With Ryan traveling for work most of this week, Chase, Sadie and I are ridin’ solo. This means that despite my coaxing Sadie does not relax at night until around 9 p.m. when she finally throws in the towel and accepts the fact that no matter how long she stares out the front window of our house, Ryan is not coming home. She’s only a lil’ obsessed with him…
I woke up on Monday morning a little before 6 a.m. and kicked things off with a bowl of triple chocolate protein oatmeal. I then made myself a hot mug of decaf coffee with whole milk and collagen to fuel me through a bit of work before Chase was up for the day around 7:30 a.m.
The first words out of Chase’s mouth when he woke up were, “1, 2, 3… HIKE!” so you can see the toddler crib talk randomness continues around here! I scooped him up and he immediately requested stories and cuddles along with breakfast, so we snuggled up and read The Cat in the Hat together while Chase ate a breakfast bar. Getting Chase and myself dressed for the day was a complete joy (sarcasm to the extreme) but after a tearful strip down and changing his pants two times, Chase was dressed and happy again. Gotta love those emotional rollercoasters!
We spent the rest of the morning packing Chase’s lunch and making cards to go along with some small gifts for Chase’s preschool teachers. (His school is celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week this week.) By the time I dropped Chase off at school, I wasn’t feeling the most energetic and considered skipping the gym but I knew I’d feel 10 times better if I sucked it up and worked up a sweat.
This probably isn’t the most motivating mindset, but one way I get myself to the gym on days when I feel a little bleh is by telling myself I can take it as easy as I want and modify whatever I want once I’m there. Sometimes I scale back a lot and other times I find my groove right away. It’s a weird little mind trick that works well for me, especially during pregnancy!
The Burn Boot Camp protocol called for a leg workout and we paired off in groups of four to complete a lower body burner. Here’s what my slightly-modified version looked like:
In between each round, our group completed 40 jump squats!
I actually really enjoyed the workout not only because it kept things moving but because I paired up with three of my close girlfriends for this one and it made time fly by! Once the workout was done, I made a quick pit-stop at the grocery store for some food for the week before heading home to get a jump start on making a recipe for breakfast bars I’m planning to share on the blog tomorrow. I’ve had some requests for more kid-friendly recipes that Chase also loves so be sure to pop by the blog tomorrow if that interests you!
While my breakfast bars baked away, I quickly checked my emails, ate a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and two pieces of a frittata out of some Tupperware and then grabbed a shower before I had to head back out to pick Chase up from preschool.
Right when we arrived home, I let Chase accompany me to the end of the driveway to bring the recycling bin inside which spiraled into a solid hour of playtime outside. I usually try to let him unwind inside with some quiet play for 30 minutes or so after preschool and then settle him in for his nap but he was amped up and, honestly, the weather was too pretty for me to resist as well. Sadie joined us for lots of fetch and running around in the grass and we made it back inside around 2 p.m.
After a quick snack, I managed to get Chase down for his nap and immediately came back downstairs to photograph the breakfast bars I made earlier in the day with the help of my furry photography assistant.
I ended up eating two of them for a super-late lunch (maybe I should call my cereal + frittata lunch?) along with a cup of yogurt with cacao nibs and chia seeds. While I ate, I worked on the computer until Chase was up. Chase woke up a little out of sorts and rather teary so we stayed close to home for the rest of the day, reading books, blowing bubbles in the backyard and playing frisbee with Sadie before dinner.
Dinner was a rather random assortment of leftovers – rice, cauliflower, cheese, cilantro, onions and roasted chickpeas – all thrown together in a bowl and topped with avocado.
Chase and I FaceTimed with Ryan after dinner before making our way upstairs for the whole bed time routine. I did a little more work once Chase was asleep while I half-watched The Voice. I eventually headed off to bed around 10 p.m. and read until my eyes were too heavy to stay open any longer.
Today isn’t a preschool day for Chase, so I’ll be hanging with my little man. I’m hoping to make it to the gym, the library and a local park at some point but the day is still fairly up in the air over here. Hope you all have a great Tuesday!
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Our days sound eerily the same! Traveling husbands, a dog that just. won’t. stop. waiting for my husband to come home, and a little bit coo-coo toddlers. How dare we try to change their clothes or take them out of their bed after nap? I wouldn’t have it any other way! <3
His mood after nap time is so unpredictable! Sometimes he’s happy as a clam and other times it is Grouch City! At least it’s not just them, right!?
It seems really unsafe to post you’re alone without Ryan for the whole internet to read! Maybe I’m too afraid of the internet, my husband travels and I wouldn’t ever point it out to people. I know it is unsolicited advice but mama to mama I couldn’t help myself. Sorry if it bothers you, not my intent!
You know, you’re totally right. I’ve actually intentionally never shared his travels on the blog until after he returns but he’s been traveling a decent amount lately that I feel like I haven’t been able to blog about day in the life stuff as regularly because it would be obvious he’s out of town. We do have a good home security system in place but I think I just wanted to get back to “normal” blogging maybe a little too much and will definitely go back to being more cautious — your comment honestly confirmed the “little voice in my head” so thank you for your concern.
I agree that Day in the Life posts are the best! Love reading about your normal days!
Julie, I have a 2.5 year old too so I can definitely relate to the moods after naptime. Sometimes she’s like a little hurricane running through the house after & other times she’s so happy to see me. I just try to take it slow no matter what mood she’s in and try to ease back into the day 🙂 They are truly so unpredictable!
I love reading day in the life posts. It’s always interesting to get a peek into other people’s lives.
Hi, love your blog!! Just curious what blogs you follow and love!
Thanks!
Day in the life posts are my favorite too! Especially when you share your meals and snacks for the day (is that weird?! ?). Quite honestly these posts are what keep me coming back to blog day everyday, so please keep them coming!
Sounds like a great Monday 🙂 My nephew Enzo has similar moods after nap time too; he is either really happy or a grumpy bear with all the tears. Gotta love it! I hope you enjoy your day with little man! Xoxo
I bought the peanut butter/chocolate Cheerios after you posted them last week and they are delicious!!! My daughter wanted a bowl this morning and then promptly spit them out saying they were disgusting. I told her “Oh, well, that just means more for me!”
I love day in the life posts! They’re my favorite too. Burn Boot Camp looks like so much fun! I wish they had one near me. I would love to try it out, but the closest one is almost an hour away 🙁
My three-year-old always wakes up upset when the room is dark. If I open the curtains and let the light in, he’s a happy camper.
Your days with Chase are always so packed and fun-filled! I love reading about it. I’ve said it before, but your relationship with Chase makes me excited to one day become a mama. 🙂 I just hope I have your energy! – Kaitlyn | http://www.poweredbysass.com
What books are you reading at the moment?
I love your day in the life posts! Your little mind game sounds super familiar to me… I’ll often convince myself to go ahead with my workout when I’m not feeling it, by thinking, “You don’t even have to do your best, but you DO have to do it.” It almost always works and I always feel better no matter how intense my workout. Hope the rest of your week is fun and easy!
I love day in the life posts! It’s funny how Sadie is so obsessed with Ryan…Hope you have a safe week!
I love reading your day in the life posts! And re: the fears expressed in a comment above re: Ryan’s absence and your response to that person, you could still do these posts but leave out the part where Ryan’s traveling? That way you’d have the happiness of writing your favorite posts to write, but without the worry. Reading through your post again, the only edit you’d have to make would be the 2nd paragraph, and then the facetime with Ryan at the end of the night. So you could still do it in a modified way. Hope that helps!
Anyhow, I love these posts, always a fave. That bowl of random ingredients actually looks so good! I love your photo set up too, it’s inspiring. 🙂
Day in the life posts are my favorite also! Yours are the best too because I love that they are always complete and I love the details. 🙂 My dog is the same way if my husband is gone or if he gets home a little later than usually. She just lays at the top of the steps looking out the front window. They are so pathetic!
Day in the life posts are my favorite things read and write! It’s easy to get lost in the big, important things, but these day-to-day goings ons are what make up our lives!
your dinner looks AMAZING! maybe that needs to be a meal!!
I never know what mood my daughter is going to wake up in from a nap. Usually it’s content but sometimes it’s full on tears. The other day as I picked her up out of the crib when she woke up upset she said to me “Tears! I so sad!”. On another note, totally looking forward to that banana raspberry bars recipe tomorrow!