I'm not sure if I've done this before, but I have intended to for a long time. I want to write about what our days look like at this stage of Kendall's life so that we can look back and remember someday. I just think these are the best days ever and am so thankful that we get to have the kind of schedule we do. Being home with the girls is one of the biggest answers to prayer for me and I just love it so much!!
So, here is what a regular day looks like for us right now, with Kendall at three and a half and Cooper a little over a year old.
Both of the girls usually wake up anytime between 7:30 and 8:00. I try to get up before them and read my Bible, pray and walk sometimes. I have such a hard time waking up these days, but I always feel better if I am up before them.
When Kendall wakes up, I let her watch a little t.v. while I fix her's and Cooper's breakfasts. Kendall has a cup of milk, bread with honey on it and some yogurt. She loves to watch Sesame Street, Word World, another PBS show, or one of her movies.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays we have to get ready for school pretty quickly and then get in the car by 8:45 to be at school by 9:00. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays though, we're a little more laid back. Usually one morning a week we go grocery shopping during this time, and try to be home before Coop's morning nap. Some days we go see friends to play, in the summer we'll go to the beach once a week, but a lot of days we stay home and play inside or outside the house. Kendall loves to play dress-up still, and she loves to draw or play with play-dough.
We also like to go on walks around the neighborhood if it's not too hot and the mosquitoes aren't too bad. That's been one benefit of having no rain this year - we haven't had many mosquitoes!
Cooper usually wakes up around noon and we eat lunch, most days with Daddy! We are so thankful he gets to come home for lunch to eat with us. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I pick Kendall up from school at 1:00.
After lunch we play a little more and then start winding down for nap time. I usually let Kendall watch a little more t.v. before nap, depending on what we've done that morning and how she has behaved. We also run errands sometimes after lunch, just because it's hard to squeeze things around Cooper's nap schedule these days.
2:ooish to 5:00ish is naptime for both girls! Since Cooper just woke up around 11:30 or 12, I put Kendall down first. This is sometimes the hardest part of the day! Cooper wants to read with us and play and she is just so busy and can make such a big mess so fast. Kendall likes to take her "little nap" on her trundle bed, so we pull that out, she picks out two books - one for me to read and one for her to read after I'm gone - and we read together. One thing we don't do lately is put on her pull-up! She has been taking her naps in panties and we are so stinkin excited about that. Before I walk out of the room with Cooper I start her princess music - a CD of all the Disney princess songs that Granny got her. She listens to that as she falls asleep.
When she wakes up from nap she calls me and I go get her super fast to take her to the bathroom. We've been so proud of how she has done. Maybe there will be an end to pull-ups someday. :)
She usually wakes up before Cooper is awake, and I will have usually been doing schoolwork or blogging or reading, so I bring her in my bed and let her read books or play on PBSKids.org while I finish whatever I'm working on and Cooper finishes her nap. We are amazed at how well she can work the laptop, navigate the website and play games! She knows how to make the mouse pad work, scroll up and down the page and get back to the main page if she wants to play a different game.
Randy comes home around 5 and we start getting ready to cook dinner. The girls play - sometimes together, sometimes by themselves - while Randy and I cook and then we eat. After dinner we play a little more and then take baths and start getting ready for bed. We try to start bedtime around 8, with baths, brushing teeth, getting pajamas on and picking out books. Kendall is the queen of stallers and can stretch bedtime out sooooo loooong. We read a book to her, turn her music on, and then leave for her to read to her babies. Usually she is done for the night around 9 or 9:30, but there is lots of her coming out into the living room and us having to go in to her room in between then.
I love our laid-back, relaxing schedule. I'm not real sure I'm going to like sending her to school in a couple of years - I am going to miss my little buddy! She is a pretty fun girl to spend my days with!!
