Billing Time

One of the best things about being on maternity leave, besides the baby, is that I don't have to enter time anymore. But if I did, today would look something like this.

1.0 hrs: Make and eat breakfast (cereal); make and eat lunch (turkey sandwich).

8.0 hrs: Watch Claire sleep (usually while watching HGTV, with a bit of Food Network and a re-watching of the Glee finale mixed in. 6 of these 8 hours were probably spent with Claire hunched down in a little ball on my shoulder, stomach, or chest.)

3.0 hrs: Nurse Claire.

1.0 hrs: Change various poop filled diapers, including one that had poop exploding out of the diaper, down my legs, and somehow up my left arm. Cursing and clorox wipes were involved for me; soothing words and soft sensitive baby wipes were involved for Claire.

1.5 hrs: Enjoy Claire being awake; take video before she poops and falls asleep again.

0.25 hrs: Weigh self; review total; re-weigh self; ponder why on earth my body needed 45 lbs to host an 8 lb baby; vow to lose last 15 lbs before end of maternity leave.

0.25 hrs: Take shower; put on real clothes so I don't spend all day in pj's.

0.5 hrs: Attempt to take long walk with Claire, abandon trip after 20 minutes due to menacing thunder and darkening skies.

0.25 hrs: Check mail; write thank-you notes for newly arrived baby gifts.

2.0 hrs: Review and respond to email; conduct other time-wasting activities via the internet.

1.0 hrs: Talk to mom; talk to sister; talk to JP.

0.25 hrs: Enjoy big hug from toddler who came home from daycare by opening the back door and announcing, "I had a GREAT day mommy!"

0.75 hrs: Make dinner; eat dinner; clean up from dinner; remove assorted items of clutter from kitchen.

1.5 hrs: Family walk; play-time with Landon.

And now we're back to TV (NBA game) and watching Claire sleep (this time on JP's legs).

Worn out from all the eating, pooping, and cuddling.

Sometimes we mix things up, like when my co-workers came by with lunch to meet Claire yesterday, or when JP and I take exciting shopping trips to Babies R Us and Wal-Mart, but that is the general pattern of my days with my very new newborn. And while I say I'm wasting my days away, I mean that in the most positive of ways.

(Though I am breaking out my photography books to teach myself how to shoot in manual during this downtime. I'm sure Claire will be a patient subject.)