life at mannchester estate: Adjusting.

It's been a little while since I have written anything. Right now I am stealing a few minutes just to give you some small update on life. Abigail is preoccupied at the moment, 'making me eggs,' and Shilo is sleeping. So I will type quickly because those are both things that could change at any second.
We are finally getting into a groove here. We are figuring out what works for both of the adults, and keeps the children happy and healthy. Our days are pretty predictable, but they are full. Miss Shilo has decided that Mama is the only person worthy of taking a bottle from. Mama is flattered, really, but tired, and okay with Papa feeding her sometimes. What it came down to, though, was that we could be NG tube free if I did all the feedings. We would have to leave it in if Jason did any of the feedings. While an NG tube isn't a huge deal, they can cause irritation. So I 'took one for the team' and we have been tube free for a couple of weeks now.
Our days generally start right around eight with Abigail and Shilo both eating and taking their morning meds. Shilo plays afterwards doing some sort of strengthening exercises (tummy time, focusing/tracking, head control, rolling over, bouncing-core strengthening/awareness, and on and on). I usually give her a little bit of time just laying and looking at herself in the mirror on her mat as well. She's pretty fond of herself, and frankly, who can blame her? The girl is cute!

In the last week she has also developed an affinity for sleeping only in her bed (as opposed to the bouncy seat or on me from time to time). So at around 9:15-9:30 every morning she begins to get sleepy. I swaddle her, rock her for a few minutes, lay her down (awake) and that's all she wrote. I thought after my first daughter was so easy to get to sleep that I might not be so blessed the second time around.

I spend the next bit of time playing with Abigail, starting laundry, doing dishes, and so on. A little before eleven I start Abigail on some sort of project (painting, coloring, making valentine's, stringing beads), and get ready to feed Shilo again. After her eleven we do some more playing, and I get lunch ready. Shilo's big awake period is in here so she usually spends some time focusing on black paper attached to our white freezer, and being loved on by her sister while I prepare the big girls lunches. We eat, and play some more. Shilo goes down for a little nap. Abigail goes down for her nap a little before two, I feed Shilo again at two, and the goal here is to get her to go back down as soon as possible after this. Since her big awake time is not long before this, she usually does, but sometimes she's awake for some part of this. However, between 2-4 I get some sort of 'down time' in which I might nap, work out, shower, or work on more projects for Abigail's next few days. Jason gets home around four, and I jump up and down, elated to have the Papa home. Abigail gets up right around here. Shilo eats again at five, and spends time awake and playing, but is ready for bed for the night around six. We usually eat dinner around this time (lots of crock pot meals that are made during that morning time or while I'm preparing lunch). Then spend time hanging out until bedtime. Around 7:30 we feed Shilo again (we do what's called cluster feedings around bedtime so her belly is very full and she can get a good night sleep) and do Abigail's nighttime meds and nebulizer. Jason reads a Bible story and we talk about it during this time. So even though Shilo is mostly sleepy for this feed, we still have her with us so she will grow up being part of this. We all pray together, and then the girls both go to bed. Jason and I usually spend time running around getting things picked up and cleaned up that have been missed (toys that hid while Abigail was cleaning, dinner dishes, etc.) and then collapse on the couch together to hang out. Around 10ish we do a 'dream feed' where I don't unswaddle Shilo, but pick her up and feed her while she sleeps. She takes as much as she wants, and then I put her right back to bed. Jason and I go to bed. Sometime in the night (anywhere between 3-4 usually), Shilo wakes up to eat again.

*Sigh* For now life will just be filled with a full schedule. I actually don't mind the days when we get to stay home and this is our schedule. I like predictability. It's a little harder when we have appointments, or when Abigail is sick and needs her Mama a little more than normal. That's our life for the time being though. So you can all be forgiving about the fact that I am and will be writing much less for the time being. I must run, I have a snuggling request that needs fulfilled.