Yesterday was, for the most part, spent getting life back in order after my weekend travels. I crashed hard at 9 p.m. on Sunday night and woke up to my alarm to work at 5 a.m. I quickly downed a small bowl of Cheerios and set up camp at my computer to wrap up yesterday’s blog post.
I worked until 6 a.m. when Chase began to stir upstairs. I greeted my favorite little guy in his nursery, changed him and brought him down for breakfast while he said, “blease, blease” on repeat when I asked him if he wanted a muffin. Muffins, milk, a few pieces of banana and some of my waffles served as Chase’s breakfast while I dug into breakfast 2.0 which included scrambled eggs, waffles and avocado.
Once we were done eating, we spent the next hour or so reading books and playing with cars before waving goodbye to Ryan as he headed off to work.
After Ryan left, we headed back upstairs so I could change for the gym and Chase could practice brushing his teeth. Eventually it was time to leave and, after I filled my water bottle, we headed out!
Workout
Monday’s Burn Boot Camp workout was a bicep, triceps and shoulder workout that included as many rounds of 10 reps of the following exercises as possible in 25 minutes:
- Pull ups
- Equalizer triceps dips
- Tuck jumps
- Chest press
- Alternating bicep hammer curls
- Alternating overhead press
For the finisher, we worked down a ladder and completed 40, 30 and 20 reps of mountain climbers (with mini “breaks” of high knees in between each round) before working back up the ladder and completing 30 and 40 reps of mountain climbers to round out the workout.
After my workout, I headed into BBC childcare to pick up Chase and chat with some of my girlfriends before we said goodbye and immediately drove to the grocery store to pick up food for the week ahead. When I don’t take the time to shop and prep food on Sundays, I feel kind of behind going into the week but tried my best to get ahead of things before Chase’s nap! Chase had a BLAST “driving” the car cart around (I want to give the person who invented that grocery cart a million hugs) and we left with lots of good eats!
Once we were back at home, I set Chase up with a snack/early lunch in his high chair and began prepping sweet potatoes and veggies for the week ahead while he ate.
While the sweet potatoes roasted in the oven, we wrapped up snack time, played a million rounds of indoor fetch with Sadie and unloaded the dishwasher before it was time for Chase’s nap.
Work + Lunch
Chase went down right around 11 a.m. and I quickly hopped into the shower before heading downstairs to work, work, work. (Side note: I used to try to push Chase’s nap back to noon but once I stopped fighting it and let him sleep earlier, I noticed he seemed to sleep better and longer. Just sharing for any other mamas who might be struggling through nap transitions right now!)
First up on my agenda was photographing a tasty snack for some freelance work I’m doing for The Laughing Cow for their social media pages. One of the best parts of photographing food is eating it when I’m done!
I was still a little hungry after my light snack, so once I was done editing the photos I snapped, I assembled my lunch to enjoy by my computer as I continued working.
I topped some freshly roasted sweet potatoes with peppers, onions, two fried eggs, avocado, salt and pepper and ate my hodgepodge sweet potato bowl along with two Halo mandarins.
I spent the rest of Chase’s naptime working at the computer (submitting a contract, catching up on email and beginning this blog post) before my little playmate was up again and ready for action!
Play Date + Dinner
After the whole late lunch/snack thing (a shared peanut butter sandwich, yogurt for me and fruit for Chase), we headed off to a brand new local kids’ gym to meet up with a handful of my girlfriends and their little ones for an afternoon play date.
Chase had a great time exploring and playing and I loved taking him for a spin on the (assisted) indoor zip line. It was also wonderful to catch up with my friends for a a bit!
We left the gym in the early evening and headed home so I could quickly throw the chicken and veggies I prepped earlier in the day into the oven for dinner.
Ryan walked through the door with about 30 minutes to go until dinner and we took advantage of the cooking time to race cars with Chase and enjoy some play time as a family. Once the roasted chicken, onions, carrots and potatoes were ready, we ate together before it was time for Chase’s bath and bed time routine.
We kissed our little guy goodnight before heading back downstairs for a bit. I broke out my laptop so I could continue working on this blog post next to Ryan on the couch before we climbed into bed nice and early. We’re both super into our respective books right now and I absolutely adore getting into bed early, curling up under the covers and reading until my eyelids close. The best way to end the day!
I didn’t go to sleep quite as early as I thought I would because my book was so intense and I could not stop reading. (I started reading Pretty Girls on Sunday and am already nearly done because it’s such a page-turner. I’ve found myself cringing and biting my nails through this one. It can be a little too graphic for me at times but I somehow still cannot stop reading.) Eventually I drifted off to sleep and now today it’s time to begin the whole routine over again. Hope you guys have a great Tuesday!
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What a fun day, but I’m with you, a book before bed is the best! There’s nothing like a great book.
You are such a great resource for books! How do you get recommendations from the books you decide to read? Also, laughing cow on an apple sandwich sounds great to me!
My mom and I share a similar taste so many of my recommendations come from her as well as girlfriends and Amazon reviews!
So many yummy eats and a fun day with Chase. Roasted sweet potatoes, veggies, and fried eggs has to be one of my favorite combos!
Oh my gosh, I just finished a book by the same author, (The Kept Woman) and just like you, I could not put it down! I will definitely add Pretty Girls to my reading list 🙂
The book is REALLY intense and graphic so be warned! I’ve been skimming through some of the violent parts at times. (I’m not sure what the authors other books are like but just want you to be prepared!!)
Sounds like a great day!! And so sorry to hear about your aunt. Prayers are with you and your family.
I’ll have to check that book out! I’m about to start It Ends with Us, which lots of bloggers have recommended!! Hope you have a nice day!
-Sarah http://www.thefrugalmillionaireblog.com
I can’t wait to see what you have cooking up with Laughing Cow! I could snack on those little triangles all day.
I have been reading The Couple Next Door the past two days and I am almost finished with it. It’s another page turner. I’ll definitely give Pretty Girls a try once I’m done! 🙂
My mom and sister have me hooked on the game of thrones book series. I can’t put the first book down! Highly recommended…
i need to start reading before bed… i think that would wind me down more than tv… last night i hard the hardest time falling asleep… we’re talking 2am and i’m so not usually like that! feeling it this morning!!
I need to pick your brain a little bit with baby sleeping. My daughter will be a year old in two weeks … AHHH! what a scary thought! Any who – I am struggling with the sleep. I was wondering if you could give me a timeline of what times you are putting chase down and when exactly you switched from two naps to one. Did you always put chase down awake? I am nursing and tend to put her down asleep ( I know – frowned upon) but she has no problem going down awake for my husband or my mother who watches her during the day. Any insight? Much appreciated!
Hi Julie, I live in CLT with a little girl Chase’s age….could you please share the name of that new play gym you went to? I’d be interested in checking into it. Thanks!
Hi Mary! It’s called My Gym and it’s located in Huntersville! It was really fun and JUST opened. They’re offering free open play times all week!
Thanks for sharing Chase’s nap time! He’s a few months older than my son so I’m always looking at your blog for some guidance. My son is fighting his 2nd nap like crazy but he’s an early riser (5:30-6am). His current morning nap is around 9:30/10, but I know we are starting to itch into one nap territory. I felt like everyone did lunch and then the nap and there is no way I could get him to go until 12/12:30 without creating a monster. I was happy to see that you do an earlier nap and that’s working well! Although, I’m going to miss two naps when the time officially comes!
I’ve been making an effort to read before bed instead of mindless scrolling through social media, and I’ve really seen an improvement in my sleep! Anxious to check out your recommendations once I finish my current book!
I love Laughing Cow cheese! I actually started eating it because of your blog : ) I love reading before bed, but sometimes I end up staying up waaay too late if I’m really into a good book. No regrets! Meal prepping is something I am terrible at, but really need to get better at. I’m in nursing school and I have some really early and/or late days with no desire to cook after I get home. Random question, but do you think you’ll ever get back into teaching classes again?
Your workout looks like a fun (but tiring) one! I’ve been on a veggie roasting rick lately. It’s fun to play around with different combinations of veggies. I think my favorite right now is sweet potatoes, broccoli, and red bell peppers.
I LOVE reading and falling asleep that’s the best! Your day of eats looks DELICIOUS!I love laughing cow, recently I’ve been mixing it in with tuna!
Hi Julie! Sounds like a great Monday 🙂 Could you please share the recipe for the roasted chicken…it looks amazing!!
Hi Nitisha! I loosely followed this recipe from Ina Garten: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/perfect-roast-chicken-recipe.html
Love these posts!! And now I really want to go read that book!!!
are those regular cheerios? It may just be the lighting but they look flavored and delicious! (not that regular cheerios aren’t delicious..)
They’re Very Berry Cheerios 🙂
Does your gym have a nice daycare? Now that Adeline is bigger I’m thinking she could probably handle our gym’s daycare but I’m nervous to try it!
Yes!! I loooove our gym’s daycare and Chase truly seems excited to go! Before I felt comfortable bringing him, I popped in a couple of times and talked to the woman in charge who made me feel SO much better about everything.
Pretty girls was awesome! I want to try more books from that author. Thrillers/mysteries are my favorite. Check out Brian Freeman if you get a chance. Honestly the best author I have read in a while!
I read pretty girls and was honestly traumatized – i thought it was horrifying and WAY too graphic but also couldn’t put it down. I kind of wish I hadn’t read it due to how graphic it is in nature
I read pretty girls and was honestly traumatized – i thought it was horrifying and WAY too graphic but also couldn’t put it down. I kind of wish I hadn’t read it due to how graphic it is in nature
I’d love for a PBFingers bookclub! Seems like you’re always reading. Thats one of my resolutions!
Thank you for the amazing nap suggestion! My daughter is the same age as Chase and doesn’t get to nap at daycare until 12:30-1pm, but at home can barely make it to 11am. On the days I give up and let her nap around 11:30 she does seem to take amazingly long naps. I guess I should stop trying to push them back and take your advice! 🙂
Yes!!! I just felt like noon/12:30 was the “typical” one-nap-a-day start time and resisted it for too long before finally giving in. Now Chase’s naps are usually MUCH better!
My girlfriend just invited me to check out a new gym in our area and it sounded so familiar, but I couldn’t place. Now I know! We’re getting our own Burn Boot Camp and I’m checking out my first class on Saturday! I’m super excited because of all your great reviews!
YAYYY! It’s the BEST. Hope you love it!
Thanks for the book rec- just downloaded Pretty Girls on my Kindle 🙂
It is VERY graphic/intense in parts. I’ve definitely had to skim through some of the violence but it is a very quick, fast-paced read. I hope you like it!
Just to forewarn you I feel like it gets most graphic at the end but it was such a page turner I pushed through. Definitely worth finishing!
I made the mistake of reading today’s post 45 minutes before I planned to eat lunch -and now not only am I hungry, I am craving a laughing cow snack- is that an apple with turkey & avocado!? Looks delish.
I love making random bowls of veggies, rice, meat, eggs, etc. and never thought to throw sweet potatoes in the mix. Great idea!
Happy Tuesday!
It is!! So tasty! I am a sucker for sweet + savory!
It melts my heart that Chase says “blease” – so cute! Thanks for the book recommendation….I just joined a book club and we’re reading “The Boys in the Boat,” all about the 1936 Olympic crew team that beat Hitler’s team. Not something I’d typically read but is a really great story!
Pretty Girls was INSANE! I think I chewed my fingernails down too reading that!
Karin Slaughter is my favorite author by far! If you haven’t read her other books you definitely should. Pretty Girls was definitely a bit intense, I couldn’t put it down either!
I loved Pretty Girls!!! Definitely twisted but soo soo good!!
if you don’t mind me asking do you track macros/calories?
Nope!
Does Sadie get a walk everyday?
Yes! Sometimes two! Ryan usually takes her before work and if it’s not too cold/rainy one or both of us will take her when he gets home from work, too!
Looks like some yummy meals! You’ve got me craving avocado and eggs now! I love that with salsa on top too. I just bought myself some avocados becauseWinter has me missing them!
I’ve had Pretty Girls on my Kindle for a couple of weeks at the recommendation of a co-worker but I haven’t started it yet. How intense are we talking here?? I’ve heard it gets pretty gory in some parts but that it’s such a page turner, you just push through.
I’ve seen this book everywhere, I will have to check it out!
Our 13 month old is trying to transition to one nap and it’s been such a struggle! I’ll keep this tip in mind, thanks!
That chicken looks wonderful…. so does the apples, avocado, & laughing cow cheese.
I’m curious to know how you end up liking Pretty Girls. I thought it started out so good, but then got so disturbing and long that I had to skip to the end just to know what happened!