A day in my life...

I can't believe it.  I am physically on my desktop computer, in my bedroom, drinking a cup of HOT tea!  J-Bear is now my nighttime bedmate/roommate and so I can never get into my bedroom.  As I approach my 38th birthday (on Sunday), I'm just going to stop and reflect on where I am right now.  Currently on maternity leave with J-Bear approaching 7 months next week, life is definitely NOT as easy as it was having only SR, and he is definitely NOT his sister, as much as they look so similar.

I'm going to start off at midnight on Wednesday morning, b/c that is when I seem to be climbing into bed at night - which is so not like me.

12am - quietly try to put the pillows and blankets back on my side of the bed, and wrap them around me so that J-Bear doesn't get into them while he is sleeping - goal:  DO NOT WAKE J-BEAR!

12:30am - J-Bear cries to be fed.  Obviously I try to ignore him, but he is a persistent little dude and of course I give in and give him milk, even though he just had milk two hours earlier.  Lie him back down and go back to sleep.

2:30am - J-Bear cries to be fed.  Repeat steps from 12:30am.  This involves sitting up and crossing my legs and hoisting a 22 lb baby into my lap, wearing a size three thick sleep sack.  I never understood how to breastfeed while lying down.

4:30 am - J-Bear cries to be fed.  After the feed, J-Bear is wide awake and wanting to play.  For the next two hours, I try to sleep while being poked at and giggled at and nose grabbed and listening to moans, cries, spitting sounds, and happy sounds.  

6:25 am - feed J-Bear again so I can finally get some sleep.

6:30 am - J-Bear falls into a deep sleep (sure, after all that playing).

7:15 am - wake up and get SR started for her day.  Drink milk, make a pee, brush teeth, get dressed, do her hair, and be ready when my dad walks in at 7:50am to take her to school.

Since I'm up, I try to eat breakfast and start to clean up a bit before J-Bear wakes up.

8:15 am - J-Bear wakes up and does not cry for milk - funny how drinking all night makes one have a full belly in the morning.  I get his bath ready and bathe him and clean up the bath before giving him his morning feed.  Play for a few minutes before getting into the snow suits and winter gear to head out the door.

9:45am - drive to the community centre (in Canada this is how Centre is spelled - re, not er) to meet SR's preschool class for skating.  My mom and dad come too - my mom pushes J-Bear in the stroller in the community centre while he naps, and my dad comes onto the ice with us.  

10-11am - help the preschoolers get into their skates, and work with SR on the ice teaching her the goal her teacher has set for the day.  Help the preschoolers get back into their boots and walk with them towards the school bus to go back to school.  Get J-Bear from my mom and head home.

12pm - My mom comes over around noon to give J-Bear some lunch (HA!  he won't eat anything except pureed cauliflower) and spend some time with us.  I am usually preparing a new food for him, or making fresh cauliflower for the next few days.

1pm - Put J-Bear down for a nap and try to eat lunch.  But J-Bear wakes up way too early.  Quickly change his diaper and get us ready to leave so I can drive him around to nap before our registered program.  In Ontario, there is a wonderful program called Ontario Early Years, and they provide free programming, registered and non-registered for families with children up to age 6.  It's a wonderful service and definitely helps during a year long maternity leave with very little money coming in.  Many of my friends take their babies to very expensive baby programs, but at $12-25 per class, I don't think J-Bear knows if his program is free or expensive and the free programs are just as rewarding.  

2:40pm - wake J-Bear and carry him from the parking lot into the Early Years Centre- at this particular location (as they are all over), carrying a 22 lb baby in his snowsuit and a diaper bag in the wind chill of -30 degrees Celcius (that's VERY VERY VERY COLD for my American readers) for five minutes to get to the door is exhausting.  

2:45-3:45 - yawn my way through the program b/c I'm just so darn tired that it's hard to stay focussed.  But seeing J-Bear smile and interact with the other families is rewarding.

4:00pm - pick up SR at preschool - now I must tell you my dad picks her up most days, but on Wednesdays he tutors and Friday is the Sabbath.  But my mom will sometimes drive to the parking lot and sit with J-Bear while I go inside to get SR - who insists that she stays to play for "five more minutes."

4:30pm - because even though I live 30 seconds away from her preschool, it takes 30 minutes to convince her to leave and get dressed. and then undressed b/c she suddenly remembered she needed to pee and then she needed a drink and then dressed again.  Once home, SR goes into the bath or shower on alternate days.  If I don't do it right after school, it is very hard to convince her to bathe after dinner.

5:00pm - let SR and J-Bear sit in front of the TV and watch a show I recorded for her in the morning while I prepare dinner.  My mom often comes over at this time to play with the kids and help with serving J-Bear his cauliflower or serve SR dinner and I try to sit down and eat now too.

5:30 pm - serve and eat dinner.

6:00pm - clean up from dinner while my mom plays with the kids or helps one or both get ready for bed.

7:00pm - begin bedtime routine with SR - milk, books, teeth, pee, more books.  

7:45pm - try to say goodnight to SR.  Take J-Bear to my room to get him to bed - in other words, breastfeed him to sleep - I know, big mistake....SR was able to go to sleep drowsy but awake at this point.  Everything is so different this time around.  I just need some me time.

For the next hour or so, go back and forth between SR and J-Bear.  

9:30pm - try to finally get into the shower if everyone is quiet.

10:00pm - watch a little TV, clean up for showings if there are any

10:30 pm - J-Bear wakes up to be fed.

11:00pm - make warm milk with a little chocolate powder and sit down to read a little.

12:am - start over again!

And as I finish typing this, I hear J-Bear shaking his dolly.  I finished my tea and I got to sit and blog.  Now I have to get him packed up to drop him off with my mom so I don't need to take him in and out at preschool.  It is just sooooooooo cold this January.  

And yes, my parents are an amazing help to me....but still I feel so overwhelmed - not to mention stressed out trying to keep my place clean for showings, wondering when I will finally sell, and where I will live.