Days with Porter Hayes...6 Month Schedule

Hey y'all!

One thing you may not know about me is that I am a very schedule oriented person. I like planning things out and knowing when I'm going to do certain things. After having Porter, I wanted him to be on a schedule too. Haha. It's funny how we mamas make these plans for our babes because they're just gonna do whatever they want ;) So one thing that I've been doing since Porter was born was searching online for different "baby schedules" so I could have a gage on what our day might look like. Ultimately, Porter put himself on a schedule but I tried to influence it (for example, I would always feed him when he woke up to try to establish an "eat, play, sleep" routine). The one thing that these online schedules were missing was what the mamas were doing. As a new stay at home mom, it took me a while to really get into a rhythm of what my responsibilities are and how to manage them throughout my day. So I've included a little peek into my day as well. Hope you enjoy!

*I'm averaging all of the times. Porter will usually wake up anytime between 6-7 but sometimes its even earlier/later. Also, his naps can range from 1-2.5 hours so that will obviously set the tone for the rest of the naps and the schedule for that day*

6:00 am - Wake up! Diaper change and bottle.

6:30-7:00 am - Mama makes herself some coffee while Porter hangs out in the kitchen with me in this. With coffee in hand, we play on P's play mat with toys, with his play gym, or his activity jumper. I always have on music while we play. We have Spotify and some of my favorites for P are the Laurie Berkner Band (if you were an OU ECE major you'll recognize these songs from the Child Development Center!), Raffi, The Wiggles, Veggie Tales, Rockabye Baby!, and of course Disney hits.

7:00 am - Breakfast! Right now, Porter is eating baby oatmeal and a fruit puree. I also have a sippy cup with water out during his solid meals but he hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet.

7:30-8:00 am - More playtime! I also keep a basket of books next to the play mats because Porter loves his books! He especially likes to chew on them :)

8:00 - 10:00 am - Nap time! Watching for sleep cues has really helped me know exactly when P is ready for a nap. In the morning, he's usually awake for about 2 hours but I can tell he's ready to nap when he starts rubbing his eyes or gets a little cranky. We "nap trained" Porter so I follow the same routine each time and put him down in the crib awake...I sometimes offer him a small bottle (depending on how much he's already eaten), change his diaper, make sure he has on comfy clothes, put on his wearable blanket, turn on the sound machine, turn off the light, sing "You Are My Sunshine" while holding him, lay him down and rub his back for a few minutes, then leave and close the door.

During nap time, I make and eat breakfast, read my devotional, check emails, Facebook, etc. Make the bed, shower (if I didn't shower the night before...I usually shower at night), and get dressed and ready for the day. I'll clean up the kitchen from breakfast, unload the dishwasher, and then check my planner for the day's "to do list". I usually have a big cleaning goal for the day (such as bathrooms, dusting, floors, etc.) plus laundry and daily swiffering (hellooooo Winston fur). Also any phone calls I need to make or bills that need to be paid get done at this time.

10:00 am - Diaper change and bottle. Then get P dressed for the day!

10:00 am - 12:30 pm - I like to run errands after Porter's first nap. It's usually his longest nap so he'll stay up for a while. Depending on how long the errands take, we usually sit on the front porch after we get home and throw the ball for Winnie.

12:30 - 2:00 pm - Nap time!

I'll make and eat lunch then continue working on tackling my to do list! I've also been really big on cleaning out and organizing our home so I usually spend some time working on that. Other items that I have on my to do list include: meal planning, making a grocery list, scheduling appointments, cleaning P's toys/teethers/bottles/bath tub/etc., and clean out the fridge.

2:00 pm - Diaper change and bottle.

2:00 - 4:00 pm - I try to take Porter out for a walk every day. Sometimes we go around the neighborhood, sometimes we drive over the Civic Center and walk around the pond, sometimes I strap him in the ErgoBaby carrier and we take Winston on a walk with us. When we get back we usually play outside for a while. We use bubbles or he'll sit in his "sit me up" chair and we'll use squirt toys and watch Winston try to chase the water as I squirt them. If it's a hot day, I'll give P a cold wet wash cloth to chew on (so great for teething too!) and I'll bring his high chair outside and pour some water in the tray to splash around in. A lot of days we make a Starbucks run during this time as well!

4:00 - 4:45 pm - Last nap of the day! Although, I think P is about to drop this last nap.

If I've made a good dent in my to do list and the house is looking good, I usually use this time to rest! Unfortunately I can't fall asleep during the day, but I like to lay on the couch and read my book or scroll through Pinterest and just zone out for a few minutes. I also get dinner prepped if necessary.

4:45 pm - Diaper change and either a bottle (if he wakes up earlier like 3:30 - 4:30) or dinner (if he wakes up later) I usually give him dinner around 5:00. For dinner, I do a veggie and a fruit and we are introducing protein! Then we play until daddy gets home.

5:15 pm - Matt gets home from work! Matt takes Porter to play so I can get dinner going or open a bottle of wine ;)

6:00 pm - Bedtime routine: bath (Porter looooooves bath time), jammies, books, and bottle. Matt reads to P every night. It's one of my favorite times of the day. We all (Winston included) cuddle up on our bed and read 3-5 books together.

7:00 pm - Bedtime. We have a similar routine to nap time (put on his blanket, turn on the sound machine, etc). Matt says goodnight and I rock P and sing "Lavenders Blue". It's our special "night night song". Then I lay him in the crib and kiss him goodnight. Some nights he'll roll around for a while before finding a comfortable spot. Other nights he might fuss for a few minutes. But he always falls asleep on his own like a champ (thank you sleep training!!!!!)

7:00 -8:00 pm - Fix and eat dinner. If I didn't take Winnie on walk earlier, then Matt or I will do that after dinner.

8:00 - 10:00 pm - Watch shows, read, shower, scroll on the phone, hang out with hubby, wind down, etc.

10:00 pm - Lights out! Because this mama is going to be up with P in just a few hours ;) He wakes once in the night for a small bottle. Going to ween him off that soon. It's hard though because as much as I do want a full night of sleep, I really love that time in the middle of the night. He is so cuddly and I love rocking him even if its only for a few minutes.

Well that about sums up our day! Hope it was helpful to any mamas out there!! Truly every day looks a little bit different and this is just a general overview what goes on during my days with Porter Hayes!

6 Month Update

Hey y'all!

How is my baby already 6 months old?!? He is growing so fast! While every month has been so special in different ways, this past month has been the most fun yet! Porter is so interactive. He loves to play, "talk", yell, and laugh. He is trying so hard to scoot and he rolls all over the place. He's not solid on sitting up yet, he seems to be more interested in trying to crawl. He has loved every fruit and veggie he has tried and devours oatmeal. We are only using Gerber baby food right now. He had been sleeping really well. Only waking up once to feed then back to sleep until anytime between 6-7am. However, little man recently started teething! His two bottom teeth have broken through. Teething is tough y'all. Porter is quite a trooper but it has interrupted his sleep. The worst is over (for these 2 teeth at least) so we need do a little work to get back to our good sleep habits. Since he started teething, P has been waking up twice in the night and then trying to get up for the day around 5am. Too early little man, too early. On a HUGE positive note, we "nap trained" Porter and he took to it like a champ! I now put him down for naps awake and he will fall asleep on his own and sleep anywhere from an hour to 2.5 hours. LIFE. CHANGING. Porter also does great in the car. He plays in his carseat or looks out the window. No more crying! Yay P! Next up, stage 2 foods, conquering sitting up, and dropping the middle of the night feeding (it's definitely a sleep association at this point as he is eating plenty during the day). Porter Hayes is the biggest blessing. He brings us more joy than we ever thought possible!  Love love love being a momma!

As far as momma updates...I'm feeling really great! Seriously. I've been working out 2x a week with Fit4Mom and taking P on long walks every day. I'm cooking dinner 5-6 nights per week and we are eating healthy meals. The fact that Porter is now napping in his crib (for longer than 30 minutes) has given me the freedom to be a much better home manager. I've also recently read a few books that have completely changed my perspective on things like tidying, clutter, home organization, and financial priorities. If you are a momma who runs a busy household, I highly recommend The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up , Unstuffed: Decluttering Your Home, Mind, and Soul , and Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living. I read each of these in about 2 days. Such amazing perspective!!! My home has never been more organized and I got rid of about 20+ trash bags full of unnecessary STUFF. There were so many things that we had lying around (or hidden in closets) that either weren't useful or didn't bring me joy. Time to go unnecessary stuff!!! I have also become much more organized about running our home. Meal planning, cleaning, keeping track of our calendar, organizing our finances, setting goals, etc. Things I'm loving right now: my Swiffer (hellooooo Winston fur everywhere), my Emily Ley planner (organization for the win!), Pioneer Woman Dinnertime cookbook (some of its healthy right?), and Lipsense (because momma needs to look *somewhat* put together).

Lastly, I wanted to brag on my husband for a minute. He did the sweetest thing for my birthday! I had been talking for years about going to Vegas to see Britney for my 30th. After Porter was born, we still talked about it but as May drew nearer I didn't think it would be best to bring my baby out of town when he is right in the midst of getting into a solid eating/sleeping schedule. If you know our story, you know the first few months were hard and we are in such a good place now that I didn't want to throw a wrench in his chain. Matt still wanted to make my birthday special, so he gave me "the 12 days of birthday month"!!! Starting on May 1st, Matt gave me a small gift each day leading up to my birthday (May 12th). Each gift was so thoughtful and meaningful and he even wrote a little rhyming card with each gift ("On the ____ day of birthday month, your true love gave to you..."). Now you're probably thinking, "Aren't you trying to get rid of STUFF?" Yes, yes I am. But these gifts are so true to me and things I absolutely love and they bring me so much joy! So they get to stay ;) He started off with a Voluspa candle from Anthro because that was the first gift he ever gave me when we first started dating. Other sweet gifts included flowers, mani/pedi, lululemon headbands, Kendra Scott earrings and matching bracelet, and Tory Burch flip flops. All leading up to day 12 where he surprised me with a Michele watch!! I've been wanting one for years but never thought I'd actually have one because ya know bills, rent, baby, etc. So we may be living on rice and beans for the next month but my man spoiled me rotten and I loved it! Haha! Thanks babe!

Hope you've enjoyed the month of May. It's even more special to me now because of Mother's Day. Had the best Mother's Day with my little fam! Looking forward to month 7 with my Porter. Now, back to laundry.