Believe it or not, time flies when you are having fun. I've had "fun" my whole life, or so I thought. I guess the real fun and time flying begins when you have children. Sometimes I wonder what I do with all my time and where it goes and how to get more of it. I wonder if the big world of people I used to see all the time wonder if I'm just sitting at home ignoring them. I'm not. I'm selfishly hoarding every single precious second with my daughter. Rightfully so. She is mine. She came from me. She is growing oh so fast and there is not a meal, movie, mall, meeting or anything else out there that is better than spending time with her. Sure, we have went on a few date nights since she has been here (a handful). I absolutely hate if I don't get to put her to bed every night, so I never want to miss it. She does go to bed rather early, so there are opportunities to go somewhere after 7, if I happen to have everything else done. Yeah, right. You see, I work full time and she sleeps 13 hours every night, so I have to finagle as much time around her sleep and my work schedule to maximize my time with the CUTEST HAPPIEST BABY ON EARTH. I mean, have you seen her? Who wouldn't want to be with her?
I have always been very time conscious. Like I hate, no loathe, wasted time. Biggest pet peeve ever. Traffic, grocery lines, the bank, stupid people. Just don't take my time away from me because that is something I can't get back. I can't buy it back. It's priceless to me. I've always managed my time efficiently my entire life. Time is certainly a gift, even more so when it means time to spend with my Wylie bear. Don't waste my time that I could/should be spending with my daughter.
My day starts around 5:30am when I go to bootcamp, 6:30am other days. I get up to get myself ready, the dogs fed, myself fed and then await her to get up at 7:30am to feed and change her. I play with her until around 8:30am when I am off to work. She usually takes a 1.5-2 hour nap while I'm gone so I only miss about 4-5 hours with her if I can make it home by 3pm or so. My hours vary every day but it's nice to have flexibility. I get home, play with her and sometimes she will take another hour nap. Around 5pm, she has her last bottle and I attempt to prepare dinner for everyone (thank the Lord for crockpots). She eats with us and around 5:30pm, she takes her nightly bath that she loves! I have never seen a baby that would rather stand in the tub than sit. Maybe she should take showers instead? After bath time, Caleb and I accompany her to her room for "wind down diaper time." This is the nightly Wylie show that I NEVER EVER want to miss. She gets on this hyper high and just plays like crazy, covering every square foot of her room, activating every toy that makes noise, climbs the walls, mirror, and her anywhere chair making the sweetest squeals and tongue rolls. She eventually starts to tire out around 6:20pm when she begins to get really clumsy. We catch her, put on her pajamas, and then read her favorite books: Rain Drop Plop, Moo Baa La La La, Mr. Brown can Moo, Pajama Time, Snuggle Puppy, just to name a few. Then I turn out the light and turn on her white noise and projector. She cuddles her giraffe while I rock her and sing church hymns like I'll Fly Away, The Fount of Every Blessing, Heavenly Sunlight and How can I keep from singing your praise. Sometimes she pops the paci out, flails it about and sings along with me. We continue to rock either until she gets heavy eyelids and sighs or gets so squirmy that I can no longer hold her, then I put her in her crib by 7pm. The rest of the evening I dedicate to cleaning the kitchen, making lunches, doing my day's paperwork, working on my schedule, hanging out with Caleb, etc.
I often think that people must wonder (or maybe not even care) what I'm doing with my time. Why they never see me. Why I don't venture out to even grab dinner at 6pm anymore. Well there is why. I rearrange my day to capture every single moment I can with her, because one day she won't be 8 months old anymore. One day she will be on the phone in her room with her friends instead. One day she will be out with friends. One day she will be on date. One day she will move out. One day will be here before I know it as fast as time is going by. Don't get me wrong, I will eventually be able "get out more" once she doesn't go to bed so early and take 2 naps a day. Her sleep really takes away my time with her, but a baby that sleeps well is way more important. But right now, time with this little love is just so few and far between. I try to put off everything when she is awake. When it's time for her wake/play time, you won't find me sitting on the couch on the computer. You will find me in the floor right next to her. She is what I do now. She is my hobby. She is my book. She is my television show. She is my movie. She is my entertainment. Sure I take care of me. I have from 7pm-7:30am to have time for other things. I go to the gym. I take her for walks or do home workouts with her on days I don't go to bootcamp. I meal plan and make grocery lists when I think of it. Oh, and I sleep 8 hours in there somewhere also. (Thank you babywise)
All in all, those who have babies understand, especially those who have done Babywise. Those who don't, just don't. And if you need me, I will be right here. In the floor playing with my baby girl before I blink and my baby girl is all grown up. Do I mind? Nope. She is the easiest best baby and being a mom is no where near the burden that some make it out to be. Sure she scratches me, pulls my hair and spits up on me sometimes, but I wear it proudly. It means I am a mom. It means I am HER mom which is my greatest accomplishment to date. Now, excuse me while I go tackle the things I put off today so I could spend time with my baby girl. Thank you Lord for every second you provide me to be with her. Every good and perfect gift is from you!
