I thought I could fill you all in about what goes on in the crazy Palette house these days. It’s worth mentioning that most of my days Monday – Friday are pretty different. They have the same general rhythm (I posted about the schedule I try to use as a guide throughout the day previously), but they are different based on activities. On Wednesdays, we go to church in the morning so that is a full on get ready by 8 am and out the door day which is a bit different from our normal day-to-day. Some days are busier than others, scheduled with doctor’s appointments, co-op meet ups, or local events, but I’ll try to sum up an average day in the life with two kids of different ages. This is a picture of a full day at home, which is about three days a week for us currently. I’ve found with two kids I am a lot more intentional about choosing to leave the house because I do like little Summer to get to rest at home.

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6:30am – Wake up. We all get up around the same time since our kids sleep in our room and I am so thankful that the time change has helped in pushing our wakeup time into the six o’clock hour as I am not a morning person. It does help to see and hear these smiley, giggley faces. Generally, Summer wakes us all up by sitting up and making baby noises, laughing and trying to stand. Then Gemma gets out of her toddler bed and jumps up on us. It doesn’t take long until we’re all in the living room.

6:30am – 7am – We are all hanging out in the living room playing toys. Mr. P and I are making coffee, he checks the news on his phone, the girls play, and I usually start a little reading on my tablet to wake up.

7am – 8am – Mr.P gets ready for work. I make everyone breakfast, including Summer who is now into eating solids. Gemma is generally running around the house during this time playing with this or that and usually telling us stories. I pack Mr. P’s lunch and if I am going to be out and about at lunch time with the girls, I pack something for Gemma too. I empty the dishwasher. (If we are going to church, co-op, a storytime or doctor’s appointment we would have to get ready at the same time as Mr. P. )

8am – 9am – I get the girls ready for the day. I give them a bath — they can now go in the bath together which is fun. We pick out their clothes and Gemma practices dressing herself.

9am – 9:30am – I nurse Summer and put her to sleep for her first nap. Gemma reads books, plays a tablet game, colors or something else from this basket.

 9:30am – 11:00am – Summer naps. I throw in some laundry and make us a morning snack. Gemma and I do something educational. We practice flashcards, puzzles, art, a craft, read, draw or something one-on-one.

11:00am – 11:30am – Summer wakes up and we get ready to play outside. Now that the weather is good, we can play in the sandbox or take a blanket of toys outside.

11:30am – 12pm – I make lunch. Gemma and Summer help or Gemma will play on our patio while I make lunch.

12pm – 12:30pm – Gemma eats lunch, I nurse Summer.

12:30pm – 2:00pm – Gemma has recently started taking a later nap so this new afternoon time has been nice for the three of us to take a walk to the park or run an errand. Many days we will meet some friends at the park for lunch. There are three different parks within walking distance so this gives us a lot of variety. Some days Gemma will bring her bike or scooter down to the closest park, or like today we’ll meet friends at the park and all bring bikes and lunch.

2:00pm – 3:30pm – I talk Gemma into a nap and let her lay down and read books of her choice while I nurse Summer. Usually, Gemma will fall asleep within 10 minutes, but there are days lately that she doesn’t need a nap. I still ask her to try to rest while I put Summer down. Summer nurses, falls asleep. If Gemma is still awake I have her come to the living room with me and try to find something quiet and restful for her to do like color or make something simple with glue and paper. Sometimes we’ll read together. If she stays up I may prep dinner.

If I am able to get some time to myself with both girls asleep, I usually blog, edit photos, read, pay bills, fold laundry, start any dinner prep that is quiet, answer Bible study questions or rest.

3:30pm – 4:00pm – The girls are up and ready for a snack. We play in the living room for a little while.

4:00pm – 5:00pm – I start dinner. Gemma either helps cook or plays play doh or practices her ballet. She likes to free dance a lot so I turn on music while I’m making dinner and she dances in the kitchen. Summer will either be in the ergo carrier or in her high chair playing with small toys.

5:00pm – 6:00pm – We finish making dinner, play and take a short walk to the mailbox to check the mail while we wait for Mr. P to come home. (on days we have evening dance class we get ready for that at this time and I take Gemma while Mr. P watches Summer.)

6:00pm – 6:30pm – We eat dinner together.

6:30pm – 7pm – Mr.P and Gemma hang out while I nurse Summer and put her down to bed.

7pm – 7:30pm – We spend time with just Gemma, reading or playing a game.

7:30pm – 8pm – Gemma does her bedtime routine: picks pjs, brushes teeth, we say our goodnights, sometimes a specific book, we talk about the day and what we’re looking forward to for tomorrow.

8pm – 10pm – Mr. P and I chat about the day, finish any laundry and dishes, put dinner away, maybe watch a few shows or read. Some nights we are so exhausted by the time we get the girls to sleep that we just give up and go to sleep early. Other nights, like tonight I’ll stay up super late and finish blog posts, a grocery list or some other project I’m working on. I always have a project going!

And that’s it — a day in my life currently! These days are super duper long. I’ve heard it summed up best — these days (of motherhood) are very long but the years are short. I think that’s so true.