15 month old | Daily Schedule

Since the 9 month old daily schedule post was such a hit that I decided to come back and do an update.  Of course, this schedule isn't for everyone or the "right" way to do things but it's what's working for us so I thought I would share.


At around 12 months, we decided to start gradually taking away the bottle and transitioning to whole milk (please note, this was not by advice of our doctor, just a decision we made ourselves).  We lucked out and our son isn't very sensitive to change so this transition happened without any issues.  I decided to first transition him over to whole milk.  I started mixing the whole milk with his formula so he would get used to the flavor.  I also kept serving it to him at room(ish) temperature since that's what he's used to.  Around 13 months he was completely on whole milk and mostly bottles.  Around this time, we started introducing the milk into his sippy cup (I'll do a whole separate post of his favorite sippy cups for milk and water...we've been through a LOT!).  I started transitioning to to sippy cup with his morning bottle. Since he wakes up starving, I figure he would drink his milk out of anything!!  That trick worked perfectly!  I just started gradually giving him more and more of the sippy cup.  Before we reached 14 months, he was 100% drinking whole milk from a sippy cup.

Here's our typical routine -

7:30am - wake up + 8 oz milk (whole milk in sippy cup)

8:30am - breakfast with water

9:00-10:30am - Nap #1

11:00am - snack (usually yogurt) with water

12:00pm - lunch with water

1:00-3:30pm - Nap #2

4:00pm - snack with milk (whole milk in sippy cup)

5:30/6:00pm - dinner with water

6:30pm - bath

7:00pm - bed

Day in the Life | 9 Month Old

I always love reading about a day-in-the-life of other mommas in the world.  I guess it's my little way of checking, "Am I doing this whole thing right?!".  A relative was over last night and asked if I'm still pumping/nursing and if the doctors tell me when to stop.  I explained how it's all a personal decision and while it's nice that no one tells you what to do, it's almost hard at the same time as a first time mom.

So I hope this is helpful for at least one person out there!

For some background - I'm a full-time working mom while my son enjoys the day at a local in-home daycare.  I exclusively pumped for 8+ months but just started supplementing one bottle of formula a day.  I'll do a future post about introducing formula + the brand I use (he loves it!).  Our son started purees/solids at 6 months and is now eating 3 meals a day.  He's a little guy and doesn't eat/drink much.  We offer him milk all the time but he clearly tells us when he's had enough!


Day in the Life of a Working Mom
9 Month old Breastfed + formula supplement Baby



6:00am - Mom + Dad wake up!  Shower, eat breakfast (eggs or cereal), makeup, hair...

7/7:30am - Son wakes up.  Some mornings I have to wake him up and some mornings he wakes himself up.  Either way, I make sure he's awake by 7:30am.

7:30am - Change his diaper and feed him 5-7oz formula (I offer 8oz but he usually stops around 5-6oz unless he's going through a growth spurt).  I pump for 20 minutes while he's eating and playing (...and by "playing", I mean distracting him from grabbing my pump tubes!).

8:00am - Wash pump parts, bottles, and quickly get us both dressed for the day.  Dad leave for work.

8:15am - Drop son off at daycare.  Fortunately, he loves it there!  I don't know what I would do if he cried when I was leaving.  He just immediately smiles when I hand him to the sitters and starts playing with all his friends.  Thank goodness!! :)

8:30am - Son eats breakfast at daycare.  Breakfast is usually oatmeal + fruit puree.

8:45/9:00am - Mom arrives to work.  Work, work, work...

9:00-10:30am - Son naps at daycare.

9:30am - Mom enjoys snack.  Usually oatmeal, nuts, or yogurt + granola.

11:00am - Son drinks 4-5oz pumped milk.

12:00pm - Lunch for Mom.  Usually a salad with grilled chicken or leftovers from dinner the night before.

12:30pm - Son enjoys lunch.  I have to be honest here.  I used to make all his meals but then he started turning his nose up at my meals and devouring the organic pouches from the store.  So I just feed him those pouches.  Today he's enjoying Ella's Kitchen Organic Spaghetti and Meatballs!

1:00pm - This bottle is hit/miss.  Sometimes he needs 4oz pumped milk at this time.  Sometimes he doesn't.

1:00-3:30pm - Son naps at daycare.  We are so lucky...he's a good napper!

1:00/2:00pm - Mom takes 20 minute pump break at work.

3:30pm - Son drinks 4-5oz pumped milk.

4:00pm - Mom leaves work and picks son up from daycare!  He's just recently started crawling from the opposite side of the room to me once he hears my voice.  He crawls right up to me and gives me lots of hugs and love.  It's honestly the BEST part of my day!!           
 
4:30-5:30pm - Get home, walk the dog (needy dog won't use backyard....annoying!), unpack bags, boil/sterilize daycare bottles, get dinner ready, play with son...this hour is kinda crazy hour in our house!

5:00pm - Son usually "snacks" on milk and has anywhere between 2-4oz.  I always offer 4oz.

5:30pm - Dad gets home from work.

6:00pm - We all eat dinner.  Son eats another pouch + puffs.  We're working on his chewing.  He still kinda chokes, which is so scary.  We also give him his sippy cup and he loves drinking filtered water from it!  If we have our dinner ready at this time, we'll eat.  Otherwise, we just wait until after we put him to sleep.  I would say we all eat together about 75% of the time.

6:30pm - Bedtime routine = bath, PJs, bottle (6-7oz pumped milk), book, story time with Dad.  This story time with Dad just started last week and we love it!  It's pretty much the only time of day that they can just bond 1:1 together.  We were struggling with the 9 month sleep regression (son would cry when we put him down in his crib.  Once he fell asleep, he was fine.) and Momma was feeling stressed about everything that still had to get done.  So this changed seemed to work for all of us!

7:00pm - Son asleep.  We are so blessed and have one AMAZING sleeper!  Since day 1, he knew day from night and started sleeping through the night around 12 weeks or so.  I'm sure if we ever have a Baby #2, we won't be so lucky!  He usually sleeps 12 hours straight (7pm-7am).

7:00/9:00pm - Mom and Dad spend time together, get things done around the house (clean, trash, random projects...), check work emails, Mom gets daycare bottles + food ready for the next day.

9:00pm - Mom pumps 20 minutes.

9:30-10:00pm - Read personal emails, scroll through Instagram (I need to be better at FaceBook...), Google random things, such as, "How to survive the 9 month sleep regression", "How many ounces of milk should my 9 month old be drinking per day?"....

10:00pm - Lights out for this momma :)

_________________________________

I hope this helps someone out there!  My day is not perfect and my son probably doesn't drink enough milk (20-24oz) throughout the day compared to his peers but you know what?  We're surviving, enjoying as much time together as possible, and we have 6+ wet diapers/day so I consider it to be a win!  My question for you - what do you do from 4:30-6:30pm to keep the house from getting so chaotic? 

32 things I know at 32

1. Always send a thank you note.  Gratitude goes a long way.
2. The right thing will happen in the end.  If it’s not right…it’s not the end.
3. Family is everything.
4. Wrinkle cream.  I just wish I started using it in my 20’s!
5. Your life will probably not be exactly where you envisioned it to be.  But that’s okay.
6. Dogs and puppies are a girl’s best friend.
7. Smile, you’ll look prettier.
8. Be nice to everyone – the janitor, the cleaning crew, the office Director, your colleagues.  You’ll never know when your paths will cross again. 
9. Happiness is being married to your best friend.
10. No one can read your mind.  Communicate how you really feel.
11. Somehow running 13.1 miles is so much more difficult than 10 miles.  It’s only 3.1 more miles but it feels like 31.
12. You’ll deal with loss.  It’s inevitable.  It’s the way you handle the loss and move forward with your life that makes all the difference.  You have two choices – to be sad the rest of your life or try to live your life to make that person proud. 
13. Home is where your heart is. <3
14. Be positive and don’t complain.  There’s always someone out there who has it much worse.
15. Your path in life has been created for a reason. 
16. Be present.
17. You’ll dislike your parents until about 21.  Then, they’ll become your very best friends.
18. It’s okay not to plan everything.  Go with the flow and have fun.
19. Exercise keeps you young.  And less stressed!  When you’re having a bad day, go exercise.  You’ll feel 99% better when you’re done.
20. Don’t dwell on the negative things that are happening presently.  It may not make sense but there’s a reason it’s happening.
21. Act the way you want to feel.  If you need more energy, go start knocking things off your to-do list.  If you want to feel happy, then be happy.
22. It’s so much easier to shop online than at the mall.
23. Kids these days will never know what life was like before a cell phone.  In a way, it seems so much less stressful when we weren’t so connected.
24. Compliment your husband. 
25. Actions speak a million times more than words.
26. Work hard.  At work, at home, at the gym.
27. If you have to force it, leave it alone.  Jeans, relationships.  Just leave it.
28. You are exactly where you are in life because of the choices you've made.
29. The older you get, the faster the years seem to fly by.
30. Paint colors NEVER look the same on your walls compared to the paint chip.
31. Kauai, Hawaii is just about the best place on earth.
32. Karma.

S T I T C H * F I X

For the last year or two, I stare at all my clothes in my closet and end up wearing about 1/4 of them.  Maybe it's just hitting 30 and nothing seems to fit right?  I don't know what finally got me motivated but I decided to do a massive cleanse of the closet and donate a ton of clothes.

So now what?  I have nothing to wear!

I decided to sign up for StitchFix!  It sounds like perfection - simply fill out the Style Profile and the personal stylist handpicks a selection of five clothing items and accessories unique to my taste, budget, and lifestyle.  About a week later, it's sent right to my doorstep (I hate shopping malls!) and I can try everything on at home....keep what I like and return the rest!  I ended up receiving and keeping items I would have never picked for myself.  I LOVE IT!

I love how my personal stylist visited my Pinterest site to learn more about my style preferences!  She even picked my favorite piece (black and white dress) based off something I pinned...so creative!

So I ended up getting five items:

Beige Wrap Scarf - $32.00 - Kept and love!
Black and White Papermoon Dress - $68.00 - Kept and LOVE!
Denna Skinny Jean - $78.00 - Returned
Tan Renee C Cardigan - $68.00 - Returned
Daniel Rainn Dark Purple Lace Detail V-Neck Blouse - $48.00 - Kept and have already worn twice (in one week!)

So once you figure out what you want to keep and not keep, you just sign into your account and complete the checkout process.  The greatest part - you can leave feedback on your items so the stylist can make next Fix even better!  If you end up loving everything, you get 25% off your purchase.

It's just too good to be true - I get to try new things I would have never thought to try, it comes directly to my door, and I get clothes every month.  Hello, StitchFix, sign me up....like, forever. :)

Secret to Clear Skin?

I am trying out a new regimen for my face - Acne.org!

It seems that I have tried everything - Proactive, SkinID, visiting dermatologists, Neutrogena, Clean & Clear, Purpose, Cetaphil, Differin....the list goes on and on but nothing has worked for a long period of time.  In fact, I truly believe my skin is suffering from my high levels of stress and until I can de-stress, I will just not have clear skin.  However, I'm willing to give these products above a try since there are so many rave reviews!

Dan Kern, founder of Acne.org, does not push you to purchase his products.  In fact, he also recommends many drugstore products to use as substitutes.  However, even with the drugstore products, it is KEY to follow the regimen precisely; the main idea is to be as gentle as possible with your skin. 

To be honest, the moisturizer is intimidating me since it contains Jojoba Oil.  I have never in my life willingly applied oil to my face!  However, after some research, I have found that when jojoba oil is applied to the skin, it can trick the skin into believing it produces enough oil. As a result, there is balanced oil production.  Maybe this is exactly what I need?

Who knows!  But I will give it a try and let you know how it goes after a few weeks!

Month 4 Update: I absolutely love the Regimen.  If you have any doubts, please stick with it.....it will be worth it!

Month 8 Update: Still in love...I haven't had one break out in 4 months!  I can't believe it!



It's Thirsty Thursday!

The TIU girls recommend drinking at least half your body weight in ounces of water PER DAY. Ex. 150lb = 75 oz of water.  Since it's Thursday, I make sure to refill my water bottle constantly!  According to K&K, water increases your metabolism so much that if you're chronically dehydrated, it can mean up to an 8 pound weight gain (or more) per year. 

I don't know about you, but that makes me want another glass :)

They're Real!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this mascara made by Benefit!  I have never in my life found mascara that actually does what it says - lengthens, curls, volumizes, lifts, separates, etc....

However, I received this Benefit "They're Real" mascara as a birthday gift and it's amazing.  It somehow works and makes lashes appear twice as long! 

Try it for yourself, you will be happy you did!  You can find it at Sephora & Ulta and other beauty stores. 

Threading

I've recently started eyebrow threading and love it!  Threading is a practice of shaping the eyebrows using a cotton thread.  The cotton thread is rolled and twisted along the surface of the skin and the hairs are then quickly lifted from the follicle.

There are several benefits of threading, rather than waxing--threading is more precise and hair grows back thinner and slower, no harsh products are used on your skin, & threading provides better shaping of the eyebrows.

I love that it's more gentle for the skin (compared to waxing) and precise.  To be honest, it is a little painful--but hey, "beauty is pain", right? I would recommend to everyone!