Before 8am {Kristy}

“Life is an adventure, and there is no script. I see something in ordinary moments. I believe that perfection comes not when you are dressed perfectly and wearing lipstick – but in little moments and interactions that make up our days and build and sustain our relationships. Let me show you the beauty in your unscripted moments…”  – Karen Jacot, photographer

Some of my very favorite blog posts are the ones that go behind the scenes or give a play-by-play of someone else’s day. What is it about us being a nosey rosey? It’s in our nature, I suppose. With that being said, it should come as no surprise that I have loved the “Before 8am” series so much. When I was given the opportunity to have Karen come and document our morning, I was over the moon with excitement. However, just to be real, this is not technically before 8am. It’s more like before 10am. Welcome to my morning as a stay-at-home mom…

Most mornings I try to wake up before the little love. {It’s one of the seven components of how I try to make my days better.} Yet most mornings I fail miserably and wake up when she does because I have a late sleeper on my hands. I like my sleep, too. But really, when I wake up before my Charlotte, I am far more productive the entire day, and I get things done. This particular morning I woke up around 7 and got an extra hour out of life. {And if you’re wondering, the hubs is already long gone to beat the traffic for his commute to work. I roll over to kiss him goodbye then get a little more sleep and energy in order to deal with my crazy toddler for the day.}

The first thing I do when I wake is make my bed, brush my teeth, and head for the coffee. I let my dog Chapman out to do his business, check my notifications on my phone, and give my first baby some attention.

I then try to get ready for the day which means changing out of my fabulous pajamas into yoga pants and a tshirt. I also try to put some makeup on and fix the wavy mess that is my hair. {Anyone else go through a complete hair change after pregnancy?}

After I have put my contacts on and am presentable for any adventure we have for the day {hello, SAHM life}, I get to business and work on my blog.

I schedule out Facebook shares, reply to comments and emails, make sure I have pins scheduled for Pinterest, and then read and comment on other blogs. It’s a bloggy blog world, but someone’s got to do it. By this point, it’s already 8 o’clock, and I can hear someone yelling very sweetly, “Helloooo. Mama? Where’d Daddy go?” That’s my cue that my boss is up.

One of my favorite parts of the day is the moment I am greeted with her hugs. Best boss ever.

I change her, and a little fur baby is standing at the ready.

I die. I’ve never truly noticed that he does this, and it’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. It almost looks as if he’s smiling. Charlotte calls him Roni, and she loves him fiercely. It has taken him a long while to warm up to her {just two years}, but I know that one day they are going to be best buds.

Once my little giant wakes, we head to the pantry for her “gogurt” and then plop ourselves onto the couch for either Sophia the First or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Roni is still all up in our business.

When Charlotte is settled, I let her play so I can get breakfast ready. I usually make us eggs and toast with a side of applesauce. She plays while I cook. Or sometimes she cries at my legs, and I pray to sweet baby Jesus for patience. But this day she was loving that we had company and had fun entertaining Karen. {Karen, can you come do a photo shoot every day?} My kid would probably do really well with her own reality show.

And my little divo dog certainly didn’t let the camera bother him either. He had no shame begging for food like he normally does. He clearly loves Charlotte when she’s in her high chair. When she wants to hug on him, that’s a different story. These two have a love/hate relationship for sure and are too smart for their own good. She slyly drops things, he slyly picks them up. And I say “no” for the millionth time.

After breakfast, I get some chores done. C loves to help and throws all of the utensils in their drawer. Literally throws them. I have to come back behind her and sort them out. At least she helps? She also loves helping with the laundry. She can throw all of the clean clothes onto the floor like it’s an Olympic sport.

Next up in our morning lineup is getting Little Miss changed into some clothes and ready for the day.

My favorite.

This day she wanted to show off her puzzle and make someone else in the room laugh. It was a struggle for me to comb her hair. “Little lady” is what her shirt says, but it would be more appropriate if it said “little monkey.”

I mean, really. She is my little show-off. She hangs off the side of her crib like this at least once a day. Did I mention that she’s a ham?

Back to the morning at hand… Once I finally got her dressed, I remembered that I had forgotten to do something on the computer so back to the office we went. I have some colors and coloring pages left in there from her Frozen party two months ago. Thank goodness I never cleaned that up. It easily keeps her entertained when I need to work on the computer for a few minutes. I finished up quickly so we could play outside. But before that, this happened.

These pictures make me laugh. They clearly depict how my little muffin likes to push the boundaries. “You want me to put my shoes on? How badly? I want to hug Roni instead.” Roni clearly is the big brother and isn’t amused.

“Swing swing, Mama!” I tell you, it is hard work to get this little crazy out the door.

Finally, we’re ready to seize the day. This day it was for bubble fun. Most days I like to get outside and let Charlotte run around and expend some energy. She is such a fan of bubbles, and since the weather has been nice, it’s been fun to get some fresh air.

It is such a gift to watch her learn and explore new things in life, especially since I get to teach her a thing or two.

I love our laid back mornings, and I especially will love and cherish these pictures forever because these are the days. Thanks for capturing the little things, Karen. It’s always the little things.

For more pictures and a peek into Karen’s perspective of the shoot, be sure to check out her blog post. And don’t forget to check out the rest of the posts within this amazing series as well!