lucille+eloise+beatrice: a day in the life- 3 kids, so much coffee

i thought it would be fun to share what "a day in the life" of my & the girls' lives looks like. the girls are currently 42 months, 22 months & 2 months, and while there is always the occasional day that's out of the norm, for the most part, this is how it goes :)

i usually set my alarm for 6, so that i can be up & showered before the girls wake up. i've found that the first couple hours of the day are often a good predictor of where the entire day is headed. eloise is usually the first to wake up, anytime between 630-7. we cuddle in bed for a few minutes & she hangs out with me while i finish getting ready, and runs down with me to feed charlie breakfast & wait for her sisters to wake up. i love getting one-on-one moments like this with my kids :) lucy bursts downstairs around 730, and betsy is anywhere from 730-9, depending on the day. i get the girls breakfast, make coffee, they play, we talk & tell stories, and then it's time to start getting them ready for the day- no easy feat.

i usually turn on a show while helping them get ready- i've found that this keeps them in one area of the house, so that while i'm focusing on getting one child ready, the other isn't completely tearing apart the rest of it! my goal is to always exit the house with it pretty pulled-together, so that i'm not coming home to a mess- this really helps my peace of mind! lucy has gymnastics one day a week, we all head to library storytime one day a week, and the other mornings are filled with either play dates or trips to the park, zoo or farmstead. warm weather is a total game changer for us! [lucy's dance is on saturdays, and weekends with daddy home have a bit of a different vibe!]

betsy's morning nap is usually on-the-go, unless we're having the occasional "home day". she'll often sleep through our morning activity in the carrier, although she's beginning to have longer awake stretches where she's happy to hang out in the moby or ergo to check out the scenery & doze on & off.

we're out of the house by 930-10, and if i'm really pulled together, i'll have a lunch packed for us to eat on the run. we also sometimes do lunches out at restaurants, and always try & be home before 1:00 nap time. eloise goes to nap easily, and is often asking for it at that point in the day! lucy's naps are hit or miss- she's flexible to nap if i can tell she'll have a better evening by sleeping for a bit, but otherwise she spends afternoon quiet time reading, painting or riding her bike on the deck. somedays are "work days" for me where i need to get things organized/accomplished, while other days i can devote the entire afternoon to a lucy/mommy date. betsy's afternoon nap usually coincides with eloise's, and it's nice to have a pretty predictable opportunity to get some stuff done!

nap time usually lasts until 330 or so, and afterwards we'll hit the park or have time around the house to play & pull dinner together. betsy will take a 3rd nap either in her crib or on-the- go, and oftentimes, a 4th little snooze in the midst of the dinner hour. jon's usually home by 6, and now that the weather is nice, he'll often grill steaks, chicken or fish before we have a family dinner, followed by rough housing/hide & seek/campouts with daddy while i pull the kitchen back together [it sounds funny, but i'm always happy for this little break to clean!] & then heading up to bath around 7. bedtime takes at least an hour [because of course bath has to include bubbles, bath toys, glow sticks in the dark- you name it!], and we tag-team, usually having everyone asleep by 8-830 after stories, prayers & songs. nights where jon is out of town, my mom will help me with bed [lucy loves meme to do bedtime!], or if i'm by myself, lucy will sing to betsy in her room, while i first put eloise to sleep, followed by lucy's bedtime & finally betsy's [who is currently "cluster feeding" in the evenings- completely filling up her tummy all evening before sleep].

for the first month or so that betsy was born, i really depended on my evenings with jon to watch a show or relax on the couch. evenings are currently more of a decompress over a shared glass of wine then go to bed early! i'm pretty structured with our life around here- i have to be or i would go crazy. but of course there are lazy days that balance out the super productive ones.

i'm deep in the throws of "constant", but i truly wouldn't rather my life be anything else :) i can hardly believe that lucy will start preschool in the fall, followed by eloise the following year & at that point, i'll just have betsy 2 days a week! life moves quickly, and while there will be a new normal & new challenges with each new season that comes, i can't imagine that it will ever be crazier than this time i'm in right now- all 3 kids at home with me 24/7 & jon traveling so often! [knock knock knock on wood!] i feel so honored & so very lucky to get to be my daughters' main influencer during these impressionable, crucial years of development.

easy breezy sweet sweet childhood-