Susan guest blogged for Lovely late last year, so when she approached me to write about another tough topic, I said, "yes!" She's an amazing writer and I am thrilled to have her back. Susan asked if she could write about her recent bout with thyroid cancer and how it impacted her life as a mother and woman. I am so happy to have Susan here today sharing her story; it seems as though #thyca is all over the news lately. Long time blogger and writer, and mom to a young son, Christine Coppa is currently on a #thyca journey (check out her piece on how she told her son about her cancer), and is documenting it for everyone, as raw and scary as it is. Thanks for sharing today, Susan! 

First of all, huge apologies to Susanne, for this was supposed to go up before the holidays, but life got a little insane, so here it is now! I love this Day in the Life Of post because it cracked me up, and also, is so honest and real. Susanne is a mom I met online, but turned out we had "IRL" friends in common! Her daughter, Lucy, is a peanut and so adorable. Thanks for sharing, Susanne! You can follow Susanne on Instagram, too! 

Back to bed everyone!

6:30am: I wake to Lucy's lovely yelling. I guess it's the best you can do when you can't actually talk so I don't blame her. I go in. "Good morning kitty cat!!!" I smother her in hugs and kisses, change her diaper and nurse her in our big comfy beanbag chair. We cover ourselves with a blanket and she hops on and off the chair grabbing new books for us to read, handing each one to me and saying "up up up!"

7:30am: Lucy starts yelling and throwing herself on the floor, now grabbing my shoulders and saying, "up, up, up!" I assume this means she wants me to get up and bring her downstairs for breakfast. Who knows! I sit her in her high chair, while I peel an apple for her to eat and she yells and tries to grab it. I FINALLY (25 seconds?) hand it over and she devours it. This used to keep her busy for a good 20 minutes, but she's suddenly a really efficient fruit eater - ten minutes tops... "Up, up, up!" At this point I have so much in my head that I planned to do while she ate that apple. Cue extreme disappointment. Cue the urge to multitask. Ok. I don't even know what I did with that ten minutes.

7:45am: I put her on the floor and let her crawl around while I attempt to tackle my list of little things I imagined getting done - my quick morning routine (oil pulling, apple cider vinegar with hot water and lemon), making almond milk, cleaning the kitchen, cooking breakfast, getting dinner in the slow cooker and checking email with some unfortunate Facebook distractions.
I look down for about 30 seconds to read an article on why moms are so tired ("hyperawareness" ? Seriously.) I look up and Lucy has climbed on the tv cabinet and is basically sitting on the cable box. Oops. I grab her down and discover she really needs a diaper change. Ugh. No, diapers never got less gross to me. How about you?

8am: Thank god that's over. I take this opportunity (just since I thought of it) to wash my face and brush my teeth while Lucy sits on the bathroom counter and turns the light on and off. I count this as learning. Side note: I just started using a Clarisonic on my face every day and oh my god can we talk about amazing results? Have you tried this?!)

8:15am: back downstairs to have our breakfast (oatmeal with almond butter/blueberries and chia seeds - it's our new favorite).

8:45: After breakfast we play on the floor with some blocks and I straighten up the living room and get my computer ready for a 9am call with work.

9am: Lucy hangs with dad upstairs in her room (sounds like they're reading books) and I take my work call. Nap time (for Lucy) is 9:30 so dad puts her down then and I finish up my work call shortly after so I have some free time (!) meaning I have some time with out baby at my feet. I finish prepping dinner (a loose rendition of this recipe) and begin to clean the kitchen - by this point in her life, Lucy has got to think my favorite hobby is doing dishes. It's not.

10am: She's up! We nurse. It’s funny, breastfeeding has been the hardest thing I’ve done in life so far and once it started to get easy, everyone started asking me when I plan to stop like I’m a crazy weirdo. She’s only a few weeks past one… we’ll see what happens.

10:15: More playtime for Lucy. I open up "her cabinet" where I keep lots of baby safe kitchen stuff and she sits and plays for a while while I get chicken stock cooking. I roasted a chicken last night; I always make a stock with the bones to get the most out of the chicken - it's also so nutritious and delicious! Then finish up making almond milk.

11am: We hop in the car and run to Value Drugs to grab hand soap and some other essentials we ran out of before vacation. Lucy reaches for every stuffed animal in the store and I stop the cart, introduce her "hi da!" And she hugs each one like its her long lost, best friend. These moments make me wonder "how is she this cool?!??"

12pm: We're home... I get some laundry done while carrying Lucy on my hip. Then she hangs out in my bedroom with me - crawling up and down on the bed while I straighten up. She goes to my night table drawer, takes out my Chapstick, and then puts it back over and over. I guess this counts as learning too. We relax. Somehow we're ahead of schedule and for a little bit we just hang out on the bed; she gets lots of tickles and kisses. She makes me laugh hysterically doing her new routine of standing up on the bed, putting her hands over her head and diving on to me. She. Is. The. Best.

12:45: We nurse. She gets a new diaper and turns off the light (while on my hip) and I put her in her crib for a nap. (1pm is nap time, but she always spends some time babbling and getting comfy in her crib. We started using the 90 minute sleep solution around two months and it has helped more than anything else I've tried. I highly recommend it!) I take advantage of nap time to take the fastest shower ever, get dressed and get her lunch ready (roast chicken from last night, a banana and a kale/cashew/mango smoothie - made six of these - one for Lucy, me, my husband, the babysitter, and a few for tomorrow.) I chug a smoothie and throw my laptop and wallet into my bag.

1:55: She's up! And in a great mood. Hallelujah. The babysitter will be here at 2pm so I get Lucy out of her pajamas (finally!) and into some semi normal clothes - we're still waiting for clean laundry because we just got back from vacation two days ago...

2pm: Charlotte (our amazing babysitter) arrives. Lucy and I answer the door and I tell her, "Charlotte's going to play with you for a while while I go do some work!" I sit her in her high chair and take lunch out and say bye! Thank god she loves Charlotte. My husband and I leave (he's been working in his home office all day) and we go to Starbucks to work for a very short two hours. Somehow, I get a ton of work done. I'm looking for a lighting designer and figuring out the best place to order 2,000 balloons from for an event I'm planning. I'm feeling very grateful to have this new project because work has been kind of slow for the past few weeks and also, this project is super fun.

4pm: We're home. Lucy hears me say hi and crawls over to me with the biggest smile I've ever seen anyone smile. We say bye to amazing Charlotte and nurse on the couch till Lucy flips off my lap, says, "up up up" and hops down off the couch (she's still figuring out up and down). She's entertaining herself on the floor doing lunges saying, "up, da" so I take this time to finish up a few emails for work and peak at Facbook/Instagram. She crawls into the kitchen and I hear her say, "up, up, up" to my husband who is standing at the counter working at his laptop. He is pleasantly surprised because she rarely asks him to pick her up. So that's cute! It lasts for about five minutes and somehow she has landed back in my arms haha.

4:45: I crawl onto the floor and sit in Lucy's elephant chair and tell her to pick some books for us to read. She gets "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and sits in my lap and we read... Well, I read. Spoiler alert: The caterpillar becomes a beautiful butterfly. She climbs down, grabs her baby (a birthday present I gave her last week) and hugs her and says, "baaabaae!"

She comes back over to me and it's "up, up, up!" So I grab her and head back to the kitchen (because that's where I live!) I have to get her dinner ready and finish making dinner for my husband and I, but I quickly realize this is not going to happen with my hip baby. I sit her in her high chair with an appetizer (a spoonful of coconut oil - yum! I don't know, she loves it.) Throw a bunch of cubed sweet potatoes into the oven and grab some Lima beans out of the slow cooker. I should have done those last two things earlier, but I didn't. She's done with her "appetizer" and climbing out of her high chair so I grab her and sit her on the counter and let her examine the spinach (learning!) while I'm tearing radicchio and slicing tomatoes. Lima beans have cooled! Sit her back down and hand her a bunch. She eats some, but feeds half to the dog. Grr. I throw him into the backyard so I have a better chance of her eating. Sweet potatoes are served! She loves them. But I'm still worried she hasn't eaten enough so I grab the blender and make her a quick dessert smoothie (almond milk/coconut cream/blueberries/cardamom/turmeric) she downs it. Yay! This is delicious. I instagram it. (I've been working on getting some kids recipes together and planning a "real food workshop" to put my health coach license to use, but just haven't gotten there yet. Small steps.)

6pm: Bath time has arrived! I grab a glass of wine. We climb the stairs - Lucy in front of me, climbing on all fours, start the tub and go into her room to clean up. I ask her to help me clean up all her books and she hands me them one by one - then hands me a sock, which makes me wonder if she knows what books are. Well, one day she will figure it out. Into the bath. We talk about the day. Well, I talk about the day. She says, didididididididaaaaa! Speaking of daaa! Dad come upstairs to say goodnight and hangs out for a few in the bathroom with us. Lucy says, "up up up" which means bath time is over and it's time for bed. We nurse. I put her pajamas on, we say goodnight to every stuffed animal in her room, goodnight to the sun (which has already set), I let her switch off the light and put her in her crib. Aaaaaah.

6:40: By now, dinner is ready to go so I make some plates up for my husband and myself. Now we get to relax. I love Lucy's early bed time because I get to spend all day with her and then have time with my husband at night, which for me is totally necessary to stay sane. Also, going to bed early gives her the best chance to get a full 12 hours... Babies wake up with the sun no matter what time they go to bed. They're like senior citizens. (From my experience.)

8pm: We sit on the couch, have some more wine and watch American Horror Story (that show is getting to be really disturbing), SVU and I work a little more on my phone researching caterers and lighting artists - I'd love to stop this habit and turn my phone off at night... Maybe one day!

11pm: I pour us both a "Calm" magnesium drink and it's time for bed.

Sometimes I think I have the time management skills of a teenager at a Grateful Dead concert, but this day went pretty well! Success! Now I pray that she sleeps through the night.

November 24th, 2014

5:30 am – Briefly wake up to a kiss goodbye from my husband, Andrew, before he heads off to work for the day. Roll over and hope to get a couple more hours of sleep.

6:30 am – wake up to Addy crying from her room. I go get her out of the crib and bring her in to bed and attempt to nurse her back to sleep so I can catch a few more zzz’s.

6:45 am – It’s no use, she’s up for the day. After changing her diaper we head out to the kitchen and begin our day. And to be honest – after waking up at around 5:00 am every day for at least a year, 6:30 is pretty dang awesome.

7:00 am – First stop: My glorious Keurig. I get my first cup of coffee for the day and try to find something for Addy to eat. Before I know it, she is pointing at the TV and saying “oh oh ah ah!”

7:15 am – I give in and put Curious George on for her. I am a huge pushover in the morning, apparently. While Addy is enthralled with “Georgie,” as we call him, I am able to get some work done on my laptop (checking emails, working on upcoming blog posts, etc).

7:30 am – Addy is signing “eat eat” so I get her some yogurt and some cereal, which she picks at.

8:00 am – Addy decides to take all of the pots and pans out of the kitchen cupboards and arranges them on the living room floor. She is pretty impressed with herself. I am able to get a few more things done on my computer while she is entertaining herself, which is awesome. She also tries to wear a heavy pot like a hat which does not go over well.

9:00 am – I’m on my last pair of contacts so I call my eye doctor and order new ones. I read a few books with Addy and then we head in to my bedroom so I can do some cleaning.

9:15 am - Addy enjoys emptying out the bathroom drawers and dispersing the contents throughout the bedroom. She finds some chap stick and puts it on her lips, just like mama. After her lips are completely covered, I attempt to take the chap stick away. Naturally, this is the end of the world and she throws a giant fit. I try to distract her and tell her it’s shower time (which she loves) but she continues to throw a fit anyway.

9:30 am – She finally calms down and agrees to get in the shower, where she is instantly happy again. Afterwards, I coax her in to her room to get dressed. I tell her to “pick out an outfit” but I end up choosing her clothes anyway. I throw something comfy on myself for the time being, along with my fuzzy slippers. We play in her room and then in the living room and before I know it Addy is signing “eat” again and again.

10:45 am – We head out to the kitchen to get something for lunch. I whip up some mac & cheese and she has a few bites before acting uninterested.  I offer her various other things but apparently she is no longer hungry.

11:00 am -  I tell Addy that we need to cut her nails because they’re getting long (really long… yikes). I get the nail scissors and put on Curious George in hopes that it will keep her attention. I expect her to put up a huge fight like usual, but I am able to cut all 10 finger nails with ease and without a peep from her.  I am super excited… this is NOT normal and usually it’s a huge struggle where I end up calling in reinforcements from Andrew.

11:15 am – Addy begins to act tired, so I take her in to my bed and see if she will nurse to sleep. As her eyes get droopy, I contemplate if I should take a rare nap with her or if I should get some work done. I decide on the latter – there’s just too much to do.

11:30 am – After Addy is sound asleep, I sneak out of the room and head for the kitchen. I brew another cup of coffee and sit down at the kitchen table with my laptop. Time to work!

1:30 pm – I look at the clock, and am super happy that Addy is taking such a long nap and I’m getting so much done.

1:45 pm – My mom gives me a call and we chat for about 15 minutes. She gives me a much-needed pep talk, which is nice because we’ve been going through some crazy stressful stuff in regard to buying our first home.

2:00 pm – Our real estate agent calls and gives me an update on a few things. We set up a viewing of another house for later in the week.

2:30 pm – Addy finally wakes up from her nap and comes stumbling out to the kitchen. We snuggle for a minute while she adjusts to being awake and I tell her that we are going to go grocery shopping soon.

2:45 pm – I get Addy dressed in an adorable little purple sweater dress and I realize I have a purple headband that matches perfectly. I figure it’s worth a shot, so I grab it and put it on her head… and she didn’t take it off! That’s a first. In fact, we got out the door and in to the car without it coming off.

3:00 pm – We arrive to Fred Meyer and grab a cart. Addy loves riding in the cart so we begin our shopping adventure on a good note. We only have a few things to get this week since we are leaving town mid-week for Thanksgiving with my family in Washington.

3:05 pm - As we head towards the food aisles, we pass the women’s clothing department and I can’t help but notice all of the “sale” signs. We make a brief detour and before I know it we are in the dressing room with an armful items. We emerge from the dressing room with two shirts and a skirt. I feel guilty but also am in dire need of a few new cute tops … plus we aren’t getting that much food anyway….so I justify it.

4:00 pm – After our shopping trip, we get home to see that daddy is already back from work. Yay! We are both excited to see him. Andrew helps me put away the groceries and Addy plays with blocks in the living room.

5:00 pm – We are all getting hungry so I put a pot of water on the stove to boil for spaghetti. While I’m waiting for the water to boil, I receive an email with the first drafts of my potential new logos for my business, Event Crush. I am SUPER nervous but also excited to see them (what if I hate them!?). I finally open the email and I really like one of them which is great, but there were several changes I wanted my designer to make. I show Andrew and email it to my mom as well to get their feedback. I decide I will think on it more and get back to her in the morning with the changes I’m wanting done.

5:15 pm – We enjoy our spaghetti and then Andrew heads off to coach volleyball practice. I put on some cartoons and me and Addy play in the living room.

7:00 pm – Around this time, something super weird started going on with my right eye. I tried to read a text message and had a hard time reading it, as if I had just looked in to a bright light or something. I realized I had a sort of “blind spot” in my eye. I immediately took out my contacts to see if that would help, but it didn’t. I put on my glasses and tried to stay calm but nothing like this had ever happened before so I started to freak out a little bit. I googled “blind spot in eye” which definitely didn’t help.

7:30 pm – Andrew gets home and he can tell that something is wrong. I tell him what’s going on and he tries to console me.  I tell him that I read “if you have any changes in vision you should consult a medical professional or go to the hospital asap” and that I’m scared… he tells me to try to stay calm and give it a little while to see if it goes away. I agree.

8:00 pm -  My weird eye thing seems to have passed, although now I have a gnarly headache. I take some Tylenol, and then I bring Addy in to her room for bed time. Thankfully she goes down without a problem. I am pretty sure the headache is a result of me being stressed out about my eye.

8:15 pm – I text my mom about my weird eye issue and she asks if I’ve been over-wearing my contacts. Yes. Yes I have. I decide that’s the explanation for this and I try to get some sleep to rest my eyes, which is not coming easy with a headache (plus I am not used to ever going to bed this early). Eventually I fall asleep and get some good rest!

(Side note: I haven’t had any eye issues since then! It was super weird though).

You know when you come across moms who totally inspire you? That's Tara! She's a mother-baby nurse, a nutrionist, and owns her own "SnugBug Fitness Class" where she helps moms get in shape while wearing their babies. Not to mention she's super smart, friendly, and has a gorgeous pixie of a baby girl named....Magnolia. Swoon. Totally girl-crushing on today's A Day in the Life Of guest poster! Take it away, Tara!

A Day in the Life of Tara Allen…

6:00 AM – The alarm goes off. Magnolia has been up and breastfeeding since 5:30 (for her 5th middle-of-the-night feeding). I still set a ‘just in case’ alarm everyday.

6:15 AM – Done breastfeeding. Giggles, poking Daddy, and saying “Mama” about 20-30 times before we get out of bed.

6:45 AM – Done with diaper change, vitamins, dressing, combing hair, and brushing teeth. The brushing teeth thing is more like an opportunity for Maggie to bite my finger without being told not to bite. Teething again, right? ANY day now!

7:00 AM – Joe hangs with Maggie while I quickly wash up and throw some workout clothes on. We have 2 classes to teach today!

7:15 AM – Pack the car – carseat, baby carrier, diaper bag, pocketbook, iPad and notebook (a.k.a. my mobile office), resistance bands, water, breakfast and lunch for mini-me and me.

7:30 AM – Kisses, coats, and out the door.

7:30 AM – 8:15 AM – drive to Huntington, listen to music, news, podcasts. Turn it all off. Sing "The Wheels on the Bus". That seems better. Magnolia catches a quick cat nap. I find some parking in between construction zones. Please don’t wake my baby!

8:15AM – 8:45 AM – Mobile office open for business. Check emails. Post on Facebook about the construction / parking situation for everyone. Write routine for today’s classes.

8:45 AM – Princess is awake. Perfect timing – was just going to wake her. Quick feeding and diaper change in the car. Time to teach our SnugBug Fitness class!

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM – SnugBug Fitness class. We talk, we sweat, and I feel lucky to do what I do.


10:15 AM – Another diaper change and feeding in the car. Blog about class. Welcome new clients. A gentle wrestle and toy distraction to get M into her seat. It works!

10:30 AM – Drive, drive, drive. Magnolia needs a real nap now and this is just about the only way we can get one.

11:15 AM – She’s asleep!

11:20 AM – She’s awake!

11:30 AM – She’s asleep!



12:00 PM – Call my mom from the car (hands-free, don’t worry). We talk about some holiday plans we have coming up and schedule some Grandma-Magnolia time (which equals some work time for this Mama).

12:25 PM – Arrive in Mineola. Park and continue to work. An opportunity to meet with the web developer after this next class. Great! Take notes for meeting. Hopefully a little sweat and a baby won’t be a distraction for my meeting.

1:30 PM – M wakes up – 2 hour nap – sweet! Lunch time. We eat (where else?) in the car today. She reluctantly takes a bottle of pumped milk at this time. I’m starting to slowly wean, so this is the “no boobie” time. Diaper change. It’s warm today – we head outside for a walk and a little fun Mommy and me time.

2:05 PM – Enter the wellness center to set up for class. Magnolia loves this time as she runs around the room and we listen to music. Quick dance party. Maggie’s got some slick moves already at her ripe ol’ age of 1.

2:15 PM – 3:15 PM – SnugBug Fitness class #2. Fun, fun! 2 workouts in one day is not such a bad gig, either.












3:25 PM – 4:30 PM – Pack up and head over to meeting. Joe works in the same building and can take Maggie for a few minutes while I meet with the web developer. Perfect! Concentrating on updating site to take registration for upcoming nutrition seminar I will be teaching. Oh no, is she crying?? “Mama, mama, maaaaaa-maaaaa!” Yup, she is. “We’ll finish this via email. Thanks”!

4:30 PM – Back in the “boobie” time frame. Nurse M and change diaper. We drive home in traffic and I break out the Christmas songs very early this year. She sings along with a “ya-ya-ya”.

5:30 PM – Home and unpack the car. Shower / bath time for us! Pajamas X 2 (why not?). Maggie grabs a book. We read. She eats the book. We play with her new medical kit. “Are you going to be a nurse like Mommy?” “Mama?” I’ll take that as a maybe. A load of laundry goes on, breastmilk defrosting to make bottles, and time to start cooking. I cook dinner for us, breakfast/lunch/dinner for Maggie for tomorrow, and breakfast and lunch for myself for tomorrow – I will be working all day at the hospital. A giant post-it note details all of Maggie’s meals for tomorrow so our family / babysitters know what she gets and when. This happens when you’re Type A, a bit overprotective of your child’s health, and out of the house for 15 hours straight.











7:00 PM (shoot, later than I planned) – We eat dinner. Joe will be home around 7:30.

7:30 PM – Joe is home! “Hello”, catch up for 5 minutes, and he brings M into the bath. Phew! Time to clean up from dinner, wash the dishes, flip the laundry, and start to pack things for tomorrow. Set the alarm for 4 AM.

8:00 PM – Pack my breast pump for work tomorrow, stock the diapers and wipes in the nursery. Take out the garbage and diapers. Lay out my clothes in the bathroom (so I can just slip out of the bedroom without waking anyone in the morning). Joe does lotion, bedtime stories, and brushes teeth. Sleep sack on and we meet on the couch to breastfeed. She’s not sleepy yet. She climbs on us. Sleep sack off. We chase her. She giggles – a lot!

8:40 PM – Rubbing her eyes! Let’s try again. Sleep sack on. Breastfeed to sleep. Joe and I stare for a minute as usual. She’s so beautiful! We’re so lucky! Joe scoops her up as I plant one last kiss on her forehead. “Is the sound machine on?” “Yup”. Transfer to her crib. It may only last about 2 hours, but it’s a start! Time to fold laundry, finish last minute emails, post the recipe for what I made for dinner, and catch up with Joe about the day.











9:20 PM – Crawl into bed. Try to get a solid hour or two for now. Magnolia will be up between 10:30 and 12 and will be nursing and co-sleeping with us from then on. Now’s my chance to sprawl out on the bed! Double and triple check my alarm. Goodnight!


Bring on tomorrow….

Lovelies, I love when life works out in funny ways and you meet people on your journey whom inspire you; take for example, Kerry Hotine. Kerry is a mom to five kids, with two sets of twins, and runs her own business, Bows For Your Bellas. We've posted about Bows for Your Bellas before, and I am so excited to have Kerry "back" today! 

Nov 5, 2014

7am: Which is the time I let myself get out of bed, I grab a cup of coffee and I sneak about ½ hour of computer work in while my kids slowly come down from bed, they are either watching TV to wake up or they are starting to get themselves dressed.

7:30: The kids are now asking for breakfast (the ones who have not eaten) or that would like something hot (oatmeal or pancakes); for the most part my guys can get what they want, cereal, muffins etc.

7:45 am: I start making 4 snacks for school and 3 lunches for my elementary school kids. One of my 4 yr olds is home sick today with the stomach bug, so she will be on the couch for the day with me!

8:15: I am finishing up the snacks and lunches (3 kids want 3 different things of course)! And now I come to realize that they have not finished their homework from the day before, so as I am finishing lunches I am now helping finish up homework.

8:45: Time to get my self-dressed before we need to get out the door for bus and preschool.

9:00 am: Last call for hair and teeth, coats back packs and we all pile into the car, even my sick little one.

9:10: The bus gets the 3 older, then I race to preschool which started at 9am, and drop off Julia while Emily comes with me.

9:20: I grab a quick coffee at Starbucks and a hot chocolate for Emily, even though I know I should not since she has had the stomach bug for the past 2 days! Then we are off to Jefferson school to make copies for a fundraiser that I am in charge of!