back to reality

Now that we are back home, I am trying to get back into a routine of sorts. One thing that we have been working on around here is trying to get little Miss Lauren on a better schedule. For the past couple of weeks she hasn't been sleeping through the night like normal and her napping has been very unpredictable. So, I decided it was time to stop rocking her to sleep (I know, I am a horrible mother!!!)
Basically our routine before bed looks like this: bath or lotion massage, last feeding, read a story, then rice cereal. After she eats her rice cereal Shawn and I both give her kisses and put her in her bed. We leave the room and she usually fusses for about 15 minutes. She doesn't cry, just talks and winds down I think. We have to give her her binky a couple of times and pat her back but she will finally fall asleep on her own!!! I am so proud of her. She goes to bed between 8 and 8:30 and will sleep until about 5:30 or 6!
She still eats every 3 hours during the day, so a normal day for us includes eating, changing diapers, playing, bouncing in her jumper, and reading books. Then, she starts getting tired, so I put her down for a nap the same way we do at night. I give her hugs and kisses and just leave. It takes anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes for her to fall asleep, but she is doing it ON HER OWN! This frees up a lot of my day as I am not having to rock her down then pray that she doesn't wake up when I lie her down. She sleeps about an hour and a half at a time.
While she sleeps I try to get caught up on the house or blog or take a shower and prepare for the day.
One of the hardest things I faced with staying home was the lack of any sort of schedule. I came from a career that was very scheduled and organized and I think that I need that to feel accomplished and at ease in my life. I am happier when I have goals and checklists! I do think that God is teaching me to be more flexible and easy going about things and I am trying very hard to learn these things! If anyone has any ideas/strategies/ success stories with any of this I'd love to hear from you!

P.S. I am so encouraged by the number of friends and family that are taking the scripture memorization challenge with me! Girls, let's not let this be something that falls by the wayside in 2009. I am rooting for you and am anxious to see how God uses these personal scriptures to help some of us out of areas of sin or strongholds that are bringing us down (I know I have some areas that I pray God will work me through). I am also excited to see how God uses these scriptures to make us warriors for him in this crazy world! Let's Do This!