My Spring Morning Routine

Hello and welcome!

Today I wanted to share my spring morning routine. I love a good routine and lately, I've been trying to make some significant changes to my morning routine. Ever since the time changed, I've really been dragging my feet on getting out of bed and getting the day started so I decided it was time to take action. My morning routine is probably going to continue to change as the summer moves in and there is more outside work to do (i.e., flowers to water, the pool to take care of). I know to accomplish those things, I'm going to have to wake up earlier. So I'm using this season to ease myself into it.

My goal wake-up time is 6:30 am. I think that should give me enough time once summer is in full swing to get everything done before I need to wake up my husband (normally around 8 am) and my toddler (normally around 8:30 am). As of this week, I'm getting up at 6:40 am so we are getting closer. I will also just say that I am a very lucky parent. I have a toddler who has pretty much been an incredible sleeper ever since he was about 11 months old. He's not an early riser. He generally goes to bed around 8:30 pm and will get up around 8:30 am. So that helps my morning routine go a lot smoother. I also want to say, I am not nor have I ever been a "morning person". I've struggled my whole life to drag myself out of bed. But I have found things that make me want to get out of bed, which is game-changing. I don't really need 2 hours to finish all the chores before my son gets up, but I do like to do some things for myself in the morning. If you are a parent and can do this, I highly recommend it. Taking some time for yourself before the day really begins helps with my mood and with my productivity levels.

The first thing I do upon waking up is throw on my robe because I'm a human that is always cold. I also grab my phone, the baby monitor, and my glasses then I turn off our son's alarm (this is a little disc we put on his door and if he opened his door, an alarm would sound in our bedroom, so I need to turn the base off in the morning). I head downstairs and start what I call "waking up" the house.

I go around to all the windows and open all the blinds and curtains downstairs. While I do this, I like to also pray. I thank God for a new day, thank Him for helping me with my wake-up time, ask for help for the day coming, and just general things like that or just whatever comes to my heart or mind. After the house is awake, I go to the bathroom, and then I will grab my Bible, journal, and my computer. I will either sit in our family room or our sunroom (weather permitting) to do this part of my morning routine. I also like to grab water (which I've prepped the night before) and randomly, a spoonful of peanut butter. As I write this, I'm 19 weeks pregnant so I'm hungry a lot and that seems to be a nice gentle way of starting the day. I eat on this as I do the rest of my morning routine.

The first thing I do when I sit down is my Bible study. I'm currently doing a study on the book of Matthew. I found a website that has lots of free studies, you can find it here. It's basically set up as more of a formal study and comes with the answer key and notes for whoever is leading it. For me, I do one question a day. Each question comes with a bit of scripture to read, so I read that, answer the question, I also leave a little space for a prayer and also space for the "word of the day" which is a word that just stands out to me about the day. It could be from the study, it could be a word that's extremely relevant to something I am walking through, it just depends on what God lays on my heart. Also, I'd like to say I do answer the question, but I don't look back at the answer in the study guide until I do my nighttime routine. If I'm confused about something, it gives me all day to kind of brew on it and see what comes to my heart or mind. I just feel this is a good way to stay engaged with God's Word all day.

The next thing I do is Duolingo, which if you didn't know is a website to teach languages. I've wanted to learn a new language for a while but never could be consistent and find the time to do it. I've found that doing it in my morning routine is the best way to do it and honestly, it's really fun too. I will do two lessons on my computer (they have an app for your phone but I find I like it better on the computer) and then stop for the day. I am currently learning Welsh. I don't have any real reason as to why I need to learn Welsh, but I just thought it would be fun and I think we should be learning always.

The last thing I do while I'm sitting down is what I am doing this second: write. Every weekday morning, I try to spend 10 minutes writing. I never really thought I'd be able to do this, but I never had any time to write before so I thought building it into my morning routine would be a good way to include it in my everyday life. I've always loved to write and so I've longed to do more of it for the year. I find that having this small dedicated time for it every morning is insanely helpful for me. I really look forward to sitting down and writing in the mornings. I've written a few of my last blogposts this way and I'm happy about that. It's given me a way to post more consistently on my blog and I love that! Most of the time it is a blog post I'm doing but sometimes it's a fictional piece I might be working on as well.

After I've accomplished these things, I will then try to do 10 - 15 minutes of exercise. This is a habit I'd fallen out of badly since I've been pregnant. I've just felt so bad but I'm in that 2nd-trimester bliss right now, so I am taking advantage of it. Normally this exercise is very gentle yoga, but I'm also looking into different exercises to mix it up a little bit too.

Once I've worked out I will then try to start a load of laundry (if needed) and take any mail to the mailbox that needs to be sent out that day. By this time it's usually around 8 am and at this time, I will make a pot of coffee for my husband and then head upstairs to wake him up.

Once I'm upstairs, I wake my husband up and then start to get ready myself. I like to multitask so normally while I brush my teeth I will go around and open the blinds in our bedroom and bathroom. I will wash my face, and, depending on the day, put on a little bit of makeup. I don't wear much makeup anyway but when I do it's normally just when I need to get out of the house or we are having company that day (this totally depends on the company though). I'll then change my clothes, which I've laid out the night before, and fix my hair. I do get fully dressed every day, even on weekends now that it's warm and we see our neighbors often on the weekend. I am at home 98% of the time but there's something about getting dressed that really puts me in the mindset of being productive throughout the day (I've also learned if I don't get dressed by 9 am, there's a 99.9% chance someone will show up at my front door, embarrassing). My hair is also super simple. I got a massive cut about a year ago and since then I've only put heat on it twice so I don't really do much fixing. I sleep with my hair in two braids every night (per the recommendation of my hairstylist to prevent breakage) and because my hair is naturally straight, this gives it a little wave which I like. Then I will generally just add some clips on either side to keep some of the front bits back or I'll do a low ponytail or low bun. It just depends on the day. The last step for me is putting on some hairspray, deodorant, and jewelry and I'm ready for the day.

The last task I do before going to get my son up is making our bed and tidying our bedroom. That's it! I then go get my son up and stand forever to wait for him to come to me to pick him up out of bed (growing bellies and cribs on the lowest setting do not mix well). I then get him dressed and we head downstairs to make breakfast and start our day together.

And there you have it! That is my current morning routine for the spring. I have been in prayer with God about my mornings and have been asking for His guidance and help with getting into a better routine and I'm so thankful for the results I'm seeing. Even though I'm up earlier, I feel like I have more energy.

I think that taking that time in the morning for myself and what's important to me is a real mood booster and helps start the day on the right foot.

Now with all this being said, of course, things happen sometimes. My son may get up early. If he does, I just let him join. I think sometimes this is good. It's good for our kids to see us doing things we enjoy. I really love when my kids see me reading my Bible or learning something. I think it sets a really good example for them.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope that you may be found some inspiration for your morning routine as well. I encourage you to take time for yourself and specifically to spend time with God first thing in the morning, you will not regret it. If it seems unachievable (which it did to me), talk with Him about it, He is always there to help.

Until next time!