This year I decided that it’s good for my health and sanity to take a random day off work every month or so. Sometimes I need those days to be “me” days where I still put Meredith in daycare and have some time to myself. But other times I want some extra time with her, and that’s what I did yesterday.

7:00 a.m. / we’re up and David’s up and we see him off to work shortly.

8:00 a.m. / Meredith still has a cough and congestion so before we do anything else we take a steamy shower/bath. Her favorite thing is to fill a cup up with running water and dump it out over and over.

8:30 a.m. / it’s kind of cold today so I blow-dried her hair. Now it’s a big puff.

8:45 a.m. / time for breakfast. For her it’ll be eggs and banana, for me a bagel, coffee, and whatever she doesn’t eat.

9:30 a.m. / I open all the doors to the house because it’s beautiful outside. Meredith plays outside while I putter around taking care of odds and ends.

10:00 a.m. / I get to spend some time working on my advent calendar (and actually finish later on in the day). I’m very pleased with it.

10:45 a.m. / we are all dressed and ready to head out for some errands. We drop something off at my brother-in-law’s house, return some books to the library, then head to the craft store.

11:35 a.m. / my dad calls me and says he’s driving right behind me! He pulls into the parking lot of the craft store and we have a quick chat and hug. Then I buy a few supplies for my December daily album.

12:00 p.m. / we visit David at work! Meredith cries when anyone other than us tries to hold her, but she gets excited when she sits in his chair. Everyone wants to see her and talk so we’re here about an hour.

1:10 p.m. / I was hoping to get lunch in her before nap, but she fell asleep on the ride home. Unfortunately she doesn’t stay asleep when I try to lay her down.

1:30 p.m. / so I try to feed her lunch but she only eats a few ravioli before throwing them all on the ground. The dogs are happy.

1:50 p.m. / I expect her to be grumpy because she’s barely slept or ate but she’s actually being really silly and adorable. She played peekaboo with the curtains and tried to ride our dog Cleo. In the meantime I finish up the advent calendar.

3:30 p.m. / I transition my craft focus to prepping my December daily album.

4:00 p.m. / Meredith still hasn’t napped and is starting to lose her cool. I decide it’s time to take her for a drive and induce a car nap. We pack up and drive into town and park at West Elm in anticipation of the Young House Love book signing I’m going to later. Meredith wakes up after about an hour and I give her some snacks in the car. I try to read but she’s becoming antsy so I put her in the stroller, go buy my book, and get in line.

5:45 p.m. / Lauren joins us! It’s a long 2-hour wait in line but she makes it lots better. Meredith does pretty well but wants to get into everything and I am exhausted from holding her & constantly entertaining her.

7:45 p.m. / we made it to the front of the line! Our interaction is brief, but John & Sherry are super nice. They comment on Meredith’s hair (it’s the first thing anyone notices about her) and how they got their daughter’s name the same way we got hers (a grandmother’s name).  Afterward we go straight home.

8:30 p.m. / trying to nurse Meredith to sleep but she’s still restless! What is with this kid today? It takes at least an hour to get her to sleep and when she finally does it’s on top of me, and I’ve drifted off too.