First of all i’d like to introduce myself.  My name is Brenda and i’m a SAHM of 3 beautiful girls!  Hannah is almost 4(in August) and Sarah & Samantha are identical twin girls born December 26th, 2006(almost 17 months)!  I’m married to a very wonderful man, Paul, who does a great job(most days) of helping with our brood of children.  We also have two dogs, Sugar our sheltie & Gracye our chocolate lab.  Both dogs have had their worlds turned upside down in the past 17 months.  First, from the lack of attention when the babies were born.  Now, 17 months later, the poor dogs get tag teamed all the time and Sugar doesn’t take it well, while Gracye just lays down and lets them ride cowgirl on her back. 

I am the first to admit, having twins is not always as fun as it looks…people always come up to me and say “Oh, i ALWAYS wanted to have twins.”  And to them i say, “take mine for a day and see if you feel that way a day later!”  LOL!  But, even harder for me than having twins, is having an almost 4 year old that loves to talk back, tell little tales, and drag her sisters around the house by the collars of their shirts!  All kidding aside, my girls and hubby are the reason i get up every morning with a smile(and cup of coffee or two).  Although my dream in life had always been 2 kids and 2 dogs and maybe a couple of fish along the way…God gave me 3 beautiful girls and it was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.  It was way better than being rich…although, we are actually very rich, just in a different way.  We are rich in the amount of love, kisses, snuggles, and hugs(all x’s 3) and THAT, my friends, is way more important than having all the money in the world.

Now, that you know a little about me…i’ve decided to do my first review on a few of my favorite products.  As a first timer, please pardon me if i write about any items that have been mentioned before this time.  I tried my best to read up on all the wonderful review posts before me….but sometimes you have only so much time to read before you have kids to change, feed and put to bed.  SO, with that being said there are just a few products i’d like to mention that i truly think are the greatest inventions since my twins were brought into the world.  Please note: the products below are made more for toddlers and not for young babies…that’ll be another post, at another time. 

So, with all that being said…here are three of my favorite products:

1. The Baby Bjorn bib(I know a different version of the bib was mentioned last week), so i hope i’m not adding conflicting and confusing info.  But my opinion on the baby bjorn bib, is that they are my saving grace every day 3xs a day.  You can purchase them on amazon and for a mere 9.00 a piece (kinda pricy but well worth the money) you can get two(or three or four, etc), very good, plastic bibs.  The greatest part about the bib is that they catch everything that misses your childs mouth.  So, if you have messy kids, as i do, you will love these bibs.  They have become a life saver for us, even more so, on those days when you actually make it out to dinner.   If you have toddler twins you know what i’m talking about.  The days when your two sweet babies take every piece of food you give them…put it in their mouths and spit it out.  This bib catches everything.  My girls are REALLY bad with drinking and dribbling or some may call spitting milk…this bib catches all the milk, instead of it going straight to their clothes or the lovely dark floor at your favorite restaurant.  I honestly, can’t say enough about this bib…it’s plastic, one part of the back snaps into the other(so no worrying about velcro getting old), and you just take a bit of soap and wipe it off after every meal and voila.  I was so happy with these bibs, we just ordered two more on amazon, so we can leave two in the diaper bag and not have to keep shuffling them back and forth from the house to the bag.  These definitely get five stars from me!

2. The Munchkin Snack Catchers.  My girls love these and we take them with us, everywhere.  They are AWESOME!  I’ve tried out the snack “traps”.  But when the girls would pull their hands out of the traps, food would go everywhere.  The top of the snack catchers is shaped just so, that when you pull your hand out of the bowl, food doesn’t go flying all over the place.  My girls use these everyday and they are great to take with you on the road.  My car actually stays semi clean, as food doesn’t get all over the place when they use them.  Again something you an find on amazon.com..obviously one of my favorite places to shop. 

3. Last, but not least i found an item called a “sippy grip” which is great for those on the go.  OR even those at home that have issues with children throwing sippy cups on the ground, as the kidos think it’s a game.  You can even hook the snack traps to the sippy grips if you want…or get four and have one for the sippy and one for the snack trap.  Hmm…makes me think i need to order two more.  I hook these sippy grips on to whatever i can.  For our march of dimes walk i hooked them to the seatbelt in the choo choo wagon so they wouldn’t toss them over board as we were walking.  These grips are also great hooked on to a restaurant high chair…so if the child throws the sippy down, it never hits the floor.  The rubber inside, grips perfectly to most cups.  We use these once a week at least…but sometimes if they start playing, it’s nice to hook the cups to their high chairs at home and if they throw it over board…i make them pull them back up themselves.  It’s also nice because the sippys won’t hit the floor and if you are a germophobe like me, you won’t have to keep re-wiping the whole sippy cup down each time and wasting a ton of wipes, because i  can’t re-use a sanitizer wipe after i’ve already used it once to clean a cup that hit the floor. 

(if you would like any more info on these items please feel free to leave me a comment.)  I was going to add pics, etc.  But i’m still working on learning wordpress and i wanted to get this out sooner than later. 

 On another note: Today, we just received our brand new step 2 sand and water table…so next week i’m thinking about doing a review on some great step 2 products i’ve bought recently.  If you have any you have bought and loved…or not liked so much, feel free to leave me a comment! 

I look forward to more reviews…i have a ton of different things in mind.  Please forgive me if i lean more towards toddler things v/s baby things…my girls are finally toddlers and the first year of their life was a blur.   I’m going to try my hardest to go back in time and write about some of the great items i used 17 months ago, so that’ll be a posting/product review coming up very shortly!

When I was pregnant, people used to ask us all the time what they could do to help when the babies came. I had no idea! They’d ask us again in the first few weeks of the babies’ lives….and by then, in my sleep-deprived state, I at least knew one answer….food! Bring food! Lots of it, yummy food, easy to prepare food, hopefully semi-healthy food….I really don’t care, as long as I can eat it. 

The best help we got those first few weeks, besides my mom, who moved in for two weeks—LOVE moms—, was friends and family bringing by dinners for us. Fruit salad from my mother-in-law, pesto and pasta from Seth’s aunt, meatloaf from my sister-in-law, mac and cheese and a salad from a friend. One friend who doesn’t cook much just brought by pizza, making sure there was enough for plenty of leftovers. The best meals were meals that lasted for several days. One friend, whom I had just recently met, brought over barbequed chicken, green beans and a tomato salad. It was very tasty…and there were at least two more meals in there. Real meals, that felt like you were eating home-cooked, reasonablly healthy food were fantastic. (The local take-out places started to really like us in those days).

Now that we have (somewhat) recovered from being new parents of multiples (do you ever fully recover, really?), we try to pay it forward. When friends have a new baby or two, we show up with a meal or two with plenty of food for leftovers. We aim for weeks 4-12 somewhere, when much of the family help has disappeared, but the babies are awake more and needier and moms and dads more tired. Adrenaline gets you through those first few weeks, but I remember week 6 or 7, realizing we’d been doing this for weeks and weeks (and by this I mean no sleep) and there was no end in site. Boy, was I tired.

Our favorite go-to meal to take to new parents is pesto & chicken tortellini. (See recipe below). Another favorite is meatloaf and mashed sweet potatoes, which is good for those with any dairy or nut issues. In the summer, we like to add a big fruit salad. And any new mom, especially those who are breastfeeding, need a nice dessert, so we usually include a pan of brownies (Giadelli’s double chocolate brownies are really the only ones to bother buying) or a pan of rice krispie treats. We see it as paying it forward—-sharing the good karma from all those meals we ate and appreciated so much. If you’re pregnant with multiples (or just one), start prepping friends and family for this food delivery now. If you’ve “survived”, like us, think about paying it forward to another new family or signing up to deliver meals to new moms in your MOT club.

And now for pesto chicken tortellini. Not a fancy recipe but very flexible. Add as much cheese or as little as you want or leave out the chicken for those non-meat eaters.

Pesto chicken tortellini

Chicken breasts, grilled or cooked in the oven, then chopped into small pieces

Block of mozz cheese, chopped into small pieces

Frozen tortellini (I recommend the BJ’s bag—it’ll feed a family of 10!)

Pesto (homemade and frozen in the summer or from the store)

Cook tortellini. Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish. Sprinkled a bit of grated mozz on top. Bake until cheese is melted.

Okay folks, I know we have a regularly featured “Ask the Mom’s” segment every week, but this week, I have a question for you!

Picture me pulling my kiddos down the sidewalk (Today they turn 1! Happy Birthday Jonathan! Happy Birthday Faith!). They are in their choo choo wagon, and I am pointing out various trees, shrubs and flowers to them, pretending that they not only understand me, but that they are also paying attention!

Suddenly, I hear a “woof!” And see a dog running toward us. I stop, turn toward the dog, step slightly in front of my wide-eyed kids and wait for the dog to approach us, which he does, thankfully with no apparent malice. The owner trails after him. She is a mother of two young children, and we have talked before. She tells me that they just got this dog, at a rescue. They already have one dog, who is on leash at all times, as he isn’t nice. But this dog (whom they have had all of a week) is gentle, kind and great with kids! I pet his head, admire his coat, and secretly hope that he will turn and walk away.

Instead, he sticks his big head into Jonathan’s face, and my heart skips a beat. My mother bear instincts tell me to remain calm, but to tear the dog into small pieces should he twitch a whisker at my offspring. The owner lightly laughs and eventually the dog wanders away, much to my relief.

We make our escape, me thanking God that our encounter went well. The last time a dog stuck his face near my son’s, it was a puppy, and my son BIT him. Thankfully, Jonathan did not bite the big dog…I just don’t even want to think about what could have happened.

Anyway, to get to my question…how do you handle situations that arrise in which your children could be in danger? Had it only been one child, I easily could have swooped him/her up into my arms, and felt good about that option. But when there are two or more to protect…how do you handle it?

Also, as a former dog owner, I am clueless as to how to tell people to please keep their dogs away from my children. Clueless, because it never occurred to me to allow my dog near small children, especially while off-leash. As much as we love our pets, they are still animals. And animals are unpredictable, and can do damage, especially to small children. (Please note that I am not referring to your children and family pet interacting. Rather, how do you address strangers and their pets? As you can see in this picture, our cat gets very close to the kiddos!)

Any thoughts out there?

Oh my goodness…another celebrity baking up a fresh new set of twin babies! Two articles today are “confirming” the rumor that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are expecting twins. Guess we’ll have to wait for an official official announcement!

Often when I read this blog - and the personal blogs of its contributors - I feel like the biggest twin-mommy slacker in the world.  I love my children. I have (I think) complete control of all situations within, and within walking distance of, our home. I am confident. I feel like I handle situations with grace. But I have a confession to make: I have only ventured out (alone) with the twins once. And - with the exception of one emergency trip to the pedicatrician - I have never taken all three of my children out by myself.

I could try and blame it on my routine and how I don’t want to “disturb” anything. But the truth is, I’m scared! How would I handle a double (or triple) meltdown? What if something happens to ME? When I think of venturing out with them, these are the things running through my mind. And since I’ve never HAD to go anywhere alone with all of them, I’m still a novice in this area.

 But that all changes tonight.

And we’re doing it in a big way. Dinner out of the house.

Why? Why, why, why would I start with dinner out of the house as my first venture? Dinner is the beginning of our finely tuned nighttime routine. Why would any sane (?) MOT choose this time of day to try something new? Well, because we were invited somewhere. And at this point, I feel like if I go even one more week without taking this step forward in my mothering career, they may revoke my twin-mom club priveledges.

So, tonight I will leave work, pick up the children and head off to a dinner date where the ratio will be six kids (under 4 years old) to two moms. Hopefully they will eat something (I am not even hoping that I will be able to eat something!) and hopefully I will not be the one crying.

This is a big step for me. I’ll confess that I’m scared but it MUST be done. 

Of the many, many things that you must have double of when your twins arrive, one non-negotiable is rear-facing carseats. Immediately, a lesson in: how can two such tiny people require such large… stuff? All of this stuff, in particular those carseats, often lead twin parents-to-be to contemplate the purchase of a new car. Oh, but what to do? Cave in to the call of the minivan? Rage against the dying of the light and get a small SUV? Get creative and find a way to keep the sedan? All of these things are possible, and everyone finds their own way to make it work. The HDYDI moms are no exception. We run the gamut from Toyota Corolla to Chrysler Town & Country and back again.

First, you have to think about how much driving you actually do. If you live in a more urban environment that lends itself to a lot of walking, or maybe you telecommute or live close to work and daycare. In that case, you can probably make a smaller car work just fine about 95% of the time. Though the infant carseats take up a lot of space, remember that they’re only rear-facing (the biggest space hog) for the first year or so. Once they’re forward-facing in those convertible carseats, they won’t jam into the driver’s seat quite as badly (of course, then they’ll start kicking you, but that’s another story). On the other hand, if you know that you do a lot of driving, you’re really going to have to make sure you can comfortably fit yourself, your kids, and all of their stuff into that car. Remember there is, at the very least, a double stroller to contend with. Forget about the times you have to bring two pack & plays with you… or luggage… or the dogs…

The truth of the matter is that there’s lots of good options to be had, and everyone has a different set of priorities. Here’s some options, with a few pros and cons:

The Minivan

I know, I know. You’re still in your 20s, a first-time mom. Way too cool for a minivan. You just can’t bring yourself to do it. Believe me when I say there are a number of converts amongst the HDYDI moms. Myself, included (yes, that’s me at 34 weeks pregnant with my new van…). Oh, how I love my dual power sliding doors and power rear liftgate. I call it robo-car, as I walk towards it and hit all of the buttons on my remote. Those doors are really great, especially when you have an infant carrier in each arm, and the people who parked on either side of you have gotten a bit cozy. You can configure the seats a bunch of different ways, as most models have the third row that folds down flat, or the captain’s chairs that disappear into the floor or are easily removed. Tons of space for carseats, strollers, luggage, groceries, and a dog or two (not that my mini schnauzer takes up much space, but still). Yes, it’s a big honkin’ car, and you’ll feel uber-suburban when you first drive it. But you’ll never go back…

On the downside, they are generally not great on gas mileage, and I don’t know of any hybrid minivans on the market. Only one (the Toyota Sienna) has available AWD. They are fairly big, though some are a little more compact (the Mazda, in particular). And even in a minivan, if you have two rear-facing carseats, you will not be able to get in the sliding door and into the 3rd row of seats. My solution? I always have at least one side of the 60/40 third row folded down. I take advantage of my fancy power liftgate and my own mother will get in through the back and sit in the 3rd row so she can talk to the kids on the way home from the airport.

And if you already have another child or are thinking of having another one in the lifetime of this car purchase, the minivan is really the way to go. It gets VERY hard to put a 3rd carseat in any other type of car.

The SUV

Most twin moms I know, who can’t bear to go the minivan route, go with the SUV. The smaller SUVs are generally better on gas mileage, obviously, but check to see the size of that back seat and how cramped you’ll be sitting in front. The full-sized SUVs will not have that problem as much. The nice part is that you still have the large trunk for plenty of storage space. Everyone can sit pretty comfortably, and there are tons of bells and whistles to be had. You can likely get 4WD/AWD for those who live in climates where winter is an issue. There are also a number of hybrid SUVs coming on the market, including Ford and Toyota. Some of the larger SUVs also have the option for a third row of seating, but know that the third row may never be used while you have kids in carseats. Check the configuration, but it may be nearly impossible to get back there. Still, though, some have a 3rd row that folds flat, so you have a larger trunk space, but the row is there if you really needed it.

Cons include the fact that some SUVs are quite high off the ground, so you have to really lift that carseat up high to get it into the base, not to mention get the stroller into the back. And, obviously, gas mileage can be a real issue with some of them. This is less of a problem with the small SUVs, or something like the Subaru Forester, but there’s of course a tradeoff with less space.

The Sedan

There’s nothing that says you can’t put two carseats in a mid-sized or large sedan. Models vary widely, so definitely check to see how big the backseat is. But since nearly all cars since 2001 are required to have LATCH connectors for carseats, you don’t necessarily need to ditch the car you already have. Just because you have two babies on the way doesn’t mean you’re required to have a big car! Many sedans have nice, roomy backseats, and even a respectably-sized trunk that can fit most double strollers (though perhaps consider some of the ones that fold up particularly compactly). If you have a sedan that will fit those carseats without having your knees above the steering wheel, and it has a good trunk, there’s no reason you can’t take the kids all over, and even make a trip to the grocery store. You can also consider getting a hatchback or wagon, which doesn’t much change the seating configuration, but does make for a little more trunk space.

On the other hand, in many sedans, space will be very tight, especially for people over about 5′6″. You won’t be able to haul as much stuff around (maybe that’s not such a bad thing?), and the dog is going to stay home. And, as LauraC said, “riding in the back between the two Roundabouts is the ULTIMATE bitch seat.”

Note: A modified version of this post appeared last week at my personal blog, Laura’s Mommy Journal.

This May I feel surprisingly unemotional. All those wounds have had time to heal. I no longer feel exhausted, overworked, and overwhelmed. I am still busy (very busy) but I have time for me, time for my husband, time for my friends, and time for my kids. I feel like myself again, physically and emotionally.

One night last week we walked to the park after dinner. We made a spontaneous decision and decided to stay later so the boys could play longer. It felt normal, like something any other parents would do. This “normal” life seemed so far out of our reach for so long.

With no family around, caring for twins on our own was all-consuming for so long. I finally feel that I have my head above water. I finally feel that having twins compliments my life rather than consumes my life. This feeling has slowly been building over the last year. A solo date night with my boys and the park trip helped me solidify these feelings. This year was to be a rebuilding year and I feel rebuilt. Life is normal. With twins toddlers.

When you’re pregnant with twins, you hear all kinds of great stories. The “special connection” your kids will have, how they’ll always be playmates, yadda yadda yadda. We all know the reality is not always so delightful. My newborns didn’t seem to have any acknowledgment of the other, didn’t sleep better next to each other, really seemed to have no recognition that the other was there. There was the occasional grabbed hand, which was certainly adorable, but didn’t seem like real interaction. Just a coincidence, because it was there. I think my kids were a good six months old before they actually seemed to see each other. A few moments here or there when they actually seemed to have a passing interest in the other person. And that was a good start, a spark of something to come. And sure, I know they’ll have their times when they’re constantly fighting and I wish they’d just forget about each other for a few minutes! But for the moment, I love it when they really see each other.

And the other day, while they were eating lunch, I managed to get the video camera out in time for one of my favorite things in the whole world: when Rebecca unwittingly cracks Daniel up. Sometimes, he just thinks his sister is the funniest damn thing he has ever seen.

With so many styles and varieties of bibs on the market, it’s hard to know what makes a good bib over the long haul with multiples. Most moms find they need two sets of bibs - bibs for drooling and bibs for feeding.

Drooling:

When my boys’ salivary glands started kicking in, it was incredible to me how much drool came out of their mouths. Alex could soak a onesie in less than five minutes. Fortunately, drooling is a great opportunity for accessorizing with bibs! Krissy found the generic plastic-lined cloth bibs from Target perfect for absorbing drool. I bought a variety of Koala baby bibs from Babies R Us.

Feeding:

The clear winner for feeding is the Bumkins SuperBib. Not only is it water-proof, it is free of PVC and phthalates, and it comes in a wide variety of styles to suit every parent. Both Emily and I learned the hard way that throwing them in the dryer will cause them to age quickly, but since they quickly air-dry, you rarely need to put them in the dryer. At almost two years old, Bumkins are going strong in our house. We have three bibs for each child.

The one thing you can not effectively use Bumkins for is the dreaded vomit phase.  As babies get texturized to foods, some children tend to vomit. This can be worse for children with reflux. In a house with two vomiters, we found the waterproofness of Bumkins bibs caused much bigger messes as the vomit poured off the sides. We found the plastic-backed cloth bibs to be much more effective at containing vomit during this phase.

These little guys are getting ready to wrap up the school year - their first year of preschool! Bring on Kindergarten! We’ve had field day, which was precious. There’s nothing like seeing a bunch of 4-year-olds playing tug-of-war and running the 50-yard dash and doing a three-legged race! We’ve had our very last field trip of the year, and the very last homework packet came home a few days ago. The kids are practicing their songs for graduation, and I’ve all but given up on removing grass stains from the knees of their uniform pants.

I was so excited about the two of them going to school, that it never occurred to me just how much money we’d be shelling out on a regular basis - times two. The supply list was staggering - this is what I had to buy when school started, spread out between their two classrooms:

• 4 oz. bottles of glue
• 2 packages of markers
• 24 count box of crayons
• Kleenex
• Disposable cameras
• Ziplock baggies
• Baby Wipes
• Lysol
• Clorox wipes
• 3 gallons of Hi-C
• 4 boxes of fruit snacks
• Pudding, pretzels, and Ritz crackers with cheese spread
• Dixie cups and paper plates
• Liquid soap
• Napkins
• Watercolor paints
• 5 oz. Dixie cups
• Paper dessert plates - the small ones
• Ritz cheese and crackers spread
• Pudding cups that don’t need refrigeration
• Small pretzels

That was a $100 Wal-Mart trip right there. Plus the cost of school uniforms for two kids, which are mandatory at the public schools in our area. And did I mention the $10 photo processing fee for each child, so they can take pictures of them throughout the year? (Why haven’t I ever seen any of these pictures?) Quite an expenditure at the beginning of the school year.

But it doesn’t end there! Every month, there’s a field trip, which costs six to twelve dollars per kid, depending on where they go. (And they’ve gone to some cool places!) There’s the book fair. Pizza day. Fundraisers. Birthday parties. Scholastic Book Order Forms! Plus the monthly tuition for our daughter. (Our son goes to preschool for free because of his disability.)

And before long, our younger twins will be heading off to preschool as well! I’ll probably moonlight as a barista at Starbucks so we don’t have to get a second mortgage to pay for more fruit snacks and glue sticks.