Let's Look - Evening Routines

Happy Wednesday!! I am jumping on board to Let's Look a week early because we'll be in Florida next week, and I'm planning on taking the week off blogging to soak in all the family time we can. 

We love a good routine over here... And as per usual, our evening routine has really changed a bit over the last year and a half or so, but here are a few things that are always or almost always in our evening routine...some have been there since we got married and others have gone more through phases or came along with Jane, but here is a look at a typical night...

Putting Jane to sleep

This little nugget has become a big part of our "evening routine..." Usually her routine consists of sometimes a bath, pajamas and all the getting ready for bed extras, sometimes some books with Daddy, always a Bible story, a hymn, and a prayer and some sweet snuggles. 

We love her and are thankful for a bedtime routine that has become part of her rhythm too. 

Tidying Up/ Cleaning the Kitchen

We don't always go to sleep with a totally tidied up downstairs, but I would say more often than not we do, and it just helps breathe a little easier in the morning when we wake up. 

A few Januarys ago, we made a goal to go to bed with a clean sink every night that month, and I will say that it was a bit life-changing to the point where I could probably count on one hand the amount of times we've left the kitchen a bit of a mess when we have gone to bed this year. It just sets our day up for success to the point that it's usually worth those extra few minutes at the end of the night to tidy and clean up...

Hot Tea/ Debriefing 

We are just a hot tea family, what can I say... I have my mom to thank for this one. She definitely passed down her love for tea, and Pierce has gradually picked it up over the years we were dating and married... When we dated long distance, we would have tea and catch up via FaceTime at the end of some of our long days, and I would say that more often than not we still end our day with a cup of tea when we can. There's just something cozy and quaint about that bedtime cup of tea, and I love it... If there's a show that we're loving or really into, sometimes we'll try to sneak in a little episode on our laptop if there's time, but it's usually not a normal or every night thing for us. Although it's always makes it a little fun when it happens!! 

Washing my face and feet...

Don't ask Pierce about this one...but I truly can't go to sleep without washing my face and feet...Basically, a small shower hahaha but getting into bed clean is truly one of my very favorite things and it is truly always worth it for me... There are many nights I wish I could actually just wiggle my nose (shoutout to that little Tabitha on Bewitched) and be finished with my bedtime routine and in bed, but alas, I'm usually at our bathroom sink for quite some time at night hahaha 

Reading

This one is a big one for us that doesn't happen every night, but we love it when we have time to read a few pages of our books... Usually these days it's more on our Kindles, but we love a good old fashioned book as well. And we love sneaking in as many pages we can before we completely crash from the day hahaha

Reading a Psalm/Praying 

This one really has been around since pretty much the day we got married, and Pierce knows that if there is ever a house disaster, he is to grab this book along with my/our journals first and foremost hahaha 

I gave this little Psalms book to Pierce a few months before we got married because our pastor had said he had it and read one every day, and I knew Pierce would love to have one to do the same. I just didn't know that it would become a part of our nightly routine that we would both grow to love so much. We read that Psalm 1 day 1 of marriage and a few weeks later decided to write a little blurb at the top with the date and a highlight or two from the day...fast forward now five years later and a lot of life is written down in that little book. We added a book of Proverbs, so that together we would read them twice a year. After Jane, we often started doing it on our phones and adding a little "note" on verse one in our Bible app with the crazy nights and evenings with a newborn, but it's a routine that is one of our very favorites, and we couldn't imagine ending the night any other way than a little Psalm and a prayer together. 

And then really, these tired parents crash pretty hard after that... Or sometimes in the middle somewhere of all of those haha but we try to stick to a routine that sets us up for the most success in the morning... And we really have come to love and treasure that winding down time in the evenings, especially after little Jane falls asleep. 

But really there you have it... A simple little evening routine, but one that we have grown to love. What does your routine look like?! I always love to hear!! Thanks Shay and Erika for the fun blog link-up!! 

If you want to read other Let's Looks from this year from our Morning Routine to Best Traveling Tips and Amazon Favorites, you can find them all here. 

Thanks for following along!!! 

I'll plan on seeing you back here tomorrow!!
Lots of blessings, 

Tab