6:30 am – My morning wake up call is a kick to my forehead from my beloved daughter, Mia, who fell asleep next to me during her 3 am feeding. Yes, I am still nursing, and sometimes we co-sleep. Nursing wasn’t always easy for me, in fact we had a very difficult start. Once we overcame those problems, I promised myself and my daughter that I would ween her naturally. And naturally, it seems, Mia is not remotely interested in night weening. Especially at 3 am. It doesn’t bother me in the least. Somehow I even manage to get enough sleep at night. That’s the beauty of co-sleeping…. and having a King size bed. Mia does have a big-girl bed, but of course ours seems to be most comfortable to her.

6:35 am – My husband brings me coffee. He does this every single morning, on weekends, and holidays too. I love him for that. Mia usually points at our mugs and says “Ca-ca, ca-ca” (Mia speak for coffee), but today she is still sound asleep, snoring in between us. We sip our coffee and go about our morning ritual of talking (whispering this morning so as not to wake sleepyhead) about our day and dreams for retirement when we no longer have to work or change diapers. But that’s at least 20 years from now and we have to face today!

7:00 am – We tip-toe around the room and try to get ready without waking up Little Miss Sleepypants. I sneak in a 2 minute shower. Then I hear… “Mo-mo, Mo-mo” (Mia speak for Elmo). Mia is awake and clamoring for my IPad so she can watch You Tube videos of “Elmo’s World”. I instantly oblige her wish and carry on getting ready. Mia watching TV or You Tube is the only way I can get ready in the morning. ‘Nuf said.

7:30 am – We head downstairs for breakfast. Mia is clinging to me as usual, which makes it difficult to prepare breakfast. When I open the fridge she excitedly points to the container of coconut macaroons. With hopes she’ll quiet down and detach from my hip, I give her one. Sometimes I give my daughter cookies for breakfast — way to go “Mother of the Year!”

8:13 am – I depart for work and my hubby stays with Mia until Kara arrives with her kids around 8:30. We were so blessed to have found a fantastic caregiver who is a first-grade teacher taking time off to raise her 17 month- old daughter, Kaitlinn and 3 year old son, Joshua (Mia’s first crush). She takes care of Mia 3 days a week and takes them all to music class, the library, the park, etc. Everyday is an adventure and Mia couldnt be happier. The other 2 days she’s at a home-based daycare with other kids her age and a provider who is like family to us.

8:30 am – Driving to work is probably the only true alone time I have during the day. I take advantage of this by turning up the radio as loud as possible and singing at the top of my lungs. (This morning it was The Ramones ,”I Wanna Be Sedated,” and LMFAO, “Sexy and I Know It”. Sometimes the radio just speaks to me.) I am supposed to be at my desk, but instead I am here.

8:36 am – I arrive at the office, only to find my boss, the Commissioner of the CT Department of Agriculture, already there. Sometimes (ok, a lot of times), I’m late for work.

3:00 pm – I always reserve this time to pump so Mia has one bottle for the next day. We are definitely weening and all I could squeeze (pardon the expression), is about 3 ounces. But it’s enough for Mia to snack on when she wakes from her afternoon naps as a comfort to her. While I am pumping, Kara texts me this adorable pic of Mia playing at the baby gym. It brightens my day!

5:00 pm – I pick Mia up from the Kara’s house since we divide the day up. Kara comes to our house in the morning and then brings the kids back to her house. Once we arrive back home, Mia is shouting for “milk” and I nurse for about 20 minutes. During this time, I usually watch the news, HGTV, or E! (I hate to admit those Kardashian shows can be a little addictive). After that, it’s time to get dinner started. The two hardest questions that face me everyday are: “What am I going to wear that doesn’t have baby goo on it?” and “What am I going to make for dinner tonight?” Tonight I will try to keep it simple, although I always find a way to use every pot and pan I own to make dinner. I must admit …I don’t always wash the dishes and clean up at night. It depends on how tired I am. Sometimes I save clean up for the next morning. I applaud the working moms out there that leave a spotless kitchen at night before you go to bed!

7:30 pm – Bath time, books, and more Mo-mo. At 8:00 pm I inform Miss Mia that Mo-mo is indeed very tired and needs to go to sleep. She waves nah-nite to my IPad. I’m thankful she’s still too little to know that her mother lies to her. I nurse little one to sleep in her bed.

Here’s Mia rocking out to her new fave “Muppet Show” video before bedtime (I don’t really know how to upload videos so I hope this works):

8:10 pm – We hear Mia snoring over the baby monitor and my husband and I smile with relief that we can relax and spend time together. We love it when Mia falls asleep and we can feel normal again. Children (God love them) come and disrupt your life, but eventually they grow up. A husband is a lifelong companion!

Around 10:00 pm – We hear fits of coughing from Mia’s room and run in to check on her. My husband goes to hug her and she coughs so hard that she projectile vomits on herself, the bed, and down my husband’s back (people, you can’t make this stuff up!). Girlfriend needs to work on her gag reflex! As I cleaned up the mess, I was thankful that she refused the chicken I made and opted instead for a lighter fare of avocado, yogurt, grapes, and breast milk. So guess what I had to do late last night?

I’m so glad I got to share my day with you.  Also, today marks the beginning of the Christian season of Lent and being that I am Catholic and all, I feel better that I’ve confessed all of my “secrets”  (sins, short-cuts, whatever you prefer to call them) of being a first-time mother trying to balance work and life. Tomorrow I will begin anew, knowing full well I’ll probably do all of these things again. I’m totally ok with it, and I’m sure God is too 🙂