Before getting started writing this post, I took a stroll down memory lane and read through some of my day in the life posts from when I was pregnant with Aria.. or right after we had Emi. There's been times I felt like we were at maximum chaotic capacity where I wasn't sure we were ever going to catch our breath.. and other times where we had a routine down and things were smooth sailing. I always feel like Spring makes a big difference in our days. When we can open the windows, get outside for some fresh air and enjoy a little more daylight too. I also found as I was scrolling through my camera roll that I don't have a lot of pictures of Emi right now.. or ones where shes directly looking at the camera. She is literally always on the move and not a fan of me snapping a pictures at the moment.. so I sneak them in when I can.
Our day usually kicks off around 6:30, (although, we just got this clock and it's proving to be quite promising) Aria will come into tell me it's time to wake up. We usually get an hour or so to hang out on the couch together watching cartoons, sometimes I fall back asleep for a little bit. Emerson usually wakes up around 7:15, and Aria gets so excited to go greet her sister, say "mornin' Em'!" to her and rescue her from her crib.
Once Emi is up, it's her turn to pick the cartoon, so that means it's time for Dora.. and map.. and boots... and backpack - she'll announce all the characters. This give me about 10 minutes to take a quick shower or just throw on a little makeup & dry shampoo. I'll then make coffee & the girls’ breakfast, they’re really into waffles and yogurt right now which is the ultimate worst to clean up because Aria usually drips it all over eight layers of whatever tutu/dress she is wearing & Emi manages to look like she applied it as a mud mask. Beyond the mess.. breakfast has always been our favorite time of day in our house, I love their little fresh faces, bed hair & sleepy eyes.
If it's nice outside, we'll try to get out for a walk around the block, or just venture out to the yard for them to pull all the weeds into a bouquet of flowers. We've had a bit of a cold snap, so the the girls favorite thing to do is bring their play table to middle of the living room and lay out all their crayons, stickers and paper which quickly escalates to scribbles on the wall and stickers on the couch.
We'll play, paint or do some little crafts in the morning, take up a game of fishing for fish that don't bite fast enough or we'll bake something.. I've been on a muffin kick lately. Then the girls will have some lunch. Emi still takes a nap around 1pm or so. This gives Aria some "quiet time" to get all of her tiny little toys out or to do something extra with arts and crafts that Emi isn't quite ready for. I then take this time to try to get a few of my own projects done. Aria tends to pull out all of her art supplies next to me at the table, knowing she can almost always distract me from what I am working on because painting is so tempting!
I try to get some sort of dinner prep started & clean up from lunch, and attempt to pick up some of the kids mess from the day. Often times this is something I meal-prepped, but sometimes I'll dress it up a bit or make something extra. Aria eats anything, but Emi tops the list of pickiest kid ever. She pretty much survives on cheese, crackers & mac n cheese.. but today she did eat her very first larabar.. well, half of it - but I'll take a win wherever I can get it.
I love reading about other people’s schedules, and seeing how they go about their days, balancing kids, work & life. Some days outfits match, our meals are healthy & I might get a project done start to finish during naptime. Other days, we are in pajamas all day with yogurt on our faces & we alternate between tantrums & dance parties from dusk til dawn.
There are productive days & there are lazy days, and they all balance each other out.
