it's been a weird week. 

daylight savings has completely thrown us off schedule- eloise was finally sleeping in until nearly 7am, and with the time change, she's back to waking up around 5! how does this happen?! today, actually, we set her "ok to wake" alarm clock for 5:55 & she made it, so here's hoping we're on the back-end of that & we'll be sleeping later in the mornings again. when i've been up with betsy during the night, eloise's early morning wake-up calls make it nearly impossible for me to rise before the kids, and i do so much better when i can have a good half-hour to myself before starting the day with a strong-willed two-year-old. i need some time to be, hear my own thoughts, have a peaceful shower... i've definitely found that on the mornings i get this time, i'm much more centered & patient throughout the day. 

betsy seems to make a bit of progress in terms of her sleep stretches at night, when another tooth starts to cut through or she picks up a cold from one of her sisters & we're back to square one. she loves her crib, is a fantastic napper [most afternoons, she & eloise sleep the same 2-3 hours, and lucy will either play quietly in her room, or nap the afternoon away, too]. bea's got great sleep skills- she happily puts herself to sleep, wakes up giddy in the mornings... but she wakes to nurse every 3-4 hours throughout the night. i have decided, though, to relax on sleep with her a bit for now, and we'll revisit when she's a little older if things haven't resolved themselves naturally [here's hoping!]

eloise is the definition of a spirited two-year-old. she is incredibly opinionated [& darling], and there are many nights that i go to bed feeling so very drained by parenting her the way that she deserves. she's an introvert, knows what she wants, is intuitive, brings the drama, is the biggest snuggler & has a larger than life personality. 

lucy sets the best example for her sisters- i am so proud that she is our oldest daughter. she's so fun to spend time with & asks the most thoughtful questions. she loves school & i can't believe that we have a whole other school year with her, after this one, before she begins kindergarten. with a september birthday that just misses the school year cut-off, she'll be starting grade school at almost 6 years old. because of this, we've decided that after this year, we're going to up her preschool days per week to 5 afternoons, then the following year, send her to full-day kindergarten. she's so ready to spread her wings between her combination of birth order, age in terms of her grade & her personality. 

we'll send eloise 2 mornings/week to preschool next year, so she & lucy will still have 3 weekday mornings at home together. she's just one school year behind lucy, though i'm not sure full-day K will be the best option for her, as she'll be starting kindergarten just 2 months after turning 5. 

we're just now getting into that school + activity decision-making area of parenthood- we've been fortunate to have so much flexibility up until next year when i have 2 in school. in short, being a stay-at-home mom to 3 small children is the most exhausting, gratifying, and humbling experience. 24/7 seems to be the only way to fittingly describe it. this is a constant theme in my posts over the past few months, i'm sure you've noticed :)

i've been rambling. my heart is in a strange place after last night's presidential election. it was shocking to sit & watch the results roll in- like so many americans, jon & i watched in disbelief. so many people are confused, hurting, and scared about our nation's future. i have hope for us, of course, but it's difficult knowing so many good people are feeling overwhelmed with sadness & anger today. 

& that's where i'll end for now :)

what i can do is love my family & give them my best- which is a heck of a lot better when i've had those peaceful 30 minutes at the beginning of my day. so please, president trump, will you do away with the archaic daylight savings that causes sleep-deprived mamas unnecessary early morning madness?! :)

xoxo,

-ivy