As seasons of life change, the flow of our days changes with it. The biggest changes recently have been my focus on pregnancy health and the warmer weather.
Ben and I have been trying to get to sleep between 10 and 10:15 and to get up by about 7:00 to shower and put away our laundry before we get the girls at 7:30. I do my scripture study and journal writing before I shower. I also have started doing 300 squats a day. I have reminders on my phone for doing squats throughout the day, and I start off the morning doing 30 squats and the exercises that help the baby be in the right position.
Ben has started taking a walk in the morning in an effort to get more sunlight to help his sleep. I also go out and walk in the mornings, because walking is really good for pregnancy. We take turns so someone is always home with the kids, usually while they watch a math show on Netflix and eat breakfast.
While Ben is walking in the morning, I clear out the dishwasher and make eggs. I've been making hot chocolate with beef gelatin in the morning to drink while I write in my journal. For breakfast, I have eggs with fruit. My snacks are often fruit or dried fruit with nuts, cheese, or beef jerky. Sometimes I will make a diet approved treat and have that as a snack. For lunch, I have leftovers, tuna fish with crackers, or chicken with some sort of carb like sweet potatoes. I also usually have carrots with my lunch. For dinner, I just try to make sure we have a protein, a carb, and at least one vegetable. And then after we put the girls down, Ben and I often make homemade ice cream or white hot chocolate.
When Ben and I are done with breakfast, we do ten minutes of yoga together. He then goes to work and I do my other exercises. I try to do some weights and I have some different stretches and exercises I do to prepare for labor.
Once I'm done with my exercises, I finish getting ready, which includes doing my hair and making my bed. Then I do the girls hair and if they aren't outside already, I read to them. Then they often end up outside in the backyard to play. If they are busy playing, I don't stop them to do school stuff. If they come in or it's cold, then we'll do our normal school stuff.
The girls usually have a snack around 10:00 and eat around 12:00. I have some things I try to get done in the morning (more walking just inside the house, making bread, doing laundry). As soon as lunch is over, I help Ashtyn with her piano practice and then put Rylee down for her nap. During naps, the girls usually end up playing with friends or talking with their cousins on Facebook chat. This is also a good time for me to get some one on one time in with Parker (I usually get this in with Ashtyn during our "school" time). Parker loves playing tea parties while Rylee is asleep right now. She also loves cooking in the kitchen with me.
During naps, I do my writing and work on my own stuff. Right now, that includes YouTube videos and the deep cleaning I've been doing because I'm nesting. Around 4:00, I start dinner, so we can eat around 5:00 or 5:30. If I don't have a lot of dinner prep to do, I'll take the girls outside to play in the front after Rylee wakes up from her nap.
During dinner, we try to have conversations that engage the girls. We'll tell a story, each of us coming up with one line; tell two things that we did that day and make up one thing while everyone guesses which one is the lie; say something good and something bad about our day; do would you rather questions; or tell jokes.
After dinner, Ben and I try to do an activity with the girls. I love doing silent reading time, though we don't do that as consistently. We'll sometimes go outside for a walk or a bike ride, or do something simple inside. We have a list of ideas for when we're not sure.
Bedtime starts around 7:45. We brush their teeth, then go upstairs to get on their pajamas. Then we sit on the couch in Parker's room as a family and read, sing, and do scriptures. Before we tuck them in, we do family prayer and help the girls do their prayers. We try to have them in bed around 8:30. Parker usually goes right to sleep, but Ashtyn gets to read for 30 minutes in bed before going to sleep.
We have different things on different days as well.
My cleaning routine is grocery shopping on Mondays, cleaning bathrooms on Tuesdays, cleaning the floors on Wednesdays, a deep cleaning item on Thursdays, and helping the girls clean their bathroom and rooms on Fridays. Saturdays, we do a little bit of cleaning as a family, sometimes cleaning walls or something. Recently, we've been doing yardwork as it has warmed up. Saturdays and Sundays, I plan and prepare for the next week. We also have Ashtyn's piano lessons on Tuesday afternoon.
In the evening, we talk with Melissa after we put the girls down. On Tuesdays, we have writing group, so Ben and I read the submissions after dinner and then meet with our group after the girls go down. I also have a presidency meeting for my calling every other Tuesday at 7:00. On Wednesdays, I have young women's, so Ben and the girls have a no mom party while I'm gone. Ben and I also set aside Wednesday nights to spend time together after we put the girls down. Thursdays we don't have anything, so we often go to Ben's parents' house and watch Leverage with Caleb after putting the girls down. Fridays we have movie night.
Weekends we follow a different routine.
Saturday mornings, we let the girls watch a show while I do my planning or read. Usually around 10:30, we turn off the show and do things together. Recently, it's been doing yard work and bike riding. Ashtyn also loves to do special things (like chess, making video games, or doing pixel art) with Ben since he doesn't have work. After Rylee's nap, we almost always go do something, whether it's something like a hike or simply going to hang out at Ben's parents' house. We'll head home for dinner and baths before bedtime. Then I finish getting ready for Sunday by packing the diaper bag and setting the girls' clothes out.
We have 9:00 church, so Sunday mornings are busy. Ben gets the girls and makes breakfast while I do scriptures and finish up my planning stuff. I get out of bed by 8:00 to start getting the girls ready while Ben showers. Then I get myself ready while Ben gets the girls' shoes on and loads them into the car.
We have recently gotten to go back to the 2 hour block meetings and it's so nice. When we get home from church, we have lunch and relax after church. During naps, Ashtyn and Parker get to watch something while Ben and I spend some time together. Around 3:00, we talk with my mom and then have an early dinner afterward. After dinner, we get together with Ben's family for a treat (we rotate who makes the treat).
We have liked our current routine, though I'm trying to do too much probably. I have a big list of things I want to do to prepare for the baby (because of nesting) on top of my regular things. But I also don't feel a lot of pressure to get everything done. I have certain things that I prioritize and am okay if the rest doesn't get done. I am liking the balance we've found right now.
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