Morning routines

Since my return to work after having Lily, my weekday mornings have changed dramatically. Not that I was surprised by this; I'd heard tell this tends to happen. The evenings and weekends have changed as well, to be sure, but this post will focus on the 180 my cherished morning routine (I'm a creature of habit to say the least) experienced.

I'll compare and contrast, language arts-style.

Before: Wake up fairly alert around 5:30 am.
Now: Struggle to pull myself out of bed by 6:00 am.

Before: Shower - I was always a morning shower person.
Now: Showered the night before - no time for morning showers now.

Before: Do hair and makeup, maybe even straighten it if running ahead of schedule.
Now: Just deal with whatever my hair decided to do while it dried overnight and apply makeup as quietly as possible. Lily up early = routine in the toilet.

Before: Pick out something to wear, iron if necessary.
Now: Iron? Haha.

Before: Leisurely breakfast including at least a full mug of the good stuff and some solid facebook time.
Now: This is about the time Lily wakes up. Breakfast will have to wait. Also happens to be my very favorite time of the day. Lily is waiting in her crib, smiling when I come in, so happy to see me. We lay down for her morning feeding...I will miss this so much when it's gone.

Before: Still enjoying breakfast. Maybe getting some bills paid, etc.
Now: Mommy's breakfast time. Lily's play time. She's plopped in front of me on the floor with her toys while I balance breakfast and pumping whatever she didn't eat...I'm a machine when it comes to this.

Side note: I find it terribly ironic that I need caffeine now more than ever and yet I find myself unable to finish a full mug of coffee before leaving the house. If I do, it's probably been reheated four times before I finish it.

Before: I don't have anything to put here, because I was probably still piddling around the house before it was time to go. I would even occasionally water the yard and plants in the AM. I know! I now wonder to myself, who has that kind of time?
Now: This is go time for me. I squeeze a whole lot into these last 15 or 20 minutes. I brush my teeth, get dressed, change Lily, give her the nasty Poly-Vi-Sol she seems to actually kind of like, pack my lunch, pack her bottles, pack her solids...assuming I didn't fall asleep the night before without getting these ready for the next day, clean the baby megaphones (thank you Tina Fey for your comic genius), stock the pumping bag, toss the cat outside, strap her in the car seat, load the car with an extended vacation's worth of bags and we're off!

Oy. But I love it.