Some days it seems so surreal that we have two sweet girls. We have finally settled into a good routine...most days anyway.  Aria still goes to a preschool-based daycare several mornings a week, so it's just Emerson & I, and I can cross a few things off the to-do list that is a mile long.

The days I have both girls are the craziest and the most fun - and everything in between.

I try to wake up a little bit before the girls do. Emerson is a noisy sleeper; I always know when she's starting to wake up because her squeaks & grunts get a little louder. That's my cue to make my coffee if I want it. And I do want it.

Aria will hear me, since she wakes up if an ant farts, so I take a few swigs of too-hot coffee and go rescue her from the crib. By then Emerson is fully awake, so we go get her and head to the living room.  Bubble Guppies is the theme of most mornings while I nurse Emerson, then Aria and I take to the kitchen for breakfast and coloring while Emerson goes back to sleep.

If the weather is nice we'll load up the stroller & stuff Emi in the Ergo for a long walk. We return to have snack - peanut butter & strawberry sandwiches, larabars or bananas.

Aria's most used command recently is "Mama sit" or "Daddy sit", which means come play with me. We'll pull out some puzzles or baby dolls and play for awhile before we eat lunch, then Aria goes down for her afternoon nap. Emerson will usually wake and want to play, babble & coo for a bit, then she goes back down for her nap. If everything falls in my favor, I'll have a quiet hour to myself to enjoy an iced coffee and catch up on emails or work on some blog posts. 

Seth gets home around 3:30pm and is greeted by Aria and asked to sit and play. ;) Four days out of the week I will then leave him for a couple hours and head to the gym to get my workout in and have some time out of the house. When I return we tag-team witching hour while cooking and eating dinner, which is usually one at a time. Bath time follows, which is always the happiest time of the evening.

Aria's bedtime is around 7:30pm. A little lavender in the diffuser, several bedtime stories & snuggles and she's out. Emerson hangs out a little longer and goes to bed around 9pm most nights. We have a less established routine with her right now. It tends to follow along the lines of diaper change, then she nurses, plays and coos for 15 minutes or so, followed by swaddling her up and laying her in the swing until she's drowsy, then into her bed in our room. She's not super fond of the bassinet, I can get her to nap in there, but not to sleep at night. For the past week or so, she has been sleeping through the night in her Rock n' Play. 

Once the girls are in bed, Seth and I then have time to chat, catch up on the day, read or watch a movie with a glass of wine.

Routines are important, they get us from one hour to the next. But I always look for new adventures, places to go and activities to try. I'm still getting the hang of getting out of the house with both girls on my own. I try to save true errands for the evenings or weekends when Seth can stay with the girls or we can tackle the chaos together.

This is the face I get when we run errands too close to naptime ;)

Laundry that needs to be folded sits on the couch, burp rags are everywhere, dishes are undone, but I wouldn't trade these snuggles or this time playing and being with my girls for anything.