Good morning to you all. It’s Friday! We are in the beginning of December now and I think you can definitely talk about Christmas now. Have you got all your shopping done? Is the Christmas tree up yet? We are planning to put it up at the weekend. Hubby wants to get a new one but if we can’t find a good one, we are just going to stick with the old one.
Featuring today on the blog is Chloe from Life Unexpected. Over to you Chloe.
First of all, tell me a bit about yourself.
Hello! I’m Chloe. I’m a full-time freelance writer and blogger. I live in a beautiful little seaside town in Cornwall, with my very cute and chatty two year old called Evie. I run an award winning family lifestyle blog called Life Unexpected.
How many times were you woken last night?
Just the once. My two year old has a cold at the moment and it’s making her very grumpy at night time.
Do you co-sleep?
Occasionally I do. Sometimes Evie wakes up and doesn’t like being alone, so she’ll try to come in with me. The same if she’s not feeling 100%. She used to be amazing at sleeping alone and through the night, but we’ve had some huge family changes this year and she is still adjusting to moving around to two houses each week.
What time do you normally wake up?
7am every morning via my toddler alarm.
How much average sleep do you get a night?
On average, I get between 5 – 7 hours of sleep each night, dependant on how late I stay up working.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
As soon as I wake up, I set up playtime for my little girl and then I go onto my laptop to check my e-mails and to schedule social media for the day. I try and get as much done before breakfast and after that I can enjoy time with Evie, for the rest of the morning.
Tell me about your typical morning routine.
Mornings are always super busy for us, but they vary dependant on the time of week. Evie spends half of her week with me and half with her Dad. When she is at her Dads, I get up and start work straight away. I normally work 7am through to lunch time, with a short break in between, to run up to the gym for a quick hour.
On the days I have Evie, we get up, I do a little work and after breakfast we get ready and go out to either do something fun or run chores. We both hate being indoors! You can normally find us in the woods or on the beach, rain or shine!
When and how often do you prepare the family dinners? Give us a few examples what you would cook.
Unless we’re eating out, then we prepare dinners every night. I am a little bit health-obsessed so try to make sure everything is really good for us. A typical night would have me cooking salmon with roast vegetables, stir fry, or a nice warming chilli con carne.
What’s on the menu for lunch?
Lunch for me is a quinoa salad with tuna and olives. I go through phases of really loving things and this one seems to be my go to at the moment. I love to batch make it, so I can just grab it out of the fridge without having to do any prep.
What activities have you got planned for the day for the kids?
Our days completely vary. After being outdoors in the morning, afternoons is play time at home. This could be anything from playing with regular toys, to reading, messy play or baking.
Do you generally eat dinner together as a family or get the kids fed first?
We usually eat dinner together at 5 o clock. I was always brought up with dinner time being family time. My family love to use it as the time to catch up with what everyone has been doing that day.
What do you do after dinner?
After dinner, it is time for Evie to quietly play by herself, while I tidy up and do some chores. She does sometimes help me with these willingly, which I always try to encourage, but it does always end up taking twice as long.
What is your bedtime routine?
Bedtime routine includes bath time at 6pm, followed by quiet play and then close to 7pm we go upstairs for stories and cuddles, before Evie goes to sleep.
As soon as her eyes are shut, it’s time for me to work. Between 7pm and 11pm (sometimes later) I’m on my laptop finishing freelance deadlines, catching up with blogging and replying on social media.
Most importantly, when and where do you normally blog in those 24 hours? Do you have a schedule?
My blogging schedule varies from day to day. I try to do at least seven hours work on an Evie day and a lot more when I don’t have her. When I have Evie, I always blog five hours in the evenings (7-11pm) and at least two hours in the day. When I don’t, then I am usually working either on my blog, or freelancing for a good ten to fourteen hours.
Wow, that’ s such a busy day. I am in envy how you manage all the blogging word on top of minding and playing with the toddler. Super Mum right there. I’d love to come for dinner one evening. It sounds delicious what you are making. I don’t seem to have the patience to cook fancy meals that take longer than 30 mins.
Blog URL: http://www.lifeunexpected.co.uk
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/lifeunexpectedblog
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/bloglifeunexpected
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lifeunexpected2
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.co.uk/lifeunexpected2
If this is something you might be interested in, why not drop me a quick email to be featured as well and I will get back to you. schnurri87@msn.com
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You’re welcome. 🙂 Thanks for taking part. xx
Thank you so much for featuring me on your blog! I really enjoyed answering these questions! I also love that it is ‘snowing’ on your blog. That is so, so cool! xx