Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads, grandfathers, and any other father figure out there.  I am very lucky to have an amazing father, a wonderful father-in-law, and of course a loving father to my little guy.  Thank you for all you do, Omi, Grampa, and Pat.  Especially thank you for all the love you share with Ben.  Thank you to Papa John for being such a fun great-grandfather to Ben.  And thank you to Uncle Chris and Uncle Jared for all the love you share with your favorite nephew. ;)

This guy is already trying to be just like his daddy!

Happy Father's Day!

-Kim

Give a kid a box...

...and he'll climb right in.  We had a brought a box home last night and Ben made himself right at home in his new fort. 

Later on Ben was pushing the box around the living room.  I peeked inside, and there was Dagger, enjoying the ride.  Silly kitty.  We're not sure if Ben knew she was in there, but both of them seemed pretty pleased with the game.  I bet Dagger is looking forward to when Ben can do more for her, like reach the treats!

I love my sweet, silly, babies.

-Kim

Summer Staple

This past weekend we introduced Ben to a summer staple- playing in the hose!  Our neighbors are out of town, and we are in charge of watering their plants.  Ben came out to help me, and I sprayed him with the water a bit.  At first he was not happy about it.  I have to say though he quickly came around to the fun that is running through the water.  Pat sprayed and sprayed, while Ben ran around and got soaking wet.  

I tried to stay out of the way so as not to get too wet.  Fortunately for us, Ben doesn't have the grip strength to spray us with the hose yet.  Sadly for me, he was so happy he kept running up and giving me bit, sopping wet hugs.  Totally worth it to see his sweet smile.

This counts as a bath, right? ;)

-Kim

Swimming!

This past weekend it stopped raining long enough to have Ben's swim lesson!!  I was super excited.  I think Ben was excited because something was going on, but he got really happy when we got to the pool.  This year we did the Water Babies class.  We were going to do that one last year, but not enough people signed up.  They let us do the preschool with parent class, but I was looking forward to being with kids closer to Ben's ability.  

Despite being the younger class, there was still a big range of kids.  There was another 21 month old like Ben, but there were also babies closer to six months.  It was cute to watch all of them experience the water.  A big different between this class and the preschool class- at any point in time one of the kids was fussing or crying.  I know that sounds bad, but it was actually pretty funny.  Getting put in a pool, being all wet, getting water in your face- these are all things that can be upsetting when you are little!  Ben did not like being put on his back.  The fun part about this class though?  That just meant we didn't do that part.  The kids didn't learn any real swimming skills.  The point is just to be comfortable with the water.  We played little games, sang songs, and played with toy watering cans.  It was almost a workout for us moms.  It was a lot of bending, squatting, and moving the kids through the water.  I enjoyed that part of it.  (Yay for bonus workouts!)

Meo, Omi, and Pat were all there to cheer  Ben on.  He really liked that part.  He kept turning to wave and make sure they were watching him.  He liked kicking and being allowed to splash as much as possible.  He really liked 'jumping' into the pool.  The watering can toys were a favorite of the whole class.  I love that the pool we have the lessons in has a zero depth walk in end.  Ben can stand and even sit in the water on his own to play with us.  It's so fun!  I can't wait to take Ben back to the pool to play in it more.  Until then we will just have to wait til next week's lesson!

Getting excited for his turn in the pool!

He looks so cute in his swim gear.

Playing in the pool!

My little swimmer!

You can see Ben swimming last year here and here.  Yes, Ben was able to wear the same swim shirt and trunks as last year.  We got them a little big, plus as a baby he was, well, fuller. ;)  Now as a toddler he has thinned out a bit.  I love that we're getting two summers worth out of them!

-Kim

Pockets

I've entered a new level of laundry danger.  Ben has found his pockets.  He can put stuff in them.  Anything that he finds that is small enough.  It's amazing.  (Only a little bit of sarcasm there.) Time to start checking them before I wash his clothes!

Look what I can do!

I love my pockets!

-Kim

BFBN: Living By Faith with my Kids- Guest Post

I am happy to say I have had the good fortune to join up with a group of ladies in the Babywise Friendly Blog Network (BFBN)!  These posts are going to be focused mainly on parenting, so if you are reading looking for Ben pictures, you'll have to check back later.  The purpose of this group is to share techniques, thoughts, and experiences on parenting, specifically focusing on how we implement the Babywise principles into our daily lives.  I'm not looking to start parenting debates.  The purpose is to support one another as we all try to figure out this mothering thing.

Today I am posting over at Valerie's blog Chronicles of a Babywise Mom.  Here today is Claire from My Devising.  She is talking about how she brings faith and learning about God into daily life.
-Kim

Living by Faith with my Kids

I grew up in a home where people took me to church, prayed with me, and talked to me about Jesus.  I was brought up a certain way and happened to continue on that path into my adulthood, but not because I never had a choice or because I was forced into it.  Even with the many moments of struggling and wrestling with my beliefs, I chose to believe in God.  I choose to believe in God.  I know I'll hit more spiritual walls in my life that cause me to ask more questions, but I'm forever grateful for the foundation that my parents laid out for me.

I hear a lot about letting our kids find their own way when it comes to faith and religion.  Let's not tell them what to believe; let's give them a blank slate and let them figure out what they want to believe.  While I always want there to be room for discussion, different opinions, and struggle with faith in my home, I don't necessarily think that means I need to let my kids loose, giving no guidance at all.  I will teach my kids thousands of things, so I don't think it's ridiculous to assume that I will also teach my kids about my faith in God - especially since it is the foundation for how I live my life.  To keep that - the thing that has saved my life and given me true hope - hidden or subdued all for the sake of letting my children explore aimlessly would be heartbreaking.

So when I talk about introducing faith into my kids' lives, that's where I'm coming from.  For right now, we have a 3.5 year old and a 1 year old, so we do have to keep things age appropriate.  These are just a few ways we can teach our kids about what we believe.

BIBLE VERSES

A couple of years ago at a MOMS Bible Study, I received a huge stack of bible verses that were organized by age level.  These have been so wonderful to use.  We have them clipped to our napkin holder on the dining room table.  I don't bring them up at every meal time, but I try to talk about them 2-3 times a week.  They are simple and easy to memorize.  Aside from hearing new words and learning how to memorize, these verses prompt some good 3 year old discussions.

*All verses are found on ABCJesusLovesMe.com and are divided by age level.  Select Curriculum > Weekly Lesson Plans > Verse

MUSIC

Duke is pretty up with the Top 40 hits, but these days, I am listening more and more to Christian music.  Not all of the time and not exclusively, but it's definitely more present than before.  There are plenty of great artists making music that sends hopeful messages, and I want my children dwelling on those thoughts.  I don't think it's necessary to completely shut out the "secular" music world.  There's some really good stuff out there.  But I want it to be paired with songs that encourage and bring light and life to my kids' minds and hearts.  Duke is at the age where learning a song is easy, so it's important to make sure that the songs he's learning are benefiting his soul.

PRAYER

I want my children growing up in a home that lives out the verse in 1 Thessalonians that says to pray continually.  The depth in which I understand how/why I communicate with God influences the depth of my belief in him.  If my children grow up only praying to God when things go wrong or before dinner, they may have a skewed view of who he is.  If prayer is something they observe that happens at all times - saying thanks for small things, asking God to heal us when we're sick, praying for our friends, asking God for forgiveness - I think they're more likely to view it as a real conversation with a relational God, rather than something we just do because we're supposed to.

We will be a home that prays, that discusses why we believe what we believe, that goes to church, and that reads the Bible.  Those things will be present.  But the bottom line below all of it is love.  From that, these things will flow.  The best we can do for our kids is to live our lives as free people who are loved by God.

How do you incorporate your faith into your home?

Claire is a stay-at-home mom of 2 and blogs at mydevising.com.

Happy Birthday, Pat!

Happy Birthday to an important member of Team Cartwright- Patrick!!

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!  Ben and I love you so much.

-Kim