Barbell in the Kitchen: Baby

Baby

It's 5:30am and I'm sipping a little coffee while trying to plan our day. I think its a coffee + park playdate kinda-day. I'm also taking advantage of the calm before the storm.. the Emi storm. A source of constant movement & excitement, that girl keeps me on my toes from the minute she wakes up, with her new favorite game being climb on the fireplace hearth and jump-off. The best solution we've come up with is to make the dogbed her landing pad.

Over the past month or we've been working to transition Emi to regular milk and I felt as if we'd never done that before.. it's so strange how you forget things from one kid to the next. Transitioning to whole milk proved to be easier said than done with Emi since she had a tummy bug last month that seemed to make her more sensitive to everything for a few weeks afterward.

Transitioning to whole milk is a huge milestone. For the formula feeding mamas, no more spending time washing & mixing bottles! And for the nursing mamas, regular bras & no more dipping into a dressing room to feed your babe while shopping! ;) All of that is to be celebrated!

Cows milk has a different texture and taste of course than breastmilk or formula does, (Emi wasn't so sure at first) and can be a little more harsh on your babe's tiny tummy. We started with regular whole milk but found that lactose free milk was much a better option and as an added perk has less sugar than regular whole milk.

Today I'm sharing a few tips to make the transition easier for anyone with that phase coming up!

Introduce whole milk at lunch or in the morning with breakfast rather than at bedtime. Little ones love that bedtime feeding for comfort more than anything, so introducing it during another feeding might go a little smoother..

Try milk at room temp or slightly warmed up instead of cold from the refrigerator. Emi looked at me like I was trying to poison her the first time I gave her cold milk haha!

Mix half whole milk + half breastmilk or formula to make the taste transition a little easier.

Consider what they are drinking from - this is where you have to be careful, but you may be able to work on two birds with one stone here. If you’re newly transitioning to a bottle or sippy cup, this could be too much change at once. If they’re used to a bottle, maybe try sticking with it instead of incorporating a sippy cup transition. But if you think they may be ready in the next few months to transition off of a bottle, try offering whole milk in a sippy cup only, and stick to breastmilk/formula only in bottles. This has seemed to work well for us. We are down to just a bottle at naptime and bedtime. These are our favorite sippy cups: with & without handles.
With Aria, I do remember that she drank coconut milk for awhile as her tummy wasn't quite ready for cow's milk - which made for two transitions, but we just went slow.

And of course, if it doesn’t work, just keep trying. As with all things, right?!

Now if only we can figure out how to potty-train Aria. If you have any great advice or tips to share on the whole milk transition.. (or potty training for that matter) we would love for you to share in the comments to encourage other moms!! xoxo

Baby

Why Every Mom Needs Essential Oils

1:37 PM

Baby

Time Management with Babies

11:17 AM

I have a natural desire for order and balance, organization and cleanliness. Having a two and a half year old and 7 month old who need me while they are awake requires my time to be flexible. Here are my top tips for managing time with little ones.

1. Batching my time; do things once.

2. Routine. So important, try to establish daily habits into a predictable routine.

3. Plan and set goals. What has to get done, and what you'd like to get done.

4. But allow for the unexpected, with kids this is inevitable

5. Not over-commiting, this can set you up for unneeded stress, anxiety and potential failure

6. Play. Always make time to play.

Let me elaborate:

I have started "batching" my time. I don't want to spend all day working on this, that and the other, knowing there will be more of it to do before bedtime. For example; dishes. We don't have a dishwasher, so that means the sink is routinely full. I could wash dishes 6,7, or 8 times per day to keep the sink clean, or I could wash them once. I realized I probably spend close to the same amount of time washing them all at once as I would washing them multiple times per day, however I value my time with the girls more than my time with the dishes, so I would rather let dishes pile up and finish them once the girls are asleep.

Usually, I take some time Sunday evenings to look at my week: what appointments do we have? What are the top tasks that have to get done and what tasks would I like to get done? I try to plan out the days for particular tasks. For example, Monday & Wednesday mornings are for working on the blog and some other small projects we have. Tuesdays are for laundry, Thursdays are for errands and Fridays are a toss up between playdates and deep cleaning. I try to keep weekends open, knowing that we will have to meal prep for the week, but I don't want any other obligations unless they are fun ones.

In line with a sense of order is the fact that I literally cannot think straight if the living room is a mess. I can get away with dishes piled in the kitchen, as I don't see them from where I am when working on the computer, but the living room must be organized. So each evening I will take the time to put the toys away, sort the scattered laundry into baskets, put away and odds and ends, just to tidy up. It makes waking early in the mornings and attempting to be productive, that much easier. If all else fails, I grab a laundry basket and cram anything and everything that is not where it should be, in it, place it in our room on the floor to deal with later.

Each morning, I take a moment before the girls wake up to get an idea of the workload, make a running list of priorities, start if possible and sip on coffee. I also make our bed. I know it's a minor thing, but the state of your bed is the state of your head. Starting the day with a sense of organization makes me feel so accomplished at 5am.

Then there’s nap time – something that is somewhat routine and necessary for my day to run smoothly. :) This time is key for me to get many personal things done: daily communication emails, paying bills, phone calls etc.

Meal prep; absolutely crucial for us. We batch cook our meals once, maybe twice per week. I cook and clean up dirty pots and pans once. Our lunches are prepped in containers and the rest is stored as leftovers for dinners. I don't have to set aside an hour to cook and clean up, juggling witching hour chaos with burning the rice. Food is ready, it just needs to be heated up.

I have also learned that I cannot do everything. I can't do everything I think I need to get done, and I can't do all the fun things.. making cookies, going to the park, mall and two playdates is just too much for one day. I try not to add unneeded stress to my life.

Other than that, I drop everything for hours of playtime, necessary errands, meals as a family (as much as we can with a baby and toddler) and evening hangout time with my husband.

I am also so thankful to be home during this time. A huge round of applause and all the hugs to you mamas that are working while raising tiny humans. Time management is so important, because time is all we really have. As our most valuable asset, it's so important to make the most of it. I'd love to hear your time management tricks in the comments below. ;)

xoxo, McKenzie

Baby

Baby Foods | Blend it or Buy it

9:15 PM

I got so excited for Emerson to finally start trying food. There's something about watching her face and reaction to new flavors, letting her make a complete mess and the satisfaction that comes from feeling her eating the whole serving. I am not a baby food making pro by any means, but we do have a couple favorites recipes. On the other side of things, I am a huge fan of an easy to carry pouch of baby food. Seriously, no spoon, jar, and rarely a bib required.

I initially thought making baby food would be time consuming, but it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Often times I'll take something I already have easily available, such as avocado, sweet potatoes, bananas - items that don't have to be cooked, and blend them with something that I'm already cooking for the rest of us to eat, like sweet potatoes or zucchini.

Always peel, remove seeds & chop your selected ingredients into smaller pieces to make everything easier. Many items can be blended without cooking, but to soften something firm like carrots, apples, greens, just steam in a small saucepan or place in boiling water for 8-10 minutes before adding to the blender.

Our Top Four Blends:

Avocado & Kiwi: I have left the seeds a few times, and also used a spoon to remove them. Emerson isn't the biggest fan of avocado, adding some fruit seemed to help. If you make a bigger batch and have leftovers, you can freeze them to slow the oxidation/browning process. The flavor doesnt't change, it just turns brown, so you can store it in the refridgerator a few days if you prefer.

Sweet Potato & Apple: Both our girls love sweet potatoes, and I tend to have some on hand since I bake 10-12 at a time. Peel, core, and chop the apple and simmer on the stove for 10 mins before pureeing makes it super easy. I also like to add cinnamon to this one.

Zucchini & Pear: Peel & seed the zucchini like you would a cucumber, slice it up and steam for 12-15 mins until its soft. Blend with a ripe pear and even some oats for a perfect breakfast blend.

Pumpkin & Banana: I've been making this one frequently since I seem to be using pumpkin in everything (it's fall ya'll), somehow I keep ending up with half an unused can after baking up pumpkin bread or this pumpkin pie creamer so I throw what is left in the blender with a banana then portion it out into trays in the freezer to keep the banana from browning too fast.

I also love the convenience of pre-made baby food. I keep these pouches everywhere; in the car, in my purse, diaper bag, etc. These are backup for Aria if I'm stranded without a snack and as Emi gets older and relies on more and more food, they make life so much easier. Sometimes I don't have pre-homemade baby food available, don't want to deal with a bib & spoon, or just don't have the time, and that's okay. I choose organic when I can, and stick with fruit & veggie blends. We love Plum Organics & Sprout, the quality is awesome (have you ever tasted them, they make an awesome preworkout too;) and they offer flavor combinations that other brand's don't.

4 Pre-made Favorites:

Sprout:

Plum, berry, brown rice & quinoa

Blueberry banana oatmeal

Plum:

Orange: peach, pumpkin, carrot & cinnamon

Purple: plum, eggplant, blueberry & sorghum

No matter your preference, homemade or pre-made the most important things is offering a variety of whole fruits, veggies and grains, and as they get older, including a source of protein, will set the stage for healthy choices as they get older as well as offer the best nutritional profile for happy, healthy kids.

Below are some of our favorite items and a few new ones available that I can't wait to scope out. I've had my eye on those reusable pouches for a long time, I'm finally going to get them.

The Baby bullet is a tried and true favorite for all of my homemade baby food blends. I love the stackable glass storage cubes as well as the freezable mold. Munchkin as my heart with their suction bowls, I don't know how many messes those have prevented!

I had a serious #momfail when Aria was first trying solids - I didn't want to give her cold baby food, so I microwaved it a few seconds, but apparently didn't stir it together enough and gave a spoonful of food that was too hot, I felt awful! (If you've been around her, you know she still has a hangup with food that is warm.) I since discovered Munchkin's safety spoons and use those every time.

I'd love to hear from all you moms on this - What do you prefer? Making your own, pre-made or both? I'd love to hear your favorite blends!

Baby

Postpartum Hernia Repair | My Experience

3:28 PM

Today, Emi is 6 months old and I'm one week recovered from a postpartum hernia repair. The home stretch of my pregnancy with her was tough. She was only 7lbs 5oz when she was born, but my body thought it was going to burst 6 weeks prior. I was stretched to the max.

With Aria, I had went home with a diastasis recti (a separation of the abdominal tissue that is completely normal for pregnant women) of about an inch and a half. With Emerson it was a little more, about two inches. But what I didn't know was that beyond the normal stretching that tightens back up over time, I actually had a small un-ruptured tear, a hernia.

I returned to working out about 6 weeks postpartum, avoiding abdominal exercises until 16 weeks postpartum. I went easy for quite awhile, until I built my strength back up. The beginning of September I came home from a workout and had what looked like a green grape under my skin above my belly button. Sensitive to the touch, I knew immediately what it was. Upon calling my Ob's office they referred me to a specialists for further evaluation.

I did notice within a few days the hernia protrusion lessened and in it's place was an indentation where it had pushed through. I didn't want to aggravate it again so I discontinued my training.

Three weeks later, I met with the specialist who gave me a few options. I could let it be, since it was relatively small, and it may heal up over time, but could take two to three years. But on the flipside, it could worsen, depending on my activity. Or we could go a surgical route with a non-mesh laparoscopic repair.

I didn't love the idea of surgery, but I didn't want to have to worry about my training and possibly having to deal with this in the future, so I opted for a repair.

Two more weeks later, I was in and out of Day Surgery in 4 hours. Heavy sedation and local anethetic took care of the pain, I don't recall anything except wheeling me in to the surgical sweet and waking up in the recovery room. Mild to moderate swelling dissipated after 4-5 days, I'm still sore to the touch, but can move around pretty well.

As for as caring for my girls, I was unable to nurse for 24 hours. I pumped & dumped, which prevented any of the sedatives from affecting Emerson. I took 800mg Ibuprofen for several days, and currently only taking a dose in the evenings when I become more sore. I also have a weight restriction of 10lbs for 3-4 weeks. Since Emerson's chunky self weighs in at 18lbs as of now, Seth has been home helping me, working from home and playing mom while I recover. I love him so.

Really, I've just been sitting on the couch & floor all week, just kicking it with the girls.. snuggles all around.

Prior to surgery I could not find much in the way of other's experiences with this. So I hope this is helpful for anyone facing something similar. Feel free to send any questions my way!

I'll come back to this and post updated pics as I recover.

xoxo, McKenzie

Baby

Self-Soothing & Parting with the Crib | Sleep Training Part 2

9:18 AM

In Sleep Training Part 1, I recapped our nighttime routine and how crucial a routine is to your baby & even toddler's sleep. However, this time I'm diving into our sleep-training routine & transitioning your baby from one bed to another. Something that brought on a lot of anxiety and and empty ice cream containers, but always went better than expected.

We waited longer than "recommended", (which is around 4-5 months), but we finally felt like Aria was ready, and maybe moreso that we were ready to sleep train when Aria was 9 months old.
We followed a very soft version of the Ferber Method - lay baby down when they are drowsy, if they cry, let them fuss for a short amount of time, say 2-3 mins. One of us would go in, calm her down, but not pick her up, and leave the room again, waiting a little longer this time, 5-6 minutes, and then would repeat calming her down. Each time we'd leave the room, we'd wait a little longer before we went in.

Disclaimer: If at any point during sleep training you need to pour a glass of wine, go right ahead. Cheers, as I take a sip with you. Sleep training is hard. Listening to your baby cry, even for 2 minutes, is hard. Those 2 minutes feel like forever. Be strong mama, the ability for a baby to self-soothe & fall asleep on their own will make everyone happier.

After 3-4 days she would fuss for less than 5 minutes, then would fall asleep. This was not a golden ticket though. We have had to repeat this "sleep-training" routine many times. Every few months, something would happen, a growth spurt, she'd be sick, or we'd go on vacation and our routine would be half-baked. We would have to start over in a sense, but it would only last a day or so before things were back to normal.

We are currently heading this direction with Emerson. She was Houdini-on-repeat every time we swaddled her, so we transitioned to the Magic Merlin Sleepsuits (these are AMAZING btw). We have started our sleep-training, but it feels less strict (maybe second child syndrome?).
I'll nurse her before sleep, sometimes she's ready enough and starts to fall asleep while nursing so I'll wait until shes relaxed to lay her in the crib.
Other times, we are working with a slighly over-tired Emi and she will start grunting, kicking, wiggling around after she's done nursing. So I'll lay her in her crib to work it out. She'll grunt and fuss for 5-10 minutes and then fall asleep. If she's still awake after 20 minutes, we'll get her up and try later.

***

Location, Location

As far as where our babies have slept - we swear by the Rock n Play, I don't think I would have survived those first months without it. Both our girls, slept in our room, in the Rock n Play, for naps & at night for the first five months.

After they started rolling over, we switched them to the nursery and slowly transitioned them to sleeping flat. I'll be honest, with Aria, we took a more dramatic route, haha. We propped up her crib mattress and rolled up towels laid in U shape under her crib sheet so she would have a similar cozy feel as the Rock n Play. We then slowly removed padding under the mattress to lower the incline and then removed the U-shaped towels. This really took about 3 weeks, longer than we wished, but in the end it worked.

We switched Emerson to the nursery last month. She is a super noisy & light sleeper.. don't know how we got so lucky ;) but we HAD to switch her, so we could ALL get some sleep. Moving her from the Rock n Play was much easier. I would create a shallow V shape with two pillows and lay her down flat on our bed with the pillows pressed against her legs. I did this for naps-only for about a week, then we switched to the bassinet in the nursery for naps & at night without any problems.

***

Big Girl Bed

In an effort to not have to buy a second crib, we switched Aria to her 'big girl bed' last month as well. She loved her crib, but I thought if we do this right, she'll transition well. We found our toddler bed on Amazon and actually bought it while I was pregnant with Emerson, if that says anything about false hope. ;) But I decided one morning to bust it out and put it together. I made sure Aria was part of the process, bringing me things, moving around the smaller pieces, letting her know this was her new bed. She was stoked.

It was ready just in time for nap, so I moved her crib a bit and set up her new bed side by side with it. Spaces were tight, but I knew it was temporary. Napped like a champ in her toddler bed. #momwin

That night was less winning. She cried and cried for about 45 minutes over her new bed before I went in and placed her in the crib. We'll try again tomorrow.
The next day we did naptime in the toddler bed. She did cry for about 10 minutes before she accepted it and fell asleep. That night, we tried the toddler bed again. She cried for about 20 minutes before falling asleep. Victory was ours.

These were our toughest, most stress-inducing sleep issues with our girls the past few years. This is also simply what worked for us. Every baby and situation is different. Leave comments & questions at the bottom, I'd love to hear how you got your babies to sleep at night.

xoxo, McKenzie

Baby

Why I threw out Babywise | Sleep Training Part 1

7:15 PM

If you have tiny humans, or are planning on having tiny humans in your life anytime soon, you've probably heard about Babywise. Sleep-training, cry it out (CIO), Ferber Method, evvvverrryonnnne and your aunt has an opinion on how to get your baby to sleep.

When I was pregnant with Aria, Babywise was the word on repeat, so I thought that's what I have to do. This will be the best, we'll have a routine, she will sleep, we won't be tired, cranky parents..... then she was born - the baby who wouldn't sleep.

We tried Babywise, tried it hard. Spent months attempting to perfect the routine of Eat-Wake-Sleep. I'd feed her when she woke, we'd have playtime, and when she slipped in those subtle cues that she was tired, we'd put to her bed to hopefully sleep. I think I mastered this routine about 2% of the time during those first 6 months. Then I threw out the book. Literally. The stress brought on by feeling like I was "failing" was just too much. The frustration that took over as nap after nap didn't happen. The anger with myself for missing cues, messing up the routine, too long of a playtime... any possible excuse I could think of - only to end up with an overtired baby. I couldn't do it anymore.

I gave up, but then realized we do not have a "Babywise baby"... and that is OKAY. Deep breath. Start over. It's all about trial & error. Every baby is different, their needs, habits, cues.. all unique. I just needed to let go of everything I had been trying to force on her, on us, with one takeaway: Routine.

***

I have a few friends who have had babies recently, or found out they are expecting, and asked how I get our girls to sleep - how we sleep trained them.

In a nutshell, our household thrives on routine. I think children naturally need a routine, they don't know what time it is, when the day is going to end, they don't understand that when they become tired & cranky after a day of fun adventures that it's because they need sleep. So routines, cues, events in their day are the only way for them to know what's coming next.

Our routine for Aria breaks down like this:

5-5:30pm: We make sure Aria eats dinner, or at least a decent snack.

6:00-6:30pm Bathtime. This has the potential to make or break out night. Bath is crucial.

6:30-7:15pm Wind down. No screen time, play with some toys, we might dance to some music & final snack to see if we can get any additional calories in Aria before bedtime.

I'll also prep Aria's room. I make sure the temp is good, turn on the AC if needed. A few drops of lavender in the diffuser & turn the white noise machine on, crickets are her favorite. :)

7:15-7:30pm Brush teeth & Storytime. We head to her room and snuggle into the rocking chair and grab 2-3 short stories. Turn out the lights, a few extra snuggles & a kiss and tuck her in and we're golden.

Our routine with Emerson is less defined right now. She goes down for the night sometime between 8-9pm, to sleep 6 or so hours before she's hungry. When she starts sending sleepy signals, we head to her room. Her white noise machine is on 24/7 since she still naps 4-5 times per day, currently ocean waves. We keep the lights off except for a small night light. She's zipped into her sleepsuit, nursed until she's drowsy and laid into her crib with a pacifier & tiny muslin security blanket (that I love watching her roll the silky edges in her fingers).

With that, I'm off to start bathtime. What is your nighttime routine like? Anything in particular a must for your little one's bedtime? Scroll to the bottom to comment, I would love to hear!

Be sure to share this on Facebook for all your mama friends with new babes. <3

Up Next: Sleep Training Part 2 - I'll share how we switched the girls from the Rock n Play to the bassinet & crib and Aria to her toddler bed in 2 days!

Baby

Baby & Toddler + Summer

3:30 PM

Life feels all sorts of crazy & hectic. I guess that could be said by most, but sometimes a day slips by where I know I was busy all day, but I have no idea what I did.

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.

grainy "us-ie", but I love it

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.

Baby

Life with Two

1:20 PM

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.

What are your favorite habits/routines with your little ones? Any tips & tricks to handling two are always welcome! :)