Stacy Blanchard lives in Richardson with her husband Rob and their two children, Landry, 2, and Luke, 9 months. Stacy works in sales at Yardi Systems Inc., and Rob works in medical sales.
4:10AM My sweet baby boy Luke is ready for his bottle. I drag myself to the kitchen and head upstairs. He's all smiles. I try not to be too playful so he doesn't think it’s time to wake up. Bottle is empty, and he's out. Time for more sleep.
6AM Rob’s alarm goes off. He showers first, and I see that Luke is waking up. I run upstairs to turn on his Mozart mobile, so I can take a shower before I get him out of bed. Rob and I kiss as we’re passing by. He leaves for work.
6:15AM Get Luke out of bed. He is such a happy boy. Seeing that smile starts my day off right. I change him and bring him to the bathroom so I can finish getting ready. I sing songs into the hair dryer and dance; he smiles a little more. A great song comes on, so I pick him up and share a slow dance with him. This is why I get to the office so late. But I'm actually OK with it, since I'm not getting on an airplane today.
7AM I take Luke to the living room for snuggles. This is one time of the day where we can play without his big sister Landry getting jealous. She's finally accepted the fact that her baby brother is staying in our home.
7:30AM I put Luke down on his play mat while I fold some laundry, load the car and get ready to wake up Landry.
7:45AM It’s time to wake up my little sleeping beauty. Which 2-year-old attitude am I going to have this morning? I hope for the happy one. I head upstairs, singing the same song every morning, “Good morning sweet Landry. Good morning to you.” I kiss her, and she has me kiss her baby dolls. She quickly reminds me that she has to “go potty.” We are potty training, and she's doing great. And I'm happy because we have a happy toddler this morning.
7:50AM Brush Landry's teeth, get her clothes on and head downstairs for milk and a cereal snack before school.
8:05AM Headed out the door, and no one is crying. We get in the car; Landry has to “go potty,” so we all head back inside for this exciting event. Mommy is so proud.
8:10AM We're in the car (again) and headed to school. Dropping them off can be hectic. Landry goes into class first. I take Luke and get him settled and go back to Landry's class to give her hugs and kisses. Off to work I go.
8:30AM Starbucks. What would I do without it?
8:55AM I'm at work. So much to do since I'm going out of town again. Emails, demos, conference calls … I sneak and compose a grocery list during a conference call.
2:30PM I forgot to eat lunch, which reminds me that I also forgot to eat breakfast. Shame on me. I run downstairs to the cafe for a small snack.
4:45PM I'm leaving the office a little early, since I'm going to Minneapolis this week. I travel more than I’d like for work, and it fills me with guilt. But in life, we do what needs to be done. I'm so thankful that my husband and family are so helpful when I'm gone. But I still feel guilt that I'm not with my babies.
5:20PM I get to the school to pick up my two little blessings. Go to Luke's class first and then head to the gym to pick up Landry. I love it when she sees me and screams out, “That's my Mommy!”
5:45PM We're home, and we kiss Daddy. Time for fun. Landry is really into tea parties right now. She has the table ready for us and tells us exactly where to sit. Rob and I make sure we're sitting in the right chair to keep everyone happy. Luke sits in my lap. We have a very happy toddler this afternoon.
6:30PM Time for dinner. I feed Luke a bottle while we're at the table. Luckily, I'm pretty good at eating with one hand.
6:45PM Dishes can wait until the kids are in bed. Playtime.
7:40PM Bath time for both babies. I bathe Luke; he plays. Rob takes him downstairs to get him ready for a bottle and bed. I bathe Landry. She’s going through a phase where only Mommy can do things for her, which I love. She gets a bath, we brush her teeth, put jammies on and read books: Goodnight Moon, All Kinds of Kisses and more. If the book is on the shelf, we read it – sometimes twice.
8PM Each night before bed, we go into the game room to tell Tony Romo goodnight. (His picture is on the wall.) We see pictures of Grammie and Pop and Gran and Gramps. She thanks Grammie and Pop for pizza (that they gave her months ago) and she thanks Gran and Gramps for the ice cream (even longer ago). She tells Daddy goodnight, and we go to her room to rock. This is my favorite time of the night.
8:15PM Back downstairs. Time to make the kids’s bottles. As I'm doing that, Landry calls for me in the baby monitor because she has to go potty. Back upstairs I go.
9:15PM It’s time to watch the news. I fall asleep and Rob wakes me.
10PM I go to bed, hoping this is the night baby Luke sleeps all the way through …
Diaries are penned by moms (and dads) in the Dallas area. The authors volunteer to share a day of their choosing and are not paid or endorsed by DallasChild. Send your diary to editorial@dfwchild.com. All submissions are subject to editing and may be cut for space.
Published October 2013
