The One with our 8 month photos

We just got our 6-9 month photos in! They are fun!

 bow heads

 yummy grass

 wagon party

 squinty family

 we love grass!

 girly girls

 Char has 1,000 arm rolls! :)

 nom nom necklace

 cutesy baby

 chevron buds

 Char was a ham!

 slumber party

I was kinda bummed because normally Emily is SUPER smiley, but she wasn't that day. Oh well.  They turned out cute and I'm excited to print some off!  Thanks Melissa Dieterich!

The One With Baby Adventures

I thought I'd make you feel clean and awesome by telling you about recent adventures.

1. Poop.  I walked out of my bedroom the other day (while the girls were napping) and distinctly smelled poop. You know that smell when somebody steps on dog poop and everyone immediately checks their shoes? That smell was wafting across the house from the nursery. I found Charlotte happily asleep with her entire bed covered in poop.
Moral dilemma: 
A.) wake up your baby and clean her off (although none is near her face or hands) knowing that she will scream, wake up her sister and they both will hate you all day long
OR
B.) let your baby happily sleep in a poop bed while risking the fact that she could wake up at any time and possibly eat/play with her poop

sigh. I cleaned her up.

2. My babies can take off their diapers now. And they're tying to take off each others diapers as well. We put 2 diaper babies to sleep and woke up with 2 naked babies in pee beds.

3. Charlotte was caught almost teething on a used rectal thermometer.

4. I apparently didn't prewash my new underwear. Therefore they dyed the lower region of me fluorescent pink. For 2 days.

5. I Febreezed my jeans because I didn't have time to wash them. And by Febreeze I mean Great Value lysol spray because we ran out of Febreeze.

6. Emily ate a button.

7. I poked Emily in the eye with a baby spoon full of cottage cheese. Ok, she actually head-butted the spoon. But there was a lot of crying and cheese involved.

8. On Tuesday I preheated the oven to make cookies. I found Saturday's unbaked potatoes inside.

9. I tried on clothes in the middle of Old Navy (over my regular clothes) because my stroller didn't fit in the fitting room.

10. I forgot to wear deodorant twice. Sorry, America.

11. As I was about to put 2 naked babies in the bathtub, I found my iPhone floating in the water. (Magically, it still works!)

12. I made an insane trip to Babies R Us in which I pushed my 30 foot stroller while pulling a cart behind me. I felt like I was on Supermarket Sweep. 500 diapers. Baby food. 2 economy boxes of formula. Wipes.
Lots of employees said, "You've got your hands full!!!!" and kept walking.
Thanks. Thanks a lot, stranger. Thank you for your unhelpful, unsolicited comments.

I think other things have probably happened to me that were gross and adventurous, but I forgot. At least I'm never bored, right? :)

                                                              (love my little turkeys!)

The One with the Winner

The winner is...

Ashley Beane!

Please send me your email address (on Facebook) and the people at Cherry Hill Designs will send you your $20 electronic gift card! Hooray! Thanks for playing guys!

The One with Adorable free Stuff

I'm having my very first GIVEAWAY!!!! Yep, I'm giddy.

I'm pretty excited because this stuff is adorable and could be used by anyone (not just moms).
I'll start with the non-mom stuff they have, and then get to the mom stuff.

The site is called www.CherryHillDesigns.com.  Their motto is "Label With Style". Who doesn't love labeling and organizing!?! Even if we aren't successful, we still strive to organize and have cute things, right? Thanks, Pinterest.

This giveaway is for a free $20 gift card!

What I'm newly excited about is their chalkboard labels. They are peel and stick, and are compatible with chalkboard markers as well. You can label just about anything with these. They come in a variety of sizes and shape choices (rectangle, oval, circle, scalloped). I know my teacher friends would think these are super cute! Sets range from $8.50-$10.50. Not bad! I want to order these so I can organize my pantry.

They also have address labels, gift tags, and other personalized household items. I appreciate that they usually give you a choice of cute fonts and colors.  I love their new iPad and iPhone cases!

For moms, they have the coveted waterproof labels. We own these. They can label anything from sippy cups, plates, pacifiers, bowls, toys, etc. We bought a set so we could tell the difference between Charlotte and Emily's bottles and pacis. They go through a beating! We wash them daily and they haven't peeled off in 8 months.  We also use the steam bags to sterilize their pacifiers and they still are sticking strong!

Labels are a "must" for moms of twins, or moms that have kids in daycare/church nursery.  These are much cuter than writing with a sharpie, and they don't rub off! We bought a set that has 48 mini labels for only $10, and haven't even used half of them yet! Adorable and affordable.

                                                                     (our tiny labels!)

They also have personalized melamine plates & bowls, diaper bag tags, clothing labels, and so much more. Their site shows you all of your font and color options.

I will randomly draw 1 winner of a FREE $20 gift card to this site!!!

Here's how to enter:
-Check out their website at www.cherryhilldesigns.com

-Comment below about what you would use your $20 gift card towards if you won! (anyone can comment, you don't have to sign in or anything)

-You get extra entries for:
           -"sharing" this blog link on facebook
           -liking Cherry Hill Designs on facebook
           -bravely commenting if we're friends on facebook but you're afraid to comment because you   think you're stalking me. You're probably not stalking me. It's cool. I like you. I deleted all the weirdos on my facebook.

Just leave a comment below for each one of these things you do. Example:

Comment 1:
Hey Liz! I'm Tina, your long lost friend. I'd buy a super cute owl label set for my baby with the $20!
Comment 2:
Tina again. I liked Cherry Hill Designs on Facebook.
Comment 3. 
It's Tina. I shared your blog link! Now I have 3 entries in your giveaway. 

The end. Easy, huh?
Get hypothetical shopping, people! :)

Giveaway ends at midnight May 9th (my birthday!)
Make sure you check back May 10th to see if you are a winner!

The One with Our Favorite Books

We are trying our hardest to read to the girls as much as we can. Here are our favorites for the girls at this age:

I have only introduced board books to the girls so far because they gnaw on everything. Also, they love try to turn the pages themselves and I'd prefer no ripped pages!  In this phase of life, we are reading books that have a fun rhythmic cadence that the girls can recognize when they hear it. When I read them narrative story books (like the Very Hungry Caterpillar) they like the pictures, but soon become disinterested.  I still read them those kinds of books for variety, but they like a sort of sing-song pattern to stay involved.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear: (Bill Martin, Jr and Eric Carle) The girls love this one. I would always recite it to them while changing diapers, etc so that they would be distracted. Charlotte first smiled when I read this to her. When kids are older, they can memorize this one. Its predictability makes them feel like they are "reading", which is adorable.

Barnyard Dance: (Sandra Boynton) All of Boynton's books are awesome! The girls love the rhythm and cadence of this one. It is fun and upbeat and just adorable.

Hand, Hand Fingers Thumb: (Al Perkins) Ok, I am not a fan of monkeys. They might eat your face at any minute. But this book (all about monkeys) has an adorable upbeat pattern to it. I'd recommend it!

In My Nest:  This book has an adorable finger puppet bird in the back. It pops through all the pages and the girls LOVE to grab its little wiggly body. There are many books in this series they are all ADORABLE. We have "On My Leaf" (with a ladybug finger puppet) and "In My Pond" (with a fish finger puppet).  Sadly, the books is a little short, (like, 4 pages) but worth the fun with finger puppet.

The Foot Book, Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? and Blue Hat Green Hat:   More awesome books by Dr. Seuss and Sandra Boynton. The girls love them all.


The Jesus Storybook Bible: I can't say enough about this Bible. My hubby would always read it to my belly when I was pregnant. He still reads it to them every night before bed. Precious. Every story relates back to Christ. The illustrations are whimsical and beautiful, and the people are actually Middle Eastern looking! :) It breaks down the stories in an easy-to-understand way. The girls can't understand it now, but we want to instill reading the Bible into their everyday life. Even I enjoy and learn from the stories!

What are your family favorites?

The One with Toys We Like

I thought I'd do a post on all of our favorite toys! It was hard to choose, but I narrowed it down.

When I look at toys, I try to follow these guidelines:
1. Will it drive me crazy?
(no elaboration needed)
2. Is it gender neutral?
I want future kids to be able to use it as well. Plus, I'm not very girly.
3. Does it require batteries?
If so, does the cool factor negate the battery factor? When it is running low on batteries, will it sound like a cat dying?
4. Is there educational value to the toy?
Anything from fine/gross motor to phonemic/alphabet skills or imaginary play all has value to me.
5. Does it serve more than one purpose?
Could this cup be used in the bathtub/sandbox/pretend kitchen later? Or is this singing frog a "one trick pony" ?
6. Will they use it for throughout their young childhood?
Other than teething toys, I'd like for them to be able to use their toys in other forms throughout being a toddler, etc.
7. Can they choke?
Sometimes things look big and deceptively non-chokey, but when gnawed on can break off into smaller chokey pieces.

from left to right
1. Bead Roller Coaster (Ikea, $9)
The girls love this! It's a mini version of the ones at the doctors office! They both can play with it at the same time. They can use it laying down or sitting up. I know they will like it when they are older as well.

2. Stacking Cups (Lakeshore)
I used to work at Lakeshore, so I'm kind of obsessed with their stuff. These stacking cups are awesome, and the girls LOVE them. They can't stack them now, but they love to gnaw on them, knock them over, and clank them together. They soon will learn fine motor and critical thinking skills as they are able to stack them appropriately. Plus, some of the cups have geometric shapes on the end that later can be used as play-dough stamps, etc. They are also dishwasher safe.

3. Soft and Safe Building Blocks (Lakeshore)
Again, obsessed. These blocks are colorful, have shapes on them, and are awesome! They are soft and squishy and totally munchable. They can't get hurt as they wildly hit themselves in the face with these. They are quiet and coated with vinyl so you can easily wipe them off with a Clorox wipe or something. I can see the girls loving these until kindergarten!

4. Washable Sensory Balls (Lakeshore)
Oops. More Lakeshore stuff. When I worked there, I could sell everything!
Ok, these are great because they are machine washable, come in 6 different sizes, and have all sorts of different textures. Some are jingly, some are crunchy, some are smooth, some are corduroy. The girls love to nudge and roll these around the living room. Balls and rolling toys help promote crawling and forward movement. They are also fun to gnaw on. I'm glad they are able to enjoy them now, but I know they will think of all sorts of fun ways to play with them later. They are also soft and quiet, so I know they won't be breaking anything with these later on!

5. Skwish Toy (Manhattan Toy)
I can't say enough about this one. Our favorite teething toy. It's wooden with beads, but has stretchy cables between all the joints. The girls liked this toy early on. Because of the many stretchy cables and its "atom-like" structure, the girls were very easily able to grasp and manipulate it. When they were on their tummies, they could gnaw on the different corners. I wasn't afraid of it choking them because with any pressure on it, the toy collapses flat. The beads quietly rattle as you shake it around. They still love it today.

6. Learn and Groove Musical Table (Leapfrog)
I have loved this toy for years. Everyone I nannied for had it. They had it at Pine Cove, and in the church nurseries I volunteered in. It's just the best. Worth the batteries. In the picture it is flat (on the far right), but there are detachable legs to make it a table later. The girls LOVE it. If we were trapped on a desert island for the next 2 years and only had 1 toy, it'd be this one. It has 2 modes: learning and musical. It teaches you everything from instrument sounds (I'm a band nerd) to the alphabet and opposites. It also has a Spanish setting (ole!). Both girls can easily play with this at the same time. I love that when it sings the alphabet it clearly separates "L M N O P" rather than ellemeno P. I don't know how many of my first graders thought "ellemeno" was a letter. I could go on and on. Just get this one.

This is what my living room looked like after the girls destroyed it. Yay! :) They had a fun afternoon.
What toys are your favorites?

The One in Survival Mode

A lot of times I feel like I'm just treading water.  I'm learning that this is ok. I'm taking good care of my babies and they are abundantly loved.

Yet sometimes I think, "Wow, I'm glad nobody is video taping me right now." Here are some tips I learned after my week of desperation.

(Partial TMI warning for those that visualize things. Or if you're a dude that I don't know well.)


TIP #1: ALWAYS HAVE FOOD
I was in Target and the girls started crying. I realized they were hungry, but I didn't have bottles with me. I was about 30 minutes away from being home, so I headed straight for the baby food aisle.  I grabbed one of those baby food squeezable pouches (I've never used one before) and opened it up right there and started feeding them. I felt like a creepy applesauce shoplifter.  I never thought I would do this out of necessity, but I did. Two screaming babies will do that to you I guess.  I fed them about half of the pouch to pacify them, continued shopping, and later paid for the food when I checked out.

TIP #2: GO BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE HOUSE
My stroller is giant. From the handlebar to the end it is 58 inches.  That's almost 5 feet long, people!
I like that the girls can see me and that the car seats snap inside, but it's pretty mammoth to push. (And draws LOTS of attention.)

                                                                      (my adorable view)

So I'm in Target and I had to GO. I mean GO. Ahem. Think Bridesmaids.
In panic mode, I rushed to the bathroom with my mega stroller. I can't leave them outside of the stall. So I had to maneuver my stroller into the handicapped stall (which is harder than parallel parking). I barely fit inside. Phew. Then the girls started screaming. If one baby screaming stresses you out, try two. They want the rest of the applesauce. Every ounce of my being said, "No, Liz. Food in a bathroom is gross. Don't. They can wait a few minutes."
 No, they couldn't. So yes, I was sitting in the handicapped stall of Target with a 6 foot stroller in front of me, squeezing applesauce back and forth out of a pouch to feed my babies. If thats not rock bottom, I don't know what is.

TIP #3 DON'T PULL YOUR BACK OUT. (BUT IF YOU DO, DON'T BE NAKED.)
I pulled my back this week. I'm not sure how. I had just taken a shower, and then suddenly I couldn't stand up straight or raise my right arm. This might not be a huge deal except I had 2 crying babies in their cribs that had just woken up. I could have called for help, but I couldn't stand up or raise my arm to get dressed. I stumbled around my house in a towel, hunched over, as I tried to think of a way to get the babies out of their cribs.  I'm sure that I looked like a Quasimodo baby-napper as I awkwardly pulled them out of their cribs. They just laughed at me, since this was obviously a funny new game. Thankfully, my hubby came home from work early to help.


Sometimes you just have to make things work, even in rough situations. What things have you done out of survival mode?