Super 7 Month Favorites

Teeth. Slobber. Endless giggles. "Ahdadadadaaa!!"
Month 7 has been the most fun with these little humans so far, and I don't doubt that month 8 will be even better, if not more insane.

The boys are growing at about the same rate but have their differences. As I type, Owen's fourth tooth is popping through, and Payton is happy with the two teeth he had come through in late December. Payton, on the other hand, is the "Ahdadadadadaa" speaker constantly, and also is quite the army crawler. Owen is saying whatever bad words babies say in their heads as his frustration goes through the roof at not being able to move forward on his hands and knees. Owen is the livelier one that I'm pretty sure is going to be the troublemaker...I can already imagine the emails I'm going to have from his teachers.  It's fun to see their differences in growth and in personality!

On to the shopping opportunities...

1. Munchkin Mesh Teethers: To be frank, if you haven't heard of or seen these (and you're a parent or almost a parent), it's possible you've been living under a rock. They are about 100% fantastic. There is a little hinge and you open up the mesh lid and throw in a piece of fruit for your kid that can't chew yet. They then suck out the juice and their gums feel better. We use these once a day and usually throw in a grape and get devoured. We've tried strawberries, but the juice just gets everywhere and it's not a great indoor snack. Remember a few sentences ago when I said "just about 100% fantastic"? The part that's not fantastic is the cleaning part. It's gross. Grape skin gets embedded in the mesh and it's icky. Other than that, these things are awesome and you should definitely own a few.

2. Once Upon A Child: It's rare that I buy anything at full price or anything that's overpriced. We're not in a financial position to buy our sweet boys brand-new Baby Gap clothing. We finally hit a point where we did not have a plethora of clothes from our shower gifts, and had a few "Oh, crap!" moments where we had 2 pairs of pants left for them. This store is basically a Goodwill but only for kids clothes, toys, equipment, etc. It is divided by gender, and then by sizes, then by shirts/pants, etc. It's pretty fantastic. Those Baby Gap clothes I can't afford? Now I can.

3. Star Wars Talking Stormtrooper: We received a few of these dudes from my sister-in-law for Christmas, and I don't know if it was more for my husband or the boys. They talk, and the boys think they're hilarious. So if you're trying to force your kid into loving Star Wars like my husband, this is a good toy!

4. Training Toothpaste by Aquafresh: At the boys' 6 month appointment, the pediatrician advised that since they're growing teeth now, that we brush them every night. (LOL...) I picked this stuff up at Kroger for less than $5, but the boys totally love it. It's Banana-Apple flavored, which definitely helps. They basically just chew on the toothbrush but that's all about they need to do at this point. It'll definitely help when it comes time to really brush their teeth.

5. Infantino Ball Pit: I raved about this one a few months ago, but this time it's for the ball pit portion. The dangly toys (? mom-brain/14th hour of my day as I type) are detachable and then insert these foam pieces that hold up the mesh sides. The balls can be stored in the turtle's head when not being used, and that's the only downfall of this toy...if you have big hands, it's difficult to remove them from the 6" wide velcro hole in the turtle's head. But, the boys love it, so I love it.

6. Carter's Fleece Pajamas: I am totally in love with these pajamas!! The boys' room tends to be a little chillier because I don't think we have the most efficient windows in our house, so we like to put them in warmer jammies. These are so super soft, wash really well, unlike some other fleece things, and the best part? THEY HAVE ZIPPERS. I've been telling my recently-pregnant friends that friends don't buy friends baby pajamas with buttons, zippers only. (The hours we've lost off of our lives from buttoning pajamas back up after a diaper change...ugh, can't even calculate.) There's a ton of different patterns and sizes for these bad boys, too!

7. Wubbanubs: Again, my living-under-a-rock comment from above comes in to play here. Now that the boys can grip things pretty well, they're loving these stuffed-animal-pacifiers. They're harder to lose, which is definitely a big plus when you have a ton of baby toys lying around all the time.

8. Vtech Sit-to-Stand Dance Tower: Grandma Jan bought this one for the boys for Christmas, and it's pretty cool! There's a detachable part that can just sit on the floor, but as they grow and start to stand and sit up easier, you can add the orange parts and attach it to the floor piece. There's little handles on the side so eventually they can hold on to it. All sorts of colorful buttons to press and a dancing bear holding cymbals on top makes for a great piece of entertainment!

Little Men: Month 7

                               

Months 5 & 6 Faves

                                               

Happy New Year! 
It's been awhile. What a very busy couple of months it has been. Extra demands at work (that are just non-negotiable and at the same time very unnecessary) and ever-changing little boys, combined with general survival and prepping for the holidays, it hasn't been easy at all to find time to write. Now that I'm on Christmas break from work, I finally have time.
Thankfully, there weren't too many changes the boys went through from months 4-5, so my beginning-of-December post wouldn't have been very exciting anyway, therefore saving us all the trouble and time there.
But this past month...holy moly, have these boys changed. Just in the past week, they've decided to sit up on their own without support. They're eating veggies and a few fruits like they've never been fed before. They're contemplating sleeping through the night on a consistent basis, but aren't quite ready to commit yet, and are finally on a solid schedule during the workweek. The weekends are a mess, but the other 5 days a week are pretty consistent. Given that they're about 6 weeks behind in most development because they were popped out early, I'd say we're doing fairly well...so we'll take it!

My husband is the food expert in this house. (Are there many houses where that isn't the case?) But he's also the baby food expert. We inherited this book from a wonderful friend of ours (Hi, Bethany!) about making your own baby food. Now, this was the plan all along after reading a blog by a woman who was comparing the cost of purchasing baby food versus making it on your own with store-bought frozen food...and the difference was astronomical. Well, I like spending money on other things and think food is already overpriced, so she had my attention.
With some decent research from my hubby, we are making and freezing and thawing and feeding homemade baby food to the little ones, and feeling pretty good about it. We gave them some store-bought stuff and it didn't sit well in their stomachs and came out the other end pretty nastily, so we are definitely sticking with the homemade.
I'll be working on a post on that here in the coming months once I get better and writing down what real food costs vs. baby food, and I'll get back to ya.

TEETHING is in full swing in this house, and both boys' bodies are reacting differently to their incoming teeth.
Payton has had his two bottom teeth for going on 3 weeks. The side effects of his teething have included fevers, rashes that look like hives (we think that's just what it is?) and a yeast infection in his neck due to all the horrendous drooling that we just can't keep up with.
Owen is catching up with 3 teeth that just started to pop in this week. So far, he's had much less drool than his brother, but still an increase, and some pretty nasty poops.
Needless to say, we're ready for teething to be over with but that's a very. very. long way off.

On to the favorites...Just in the past few weeks their interests have expanded and we started doing some new things. Hopefully these are some goodies for your shopping pleasure. (All Amazon links this time! I have an unhealthy obsession.)

1. Food Processor: We are maybe a little crunchy (trendy word for hippie/earthy/natural whatever) here, and we like to make our own baby food. If that sounds like something you'd like to do, then you need a nice, big food processor like this one. Those tiny ones that fit maybe a single apple are not helpful. Well, maybe if you're making food for one baby, but who are we kidding? You need the big one to make bigger batches at one time. This is well worth the invesetment if you didn't receive one as a gift at some other point in your life.

2. Nuk or Nuby Food Making Storage: Other than regular ice trays for the homemade food, we adore this thing. Nuk and Nuby basically make the same product so it doesn't matter which you search/purchase. They are larger than ice cube trays and are made of a nice rubber material so they're easy to pop out, and easy to fill. Someone gifted us with one of these, but ice cube trays would work really well also.

3. Nuby Sippy "No Leak" (quotation marks are there for a reason) Cups: GREAT for teething! We just put a little water in these, since they're supposed to be drinking some water now, and they love them. It took the boys about an hour or so to catch on to holding the handles and chewing on the nipple, but they got it down and they reach for these cups pretty quickly once we put the cups in front of them.

4. Nuby Icybite Hard/Soft Teething Keys: Keys seem to just be a go-to for the boys, and now that they're teething and chewing on every.thing.in.sight, they love these. They're easy to grab and hang on to and get cold pretty quickly as well.

5. Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Puppy: Our faaaabulous sitter Joanna bought these for the boys for Christmas. They have trumped pretty much every other toy they have. They can be set for certain ages, so these little guys last a really long time. The ear, hands, feet, tummy and heart each have a button with 3 different sounds/songs that it sings, and with 3 different levels, that's a great toy to invest in! Mostly they like to grab them and gnaw on some part of the puppy but when we press something to make noise, their sweet faces just light up!

6. Infantino Jittery Toys: The boys do not like car seat time, so these toys are some favorites! They grab on to it, pull it down, and then shakes as it goes back up. They both love these! I love hearing them continually pulling it down before it's even at the top. There's a ton of different characters to chose from for these but you really can't go wrong with whatever you purchase. As an added bonus, it helps with their fine motor skills which is grasping small objects.

7. Sophie the Giraffe: I don't know a single parent that doesn't like a Sophie that has one. I ended up purchasing these with gift cards becuase they're cheaper than the regular giraffe, but they do the same thing. There's a few knockoffs available out there as well; Target has an elephant of the same material. (But I didn't have a Target gift card so...) O & P just started getting in to these recently with their teeting really kicking up. They're easy to grasp, and each of the half-circle pieces have a different texture, which is apparently good for them in exploration. They're easy to pick up and hold on to, which is nice when your baby/ies cry the second they drop something.

8. VTech Move & Crawl Ball: Add this to the list of Toys That Get Annoying But Are Still Cool. This ball has 6 different buttons that can be pressed with multiple sounds/songs per button. There are some ribbons on it as well, and there is a motorized weight inside that spins it gently around on the floor.

Oh, can't forget the pictures!

                             

Merry Christmas! 

The boys decided on Christmas Day that they'd sit up without assistance for the first time. 

Taking a walk in early December when it was 65 degrees outside! 

                          

Month 6 pictures did not go smoothly. 

Month 5 Faves

Here we are in month 5 of life with these hilarious, adorable, entertaining boys. I'm not quite sure where the past 5 months have gone, but the first 3 feel like they are so far away and so close at the same time. I'm a walking cliche...sorry friends who hate those parenting cliches.
We are well established in our daily routine which is so nice to have. I'm definitely a routine snob. We are out the door by 6:45, usually even earlier than that. I like to be at work early so we sacrifice a few extra minutes of sleep. They take about a 45 minute-1 hour nap when they get home from the babysitter every afternoon and then are in bed for the night between 7-8! They eat once in the middle of the night, and are up again by 5 to eat breakfast. Mom guilt is real when you don't get to spend that much time with them during the week, so we smother them on the weekends, which we are perfectly fine with!
If you're keeping tabs, we missed Month 4 Favorites, Etc. because being a Working Mom Who Is An English Teacher does not leave much room for fun. I was trying to grade 63 large writing assignments this time last month and the blog wasn't even on the stove, let alone the back burner. But I have to say that not much really changed from month 3 to 4...same stuff, same activities, same clothes which, was nice. Now we're constantly pulling out clothes that don't fit that they wore like three times (it makes me sick) and are just-as-constantly wondering if we have enough clothes for them....but we're set through February, and then I'll panic again.

Anyway, here's a list and link to the stuff we're loving for right now, which is probably what you're here for to begin with. Happy shopping/adding-to-registry-ing.

Ingenuity Booster Seat These nifty little seats double as high-chairs (because have you seen our kitchen?!), and are about $10 cheaper than those overly popular Bumbo's. When I registered, I don't think Bumbo seats came with trays but now they do...these ones do as well, and the tray is storable underneath the seat. They have buckles and keep the boys pretty snug while they sit on top of our kitchen table to eat! At Target, there are toys that suction to the trays just for the Ingenuity seats, as well.

The Exersaucer This Exersaucer we got is super lame. It doesn't have lights or music.  I was a snob when registering and thought "I don't want something too overstimulating, kids are so overstimulated these days!" which I still stand by, but the Exersaucers need those lights and music. Excuse me while I chow down on those words some more. Some wonderful friends gave us this one that their son outgrew, and theirs is much more fun. BUT the boys seem to love them. We shove a blanket in front to hold them in place a little because they're not totally stable just yet, and it works wonderfully! (I also thought we didn't need two. LOL. You can laugh at me and I won't be offended.)

Oball Rattles A wonderful friend (hey Aunt Coop!) gifted us with these about 2 weeks ago and they have taken the cake as far as best toys we have for the boys. I bought more for the sitters house. They are perfect for our boys to grip with their itty bitty hands, and are able to chew on them as well. Register for these, buy them yourself...you need these!

The Baby Brezza Formula Pro Alright...definitely classify this as a "thneed" (things you think you need) unless you have more than one child drinking formula at a time, then this is a NEEEEEED if your budget or a family member can swing this for you. My normally not-an-impulse-buyer husband bought this on Amazon one night after losing his mind at the 1 AM feeding. I'm not sure WHYYYY I never read about this gem during my countless hours of research while pregnant, but I'm here to save your souls and convince you to buy it. Register for it. Whatever. It fits about a whole bag of formula in the top, and has 5 settings for bottle size, 2-10 oz bottles. You fill the reservoir just like a Keurig (I call it the Baby Keurig...these spoiled kids) and just press the button when it's ready to go. It heats the water to a perfect temp but you can also just run it when you want. If you are sick and tired of running sink water until it's the perfect temp, scooping and spilling valuable, expensive formula onto your counter, then this. is. for. you.

These Bibs I've said it before and I'll say it again...don't waste your money on someone else's kid or your own by buying crappy bibs. The cute ones that come with outfits are one thing, but don't buy someone crap. It's just frustrating. These bibs are big and cover the majority of their fronts, which lately have been soaking through because of the drooling situation, which my husband is begging them to be over very soon. (Cute.)

Gerber Oatmeal Cereal Yes I know there is the rice cereal, and then there's this stuff. Our pediatrician said the regular rice stuff will block them up and recommended we use this. Who wants to chance constipated babies? Not us. They get this once or twice a day preceding a bottle of formula.  It ties them over just a little longer and they pretty much love it! The first few times were messy, but they are basically spoon-fed experts at month 5.

Leaving The House With Twins In 22 Easy Steps

It's a weekday morning.

This means my husband leaves for work by 4:30 AM, and I have to be out the door absolutely no later than 6:45. My contract start time is 7:30, and that means students are in my room by 7:31, with the first class starting at 7:45. 

How do I do it? I'm wondering the same thing most days.

Here's our schedule: 

1. 4:00 AM: wake to the sound of whimpering babies who are hungry. Lay there for a few minutes in denial. 

2. Realize they're really awake and you need to get moving. Reluctantly get out of bed before the screaming starts. 

3. Make bottles and feed. 

4. Change diapers & clothes if they don't fall asleep. 

5. Hope they go back to sleep or can at least just lay there so you can get ready. 

6. Shower. Make self look presentable. Makeup, blow dry, and straighten hair if possible. 

7. Get my lunch ready, make coffee, make breakfast. (This means pulling a generic granola bar and Belvita crackers out of boxes in the pantry.) Set everything on the counter where I'm sure to remember I placed these things. 

8. Wake boys up. Get them dressed. (I realize I could have our fantastic sitter do this, but I already have enough Mom Guilt for leaving them. I can get them dressed.)
9. Load freshly dressed boys into carseat.
10. Wipe spit-up from shirts and car seat strap pads. (Every. Time. Without. Fail.)
11. First trip to the car: Boy's bag, teacher bag, my lunch, big water bottle, very full coffee mug, breakfast, phone. Start car.
12. Second trip to the car: Forgot to take coffee mug and breakfast. Try again.
13. Go back to the bathroom to make sure straightener is turned off; turn off all bedroom lights.
14. Make sure I have everything again. Lock front door.
15. Put Baby #1 on front stoop in car seat. Go back in.
16. Pick up Baby #2, awkwardly prevent cat from running outside, set down Baby #2 and give cat treats very quickly as distraction.
17. Pick Baby #2 back up, run outside with him before someone drives by and sees a baby sitting in a car seat on my front stoop.
18. Close front door, pick up Baby #1, awkwardly huff and puff down sidewalk to car with 2 car seats.
19. Set Baby #2 down on grass, ensure he's not breathing in vehicle exhaust. Hesitate and move him anyway.
20. Open car door, get Baby #1 locked in car seat base.
21. Pick up Baby #2, walk around to the other side, load him in.
22. Get in drivers seat. Realize I forgot my coffee AGAIN. Turn vehicle off, run back in house.

Repeat next day. 

Month 3 Favorites & New Pics

Month 4 is upon us...sorry, what? Time is a theif.

This past month has easily gone the fastest of all the months because:
A.  They're showing more signs of being human.
B. I go back to work in 1.5 weeks. (All the feels.)
C.  feel like I'm starting to finally figure this life out and am resuming pre-motherhood activities.
D. Mayyyybe...oh hell, I don't know.
E: all of the above!

If you answered E, you are correct! You get a gold star!
I made a quiz, which must mean I'm going back to school soon. True, sad, nauseating story. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my career. I love where I get to spend my career, and whom I get to share it with, both juveniles and adults alike. I thought by now I'd be ready to go back, and I am, but I think it's because it's actually back-to-school time, not because I need out of my house. I'm a homebody. Not sure that I could actually do the SAHM gig, but I love my career too much. If we could swing it, I might really consider it to be quite honest. Alas, Discover wants their money back for my time at BGSU...so many feels.

Month 3 was the month of smiling...legit, not-related-to-gas or sleeping smiles, but real ones. The kind where they're excited to see you; the kind that turn you into a puddle and make you want to cry. The first couple I definitely did tear up. Scroll down to see the cyuh-huuuuuutest picture ever, courtesy of my talented hubby! Gonna have that one blown up and put on a billboard, I think.
The boys are getting to be masters at Tummy Time and the neck control is fabulous. Their legs are getting pretty strong too, which makes me excited for the bouncy swing things and exersaucers! (But time can still slow down a little bit, k?)
This month we also started sleeping longer without eating more...that doesn't really add up to me but I'm definitely NOT going to argue! I can actually get things done! It's amazing! And we finally figured out a schedule, for the most part, which is exciting...it allows each of us to s l e e p. Yes, that's right. Sleep. Up to 5 hours straight. Praise Jesus.

Alrighty, on to the good stuff!

1. Carter's Sleepers These are cute alternatives (or in addition to) the sleep sacks...but a PITA to get on their little bodies, though becomes easier with practice. Don't give up! They are awfully adorable, too. Some of these are OS (one size) and others we have go by the months. The OS are more like newborn-3 mo at the most. They make midnight diaper changes pretty easy, you just have to slide the elastic bottom up to their bellies. No pants, no buttons, which is heaven at 3am.

2. Infantino Grow-With-Me Activity Gym & Ball Pit Kevin just busted this bad boy out the other day and it's pretty great seeing how animated the boys get when they're lying there under the little stuffed sea creatures. When they get bigger, there is a mesh side that can be put up and it turns into a ball pit. COME ON. I want one for myself. If you angle them just right, they can kick the legs of the arch and make it move on their own. There are fun little features on the dangling sea creatures, as well. Some have things to grab on to, a couple have that crinkly paper stuff inside that gets their attention, and the colors! At this age they are differentiating colors and we're encouraged to do what we can with bright colors to get their attention, so this is a great product to have! 

3. Lyfeline Milestones iPhone app I was in search of something to tell me activities to do with the boys, and at what age they should be doing certain things. I came across this app a couple months ago but just really started getting in to it. I would strongly encourage using it earlier than later! It has some great tips for certain ages, things to do and things to not do, and fun little facts that help you make sense of why babies do what they do when they do them.  You plug in info about what your baby does at certain stages and it can tell you if they're on target or not (Woah...teacher-speak there.) You can purchase the full app for $85 a year, but so far I'm just utilizing the free version. I don't know if I have time for all that  the full app offers, anyway!

4. Booger Sucker  More maturely known as a "nasal aspirator"...this gem has become a necessary favorite in the past several weeks. Following their 2 month Dr. appt and several immunizations, both boys have become quite congested, which is normal. I'm not the greatest at using this thing, but it does the job of sucking giant boogers out of my tiny boys' noses. And I mean GIANT. Bleh.

5. Gas Drops We have used both the Major brand and Little Remedies. Little Remedies are flavored and the boys don't seem to mind, but both do the job fairly quickly. I've used the gas drops when they're screaming and curling into the fetal position, as well as when it seems like the spit-up just. won't. stop. It helps them calm down within minutes, which is wonderful for all of us!

6. Munchkin Formula Dispensers As we've gotten more confident in traveling with the boys, we obviously require more things to survive. Since we (and our very generous parents) have the pleasure of funding a formula supply, I quickly realized we needed these gems. You can't pre-make formula bottles, as it's only good in the bottle for like an hour unless refrigerated. So I put the water in and just dump in the formula when they're ready. The top twists and locks over one of the compartments at a time and has a lid that fits perfectly just inside the top of a bottle, making for nearly mess-free dumping. And it's already measured out so you don't have to lug that measuring spoon thing (do they REALLY need to include one in every container??? What a waste!) with you, either. These are also nifty to keep next to your bed with a bottle if you don't want to make your way out to the kitchen at whatever hour of the night your little nugget(s) decides to eat.

7. Munchkin Sound Machine & Projector This machine is amazing! We've been using it for awhile just for the sounds, but now that they can see things a little better, we are using the projector feature a little more and they are totally entranced. It has six different sound options, including heartbeat (creepy), ocean sounds (favorite), and Beethoven. There are three different projector options as well, and you can change the angle the projector to have it on the wall or ceiling.  It also comes with a nightlight feature. (Currently on sale on Amazon!)

8. Ceiling Fan  Yep, you can buy anything on Amazon. Shortly after month 3 began, my boys discovered the wonder that is the turned-on ceiling fan. It has helped to cease many meltdowns and lull to sleep. Hopefully you already have one of these in your home, but if not...here ye be.

                                                

Owen having an identity crisis following bathtime...

                

Owen                                                          Payton

  

                                   

My three babies...my heart. Melted. 

                           

In their vacation outfits...which we are not going on. 

                 The first picture we have of both boys smiling at the same time! Good job, Daddy! 

                                  

                                Remember these onesies from January? They fit now!!

                                  

Month 2 Favorites & More!

HAAAAAYYYY EVERYBODY!! 

How are we here already? We survived month TWO?! It's all a blur of bottles, spit-up, and over 1,000 diapers to date. (An average of 20 a day, in case you were curious.)

We see little bits of their personalities starting to show here and there...
Payton is a little more laid-back, unless he needs to be held, in which case he screams until he's in your arms, and then he's good to go. But you better not put him down too quickly (the dishes can wait...) because you'll have to start all over again. He's more patient when it comes to food. Payton has the best burps of the two, which is something I never thought I'd be excited about.
Owen is an easily hangered boy. He goes from happy, sleeping little man to STARVING in a matter of mere seconds, and he will let you know it. However, being hangry about every 3-4 hours, you'd think he'd be an efficient/enthusiastic eater. NOPE. At most, he'll spend an hour taking a 4-5 oz bottle. I have shed tears over this situation. It's rough. I'm a patient mama, but hooooly Moses. Daddy likes to tease that they both get their whininess from their mother...Overall, though, they are happy and calm babies. They have both recently discovered the ceiling fan and it keeps them hypnotized for a good while, which is nice when I need to accomplish something during the day! The best thing they've been doing? Smiling. Big, cheesy, gummy grins!! Nothing in particular prompts the smiling that we can figure out, but it's just too terribly adorable when it does happen! We look forward to when they laugh and giggle!

Now...let's get to the good stuff!

1. Gain laundry sack. My mom gifted us with this for washing their little socks, and it's seriously awesome! We just keep it hanging off the side of their hamper and throw it in with their laundry. We have not lost a sweet little baby sock yet! 

2. Simple Wishes Hands-Free Pumping Bra. I know what you're thinking! "Jenny, you look fabulous! Your hair looks so different!" Why thank you!!! I love a good compliment. This bra has changed my life. (Don't you just love a good bra?!) I went from not being able to do anything at all while pumping to writing this blog! TMI? Sorry. But it's probably theeee best $35 I've ever spent on the wonder that is Amazon, and that's saying something. Ladies: don't hesitate to invest in this one if you're going to be pumping. This is a purchase you'll never regret!!! Trust. 

3. Flower Designs Coloring Book Speaking of doing things while pumping...I love coloring. There's been a surge recently of coloring books not for 5-year-olds. I purchased this one in April in preparation for potential bed rest, which never happened. But now, with the right bra, I have the option to color about 6x a day. I color mine with good 'ol Crayola colored pencils, the 24 pack with plenty of color options. 

4. The Pocket Nanny. We just started using the nifty little devices in the past 2 weeks. Each boy has one assigned to them that we use to track how long it's been since they've eaten, had a diaper changed, pooped, and slept. Otherwise, were trying to remember to write things down which, when you're focused on getting a nap or preventing your house from looking more like a disaster zone than it already does, doesn't always happen and it leaves the other parent guessing. If we only had one little nugget, I'm not sure we'd use this, but with two and not ever being able to remember the exact-ish time they ate last etc, it's totally necessary. They're not on the exact same schedule now, so these are a huuuge help. I plan on sending them to the sitter's as well since she'll have more than one kiddo and might find this handy! They come in blue, green, and pink.

5. Baby Trend Snap N Go Stroller We are loving our stroller! This particular stroller is just a frame to snap your car seats into and go, hence the name. This isn't a forever stroller, but for right now it's great. It folds up really nicely and takes up a lot less space in my tiny trunk than a regular stroller would. It has good storage down below, two cup holders, and a nifty spot to store my phone! It does not have the greatest shocks, so we're the people walking on the street instead of sidewalks. Sorry. (Our town is known for not having the best sidewalks...a sore subject for this town's residents.)

6. Enfamil AR. Freaking formula, I know. Wasn't in my plans at all, but here we are, exclusively using $25/can formula. About 4 weeks ago or so, the boys developed some super obnoxious reflux and had to do something about it. We tried the rice cereal but that stuff does not dissolve that well, so we buy this stuff. This formula is heavier and sits better in their bellies. They don't stay full longer, but it definitely makes a huge difference with the spit-up issue, which makes me very happy!

7. Carter's Terry Teething Bibs These bibs are the bomb.com. We received a few with outfits and not only are they super cute but discovered they are the most absorbent of all the bibs we have. The spit-up doesn't roll all the way down and off of these like other bibs. It's a double layer of super awesome terrycloth with a button in the back. I'm not a fan of the velcro bibs, those come undone way too easily.
They are a bit on the pricey side ($7 with no sale) but with your Carter's Cash (just like Kohl's cash, a vicious circle of spending) then it's a little more justifiable. I picked up the footballs for this fall at $4.something a piece on sale the other day. I know they're fantastic quality so I'm willing to drop a few more dead presidents on them.
Right here is the Amazon link to the same products; more selection than on the Carter's website, which is the link above.

8. This poop chart. Laugh all you want! When you have one baby, you can probably easily remember when they last pooped (I'm assuming. Never only had just one child.) Early on, we would go back and forth trying to remember who pooped and when...not great when you're worried about constipation and they're on an iron supplement, which can cause said constipation. So, with the help of Microsoft Excel, wah-lah! A poop chart. We have it taped to the wall next to their diaper pail with a pen nearby, so we just jot it down after we toss in the turdy diaper! (Bonus points if you can figure out where we changed formulas based on their BM's on this chart!)

9. Tandem feedings: Look at that...the non-cliche husband feeding not just one, but both of his children...AT THE SAME TIME!!! But it hasn't alwasy been like that... we were complete fools for the first 6 weeks. At 2, 5, 8, 11 AM and PM, the boys would be fed. Well, Owen would be fed and diapered. At 2:30, 5:30, 8:30 and 11:30 AM and PM, Payton would be fed and diapered (or whenever Owen finished...he's a painfully slow eater.) Then I'd pump after. What were we thinking!?!? Well, we weren't. My husband, a thinker and slightly less patient person than I, started to become frustrated with this ridiculous feeding schedule. Granted, it's logical and easy to remember but holy cow...who has that kind of time?? Not us. So he consulted this book which contains the answers to all of life's important twin questions, and it said we gotta tandem feed them. So we did...and our lives have changed. You have to work quickly to burp the little nuggets when you're tandem feeding, otherwise they get hangry and it's ugly, but otherwise it's pretty dang great.

Owen loves photo shoots...

Snuggles on mama's lap after a meltdown duet.

Post bathtime...so fresh and so clean! 

I mean, seriously. 

All of my boys hanging in the kitchen while I did dishes. 

 Smiles!!!!! Above, I was sending my bestie, Alicia, a selfie at 2AM and Payton had perfect timing with that grin. I teared up. Below, I just had the camera ready at the perfect moment. Thank Jesus for iPhones (ok, and Steve Jobs and Co.) How did anyone get pictures of their smiling babies before iPhones?? Those smiles disappear SO quickly.