Congratulations to Erin Montgomery for winning the Baby and Me ruffle pants giveaway!!! I'll email you with the details for getting those pants :)
At the beginning of every month Melanie and I will post a Q&A and the majority of the time they will be themed for that particular month or season. If you have any suggestions or questions you want us to answer, email us! We'd love to hear from you :)
Since school starts back up this month we thought a "Back to School/Work" themed Q&A was appropriate.
I think this pretty much sums up how every single teacher feels. Am I right? My kids are still in daycare so this Q&A is more focused on "back to work" on my end.
1. What is your morning routine?
My alarm goes off at 4:20...yes I've heard I'm insane, but I'll explain why. I lay in bed and play around on my phone (check FB, instagram, bloglovin') for about 10 minutes and then get up. I let Duke (our black lab) out and feed him, make a large cup of coffee and then start getting ready for the day. Here is why I wake up so early. Jansen is an early bird and when I say early I mean 5 AM early. Very rarely does my son decide to sleep past 5:30 in the morning. And as frustrating as that may seem, I can't help but have a big smile on my face that mirrors his when I go in his room to get him. I mean, he's got one of those break your face it's so big type of smiles going on when I open his bedroom door in the morning. That being said, I like to be done getting ready (hair, makeup, etc) by the time he wakes up because it is not easy to get ready while that boy is awake and ready to play. When he's awake around 5:30, I give him a 6 oz bottle while I get dressed.
Once he's done with his bottle, we go into the living room and he plays with his toys while I pack breakfast and lunches and double check to make sure the kids daycare bags have everything they need (nap stuff, diapers, wipes, extra clothes, etc). When the bags are packed and loaded, I put them in the laundry room (this leads to the garage) that way I can grab them on the way to the car, but I'm still able to put any last minute items into them that I may have forgotten. Next, I get Jansen dressed and go wake up Sawyer no later than 6 AM.
Sawyer is a little slower to wake up than Jansen so I bring her into the living room to watch a little bit of Super Why or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I grab her clothes and get her dressed as quickly as possible since Jansen makes a bee line for his sister the second she is down on the floor. We brush her teeth and do her hair (and JT's as well) and start heading out the door. My goal is to get out of the house by 6:30 but let's be realistic...I have a 9 month old and a 2 1/2 year old. There is almost always something that adds a few minutes to our morning routine, may it be a fit over who knows what, a poopy diaper right as we are walking out the door, a change of clothes (mine or JT's) due to spit up. Yes, my 9 month old still spits up....I chalk it up to the fact that he's never and I mean NEVER still so his milk doesn't ever have the chance to settle in his stomach.
I get the kids dropped off at daycare between 6:45 and 7:00 depending on what time we leave the house. Our daycare is about 10 minutes from our house but I usually like to stop by somewhere on the way to grab a drink and maybe some breakfast. Usually it's Starbucks, Sonic or Chick Fil A....granted I only get a large water to drink if I go by Sonic or Chic Fil A but it just tastes so much better coming out of a huge styrofoam cup.
My school is 5 minutes away from the kids' daycare so I'm there pretty soon after getting the kids dropped off.
I absolutely hate the feeling of being rushed which is why I give myself so much time in the mornings to get ready and get the kids ready. If I am rushed in the morning, it's just not a good way for me to start my day. I end up feeling frazzled and rushed for a good remainder of the morning once I get to work.
2. What is your go-to breakfast for you and the kids?
I'm really bad about eating breakfast at home on weekdays. If I do, it's usually an english muffin with cream cheese/nutella/peanut butter and jelly. Or I'll grab a belvita or some type of breakfast bar to take with me to work. I like to leave myself enough time a couple times week to stop by Sonic for a breakfast burrito or Chic Fil A (so not healthy, I know).
We love the soft baked Belvitas in both flavors. Sawyer only likes the oats & chocolate though, imagine that. If I don't have time to make something or grab anything on the way, I'll take one of these with me.
The kids eat breakfast at daycare so I pack it in their ThirtyOne thermal tote. Sawyer always has yogurt because she has a bilateral reflux which means she is more prone to UTIs and if she gets one, it could cause kidney damage. Her urologist told us that giving her yogurt once a day will help keep her from getting UTIs. I figured she'd be tired of yogurt by now but she asks for it every single morning and even sometimes at night. I usually give her a banana as well or a breakfast bar of some sort. She's not a big fan of me sending any of the microwavable waffles or pancakes so I'm always looking for more breakfast ideas with her.
For Jansen I send soft, chopped fruit (banana, peaches, plum, nectarine, pear, etc) and a pancake or a couple of the original french toast sticks (not cinnamon). Sometimes I'll send a nutrigrain bar or he'll still eat cereal if I'm running low on other options.
3. Where do you like to shop for work clothes?
This is a hard question for me and I could honestly write a very long post for this so I'm going to try to keep it short. I feel like my "style" is all over the place. The main consistency with my "look" is that I layer. I am in layers every.single.day. I feel naked if I don't have more than two shirts on or a scarf or a jacket...just something! I'm drawn to more than just one type of style and sometimes I feel like that makes me look like I don't know what my style is. I just like too many different looks and what I'm drawn to changes day by day.
I do find myself going by one "rule" all the time. If it's fitted on the top, go loose on the bottoms....and if it's loose and flowy on the top, go fitted on the bottoms.
I find a lot of my "work" clothes at Old Navy, Gap, Loft, Nordstrom, JC Penny, and Groovy's (a local boutique).
Here are some of my favorites right now that are on my "school shopping" list.
Groovy's
I could wear THIS top with so many of my colored skinny pants.
LOVING this Bohemian Peacock top!
I wouldn't be wearing this to work but I just had to share this because I want THIS TX shirt ASAP!
I'm dying over THIS swoosh back top. I'm a sucker for detailed and unique backs like this one!
THIS fringe shrug would be perfect to help transition my summer pieces into fall. I'm already picturing so many outfits I could put together with this shrug!
THIS lodged terrace infinity scarf screams Fall! I absolutely love scarves and wear them at least 3 days a week during the cooler months. Yes, I know people wear them in the summer too but I just get way too hot with something around my neck. But as soon as the temperature starts to dip a little, I break out my scarves! I always get the most compliments over my scarves from Groovy's :)
LOFT
I am a lover of all things mustard colored. I am immediately drawn to anything in that color. So needless to say, I am loving THIS top.
THIS embellished sweatshirt tee could easily be dressed up or down.
A feminine touch of lace to a casual sweatshirt tee. I'd buy THIS in a size up and pair it with black skinny pants and THESE Toms Desert Wedges.
I have the lace up desert wedges from last year and they are extremely comfortable and I can't wait to add these to my closet!
Maybe I need to devote an entire post to my work wardrobe because this is getting lengthy...moving on!
4. What is your usual lunch at work?
Unfortunately I'm not the healthiest eater...right now I'm in the mode of whatever is easiest. That being said, at least 3 days a week I eat a Smart Ones frozen pizza.
Quick and Easy :)
Other days I'll take some of my favorite Costco chicken salad on a couple Hawiian rolls. I also like turkey and cheese heated up on a tortilla to make a little quesadila. I'm sorry, this really isn't an interesting answer for y'all. I'm really boring when it comes to my lunches for work because like I said, I do what is easy and doesn't take more than a minute for prep work.
5. What is my daily "after-work" routine?
I try to have the kids picked up from daycare no later than 4:30. This leaves me a little over an hour to run an errand or two if I don't have to stay at work for a meeting or to grade papers, get ready for the next day, etc. Once I pick up the kids we come home and play for a little bit. We eat dinner at 5:30, baths at 6:00 and start winding down for bed at 6:30. My kids go to bed early, they always have. Jansen gets his last bottle between 6:30 and 6:45 and is down immediately after that. He plays hard during the day and is asleep within 5-10 minutes after being put down. Sawyer gets a bedtime story or two in bed and is down no later than 7:15. Does she go to sleep immediately? No. She'll "read" her books in bed to her baby but she doesn't get down from her bed nor does she cry. She is relaxed and resting until she falls asleep within 30 minutes or so. Once the kids are in bed, I pick up around the house and work on school work, blogging, or LC Designs. I'll catch up on a show or two while I'm on the computer and if I have time, I'll read for 30 minutes before going to bed. Dusty and I like to watch whatever show we are into at the time (we just wrapped up The Following) a few nights out of the week so on those nights, I won't get as much work done or the house may not get picked up. I'll choose my husband over my work any day ;) If I don't get in bed by 10:00, I'm not a happy camper the next morning. #ineedmysleep
6. How do you juggle having a full-time job and being a wife and mom to two little ones?
I've had many people ask me how do I do it all? Being a teacher and a wife and a mom of a two year old and nine month old.
The answer is -- I don't.
I don't do it all. It's not physically or mentally possible for me right now. I wish I could say that I'm a super mom and my house is organized and clean without toys and clothes everywhere. I wish I could say that our laundry is clean, folded and put away at the beginning of every week. Or that I'm always caught up on grades and that my lesson plans are done a week in advance. I wish I could say that our weekly meal plan is done every single Sunday evening so I know what I need for the week when I shop on Monday afternoons.
But I can't. I can't say any of those things. At least not all at the same time. Where I'm at in my life right now, something's gotta give. But that something cannot and will not be my husband or my kids. I can't say that I do all of the above. But what I can say is that my husband is loved. My kids are loved. My husband gets 100% of me and my kids get 100% of me. Yes that equals 200% but you know what I'm trying to say. They get ME...not what is left over of me at the end of the day. Not what is left after teaching my 4th graders that day regardless of what the day brought. Being a wife and mom come first in all of my "juggling" if that's what we're calling it. And when it comes to work, I am so grateful and blessed to work with an amazing principal and staff that not only understands that, they support it because they are the same way.
Yes, some people may say that being a wife and mom includes the laundry, the meal planning, the cleaning, etc. and you're right. But right now being a wife and mom for me is giving my time, attention, and love. Somewhere down the road, I know I'll be better about being able to get all those chores done along with everything else, but that's just not right now. Yes, I get frustrated that I can't get everything done or get ahead in my work, but I'm not going to miss out on spending time with my husband or kids just to feel accomplished or productive. I know that there will come a day when my kids are playing in their own rooms or watching TV and don't want me or need me the way they do now. That's why at the end of the day, I'm okay with the fact that there's a basket full of laundry that needs to be put away and a blog post that just didn't get written.
Don't forget to check out Melanie's answers to our "Back to Work" Q&A HERE!
Remember if you have any questions or ideas for a blog post, send us an email!
laurenlou5644@yahoo.com
melroseacker@yahoo.com
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