Schedules, School, and Stuff

At this time last year, we were looking at my schedule, the first day of school for Addie and how my original schedule changed within the first few days of our school time as reality hit that teaching one 3 year old didn't take as long as I anticipated.

Once again, our schedule has changed slightly (just because life happens and you really have to be flexible about it) and I fully anticipate and expect it to change in another month with the arrival of Ian into our home.  However, I am really loving the schedule that we have right now and I hope I am able to keep the majority of this schedule after the baby is born.

Much has not changed from this schedule except I have taken Kristi's idea of "Girl Time" and put it in right before nap time.  For me it is important to continue this time because I don't want Addie to feel pushed aside in any way after Ian arrives.  And Addie loves Girl Time!  On Monday, I painted her toe nails (which she showed everyone!) and we read some books, and Tuesday, she combed my hair and put her bows all over it (wish my camera was within arms reach for that one). After we read a story or two, we both lie down for a nap.  She has snuggled up to me and said, "Mommy, let's talk!"  I let her talk about anything she wants to, and then we both fall asleep.  I get up, blog, get my laundry, start dinner, shower, and have some me time.  When she wakes up, she comes to find me and we continue our "talks".

As for our school time, it never stopped. So this year, we did not have an official first day of school like we did last year.  My reasoning for that was since Ian's due date is so close to what is typically considered the beginning of the school year, I did not want to make a huge thing about starting school and then immediately taking a break from it for a couple of weeks.  The week after Ian is born, Brian will be staying home with us, and the week after that, I will be learning how to navigate life in general as a mother of two without my husband's constant help as he returns to work.  Needless to say we will take about 2 weeks (maybe more) off of our school time. 

Brian and I have also decided that we will probably just have a year round schooling with the kids.  Because we will be homeschooling, Lord willing, we will not be bound by the normal school schedule and can take time off whenever we choose to.  Having a year round school will enable us to take off whenever we need to without feeling that we need to catch up.

How is our school time going?  Wonderfully!  We are almost done with the Preschool Plus book, and we are inching our way through Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  I say inching because each lesson progressively because longer and more challenging and sometimes Addie is just ready to stop.  So rather than have her get frustrated, I split the lessons over several days.  She is learning how to read, though, and last night, using just the letters and sounds we have mastered with this book, she read word after word for Brian and me.  We were beside ourselves, Brian was super proud, and Addie was beaming with each word she sounded out.  We have also added some addition and subtraction to our lesson time, and our goal is to be able to count all the way up to 100 before she enters kindergarten. 
As a final note, thank you for the comments on Monday's post! I was so encouraged by you and your interest in our room flipping.  Lord willing, I'll be posting pictures by Friday or Monday as pieces continue to fall into place around here.  The bassinet/play pen is now wiped down, set up, and in our room, the car seat cover,  swing "cover", baby carrier, and infant car seat head snuggler have been washed and put back in their proper homes.  My next job is to wipe down the baby toys that we brought down from the attic and put all of the bottles into the dishwasher for a good sanitizing and then finding a place in the cupboards for them until they are needed.

Tonight I have a doctor's appointment (I am now going back every other week), and each little thing is a reminder of how quickly this pregnancy is coming to a close and how quickly life with our new baby is approaching.  We are so excited and cannot wait to meet our little guy.  And Addie keeps telling me she can't wait to tickle him and say, "Where's that chin, Little Buddy?"