Wednesday, January 31, 2018

A Day in the Life (0-3 Months)


These days with sweet Tatum are so precious and our schedule is already changing a bit from his newborn days.  I'd like to try to keep memory of a simple day for each phase of his first year - I'd meant to do it with a newborn day but those days were so foggy it got lost... after making three attempts! That day would have pretty much looked like up at 6am, bottle and then he'd fall asleep on me which was my favorite part of the day! The rest of the day consisted of a 3 ounce bottle exactly every three hours followed by a nap, a small time awake to cuddle and look at things (he loved looking out the window), getting fussy at night, waking until midnight for that final feed and up sometime over night - completely boring but such sweet moments.

I finally got myself together last Wednesday to keep track of things - our weeks are usually the same - two days we're home for the most part, two days we spend the morning at home and afternoon at the office and Fridays we usually do any errands and such.  It carries which day is home/office but last week we were home.

We're recently adjusting to the new routine that Tatum is slowly sleeping more hours at night and less during the day so my window to get things done is shorter, the to do list usually rolls over a few days and we spend much more time starting to "play."

Morning:
Our mornings are the only thing that usually start out the same and have some kind of routine - once lunch hits we just go with the flow.  Tatum is usually up sometime between 7-8 and will lay and play with his hands for a little bit before crying to get up now that he's noticed his hands and his arms are not swaddled.  Depending on the morning I'll either get up before him to wake up, shower or catch up on social media in bed... Today I laid in bed as Tatum woke up overnight (on occasion makes it the whole night but most nights wakes up at 2am or 4am for a quick feed which Derek graciously does) and it usually takes me a bit to fall back to sleep.

After a diaper change he loves to kick in his crib for a bit then we head down so I can do a quick workout while he plays on his gym mat then it's time for his first bottle - I try to get as close to 9am as I can since he's not usually hungry right upon waking up due to the overnight feed and also so he stays on a similar schedule for the day (9a, noon, 3p, 5p, 7p, 9p) - took a little trial and error to get to this point.

Sometimes he falls asleep, sometimes he doesn't - he'll usually play a little bit while I tidy up the kitchen and unload the dishwasher and such (before him we ran it maybe a couple times a week, now every day!) then we both play a bit. Around 10ish we both get dressed for the day - he goes first and also always get his hands/face washed and hair brushed - he will usually lay in his crib long enough for me to get ready, put away laundry, tidy each of our rooms and charge his sleeps sock.  He fell asleep while playing so while he slept I did work in the office and decided to skip the errands we were about to head out on (and still a week later haven't completed, ha!) He's up and ready for another bottle about 11:30 - so we stick as close to our "schedule" as we can.


Afternoon:
Like I said mornings are just about always the same - this is when things always vary.  I usually loose track of time and the whole afternoon  blends together - as it did today! He had an early afternoon nap so I did a few more things in the office, caught up on emails, worked on starting to plan his baptism, etc.  Derek was home today too so I took the chance to walk Stella about 1:30 - we usually go later in the day just before dark but Derek had to jump on a phone call when we usually head out.

The next little bit is filled with bottle, playing, crying... I don't even know - just blends together and sometimes I feel like the afternoon takes forever but then I also feel like all of a sudden it's dinner time.

About 3:30 everyday he goes down for his longest nap of the day - his picking, not ours - and only recently it's been this way.  While the morning/afternoon naps are about an hour or less this one can stretch up to almost two hours sometimes - if we're at work he falls asleep on the way home and sleeps in his car seat and if home he usually takes this one in his swing... we're slowly adjusting to the crib.  Today he slept until about 5 so this was my big window to get things done!  He woke up fussy and after a diaper and sitting back down to hold him he fell asleep right on me so we just sat and cuddled... and washed Vanderpump Rules - quiet time is rare!


Evening:
Usually I like to get dinner together but since Tatum and I were so cozy Derek offered to - we've been eating light and healthy so I was hungry earlier than we usually eat (which can range from anywhere between 6-9pm depending on Tatum) so stuffed peppers early it was tonight!

With these long winter nights our nights are so much lazier than the rest of the year - and tonight was pretty standard for a week night - occasionally either Derek or I will be out or we'll all three go out as a family.  The standard like tonight is, I usually have a night to do list that never gets touched, we catch up on DVR, play in the playroom, etc.  Tatum loves bath time so about a month or so ago we started doing them at night 2-3 times a week so about 8:45 I do his bath and then Derek gets him ready for bed and does his nighttime bottle.  Tatum went down about 9:30 (anytime between 9-10 is pretty standard for him now) and I was finishing up fighting a cold so wasn't too far behind him (usually I try to get a few things done after he gets down)

Blog posts are usually far and few between at this point - I aim to do them the night before but usually it gets pushed to the next morning and then sometimes pushed a few days (today for example is being written late morning - something I'd never of done before) - the new way of life!


So there you have it - a very boring, standard day that I'm sure in a few months I'll completely forget about.

Happy Wednesday! xx

Monday, January 29, 2018

Weekend Scenes

Derek was out on Thursday night so the three of us had a nice night in - Tatum was on his best behavior and I started getting caught up on Dynasty - totally obsessed! 


A little Friday morning play session to kick off the weekend... 


We traveled to New Jersey late in the day Friday to visit with my best friend and her family for the night - it was such fun catching up! 


Saturday night once we got back, Derek and I headed out for our first date night of 2018 and left Tatum with my parents for the evening. 


Yesterday we had no plans and it was wonderful!  It was a dreary and rainy day so we had a lazy morning, went grocery shopping, played, napped and made enchiladas for dinner - a perfect low key way to close out the weekend! 

Friday, January 26, 2018

Travel Recap: Beverly Hills


Finishing up our trip to California with the final part today - we drove up the coast for our final few days and while it rarely rains in CA we got the only two days of rain for just about the whole month.. womp womp.  Monday we were still able to go to lunch and a winery as planned - just a different winery inside.

Traveling with a baby... we pulled over into the Malibu Country Mart to feed and change Tatum in the backseat after diving up from La Jolla.


Even though it was drizzling we were still able to sit outside under cover at one of our favorites, Nobu Malibu.  Last time we were there I was pregnant so I was dying to get back for some of my raw fish favorites.  We got to listen to the ocean and Tatum seemed to love that.


Since we go to California a few times a year we had enough favorites to quickly switch plans with the rain - we went to Stonehaus Winery which has a great outdoor section when dry but also undercover with fire pits so again, we were still able to be outside - always one of my favorite places to stop!  I had the Pinot Grigio wine flight and we shared a cheese platter.


By the time we got to the hotel the rain was in full force so no pool for us! We had a leisurely afternoon before enjoying one of our other favorite meals - dinner at The Polo Lounge.


Tuesday the rain was non stop so our plans to walk around and pool it up were definitely cancelled - I was so sad, we treasure our time out west and as were only there a few times a year it was definitely  a bummer - will certainly make me look forward to our next trip even more and I'm thankful we can get back.  

We had a lazy morning by the fire and then Derek and I alternated who went to the spa and who watched Tatum.  We tried to venture out for lunch and split a burger and some apps but the rain was just too heavy (this was during the mudslides) so we parked ourselves at the hotel, watched a movie and relaxed by the fire and waited until dinner time.


Since we love the food and didn't want the hassle we decided to eat at the hotel again tonight - same meal for me and a different pick for Derek.


We had half of the day on our final day and the sun was shining, things were warming up and we were up early - still a little bummed about our final crappy days and starting to get ready to get home.

We split a breakfast at the hotel before doing a little bit of walking around - it was good to get outside... finally!


It broke my heart when I was feeding Tatum his bottle by the pool and other guests were heading out to lay out - there's always next time! We did a quick lunch outside since the cafe was finally open before heading off to the airport to come home.


Traveling with a baby - all our bags! We definitely learned a lot and will work on our packing for the next trip but all in all Tatum handled everything great, we managed all our bags and made it home.

The perfect ending to an unplanned and not the best two days was surprisingly the staff at Hertz - when we went to drop the car off they offered to drive us right to the gate instead of making us take the shuttle.  They said that they try to cater to and help out moms and young babies - I was so thankful and it was so nice!


Like the way out, Tatum loved the plane.  He was a tiny bit more fussy since he's usually better behaved in the mornings but we made do and I'm so thankful for his behavior and how easy going he was!

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Travel Recap: San Diego


Our third morning in La Jolla we decided to head over to San Diego before the wedding - after missing our boat cruise, we checked out the harbor for a bit.  We usually stay at The Del while in the area but wanted to be closer to the wedding location so we went over to spend the afternoon out back by the beach and then to have lunch.


Tatum is a beach baby for sure - he loved dipping his toes into the sand and we all loved watching him enjoy another "first."  A leisurely lunch on the patio finished off the afternoon.


Before we knew it, it was time to head over to the wedding - it was right over looking the beach and a great setting - Tatum had his finest outfit on and was ready to party! 


Celebrating the rest of the night... 


We all met up at the fire pits back at the hotel before calling it a night - the sun was down and it was starting to get pretty chilly so the heat from the fire was welcomed.


The next morning we all went over to a gorgeous home on the beach for a post wedding brunch. Another sunny day and ocean sounds - Tatum loved the natural sound machine of the waves.


We drove over to check out Torrey Pines then settled in to watch some of the NFL playoff games outside with appetizers and drinks.  We finished our night with probably our favorite meal - Cafe Coyote in Old Town San Diego - it was such a cute strip and the most delicious Mexican meal.