Flex Day Friday (Schedule/Day in the Life)

Good morning and happy Monday! I am really lucky, because at my job I am able to have a "flexible schedule" in that I can arrange my hours so that I have every other Friday off. Having that "flex day" is amazing. I have had my flex day for about 4 years now. My current work schedule is 8am-5pm everyday, with my flex day every other Friday. When I had Ben, I thought about whether it would be better to give up my flex day and have my schedule be 8am-4pm. Basically whether it is better to have an hour more with him every day versus a whole day with him every other week. I opted to keep my flex day for a few reasons. First, even if you leave at 4pm, there are sure to be days where I have to stay a little bit later here and there to tie things up. On my flex day, I am not even in the office, so less of a risk that it will be eaten up with work. Second, it is really convenient to have every other Friday off for traveling for long weekends occasionally. Third, a whole day off is just better. We can sleep in and laze around and get errands done. I try to schedule our doctor's appointments for those days.

Sooooo! My flex day was last Friday, and I thought it would be fun to do a little "day in the life" schedule of how the day went. Hold on to your seats folks. If this is too much "fun" for you, I am truly sorry. ;)

6:45am - 7:00am - I hear Ben stirring and "talking" to himself. I also hear him playing the piano thing in his crib for a bit. This is new, and I am wondering if he pressed it by accident. He seems happy enough, so I close my eyes for 15 more minutes.
7:00am - 7:20am - Go get Ben, cuddle and nurse him, change his diaper. Open the curtains and tell him it is a bright, sunshiney day!
7:20am - 7:40am - Take Ben downstairs, let Shelby out, and feed Ben his breakfast of oat cereal. Flip on the TV to the Today show to have on in the background. Give him a sippy cup of water afterwards to play with while I get my breakfast together and make my coffee. 
7:40am - 8:45am - Hang out with Ben on the floor. He plays with his toys, and I take a couple of pics and post one on facebook. We sing songs and just generally lay about.
8:45am - He is getting a little cranky at this point, and it's time for his morning nap. I change his diaper and put him in his crib with a paci. He falls asleep by 9am.
9:00am-11:00am - Ben is napping. The kitchen is a mess. I empty the dishwasher, and wash all of the bottles and pump parts from yesterday (I didn't wash them last night because I knew I would be home today). Put away all of the dirty dishes. Take my coffee remnants and chill on the couch with Kelly and Michael for a bit. I love those two kooky kids! Arnold Schwarzenegger is on, and I can finally understand how he could be governor and have a mistress type situation and get away with it. He is charismatic. ANYHOW, I putz around straightening up. I think that I should do some laundry, but it is a BEAUTIFUL day outside, so I throw on a fleece, grab my phone, and head to the backyard to sit on the deck with Shelby. I call my sister, she answers but can't talk for long because she is in Colorado on a trip. Whoops! I forgot! I call my in-laws and talk for about a half hour. I drag myself inside, because I should really get dressed and put on my make-up before Ben gets up. I do that.
11:00am - Ben wakes up. He usually takes wonderful two hour morning naps at home, and I am happy that he is well-rested. I nurse him, but he isn't usually up for a big session at this time, and it's short. I change his dipe, and finally get him dressed for the day (yes, he is still in his PJs).
11:15am - Take Ben downstairs and feed him some lunch. I think I have him a yogurt. He LOVES yogurt. I can tell when he is hungry for whatever I am going to give him, because he gets excited/concerned. He just has a serious look on his face and starts to shake his hands a little bit. He also makes nom nom noises when he eats. He doesn't laugh or smile about it though. It's serious business.
11:30am - 11:45am - Quickly make myself some lunch (chicken sandwich and some chips), and eat it. Get everything together and head out the door to Ben's pediatrician's office. Do a smell check of Ben's diaper before we leave, all clear.
11:45am-12:15pm - Drive to the pediatrician's office, sign in right at his appointment time (12:15pm). As I am holding him, I realize he has a doozy of a twosey. Tell the receptionist that I am heading to the bathroom to change him. When we are done, the nurse is waiting for us and leads us to a room. He is checked out and weighed (17.7 lbs). We are there for an ear check (follow up from a visit a few weeks ago) and to get a couple of shots (Prevnar and the first flu shot). His doctor said he ears looked great (hooray!). He gets his shots (sob!), and we are out the door.
1:00pm - 1:30pm - Call my grandmother who lives nearby and tell her we are on our way (I called earlier in the day to see if she would be available for a visit). Stop by Starbucks first to get myself a nonfat caramel frappacino with whip (I usually do this after his doc appointments now for some reason, Treat Yo'self!) and a pumpkin spice latte for Grandmother.

My Frap. Yum. Don't look at me weird because I get non-fat with whip.
It makes sense in my head.

Ben is still pretty po-ed about his shots. Why Mommy, why?

1:30-2:45 - Visit with Grandmother. She says she doesn't know what it is (the latte), but she loves it. We snack on some brownies she made and chat. Ben crawls around a bit, but eventually gets hungry/tired. I nurse him, and then he falls asleep in my arms. I am hoping I can transfer him into his car seat to continue his afternoon nap. No dice.  
2:45-3:15 - What is the deal with this traffic on the way home???? Oh yeah, school is letting out. I decide to stop by TJ Maxx on the way home. I want to pick up a small gift for a friend. I am hoping that Ben will fall back asleep in his car seat.
3:15-3:45 - Shop at TJ Maxx. Ben did not fall back asleep. I know that a nap is off the table at this point.

 

My loot from TJ Maxx. The candle is for my friend. The journal is for me. I am always needing to write something down, so I want to keep it in my handbag for that. The mug is a mini-gift to Dan from Shelby. We have been drinking a lot of tea with honey lately, so we could use another big mug.The bib and PJs are for Ben. All for about $35.

3:45-4:30 - Decide to go for a walk to the park instead when we get home. Get Shelby harnessed up, put Ben in the stroller, and we are off. Park the stroller at the park, and put Ben in the baby swing for the first time. He likes it, but is still kind of tired, so he isn't squealing with delight or anything.
4:30pm-5:00pm - Have discussions with Dan about dinner. There is nothing really to cook in the house, plus I don't feel like it. We decide to order something, and Dan will pick it up on the way home. I play with Ben for a bit and feed him dinner, but he is cranky since he basically missed his afternoon nap. I nurse him, and he falls asleep. I put him in his crib. Then I call and order the food.
5:00-5:30pm - Quickly put some clothes in the wash and straighten up so that I have accomplished something. Set the table. 
5:45pm - Dinner arrives. I mean, Dan gets home :). Ben is still napping, so we have a quiet dinner together and talk about the weekend.
6:15pm - 7:30pm - Ben wakes up. We all chill out together. Yay! It's Friday night!
7:30pm - I start putting Ben to bed a little later than normal since he had a late nap. I nurse him and he is asleep in bed by 8pm.
8:00pm - 11:00pm - Take a luxurious bath, hang out, catch up on TV. Friday night, baby.