Kids’ senses are (ridiculous) amazing. They know everything. 🙂 My only comment about that is that it’s really so temporary in the big scheme of life. Eventually, even if he gets up early, he’ll be self sufficient and won’t require much supervision and you can keep your feet up and keep sipping your coffee even during the awake hours.

I would just like to say, that I enjoy your blog no matter what (1st time commenter). I have no expectations for what you should and shouldn’t do. I’m just happy when I see new content because regardless of how often it is, it’s always GOOD. So, no fretting allowed.

Also–I have ONE question. You don’t have to answer, I know you’re busy. But, the entire world of the internet is very lacking in décor ideas for the windowless walls above a catty-corner bed. If you have any insight on this, I’d greatly appreciate it. I don’t particularly like to he look of catty-corner beds, but it’s the only way our bed works in our room w/ our other furniture. Pinterest doesn’t even help!

This too shall pass. So, just think of it as the current state, and try not to stress too much! In a few months his schedule and need for attention will shift and it will all change anyway. I check your blog a couple times a day to see if there is a new post, and if not, I just wait until tomorrow. Your readers will understand that you are busy today and that we can look forward to something good tomorrow or the next day. Don’t let the guilt of a new blog post interrupt the time with your son. We are all here for you (and I assume a lot of us are moms too). We got you!

PS. Don’t be worried to let your team write a couple posts. Brady made me laugh and I am sure your other team members are as delightful as you! You attract good people, after all you brought us the joy that is Orlando.

PPS. Thanks for the honestly. Makes me love this blog more!

Sleep problems are real. I have a 3 yr old (just graduated to a big boy bed) and a 9 month old (who all of a sudden thinks that my bed is his bed) and we are struggling. BUT…one thing that helps a lot for me (and I have used every since newborn-hood) is a white noise machine (a low hum/or shhh sound). Do you have one in Charlie’s room? If you already do, then disregard, but that could help to dull the sound of the coffee perking or the logs crackling 😉 Happy Friday!

I don’t have kids yet, although we’re talking about it, so I can’t give much insight on what helps. Hope for the best?

YOUR BOOK – can I just say how incredibly excited I am for it. This little sneak peek looks fab (can’t say I’m surprised)!

Sigh, I feel you…somehow they always know when you’re trying to have some time to yourself!!! Now that he’s back to sleeping til 730 maybe get a one cup coffee maker for your bedroom and skip the fire and work in there?! (Poor hubby though!) maybe you can trick him by never cracking your bedroom door:) good luck though, munchkins have unbelievable radar!!!!

Yeah, you MUST get sleep– without enough of it, seems like everything suffers. I’m sad that you felt the need to write this post– that we readers have become so demanding that you felt as though you needed to. Life throws us all kinds of interesting curveballs and we manage them as best we can. I personally think it should be ok (without the need for explanations) for you to have some lighter post weeks from time to time. You do so much, you are so generous with your posts, and to your readers. There’s got to be a balance and we readers need to remember that. Thank you for all of the inspiration! I wish you could see all the cool projects I’ve done in my house, inspired by you!! Keep the faith– it gets easier as the kiddos get older. O, and I totally pre-ordered your book! Yeah!!

If you don’t have one already I might suggest a white noise machine in Charlie’s room. Also that picture of him in blue made me melt! That belly is so cute I want to munch on it!! He’s getting so big so fast, I love when you share Charlie updates along with your other fabulousness.

Book: Please don’t put captions or wording on top of the actual pictures! I like photos in all of their simple glory, and my friends and I don’t buy books in which there is writing over those magical images.
Sleep: I have a five year old, and I have yet to have a full night’s sleep. Spidy-sense is right! Those little ones just KNOW.
May the force be with you.

No kids here, so can’t really help you with any insights, I can only say it is so nice that you are always so honest and open with your readers.
And that I think most of your readers more than understand if every once in a while there are less posts.

Your blog is just so good and I think we have such high expectations of you. I know almost no other blogs with the same quantity and quality of posts. I (like many other people) check your blog at least daily and am sad to see if there’s no new content up, and I can imagine that must create some kind of pressure from time to time. We’re being spoiled, and at the same time you and the team are doing all the design work and you write a book…And then you have your family! Madness!

So I just wanted to tell you that I so appreciate what you do, your blog is my happy place where I can virtually get away for a moment. Thanks for that! x

It sounds like you could probably get away with your 5am wake ups once or twice a week, without him catching on. Unfortunately that means your schedule is a bit in flux, but if it doesn’t bother you too much, you’ll get back 4-5 golden morning hours per week. Good luck!

What was the trick to becoming a morning person? I made it my personal mission last year, waking up at 6 to get personal work done before business work at 9, but old man winter (who isn’t nearly as cute as Charlie Henderson) threw a big wrench in my plans. it’s so cold and dark here that I’m losing the “will she, or won’t she get out of bed” battle more times than not. Any tips for the snoozers of the world??

Just want to say I’d rather have fewer well thought out posts, rather than 5 or 7 crappy quick “filler” posts. I come here for content, but more than that, I keep coming back for your “voice”, so if that goes, I’d feel less inclined to keep reading. Keep up the good work, and don’t stress out if one thing goes so that you can keep doing another.

My kid was a horrible sleeper – as in he just didn’t – so I wouldn’t even presume to give advice.
I do love your blog and can’t wait for your book.
Happy sleeping.
Ursula

P.S. Charlie is so darling. Is he a Brian clone or what? Although I definitely see some of you in there. Love the pics!

i would love to see a ready-made frame round up, particularly large frames which I find hard to find good frames and matting. Love the blog

Your best post yet! I totally get it. I think everyone reading this- gets it! I lived this exact life… until I got really sick… it forced me to take care of myself. #1 sleep is a priority. I will never go back. My biggest advice- take care of yourself! Everything else will fall right into place. Wish I had known this!

Hey Emily!
I love your blog and your honest tone! I’m also a working mom and relate to this 100% One thing I ask is–no apologetic tone!!!! You don’t owe me posts! I’m so glad when I see them, and the quality is always good, always something interesting for me to ponder on in my own home! You don’t need to apologize (i think) at all these weeks that don’t go perfectly!!! And I relate to the morning thing! I started going to a gym class at 6am in Jan. The first two weeks were amazing, I was done, home and got to shower in a silent house while everyone slept until the usual 7.30am. Two months later? I get home from the gym at 7am this morning and am greeted by my 4 year old who has already been up long enough to tell me that she held the cat (not allowed) and he scratched her but it didn’t hurt! LOL The only one still sleeping in is the hubs 🙂 Anyways, you’re doing awesome! Love to hear about the struggle-but I hope you never feel guilty for putting your work, family or sanity first!!!!!

Dude, you’re a new mom with a very young child and an already established career. Cut back a bit! We’ll all survive with fewer posts and keep coming back for more. Manhatten Nest posts once or twice a week and I always get a thrill out of “finally” getting a post from him. And, he doesn’t have half the demanding lifestyle that you have. Take time with your kiddo and be in the best shape (sleep & health-wise) for him that you can. He’s going to be little for such a short time.

White noise machine! Sure, he will become dependent on it and you’ll have to take it everywhere, but it is a lifesaver. Because we can take it with us, it becomes a constant for Hugo’s routine, and he sleeps ANYWHERE. We crank it up and he sleeps through everything (we have a modern, open house like yours and they are great but noisy).

As a mother of a 3 and a 10 year old who still hasn’t figured out how to fit in working full time, working out, doing errands, making dinner (my hubby and I take turns cooking!), doing laundry (even though m nanny does the kids laundry), doing just fun stuff for myself like seeing a movie with a friend, plus of course the most important thing having real fun quality time with the hubby and kids. Some weeks I’ll be great at one but the others suffer just like you experienced with the blog posts. That’s just how it is as a working mom and you can’t beat yourself up about it! You’re doing great! Love the blog and check daily- if there is not a new post I’ll still keep checking! Just pre-ordered your book- so excited for October now!

I love reading your blog because of the well-thought out and meaty posts, not because of the frequency. As a working mom with a 4 year old and 1 year old I understand the frustration. You decide to get up at 5am, against everything in your nature, to have a little alone time and you can’t even get that at 5am! I used to get up at 5am to workout and crash at 9pm barely even speaking to my hubby. Now, I just sleep. Things do change, however. I am often shocked at how self-sufficient my 4 year old is. I often think about writing a child development book with the things parents really care about but don’t want to admit (i.e.at 5 they can pour their own cereal, get up and turn on the tv in the morning so you get an extra 30 minutes of sleep, at 4 they will play by themselves for 20 minutes while you make dinner…). Love the blog, your designs, but also your honesty about parenthood.

I must say I don’t have kids and I can sleep how late or wake up when I want (except for in the week, otherwise I could get fired…maybe that a good thing, but that’s another story). But it’s so great that you get the time to “apologize” to us for skipping a few days. Like c’mon..your blog rocks and if we need inspiration, we can go back a few posts (that’s what I do). So feel free to rest as much as you need and after all, family does come first. That’s why I’m showing you some blog love today on my blog. check it out here:http://jenpluspenequalsjenpen.blogspot.com/2015/03/fwa-bloglove.html Have a great weekend 🙂
P.S congrats on the book btw 🙂

I recall thinking this week, “Her posts are SO high quality, such good stuff, HOW does she do it?” I didn’t keep track of whether you posted or not each day, I just knew when there was a new one, it was good.” So, good call to focus on quality rather than quantity. Don’t stress. You rock!

You can give white noise a try without a special machine. I learned this with business travel. A hotel room near light rail drove me to it! You can download white noise tracks just like music. My downloads are by Hushaboo.

Emily, I am also a designer with now older kids. When they were little it was difficult to put a full day’s work in. Our job not only requires concrete work but mental space for creativity.
Your blog is great, I anxiously await new posts. But if that’s only a few times a week, it’s ok. Time spent with Charlie is special…..I’m willing to share you:)

Is that a photo of Brian you and Charlie are holding? There is an older time feel about it which is why I decided it wasn’t Charlie. Loved the photo and your comment on Instagram this week.
Glad you could hire some help and that you realize what a load can be taken over by an ‘office manager’ person.
So excited your book is at the pre-order stage (it’s ordered) congratulations.

This happened with me and working out (2.5 year old, 8 month old). I tried to get up an hour before them to start working out again (haven’t done it much since my daughter was born)…and within a week, they both were waking up earlier with me, and I was pausing my video every few minutes to move a baby/make breakfast for toddler/etc. These kids are onto us.

Oh boy. My little boy was an early riser and it sucked. We joke that he is part rooster. Even at 10, he’s still up early.

I tried the “get up early and get it all done” route a few weeks ago too. I am a SAHM homeschooling mom to two, so I thought it’s be great. And I am a morning person. But I would just sit there staring into space for the first hour and then ended up going to bed at 9. It was similar to what you describe here. A total bust.

So now I get up at 6:30 like a DECENT human being. 😉

And no worries about the blog. I mean, you have a life. Take care of yourself!

Emily! You don’t need to apologize for skipping a day or two of posting! Your blog is still sooo good and I really don’t think people are put off when you do. You are so genuine and super talented, we’ll still visit on a ‘blank’ day (at least I do:))

Thanks for your honesty though, and love to super-cute Charlie!
PS: I can’t wait to buy your book!

My boy is 14 months and this is the story of my life. I feel for you.

Emily! You are doing awesome. Two posts of high quality, great content is nothing to apologize for. We’re all different and capable of different things. So, all that to say…
1. I don’t know everything. I also have three kids four and younger.
2. They, without fail, wake up when I wake up early. I like to wake up at 4:30 to workout and have me time, read bible, etc.
3. I don’t have a full time job besides my kids, and I can’t find time in the day to do a fraction of what you do.

I want to know the answer to this sleep nonsense too. We resort to just putting them back in bed until they realize they aren’t allowed to get up. Takes a few days. When my husband was in grad school and working full time my oldest woke up at 4:30 to hang out with his dad. That was… special. Can a better parent than I, in their wisdom, solve this for us all??

Book ordered.

It’s been said but I’ll say it again…white noise machine! I don’t know if it’d be hard to introduce now since we’ve used ours since newborn-hood. But it’d be worth a try if you wanted to give the early bird routine another go!

Emily, I totally appreciate your honesty and sincerity. 2 awesome posts per week is much better than 5 half-assed ones. Do you know why you don’t have much time to blog? BECAUSE YOU’RE BUSY ACTUALLY DOING WHAT YOU LOVE AND MAKING A CAREER OUT OF IT. And that’s something to be proud of.

Also: THAT BELLY ON CHARLIE. Love love love.

APPARENTLY I’M REALLY INTO INTERNET SHOUTING TODAY. I think it’s time for the weekend. Hope you have a restful one! xox

I’ve been up since 4:30am (after a midnight pump sesh) with my 3 month old, and I can barely remember my name much less hold down a job. Give yourself a break (and a hand!) for even attempting to “do it all”. And as a wise woman recently told me, “just because it’s really hard, doesn’t mean you’re not doing a good job”. It’s my new motto.

I don’t have any ideas, but if it helps, I’m staring at what should be a marathon-work-weekend (after a marathon-work-week) and trying to figure out how the whole husband-&-two-toddlers-thing is going to go. Ay yay. But I don’t have to do that all the time, and finding schedules that work (mostly) for everybody is legit hard.

If it’s any consolation/hope, my #2 is a much sounder sleeper 🙂

As a mom, and now a grandma, I have had some experience with little ones. Now is the time to enjoy Charlie! Being a mom and running your business are more important that blog posts. Even though I know that the blog is a part of your business. I would rather see fewer blog posts than have you collapse and have to give up blogging all together.
You’re doing good Emily and you will get it figured out. The problem is that as soon as you get things going good – Charlie will change and you’ll have to figure them out all over again!

Did you do any sort of sleep training for bedtime? You could just do the same thing in the am. You know, go in to his room, don’t pick him up and gently remind him it’s time to be sleeping. Let him cry for 10 minutes and do again until he gets it. Of course, stressing out about your crying baby does not make for a productive pre-sunrise morning. Maybe you stop being such a fun mom and he won’t care that you’re awake? 😉

Hi Emily-
Like everyone else, I don’t mind waiting for a post. But to get a quick post out there, I wouldn’t mind seeing a good one from your archives. I don’t have time to scroll through the blog history so I’m sure I’ve missed some good ones, along with many other readers. Maybe you could tell us how your thinking has changed since the original post or give us some new insight about the project? Great post as always!

Going to chime in with others to say that we love your blog, love your content and feel like we love you, even though we don’t really know you. Some weeks are just like that, best laid plans and all.

Don’t apologize!! Your content is THE BEST out there. Don’t burn out to please the 24 hour news (blog) cycle and us clickers!! The content has been so amazing in the last couple weeks, sometimes you even need to give the readers a break and time to go back and look at the amazingness!! 🙂 🙂

Totally relate to kids having a 6th sense about when mom & dad are up! You may already use this, but this noise machine has been a life saver for us ( family of four, including twins!) http://www.amazon.com/Marpac-DOHM-DS-Natural-actual-Machine/dp/B000KUHFGM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1425666479&sr=8-2&keywords=noise+machine

Look at that sweet little face and belly. He’s a cutie. Well done.

Babes who decide to not sleep can make a mamma crazy.. Hear you! Have you tried a noise machine in his room. It’s been a lifesaver for my 3. If they are used to a noise machine they will sleep anywhere if it’s there. We have had parties and they just snooze through. Good luck!

Hey, Superwoman, be kind to yourself!!!!

Oh man, I can so feel your pain with Charlie! My 3 1/2 year old did the same thing!! I was losing my mind…no one needs to be up at 5 am with a toddler, regardless of how cute and how much you love them, 5 am is not okay! Few things that we did that worked…noise machine or a noisy fan, we moved the kurig maker to a different countertop, and closed her door. I actually went in her room and had my husband do our normal morning routine to see what she could hear. The kurig shocked me!! Also, we’re the only ones out of a large group of friends that this didn’t work for, but all of my friends suggested the “okay to wake” clocks. Do a search for that on Amazon. They’re not cheap, but I’d pay $40 for sleep anytime! The clock turns green when it’s okay to wake up. You can leave it off or red when it’s not okay. So the idea is that the child sees the clock red or off and goes back to sleep. I know at least 10 kids that this has worked for. My daughter just stared at… Read more »

Noise canceling headphones might be a joke, but white noise isn’t! We lived with our two children in a small apartment in NYC for years and a small Vornado fan in their room saved our sanity — and our nighttime TV watching/early morning Jillian Michaels grunting. Good luck!

The thing about having babies is that whenever you think you have things figured out, they throw you for another loop.

I have a 7 month old and sometimes feel like she knows me better than my husband! She can pick up on my mood even when I can’t. Kids are amazing. As for the blog posts, I’m sure this isn’t what you want to hear but I’d actually prefer less content because I could spend more time with your posts. I find that your blog posts stack up in my feed because I just can’t get to them all. 1 or 2 posts a week would be more than enough in my opinion. I felt the same way about YHL too so maybe it’s just me.