Morning
My morning schedule is all over the place lately and typically very Rhett-dependent. Rhett often cries sometime between 4:45 and 6 a.m. and I go in to feed him and then put him back down before sitting down at the computer to work for a bit before all of the boys are up for the day. Rhett actually slept until close to 6:30 a.m. before he was ready to nurse yesterday so I ended up being awake before him and ate breakfast while I knocked out some emails.
I’m still going strong with my random oat bran + cottage cheese breakfast bowls. I added cashew butter and cacao nibs to this one and loved it!
Once Rhett made it clear he was hungry and ready for some attention, I went into his room and nursed him, assuming he’d be up for the day. He ended up acting a little fussy after he ate so I tried putting him back down and he ended up sleeping in for another hour! I remember implementing the “if they don’t wake up happy, they’re not ready to be awake” rule with Chase and Ryder and it’s worked with Rhett, too. He usually wakes up happy and smiley but if he doesn’t it often means he needs a little more time in his crib to sleep and ease into the day.
Chase and Ryder were both up a little before 7 a.m. so the kid party started with stories and breakfast followed by Rhett’s early morning pediatrician appointment.
His nine month checkup went well and he’s growing right along his own little teeny curve.
By the time we made it home, Rhett was ready for his morning nap. He snoozed away in his crib while I did a driveway workout and the big kids “trimmed” our grass and bushes with child scissors. I’m not sure why they thought that was a fun activity but it kept them entertained for a solid 30 minutes so we’ll take it!
My workout of the day was a Burn Boot Camp leg day burner! I did an old workout from April that took me through three rounds of four different supersets. (I actually shared the workout in my April roundup of workouts if you want to check out the exact one I did.)
Once my workout was done, I put the Instacart load of groceries away that arrived while I was working out and then played catch outside with Chase and Ryder until Rhett was awake. I came downstairs after nursing Rhett to find Ryder totally naked. When I asked why he wasn’t wearing any clothes, he said, “Because I want to go swimming!” Since it was rather warm out yesterday I thought his idea was a good one, so I quickly threw together lunches to take with us to the little beach near our house.
Afternoon + Evening
Chase and Ryder rode to the beach together in their Jeep and I was grateful for the double stroller because it not only held Rhett but also our towels, waters, lunches, snacks, dry clothes, a creature cage, nets, sunscreen and more. Sometimes pushing a giant monstrosity with a lot of storage space for kid stuff has its perks!
(Random side note story: The other day, Ryder came up to me and out of the blue said, “Mom, Chase is my very best friend.” I could’ve cried. They have their brother battles for sure but the bond they share is such a blessing to watch. I’m just so excited to see Rhett joining in their brother adventures soon enough!)
Chase and Ryder spent most of the time at the beach swimming and attempting to catch the tiny fish that darted about in the shallow water.
Chase managed to catch a few with his hands! How he does it, I’ll never know.
Rhett was in heaven at the beach when I took him to a little section that was basically a glorified tide pool where he could crawl around in the super-shallow water. I hope his love for the lake and sand means he’ll be all about the beach when we visit Florida for two weeks this summer!
By the time we made it home, my father-in-law was getting ready to take himself through a garage workout and taught Chase and Ryder a few of his boxing moves while I got Rhett down for his afternoon nap. Extra hands to help with the boys are always appreciated around here!
Eventually I got Ryder down for a nap as well and then made myself a smoothie before chatting with Greg for a bit before he headed back home.
In my smoothie: Active Stacks chocolate protein powder, almond milk, frozen banana, frozen riced cauliflower and peanut butter.
Chase and I then read a few chapters of his latest Dragon Masters book (he got a few more as his preschool graduation present) and then he listened to an episode of his favorite Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian podcast while I worked. Soon Rhett was up from his nap, followed shortly by Ryder and we spent the rest of the afternoon outside, riding bikes and playing in the yard.
Ryan joined us once he was done with work for the day and Rhett was psyched to have his favorite beard to grab!
Sadie kept watch over our gang and joined me on the blanket for some cuddles.
As we were all hanging out outside, I got a call from our vet with an update about Sadie’s bloodwork. Her liver and kidney results look good (one of their initial concerns) but she does have an elevated number of white blood cells. We’re going to be doing an ultrasound on her digestive tract next Monday to check on everything to see if we can find any signs of inflammation or an infection to explain the elevated levels. I’m grateful she’s doing well outside of her weight loss (she truly is acting very much like herself) and hope that whatever may be causing her recent weight loss is something we’ll be able to identify and rectify. We love our Sadie girl and just want to make sure she gets whatever extra care her little body might need right now.
After our outside time, we headed in for dinner. Leftovers from the weekend made dinner a breeze and I repurposed some leftover mashed sweet potatoes, green beans and Paleo marinated chicken thighs into a yummy hodgepodge bowl.
I also had a big glass of blueberry kefir which my father-in-law recently got me hooked on. I love the tangy sweetness!
We wrapped up the rest of our Tuesday with bath time, stories and bed time for the boys before taking some time to clean up around the house. I almost forgot how much messier our house gets when everyone is home all day every day in the summer. Phew!
After some clean up time, Ryan and I made our way into bed to chat and read until we fell asleep. I’m about halfway through The Midnight Library and enjoying it so far. To be honest, I’ve been so tired at night that I’ve been annoyed because I am really liking the book but I just cannot stay awake very long to read it at the end of the day! Maybe one of these days I won’t pass out after 30 minutes of reading so I can actually make it through this one!
Now I’m off to get this Wednesday rockin’! I am pretty pumped because I have Madison coming over to watch the boys for a couple of hours today so I can actually take a hot second for myself and get my hair done. Oh happy daaaay! It’s been 1.5 years and I am sooo ready for a little refresh. I hope you all have a great Wednesday and thanks so much for making PBF a part of your day!
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So since sleep training Rhett are you able to just put him in his crib for naps etc? He just goes to sleep? Or do you rock him to sleep or anything? I just can’t fathom my daughter ever going to sleep without at least 5-10 minutes of rocking, ahhhhh
Hi! Yes! I just put him in his crib and he’s definitely awake. He rolls around (happily) for a little bit sometimes but then eventually falls asleep. We definitely had to work toward it!!
cant encourage sleep training enough!!!
Julie – I love these day in the life blog posts. I am always amazed how much you accomplish in a day and how you go with the flow too (ie. Ryder wanted to go swimming and so you guys headed to the beach to swim). Your property looks beautiful. We have five years we want to stay in our house until our son ages out of special education services at 22 and our hope is to find a house with more land (not huge but not your typical close neighbors as we have now in the burbs of Chicago). Each time you post a photo outdoors, I see your property and say to my husband that is exactly what I want and he agrees. We want to be in a neighborhood but just not so close to our neighbors – lol! Enjoy your time today getting your hair done. You will have to show us photos. Hope you guys can quickly identify what is contributing to Sadie’s recent weight loss and get her back on track.
“Mom, Chase is my very best friend.” ~ how sweet 🙂
I love your day in the life posts so much! You’re such an inspiration. So so random but I’m wondering if you have any recommendations for hair gel for young boys? Your little guys’ hair is always so good! 🙂
Hi!! Yes! I looove this stuff for their hair and have been using it for years —> https://amzn.to/3g6t1qH
So glad to hear Sadie’s bloodwork came back okay! We recently had similar issues with our older dog! He just kept losing and losing weight but we couldn’t find anything ‘wrong’. Although we were giving him a healthy dog food, and had been for years, it was just no longer working for him and he wasn’t getting any nutrients from it anymore despite eating SO MUCH FOOD. We switched him to a hydrolyzed protein dog food and he immediately started gaining weight and is now doing great! Just thought I would mention it in case that might be an issue for Sadie!
Thank you!!! I’ll be sure to ask our vet about this on Monday. Praying it’s a simple fix for Sadie, too!
Sending ALL the positive vibes for Sadie and that her ultrasound can find an easy remedy/answer for her weight loss.
Maybe ask the vet about adding wet dog food into her diet? Some dogs need enticing as they get older to eat and for whatever reason – dogs love wet dog food!
Also, I wanted to mention about her eyesight from last weeks post. Our childhood dog went blind in one eye and she was totally fine. We kept the hallways clear (I’m sure not easy with little ones), but dogs don’t actually rely on their eyesight much. Mostly the sense of smell is how they get around (and routine, so maybe keep the layout of the living room, etc the same for a while). wanted to offer some personal experience that will hopefully ease your mind a bit <3.
Thank you Kelly 💗 yes yes we are now giving her wet food every day and hoping it helps her!!
Hi Julie,,,,, 😊
Happy to know sweet Sadie is under a vet’s care now. Sure hope you’ll have test results soon.
My pups Stacey (2 yo) & Missy are doing great after recent exams. Although Missy has lost her eyesight at 13 yo.
It’s really difficult making sure she’s safe everyday.
Last year we lost our beautiful Gidget. Miss her greatly. Love reading stories about your gorgeous boys! Rhett is looking like both of his big brothers now! Really amazing to see. Have a lovely 🌞 summertime Julie!
Marcee
Long time blog reader!
Hi Julie,
So sorry to hear Sadie is dealing with some mystery health concerns. I know how frightening and anxiety-inducing that can be.
I don’t mean to be a scare-monger at *all*, but just want to offer another idea based of my own experience. One of our kitties recently had a similar situation. We took him in for his senior wellness exam and the vet told us he was in great health — bloodwork, organs, etc. were all great, especially for his age. The only two things they called out were that his white blood cell counts were also slightly elevated, and that he needed a teeth cleaning which we had been expecting since he had been chewing a little differently and I could tell his gums were irritated. I didn’t connect the two and she similarly said the elevated WBC count was likely due to a small infection or inflammation, not something to worry about but to watch. I had noticed he had lost a teeny bit of weight but didn’t give it too much thought because he’s a super picky eater.
Fast forward to two weeks ago when we took him for the dental work, which they sedate them for. After the procedure, the vet called me to tell me they didn’t have to pull any teeth, but that they actually found a tumor in the far back of his throat. She didn’t immediately give me a diagnosis as she wanted to biopsy to be sure, but after a week it was confirmed that he has oral squamous cell carcinoma which is aggressive and essentially untreatable, especially in cats.
We are of course devastated and trying to process what this means, but grateful for being given the gift of time to say goodbye. Looking back, some of the “little” things that were individually dismissible make a lot more sense now. While I am of course struggling with blaming myself for not catching it or noticing the early signs of his cancer, both the vet and the oncologist have both told me that it’s such a fast-growing tumor that almost no one is able to catch it early enough to treat — it sort of just appears one day.
Again I don’t mean to freak you out or upset you — just wanted to share some things to look for that I wish I had known about before all this. Sending hugs to Sadie and your fam!