Hi all! I'm Darci and I blog {when I have time!} at The Bangert Family. I've enjoyed reading Melissa's blog over the years and when she asked for "Working Mommy's" to write, I was excited to participate, but also hesitant at the same time. You see I've only been a working mom of 2 kids for about 3 months and I have yet to feel like we have a good routine down, but we're working on it!
I've been married to my high school sweetheart, Kyle, for over 8 years now and we have two kids, our daughter Adelyn is 2 and son Avery is almost 7 months. We live in central "small town" Iowa within 40 minutes of both of our hometowns. I've worked for the local community college for going on 10 years now and Kyle began working there, as well, back in 2010. I started out a student worker in the Financial Aid office while I was attending college and have worked my way up to Director of Financial Aid. I also have a small part time job with RMS. They are a vendor Target hires to do sunglasses, cell phone brochures, and various other services in the store. It was a good opportunity for me to get some extra income to help with our debt snowball {any Dave Ramsey followers out there?}! The great part is a can do it whenever I want {I'm not on a schedule} and the pay is good for a part time job. Without further ado here's a day in the life of me & my family!
6:00am Adelyn is jumping in her crib calling for us, ready to start the day! Kyle gets her up and turns on Mickey Mouse or Bubble Guppies to keep her entertained. I pump first thing. Avery has been sleeping in and when we get him up he isn't interested in nursing, so I pump & send a bottle to daycare. He must need some time to wake up before he's ready to eat! Kyle will usually get ready for the day during this time.
6:30am Kyle usually gets Adelyn dressed for the day after he's ready. I will fix her hair and get her a some cereal to tide her over till daycare. They serve breakfast at 7:30am so she eats there. During this time I'll also pack any backup outfits, diapers, etc needed for daycare.
7:00am I wake Avery up, change his diaper, & get him dressed. Lately he's been sleeping in and we've had to wake him, but before that he would be my alarm clock at 5am! I like this routine better!
7:15am Kyle takes the kids to daycare. I'm so blessed to have such a helpful & supportive husband! And now that I've got my family ready for the day, I get ready at this time. {side note: since we do work at the same place sometimes I will get up earlier and we'll carpool or I'll take the kids, but on this particular day, Daddy took them!}
The first of this year we switched to a new daycare and we couldn't be happier. Adelyn loves it and has learned SO much! Its a Christian daycare center, so she not only learns things like praying before meals or bible stories at home & church, but at daycare too!
7:45am I'm out of the house and head to the office. We are within 10 minutes of our work & daycare, which is great! Short commute!
8:00am Most people start their day with a cup of coffee, but I prefer oatmeal with bananas! Today I ate my breakfast as I caught up on emails & planned the day. Other days I will make a quick breakfast at home, just depends on how the morning goes!
I usually take a total of 3 pump breaks at work to ensure I get enough milk for Avery at daycare the next day. I also have 2 pumps, thanks to my sister! I keep one at home and one in my office. Its SO nice not to have to lug that thing everyday! I'm really not a fan of pumping, but I know it important and I'm able to make just enough milk for Avery, so I'm going to stick it out. I was blessed to be able to nurse/pump bottles for Adelyn for her first year. I hope to do the same for Avery.
My lunch hour will vary throughout the week. Some days I just eat at my desk to get more work done. Other days, like today, I will use my lunch hour to do a few things for my RMS job. It works out great and reduces the length of time I have to be there in the evenings. Just a few weeks ago I had this brilliant idea, "instead of packing my lunch every night or morning, why not pack a weeks worth of lunch and only have to do it once a week?" Genius! It saves so much time and one less thing to think about during the week. I should note that I have a fridge in my office & my lunches are fairly simple: turkey sandwich, baked chips, fruit, & cottage cheese.
5:00pm I'm done with work and head to get the kids.
5:15pm I pick up the kids! This is one of my favorite parts of the day. I love their excitement when I walk in their rooms, just melts my heart!
5:30pm We arrive home. Kyle will usually entertain the kids while I get supper together.
Today we had supper in the crock-pot waiting for us, so I just had to cook some pasta & a veggie and we were set to go! I love crock-pot and making freezer meals ahead of time! Avery has started solids now. During this time Kyle will usually feed Avery his cereal and a fruit or veggie.
6:00/6:15pm We sit down to supper. We leave Avery in his high chair and give him some puffs or a mum mum to keep him entertained while we eat. I love our meal time in the evenings. Adelyn is usually our entertainment, either singing a song or telling us about her day, she's a little chatter box!
6:45pm I will get supper cleaned up and Kyle runs the bath water. We usually tag team. One of us will clean the kitchen the other will give baths. Works out great! We give Adelyn & Avery their baths together, 2 birds with one stone! Recently we removed the "sling" part of Avery's baby bath tub and he is moving ALL over the place! Sure does make bath time more eventful, he is such a busy boy!
7:10pm Done with baths and get both kids in PJs. I nurse Avery during this time and Kyle usually reads to Adelyn and snuggles in the chair while watching one of her shows.
7:40pm Avery is in bed for the night! Some nights I will put Adelyn to bed. We read books, sing, say prayers, and snuggle a little. But if its a night I have to do my RMS job Kyle puts her to bed, which just so happened to be tonight.
8:00pm-10pm I head to Target to do my various jobs for RMS. I usually spend 2 nights/week doing this. It does cut out on my "me time" at home, but we have a few goals we're working on and this is a great way to help us achieve those goals quicker!
10:10pm I head back home to pump before bed, get Avery's milk read for the next day, and hit the hay!
And it all starts over again the next day! The funny thing was that when I was writing this I kept thing that I really don't have a "typical" day and I'm sure all of you Mommies out there would agree! There are so many variations, especially when you have young kids! It makes life interesting and I sure wouldn't change it for a thing!
We usually get the majority of our cleaning done on Saturday and Sunday is laundry day. Currently I feel like our weekends we play catch up and the house is all spic & span for the week to start and then it just gets messy all over again! Such a vicious circle! I try not to stress too much over the little things and just enjoy time with my family, especially since they are only little once!
We also spend our weekends with friends, family, or in Iowa City getting our fill of Hawkeye football! This is our 6th season of being season ticket holders. It is hard to be away from our kids all week and then all day Saturday too, but its only 7-8 Saturdays in the fall and essentially we count this as our "vacation" for the year. Our hope is to purchase 2 more seats so we can have 4 and make it a family tradition to spend our Saturdays in the fall in Iowa City cheering on our Iowa Hawkeyes!
Since Avery was born in March Kyle and I haven't been very good about making time for each other. So we've decided to have a date night at least once a month. Last month we went to an acadeplla group the college was hosting {read: free!} and had a really nice time! It was fun to do something different, doesn't always have to be dinner & a movie! This month we're going to a banquet {at the college again...next month won't be at work, promise!}. Its so good to get out & have time with just the two of us and I truly believe it makes us better parents.
