30 Minute Blocks, That's the Difference...

People {mainly my friends} ask me What's the biggest difference with having two children verses one?  And What changed the most after you had your second? {most of my friends have 1 kid--or none}

My Weekly To-Do List [L] :: A Sample Email of the Constant Back and Forth to Keep Everyone on the Same Page [R]
PS...I SWEAR we don't usually get a sitter this often...haha!

While the jump from no children to one was significant {for us at least}, I really don't feel like going from one child to two was a big deal.  We had already realized that date nights, sleeping in, and dining out were few and far between.  My Fridays off are no longer shopping, cleaning the entire house, washing all bedding, taking a nap, and preparing for the weekend.

But I really only noticed one big change

I have always been a planner {my friends make fun of me for this all of the time!} but now? Now it's on a whole new level!

Our life is pretty much scheduled in 30 minute blocks for the next year.  I'm only sort of kidding!  Not everything is scheduled ::ahem:: but pretty much everything from sun up to sun down is written down.  I know that if I want to go to the grocery store or workout, it has to be blocked into the schedule.  If Adam has band practice, I have to know about it in advance.  If I have photoshoots, daycare pick ups need adjustments.

In an effort not miss events while I'm running form one side of town to the other and back to help stay organized, everything 'scheduled' for the future gets written in my planner {appointments, weekend travel, photoshoots, band practices/gigs, dinner dates, work meetings, etc.}.  Each Monday morning I create a schedule for the week.  This includes all scheduled plans for the week, blog posts I plan to schedule, FB Updates for A Photo{graphy}, Meal plans, and my 'to-do' list {phone calls to make, errands to run, emails to send, editing to do, etc.}  I am constantly emailing my husband, family, and sitter with dates and schedules for plans for the upcoming week.  Who is picking up who, where we are going to be each day and time, etc.

To be honest...I have no idea how people with more than one child can live without a planner and schedules.  I know I'm probably a bit more structured than most, but considering we're already booking things through all of 2014, I would never be able to function without it.