Ch-ch-changes

Funny how just when you get something figured out and you're feeling comfortable, there's a change, or at least a need for change and then you have to do the changing. Well, we're in the middle of lots of changes around here. Some potentially life changing and others not so drastic.

Olivia's been a 3-naps-a-day kind of girl for many months but we're going to try  only 2 naps a day. It's helpful when you can read their cues because she's been trying to tell me for about a week that she doesn't need a morning nap anymore and I thought she was just being a little pill, trying to throw me off my groove. Changing her nap schedule means adjusting her eating schedule just a tad, too. Instead of bottle, morning nap, breakfast, late morning nap, lunch, snack, afternoon nap...we're going to try bottle and breakfast, snack, late morning nap, lunch, snack, afternoon nap and so on. Exciting, I know! When you're a stay-at-home mom this is the juicy stuff that fills your day and floats your boat! But we'll talk about her diaper routine another time...
I was trying to think of all the food Liv has tried so I could offer her some more variety. Just for fun, here's the list:  
Apple * Avocado * Banana * Beef * Blueberry * Carrot * Cherry * Chicken * Corn * Grape * Greenbean * Mango * Oat * Onion * Orange * Pea * Peach * Pear * Pineapple * Plum * Potato * Raspberry * Rice * Spinach * Squash * Sweet Potato * Tomato * Turkey * Wheat

 

Summer was crazy but it was nothing compared to how crazy this school year has been. Richard went back to work as an elementary school Speech Language Pathologist, but he also began his Seminary student teaching at the Box Elder Middle School, teaching 1st hour. He's been working towards his goal of becoming a seminary teacher for a couple years now and has dreamed about it most of his life.

His days look something like this:

Gospel Learning Workstation

• Wake up dark and early around 5:45 AM, put on a suit and tie, out the door by a quarter to 7, drive to Seminary, set up for class, talk to the early-arriving students, teach class, quickly change in his telephone booth, uh, I mean office into civilian clothes [he was recently dubbed 'Superman' by the other seminary teachers], jump in the car to drive across town, teach all day, come home in the late afternoon, tickle or tackle Livi [whatever she seems to need at the moment], hit the scriptures [not literally, silly] until dinner, eat dinner, prep. until midnight or 2AM, set everything out that he'll need for the next day, go to bed, and sleep, if he's lucky. 

My days look something like that:

• Wake up around 7AM, feed Olivia breakfast, eat breakfast, take O on a walk/run, play and sing, laundry, nap time, jump in the shower and get ready for the day, read scriptures, clean, more laundry, eat lunch, blog, feed her lunch, run errands, grocery shop, afternoon snack, nap (for me? I wish!), hobbies, prepare dinner, feed her dinner, eat dinner with Richard, Play with O until bedtime, pick up toys around the house, bottle, bath time, Jammies, put her down around 7:30PM, wash dishes, remove stains from baby clothes, bedding, etc., clean the highchair, start the dishwasher, fold laundry, bring a snack/water to Richard, facebook/pinterest, go to bed. 

We don't see much of each other these days. But it's only until Thanksgiving, which actually sounds like an eternity from now, but really, it's all going to be worth it in the end. Whether he gets a job or not, we're both learning so much from this experience and gaining a whole new appreciation for each other.