This is something I don’t want to forget in later years.

It begins at 5:00.

Taylor’s phone blares out the wake-up call. It’s the most annoying and evil thing T-mobile has ever made. I wake up instantly angry with everyone and everything. The mood only increases as it takes Taylor a thousand minutes (Read: 7 seconds) to turn it off. I curl in a little ball of self pity until I doze off again while Taylor is forced out of bed to get ready for the day. He has about 30 minutes to shower, eat, and get dressed, all as quietly as possible so as to not wake the baby.

At 5:20, he whispers my name, and I’m awake again. (Seriously, all it takes is a whisper to wake either of us up.  Which is tough when you have a newborn bunking in your room.) I roll off the high bed and tug on my coat, boots, and glasses. I stuff my wallet and keys in my pockets. I gently pick up Arrow from her crib and put her in her car seat. She stretches her little arms upwards and I always laugh at her T-Rex pose because her arms can’t reach past her head.

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Little T-Rex arms

Once Arrow realizes what’s going on, the wailing begins. Being strapped to a chair against her will is the worst thing in the world. I move quickly and turn on the ignition. Taylor, with a little more freedom to make noise, is able to move more quickly about through the house, collecting things as he goes. Every morning we vow to be more prepared, and most nights we feel too tired to actually do anything about it.

With the strange warm weather we’ve been having, we don’t usually have to clear the windshield before we go. Thank goodness. We all pack into the car and make the 20 minutes to the train station. Sometimes Arrow falls asleep on the drive. Other times she babbles to herself in the backseat. At the station, Taylor drops a kiss on my cheek with an “I love you!” and books it to the train, barely catching up as the train slows into the station.

6:00. Taylor is on the train for a 2 hour commute to school. Because that’s what you do when you’re married with a new baby and no real job prospects.

6:30. We’ve returned home, and I give Arrow breakfast. I force myself to eat a couple pieces of toast. Food is hard to eat first thing in the morning. If we’re lucky, Arrow falls back asleep and I pass out on the couch for a little while before I get up for the day.

9:00. It’s time for 2nd breakfast and playtime for Arrow. We chat, smile at our reflections in the mirror, and look through all the windows. Tobi comes along and we pet her if she’s in a nice mood. Then I sit her in her basket so I can do some chores. Arrow complains* to be sitting down in her chair, but it’s really not possible to shower and hold her at the same time. I pack lunches, my school bag, and the diaper bag. It feels good to dress up nice for my business class.

*By complain, I mean she cries, wails, and occasionally screams.

11:30. Arrow and I drive to Salt Lake for school. I am carrying a diaper bag, carseat, lunch bag, and a smoothie. I feel funky fresh with a banana-blueberry smoothie in hand. Arrow resumes her car babbling until she drifts off for her late morning nap. As I drive, I sip my smoothie and choreograph dance scenes in my head. Lately I’ve been rockin’ out to Lindsey Stirling. Sometimes I get so caught up on an imaginary step routine, that I catch myself going a wee bit over the speed limit. Obviously, I do really well at contributing to Utah’s bad drivers reputation.

12:00. Taylor and I are both on the commute. He’s coming down from the University of Utah to meet me at LDSBC. In the BC parking lot, I’ll pass off Arrow to him and dash to class.

This schedule is hard, no question. But I’m so grateful that we were able to make our schedules work so that we can keep working on our degrees and spend time with our precious girl.