Here is an average day for the Team Cartwright kids.
7am: Ben up. He has milk and then we have breakfast together. This morning quiet time is something that Ben really seems to enjoy. He needs one on one time and starting the day with it makes sure he gets his moments.
7:30am: We get Ali and Sammy up. They nurse while Ben keeps working on breakfast.
8am: This time varies slightly. It is usually play time with everyone. The girls get their baths on bath days during this time. If we are going out in the morning everyone gets dressed and we pack up. Sometimes we do an early morning park outing. Family fun basically.
9am: Ali and Sammy go up to first nap. If it is a bath day Ben gets his bath then independent playtime. Otherwise he gets a little longer to play downstairs with me, then heads up to independent playtime. While he is in playtime and the girls are napping I have my get ready time. I can get some little chores done during this time as well. (Like cleaning the bathroom while Ben takes his bath. I love time savers like that!) Or I can do some computer work.
10:30am: Ben gets dressed and we read our devotional for the day. We sing a couple songs and play in his room.
11am: Ben and I get the girls up! We all head downstairs and the girls nurse. Then I get the girls dressed if we haven't already.
11:30am: Lunchtime starts! Ben and the girls play while I get our lunches together.
12:00pm: Middle of the day is when we often get out and about. We run errands, go to parks, and visit with Meo and Omi. Ali and Sammy get catnaps in this time period, or nap in the car on the go.
1:45pm: Girls nurse and Ben gets to watch a show. I try to make it 'educational,' but admit sometimes it is just fun.
2pm: Ali and Sammy up to afternoon nap. Ben follows by about 2:15. Then I get my time to do work, clean up, and enjoy some peace and quiet. ;)
4:30pm: Everyone up! If all three are still asleep I get Ben up first to help me wake up the girls. If Ali and Sammy are having a hard time I will get them up after 4 and bounce them a bit to help them go back to sleep. Sometimes only one girl is having a hard time. I like to take advantage of that to grab 'sneaky snuggles.' Whoever is awake and I just cuddle on the couch and get some one on one time. It's hard to grab one on one time with twins, so I take what I can get. That usually only happens once or twice a month.
5pm: Playtime while I get dinner going. This is when Pat is usually home, and the kids love getting some Daddy time in.
5:45pm: Dinner for the solids eaters. Pretty soon dinner will get more involved as the girls join us!
6:15pm: Family fun! Sometimes outside, often just in the living room. We enjoy each other and play.
6:45pm: Bedtime routine starts! I get them jammied up and we have our final nursing of the day. We start nighttime prayers as a family. When the girls are all done eating we sing to them and put them to sleep for the night. We move into Ben's room to finish up his routine with jammies, brushing teeth, recapping the day, and finishing prayers. We kind of goof around a bit on this one, so the length of time varies. We try to get him in his bed by 7:30 though.
There you go, a general day in the life of Ben, Ali, and Sammy! As the girls have gotten older they have gotten a little more flexible. They can miss morning nap for an event if needed, but not every day. They are able to flex their nursing times a little bit, which is helpful if we are out and about. I try to stay pretty true to nap times and bed times. (I really hate messing with sleep!)
Nap times shouldn't move too much for the time being. Meals will start to change a little as we fit in solids for the girls. I would like to add in a little more guided learning for Ben, but he is doing really well with play based learning, so we will see how that goes. For now our days work for us, and I love it!
-Kim
5:45pm: Dinner for the solids eaters. Pretty soon dinner will get more involved as the girls join us!
6:15pm: Family fun! Sometimes outside, often just in the living room. We enjoy each other and play.
6:45pm: Bedtime routine starts! I get them jammied up and we have our final nursing of the day. We start nighttime prayers as a family. When the girls are all done eating we sing to them and put them to sleep for the night. We move into Ben's room to finish up his routine with jammies, brushing teeth, recapping the day, and finishing prayers. We kind of goof around a bit on this one, so the length of time varies. We try to get him in his bed by 7:30 though.
There you go, a general day in the life of Ben, Ali, and Sammy! As the girls have gotten older they have gotten a little more flexible. They can miss morning nap for an event if needed, but not every day. They are able to flex their nursing times a little bit, which is helpful if we are out and about. I try to stay pretty true to nap times and bed times. (I really hate messing with sleep!)
Nap times shouldn't move too much for the time being. Meals will start to change a little as we fit in solids for the girls. I would like to add in a little more guided learning for Ben, but he is doing really well with play based learning, so we will see how that goes. For now our days work for us, and I love it!
-Kim
I totally picked this one up based on the cover (I know, the expression says not to. But when you are at the library with a two year old you kind of just grab books quick and get to the play time!) and the fact that I liked Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes, and I was hoping this author was related. It turns out they are twin sisters! Oh yes, you can bet I love all things twins now, so yay! It was really good! A magazine editor in chief took six months off to have treatment for breast cancer, and when she gets back to work suddenly everything is very different. A younger woman, who used to be the assistant, is now a big deal. This former assistant is all about tech and, well, not the nicest person. I really enjoyed reading the different perspective of the 'older' editor. She is 42, and the antagonist is only 26. I fall just about halfway between these two ages, and I found it really interesting to consider both their points of views. On the one hand, the protagonist does need to 'catch up' a bit. You have to keep up with technology and can't just do things the same way because 'that's how it is done.' But the antagonist has to respect what has been done before, and should discount someone else's experience just because they aren't super tech savvy. I thought it was really fun to think about, especially with the millennial vs baby boomer type articles that are always going around. This was a good one about work place relationships and knowing the difference between colleague and friend. It also points out that the mean girl phenomena isn't limited to the junior high set. This book made me reflect a bit on what sort of example I want to set for my daughters, and how I hope they treat others.
This was a fun book about, well, the extremely rich of Singapore. I don't know much about the rich of Asia, so I'm not entirely sure how much of this was based on truth. But I still enjoyed it. It is told from the point of view of multiple characters. There are some of the older members of the rich clan who don't really want to see 'outsiders' get in and take their money. There are younger members trying to find their way in the world. And of course there are some who are just all about the money. We get an outsider's perspective from a woman dating one of the richest members of the families, which I felt kind of grounded the book a bit. Overall it is a story of families and how they interact. This story is just more fun because you get to read about the lavish lifestyle.
I think I liked this book more now that I have daughters. More specifically, I have daughters who are sisters. I only have a brother, so sister relationships haven't always held that much of an interest for me. Sure, I have wondered what it would be like to have a sister. I have female cousins that I am close to, and a wonderful sister in law. But I didn't grow up in the same house as those women. As a result I am newly interested in how sisters interact, and how their parents help shape the relationships between them all. The sisters in this book all end up back at home for different reasons, but the reason they cite is that the mother is sick. They have to figure out where their lives are going, and how their roles within their family are going to change or stay the same. The father in the story is a professor of Shakespeare, so there are a lot of fun quotes and allusions to Shakespearean characters.
This is one of my young adult choices from this month. Basically it is a world is ending novel. Before the book begins there is an asteroid that is heading towards earth. Fortunately they were able to break it apart before it got too close to Earth, so crisis averted there. What they didn't know is that some bacteria still made it to Earth and pretty much kills everyone. The kicker is that it is in water. So basically the rain kills everyone. The book takes place in England. Lots of rain there. It was an exciting, fast read. And yes, it did make me a little paranoid when it rained for about a week after I read it. I didn't know when I picked this book up that it is the start of a series. I do plan to follow up and read the rest!
