My favorite days, are those that feel like we just bottled the essence of summer; the smell of sunscreen, damp swimsuits, popsicles, splash-pad dates, trips to the park, all the doors and windows open, we are grilling out back.. there are never enough of them. 

And then there are days where the laundry is in three piles, one on the couch, one on the floor and the other on our bed.. with socks, burp rags and onsies decorating everything. I give the pile of dishes in the sink dirty looks all day as I run around half dressed with my nursing bra unstrapped on one side because Emerson can't decide if she's hungry or not. Aria may or may not be pulling her diaper past her cheeks and mashing cheese into the carpet.. and the dogs are whining to be let outside. 

But I LOVE all of it. I may not admit that in the midst of chaos.. but I know in a few years, or possibly sooner, I will look back at all of it and miss it. 

Emerson is getting so big, a chunky 15lbs already, and little miss Aria is only 22lbs.. I can only imagine what a few more months will do those measly 7lbs between them. 

She is our hot mess of a child. Seriously. I give her a bath and I swear she makes it her mission to get as messy as she can as fast as possible. Blowout, spit-up, drool, fart.. you name it. She does it all with a smile on her cute little face - I'm serious. 

But she is rolling over, and so close to sitting up and wants to interact with everyone. I can stick her in the bumbo seat on the floor and Aria will play with her. I originally started sitting them together to attempt to get something done (like make another cup of coffee maybe?), but all I do is stand back and spy on them, I can hardly handle how cute they are together! 

We survived Emerson's four month sleep regression. It was a wicked 8 weeks with Aria, and thankfully only 3 weeks with Emi. With her rolling, we had to do away with the swaddles, so I took my friend up on the Magic Merlin sleepsuits. Holy game-changer! We switched her this past weekend and are back to her sleeping through the night and 2-3 hour naps as opposed to waking up 2-3 times a night and 30 minute naps. If your baby doesn't sleep well, try them. They really are magical. ;)

We can now have full on conversations with Aria, which blows my mind. She can make requests and provide responses.. She'll ask me to take a sippy cup when she's done with it, "take it, pwease, mama, take it", I'll grab it and she'll say "thanks mama"... "you're welcome".  The first time that happened I had to pause, almost like doing a double-take. 

She's definitely a big-sister - There will be two of something, such as these little maraca rattles - one is yellow and one is green. She had one in each hand - looking them over she decided that yellow was her favorite and stated "yey-yo Aria's, gween Emi's" - Okay, well that settles that. I've even attempted to give her the green one a time or two, and I'm quickly corrected that it is Emi's, as she confiscates the yellow one as hers. 

Her imagination is growing, and she loves to sing & dance. I feel so fortunate that I can be home to sing & dance with her, and to witness these sweet little moments that I wish to never forget. 

As we head into a hot weekend we are planning on lots of pool time, iced coffees and s'mores on the patio in the evenings. May your weekend be sunny, fun and full of amazing memories.