Quiet Time

I snapped these pictures a few weeks ago during quiet time because I wanted to remember this phase. I've already changed how we do quiet time, so this phase is already gone but here they are nonetheless.

About 6 months ago Jack and Ben started getting spotty with naps and then they'd keep each other awake and go crazy during nap time and end up really grumpy the rest of the day. I knew they were at the beginning of phasing out of naps, but I didn't want to deal with it at the time so instead I started laying down on the floor in their room until at least one of them (most often Jack) fell asleep. At first I only needed to lay there for 10 minutes or so, but by April I could spend 40 minutes on their floor. 

At first I saw this time as annoying. It was keeping me from the 100 other things I wanted to do during nap time. Once I just accepted it as something that just needed to be done I capitalized on the daily excuse to just lay down. I would read books, listen to my hypnobirthing tracks (which often ended up in me getting a power nap at the very end of the pregnancy), or use the time to make lists that helped me emotionally process things that were bugging me.

It became a time in the day to look forward to and I'm glad I had a chance to make myself slow down.

Spencer joined me when his schedule clashed with quiet time (because how do you get the fourth child on a consistent schedule??). He was just so cute I couldn't help taking some pictures and then I noticed that we had attracted Ben and Jack's attention.

 


Caught ya!

He slowly made his way under the bunkbed while I was reading.





Finally, I knew Spencer was distracting for Jack and Ben in the room, so I tried to  keep him out of the room. This was me spying on Cam and Spence from inside the twin's room.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to the World Aiden Titus

Image
Something big arrived in the Porter Family early in the morning on September 29! He's big, he's blonde, and he has kisses all over his chunky cheeks...welcome to the world Aiden Titus Porter!  He was my second largest baby weighing in at 8 lb 10 oz, his abundance of blonde hair is reminiscent of Cameron, he's the 17th grandchild on the Porter side and the 14th on the Terry side and he came into the world fast and furious like his next-older brother, Spencer. He also completes the Porter basketball team. Summer Olympics 2032, here we come! Now where's a coach?    The Story The week of my due date my goal was just to stay relaxed and not get fixated on when Aiden might/might not arrive. The "Anything happening in there?!" questions are always well meant (and I totally ask them of other preggos too, it's just too exciting when someone is about to deliver!) but they make me feel like I should have control over something I do...
Read more

Spencer's Birth Story

Image
After those last days of trying my hardest to push away the heightening anticipation of Spencer's arrival, he finally arrived two weeks ago today! Now those days seem so far away. It's amazing how quickly the tables turn. Your life seems to be building up to one particular moment for so long and then all of a sudden you're on the other side of that moment and it's like life has never been any different. Here is the last "belly picture" I took before his arrival and I only thought about it because my parents had requested one. The difference between the first and the fourth kid I guess. This was just a couple of days prior to his birthday. Well, for all of you birth story enthusiasts and for my posterity, here is the story if you so wish to read it. Fair warning: it's probably going to be long. I woke up on Monday morning with that "my due date was yesterday and now I'm just depressed that he's not here yet" feeling. I was a...
Read more

Mom's Gone

Image
My Mom died in the early hours of June 29 of complications from pneumonia. She was one month shy of her 67 th birthday. I’ll be processing everything from the morning of her death to the day she was buried for a long time. I’m so grateful that I was able to talk to my mom just two days before she passed. I had sat down at my computer after rocking Spencer to sleep and it was quiet time in the Porter house. My mind went blank as soon as I sat down and I relaxed, which is abnormal because I usually feel torn between doing ten things at once when I sit down to “get stuff done” during quiet time. So I thought, “Well, what should I do? It’s been a while since I talked to Mom...” When I asked her how she was she answered, “Well, actually not so good,” and she explained that she had just come home from the doctor’s office where she found out that she had pneumonia.   She filled me in on some details from her appointment and how she had been feeling recently. My mom has had and ...
Read more