Last book list for this year. One thriller, one book that says it is a thriller but I'm not so sure, and two fun reads.  I am trying to put together a book list for the new year.  Please leave any suggestions in the comments.  I love to hear what other people think about books! (This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own.)

Nine Women, One Dress by Jane L Rosen



This book was such a fun read!  It reminded me of movies likes Love Actually or Valentine's Day in that there are several individual stories that all connect with a common thread.  In this book that thread is a dress.  It shows all different women in different stages and places in life, all sharing major life events with a dress.  I like how it showed all different parts of life with different perspectives, but each part spoke to something I have felt as a woman.  Excitement for a big event, meeting a new guy, trying to live our best lives, all things every woman has experienced.  The stories are interesting and the characters fun.  I recommend this one.


The Year We Turned Forty by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke


Okay, this one struck a little close to home.  I still have plenty of time before I turn forty, but it is closer than I would sometimes like to admit.  This one starts with three women turning fifty.  They are given the chance to go back in time and relieve the year they all turned forty.  Two of the women's stories have to do with babies, one just had one and one is deciding whether or not to have one.  Being in my baby years of course I found that interesting.  The third woman also has a child, but she is given the chance to go back and build their relationship differently.  All three also have to figure out how their decisions impact their relationships with the men in their lives and their friends.  The book really spoke to figuring out what is most important to you in your life, and fighting for that.

We found a new winter fest to attend here in our new town!  We miss Christmas Walk in our old town, but this new event was pretty fun too.  And it had snow!  Snow on a seventy degree day?  Nice!

The guys.  Ben loved the giant tree.

Ben loves to take a minute to sit and look at the field.

My ladies!  Ali (R) and Sammy (L) loved the tree too!

It was an evening event, but we have found it pays to get to this sort of thing right when it starts at five.  We get more fun in before the kids get too tired, and we get a better parking spot.  The first thing we went to was the snow.  It is of course expected that after living with snow for three winters and hating it (or being too little to enjoy it), Ben finally liked the snow now that we live somewhere they have to make it.  But better late than never.  He was into it!  Fortunately for him he still has enough of his midwestern blood that he wasn't cold in it.  Pat and I did have to laugh a bit at the people walking around in scarfs and big winter coats.  We were still in t-shirts!  I know in a year it might be totally different, but for now we enjoyed feeling tough.  Ben did use mittens in the snow.  And I think next time I would put boots on him.  He was fine, but it never hurts to keep your feet warm and dry.

Snow!!!

He loved it!!

Yay snow!!

The snow was right next to the stage where local dance troops were performing.  Sammy and Ali were hypnotized!  They were smiling and laughing watching the dancers.  It was so sweet.  Ben adored playing in the snow.  I was a little bummed it was for kids only, I know Pat and I would have had a blast playing in the snow with him.  I did like that they had a little kid section and a big kid section.  I don't want to be mean to big kids, but the snow got slippery fast, and they could and did all fall and bump into each other.  The big kids wouldn't mean it, but they could hurt the little guys.  Ben has learned some basic snow etiquette, and we tried to make sure he was a good snow friend.

These cuties loved watching the dancers.

After we were done with the snow Ben wanted to check out the bounce houses.  He adored bouncing around and running around the little ones bounce obstacle course.  After he had bounced to his hearts content, we visited the booths.  Ben got some candy and he and Pat each got balloon swords.  You can bet there were a number of sword fights around here.  Well, until Pat's balloon popped mid battle.  Ben was the winner! ;)

Bouncing!!

En garde!

There were many battles

It did get chilly enough for the girls to wear their hoodies.  Sammy didn't seem to mind...

... Ali did not like it.  At first.  She came around.

Nevermind, I'm okay!

Before we left Santa arrived!  We got a wrist band to get in line to see Santa, but Ben wasn't interested.  Honestly we didn't mind, even with the band the line was really long and the girls were getting a bit tired by the end.  We enjoyed the arrival, complete with fireworks!  Ali and Sammy enjoyed them, and Ben was hypnotized.  After the fireworks we were all ready to head home.  A fun filled holiday night with everyone in bed on time?  Perfect.

We had the best time!!

-Kim

Ali and Sammy are 11 months old!  One more month until they are a year old.  Yes, once again I can't believe time has gone by so quickly.  Sometimes these monthly updates are frustrating to write.  They are something else on my to-do list that is always growing.  But then I think about how not writing them means my girls are growing too fast and I am a little sad.  Normal mom feelings though, right?  Right.  On to the update.



Sammy and Ali are still army crawling.  I think they have given up and the traditional crawl.  Sometimes they get up on their hands and knees, but then they realize they can get where they want to go and just go for it.  Sammy is still super fast.  Seriously, she can cross a room in a blink.  Ali is still our slow and steady girl.  She gets where she wants and will figure out the best path to get to what she wants.  The two of them together can be trouble.  They have managed to knock the gate down a few times!  If I don't have it super tight they can tilt it and scoot underneath.  Sneaky girls!  They for sure keep me busy making sure they stay safe.

Both are sitting much better now!  Sammy can get herself into a sitting position on her own, while Ali kneels more.  Ali has been busy pulling herself up into a kneeling position to reach things for a while now.  In the girls usual style, Ali worked hard at it and we could see her practicing to reach this skill.  After that Sammy just did it one day.  It is interesting to see how different the girls can be sometimes!  But they do hit physical milestones around the same time, as expected from identical twins.  The path to those points is just a little different.  Ali tends to kneel more than sit, but she can sit when placed in that position.  They don't do it very long, they tend to take off after the next thing that catches their fancy.  I think they are really just too busy to be bothered holding still sitting for very long.  They are learning they can have hands free upright playing by sitting though.  Oh, and they have learned shelves have fun things on them.  They can't reach anything unsafe, but they can get into a lot more toys now.  One of Ali's favorite activities is pulling all the board books off of shelves.  We keep a big bin of baby toys on a low shelf, and they can pull it over to get to the toys.  It's messy, but it is actually nice they can do this now.  When just Ali was pulling up she would work so hard to grab a toy out of the bin, and Sammy would wait and steal it.  Sisters, huh.

The girls are pretty good eaters.  They've had some more teeth coming in, and that makes them picky about what they eat.  Ali likes softer foods while Sammy prefers hard things to grind into her gums.  Overall I think they are doing pretty well.  Both of them can drink from a straw now!  This is awesome because it means they can drink the smoothies I make.  Sometimes it is the only way I can get veggies in Ben, and I love that I can sneak healthy food into the girls now too.  It took Sammy a little longer to figure it out, which was hard for her because she saw her sister and brother drinking something she wanted too.  But she got it and now all three happily drink down my secretly healthy concoctions.  :)  The girls love bananas, guaca-hummus, peanut butter toast, quesadillas, crackers, apples, yogurt, raisins, and apricots.  They really like having whatever the rest of us are eating.  I am happy that they dig into whatever dinner I make for the family.  I am betting that won't last too long.  They'll find their pickiness like most kids do, but for now it is pretty nice.  And it is helping Ben be less picky too!  Yay!  They adore meal time and are so happy to be at the table with everyone, which is super fun.

Nursing is still going well.  Teething makes them a little fussy when nursing.  Sammy tends to bite a little when her teeth hurt.  She gets put down and has to wait until Ali is done when she does that.  Fortunately she has learned and doesn't do it very often.  It does let me know that her mouth is sore though.  Ali likes to nurse more during teething.  Funny how different they can be!  I just make sure to have her switch sides at feedings when Sammy doesn't want to nurse much to make sure both sides produce evenly.  The girls are getting pretty fast too!  They get to business and want to get back to playing.

Sleep is going well.  Sammy took her turn having some naps and bedtimes she wasn't happy about.  But it was just a handful of times though.  Both girls are happy to get to nap time and crash hard at bedtime.  They occasionally cry out at night, but giving them their pacifier solves any problems.  Sometimes we hear a cry and when we get into the room both girls are sound asleep.  So who knows who is doing that.  They did have a hard time sleeping when we had Gramma and Grampa with us for Thanksgiving.  I seriously think they just didn't want to miss out on fun.  Nothing was wrong.  They would stop crying as soon as I went into the room.  If I picked one of them up they would be straining to see into the hallway.  I think they just wanted to go play.  Other than that no real complaints though!

This month we celebrated the girls first Thanksgiving.  The girls enjoyed themselves.  I thought they would like more of the food, but they were still fussy from teething and didn't eat a ton.  They very much enjoyed having Gramma and Grampa here to visit and dote on them.  They loved the play time and cuddles.  They loved getting out and visiting parks.  When it is just me and the three kids the girls usually stay in the stroller.  They tend to take off in opposite directions, which is hard with just one adult.  And since they are still army crawling I don't want them getting hurt or dirty pulling their bellies along the ground.  With Gramma and Grampa the girls could get out and play at the park! They loved the swings!!  I have to say while it is very strange to have such warm weather at the holidays, it is nice we can still go to the park!!  The girls enjoy the Christmas decorations that are up, and they have liked Christmas shopping with me.  I like this stage when I can buy their gifts with them present. :)

These girls are just the best.  Oh, they can be a handful sometimes.  They get into everything!  Seriously, I don't remember Ben getting into as much as a baby.  Maybe it seems that way because I had just one kid so I could prevent more from happening?  Or perhaps because Ben didn't crawl until he was almost a year old, so he didn't have the opportunity to get into things before he knew better.  Ali and Sammy are smart and learning.  They know what they are not allowed to do.  They are starting to leave the outlets alone thank goodness!  They love to get into the toys.  They are, well, sometimes kind of jerks to each other.  They are constantly stealing toys from each other.  They pull pacifiers out of each others' mouths.  Sometimes to put into their own mouth, sometimes just to have two.  They love to crawl around and explore.  They pull up to kneeling to try to see everything.  They already think it is super fun to try to get into their brother's room.  Luckily Ben doesn't mind right now, but he will. ;)  The girls have learned if they pull up to kneel by the couch they can reach Ben while he sits.  This is a super fun game for the girls.  Ben does not seem as impressed with it.  So far he handles it well, just scooting out of the way.  He is going to have to adjust to a lot of love once Ali and Sammy figure out how to get on the couch too.  Both girls crawl all over each other and wrestle around a bit.  It sounds like they are fighting, but when I say anything to them they just look up and smile.  Silly babies.  Sammy is more likely to be on top.  She tends to take direct routes to where she is going.  Ali takes the time to go around and find the best path that way.  Sammy is still happier to play on her own.  She loves to use her feet to hold one toy while she plays with another.  Ali likes to pull toys and books off shelves.  She has been very happy to play on her own now that she can kneel at things.  Both girls have been obsessed with the baby keys we have.  We do have two sets, but of course they want the one their sister has. (Oh, and that usually means Ben wants them too.)  They love the kids nativity we have out for them to play with.  They are into rings and balls too.  They have created a new game for themselves.  We have a tiny area by the front door that is tile, and the balls from the ball factory bounce and roll really well on it.  They crowd into this space and knock the balls around in a little hockey game of some sort and just laugh.  Pat has been warned to open the front door slowly when he gets home.  Of course the best time to play this game is when someone needs to use the door.

Both girls are just little giggle monsters.  They laugh and smile!  They are still so loud.  Seriously, so loud all the time.  Sammy is the shy one.  She took a day to get used to Gramma and Grampa.  Once she is used to people she opens up.  Ali still loves most everyone.  Sammy is the speedster.  Ali likes to take winding ways to get places.  Ali is still a little freer with her feelings.  She has easy laughs, and will quickly let you know when she is upset.  Sammy takes a beat longer to let loose the big giggles, but get her in a silly mood and there is no holding it back!  She will let you know when she is unhappy too.  Both girls are determined.  They remember things they aren't supposed to get into and lie in wait to get at them.  They keep me busy for sure.  Sammy is into playing with socks for some reason.  Hers or Ali's.  Seriously, she has pulled Ali's socks off to play with them.  For her part Ali doesn't seem to care.  Ali has a specific book she really loves.  It is fun to see their preferences develop.  Both are little sweeties and so much fun.

No major schedule changes right now.  Sometimes they do wake up early from first nap, but they are pretty happy to play in their cribs and giggle together so I just leave them.  Afternoon nap has been bumped a few minutes forward.  We got a little lax and it was creeping back a bit, but they really need to be in nap on time.  As they get older meal times can be a little more flexible, which is super helpful.  They will eat cheerios on the go if we must be out during a normal meal time.  Not ideal, but it tides them over until I can get a proper meal in them.  Here is the usual day this month:

7:15am: Wake up
7:30am: Nurse
7:50am: Solids breakfast
9-11am: Nap
11am: Nurse
11:45am: Solids lunch
1:50-4:15pm: Nurse and Nap
4:30pm: Nurse
5:30pm: Solids dinner
6:45pm: Nurse
7pm: Bed

The one meal that must be on time is dinner.  I start them on their dinner if Pat isn't home yet.  I think it is just that time of day, they are fussy and need to get their dinner.  After that they are usually happy as can be!

Sammy!  The sign only lasted through about 2 pictures.  Oh well.

Ali!

My girls!!!  Samantha and Alison and their lovies.  They adore those lovies!

Ben wanted in on the pictures!  I think this is one of the best one I have of all three.  I adore these three kids.  How did I get so lucky?

Always happy when it is time to eat! (Ali L, Sam R)

Double trouble! (Sam L, Ali R) These two get into mischief, but I love watching them together.

Yay smoothies!  Happy, quiet babies. :)

Sammy, caught int he act!  Stealing her sister's socks.  Ali was too busy getting into things she wasn't supposed to to care.

Sammy and Ali- Best little girls!!!

These are just the sweetest little ladies.  Oh, they can be feisty.  They let you know when they are not happy.  But they are quickly happy again.  Teething has been tough on them, and that is a time when I hate having twins.  Both girls need to be held and loved on, and I am only one mommy.  We make it through though.  Ali and Sammy love to explore and play.  They like to be a part of the action.  They love to giggle and snuggle.  They are just little loves and bring so much happiness to our lives.  Life is busy when you have two babies on the go, but it is so much fun.  I am so blessed to have these sweet girls as my daughters.  They are delights.  I love them so much.

-Kim

What?!  Almost one year old already?  How did that happen?  I feel like we were just planning out your arrival before last Christmas and now here we are a year later.  I can't believe we've had these sweet girls 11 months already.

Alison!!

Samantha!!

These two are busy little girls.  It is hard to get a picture of them holding still!

One more month and we won't have tiny babies any more, we will have two one year olds.  One more month and we will have made it through the first year of life with twins.  This past month has been wonderful, and I know the next one will be too.  I am going to soak up every moment of under one babies that I have left.  Time is going too fast!  I love you so much, Sammy and Ali.  You girls bring joy to our lives.

-Kim

It's been awhile, but I think it is time for a new Babywise Favorite.  I remember reading about this one in the babywise books and thinking, wow, that really makes sense.  What is it?  It's simple- the pause.  The pause is just that, a moment in which you wait.  Your child somehow attracts your attention, and instead of just rushing in to 'save the day' you take a moment to assess the situation.
It sounds so simple, right?  Just take a moment to observe before you act.  But that can be hard with your baby.  When your baby cries the first thing you want to do is pick him or her up!  That might not always be the best solution though.  There are a few times when waiting and seeing what your baby will do can be very beneficial.


1) Middle of the night wake ups.  My primary goal when my children have middle of the night wake ups is to get them back to sleep as quickly as possible.  I mean, the faster they get back to sleep the faster I get back to sleep!  In the newborn days this usually means responding right away to any cries.  Newborns need to eat in the night, and they still need reassurances that they are not alone as they adjust to their new life.  But as babies get older and drop the feedings at night they are able to start to learn to sooth themselves.  Now I want to note a pause is not the same thing as letting a baby cry it out.  That is a sleep training technique that I am not talking about right now.  No, the pause is waiting just a moment to assess the situation before you go in.  Take a second and look at your baby.  My girls sometimes cry out at night without really waking up.  My rushing to their side is often what wakes them all the way up.  So instead of  running in, I look in from the door and see if they are actually stirring or if they are in fact still asleep.  With all three of my children the pause has given my kids a chance to settle themselves.  They find their lovey or pacifier and get themselves back to sleep.  Yes, these are sleep props, but if they are using them on their own I think that is just fine!  The pause lets babies work towards independent sleep, which benefits the whole family.

2) When they are frustrated at play alone.  Play is work for kids.  It is the time they explore how the world works and learn so much.  There are times when they are playing that they get frustrated though.  For young babies it can be when a toy doesn't fit in their mouth, or if they can't reach an object they want.  It might sound silly, but that is some annoying stuff when you are a baby!  These are important learning opportunities though.  Why won't an object fit somewhere?  Can things be too big?  How can you move yourself closer to what you want?  If I rush in and solve every annoyance for my baby, she will never get a chance to grow and learn things for herself.  For my toddler it can be annoying when toys don't stack they way he wants, or simply that he can't do exactly what he wants to do.  Waiting gives him a chance to solve his problem on his own, and perhaps learn some natural consequences for his actions.  So when my kids cry out during play time, once I have assessed that they are not in any danger of course, I give them a moment to figure out whatever is wrong on their own.  Often they can solve their own problems.

3) When they are frustrated at play with others.  This one is a bit harder.  We want our kids to get along, and we want them to get along with kids from other families.  When there is a dispute over a toy or who's turn it is to do something we want to jump in and help our kids work it out.  These interactions are where our kids learn important social skills though.  Yes, when children are young we need to teach them how we share and take turns.  We need to remind siblings they can't fight to get what they want.  But at times we need to step back and give them a chance to practice what we have tried to teach them.  This means not rushing in as soon as a situation may arise, but giving kids a chance to work things out on their own.  Maybe they find a solution we wouldn't have thought of, maybe there are tears and we can take a moment to work on empathy and understanding feelings.  Sometimes our child is the 'victim,' but honestly they could be the wrong doer as well. The pause gives us a chance to really see what is happening, not just assume our child is right or wrong.

These are just a few examples of when the pause comes in handy.  It isn't ignoring your child or a situation.  It is taking a moment to hang back and really see what is happening.  You're there, ready to help if the problem grows or if your child gets too frustrated.  But you are giving your child a chance to learn and grow.  I know babywise isn't the only place to learn about the pause, but it is the book that brought it to my attention.  It is one of my favorites.

-Kim

Check out my other Babywise Favorites!
Daily Wake Time
Independent Playtime
The Dream Feed

Park time!  This kid is always on the go.

The girls ate up all the snuggles!  Ali and Gramma, rocking their yellow shirts. :)

Sammy (L) and Ali (R) displaying how well they get into everything.

Play time!!!

Enjoying the football game.  Go Team!

Fun times!

Ben enjoyed extra attention too.

Baby pile!  I love these kids!!

Thank you again, Gramma and Grampa.  We're so excited for the next time we all get together!!!

-Kim

A Gramma and Grampa visit to our new town wouldn't be complete without a trip to the train park!!
Ben had a great time showing the park to Gramma and Grampa.  As soon as we got there he wanted to go into the museum (what he calls the room with all the model trains).  Ben got to ride the train and the carousel, plus play at the park!  The girls had fun people watching with Gramma and me while the boys ran around.  Get ready for a lot of pictures from this park for as long as we live here.  We've gone at least once a month since we've moved here!

Ben loves the water tower!  He was so cute calling out, "Hello down there!"

The ladies, happy to be out and about.  (Sammy L Ali R)

My boys, so sweet!

Checking out the model trains!

The tiny train is so fun!

Ben really wanted Daddy to get in the train too.  He's a good sport and got on!

Hi Mommy!

Ali!

Sammy!

The boys got to ride the train!

Hi guys!

Here they come again!

I'm not that great at getting pictures of them on the go, but here they are!

That night we also all went out to dinner!  We don't often go out, so this was a real treat!  This is one of the first times the girls have gotten to sit at the table and eat with us.  They loved it!!!  Ben, Ali, and Sammy all had a great time.  The girls were the stars of the show, so many people stopped by the table to see them!

Ali!  So happy to be a big girl and sit at the table.

Sammy!  Giggling the whole time.

Ben!  We found out he liked hush puppies and restaurants where you can color on the table.

Me and Gramma!

Grampa and my happy boy!

The kids did a great job at the restaurant.  It was a seafood place, and I was curious to see what Ben thought.  He liked the hush puppies we got.  But of course you fry up some dough and who doesn't like it?  He mainly ate what I brought for him, but he did try some new food.  I am proud of him for that!  This place has paper table cloths you can color all over, which Ben thought was pretty cool.  Plus he got to sit with the boys, his favorite!  Ali and Sammy ate what I brought, but they had a blast sitting up in the high chairs!  They giggled and played with the paper.  They smiled at everyone and seriously were the cutest things.  All three kids were so well behaved, I was so proud of them!

We had a great day and I am so grateful for the time we all got to spend together!

-Kim