BFBN Week: How to have a good sleeper

It's Babywise Friendly Blog Network week!  This week we will be answering frequnetly asked questions and different aspects of Babywise.  First up is Valerie from Chronicles of a Babywise Mom.  She gives us some great tips on how to have a good sleeper.  This is so important to me.  We are fortunate that Ben is a good sleeper, and I know a big part of it is due to Babywise!  With the girls being so young, the sleep thing isn't completely down yet.  I will be reviewing this post and using the information to work with Sammy and Ali.  I love sleep, and I really believe that if your kids have quality sleep it makes so many other issues disappear.  

Check out what Valerie has to say, and check out all the other ladies this week!

• Monday: Valerie at Chronicles of a Babywise Mom
• Tuesday: Shea at The Moses Home
• Tuesday:  Kimberly at Team Cartwright
• Wednesday: Emily at The Journey of Parenthood
• Thursday: Carrie at Wiley Adventures
• Thursday: Stephanie at Giving it Grace
• Friday: Katrina at Mama's Organized Chaos

-Kim

Vital step

When the girls were just shy of a month old, we took a vital step in the development of our family.  Oh yes, I took all three kids to Target by myself.  I think all moms, well, all women, know how important it is to be able to go to Target at any point in time.  I was very excited to try this outing.  I had a few reservations.  I mean, two newborns mean two tiny babies could scream at any moment.  With just me I wouldn't be able to push a cart, so Ben would be free.  In the past he usually rode in carts.  This was awesome.  He couldn't touch much, I could go at my own pace, and he couldn't run away.  Ben also really enjoyed riding in the cart.  He has a big adjustment to make to walking almost all the time, and it isn't always his favorite.  But I had to do it, I had to go to Target.  I had to know I could take all three kids with me somewhere with almost everything we need, a place we could wander on bad weather days, and really just some place awesome.

So I loaded up all three kids for our important trip. (And of course this picture was before we were actually driving anywhere.)

I love the view when I look behind me.  Three loves!

The happiest place on earth!!

I loaded the girls in the stroller, and we headed in.  I wondered if Ben would go for a cart, but fortunately he accepted that he would be walking.  At first he tried to hold my hand.  I always want to hold his hand, but it is hard to push the stroller at the same time.  Fortunately, Ben found that he could hold on to the stroller side and easily walk along with me.  He 'helps' me push the girls and stays nearby.  Win!

My helper

 We only had a short trip.  The nice thing about the stroller is that there is storage space underneath, so I can load up on a few items.  The sad thing about the stroller is that storage space isn't that big.  We can't get a lot of stuff, but we can get a few things.

Ben was awesome!  We talked about how it was important to stay right with Mommy the whole time, and I really played up the helper part.  (He adores being a helper.)  We did pause so he could say hi to a couple of toys, but so far he hasn't entered the ask for stuff phase.  We were incredibly slow.  I mean, I was pushing the boat of a stroller, and walking at toddler pace.  But it was a weekday morning, and the store wasn't crowded.  Honestly, with just me and all three kids like this, I don't feel bad if people have to go around us.  I feel if all three are reasonably quiet and Ben is staying near me I am fulfilling any obligation I have to the society around me.

Pointing out Easter Bunnies.  The kid loves bunnies.

We slowly made our way through the store, and had fun too!  The one thing I can't do well on my own is get Ben's diapers.  The boxes are too big to fit in the stroller, and it is just too hard to carry a box, push a stroller, and keep Ben nearby.  No big deal though.  Pat can easily pick those up when needed.  Or it could be a perfect reason to add a family Target trip on the weekend... ;)

Target level: Unlocked.  I am pumped.

-Kim

 (No, this post has not been sponsored in any way by Target.  I just really enjoy that store.  That being said if they ever want me to do a sponsored post I am always available and love gift cards! ;) )

Grampa's pool

Gramma and Grampa came to visit to meet the girls a couple of weeks ago!  We were so happy they were able to make the trip.  I have some pictures to share from that, but they are stuck on my camera.  Yes, when the girls were born I made sure to find the camera and the battery charger and get it all ready to go.  Then I proceded to lose the cord that lets me load them onto the computer.  I'm on the lookout for it, but until then I just have my phone pictures.

One activity Ben really enjoyed while Gramma and Grampa were here was going swimming.  Gramma and Grampa stayed at a hotel with a pool, so we brought the kids over to swim one day.  Only Ben, Pat, and Grampa actually got to swim.  The girls, Gramma, and I got to enjoy watching them though!  Ben was so happy he spent the first few minutes just jumping up and down with joy.  Once he actually got in the pool he was just the happiest little water bug.  Tons of splashing, lots of giggling, and a wonderful afternoon.

Practicing with Daddy!

Such a happy boy!

Ali and Gramma

Sammy and me

Had to take a break

"I'll just nap here, Mommy.  Then we can swim more"

Ben referred to the pool as 'Grampa's Pool.'  We're not sure why just Grampa got the credit for that one, but he got all the glory for the event.  Of course now Gramma and Grampa always have to stay at this same hotel so Ben can visit the pool again.

I loved how much fun Ben had!  Thanks for the fabulous time, Gramma and Grampa!!

-Kim

Quiet moments

I don't think I'll ever get tired of holding both my girls at once.  I love my nursing pillow because it lets me hold them 'hands free.'  I will never get tired of looking down and seeing these sweet faces cuddled in to me.

Thank you, God, for these precious, sweet moments with my daughters.

-Kim

Healthy choices, healthy budget-BFBN

Babywise Pinterest Day!  I am happy to be back participating in the group activities. :)  Today everyone who is participating is blogging about budgets and making smart money decisions.  Be sure to check out what all the ladies have to say on our pinterest board!

Okay, confession- by the end of being pregnant with the girls we ate a lot of fast food.  I mean, a lot.  I totally want to blame it on cravings or a hard pregnancy, but sadly that isn't really the case.  It was mainly indulgence and laziness.  Now, I don't feel too bad about this.  I mean, this was my last pregnancy (at least that's the plan for now), so I wanted to live it up while I could.  Plus being that preggo with two babies does kind of put a damper on one's desire to do, well, anything.  As much as I love to cook I really just was not feeling it towards the end.  I tried to keep it to just the weekends, which helped limit it a bit.  It was still more than we should have had.

But it wasn't just dinners out.  Ben and I lived it up the last month by stopping for donuts, or grabbing a bagel before work.  We would get the good honey nut cheerios to snack on at the office.  And while I was getting those for Ben I would grab some chocolate or chips for myself.  (Or both.  I know, but come on- twins!)  I was able to justify a lot of this that it would be too hard to make stops with 3 kids.  And I did let guilt guide me a little bit.  I wanted to share as many fun times and treats with Ben before he was no longer an only child.  We did have a lot of fun.

The point of all this isn’t to talk about healthy eating, although it was lacking here.  The point is that all these little stops for treats only cost a couple of dollars at a time.  But if you do it enough, it really adds up!  Of course we didn’t go broke or anything from this, but as a family of five instead of three we do need to work harder at saving money.  Once the girls were born it was time for a change.

source

I was right about one thing in all my spending; I knew it would end quickly when the girls were born.  We don’t go out as much now.  I don’t stop for little treats because it isn’t worth getting all three kids out of the car, especially in the cold.  I don’t stop at drive thrus as much either.  They just mean more stuff to get out of the car and into the house.  Not worth it.  In this case my laziness is working for me! ;)  Step one was accomplished though- don’t make it easy on you to spend extra money!   It is way too easy to stop and spend a few bucks without even noticing.  A quick coffee on the go?  It won’t break the bank, but every day it adds up.  An easy way to avoid this is by not going out. 

I know not everyone wants to have a couple of newborns to prevent them from going into stores or keep them at home.  But there are other simple ways to help this out.  Can you find a new way to work so you don’t pass temptations?  Can you put your purse or wallet in the backseat so it is harder to hit up drive thrus?  Can you leave the credit card at home so you aren’t tempted to use it?  Find some way to prevent yourself from making that easy decision to stop and grab something yummy to eat.  Whatever works for you is good!

Another way I try to stop myself from making bad on the go choices is to have appealing options at home.  Even if you don’t change the health quality of your choices, you can be pretty sure that whatever you choose will be cheaper if you get it at the grocery store.  I try to anticipate what sort of thing I like to grab on the go, and make a substitution at home.  I have a big sweet tooth.  So Ben wanting to grab a donut appeals to me too.  Instead I have gone back to making us peanut butter bites at home.  They are just peanut butter, protein powder, and honey.  I think they taste like the inside of a reeses peanut butter cup.  They are cheap to make, provide a punch of protein, and they are easy to grab when a sweetness craving hits.  I also cold brew some coffee to make my own coffee drinks at home.  Granted this one had to wait until after the girls were born (I didn’t want to over caffeinate).  But this way I can make a fun drink without having to stop and buy one.  Money saved and a little healthier because I can control what goes in it.  Pinterest is a wealth of knowledge for how to make almost any treat at home and a little healthier.  I highly recommend checking it out!

A final reason to cut out this unnecessary spending is of course the health costs.  Stopping for a treat is great, if it really is a treat.  And by that I mean a once in a while thing.  When it is every day it isn’t a treat, it is just life.  I really do try to lead a healthy life.  I also try to model a healthy life for my kids.  I did not want Ben eating junk food as a part of his long term diet.  Yes, I loved the fun we had and the bonding we did before the girls were born.  Now that I have more energy I can focus more on other ways of loving on Ben!  We play together, read books, and just cuddle.  These are all free ways to show him special attention.  I am trying to get him helping me in the kitchen more, which helps encourage healthy habits.  The biggest way I have found to cut out unhealthy treats is to just think of my kids.  It is easy to make healthy decisions for others.  For ourselves, well, it can be harder.  So instead of thinking just about what I want I think about what I would want for Ben and what I want him to see me do.  Suddenly it doesn’t seem like a good idea to stop for a donut.  Sure, sometimes you need a pick me up in the form of a yummy treat.  But I want my kids to really see that as a sometimes thing and not turn to food for comfort all the time.  Thinking this way keeps me healthier, and keeps that extra money in my pocket. 

There it is, three ways to keep your budget in check by cutting out too many treats.  It isn’t anything ground breaking, I know.  But sometimes it helps to remember that it can be that simple to make a positive change in your life.  You don’t have to make your life harder.  And sometimes the changes for the better actually make your life easier.  I’m going to work hard to keep these positive changes going!

Check out what the other ladies have to say at our pinterest page!

Chronicles of a Babywise Mom
Giving it Grace
The Journey of Parenthood
Mama's Organized Chaos

-Kim

Happy Birthday, Aunt Lindsay!

Happy Birthday to the wonderful Aunt Lindsay!!  Ben, Ali, and Sam are so lucky to have her as their aunt.  She sends thoughtful, well appreciated gifts.  She genuinely loves to hear about the kids and spend time with them.  I am personally so thankful for all the advice and wisdom she has passed on to me.  She's been doing the mom thing longer than me, and I really like having someone who has been there and done that.  I know I will be taking advantage of that even more now that I am a twin mom too.

I also want to thank Aunt Lindsay for being such a great friend.  I knew I had found something special when I married Pat.  What I didn't know was that I also got a wonderful friend in the deal too.  I feel so lucky to have a sister-in-law that I enjoy spending time with and consider to be one of my best friends.

Thank you for being you Aunt Lindsay.  We love you!

Awesome aunt in action- throwing Ben a birthday party!  

-Kim

1 month old!

Wow.  I know I said this all the time with Ben (and still do).  And I know I will say it all the time with the twins.  But seriously, where has the time gone?  How are the girls one month old already??
I swear, we brought them home like yesterday.  But no, they were born a whole month ago!

I know, I am behind on blogging about what we have been up to in that month.  I wish I could say that we because we had so many fun adventures that I just didn't have time!  Well, we have had several fun times, but honestly just taking care of the three kids has been keeping me pretty busy.  I always feel a little bad when I recount my day to Pat.  A large chunk of it is "and then I fed the girls."  That is the way it is with newborns though.  I know I am doing an important job by taking care of their needs.  It just really does take a good chunk of time to feed them both!  Any time I get frustrated by this I remind myself how short a time they will be newborns.  I remember from Ben how it felt this same way.  Then one day I realized wow, he was eating faster.  Our days had structure.  I was able to get more done.  So I know this time will be short and sweet.  I mean, I blinked and a whole month has gone by!

The girls are doing really well.  They are a delight.  I already can't picture our lives with them in it.  They are such sweet little babies.  They are eating well, which is wonderful.  We want them to get nice and chubby as babies like their brother did!  Sleeping is going okay.  Some nights are good, some still need some work.  Of course having two of them and trying to keep them from waking Ben up brings different challenges.  The nice thing about the second time doing this newborn thing is that we know it will pass.  Yes, I know you know that the first time around.  But it feels like it is going to last forever.  This time I can already see how their sleep has improved in this short month, and I know it will just get better as they get older and bigger themselves.  That being said I feel I can't complain.  I don't feel nearly as tired as I did with Ben at the beginning.  I think stressing about it less has a big part in that.

Pretty much the girls spend their days eating and sleeping still.  They have more awake times, and we do some tummy time, play, and cuddle.  They already seem to love watching Ben run around.  Ben is doing super well with the girls too.  The girls have a later wake up time then Ben, and while they are still upstairs he always asks where they are.  If only one girl is downstairs, he asks where the other is.  So not only does he know they are supposed to be with us, he knows we should have two of them.  He is working on their names, but who is who is still a challenge.  I often call the girls ladies when referring to both, and occasionally Ben does as well.  There is nothing cuter than him saying "S'ok ladies" when they make sounds.  It is such a joy to watch him develop in his new role.

I am happy to report we can tell who is who now.  Well, most of the time. ;)  They still have their different toe nail polish in case I get worried I don't know who is who.  But overall, they look like different people to me.  Of course looking back at pictures I am not always sure, especially the newborn ones.  I'm just going to have to leave that as 'twin problems' if the girls ask who is who later in life.  Sorry girls.

Overall they are just such a delight to have with us.  We are still thrilled to have them.  And we are happy at how natural it is feeling to have them.  It really feels like they have always been a part of our family, we were just waiting for them to join us.

Of course I tried to take pictures for their one month birthday.  Yeah, well, twins makes it extra challenging.  So they aren't the best pictures, but sometimes that just makes them better.

Ben helped us, of course. 

Sam on the left, Ali on the right.  Ali thinking this is not going to turn out well.

My girls!

It is hard to pose two little babies!  Neither can hold herself up, and neither wanted to look at the camera.  I have some other pictures I will add later.  But I am happy to continue the monthly picture tradition with them.  Future Sam and Ali- sorry the pictures aren't that great.  You girls are beautiful, but taking pictures of newborns isn't my forte. :)

I still feel so blessed.  I have three amazing children.  I can't wait to see all the growth the girls have in the next month!!

-Kim