Speeding up to slow down

Right out of college I lived in a town with a really long road that was full of stoplights.  It went from one end of town to the other and it was a pretty big town.  So if you had to go on that road for any amount of time, we'd always say we were "speeding up to slow down".  In other words. when the light turned green you would take off as fast as you could to try to make it through the next light, but inevitably you would end up slowing down because it would turn red and you'd be right beside the people from the last light who just took their time.
This is kind of what it's like to homeschool with a newborn in the house.  As soon as I feed Baxter and get him changed and happy, I try to speed through some math or science or handwriting or reading until he's cranky and ready to eat again...or it's snack time for the other kids...or we have a violin lesson..or an art lesson...you get the idea.  Everything is based around when Baxter has last eaten or will need to eat.  I don't mind nursing in public, especially with my nursing cover, but a lot of times it's just easier to feed him here and let him fall asleep in the car until the next feeding (and hopefully get the groceries done or the violin lesson finished before he wakes up).  If you've never fed a newborn, it's tricky.  They eat anywhere from every hour and a half to three hours.  The problem is you measure from the time they start eating and then they take about 20-30 minutes to eat if they fill up all the way.  So, while Baxter is going through this little growth spurt, he might start eating at say, 5:00, and eat for 20 minutes.  Now we're at 5:20, but he'll be ready to eat again at 6:30 which is barely an hour between feedings, plus he"ll need a new diaper.  It's hard to really get going on something in an hour.  It takes a full hour, also, to get everyone loaded up in the car, drive to violin lessons, do the lesson, load everybody back up and get home (the lesson is 30 minutes and doesn't always start on time).  So, basically we go places that only take 30-45 minutes at a time.  I've gotten super efficient at grocery shopping...gotta have a list and 4 happy kids!  I've also gotten pretty good at doing short little activities while Baxter's eating.  Today Ruby and I sat on the floor in the kitchen while I fed Baxter and she matched up the "Mama" letters (capitals) with the "baby" letters (lowercase) with her refrigerator magnets.  Then she helped me hold the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to read to her.  She loved it!
Once we get through this growth spurt and back into a rhythm, I'll post more about what our typical day is like, but for now, we just basically try to tackle as much school work as we can between Baxter's buffet sessions!