A day in the life of Leah..

Hello All! Today we have my beautiful friend Leah.  She hosted the Creative Every Day Challenge that I started and failed miserably in November.  She has an incredible gorgeous baby girl, Annabelle, she used December 12th as her day in the life!

5:45 Annabelle is awake. I slide out of bed, change her super wet diaper and bring her into bed with me to nurse.

6:30 I nudge the hubster awake. A is tapping his arm and talking to him too. She's in a great mood this morning. All smiles. We hang out and chat for a bit. I tell the Hubster how he talked in his sleep last night. He said, "I'm trying to anticipate the Cowboys waking up." Some strange dream combination of the Giants-Cowboys game and A waking up I guess.

6:45 Hubster takes A downstairs. I sleep a little bit more.

7:15 Get up, get dressed, and do an exercise DVD. I both like and dislike Jillian Michaels.

8 I can hear the Hubster skyping with A and his brother in NY. Jump in the shower. Get dressed.

8:20 Hubster and A are outside the bathroom door. I let them in while i brush my hair. She's reaching for me, so I grab her, get hugged and get my shoulder gnawed on. Go downstairs to grab a balance bar and a seltzer. Have A wave bye to daddy cause it's nap time.

8:30 Read a few stories (big red barn, yummy yucky, moo baa la la la), nurse a bit, and then lower her into crib. That was easy (for a change!)

8:45 head downstairs with video monitor. Clean up kitchen.

9:07 Talking with the Hubster before he heads to work and I see A is awake. Already? Arg. I give it a few minutes, then head up. Diaper change and belly kisses.

9:20 Nurse, check email on phone

9:45 Play time on the floor. Sit, stand, scootch, roll around.

10:15 Time for solids. She has a few bites of banana, but mostly spits it out and then yells to be taken of the chair. Ok then!

10:30 A few minutes in the exersaucer while mommy runs to the bathroom, then back on the floor. She wants to be held. I sing some songs and play with her on my lap.

10:45 A is rubbing her eyes. I think I'll try for a nap. Back up to her room, read some stories (counting kisses, peek a who, barnyard dance) and nurse her to sleep. She’s in her crib by 11.

11 I hop into my studio and turn on the iron. While it heats up, i put together an order of one calendar and two greeting card sets. Then I use the iron to heat set the onesies I made last month and never got around to finishing. I take the crinkly plastic packaging for the art order downstairs to finish up, so I won't wake the baby.

11:21 I'm filling out the address form and seeing a new order has come in, when I hear her start to cry. These super short naps are not good for either of us. I give it a few minutes, but she isn't going back to sleep.

11:30 Get A up and dressed. Aww, she looks so sweet! We play on the floor for a few minutes, I throw in a load of laundry, take her picture in her chair, then bring her downstairs.

11:45 nurse

12:10 No time for lunch, so I grab a balance bar, bundle us both up and head off to baby music class.

12:30 She's all serious at first, but slowly warms up and enjoys playing bells, sitting in a make-shift ball pit, and getting bounced around. Her favorite part of class is the story, the bubbles and getting a turn on the keyboard. She'd hit the keys and then leans back and claps. So cute!! I buy a couple of the balls she loves playing with in class to wrap up as Christmas presents, then head back out.

1:45 Home again and A is clearly sleepy. I grab some water and we go back up to her room to wind down. We read a couple stories (curious George and dr. Seuss), nurse a bit and she's asleep by 2:05.

I basically goof around online during this nap. Feels good to take a break.

2:50 A is up. Much more reasonable nap, but she's a little crabby, so she probably could have slept longer. Diaper change. Laundry in the dryer.

3:00 Solids time! I make a snack for myself (cheese and crackers) and oatmeal for her with leftover banana from this morning. She eats it all up, but also yells a lot. I think her teeth are bothering her. It’s a good thing this bib has a catch-all tray at the bottom to collect all her drool!

3:25 nurse

3:50 Put A in the exersaucer and talk to her while I empty the dishwasher.

4:00 Talk to Hubster. He has to finish a proposal, so he'll have to work late tonight. Bummer.

4:10 Put on a baby signing DVD. I don't know if it's helping her learn to sign, but she sure does love it! The songs are insanely catchy.

4:30 Put away laundry while A plays in her play gym

4:45 Head back downstairs, play on the floor, sing songs, tickle her belly

5:15 Make a bottle, feed her and have a snuggle

5:30 Play on the floor.

 

6:00 Check my email and see I have another art order and one of them is an older piece that I need to find in my art files. I take A up to the studio to try and find it, but it's hard to do one-handed.

6:15 Change her diaper and put on her pajamas. Have some quiet playtime in her room.

6:30 Read some stories (good night moon, the very hungry caterpillar, on the night you were born), nurse a little then put A in her crib with a couple kisses on the cheek.

6:45 Back to the studio to track down the purchased art.

6:55 Found it. Phew! Work on wrapping up a couple pieces, so I can mail everything tomorrow.

7:30 Talk to Hubster. He's still working. I'm starving, so I use leftover chicken breast to make a sandwich.

8:00 Check some things online, then put together a greeting card set order and the mailing label for the new order.

8:30 Respond to a few emails, relax

9 Hubster is home and exhausted. We should go to bed, but he wants to hang out and unwind, so we put on the Next Iron Chef competition from the dvr.

10:30 in bed.

Leah Piken Kolidas is an artist living near Boston with her husband, their 7 month old daughter and their four crazy cats. She blogs at CreativeEveryDay.com and sells her art at BlueTreeArtGallery.com

I told you her daughter was gorgeous!!! ;) Thanks again Leah.  You should check out Leah's blog and her art, it's as fabulous as she is.  What do you grab for a quick meal on the go?