a day in HER life - Olivia Hewetson

Hi! I’m Olivia, or Liv for short. I’m a 29 year old stay at home mum to Beau (2.5) and Leo (8 months), step mum to Christian and wife to Matt. Outnumbered? Very much so. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Beau is my little fire cracker, he is always on the go and that’s what I love about him. He is a constant source of entertainment. He is also the most loving little boy I’ve ever met. The amount of kisses and cuddles I receive daily is uncountable. And he is the BEST big brother. The age that he is at now is quickly becoming a favourite of mine (minus the two year old tantrums!). Leo is the most loved little baby. He has the softest tuft of blonde hair and the bluest eyes. His smile is just to die for and his giggles are something else. I want to bottle them up forever. He is strong and determined and loves attention. And he just happens to have been born with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism.

In my previous life (before the kids) I worked in advertising sales in the big city. These days I’m living a more simple life in a smaller city, closer to the beach, spending my days making memories with my boys, preaching kindness and encouraging acceptance. All while adjusting to our new normal. Life is busy and often hard, but the joy that these little boys bring me is out of this world.

Each day is different for us, so I’m going to tell you about today, Tuesday, for no reason in particular other than because its fresh in my mind. It just so happens to be my husbands birthday today. February is a busy month for us. Anniversary, hubbys birthday, valentines day, my birthday. All in the space of two weeks. We don’t celebrate Valentines Day for obvious overkill reasons! Also, it’s not a huge thing here in New Zealand. Anywho, back to today. Our day started at 6am when Beau came in to our bedroom babbling about trains and Peppa Pig. We try to enforce a rule of no getting out of bed until 6.30 so I sent him back, but his babbles had woken Leo (who sleeps in our room) and I knew that there was no going back from there. I accepted the fact that our day had started half an hour earlier than I would have liked and brought the boys out to the lounge. I used this extra time to dig out a couple of ‘Happy Birthday’ banners to hang up for when Matt woke and to encourage Beau to repeat after me with “Happy Birthday Daddy!”

The couple of hours between 7am and 9am are spent sorting breakfast, a bath for Leo, getting the boys dressed and playing with trains or watching trains on Youtube. Tuesday is a daycare day (Beau goes there three days a week) so at 8.50am we are out the door. Matt works from home which makes things a lot easier when it comes to daycare drop off because I don’t have to drag Leo along with me and disrupt his nap routine. It also means that I can fit in a class at the gym next door to daycare. Todays class was BAT (Bums Abs Thighs), my favourite. It works me hard and it’s all over in 30 minutes. On the way home I stop off at the French bakery to pick up a couple of takeaway coffees and a cream donut. Not for me, why undo all my hard work in a matter of minutes after the class?! It’s for the hubby because it’s not every day it’s your birthday, and YOLO.

Back home and Leo is awake. He has been catnapping lately so naps aren’t really lasting longer than 20-30 minutes. Anyone know a good baby whisperer? Send her over! He’s just chilling out with Dad at his computer when I walk in the door. The weather is incredibly average today. I’m really not sure where summer has got to! I was supposed to be photographing a friend down at the beach today to document the final stages of her pregnancy, but the rain has meant that we have had to post pone until later in the week. I am definitely no professional when it comes to taking photos, but we figure that a good quality camera and picturesque scenery is a step up from the mirror selfies that she’s been taking so far!

I jump in the shower before Leo gets hungry again. There is nothing worse than having to breast feed your baby after a sweaty gym session! Once out, I feed Leo and then set to work in the kitchen whipping up some birthday desert for later tonight. After that I sit with Leo on the floor and practice his sitting up. Because his body is disproportionate, achieving milestones such as this take a little longer and he has to work that much harder to get there. So we encourage tummy time as much as possible to strengthen his neck and core.

Leo has a feed of solids in his new specialized highchair that we have just received from his developmental therapist and then I spend some time doing household chores while Leo goes down for his second nap. I figure I have approximately 25 minutes to get some things done before he’s awake again. You never realise how much you appreciate the midday nap until its almost nonexistent!

Once Leo is awake I pop him in the pram for a walk. The rain has stopped briefly so I want to make the most of it! Of course while we are out and about it starts up again, but it’s actually quite refreshing in the humid heat we’ve been having. We get home, play around for a while and then he’s off to sleep again. This catnapping means he’s tired more often. I take this as an opportunity to get 20 minutes of sleep for myself. Not something I would normally do during the day but I’m feeling particulary worn out this week and Leos night sleeping (or lack of) is really wearing me down.

I wake up and it’s time to go and pick Beau up from daycare. He has painted a birthday card for his dad and is extremely proud. We get home and he runs in excitedly to give it to him. We have dinner plans to celebrate his birthday at the restaurant down the road so we head there at 5pm for an early meal. We order Beau a kids size pizza but he’s not interested. Sometimes I wonder if he really is my kid! I tell him that if he doesn’t eat his dinner then there will be no ice cream for desert. He doesn’t eat it. Then the waitress brings out the complimentary ice cream and hands it to him anyway. I could have taken it from him but why risk the meltdown? So yes, my child was rewarded with cookies and cream icecream for not eating his dinner. That’ll teach him right?!

Back home to begin the bedtime process. Bath, pyjamas, reading and then bed by 7pm. Beau has had a big day and he’s knackered so he goes down well. Leo is quick to go to sleep too. Because of his obstructive sleep apnea, which is not uncommon with his type of dwarfism, he sleeps with a nasal canula (little prongs up his nose) which is connected to a machine that generates a high flow of air. This helps to reduce the number of apneas he has and allows him get a better sleep. At first it was quite a daunting machine to use. He disliked it which made me feel anxious when bedtime rolled around, but now he has been using it for two months and it is so much a part of his routine that as soon as he feels the air up his nose his eyelids droop and he’s out within seconds. He will be using this machine until he is big enough to have his tonsils and adenoids removed.

With both boys asleep I sit down with my homemade desert (a disgustingly rich but absolutely delicious chocolate mousse!) to get started on this piece of writing. Writing is very therapeutic for me, so this is the perfect end to my day.

So there you have it, a day in the life of me and my fam. It hasn’t been the most interesting day, but not every day is full of excitement. That’s just life. Tomorrow is Wednesday which is my day with both of my boys at home. Perhaps we will go to the beach if the sun is shining? Unlikely, given that summer has taken a hiatus, but one can hope!

Thank you Olivia!
Instagram - @olivia_hewetson
Blog - Our Little Lion Blog