While Mondays may be the black sheep of the week, there is something I love about the start of a fresh schedule. There’s a sense of comfort knowing what to *somewhat* expect and a sense of naivety thinking I will get it all finished. It’s the perfect combination of ignorance and bliss in my book. ha! So today I wanted to talk schedules, lifestyles, and what we wear during it all.

So let’s start with my day-to-day schedule now that Maxi is 2. In some ways, it feels really different and in other ways, it seems the exact same. She has a twinge of independence- she can go in the pantry, get cereal, and so on. But I find she can get in far more trouble left alone and needs me more for play. It’s hard to imagine I once had her in a wrap on my chest for most of the day.

Here’s a sample daily schedule so you can get an idea of how we spend our days and what differences or similarities we may have in terms of lifestyle!

5AM

Devotionals, get dressed, work on e-mails.

My alarm goes off at 5, and I feel so much better when I don’t hit snooze and just go ahead and get ahead on my day. I’ll sneak out of the room if my husband is still sleeping or if Maxi is in bed with us, pour a cup of coffee, and read my devotional on the sofa. I’ll work on some e-mails until I hear my husband start stirring, then I’ll jump in the shower and get ready! If I don’t get ready before Maxi is up, then it just doesn’t happen. I probably get ready 3-4 days a week and then just throw my hair in a ponytail and brush my teeth the other days.

6:30AM

Household tasks.

Maxi wakes up around 7, so I’ll try to tackle any household tasks at this time. This could be anything from writing a thank-you note, prepping a box for a return or exchange, starting a load of laundry, or unloading the dishwasher.

7AM

Breakfast

Maxi wakes up at 7 and if she isn’t in our bed, we always spend the first 15 minutes or so with her cuddling in bed. She needs that time to really wake up. Then we have breakfast as a family before Paul leaves for work. Maxi’s on a major cereal kick {She just had it with milk for the first time 2 weeks ago! ha.} but we also love oatmeal or breakfast tacos. Maxi takes a pretty long time to eat, so once I’m finished eating, I stay in the kitchen and clean out the fridge, prep lunches, take note of what we need for dinner, etc.

7 – 8:45 AM

Get Maxi ready & play in her room.

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I get Maxi ready for the day {Or hey- sometimes we stay in pajamas all day! No judgment!}. Then we spend the first part of the morning playing in her room with her train set. This is her train table! Maxi is obsessed with Facetiming her grandparents in the morning, too. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we head out the door for MDO.

9 AM

Blog shoots and park time. 

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays we will go on a walk with Peaches or go to the park. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, this is when Maxi goes to MDO. I will shoot for the blog at this time or sneak in a pilates class if I only have to shoot one day that week.

10 AM

Arts and crafts or blog posts.

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays we will play at home and do arts and crafts at this time. I also like to do activities with Maxi on Wednesday- whether that be a museum, meet Gigi for lunch, go to Barnes & Noble to read, etc! It’s our little morning date time that I love!

Tuesdays and Thursdays are when I write for my blog posts and schedule out content. I also meet with brands, have calls, etc. Paul will always pack my lunch in the car for me that day, so I can eat while working and then take pilates during “lunch” if I couldn’t do it during the shoot time.

Fridays are our fun days! I am very flexible with our schedule on Friday as I try my best to not have “work heavy” days on Friday. Fridays I typically spend on scheduling for work {accounting, editorial planning} so it isn’t as heavy as content planning. Friday we will do playdates, go to a bakery, etc.

11:30 AM

Lunch.

M,W,F– this is when Maxi has lunch. Sweet girl takes an hour to eat {seriously} so I can do dishes in the kitchen while I talk to her, once I finish eating.

12:30 PM

Wind down.

This is when we wind down for nap time. We will have reading time in her teepee in her room. It’s an older find from Walmart- in this blog post! I’ll read stories to her and then she grabs her book basket and will “read” to herself for about 30 minutes. I’ll sneak in reading, too! I always like to read aloud to Maxi, but I also like to have her see her mom reading. I could totally be wrong on that theory, but I feel children copy us so I want her to think it’s something mommy does, and she wants to do as I do!

1 PM

Nap and work.

This is when Maxi take her nap and she’ll usually nap until 2:30 or 3! I get a bulk of my work done at this point on days she is home with me.

3 – 3:30 PM

Wake up and snack.

When Maxi wakes up from her nap, she takes a bit to wake up. If I try to rush her out the door, I pay for it. 😉 We snuggle on the couch, share a snack and by 3:30 she is ready to play! If we need to go get groceries we do it at this time. If it’s nice outside, we head to the park or play on our back patio.

5 PM

Cook and dinner. 

Maxi and I eat pretty early! I wish we had more family “sit down” dinners, but that isn’t feasible with her eating schedule and Paul’s schedule. So I cook at 5 and this is when Maxi plays in the living room. She has a play kitchen there, her table and chairs for Play-Doh and her chalkboard. I’ll turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so I can cook dinner. Then, she and I sit down together to eat at 5:30.

6 PM

Bedroom play.

This is when we go in her room, play with her trains, her doctor kit, her dolls, etc. I read aloud while she plays, too, since she usually won’t sit still for storytime.

6:30 PM

Bath.

Bath. Now if Paul can get home by 7 some nights, I’ll have her stay up so they can have that time together. But for the most part, once she is bathed, I let her have independent play while I clean up her closet, dresser, etc. I never knew how much time you had to spend organizing children’s clothing! Maybe it’s just me, but I get so behind in that and feel like I’m constantly sorting what fits vs. what I need to store away for future kids.

7:45 PM

Maxi’s Bedtime.

Maxi goes to bed at 7:45. We get in her rocker at 7:30, read, pray, rock, and she goes down!

8 PM

Clean up living room and kitchen.

I’ll clean the living room and the kitchen and try to fold some laundry! I’ll also try to squeeze in some work before Paul gets home. Paul’s schedule varies SO much, as his schedule is really dependent upon the time of year. If it’s audit time or filing time, he could be at work until midnight, 2 or 3 am. If it’s just regular time, he can hopefully be home by 7/7:30. But during regular time, he probably gets home at 9 pm two nights a week. So if it’s one of those, I’ll work until he gets home!

9 PM

Time with Paul.

Paul and I spend this time together chatting on the sofa, I’ll sit with him while he eats dinner, we get caught up, etc.

10 PM

Finalize work. 

If I need to finish up anything for work I do this now. Like right now I’m typing this at 10:28 p.m. 😉 Typically, If I have a big project going on {like a larger campaign} I’ll work on it until midnight. If not, then I’ll get in bed around 10, finish up e-mails, read a book, and fall asleep to the sweet sounds of a couple bickering about Craftsman-Style homes on House Hunters.

I’m not sure if I’m doing anything right or wrong schedule-wise, but it feels like it works for us! Each week I’m behind on multiple things whether it is e-mails or just stuff for our family, but I like this new normal. It’s less perfectionist and more, “Whatever works!” And of course, this isn’t our schedule every single day and dependent upon the time of year, Paul can be home sooner. But as you can see, I spend most of my time with a toddler. I want to be paint or park ready at any moment, but I also want to feel like myself!

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For this post, I partnered with Walmart on their We Dress America campaign. The goal of the campaign is to showcase that no matter where you live or what you do, your style has a home here. It’s real people expressing their personal style. My narrative surrounds a toddler all day- and so what better way to share that than with the clothing we wear at home and on the go!

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Look 1

My mom is always buying Maxi pajamas from Walmart and one of our favorite brands for her is Lamaze Organic! They have this heart footless pajama outfit and this watermelon set for summer! If your little one is younger than Maxi they have such cute cotton packs like these pants.

Then for mama, this cami and short set might be one of my favorite Walmart finds to date! It’s  $15 and true to size. You can get all different colors and it’s perfect for summer pajamas when it is hot and humid out! Plus I can water the flowers/get the mail and it just looks like a romper! haha.

Look 2

A brand we love for play clothes is Wonder Nation! We have this ruffle sleeve top in the pink strip and the bird print. Then they have the matching shorts with bows on the side. I also love that they fit her waist because Maxi is pretty tall and slim for her age, so a lot of play shorts can be way too big on her. I’m wearing the Walmart dress I blogged last month, but these shoes are a new-to-me purchase. They run TTS!

These sets for Maxi are very light and comfortable so she can take her nap in them.

So no matter your lifestyle, you can shop spring trends here for you and your little one in their We Dress America campaign!

What’s your daily schedule like?!