Day in the Life: 2 month old, 3 year old, 4 year old

We’re 8 weeks into life with three kids. Ben is back at work. We have found some semblance of a routine. I’m still mostly cooking macaroni and cheese or frozen pizza for dinner and trying (not always successfully) to hold it together around 6pm each evening. 

This wasn’t the best day we’ve had as a family of five but I didn’t shed any tears so it wasn’t the worst, either. Here’s a day in the life right now: 

October 8, 2019

1:30 Change diaper, feed Westley a bottle, and fall back into bed. 

4:09 Change diaper, feed Westley a bottle, and fall back into bed. And double check the big kid’s room to make sure their blinds are closed so the sun doesn’t wake them up. 

Wake up to Westley screaming at 7:48 – Ben had scared him, kids were eating breakfast, and I took Westley, calmed him down, got him dressed (into pajamas) for the day. Put him in the mamaroo and made the kids lunch. 

Ben supervised the cleaning up of cereal bowls and got ready for work.

8:05 I set out clothes for the big kids and hear Westley fussing in the mamaroo. I confirm with Ben that he’s probably tired and swaddle him and put him in his crib for a short nap before we head to preschool. 

I get myself dressed, put in some dry shampoo and a little bb cream, bronzer, and mascara. I drink a glass of water. 

Ben leaves around 8:20 to be at work for a 9 am meeting and the kids play in the living room / playroom while I grab their extra pair of clothes (It’s adelaide’s first time wearing underwear to school so its probably time to bring in that extra outfit we’re supposed to store at school!). 

8:38 I get Westley from his crib, he’s starting to stir anyway and buckle him into his carseat. I help the kids with their backpacks and we all head down to the car. 

We have family prayer in the driveway and say our affirmations on our drive. Afterwards we listen to some music and the kids chat with me about who knows what. 

8:55 We’re a little early for school so I try to read a few verses of scripture to them in the parking lot. No one is listening so we head in. I carry Westley (I love these moments at preschool where I get to hold and snuggle him). The kids answer the “question of the day” and Lincoln answers that Dad does the dishes in our house and Adelaide is more accurate with her answer of “Mom.” I do circle time with Adelaide today and wave goodbye to Lincoln on my way back to the car. 

9:20 Westley and I are both home and starving so I feed him while browsing the Target’s kid’s clothing sale and then put him down for a nap. I make myself a bowl of oatmeal and sit down to my computer to draft a sponsored post due in a couple of days with MAM baby products. I get a rough draft done and send a pitch for a collaboration with another favorite baby brand before I hear Westley wake up. 

10:30 It’s hard for me to tell if Westley is awake and happy or still tired and just wants me to reinsert his pacifier. I soothe him and while he stops crying, his eyes don’t close so I assume he’s okay to be awake. 

I change his diaper and bring him out to the living room where he plays on his play mat while I clean and chat with him. I throw in a load of laundry, straighten up a few things, and jump on instagram stories to share our win of Westley sleeping 4 hours last night. 

11:05 I’m already hungry again so I make a protein shake and grab some Nancy Tillman books to read with Westley. We don’t do a lot of reading just the two of us but I’m trying to get him in front of a book at least once a day. I barely make it through “The Night You Were Born” (on sale right now)  and “You’re Here for A Reason” without crying but can’t even blame that on the lack of sleep.

11:35 Westley is starting to get fussy so I swaddle him and put him in his crib. I have to head back in right away to reinsert his pacifier but that seems to do the trick. 

11:45 I sit down at my computer to draft a couple of blog posts and read through the itinerary for our girls trip to London this weekend. I put on “Tatooist of Auschwitz” while linking products for an upcoming “Best of Amazon” post. 

12:15 I hear Westley crying again. I insert a pacifier and go to the bathroom. He’s crying again when I come out so I put in the pacifier and go to make a bottle. The formula is running low so I refill the Baby Brezza then make 4 ounces of milk. Westley has quieted down now so I sit down to get in a few more minutes of writing before I need to feed him. 

12:25 I hear Westley again and settle in for 15 minutes of snuggling. 

12:42 We head to the car to pick up the kids from school. I carry Westley in and chat with a few other parents while we wait for the doors to the classrooms to be opened. Adelaide is crying because someone hit her with a lid to a bin when they were cleaning up. We hug until she’s okay and when I tell her I’m so proud she’s still wearing her clean underwear (first day!), she tries to show me that she’s still wearing them, pulling her dress up and her shorts down. We get Lincoln from his class along with a mountain of artwork and head to the car. 

1:25 We’re home and I put Westley down for another nap before getting the kids settled into quiet time. I waste a few minutes on the computer before figuring out my Amazon Influencer page for the first time.

2:30 Westley wakes up and Adelaide reads books to him for almost half an hour on his play mat in the kids room. 

3:00 I feed Westley a few ounces to tide him over and promise the kids a trip to the park. 

3;35 We finally get out the door and into the car to head to the park. The kids play while I push a sleeping Westley around in the stroller on the playground listening to my audiobook. 

We talk about dinner plans and decide on the family favorite sausage pasta. I text Ben and he thinks there’s a chance he’ll be home for dinner if we eat on the laster side. 

4:45 We get in the car to head to Trader Joes to pick up a few things we need for dinner and some more veggies and granola bars. 

5:35 Everyone is a little hangry by the time we get home and I have to feed Westley before I can start on dinner. Adelaide finds the box of Chocolate Cheerios from breakfast still on the table and snacks on some of those. 

5:55 Lincoln and Adelaide fight over who gets to unload the silverware while I start on dinner. Westley hangs out happily in the mamaroo. Adelaide asks for a snack while she waits for dinner and bursts into tears when I say no. 

6:20 With no word from Ben, we sit down for dinner just the four of us. We each share our “happy and sads” from the day and Adelaide and Lincoln take turns singing some made up songs. I check my phone a few times and hear from Ben that he’s on his way. 

6:52 Kids head to put on pajamas and straighten up their room. 

7:05 I work on putting the picture books away in the kids room

7:08 Ben gets home. 

7:17 I start reading stories on the floor of an empty kids room to get everyone back to the bedroom. Within a few minutes I have both kids snuggled next to me. 

7:40 I kiss the kids goodnight just as I hear Westley start to cry again. I get a bottle for him and the Ollie swaddle from the dryer (thank goodness!). I listen to my audiobook while we feed in the dark. 

8:05 Ben leaves for the climbing gym and I start on the dishes before sitting down to do a bit more work. 

9:34 I scoop a small bowl of ice cream to enjoy while I finish the book. I’m hoping to be in bed early because I asked Ben to feed Westley when he gets home around 11 and I’m HOPING this means I can sleep for five hours straight for the first time in 8 weeks. We’ll see. 

10-:10 I finish “Tattooist of Auschwitz” and put my phone down and turned off the light. I have a bit of a hard time drifting off to sleep …which is almost always the case if I’m going to bed without Ben but eventually the exhaustion wins out. I didn’t even hear him come in and feed the baby. 

P.S. In case you were wondering …I slept until 2:15 when Westley woke up. He went back to sleep until 3:15 with a pacifier at which time I fed him and changed his diaper. Then there was a pacifier reinsertion at 4:30. A short feed at 5. A pacifier reinsertion at 5:20. And a handoff to Ben at 5:30 because I was done. 

Previous “DAY IN THE LIFE” posts: 

• A Sunday in March 2018 (life with two toddlers)
• A weekday in March 2017  (an 8 month old and a toddler) 
• A day in August 2016 (life with a newborn and a toddler)
• A day in March 2019 (life with 2 toddlers, pregnant, living on HBS campus)