Thursday, February 14, 2019

Every Child an Individual

Some differences between Ashtyn and Parker:

Ashtyn wears the same thing for three days straight (even to bed) and cries when I ask her to change.
Parker changes her outfit (mostly from one dress up to another, sometimes simply wearing her diaper) approximately  1326 times a day.

Ashtyn loves vegetables.
Parker loves proteins.

Ashtyn likes to get up early.
Parker likes to sleep in.

Ashtyn spends the majority of her playtime building and crafting.
Parker spends most of her playtime dressing up and making toys talk to each other.

Ashtyn loves to be read to.
Parker loves to "read" to herself.

When given a consequence, Ashtyn often cries.
Parker usually tries to convince you it was what she wanted in the first place.

Of course, there are ways they are the same, too. It's just so fun to see how individual kids are!

Monday, February 4, 2019

The Flow of our Days

Well, Rylee is a little older, we've somehow survived January, and we're a month into our new year's goals. Here is our average days play out.

Monday through Fridays, I try to wake up by 6:30. I do scriptures first, then exercise (I've been practicing Irish dance to actually get myself to exercise) for ten to fifteen minutes. Then I grab a snack (usually fruit or nuts) while I write 500 words. Usually by this time, it's 7:30 and the kids are awake.

I get Parker and Ashtyn food to eat while I feed Rylee and read a chapter from the classic that I'm currently reading. Then I make eggs for anyone who wants them and do the dishes. Then I share my breakfast with Rylee (she loves eggs!) and get myself and the girls ready for the day (if I need to shower, I do that before the girls wake up or during Rylee's first nap).

When Rylee goes down for her nap, I finish picking up the house and then we do "school". We start with reading; the girls pick some picture books, then we read a story from the Book of Mormon, and we finish with a chapter from whatever chapter book we're currently reading (right now we're reading Ralph S. Mouse, we just finished Magic Treehouse #2). Then we do journals, where the girls dictate to me what they want to say in their journals and then get to draw pictures in it. We also have a playlist of high information music that Caleb put together for us that we try to listen to everyday (we try to do this when Rylee is awake some too).

Then we get Rylee and feed her and play with her until her nap and lunch. During lunch is when we do family scriptures, since that's the most consistent time for us. Then we have naps. I put Parker down in the bonus room above the garage, Ashtyn in the small room upstairs, and Rylee in our closet. Then, I almost always have kid free time during the day, where I can read or catch up on BookTube or just relax.

After naps, we just sort of hang out. On Mondays, we go grocery shopping. Sometimes we go outside and play in the snow (I can't wait for summer!!), sometimes we build with blocks, sometimes we make treats. I try to have this be a time that I can spend with the kids, until it's time for me to make dinner.

After dinner, we either spend time as a family or go visit family. Ben's usually done with work by 5:30, so we have a few hours to do this everyday. We play games a lot right now. We love Just Dance and Super Smash, but Ashtyn also loves matching games and Candyland if we're patient enough. Ben will also play hide and seek with them sometimes, which we love, or if I turn on music and dance with them.

We start getting ready for bed at 8:00. I feed Rylee at 7:30,then Ben and I take turns putting the girls down. After we put the girls down, I either read until bed or Ben and I spend time together (playing games like our card game or practicing Smash). Then I try to be in bed by around 10:00. I've found that I actually do better on slightly more than 8 hours of sleep, especially if I need to get up sometime in the night with the kids.

I've really been enjoyig the slower pace of January after December, although I'm definitely ready for it to be warm again.