thank goodness... And good thing we didn't need PT or TP because they didn't have any, anyway!
We decided to go grab enough groceries for a couple of weeks... We don't want to leave the house more than necessary right now and just in case the state decide to shut down and made grocery trips more difficult.
I have never seen the grocery store so full of people and so empty of food!!! I will be honest, it wasn't as bare as I was expecting, but it was still pretty bad. I was able to get our essentials (minus meat which I can't find anywhere) and also filled our snack cupboard since the grocery store had a ton of snack food left!
We've spent as much time as possible outside.
Before things started to get really scary, we were still going to the park. On this day, we drove there and saw that there was nobody there... We decided to take advantage and let Ella play for a bit. We washed hands and sanitized, don't worry.
Now that we see the spread of the virus in our own community, we are staying locked inside as much as possible.
We took pictures outside and celebrated St Patty's Day a bit early.
We had to take full advantage of any day where we got a break from the rain.
We let Ella play with some leaves at the park near our house. It was nice just to get some fresh air and enjoy the breeze... There were lots of people out riding bikes and going for walks- practicing their social distancing!
We drove to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands for a family walk.
It was so beautiful, but quite chilly by the water.
Ella spent this past Monday morning with Grandma, while I went to my work meeting.
She loves her so much, but I think it's in her best interest if we don't spend too much time over there right now, just in case. Ella will be so sad, but we don't want to get Grandma or Grandpa sick.
We've been doing a lot of indoor craft activities...
I made another sensory bin using Easter decorations.
I was planning on saving this one for closer to Easter, but we needed a fun indoor activity.
I bought Ella this Crayola soap-paint and we did some finger painting with it. Clean up was easy, we just washed Ella's hands and we were done! It's meant for the bath, but we didn't have any other paint at home and I figured it would work just the same.
The paint didn't dry on the paper, so I just tossed it, but she had fun with it. Her coverall is from Ikea.
On Wednesday I ran into an emergency... I didn't have enough tampons!!! I panicked thinking they would be sold out. To my surprise, CVS was stocked!!! Phew. While I was there, I decided to grab as much stuff I could find that would entertain Ella. I found some kinetic sand and thought Ella would love it, as she loves sand at the park. She did love playing with it, but to be honest, it made a massive mess.
I used her play mat as a barrier between the sand and the carpet. It worked well!
Ahhh and that's what we've been up to. I will be honest, Ella has had a lot of screen time too. I try to be creative and come up with different things for her to do, but sometimes I am just out of ideas and need a break from constantly entertaining her. To try and give us some more guidance during our day, I created a schedule for us to try and follow.
Here is the schedule for the curious Moms out there:
7:00 am- out of crib, milk in cup on couch
7:30-8 am- read books
8:00 am- breakfast
8:30 am-10 am get ready for day, outside walk and play time
10 am- small snack
10 am-11 am- independent play time
11/11:30 am- lunch
12:00-12:15 pm- read books
12:30-2:30 pm- nap
2:30 pm- larger snack
3:00-4:00 pm- outside walk and play time
4-5 pm- structured play time + arts & crafts
5-5:30 pm- independent play time
5:30 pm- dinner
6:00 pm-6:30 pm structured play time
6:30 pm-7:00 pm bath time, lotion, pajamas etc.
7:00-7:30 pm- small snack with milk
Read books
7:45 pm- brush teeth & bed
I tried to include a lot of independent play time... Otherwise, Ella depends on me completely to entertain her, and I want her to try and use that imagination and entertain herself. She's still young, so we're working on it. I never just leave her to be sad by herself, I always play with her if she is struggling to play by herself.
And now to share how I am truly feeling.
But seriously. Accurate. Can we start 2020 over again???
Stay safe, stay healthy and we'll be back in a week or so with another update with what we're up to.
-Ashley & Ella xoxo
The situation is so scary. Good luck staying sane!
ReplyDeleteThinking of your little fam! Both my husband & I are working from home which is interesting with a one year old lol! Enjoying the extra time together and doing our best to make the most of it :) I like your schedule, a little structure has helped us too!
ReplyDeleteI'm good for a 2020 reboot! :) Seems like you are handling the situation as best you can and I was glad to hear you found tampons. I haven't seem many in our stores and tried placing an Amazon order today... just keeping my fingers crossed they can fulfill my order before they run out!
ReplyDeleteThis situation is all so unreal. It is winter and cold in Ohio still so it is not like much has changed, but being told you can't go anywhere really makes you want to go somewhere.
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