Settled

I feel like I can safely say that we're finally getting settled. If you're thinking "settled," as in "moved in and unpacked," then you're wrong. Ha! I really mean "settled," as in "settled into a nice little routine." Now that the kids have their own rooms, they also have their own schedules, and since we haven't been away from home for a while, we are nicely settling into these new schedules. I thought (just so that I can go back and read this in 50 years from now, and remember what it was like to be a stay-home mom of two babies, with a medical school husband, and in our very first house) I'd journal about how a typical day, hour-by-hour, looks like for us. (The rest of this post will be very boring, FYI! Feel free to stop reading now.)

5:00am - Our heat goes up from 65 to 68 degrees. I'm usually up at this time nursing Skogen and the heat feels SOOOOO good!
5:27am - Erik's radio alarm goes off. He shuts it off. (I don't let him wake up to the sports talkshow like he wants, so I make him shut it off as soon as I hear it.)
5:32am - Erik's second alarm goes off. He shuts it off.
5:33am - Erik's third alarm goes off. He shuts it off.
5:34am - Erik's fourth alarm goes off. He shuts it off.
5:39am - Erik's snoozed alarm goes off and I kick him out of bed. :)
6:15am - Erik leaves for the hospital while the rest of us are still tucked into our nice warm beds.
7:45 - 8:15am - Skogen wakes up and plays in his crib. He never cries and has a few stuffed animals that he only plays with while he's in his bed, so I always leave him in there until 8:30 (no earlier, no later). He's okay with that, mostly because he poops during this time and would rather be alone, but he also knows that I eventually come to get him because I've consistently come to get him at the same time every morning for months.
8:30am - I get Skogen out of bed. We let Barkley! outside. I change Skogen's diaper. We let Barkley! back in and feed him. Skogen then plays with his toys in the living room while I check my emails and read blogs on the couch.
9:00am - We wake Maida up.
9:15am - I make Maida breakfast. She either has a bowl of oatmeal with extra raisins added, or a waffle with peanut butter and syrup on the side. She sits at the table on an old stool that Grandma gave her.
9:30am - I make Skogen's breakfast. He has infant cereal mixed with Gerber DHA fruit and grain baby food. I always hold him while I feed him breakfast. After being alone all night, he likes extra snuggle time (also because he likes to try to climb out of his highchair and I don't want to be yelling, "NO! Sit DOWN!" this early in the morning.)
9:45am - The dog and both kids are happy and fed, so I sit down to eat breakfast while I finish on the computer. Maida ventures over to the TV and usually watches Dinosaur Train, or whatever is on PBS. After I eat breakfast, I usually try to play with the kids, unload/load the dishwasher, or start laundry for the day.
10:00am - I nurse Skogen.
11:45am - I make Maida a "peana-ba-jelly" sandwich, which she prefers to have every day. She eats this on the stool at the table, but gets down every few minutes to catch bits and pieces of Word World.
12:00pm - Skogen eats lunch in his highchair. He always has a meat, veggie, and fruit for lunch. Along with a rice cake and some yogurt puffs or cottage cheese. He loves to feed himself and I try to give him as many self-feeding foods as I can.
12:30 - 12:45pm - Skogen goes down for a nap and I jump in the shower. I then get dressed and get Maida dressed, let Barkley! out for the afternoon, and check the mail. I also sometimes eat a quick lunch before Skogen wakes up.
2:00pm - Skogen wakes up and him and Maida eat a snack. Usually fresh fruit or yogurt.
3:00pm - I nurse Skogen. The rest of the afternoon is reserved for grocery shopping, or other errands. We also sometimes go to the park or work outside. If Maida naps, she naps at this time.
5:30pm - I try to scramble to come up with something to make for dinner! Then I make it while Skogen hangs on my pants leg and whines (this is his usual crabby time) while Maida either plays in her bedroom or is at the kitchen table coloring.
6:00pm - We eat dinner. Maida is very good about eating whatever we eat. Skogen has a meat, vegetable, and fruit - I try to feed him as much of what we are having as I can. He sits in his highchair and Maida on her stool. Barkley! also usually eats at this time and when he's finished he lays under Skogen's highchair so that he can quickly snatch anything that falls on the floor!
7:00pm - Erik is usually home by this time and either eats dinner with us at 6:00, or eats when he gets home. If he eats later than us, Maida always sits beside him or on his lap and shares his food with him. He then spends the evening with us, usually playing with the kids while he tries to study and do homework on his computer, while sitting on the couch.
9:00pm - If the kids need a bath, they do this right before bedtime. I do bath time, but Erik always helps me get the kids out. He usually holds Maida and calls her his "burrito baby" while I get Skogen dressed before he wizzes on the floor. I then get Maida's pajamas on. At this time Maida gets daddy-time while I nurse Skogen and rock him to sleep in his room. Lately he hasn't been falling asleep while I rock him, so I just lay him down and he listens to his musical turtle and tries to fall asleep.
9:20pm - Maida says, "night night," to her daddy and we go into her room to read two "special books" (books that are on a bookshelf that she can't get to because they are books that we want to keep nice). Skogen usually starts crying about this time, so she looks at the books while I run into Skogen's room to find his pacifier and rock him a little more.
9:30pm - I lay Skogen down, asleep or not, and go back into Maida's room. We read the "special books." Then I turn out the lights, hold her, and sing, "He Leadeth Me," (which I've done since she was just weeks old). Then I tuck her in "snug as a bug in a rug," and we each take turns praying. Sometimes daddy takes a break from studying to pray with us.
9:45pm - I go back into Skog's room to make sure that he's asleep, sometimes he is, sometimes he's not. If he's not, I find his pacifier (which he usually either throws across the room or it falls beside the crib), and rock him for a few more minutes.
10:00pm - If I don't have to get Maida more water to drink (which I usually do), the kids are asleep now and Erik and I can sit on the couch together and talk for a few minutes, or just sit next to each other while we read or check our emails. Before the night is done, I finish up the laundry, start the dishwasher, and clean up the toys.
11:00pm - This is my ideal bedtime. Erik usually goes to bed around midnight or 1:00am.