Casual Spring Transition Outfit + A Day in the Life….

Hey gals! Welp, we have a “snow day” here in Charlotte and Landry is home from school for the 2398417923471 day already this year! I swear January is the pits sometimes. Today I’m sharing a favorite casual Spring transition outfit that’s easy to throw on and head out of the door, while still feeling put together and cute. Since I share a glimpse of our lives on here and even more on Instagram stories, I get quite a few questions about blogging and our schedules and how I balance that mom-life. Today I’m also diving in to an updated “day in the life” post, giving you guys a peek into our chaos and how things (barely) stay afloat around here. I tried to work all of your questions into the dialogue, but if you have any others just leave them in the comments.

Outfit Details: Long Sleeve Swing Tee | Fuzzy Vest | Black Skinny Jeans (on sale) | Booties | Handbag | Necklaces (gold name necklace | leather + beaded necklace | long layering necklace) | Watch | Druzy Layering Bracelet | Sunnies

I will start out by saying that blogging is my full time job. Most weeks I spend upwards of 60 hours a week working on the blog and it’s social channels, and while I enjoy it more than I ever thought it was possible, it’s definitely still work. Yes, it appears that I’m always just trying on clothes or am actually just with me kids having a leisurely day, but I assure you that’s not what 90% of my day looks like. There are so many technicalities that go in to publishing, like understanding my audience and what you guys want to see, learning all of the publishing platforms, learning Photoshop and video editing (and having the time to execute those edits), linking all of the items on the back end so that I can make things easier for you guys on the front end, managing emails, negotiating partnerships, managing and scheduling all social media and understanding how to tailor each for the specific platform, making time to take photos, and time to find new and meaningful content. Oh and don’t forget running a business on the back end….so invoicing, accounting, reconciling, etc. It’s something that I really need 8-10 solid, uninterrupted hours a day to complete, but that’s not how I want my life to look right now, so I’m doing it the hard way and working in increments throughout the day so that I can be mostly present to raise my babies.

5:00 am WAKE UP CALL

I will tell you guys that this early wake up call was absolutely a learned habit, but it’s come to be my favorite time of the day. I sneak downstairs and make my coffee, enjoy some conversation with the Big Guy and then get to work. I find that my head is so clear in the mornings and I haven’t been bombarded with tons of information from the day yet, so I’m able to focus better and really crank through some things. Normally it’s finishing up the days blog post and scheduling some social media (ie #amazondealoftheday, etc) and writing the day’s email. For example, it’s 5:15 right now.

My goal for this year though is to NOT work every single morning, and use at least two of those mornings for a great early workout + shower. For example, yesterday I woke up and got a great cycling class done on my spin bike and then a quick body weight HIT class (I use the app apptive for for both spin and weight classes from my phone) in all before 6am, so when the girls woke up I was showered and had everyone’s breakfast made. In order for me to avoid work for a few of these mornings, it’s really making me prioritize and work more efficiently during the days.

7:00 am GIRLS WAKE UP aka SHIT HITS FAN

To preface this, I will tell you that Lawson is still not giving us 12 hour stretches 80% of the time. For her, that means waking up somewhere between 4-6am and not going back down unless there’s some TLC involved. Dan always takes this shift and allows me to work.

Fast forward, 7am is everyone’s wake up call and the day gets going. Landry normally wants breakfast right away, so I try to make hers and Lawson’s at the same time. They eat:

Landry chooses from one of the following: Oatmeal with raisins and walnuts, waffles + a banana or cereal with strawberries. Lawson has been eating cooked rolled oats + a whole banana + pinch of cinnamon that I blend together with the immersion blender. Normally while they are eating Dan comes downstairs to grab his coffee and will also put together a lunch for Landry.

Around 7;45, we head upstairs to get everyone ready for the day. I will tell you that this is hands down the hardest part of my day and it’s such a bummer that it hits me so early in the morning, because I have to mindfully not let it ruin my day. Typically, I place Lawson (who is starting to be ready for her morning nap) in her little activity center right in front of the shower and I hop in for a hot second. That usually lasts one whole minute before she loses her mind, so I’m outta there and then attempt at getting ready. I try to take some dry shampoo to my hair and hit it with a round brush and blow dryer to make myself not look homeless. In the meantime, I’m signing and dancing and hitting Lawson with cool air from the blowdryer to keep her entertained. If I make it through this, I’ll try to put my 5 minute face of makeup on. Usually I get through concealer and foundation and call it a day until reinforcements are here.

Landry is so sweet and easy to get ready. She typically has something in mind that she’d like to wear so we agree on it and then she tells me how she’d like her hair done. I happily oblige and she’s all ready for school! While I’m getting ready, she has screen time for 30 minutes.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and sometimes Thursday I have a nanny that comes at 8:30 am to help with Lawson for the day. She gets here a little early so that I can finish getting ready and get dressed without Lawson going berserk. I do always have an outfit in mind (like the one below) that’s easy to put together and functional for my day.

9:00 AM Off to School + Work

The sitter has been a true Godsend in the fact that Lawson loves her and it’s really given me some concentrated time during the day to either work at my computer or get out and about to create content or take meetings. While I’m working, Lawson’s schedule is as follows:

-6oz bottle at 9:30 and then down for her morning nap.

-Nap ideally from 9:30-11:30 and she’s really getting better about giving us those full 2 hour naps.

-Lunch around noon (two purees). We just introduced a true lunch only a few weeks ago, so I haven’t been giving her any solids for this meal, so that I can ease her tummy into it. I will likely start giving her a solid here next month.

I pick Landry up from school at 1 and then we head home. The nanny leaves and we have the rest of the day to hang. Landry typically goes down for a nap around 2pm and sleeps anywhere from 1-2 hours. The girl has always loved her sleep and I’m so happy with that. Lawson then gets another 6oz bottle around 2:30 and goes down for her afternoon nap, sleeping until 4:30.

Regarding naps and Lawson. I get lots of questions about this and I want to tell you guys our backstory before this point was not easy. From about September to December Lawson was really refusing to nap or would nap 30 minutes max and wake up unhappy. I’m a firm believer in that babies need sleep during the day and need scheduled times where their little brains can shut off, so this was stressing me out to no end. She would fight me tooth and nail each time I even attempted to put her horizontal and both of us would usually end up in tears, because you could see how tired she was in her little puppy dog eyes. I brought her to the doctor 3 times in those months and had them check her for every single thing under the sun, as I just can’t get on board with the fact that “she’s just not a napper.” FINALLY (after 3 visits, mind you) one sweet PA brought light to the fact that her reflux medicine was not at the correct dosage and she was prescribed what a 2 month old would be given, which was not accurate for her weight, etc. Truthfully, I thought that we were way past any reflux and it really wasn’t even on my radar. Landry wasn’t a reflux baby, so I don’t feel like I was as aware. She really encouraged me to up the dosage and see if that helped. When I looked back, it all made sense as the flare up started right when she started purees (new acids, etc) and she hated being horizontal for naps. Thankfully, being super consistent with her medicine has worked wonders for her and we are almost to the schedule that I see her thriving on. 

4:30 Wake Up From Naps (mama shuts off her computer)

During their naps, I typically do catch up work like emails and content planning. My brain is already fried for the day, so I try to keep it light. When they wake up, I try to get them out of the house for some fresh air and that’s normally to either go to the grocery store, on a walk or to the gym. Lawson is finally coming around to the daycare at the gym and at this time they are normally the only kids in there, so it gives me great piece of mind. I would say 1-2x a week I’ll drop them off for an hour of playtime there and sneak in a quick workout. We are home by 5:45 and get moving on dinner. Lawson eats first and I’ve been trying to give her a grain (quinoa or brown rice) + a fresh veggie (avocado, cooked sweet potato, roasted butternut squash) blended to a medium consistency with my immersion blender. I haven’t done any meat yet, but that’s a total personal preference.

I have been MUCH better about planning meals (especially on Whole30), so typically I have something in the crockpot or an easy 30 minute meal to whip together. If Landry is super hungry, I’ll fix her something on the side or give her a yogurt to snack on while dinner is being made. I ALWAYS make enough for leftovers so that I’m not cooking every night. Normally, I make 3 meals a week that we eat 6 out of the 7 nights.

6:30pm Bath + Bed

Sometimes this happens earlier and sometimes a little later, just depending on the day. Thankfully, now I can bathe them both at the same time, so even with a little playtime we are done by 6:45 and in pajamas. Lawson is beyond ready for bedtime at 7pm and, she gets an 8oz bottle and zonks pretty quickly. While I’m putting her down, Landry gets screen time and to wind down and relax.

Landry goes down anywhere between 7:30 and 8pm and loves a bedtime story + prayers + a good tuck in for her routine. Other than that, she falls asleep super quickly and never wakes at night.

After putting her down, I get a quick shower (yep, I shower twice a day…it’s always been my thing. I love a good hot shower) and come back downstairs for some work.

8:00 – 11:00 pm Work + Wind Down

I open my computer back up and continue working on the post that I had likely started during my mid-morning work time. Dan and I will normally catch up during this time and love to watch TV and kind of wind down during these hours. He’s almost always on his laptop working too, so that’s just us. We usually call it a night between 11:00-11:30 and hit the hay.

If you are wondering where Dan is during the nighttime routine, it’s hit or miss if he’s home for it with his work schedule. If he’s home, he always takes over either bath or bed time and I always leave kitchen clean up for him, regardless. He’s in charge of dishes, wiping down the kitchen, cleaning high chair, and washing bottles…which is a HUGE help at the end of the day. We have finally come to a point where we are working towards splitting housework 50/50. He lives here too, they are his kids too, he wears clothes too, we both work…so time to step up and help out…which he definitely has. We do have a cleaning lady who comes to do deep clean every 3 weeks (best money I spend) and the nanny does help with dishes and folding laundry when she’s here and Lawson is sleeping. Otherwise (while I do wash and dry throughout the week), we save folding and putting away the laundry for the weekend. I will also tell you that my house is not always clean, is definitely NOT organized and 9/10 you can find a dust bunny if you look hard enough…but ya know what…there’s not enough time in my day. 

So if you’re keeping track that’s:

-55 hours of work for me a week

-20 hours of school for Landry (9-1, 5 days a week) + 1 hour/day of screen time, ideally

-13.5 hours of childcare for Lawson a week

…which equals lots of early morning and late nights and I literally would not change a thing for now. Next year, when Landry is in Kinder I will consider a moms morning out program for Lawson or having someone help 5 days a week, but for now we are making this work and enjoying the best of both worlds. I know that it’s not for everyone and I hope that you don’t take my schedule to be better or worse than any other schedule, I’m sharing it just for the sake of sharing….it’s always fun for me to see how other people balance their time! 

As silly as it sounds, I am a firm believer that I good, easy outfit can make a busy mama’s day quite a bit easier, while giving her an extra boost of confidence to tackle the world. I’m absolutely loving this long sleeve tee and have already found myself layering it so many different ways…under sweaters, under vests and it’s even cute worn alone. Dan surprised me with this vest for Christmas and I was pleasantly shocked at how good his choice was. I’ve been wearing it a ton, but will definitely tell you that it runs small, this is a M and I have very little wiggle room. The highlights of my outfit are definitely the accessories and more specifically the booties and bag. Both are SO functional for #momlife and yet both are really on trend and cute. I shot 5 outfits on the day that I shot this one and wore these booties with every single outfit, proving just how functional they are. I love the buckle detail and airy feel for spring and this neutral suede goes with everything.

I will show you guys the inside of this bag today (under $60!) on stories, but it’s so roomy and will definitely fit all of your mom gear in there, while still closing neatly. You guys know that a cross body bag is a must in my life and this one definitely works well for that, too!

* This post was sponsored in part by Sole Society. Thank you for supporting brands who support Style Your Senses. Affiliate links used*