Schedules

It's remarkable to me how quickly a family adapts to change.  Patrick and I recently went out for dinner, and were talking about our family.  Neither of us can remember what we were doing when we had just one child, and we thought we were so busy.  Let alone, when we had no children!
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In a better effort to record our time, I am taking a minute to write down the most recent schedule we were following (about November 2011-May 2012).  Now that Harvick and Jarrett aren't nursing, it has already changed.  This post is self-indulgent (well, isn't any blog?!), but I want a written record, so when I question it again, I can look back!
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WEEKDAYS
- Wake-up.  I get up at 5:00 to pump.  Patrick wakes up shortly after, and packs our lunches.  We each get ready.  Sometime around 6:00, usually, Ryder will wake up.  He will drink milk, and usually have some fruit.  School days, he would eat oatmeal with berries.  Harvick and Jarrett will start to wake up shortly after, and if not up by 6:30, I will wake them, and get them dressed.  We feed them their first milk bottle.
- Leaving time varies slightly depending on which office I am working in, and whether or not Ryder has school.  Patrick takes the boys to be dropped off.
- We work.
- I pick up the boys, and typically go home (ALWAYS with a snack for the boys.  They feel as though they may starve without one).  If it is Wednesday, I take them with me to go grocery shopping.  Yes, I could do this on the weekends, or at night - but, I have the philosophy that my boys will learn to behave in stores/public, and I better start young.  They all do very well...despite it being right before dinner.
- We get home, unload the car, and start doing dishes/getting dinner ready.  Patrick comes home.  We finish chores, Harvick and Jarrett drink their milk.  Patrick will start feeding Harvick and Jarrett their dinner.  I finish dinner for the rest of us.  Ryder will play with toys in the kitchen, or help to feed his brothers.
- Our goal is to start eating by 6:00.  Sometimes this happens.  Sometimes not.  We eat.  We do dishes, get stuff ready for the next day, and prepare Harvick and Jarrett's food.  We try to have this end by 7:00.
- We play.  We read.  We chase/run/crawl.  We try to get the boys worn out...in the process, we wear ourselves out.
- At 7:30, we give the boys baths (on bath nights), or we will go walking around our neighborhood.
- 8:00 (and, really, more like 8:15) is bedtime.  Patrick will read 2 books with Ryder, and pray with him.  I will nurse the boys.  When Patrick is done, he will rock with one of the babies, and once they are sleepy/ing, we will lay them down in their cribs.
- And, despite having this all completed by about 8:30/8:45, we don't go to bed until 11:00, or later.  I pump.  And, there is always laundry, cleaning, house projects, blogging, etc to get done.
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WEEKENDS
- Wake-up. I get up when Ryder wakes up - typically 6:30, to pump. I will start getting breakfast ready, and Patrick wakes up shortly after. Harvick and Jarrett will soon wake up - we feed them their first milk bottle.  If it is Sunday, one of us will shower the boys, while the other is on undressing/dressing duty.
- We finish making breakfast, and eat.  If it isn't Sunday, Patrick and I get the boys, and ourselves, ready.
- Sundays we go to Church, then Costco.  Saturdays, we will typically do something "fun" with the boys, or do necessary chores.  If home, Harvick and Jarrett will nap.
- Lunch involves Harvick and Jarrett drinking their milk, then Patrick feeding them.  I will get our lunch ready, and we eat.
- The boys go down for naps - Ryder gets to pick out 2 books, and read them in his bed while he falls asleep.  Harvick and Jarrett get more milk, and we will hold them while they get sleepy(ing), and lay them in their cribs.
- Patrick and I take advantage of this time to get things done around the house.  Laundry, mowing, projects, etc.
- The boys wake up.  We play.  We then follow the same evening routine as weekdays.
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Before going to bed we put away any clean dishes, and make sure everything is ready for the next day.  Patrick checks on the boys.
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This really is a quick (and generic) overview of our schedules.  There are a dozen different variants (Thursdays is Bible Study, Patrick teaches one night/week for a month, if dinner involves grilling, Patrick will get dinner ready while I feed Harvick and Jarrett, etc.).

Whew!  That's a lot of info to type out...and to think, the schedule has already changed!