My morning yesterday began at 4 a.m. with a frantic “MOM! MOM!” call coming from Chase’s room. Chase hasn’t woken up in the middle of the night screaming for me in a month or so and I’m not sure what was up but he was in tears and asked for a “little rock” (translation: a cuddle and a story) which seemed to settle him back down. (I also immediately checked for a fever and he seemed 100% healthy.)
After a rather eventful 4 a.m. hour, I decided to sleep in and began my day around 6:30 a.m. with a bowl of triple chocolate protein oatmeal and a little meal planning. I am still catching up from a week of travel and slowly chipping away at my post-travel to-do list which includes all of the usual unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, etc.
After sticking mostly to freezer foods over the past two days, I figured I should venture out to the grocery store yesterday and didn’t want to go shopping without some kind of a rough idea for dinners for the week. I flipped through some magazine clippings and scanned a few saved blog posts from favorite food bloggers to come up with this plan:
- Tuesday: Easy Breakfast Casserole
- Wednesday: Sweet Potato Noodle Bowls
- Thursday: Thai Curry Mussels Soup
- Friday: Baked Ziti
Chase woke up for the day around 7:15 a.m. and we eased into the morning with some books and train table play time. I initially had plans to head off to a mom’s mentoring group in the morning which would’ve involved two hours of childcare but Chase seemed a little sensitive and I didn’t want to push too much and unload him on kind childcare people we didn’t know. I decided to stick with something more familiar to Chase and we headed off to boot camp a little after 9 a.m. where he played with his BFF Claire and worked on an adorable St. Patrick’s Day art project.
Yesterday’s Burn Boot Camp workout included a lot of crunches and work with the ab wheel so I modified quite a bit of the workout and ended up completing a more pregnancy-friendly workout that looked like this:
(A lot of the mini band exercises I incorporated into yesterday’s workout are detailed in my Mini Band Booty Workout, just in case you are interested!)
I scooped Chase up from childcare after 45 minutes and he was back to acting like his energetic self! I think he may have just needed the familiarity of our usual routine after a week away.
Next up on our morning agenda was a pit-stop at the post office to mail a gift to one of my best friends who gave birth to a baby girl on Thursday and also send off a thredUP clean out bag full of some of my old clothes and baby clothes that never really worked well for Chase. (Thank you to Chase for decorating baby Annie’s package on Monday.)
A trip to the grocery store for lots of fresh produce, pantry staples and snacks rounded out our morning and we made it back home around noon.
As I unloaded the groceries, Chase hopped up on his kitchen helper cooking stand and I took advantage of his interest in food and, with his “help,” managed to make two breakfast casseroles – one for our family for dinner and a second to bring to a friend whose husband recently underwent a rather serious surgery.
Chase lost interest about 10 minutes into our cooking activity but seemed content to ride around on his Plasma Car and play with his trains for a bit, so I finished up the casseroles and then threw together a quick lunch for Chase to eat before his nap.
Though I saw some improvement in Chase’s attitude after boot camp, the fussiness from the beginning of the day surfaced again before his nap and I felt like I was facing battle after battle to simply get him upstairs and into his crib to take the nap he very clearly needed. He cried for a waffle instead of his lunch. He cried because he wanted to take an early bath. He cried because I cracked the eggs myself for the breakfast casserole and he wanted to do it by himself. I felt like the hour before Chase’s nap lasted 10,000 hours but some days are like that, right!?
Once Chase was settled into his crib, he was fast sleep within minutes and I finally exhaled and took a much-needed shower. There’s something about a shower that always makes me feel better and once I was nice and clean, I headed back downstairs to work while I ate leftovers for lunch.
I reheated some cauliflower fried rice with shrimp and ate it along with an apple. About 30 minutes later, I was still a little hungry and broke into a container of siggi’s banana cinnamon no sugar added yogurt (LOVE that the only sweetness in this yogurt comes from the bananas) and that seemed to quiet my stomach.
Chase slept for two hours and once he was up, I shut down my computer and the two of us played in his room for a bit before he seemed content to entertain himself with a puzzle and his pop-up playhouse. This gave me a little bit of time to clean out the hall closet which was a much-needed task. We had some old, ratty towels in there from back when I was in college that clearly needed to go!
It rained all day yesterday which put a damper on any plans to play outdoors. Thankfully Chase seemed down for a more low key afternoon but the highlight of his day came when we left to drop off the breakfast casserole at my girlfriend’s house and she encouraged us to hang out for a bit.
This gave Chase a solid hour to run around and play with one of his best buddies which was great but averting a meltdown when we had to leave was a fun little task…
We made it home a little after 6 p.m. and Ryan arrived home from work about an hour later. After some crazy play with Ryan (Chase almost always greets Ryan at the door with two of his ride-on toys… one for him and one for Dad so they can do laps around our kitchen), we dug into the second breakfast casserole I made for our family for dinner along with a simple fruit salad. Eventually it was time to make our way upstairs to do the whole bedtime routine with Chase and once he was snoozing away, Ryan and I chatted for a bit before opening our respective books.
We’ve been really trying to utilize the time after Chase is in bed for completely distraction-free conversation and it has been amazing! I know this sounds like something we probably should’ve been doing for ages, but we recently got into the habit of catching up about our days and life as we cleaned the kitchen, washed our faces, folded laundry or absent-mindedly checked our email. We’ve been much better about designating the time right after Chase goes to sleep to actually sit down (or, in most cases lie down in bed because we LOVE an early bed time!) and just talk for however long we want or need. I find myself sharing a LOT more – funny stories about Chase, how I’m feeling, etc. – rather than just a basic rundown of the facts about what we did that day. We both said it’s been a really great and VERY easy small change to implement that makes us feel more connected, especially at the end of a long day. It’s nothing crazy or mind-blowing but becoming a parents has quickly taught me that the seemingly unending uninterrupted time Ryan and I used to have together is something we have to actively seek out these days!
After we talked for a bit and caught up on everything, we read our books and I ended up finishing The Woman in the Window. I’ll share more about my thoughts on the book on Friday, but it was a good read and a FAST one. The second half of the book was particularly intense and flew by!
I hope you all have a great Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by the blog today!
Questions of the Day
- Is there anything small or simple you like to do in your relationships on a regular basis that seems to make a big difference in your overall happiness or how connected you feel?
- What is one of your go-to meals to bring to a friend when you offer to bring them a meal?
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I usually make a veggie lasagna in a foil pan. Easy to bake and reheat. And who doesn’t love a good lasagna?? Toddler moods sure can make the hours seem long. I am sure getting back into your routine will help. and oh the meltdowns. The other day when I arrived at daycare to pick my daughter up, she was just about to play with some Pet shop toys and she had a full on tantrum she had to leave. Oh, the rough life of 2 year olds 🙂
Julie – I love that you and Ryan have found a way to connect at the end of each day. As you said, it is a simple way to do it but with the craziness of parenthood (and I mean that in a positive) it’s so easy to stop attending to a marriage. As Chase and the baby grow and you get to the point where you can let them be home together, one thing that my husband and I now do on a near daily basis is the two of us go on an evening walk. Such a great time to connect, get some exercise and our two children have time to connect as siblings. I know right now that seems so far off but I also know how quick they grow (our children are now 16 and 14!).
Thanks for sharing and for reminding us all that it is important to make communication with our spouse a priority through the busy times of raising a family.
I have such strong memories of the parents of one of my best friends from high school doing this almost every night. I’d see them leave for their evening walk if I was ever at her house after dinner and thought it was so nice! I’m sure your kids notice, too, and love seeing you two connect!
I totally agree that a shower can make you feel 100 times better! 🙂
Also, if you are looking for another great book to read, try Call Me By Your Name. It was so unbelievably good. Probably one of the best books I have read in a long time. Also, check out the movie too because it is just as good.
Thank you! Looking for a new book to start tonight so I’ll check this one out!
Delurking to share something that’s really helped me and my husband since baby #3 arrived. Saturday night admin meetings! All week we add topics to a shared IPhone note, then we save them and discuss them all on a Saturday evening. It’s meant we haven’t spent every weeknight discussing topics that can wait and are in the right frame of mind to talk the big stuff on a Sat. Made such a difference to how organised and on top of things we feel as well as really feeling like a team because we’ve made conscious, joint decisions about things that affect us and our family.
I don’t know why but when I read “little rock” I thought Chase wanted you to get him a little stone. Der…rock like rocking chair. I think my highlights are slowly going to my brain.
Haha! I’m pretty sure he’d prefer that, actually!
Hi Julie! My husband and I don’t have kids yet, but lately I’ve noticed that it makes a difference when we make a point to have quality catch-up time together. We had gotten into a habit of getting home and going right to eating dinner in front of the TV. Now I’m trying to have us eat at the table more often because it allows us to catch up. We also love going for walks together after work because it gives us quality time, too. Hopefully this Michigan weather picks up soon and we’ll be able to go on more walks.
Yes! Walks with Sadie were (and still are) one of my fav ways to chat with Ryan! They’re just a little more hands-on these days with Chase in the mix but they will always be such a great way to connect!!
How has your thredup selling experience been? I’ve done it a couple of times, and was shocked that my most recent bag only made a few dollars. Is it just me, or are they paying out less?
I LOVE buying clothes from thredUP but definitely feel like the payout for things I send them has decreased dramatically over the years. Such a bummer! I still send stuff in sometimes just because it is so easy but definitely don’t make as much as I did in the past.
Look for consignment shops in your area. There are many where I live in northern VA. I take my 30 best items. The last time I made $60 off of whatever sold. You’ll make more money from a small shop rather than a company.
I really LOVE the idea of just hanging out and chatting after dinner/kiddo bedtime! My husband and I have gotten in the habit of just watching a show, but then I always want to talk his ear off when we get in bed. Will be getting into a new routine tonight – – thanks for the wonderful tip! 🙂
We usually try to pray together and do a devotion. It is easier for us to unburden and release any stresses or issues we have that way than just head on sometimes (since who really wants to talk about not pleasant stuff sometimes). After that I feel it really allows us to have a better, more heartfelt conversation. But I totally agree in that it’s hard to carve out quality conversations especially with little kids, you sorta fall into roommate/survival mode and forget a healthy marriage is the most important for your kids. Hope today is a better day for you!
It’s so easy to let the daily grind of work take over, but it’s so worth it like you said, to spend some time with your significant other and actually talk. Relationships take work, and it’s easy to forget that sometimes.
For ThredUp – if they don’t want the clothes you send, do they donate them or send them back? I usually just send all my clothes to Goodwill but if I could get a few $ out of them that would certainly be NICE!
you can choose! if you want them sent back, you have to pay for shipping but i have only ever elected to have them donated!
Look for consignment shops in your area. There are many where I live in northern VA. I take my 30 best items. The last time I made $60 off of whatever sold. You’ll make more money from a small shop rather than a company.
I love a good baked ziti! Thanks for sharing your meal plan 🙂
And thanks for the reminder to pick up some Siggi’s yogurt, the vanilla flavor is my absolute favorite!
I love that idea of really communicating! I’m guilty of thinking watching mindless TV with my husband each night is quality time.. but he’s good about reminding me that it’s not. Great post!
Kim
http://trendkeeper.me .. midi skirt on broadway!
That banana and cinnamon yogurt sounds amazing!!!
My husband and I try to eat dinner together a few nights a week at the kitchen table without any phones or TV to interrupt us. It’s a small thing but definitely helps.
Hi Julie! I had a very fussy baby for a couple hours yesterday as well, which isn’t our norm — and it definitely put me in a less-than-amazing mood. But we got through it! My hubs and I are still getting used to having such busy schedules and our little guy — so we’re in need of some distraction-free hang-out time too, but often end up watching TV instead — love this reminder of an easy-to-incorporate daily way to chat. Hope your Wednesday goes great, lady! 🙂
Will you share more about the mom’s mentoring group?
I just finished the Woman in the Window and look forward to reading your thoughts on it – I loved it!
I travel every week for work and fly home either Thursday night or Friday afternoon. We’ve started carving out Friday when he gets home from work to take an hour with no tv/phones and just sit and talk to one another before any Friday plans. We may or open a bottle of wine too 😉 (just got married – I’ll blame the lingering honeymoon phase!) It’s been SO huge for how connected we feel after a week apart and gets us on the same page with life and feelings heading into our weekend. Lately the conversations have been how to get me more local work!
Those days can seem long, no matter the kids’ age! Our kids are usually happy go lucky but if they are tired, hungry, or haven’t spent much quality family time with us (due to a busy week/weeekend), it shows up in their demeanor. One thing that my husband and I do that we had sort of gotten lax on is stopping what we’re doing and giving each other a real hug and kiss before he goes to work and when he comes home. Usually I’m busy making breakfast and then dinner or homework when he comes home so it got to the point where it would be a quick peck but doing it with intention really makes a huge difference and it’s just nice and appreciated on both ends. Our kids witness it, too, and I think it sets a good example. They’ll either say, “Group hug” and get in on the hug too or they just say, “Awe! You guys are in love!” Haha. Have a great day, Julie!
That is so sweet!!! I LOVE it! They really DO notice those things and I think they make a really big impact on children can influence what they want/what they give to a relationship in the future.
Is there anything small or simple you like to do in your relationships on a regular basis that seems to make a big difference in your overall happiness or how connected you feel?
Hubby and I try to go on date days once a month or on small road trips for the day. I feel that the road trips gives us time to catch up and re-connect. In addition, I try not to plan during the road trip (hello type A personality) so I letting it go. Most of the time, I have a blast and we always end up at the best places to eat!
What is one of your go-to meals to bring to a friend when you offer to bring them a meal?
I either bring lasagna with salad and garlic bread. Or a chicken broccoli casserole with a salad. Lately, though, I have been doing breakfast burritos. I feel that breakfast gets shafted when it comes to meals.
Oooh! I raced through about half of Woman in the Window the other day at the grocery store (where they also sell books) – my kiddo plunked himself down to look through all the superhero and Lego books, and I picked that one up. 45 minutes later we realized we should probably finish grocery shopping, but it was so good! I’ve put it on hold through my library so I can take my time and actually read the whole thing.
Showers are a total reset for everyone in our family – there’s just something about them. I remember my then-fiance plunking my stepson in the shower about 90 minutes before our wedding, since he was exhausted and so overwhelmed from all the people and excitement, and he emerged a brand new kid.
Lastly, my husband and I have also found ourselves having some quiet time post-kiddo-bedtime. We start out planning to watch Netflix but inevitably start talking and then suddenly it’s 9pm and we’re all “wait…do we have TIME to watch a full episode of Mindhunter?”
Hope Chase is feeling better now. Those inexplicable off-days are so tough on kids AND parents!
Hi Julie! I don’t think I’ve ever commented but I have been following your blog for a very long time! I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Beating50Percent, but they have an incredible marriage journal called Navigator’s Council. It’s a weekly journal that has a short devotional and six questions to answer with your spouse. My husband and I have been doing it for about two months now and it has done WONDERS for our marriage and I’ve wanted to share it with everyone! I can’t recommend it enough! Here’s a link in case you’re interested: https://shop.beating50percent.com/products/navigators-council
My husband & I haven’t purchased the book, but try to sit down every Sunday & answer the questions! I recommend it too!
I would love if you shared how your ThredUp bag is received. I have been using the site to sell clothes for a few years with great success. My most recent bag (including a brand new Lilly Pulitzer dress and a like-new Shosanna dress) wasn’t accepted. I had one sweater that was consigned. I was very disappointed!
I tried a new recipe this week that sounds right up your alley…Super easy, quick AND healthy….Hoisin Turkey Wraps..
The original recipe calls for this to be put on rice or noodles but I used red cabbage leaves to wrap..much healthier and WAY more pretty, I also used bottled hoisin sauce instead of home-made and a grated sweet potato instead of a carrot. So I made it my recipe;)
Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
1 TBSP (avocado) oil
2 TBSP minced garlic
1/2 cup diced onion
1 sweet potato peeled and grated
1 cup finely chopped broccoli
3/4 cup Hoisin Sauce
2 green onions for garnish
Cilantro or basil for garnish
Instructions
Heat oil over med heat. Add onions and garlic. Add the ground turkey to the pan and cook until the turkey is about 1/2 way cooked. Add the broccoli and sweet potato and continue to cook until turkey is no longer pink. Add the hoisin sauce and cook 5 minutes more to combine the flavors. Top with green onions and cilantro.
Serve wrapped in a red cabbage leaf. DA LISH!!!!
If you try it LMK if you like it.
This sounds RIGHT up my alley! Thank you for taking the time to share it!
Hey Julie!
I’ve always loved your blog, and breakfast recipes! I’ve been recently loving my own version of protein oatmeal, and I think you might like it, too! I just started a blog, and I posted it today on my site. Here’s the link!
http://extraordinaryroutine.com/2018/03/07/protein-oatmeal/
So thoughtful of you to send a care package to your friend! One of my friends just had a baby recently and I would love to send her something too, like a nice candle and lotion. Would you mind sharing what you sent your friend?
I love sending an outfit, homemade lactation cookies (HowSweetEats.com is my go-to recipe!), some kind of a baby toy (I generally pick one Chase loved as an infant) or, if I know what kind of restaurants they love in their area, a gift card for a local restaurant that I know offers take-out with a note to enjoy “dinner on me” after baby!
I too loved Woman In The Window, such a great read.
I wonder if Chase had a nightmare? My little guy is going through a phase where he has been having them. His doctor said it’s common around 2 1/2!
I really enjoyed that book, too!
My husband and I need to be more mindful of mking time for conversation. Neither of us is very chatty, so what helps get us going is playing a board game after bedtime. Nothing long, but a game of Scrabble or Battleship is a lot of fun and allows for conversation 🙂
Shout out to your Davidson grocery bag!!!! 🙂
Ha!! I think of you whenever we find our way on campus!! 🙂
My husband and I went on a ski trip (4 days) just the two of us and O.M.G. it was incredible. We have a 10 month old so that time together to drink.eat.do whatever we wanted was awesome. We are committing to one trip a year just the two of us. Even if it is a staycation at a resort close to us…
On a more realistic note, I like doing date nights at home. Dinner on a Saturday night with baby? Oh hellllllsss no. Dude goes to sleep at 7 and then we kick off date night. We are doing a Mexican food night this Saturday. I will have some latina music on (Hello Selena!!!) and we hang out in the kitchen while I cook dinner and then eat dinner together. It is a fun twist to get us away from the TV. I have done the same with italian night/steak night/asian food etc.
This MAY be too controversial to share on the blog but I’ d love to hear more about how you respond when Chase is having one of those hours (or days haha). My daughter is 2 months younger than Chase and that paragraph about crying for a waffle, to crack the eggs etc. really spoke to me!! I really struggle with when to stand strong or let her cry and when to give in. And I know it is only going to get harder as the stakes get bigger. Also, breakfast casserole looks delish and I love the commitment to time with Ryan. I want to propose that to my husband. We have a second child too and since then it is almost impossible to get quality time together and I miss it.
Not sure if you’re looking for more book recommendations, but I just finished The Power by Naomi Alderman and I LOVED it. It’s about women suddenly having the power to issue electric shocks and using that power to upend the world order- the patriarchy ceases to exist. Really really interesting thought experiment!
Your story about Chase at 4am reminded me of a time my son woke up in the middle of the night sobbing and calling for me. I went in and asked what’s wrong and he said, through sobs, “Someone took my doughnut”. Ha! Something similar happened a couple weeks later, about a cookie. At least his nightmares are about food and not something scarier. 🙂
Awwww! That’s adorable! I mean I’d be upset about that, too! 😉
I don’t even remember the last time I made a fruit salad but that sounds so good right now. Something simple my husband and I do is try to text a few times during the work day. It’s surprisingly easy to let the whole day go by without texting each other if it’s particularly busy. But it’s really nice to know/let the other person know you’re thinking of them throughout the day.
LOVE that! And I agree — a short text here and there throughout the day is so nice!
That nightly “catch up” with Ryan sounds so nice! I wonder if it was something that happened organically or if it was a discussion “we need to put the phones down and turn off the tv from 8-9pm”? My husband works midnights so I’m wondering how to best fit something like this into our routine… usually I get home and cook dinner then it’s hub’s time to sleep before work. I guess any tip to turn “catching up” from a weekend activity to a nightly one would be welcome!
Am taking cues from your meal plan! But dying to know, does Chase eat these dinners you plan too? I also have a two year old and she has gotten pickier and pickier. I try so hard not to make her something different from us, but we often spend half the meal getting up to supplement her plate with fruit and things she will eat when she complains about what I’ve made. I know you’ve had issues with Chase’s eating so curious what dinner time looks like for you!