Normal weekend outing

What?  A nice day this weekend?  You guessed it, we Cartwrights headed to our usual outing- hiking in the state park!  It was beautiful out, almost hot compared to what we have been having!  Ben did an awesome job of really walking pretty far.  It's great that he can handle longer distances.  We have to stick to trails with the girls in the stroller still, but that doesn't mean we can't have a lot of fun!

Ben and Pat of course found some sticks and rocks to through in the river.  (We have to check that off the boy to-do list every time we go out in nature. ;) )  The girls were awake for part of the walk, and seemed to enjoy themselves as well!  Throw in a picnic lunch and an ice cream cone and we had the perfect Cartwright weekend outing.

A great view.

My best boy!

Doing the boy thing. :)

Sammy!

Ali!

-Kim

BFBN: Tips for managing different personalities in your home- Guest Post

It's a Babywise Friendly Blog Network trade day!  I am over at Mama's Organized Chaos discussing the schedule we have for Ben and the girls at two months.  I hope it helps people see that schedules are possible, even with a 2.5  year old and twins!

Today I am lucky to have Carrie from Wiley Adventures posting.  She is talking about managing different personalities in your home.  As we all know we have recently gone from one to three kids, so working around different personalities with kids is new to us.  We are still getting to know the girls.  But we know that despite the fact that they are twins, they are two unique people with their own little personalities.  As they grow I want to work with their unique selves and not try to lump them together just because they were born at the same time.  Carrie has some great insight on how to do this!

-Kim

 Tips For Managing Different Personalities in Your Home

t would be so EASY and so CONVENIENT if all of our kids fit a mold wouldn’t it? Even more convenient would be if our kids fit our own mold, or had the same personality as we do. As a parent one of the most baffling things can be when your child’s personality is different from your own. Because this is so often not the case, it is important to parent towards DEVELOPMENT not towards CONVENIENCE.

A simple way to do that is to ask two questions when thinking about your kids personalities (or even when thinking about your own or your spouse’s personalities):

1. Is your child task oriented or relationship oriented?

Does your child push against bedtime because they cannot stand to see that project go unfinished or finish that book to see what happens? They are probably task oriented.

Does your child want to make every day a social gathering or event? They are probably relationship oriented.

Knowing what is behind their MOTIVATION can really help when you are interacting with them throughout the day. This can help you frame your expectations and even your language when you approach them in different circumstances.

For example, task oriented people tend to love charts and lists to check off. Make a bedtime chart and for every night they go to bed on time, give them a sticker or a check mark for a job completed. For the relationship oriented child, pair them with another sibling to help with chores or other tasks. Give them someone to talk to.

2. Is your child an introvert or an extrovert?

Do people energize or drain your child?

Recognizing what FUELS your child is vital to how you interact with them. If your child is an introvert and has been around people all day long, they are likely to be fussy and exhausted whereas a more extroverted child might be more energized and happy. And visa versa is true as well. If you have an extroverted child who hasn’t really been around people in a couple days, they might be more drained and might need some people time.

Thinking through these things are not so you can cater to your child necessarily, but being aware of how your kids function and work can really help you work WITH your child’s personality instead of AGAINST it.

Related Post:

Loving your Kids Different Personalities

Carrie blogs at www.wileyadventures.com. She is married to Kyle and has four kids: Laura Kate (7 years), Shepherd (5 years), Fischer (3 years), and Archer (15 months). 

Be sure to check out all the other ladies of the BFBN to see what they have to say today!

Bounce Town

While Pat was on spring break we took Ben and the girls to Bounce Town!  I was very excited to take Ben there.  It is actually in the same office park as Omi's office, but so far Ben has shown absolutely no interest in bounce houses.  We have had the opportunity for Ben to try them out at assorted events and he has always given a resounding no.  Neither Pat nor I had ever been to Bounce Town though, and we wanted to take advantage of the fact that we could kind of have a spring  break for once.  (Working in the accounting/bookkeeping field spring break is usually spent with me super busy at work!) We packed up the kids and headed over.

Ben did enjoy it at first, but being the cautious kid he can be he wanted to kind of look around and take everything in.  He liked walking around with Pat, and he loved the energy of the place.  But he did not want to actually go into any of the bounce houses.  Bounce Town has several rooms with lots of things to jump in, and we found a little bounce meant for toddlers.  Being the awesome parents we are we went ahead and plopped Ben right inside.  That didn't go so well.

A very angry Ben.

Fortunately there were activities that didn't require actually going in to any bounces.  Ben loved tossing footballs and basketballs around.  He also really loved just running back and forth in the the big rooms.  We played a couple of games of skeeball.  Ben really seemed to be enjoying himself, so we didn't think we had wasted our money in going there.  Of course Ben was missing what we thought was the main point of a place like Bounce Town- the bouncing.  He was having a lot of fun, which was the purpose of our outing.

Let me give you a hint- overhand skeeball is harder than it looks. ;)

I had to grab a selfie with my boy!

He ran the whole time!

We were all having a lot of fun.  While we were glad we went, Pat and I were thinking we would wait a little longer before coming back.  Then, in typical little kid style, everything changed.  Literally, we had ten minutes left in our block of time and Ben climbed into a bounce house.  He decided he loved it!!  

Happy kid!

Bounce Town was a hit.  We were so glad Ben finally got into a bounce house and liked it!  We will be going back at some point.  I think it will continue to be a two parent outing at this point.  It is a big place and I want Ben to be able to run about freely, which is hard to do when I am chasing him and carrying his sisters.  Pat and I are both super proud of Ben for finally giving the bounce houses a try,  It is nice that he is cautious most of the time, but we want him to be willing to try new things.  It's so fun to see him grow up and participate in all these big boy activities!  

Oh yes, and the token picture of the girls:

Living it up, as always.

They had a lot of fun too. ;)

-Kim

Easter Egg Hunt!

We had our weekend of Easter fun the weekend before Easter.  Saturday we attended the Bunny Hop.  Sunday we took Ben to his first Easter Egg hunt!  We were fortunate that a family from church hosted a potluck hunt for the kids in the congregation.  It was fun for Ben, and nice for Pat and me to meet some more church families.

The first part of the day we just hung out and ate some yummy food.  (Side note- almost everyone added bacon to their food.  It was amazing. :) )While we were eating and visiting, the Easter Bunny stopped by to see the kids!  He brought treats as well.  Ben was thrilled to get to see the bunny again.

After the Easter Bunny made sure all the kids had some treats, we were ready to go out and hunt for all the eggs!  This was a small group of kids, and most of them were in the same age range.  I was pleased about that because it meant everyone got plenty of eggs, and no one went nuts or caused any problems.  It was the first hunt for a lot of the kids, so it was cute to see them out there.  Ben was pretty happy to grab just one egg and play with it, and another kid started tossing the eggs.  Everyone figured it out pretty quick though.  Ben wanted Daddy to hunt with him, and I stayed by the girls and took pictures.

I think we already have more pictures of the girls in their car seats than we have of Ben from a full year of using that seat.  Second child problems, huh.  Lots of traveling around and napping on the go so big brother can still go to activities.  At least they can say they went to their first egg hunt at two months old instead of 2 years. ;)

After all the eggs were gathered we headed back in to open them up!  Ben was so excited to see what he had.  He got candy, stickers, and other little toys.  It was wonderful.  

After all the eggs were opened (and collected to use again next year- smart hosts!) we headed home.  The girls needed to eat and Ben needed to nap.  It was a wonderful first egg hunt.  We had a great time hitting up all the Easter fun.  I am so happy we got it all done the weekend before, giving us Easter Sunday to just relax with family and really enjoy the day.  As Ben gets older he just gets more and more fun!  I can't wait until we have all three little ones out there running around!

-Kim

Bunny Hop

The weekend before Easter we really went for it with Easter activities.  A nice thing about my staying home with the kids is that I can get all our home chores done during the week.  This leaves the weekends open for fun!  

We started our weekend at church where they had an Easter brunch.  It was a great reason to bring the girls to church to meet people too!  I love supporting this sort of church activity, even if we are slackers when it comes to actually attending service sometimes. Ben was super excited because, well, bacon.  Kids got to eat for free, but of course Ben scammed bacon from Meo, me, and Pat.  He is so our kid in that respect. ;)  Meo was happy because she got to sit and hold the girls.  

A little blurry, but my boys and their bacon. :)

The boys, Meo, and Ali! (Sammy was still asleep)

After our yummy brunch we went to the Bunny Hop!  This was actually our first year doing the Bunny Hop, and I'm so glad we did it!  Ben was so excited by the cow at Chick-fil-a, we thought he for sure would love to see the Easter Bunny.  And he did!  We got to the hop a little  before it started, and I am so glad we did.  There was already a line to see the bunny!  We got to see him arrive, escorted by the fire department. Oh yes, Ben was pumped about that.  The line moved along really well, so we didn't have to wait too long.  While we did wait Pat and I took turns standing in line with the girls, and Ben got to check out some real bunnies.  They were so cute!  It was a chillier day, so some of the bunnies were cuddled up with blankets.  A couple of little ones were actually in the big pockets of their owners hoodies.  It was adorable.

After petting all the bunnies, we got a chance to meet the Easter Bunny!  Meeting the bunny was pretty quick.  I mean, you don't have to give a list or anything like with Santa.  A couple of hugs and pictures and we were on our way.  But Ben really was thrilled by it.  He was jumping up and down and just so happy!

Hugs!

Too excited to sit still :P

Another hug

After seeing the Easter Bunny we stopped by the library for Ben to play.  This was important though, because the girls took their first bottles!  Well, their first bottles since they had to supplement in the hospital.  I am so happy we are doing well nursing, but I want to make sure they can take bottles too.  I was a little worried, the bottles were a bit on the chilly side.  And they flowed a lot faster than what happens when nursing, but the girls did well!  They did eat, which is what counts.  It was a little messy and slow, but it is so comforting to know they can take a bottle.  Good job, ladies!

After the girls got to eat and Ben got to play, we visited the rest of the hop.  Basically it is Easter trick or treating.  Stores downtown have different treats the kids can come in a get.  Ben loved it.  Pat ended up taking him into most stores, and Ben seemed so happy to be walking around with his Daddy.

Heading in for treats!

The girls napped after their bottle success.

When we were hopped out we headed home for some lunch.  It was a great activity!  I think we will be doing it in future years as well.  We were able to have a lot of fun, but still rest up that afternoon.  This was good because the next day was Ben's first Easter Egg Hunt!  Pictures from that coming up soon.  :)

-Kim

Aunt Lindsay's visit

Well I still can't find the cord that connects my camera to my computer, so I will have to keep looking before I can add those pictures.  I have no idea when I will find that cord though, so here are a few pictures I haven't posted yet.  

We were fortunate to have Aunt Lindsay come and visit us at the end of February!  The girls dressed for her arrival of course.

I'd like to say we really showed Aunt Lindsay an amazing time.  But honestly we spent a lot of time at home, holding babies and watching Ben's shows.  But that's okay.  It was great to get to relax and hang out with her.  Ben adored having her visit, and the girls loved meeting their favorite aunt.  I feel so lucky to have such a great friend in my sister in law, so I loved having her visit too.

We did get out one day and took Lindsay on one of our 'hikes.'  It was a gorgeous day and so nice to just be out of the house for a bit.  Ben had a blast running around.  We brought a lunch and just enjoyed the weather.

Of course the boys found some sticks.

Ben was so happy to be out of the house!

Eating outside is the best.

Ben really benefited from the extra attention.  The girls were only five weeks old at this point, so they were still needing most of my attention.  He loved having his aunt to play with!

He had to show off his Woody jammies

Even cute from the back. ;)

Friends!!

We really do want to thank Lindsay for making the trip here.  It was a long one, and even longer to get home (boo flight cancellations).  We really appreciate her taking the effort.  We have the best family!  And sorry for so few pictures, I'll do a photo catch up when I finally get the others.

Ben can't wait to see you again, Aunt Lindsay!  Neither can we!!

-Kim

Story time with Daddy

It's hard to get Ben to sit still, but Ben loves to read with Daddy.  Pat, as a teacher, excels at story time.  It happens pretty frequently.  In fact I think Ben prefers Pat to read to him over anyone else.  It is so sweet to see the two of them reading together, and I try not to disturb the moment.  This particular time the girls and I were on the couch, so I was able to get some cute pictures.   

It starts out standing.  It is hard to get Ben to sit still.  

Pat's storytelling gets him to sit for a bit.

It gets really good, better settle in for the long haul...

 Reading is so fun!

I hope that Ben always loves to read with us.

-Kim