Good Night!

Okay I know last week I wrote about how all our routines and bedtime strictness has gone out the window during Summer Vacation, but it's time to get back in gear. Kindergarten starts in one month!! Plus, everyone in the house is happier when bedtime routines are in full swing.

Sophia's bedtime routine has been essentially the same since the day we brought her home from the hospital, and it works well for us. We've just gradually been adding more kids into the mix, but that hasn't thrown things off too much.

We usually eat dinner around 6 pm. I get home from work around 5:30 pm and feed Henry and then cook, so pretty much everything I cook can be made in less than 30 minutes. I actually love cooking and miss those meals that take all afternoon - I try to make them on weekends sometimes, but for the most part my all-day cooking days are over (for now).

After dinner, the girls get a bath together. Sometimes I throw Henry in there too. It's nice now Sophia can wash herself, and Amelia can with just a little help. After bath we pile onto my bed and I rub them down with yummy calendula baby oil (my mom used this on me when I was a baby!) and brush their hair, and they get in their pajamas. Then they get vitamins and milk and I read them each one picture book. Henry loves Brown Bear - don't all babies?!

(See how tired I look? This is the time of day that I'm wrestling with wanting to eek out every ounce of joy, being with my babies who I've missed all day, and counting down the minutes until they're asleep so I can slip out of my work clothes and snuggle up on the couch with my honey and a glass of wine or the remote control and my laptop or just a pillow!)

Then Daddy brushes their teeth (he is in charge of all oral hygiene and dental appointments - I'm horrible in this department. Don't ask me when I went to the dentist last. WELL before I had kids. Sorry Dr. Penna if you're out there, I'm sure my mom will freak out and make an appointment for me to come see you next time I'm in California visiting her!)

Then I tuck Amelia in. We say her prayers and snuggle for a minute. Sophia used to go to bed at this time too (around 7) but she started bugging Amelia, so now she stays up another 20 minutes or so. Sophia and I read a chapter out of her chapter book while I nurse Henry one more time, then she helps me get him into bed. Then I snuggle her up and say her prayers with her. Sophia says "good night, sleep tight, don't let the bugs bite at night." Lights out.

Everyone has to be asleep by 8pm or mommy gets crabby.