A Glimpse Into Our Daily Life

I will admit that it's been hard to get into a schedule since Farrah was born. But now, she's almost 7 weeks and I've begun to find ways to fit motherhood, housekeeping and fitness all into my schedule. For those of you wondering how it's possible to manage more than one child...here's a glimpse into my daily schedule for you.

I recently got into the habit of just staying up and being productive once Farrah has her first morning bottle. Since she's still so young, she often wakes up once in the middle of the night and then again around 5am. I now stay up after that 5am bottle because she will go back down to sleep and the boys and my husband are still sleeping as well.

5:00AM-6:30AM
Feed Farrah and put her back down to sleep. Since everyone else is also still sleeping, I'm able to clean up our downstairs living area and kitchen, get some laundry started and folded, pack baby bag and anything needed for the boys, etc. It really makes my day go a lot smoother to get things like that out of the way and start the day with a clean house because then when the kids are awake, I am able to spend more quality time with them.

6:30AM-7:00AM
Go for a run. I just started this one this morning, but plan to keep it up to help melt the baby weight off faster. Right now I run about 30 minutes. I hope to pack more miles into that 30 minutes soon as I start getting back into running shape...and also lengthen the run time. I also added a little jump roping at the end of my run this morning.

7:00AM-8:30AM
Feed Tanner and Breckin breakfast. Get Farrah fed again and changed. Have boys get dressed and ready for the day. Continue doing a few small chores as I go.

8:30AM-11:30AM {M/W/F}
Take Breckin and Farrah on a walk in our neighborhood. We usually go 2.5-3 miles before it gets too hot for them. After that, the kids will have outside play at our house - we have a trampoline and tree fort in the backyard and I've set up a sprinkler, chalk and other toys to keep them occupied. I'll feed Farrah once again, sometimes I will do this out on the front porch {with a fan on Farrah} so I can hang out with the boys while they play outside. She usually has another nap as well. {She's still very into sleeping and eating...but is starting to have more active periods, or just sits awake but content.} If I am able, I try to squeeze in a T25 or Insanity workout, but often this ends up having to wait until Jake is home to help with the kids.

8:30AM-11:30AM {T/TH}
Take Tanner to Karate camp. Breckin, Farrah and I meet some of my other mommy friends to walk the Cooper River Bridge at 9:30am. We usually walk for an hour or so, then I will usually feed Farrah while sitting on a bench watching Breckin play at the play park under the bridge. After she's done eating, we drive home.

11:30AM-12:00PM
Make and serve lunch.

12:00PM-2:30PM
We usually do a daily activity such as pool, play park or just playing outside. Farrah of course gets fed again sometime during this time.

Farrah and me at the play park the other day

2:30PM-6:30PM
We leave to pick Tanner up from Karate camp {T/TH} and I'll run any errands needed as well {groceries, etc.} I start preparing dinner. Jake gets home around 5:00pm normally, unless he's picking up extra hours or playing volleyball at the Windjammer after work {he does that on Tues eves right now - sometimes we'll go out there and hang out with him so the boys can have some beach time.}We eat dinner and Farrah also has another bottle.

6:30PM-8:00PM
This is when I typically make sure the kids get bathed, into their PJs and teeth brushed. I will then put a movie on some evenings for them and before they go to sleep, we read a nighttime story. Tanner is entering 3rd grade, so I like to have him read a book to us too.

8:00PM-10:00PM
Jake and I relax and watch our favorite shows - currently Orange Is The New Black, Game of Thrones {borrowing the series from a friend}, and a few other things. We feed Farrah her bedtime bottle and then go to bed.

And that's how it's done...for now. Seasons change, school will start again and Farrah will begin to be more active in the coming months...so everything will change accordingly. It's not very glamorous, but it's my life. :-)

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Happy New {School} Year

Tanner goes back to school next Wednesday!

Something about a new school year sort of brings up the same emotions and motivation I get at New Year's time. It's similar for me in that by now I've usually gotten lax on some of my "resolutions" and in many areas of my life - be it meals, fitness, activity schedules, etc...and the school year starting anew gives me a chance to put a good system in place {hopefully one I can stick to!}

Here are some things I'm excited about for the new school year and some things I plan on doing:

1. Excited that my fitness routine will be so much easier to keep on schedule! The gym is directly across the street from Tanner's school, and since he has to be dropped off around 7:30, that leaves me plenty of time before my 9am work day starts to get a workout in every day. I literally have no excuse to not make it to the gym. I like that. BONUS: Tanner starts baseball on Tuesday and Thursday nights from September 17th to October 24th and his practices are at the Patriot's Point field. For those of you not familiar, that is right next to the base of this bridge which gives me the great opportunity to walk/jog it with Breckin in the stroller while Tanner does his baseball practice:

2. Meal Planning: Always like to get a little more creative with Tanner's school lunches than I am during the summertime. Last year, his lunches looked mostly like this {here's his lunch from the first day of school}:

Additionally, since I'm prepping his lunches, I'm also better about prepping my own snacks and lunch for work so I don't make bad decisions. As you know, I've made a goal of eating a lot more clean than I was, and I plan on sticking with it to meet my fitness goals.

3. I'd like to have more of a routine of sorts going when we get home after the school/work day. On the days Tanner doesn't have a sport/activity going on, I'd like to set aside time for chores and homework, then get a healthy dinner on the table {with a menu plan in place} and have some good quality play time before winding down with the bedtime routine. I also want to make it a goal to prepare all the things I need for the next day the night before {after kiddos are in bed}. It really makes a difference in our mornings...especially with my attitude...since I won't be rushing as much.

I'll be sharing how I plan on accomplishing these tasks, how I'm going to stay organized and of course giving you updates. My main goal is to truly find a system that works, that the family can get on board with and we won't get lazy with. I know there's gotta be such a system out there!

Are you excited for the new school year {if you have kids}? Do you feel like it's a time of renewal as well? What are some of your goals this {school} year? Any tips on staying organized? I'd love to hear from you...

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Wall Organization System

Some of you may know, I used to have a blog called [just had] A Bright Idea where I focused mostly on interior design & decor and some DIY-ing. When I started Style Oyster, I wanted to incorporate those things along with my love of fashion and all things, well, stylish. Unfortunately, leaving that blog for a new url posed it's challenges. I lost the readers I had acccumulated over the 6 months of having the blog as well as the content...but wait, that content is NOT lost! Thanks to Blogger, I was able to move it over to Style Oyster. However, it was a little outdated (the wording in some, etc.) and of course the pictures were all tagged with my JHABI logo (and a few with even older blog logos than that! I had some name change issues...) I am putting this paragraph here as a preface to these posts because even though they are from the past, they are still projects that took a long time and are dear to my heart and I didn't want to lose them when I officially take my old blog off the Internet. So I apologize to those of you who have followed me since [just had] A Bright Idea, as you will be experiencing some deja vu, but I know some of you are new and this may all be new content to you. So bear with me, I plan on posting these once a week until they are all on Style Oyster. Thank you so much, and I do hope you enjoy. xoxo

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It's back! My wall organization system! I had it in the kitchen originally, but it didn't look like it does now. I had actually taken it down and hung the boards in the office/guest room, but since there is limited traffic in there, the message posting became useless and I didn't update the calendar as I should have been. It was much better utilized in our kitchen...the central hub of our lives. So I put it back...but better!

I picked up a little black wire magazine/letter wall file at TJ Maxx for $14.99 - knowing it would be perfect for corraling all of Tanner and Breckin's art projects/schoolwork each week until I got around to storing it in their schoolwork file boxes (which I try to do once a week). There are even places to put labels with their names (plan on getting that done here soon).

I already had all the boards from before. They are all from Target, made by Board Dudes. They have the Pottery Barn look without the Pottery Barn price.

I made this sign on the computer in order to fill a blank spot above the black wire files:

I also was so excited to find the perfect place the hang our family pictures! I had to take them down from the mantle once we got our flat screen TV a couple months ago.

I even added a menu organizing area on the side of the refrigerator next to the organization wall. I got the calendar and file system from Target. The grocery shopping list pad is from Walmart.

I'm so glad to have it back where I know it will all be utilized. It makes me smile every time I see it! Do you have a wall organization system? I'd love to see it! Post a link in a comment below!