Day In the Life

Today I was a pretend stay-at-home mom ...

It was the first time in a long time that I haven't spent the weekend recuperating from work. I'm in a new position and my third week in was a little more intense but not even close in comparison to the last five years. Today, I didn't even think about work (which was unheard of in my prior role!). Today all I thought about was my home and my kids.

I woke up before the kids and went to the store. I did the grocery shopping for the week at my own pace (which is much quicker without the kids). In the process I actually mapped out what I (yes, me! not Danny, but what I personally) will be cooking this week! It was so much fun! Now when did I ever think I would say I had fun grocery shopping and planning out our meals...

I got home and cleaned out the fridge, as well as the rest of the kitchen. I had time to put away the groceries and get Lito's lunch ready for tomorrow! Solana was still asleep and Lito was playing in his room. Danny was asleep, as was Danny's dad, who is visiting from New Jersey. So I started cooking lunch for the day . It was just baked potatos with BBQ beef and all the trimmings but I made it, I had time to actually put it all together! Then I baked a snack, pigs in a blanket. By now everyone was starting to get up so I hung out, fed the kids, enjoyed my time with them.

Then Lito asked if we could go play at McDonald's (of course) so I got the kids ready and gave Danny some badly needed time off from the kids! We spent about 2 hours at McDonald's (go ahead, call me crazy)! After that we headed home. Even though I was a little tired, I was loving just hanging out with the kids! I got home and just played with them even more, for the rest of the afternoon. By 6:30 pm, I started the kids' bedtime routines, which on every other Sunday includes giving Lito a haircut. Usually I'm so stressed out by this time of day that poor Lito gets rushed through his haircut and Solana gets a quick rinse. Not today! Solana enjoyed playing in the tub for quite a while and Lito and I were joking around during haircut time.

Danny helped with Solana so I could clean Lito up and get him ready for bed. So Lito and I just played again in his room! At some point I told him jokingly, "Get your butt over here!" and he could not stop laughing! He said, "Mommy, you said butt!!!" You know the gut-hurting, straight-from-the-heart, bent over kind of laughter? Yeah, that was him! We had the giggles for a while, until he decided he was tired enough to get cozy in bed. By this point Solana had rejoined us (she can't stand being away from the laughter!). We did the usual nightime vitamin donwload and got a nice surprise as Lito was winding down. His grandfather came to the room to say goodnight. He's leaving tomorrow and we have his wedding album in Lito's room. He said he wanted to see the album before he leaves us, and he wanted to show Lito the family photos. It was so sweet watching Lito asking about all the unfamiliar faces! It was probably the first time I saw Danny's father actually interacting with Lito in that special way, and I was so happy to have been there at that moment!

Next, it was time to put Solana to bed. She has a specific routine too. She goes to sleep with the TV on so the first thing we do in her room is for her to turn on her own television. I then turn the lights off, get the blankets from her crip, and sit in the rocking chair. She runs over, jumps in my lap and lays her little head on my chest ... she strategically rests her ear over my heart, she loves the sound and won't fall asleep in any other position! I cover her up and we just rock until her arms and legs go limp and her breathing is low and steady. I usually run my fingers through her hair and every once in a while I doze off too. As I felt her fall deeper and deeper into her slumber, I just thought about my day.

How beautiful a day it was ... I could get used to this! I am so blessed ...