GOOD MORNING CONNECTICUT!  Mornings come earlier now than they ever did before.  And to think waking up for an 8:00 class in college used to make my eyes burn when the alarm went off at 7:00.  Mornings now start anywhere from 5:15-6:20 a.m.  Jake wakes us up with little gurgling baby noises from his room, and one of us (we alternate mornings) crawls out of bed to a half-asleep Jake, changes his diaper, feeds him his morning bottle and puts him back in his crib until he wakes up again around 7:00.  Today I’m on, so after Jake woke up at 6:23, and I’m done with the routine, I go into the kitchen and start to get Jake’s bottles and snacks ready for daycare, and get myself ready for my morning run.  While I’m doing this, Mike heads into the shower and gets ready for the day.  It’s now 7:00 and this is what I find when I walk into Jake’s room.  (love).

Oh, to be young and ready to play at 7:00 in the morning…!

We play a few rounds of, “let’s throw all of my stuffed animals out of my crib and you pick them up, Momma!” I laugh, Jake laughs, he pees, and then I change him, and it’s now time to slap hands with Mike and he’s in the ring.  Jake hangs out with Mike while he makes and eats his breakfast, and I head downstairs to clock a quick 4 mile run on the treadmill.

My morning run is an excellent way to keep up with gossip, find out how many children the Dugger family has, and who the latest designer is to partner with Target.  And if I’m lucky, I get a Kate Middleton report in there.  You bet I’m watching the Today show!  (Meredith, I still miss you).  Jake loves hanging out with Dad and playing with toys, and I get my 4 mile run in.

Now it’s time for Mike to leave for work, and I’m in the ring again.  Jake gets his own workout in now- jumping around in the Jumperoo, eating puffs and watching a few shows on Sprout.  Unless we figure out a better way for me to take a shower, get dressed, and load up the car before we head out for the day, the Jumperoo + Sprout = Happy Jake equation is the solution. No regrets, got it!?  (And look at that face.  Do you want to be the one tell him he’s not allowed to watch TV and play in the Jumperoo?  Yeah.  Me neither).

Now that the car’s loaded up and I’m wearing something presentable and there’s no dried baby food anywhere on my pants (that I can find, anyway), we’re ready to go to daycare and work!  Big hugs, big kisses, Jake tries to squirm away from me and play with his friends, and we part ways.  We’re still working on the whole “Wave bye bye to Momma!” thing.  Meaning, I frantically wave bye bye, and Jake couldn’t be bothered, because he knows he’s getting his scrambled egg breakfast heated up and it’s almost chow time.

It’s now around 9:00 and I’ve arrived at work at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.  Once at my desk, I start highlighting meetings I need to attend in the Bulletin, drink my coffee, eat my less than exciting breakfast of dry Special K from a baggie, read the morning papers online looking for research and legal topics related to my job, and discuss this morning’s parade of guests on the Today show with my co-workers.  Here is my home at the House Republican Office.  Note the enormous amount of gratuitous Jake shots, and Golden Girls mouse pad.  Do what makes you happy, people!

I’ve spent the morning meeting with my Boss discussing bill proposals I’ve drafted, responding to requests from Legislative Aides, and drafting testimony for an upcoming public hearing.  It’s now 11:00 and I’m off to my first meeting of the day- a public hearing on three bills before the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee.

I’ve got a little meeting conflict, which is pretty common- I also cover the Executive Nominations Committee, and that meeting starts at noon, so I’ll be running back and forth to both committee meetings.  After an hour of hearing testimony in Higher Ed, and taking a phone call from a Legislator, I’m now heading over to Exec Noms.

Exec Noms is one of my favorite committees.  Sometimes you get to meet famous celebs like Linda McMahon or high-level commissioners.  It’s kind of a big deal.  I listen in on the meeting for an hour, then it’s time to head over to the Legislative Office Building (LOB) Cafe where I fight off other people in the salad bar for spinach leaves.  I continue  my workout by climbing four flights of stairs in the LOB.  Thank you Tory Burch flats.  I’m totally not brave enough to climb those stairs in heels.

While eating my salad at my desk, I listen in on my committee meetings thanks to CTN, work on drafting testimony, meet with legislators, and respond to research and statutory clarification requests.

Oh, and a shameless plug…  Here are a couple shots of my girls at work.  They are huge CT Working Moms blog fans and avid readers.  Oh Hai!

Look, even guys love to read our blog!!  (They were all very excited at the prospect of being included in here, but well, this is my life, and my work is such a great part of it!)

It’s now time to leave the office and head back to pick up Jake.  I’m sure he’s had an amazing day filled with blueberry pancakes, naps, crawling over his friends, and providing pure joy to all around him.  I’m sure this is exactly how his day has gone.  He is less than excited that I’ve arrived to take him away from his fun.  But I coax him out with the prospect of eating dinner, and he comes willingly.

We head home, where I immediately rip off my work clothes and get into my jeans, long sleeve race tee, Ugg slippers, and knit hat.  I wash Jake’s bottles, get his dinner heated up (my homemade turkey meatballs, sauce and pastina), and lay out leftovers for Mike and I to fight over.  Can I say two things here?  Rotisserie Chicken.  Just get one. They’ll last for days, and all you have to do is supplement it with some sides.  While all of this is going on Jake is either napping or jumping and snacking.  He’s fun like that.  Today is a jump/snack on puffs/watch Sprout night.

It’s about 6:30 now, and Mike is home.  We sit down to eat, and we take turns feeding each other.  I don’t know how this started, but one day Jake just started offering us his food!  And what the heck, I’ve gotten every single one of his little colds, so why not, right?

After dinner, we clean up and Jake putzes around the family room with all of his favorite toys, and then it’s bathtime! The kid just loves it.  I actually made a “bathtime mix” of songs that my mom used to sing to me, and songs that Mike and I love.  I put on my iPod, and we commence a family sing-along to The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine.  Or more like I sing out in my tone deaf, off-key warble, Jake does raspberries at me, and Mike lifts weights and does push ups on the bathroom floor.  *Note- this is how he gets his workouts in.  You do what you gotta do, people.

It’s 7:30, and then it’s BEDTIME!!  Mike and I get Jake ready for bed, he has a nip of his bottle, and he falls asleep to the sweet sounds of the white noise machine.  (Right up there with rotisserie chickens and jumperoos.  Cannot get enough of this thing.)  Once the little one is off to the Land of Nod, Mike and I will clean up around the house a little, watch TV, especially if the Bruins are on, play around on facebook, and read.  Oh, and snack.  I can’t go to bed without Goldfish crackers and grapes.  It’s now 10:00 and sleep can’t come soon enough.

The weekends are definitely different.  We spend one day with the grandparents.  They love seeing Jake, and it’s nice to have another set of hands to chase after him.  I do a long run on the treadmill, Mike and I steal a date night every other weekend, we put back a bottle of wine on Saturday night, and of course there’s the less glamorous side of laundry, swiffering, errands, manicures & pedicures with my girlfriends, etc.  Oh, and whenever possible, the weekends involve Lenny & Joe’s, like it did last weekend!