Good morning friends! Today's Daily Dish is the first as my new role as a new momma! This season of my life has been exciting, exhausting, stretching, and yet filled with more grace than I could have ever imagined! It really is true what they say about being a mom, that it is the hardest and the BEST job on earth all at the same time!
Madeline is now 3 months old, which is really a sweet spot in her development, as she has just recently started to smile, giggle, and interact with us! She is also sleeping for longer stretches at night, and we recently started to follow her cues for when she seemed tired during the day to get her on more of a routine...Which makes this momma very happy! :)
It's not perfect yet, but for the most part she wakes at 7 am, and eats every 3 hours from there (she is breastfeeding). As far as naps, we try to put her down in her crib anywhere from 1.5-2 hours after eating and she sleeps for roughly 30-45 minutes, taking about 3-4 naps per day, (although at least 1-2 of those are still taken on the boppy or rock and play).
As far as the nights go, she is still sleeping in the bassinet in our room, and she tends to wake up right now between 2-3 am, and I feed her. She then wakes again between 5-6 am, but we try to keep her in the bassinet until 7 am, so we give her a pacifier, and she typically falls back asleep on her own until 7 am. Meanwhile, I head downstairs at about 6 am to get my day started, and have about 1 hour of quite time before she wakes. I head straight to the coffee machine and brew a cup of coffee, and pull either a protein ball or muffin out of the freezer and enjoy it while my coffee is brewing. I like to have something small to eat because not only am I so hungry when I wake up (thanks to breastfeeding), but I also like to get my metabolism going for the day, and have something light before my workout! By the way- who else is loving pumpkin spice coffee right now!?! It's my jam!!!
While sipping on my coffee I start my day off doing the most important thing in my world...Praying for my family and spending time with Jesus! These are two of my favorite prayer books, but I also have scriptures that I pray over them that the Lord has given me to pray over them in each season of life!
I also pump after or during spending time in the Word. I do this because my husband gives her a bottle when she wakes up, which we decided to do pretty early on, (give her one bottle per day), so that she can easily take a bottle if I ever have to go somewhere! This has proven to be a really good thing for my husband to bond and spend time with her and I take off to workout at about 8 am.
For my workouts lately I have been doing a mix of gym workouts and workouts in my basement. I only have a bench, kettle bell, and some free weights in my basement, so going to the gym provides a nice variation for strength training!
My workouts are always different, but overall I like to incorporate weight and bodyweight to get my heart rate up and build strength. I like to have a workout written before I head to the gym (or my basement), as it allows me to get in and out as quick as possible. I typically write a workout based on what I have worked that week, and what I feel like doing. I am a firm believer that working out should never be dreadful, so I like to mix it up to keep it fresh! (Note: Every workout that is currently on my website is a workout I have made up and done myself, either at home or at the gym!)
My workouts are still a little less intense than they used to be, and the weights I use are a little lighter, as I am focusing on proper form and building my strength back up after pregnancy. It would be so easy for me to try and push it too quick, but I really have tried to do things the right way and be patient as I let my body get stronger! :)
After my workout I quickly shower, throw on a robe, and enjoy a protein shake while answering emails. I change up the flavor just about every day, but always start with the same base of cottage cheese, stevia, ice, water, and protein powder. (I currently use this protein powder while I'm nursing).
I also like to have some kind of healthy carb with my shake, as it is important to have a balance of nutrition to re-fuel after a tough workout! My banana bread breakfast cookies are one of my faves!
After eating breakfast, Maddie is already up from her first nap for the day (around 10 am), so I feed her the second feeding for the day! After she eats she loves to go on her play mat and do some sort of activity!
Maddie goes down for her second nap around 11-11:30, and I take that time to plan out the rest of my day, whether it be getting my recipes ready for the day or do something on the computer, and I post my recipe for the day!
I also head upstairs to get ready for the day, which generally means putting on a little bit of makeup, and put on a comfy/casual outfit for the day! I certainly don't have to get ready for the day being that I work from home, but I do find that this makes me feel more productive and put together when I invest a little bit of time in caring for myself!
That being said, (especially in this season of my life), I certainly don't put on a full face of makeup daily, or even do my hair! Realistically during the weekdays I put on a little foundation, color in my eyebrows, and put on some mascara, because well...I'm blonde so those are a must! ;) I throw my hair in a pony tail, and move on with my day!
On a Friday or weekend I tend to take the extra steps to put on a full face of makeup and do my hair, because these are the days I have a bit more time, and I also like to get ready for the occasional date night!
Before I know it, lunch time comes up pretty quickly, (is it just me, or do the mornings always seem to fly by!?!) So I head downstairs to eat lunch. I always have something prepared for lunch in advance (be sure to check out my new series, "What I'm Eating This Week" to see my weekly meal plans for inspiration!)
This summer I have loved some kind of salad or wrap sandwich for lunch, which I always have at least some of the ingredients prepped ahead of time so I can throw them together quickly for lunch. In the fall/winter I will probably change it up to have more soups/chili's that I make in the crockpot and enjoy throughout the week.
This week was my Grilled Mediterranean Chopped Salads! I could have put them together ahead of time, but there really is no need since I work from home, and I feel they are fresher tasting if I wait to put them together just before eating them.
After lunch I enjoy some kind of Dashing Dish baked good or some plain Greek yogurt sweetened with stevia, and frozen strawberries, and a sprinkle of peanut flour! (This is typically where I add extra calories in my day due to my increased caloric needs for breastfeeding).
After lunch, and feeding the babe at 1 pm, we get ready to do some work! I put her in the baby carrier or Sean puts her in his office in the rock and play as I create recipes and Sean does design work for the day!
Se also likes sitting in her bouncy seat while I create recipes! She is such an observant little baby, listening to me as I explain my steps in creating my recipes, (I love talking to her about everything, as I read this will help her development!) She is really quite content to sit and watch me bake/cook away!
After creating the recipe(s) for the day, I take pictures of the finished dish(es) and I either pack them up to give to someone, or save them to eat ourselves. (I almost always give food away, since it would be near impossible for us to eat ourselves).
After taking pictures I clean up the kitchen and dining room (where I take pictures), and clean the endless mounds of dishes I created!
Somewhere in that time frame I try to grab another quick snack. This was my BLT turkey lettuce wrap, which makes a delicious snack or even lunch!
While eating my mid-afternoon snack, I sit and edit the recipe based on how it turned out. I have to say, I almost never have to re-do a recipe, as it almost always turns out the first time around. I attribute this to years of experience, and the Lord giving me wisdom! :)
I feed Maddie again at 4 pm, and put her down for a nap around 5pm.
We then enjoy the fruits of my labor if I created a clean eating dessert that day! ;) Today we had my Clean Eating Apple Crumble with Halo Top vanilla ice cream! (Recipe coming soon!)
I almost always end my dinner with either decaf coffee or tea. I have found that a warm drink signals to my body "your satisfied" for the evening, and keeps me from munching on snacks the rest of the night.
My husband and I spend the rest of the evening together doing something the three of us. Whether it be a walk, watching a movie, or just talking, we like to guard that time and stay off social media, and away from our computers... Since we both work from home we find this is important to do, as we could work all day/night if we let ourselves.
Around 6:50 we head upstairs to bathe Maddie, and get her ready for bed. I then feed her around 7-7:30 pm, and she falls asleep pretty easily!
We also like to read her a book, or read the bible together while i'm feeding her! :)
Sean and I stay up to spend some time alone until about 9-9:30 (I know we are pretty wild! But when you get up in the middle of the night still, your bedtime is early) ;) So, I like to pump one more time before I go to bed so it isn't that long between feeding/pumping in the evening hours, to keep my milk supply up!
And then around 9 pm we hit the hay, thanking the Lord for His goodness, protection, and provision for that day! :) And that my friends is a day in my life as a new momma! As always, thanks for joining me on this journey! xo Katie
on this blog post
More Comments Loading...I'd love to hear your thoughts!