Saturday, October 18th, 2014
Riley is 4 years 9 months
I'm 42 and Jesse is 39
 |
| Nightly stash on my nightstand |
I went to bed just after 10:30 the night before and as soon as I laid down I felt pain in my neck and back. I worried that I would have a hard time getting to sleep, but I don't remember much after that. Overall, it was a good nights sleep for me.
2:06 - Wake up and head to the bathroom. It's actually a good thing I wake a couple times a night because I often fall asleep and don't move until I wake up. My one side hurts so I know to flip over and sleep on the other side. I fall back to sleep right away.
4:43 - Up again, bathroom. Probably do another body flip and fall back to sleep right away.
5:52 - I wake up from a dream that I can no longer remember and my mouth is super dry. Drink some water and fall back to sleep. I then dream about being in a large building where an airborne poison has been released. I come across a guy who has made a makeshift mask to save himself, and it's then that I realize there is no hope for me. I keep following him in an attempt to leave the building and next thing I know I am being chased by the guys who released the poison and they are trying to keep me from leaving. I keep running, but instead of the guy with the mask I am now running with Lorelei and Rory from the Gilmore Girls. We escape outside; the bad guys are hot on our tails...
6:34 - And then I wake from my dream because Riley is yelling for one of us. She never gets up on her own - she'll just stay and bed and yell for "daddy" or "mommy". I always wonder why one day she yells for me and other days for her dad. Also, I later find out that Jesse had a dream that a tornado was coming and I was hiding out in a train car. Such doom in our dreams this night.
I go into Riley's room and try to get her to snuggle. She always wants to go right down stairs. On mornings that Jesse goes in to her room he obliges - probably because he is trying to be considerate of me still sleeping in bed, but I want to get in a little more sleep time. Extra sleep never happens, but Riley is now starting to humor me and will let me rub her back for a few minutes before asking to go downstairs.
6:44 - We head downstairs and Riley gets right into drawing. She makes me a card and tells me that I have to keep it in my office in the basement and that whenever I want to see it I have to go to my office. Well, ok then.
While she's drawing the card I start cleaning up the kitchen, do laundry and straighten up here and there. We head to the basement to put the card in my office and she asks if she can do some art down there as part of my desk is actually set up for this. She draws a picture, but asks if she can do paint so I pull that out. A few pictures later and she's on the ground, this time asking to make a book. I staple together some paper and she starts to draw on the front page. After a couple pages she looks up and sees other art stuff on a shelf and starts to ask to play with it when I notice a package of foam fairy stickers that I bought, but never gave her. She spends much of the day with these stickers putting them in her homemade book, on other pieces of paper, a Kleenex box and even a tissue.
8:30 - Riley eats some cereal and I follow with some scrambled eggs and toast with soynut butter on it. Riley has been exceptionally content with her artwork this morning. I love mornings like this. It's almost like she's showing off for this day in the life post. We let her watch a little TV with her breakfast, but she actually turns it off after a little bit.
I take advantage of her self play and sit down at my computer. I thought Lightroom was saving a copy of my photos on my backup drive and I realize that hasn't been happening. The night before I went through a bunch of my files and deleted pictures I no longer wanted since I am running out of room on my main drive. This morning I go through and find what isn't on the back up drive and make sure there are now copies there. Apparently, I still need to find a good process for this.
9:10 - I put together the apple crisp and get it in the oven. I follow it with cleaning up the kitchen again and finally, FINALLY, there are no dishes, clean or dirty, on the counter or in the sink.
 |
| OK, there is a water bottle there, but that's pretty much always there. It doesn't count. |
9:55 - Apple crisp is almost done so I go upstairs and clean up Riley's room and make my bed. I grab her some clothes and change into my gym clothes. I greatly dislike going to the gym this late, but Jesse is ready to go and that's enough motivation for me today.
11:25 - The gym is busy, but the childcare center is insane. So glad we usually go earlier. After a leg workout I get a banana granola protein shake and we head on home. I sit in the back seat with Riley per her request.
 |
| Off to the gym and hauling out the garbage |
 |
| Jesse getting Riley in the back seat. |
11:25 - The gym is busy, but the childcare center is insane. So glad we usually go earlier. After a leg workout I get a banana granola protein shake and we head on home. I sit in the back seat with Riley per her request.
At home, Riley wants to hide 'presents' for the puppet show party she was working on earlier this morning. She tells me the party is for me and I will have to find the presents she hides. I jump in the shower so she can hide the presents (some of her toys and markers).
Side tangent: I've been using Q-tips in my ears for at least 15 years. I know they aren't recommended, but I thought that was because you could damage your ear drum or something. I recently read a article on how you are packing away wax further into your ear and then heard a friend's personal account of this. I finally decided to give Q-tips the ol' heave ho. It's probably been a few weeks at this point and I am doing ok, but my ears are itchier at times, and I definitely have wax building up in the outer ear (TMI?). I don't love it though... I miss how my ears feel clean and not water logged after a shower. Anyone, make this transition and have coping tools? Wax still builds up so do you syringe them from time to time? I know they are supposed to naturally clean themselves, but the reason I started using Q-tips was because of wax buildup that a doctor had to remove. Sorry if this topic is gross to people, but the shower talk reminded me of this major change in my life. :)
OK, back to this day...After my shower, Jesse takes his own shower and Riley asks for some food. I make her a sandwich, cheese stick and carrots. Afterwards, she says she's still hungry so Jesse gives her a tortilla and a veggie pack. She and the cats are super hungry lately. Wondering if it's just the change of season or if Riley's in a growth spurt. I eat a wild rice turkey burger with mushrooms and a side of green beans.
Side tangent: I've been using Q-tips in my ears for at least 15 years. I know they aren't recommended, but I thought that was because you could damage your ear drum or something. I recently read a article on how you are packing away wax further into your ear and then heard a friend's personal account of this. I finally decided to give Q-tips the ol' heave ho. It's probably been a few weeks at this point and I am doing ok, but my ears are itchier at times, and I definitely have wax building up in the outer ear (TMI?). I don't love it though... I miss how my ears feel clean and not water logged after a shower. Anyone, make this transition and have coping tools? Wax still builds up so do you syringe them from time to time? I know they are supposed to naturally clean themselves, but the reason I started using Q-tips was because of wax buildup that a doctor had to remove. Sorry if this topic is gross to people, but the shower talk reminded me of this major change in my life. :)
OK, back to this day...After my shower, Jesse takes his own shower and Riley asks for some food. I make her a sandwich, cheese stick and carrots. Afterwards, she says she's still hungry so Jesse gives her a tortilla and a veggie pack. She and the cats are super hungry lately. Wondering if it's just the change of season or if Riley's in a growth spurt. I eat a wild rice turkey burger with mushrooms and a side of green beans.
Finally, after lunch it is puppet show party time. I'm told we need music so I put on the DeeLite station on Pandora and we all do a little rocking out as I walk around the living room finding my presents.
1:10 - As much as I want to keep the party going, I convince Riley to go outside for a little bit before rest/nap time. We've been planning to mow the lawn and mulch the leaves, but I decide to rake a couple piles up for Riley to play in. While we are outside playing in the leaves, Jesse is inside cleaning the house, but we convince him to come out to play for a little bit.
 |
| My new favorite picture of Jesse |
 |
| Telling secrets |
1:52 - Back in the house, Riley heads upstairs with her dad to read a book and then rest. She still randomly takes a nap and today is one of those days. I work on writing down some of the morning as it's felt like such a whirlwind.
2:30 - I get up and clean the cat box upstairs (we have two) and start to move some stuff from our living and dining room into the guest room. We are getting a bunch of new windows on Monday so we need to clear the spaces near these windows. We'll wait until Sunday do the curtains, but I want to move as much of the little stuff as I can now.
It feels so empty and so wonderful just to have all the toys out of our living room that we ponder how we can make that a daily reality, knowing it won't actually happen.
3:46 - Jesse goes to wake Riley. If she sleeps too late she will be up late tonight. We usually let her sleep until 4:00, but she was up late the night before so we want to make sure she gets to sleep at a decent time tonight. When she and Jesse come down they share that we are taking the wagon to the park. We load up some water and snacks and head out to what we call the orange park. We walk and play for some time and even play hide and seek at the park.
As we are headed back home I realize that my camera is not in my pocket. For some reason, even though I brought my DSLR, I had my point and shoot in my pocket. I second guess that I brought it because it makes no sense that I would, but I distinctly remember it being in that pocket at some point during the day. I think about turning back to find it (and I have a good idea where it would be), but I convince myself that I never brought it. Plus, I've walked so much this day I don't want to walk out of my way for it to not be there. Every step I take closer to home makes me feel that much sicker that my camera has been picked up by someone and forever lost to me.
I get home and my camera is no where to be found. I want to puke and realize I need to get back to the part right away. Jesse mentioned wanting peppercorn pork for dinner so I offer to stop by Target after the park to pick it up.
4:55 - Camera found! It was right where I thought it was. I had been on the ground taking pictures of leaves so it made the most sense that it would be there.
Next, I go to Target and shopping goes fast. Feeling really good at this point because I am making good time, until I get in line with a super slow cashier. I know enough of the cashiers at this Target to usually know who to go to and who to avoid, but I wasn't aware of this one and I paid for it by waiting a long time. I also want to pick up some wine since the bottle I have at home is horrible. It's not often that I want to dump a bottle of wine, but I do with this one. I have a favorite liquor store (they just have a really good selection of wine), but decide to stop at the place down the way from Target to save time and glad that I did. Great prices and great service. Oh, and not that I drink all that much at home, but after the camera loss scare I decide to just get a box of wine. It just seems appropriate.
5:34 - I get home and start dinner. Jesse starts the grill and I make a pasta dinner staple in our house. He ends up making a salad and adds the pork to it and I stick to the pasta. So good. After dinner, Riley resumes her art and I fold some laundry.
7:15 - Usually we head upstairs by 7, but Riley was busy finishing her art project so we get a late start up. Love that she was so into creating things today. We both change into our PJs while Riley sings. She's been singing and talking nonstop all evening. I ask her to be quiet for a couple minutes and she stops for about 15 seconds before she starts up again. It is the most glorious 15 seconds of the evening.
Then Riley brushes her teeth, and goes to the bathroom. A new thing we do is pick out a book, hide it, and then let Riley find it so I do that with one book. She finds the book and reads it to me. We take a bunch of pictures... mostly at her request. In fact, she had me take a picture of each page of the book. That girl. I pick out a couple more books and hide them so she can find those and read them after I go downstairs. We cuddle and play "what's your favorite..." after a few of these questions back and forth we take a few more pictures before I head back down.
We take a bunch of self portraits and this is the most flattering one of me. Riley was absolutely adorable in all of them. Note to self, don't pucker your lips like this - you officially have old lady creasy lips.
7:50 - Usually, I leave Riley around 7:30, but again we are running behind a bit tonight (with the photo shoot and all going on in Riley's bed room). I go downstairs and pour a glass of wine, turn on Hell on Wheels and write up more of this post.
I was invited to two different events this evening, but obviously didn't attend either. One was a 'try wine before you buy' event. That seems like a no brainer to go to. The other was a Halloween party. I'm not really into costume parties, but the theme of this one was the 'People of Walmart'. That means it pretty much gave me permission to show up in my pajamas. And not even my good ones. Why would I not go to this? In the end I was just beat and feeling like I didn't want to interact with the public. Happens a lot for me. Actually, I went out twice earlier this week so it was a somewhat busy social week for me in case your worried that I am a total hermit.
8:58 - I realize it's been a long time since I've heard Riley upstairs so I am glad she fell asleep at a reasonable hour. I decide it's time for me to have a portion of apple crisp and then load the pictures I took today.
10:20 - Time for bed. I check my fitbit and see that I walked 16,606 steps today. No wonder I am completely beat. I sleep hard and only wake up once before Riley wakes me around 6:30 in the morning.
A cute story to add about the next morning... I had a migraine come on so I took some medicine, but the medicine can have uncomfortable side effects (like I can feel it pumping through my blood for hours). After Jesse got up I decided to go lay down. Riley had been singing all morning so I told her I was going to go lay down upstairs and she would have to be very quiet. She asked if she could get me some blankets, play me some music and sing me a lullaby - all stuff she's done before when I didn't feel well, but those times were not when I had a headache. It was so sweet, but I couldn't fathom the idea of anymore noise being made. I tried to explain that it wasn't needed, but she said "I just want to take care of you". I'm pretty sure my heart exploded at that moment. She's such a caring kid. I went upstairs expecting she'd come up as she said she would, but I'm pretty sure Jesse convinced her otherwise so I could get some rest. Love that girl.
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
It feels so empty and so wonderful just to have all the toys out of our living room that we ponder how we can make that a daily reality, knowing it won't actually happen.
3:46 - Jesse goes to wake Riley. If she sleeps too late she will be up late tonight. We usually let her sleep until 4:00, but she was up late the night before so we want to make sure she gets to sleep at a decent time tonight. When she and Jesse come down they share that we are taking the wagon to the park. We load up some water and snacks and head out to what we call the orange park. We walk and play for some time and even play hide and seek at the park.
 |
| 1, 2, 3, 4... |
 |
| In my hiding spot |
As we are headed back home I realize that my camera is not in my pocket. For some reason, even though I brought my DSLR, I had my point and shoot in my pocket. I second guess that I brought it because it makes no sense that I would, but I distinctly remember it being in that pocket at some point during the day. I think about turning back to find it (and I have a good idea where it would be), but I convince myself that I never brought it. Plus, I've walked so much this day I don't want to walk out of my way for it to not be there. Every step I take closer to home makes me feel that much sicker that my camera has been picked up by someone and forever lost to me.
4:55 - Camera found! It was right where I thought it was. I had been on the ground taking pictures of leaves so it made the most sense that it would be there.
 |
| My red camera blended right in with these leaves. |
Next, I go to Target and shopping goes fast. Feeling really good at this point because I am making good time, until I get in line with a super slow cashier. I know enough of the cashiers at this Target to usually know who to go to and who to avoid, but I wasn't aware of this one and I paid for it by waiting a long time. I also want to pick up some wine since the bottle I have at home is horrible. It's not often that I want to dump a bottle of wine, but I do with this one. I have a favorite liquor store (they just have a really good selection of wine), but decide to stop at the place down the way from Target to save time and glad that I did. Great prices and great service. Oh, and not that I drink all that much at home, but after the camera loss scare I decide to just get a box of wine. It just seems appropriate.
5:34 - I get home and start dinner. Jesse starts the grill and I make a pasta dinner staple in our house. He ends up making a salad and adds the pork to it and I stick to the pasta. So good. After dinner, Riley resumes her art and I fold some laundry.
7:15 - Usually we head upstairs by 7, but Riley was busy finishing her art project so we get a late start up. Love that she was so into creating things today. We both change into our PJs while Riley sings. She's been singing and talking nonstop all evening. I ask her to be quiet for a couple minutes and she stops for about 15 seconds before she starts up again. It is the most glorious 15 seconds of the evening.
Then Riley brushes her teeth, and goes to the bathroom. A new thing we do is pick out a book, hide it, and then let Riley find it so I do that with one book. She finds the book and reads it to me. We take a bunch of pictures... mostly at her request. In fact, she had me take a picture of each page of the book. That girl. I pick out a couple more books and hide them so she can find those and read them after I go downstairs. We cuddle and play "what's your favorite..." after a few of these questions back and forth we take a few more pictures before I head back down.
 |
| "Mom, take my picture here" |
 |
| After I tell her she can't sit in the play highchair she asks me to take a picture of her being frustrated. |
 |
| One of the pages she insist I document |
 |
| Girl did a lot of coughing today. Hope it doesn't get much worse. |
 |
| "Take a picture of me with Lucy" |
 |
| "Take a picture of me brushing my teeth, mom" |
We take a bunch of self portraits and this is the most flattering one of me. Riley was absolutely adorable in all of them. Note to self, don't pucker your lips like this - you officially have old lady creasy lips.
7:50 - Usually, I leave Riley around 7:30, but again we are running behind a bit tonight (with the photo shoot and all going on in Riley's bed room). I go downstairs and pour a glass of wine, turn on Hell on Wheels and write up more of this post.
I was invited to two different events this evening, but obviously didn't attend either. One was a 'try wine before you buy' event. That seems like a no brainer to go to. The other was a Halloween party. I'm not really into costume parties, but the theme of this one was the 'People of Walmart'. That means it pretty much gave me permission to show up in my pajamas. And not even my good ones. Why would I not go to this? In the end I was just beat and feeling like I didn't want to interact with the public. Happens a lot for me. Actually, I went out twice earlier this week so it was a somewhat busy social week for me in case your worried that I am a total hermit.
8:58 - I realize it's been a long time since I've heard Riley upstairs so I am glad she fell asleep at a reasonable hour. I decide it's time for me to have a portion of apple crisp and then load the pictures I took today.
 |
| I ate about half this apple crisp - not sure why I thought I would eat this much. |
10:20 - Time for bed. I check my fitbit and see that I walked 16,606 steps today. No wonder I am completely beat. I sleep hard and only wake up once before Riley wakes me around 6:30 in the morning.
A cute story to add about the next morning... I had a migraine come on so I took some medicine, but the medicine can have uncomfortable side effects (like I can feel it pumping through my blood for hours). After Jesse got up I decided to go lay down. Riley had been singing all morning so I told her I was going to go lay down upstairs and she would have to be very quiet. She asked if she could get me some blankets, play me some music and sing me a lullaby - all stuff she's done before when I didn't feel well, but those times were not when I had a headache. It was so sweet, but I couldn't fathom the idea of anymore noise being made. I tried to explain that it wasn't needed, but she said "I just want to take care of you". I'm pretty sure my heart exploded at that moment. She's such a caring kid. I went upstairs expecting she'd come up as she said she would, but I'm pretty sure Jesse convinced her otherwise so I could get some rest. Love that girl.
Sorry about the migraine- that sucks! Looks like a fun day overall. The picture of you and Riley before she went to bed is awesome!
ReplyDeleteStrangely while being in Senegal, I've notice my gluten intolerance flaring up and my ears having more wax. I know q-tips are bad and try not to use them too. I found that using garlic oil (which you can make yourself http://www.happy-mothering.com/01/health-2/natural-remedies-garlic-oil-for-ear-aches-and-ear-infections/) has helped a bit. Also I love using baby/children's q-tips as they don't push the wax inside as my ears are pretty small inside.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why your gluten intolerance is flaring up. I wonder if it's something about being in Senegal (climate? food?) or totally unrelated? Also, I had no idea that would impact wax in one's ears. Interesting.
DeleteReally wanted to pick that picture of Jesse - hahaha.
ReplyDeleteRiley jumping right into art at the start of the day reminded me of Bella.
Lots of gorgeous photography as usual!
I always look forward to seeing which picture you select. Jesse is the way more animated parent of us two so it shouldn't surprise me that I got that picture of him, but it totally makes me giggle.
DeleteI absolutely hate the feeling of losing something valuable ... so glad you found your camera! And, I can't believe how grown up Riley seemed in this post. She is getting so big! Love how she wanted you to take certain photos of her, too. Kids these days with the camera in their faces all the time. :) Thanks for sharing your day!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how big she is too (and your kids - didn't you just have a baby, and now he's so big)! I'm grateful that Riley is one of those kids that likes the camera since I take so many pictures.
DeleteI too have been told many, many times, usually by medical professionals, not to use cotton swabs in my ears. Most everybody I know who has clean ears uses them, so go figure. In the past whenever I've gone to urgent care or something to get them cleaned out because of the pain I was having, I always got scolded for using cotton swabs. I was told I was pushing it in deeper. At this point I still use them, just carefully after I let warm water in in the shower. I also know that one of these days I'll probably end up getting them professionally cleaned out again once I feel the buildup and pain and loss of hearing, but that's better than going around with your ears all full of nasty wax that can be seen from the outside IMO. It's just a burden that those of us who produce more wax than average have to deal with, I guess.
ReplyDeleteMy point: If they were working for you before, just keep using them! Anyone who says otherwise probably assumes you are not smart enough not to stick it in your ear drum.
Thank you for the validation that it is ok to use Q-tips! I'm actually still Q-tip free and haven't cheated once. I thought I would cave way before now. I do get a little itchy ear occasionally, but I've been using tissue around my finger after showers to get some of the stuff out and that feels better (but perhaps causes the same issue? I don't know.) My husband jokes that I am now gross because I've given up the Q-tip, but I've survived so far. Let's see what happens at my next physical when they check my ears.
Delete