The One With Older Baby Toys

Ok guys, in 6 days my babies will turn one. This is not acceptable. I'm really in denial. I thought I would do a post on some new toys that we have gotten for the girls as they get older. (9 months plus)

I'll have you know that I have stuck to my "toy guidelines" from a previous post, and that my girls still love their old toys as well! Hooray! I'm trying to get universal, gender-neutral classics that will last a long time. If you missed that post, it's here.  Here's hoping that these will get many more years of use!


Fisher Price Animal Sounds Farm

(pic courtesy of amazon.com)

My girls LOVE this farm. They can play with it together for like, 30 minutes at a time. At first, they just gnawed on the animals, but now they try to place the animals in the farm. They also love to drop the animals down the chute of the silo, then open the door and discover them at the bottom. The rooster slides horizontally and sings Old MacDonald (without lyrics, just music, so it's less annoying) and the girls bounce on their butts and dance along to the music.
Perks:
-It comes with 6 figurines (5 animals, one farmer, there is also a goat that isn't pictured above) that are wonderfully sized for a baby grip, yet are safe for munching.
-It makes animal sounds when you open the doors on the front. (It oinks when you open the pig pen, etc).
-It has a silo attached that holds all the pieces!! (Self-contained pieces? I'm sold.)
-It has batteries, but you can turn the sound off if you'd like.
-My friend has a 3 year old that still loves this toy! (We will get a few years out of this one!)

 (Emily putting the sheep in the barn loft, Charlotte examining the farmer.)

Leapfrog Fridge Farm
I guess I'm obsessed with farms? I didn't realize this until now. I really like this one. First of all, my kids are obsessed with the fridge and kitchen, so anything that keeps them occupied without mischief is a winner in my book. Leapfrog also makes a fridge phonics toy that tells you the letter sounds. I'm all about this as a teacher, but a) The girls aren't quite ready to grasp phonics yet, and b) I didn't want 26 little magnet pieces all over my kitchen floor. The girls love this toy.

 (All the animal options)

(See! Already pieces on the floor! So glad there aren't 26 letters.)

Perks:

-You can turn the sound on/off.
-Because the pieces are magnetic, the base kind of "sucks" them in more easily. The girls can actually put the pieces in the base with success!
-Sometimes my girls fight over the cool base, so I just let them play with the magnets on cookie sheets without the base. They still have fun attempting to match the animal head and butt.
-When you make a match, the toy sings, "You made a match! Look what you found! You made a match, hear a cow sound! Moo!" (or sheep or pig, etc) It also has fun facts about each animal, like "Did you know that pigs roll in the mud to stay cool?"
-If you don't make a match, the base sings, "You put a pig in the front, you put a horse behind, put them together, and what do you find? A pig-horse! That's silly!" I like that it still rewards them for placing the pieces in, yet gives feedback that they didn't make a real animal, just a silly one. I'm sure this will crack the girls up when they're 2-3 years old.



Little Tikes Activity Garden
Stop what you're doing and get this toy. It's amazing. Life-altering. Ok, maybe I'm being dramatic. This has been one of my favorite toys of all time. The kids I nannied had this toy. They had it in the baby room at Pine Cove. (Shout out to all my Creek Kids girls!)
It is everyone's favorite toy, and very highly coveted. The worst part? They don't make it anymore. The best part? I got it on Craigslist. If you get it on Craigslist, just make sure that it comes with all the pieces (3 pieces of mail, 3 vegetables). Or you can get replacement pieces on Ebay. When we bought ours, it was covered in crayon. Mr. Clean Magic eraser took it all off!

 Emily walks around the perimeter of the house.

Charlotte planting a carrot.

 They LOVE to play peek-a-boo through the mailbox! 

Super fun!

Perks:
-This can be an indoor/outdoor toy. It's made by Little Tikes, so it is durable enough for outside, yet cute enough for inside.
-Both babies can fit inside well.
-Cool features: It has a swinging door, a tunnel to crawl out of, a squeaky doorbell, a squeaky bird, spinning birds, floppy flowers to play with, a carrot, radish and onion that they can "plant" in the garden portion, and a mailbox with mail inside! The mailbox is BY FAR the highlight of the toy. It even has a little flag you can put up like a real mailbox.
-Even big kids that are 3-4 still love playing with this.

Melissa and Doug Jumbo Knob Puzzles
First of all, you cannot go wrong with anything Melissa and Doug. Ever. They just have the best stuff. I want to start working on the girls' fine motor skills, so puzzles are the way to go! I love their jumbo knob puzzles because they are easy for the babies to grasp the pieces.

-My sister got them this puzzle with the shapes and it is their favorite! I like the fact that you can put the shape in successfully, even if it is technically upside down. (The shapes are symmetrical.) The girls have already put pieces in correctly! Yay!

Instruments (any that are age appropriate)
Weee! We love instruments! (Me and my hubby were diehard band nerds! Drum major and drum captain? Nerdy musical destiny.) The girls love to make music. We have a musical tub that I get out once a day. It's full of loud and annoying (I mean fun?) toys that can help teach rhythm and give them a variety of auditory input. We shake our toys and sing our ABC's, jingle bells, or whatever cutesy song I can think of.  We usually play with this in the morning time and it magically gets cleaned up by the time daddy gets home from work. It helps the sanity over here.  I really want to get them a xylophone, but the thought of my 2 babies and mallets scares me. They are always somehow injuring each other. Plus, we have a bathtub xylophone and they would just gag themselves of on the mallets. Maybe when they are older?

(Sensory water bottles, jingle bells, maracas*, tambourine, rain stick, baby piano)

*Don't get cheap plastic maracas. If the plastic is thin, and your child hits it against something, it will shatter and you will have lots of tiny bead things everywhere. Mine are plastic, but it is very thick. (Lakeshore, $2.99)


FREE household things my girls love to play with:
-Blankets and pillows
-Tupperware
-Board Books (sometimes I sneak board books into their cribs once they are asleep. That way, when they wake up, there are fun books to look at in the morning!)
-Plastic Mixing Bowls
-An air mattress
-Diaper/Wipes Boxes (they love to climb on/push these around)
-Laundry in a laundry basket (emptying and filling over and over)

Ok, so there's my list of new fun toys. If you're not a mom, you probably just died of boredom. :)
Bye guys! Next post...birthday party post!!!

The One With Baby Food

So...I'm kind of obsessed with baby food. I love trying to give my babies a wide variety of foods. It is adorable when you see the look on their face when they love the food. It's hilarious seeing the look on their face when they hate the food.

I think the source of my baby food obsession came from working with Emily. For a few months, Emily couldn't eat solid food, even though Charlotte was able.  Emily turned bright red, choked, gasped for air, and threw up every time. Even with just thicker purees and dissolvable puffs there would be a choking fit. Her physical therapist recommended her to see an occupational therapist, to make sure the anatomy of her mouth was correct and functioning properly. The therapist discovered that Emily was barely able to move her tongue, and therefore, she couldn't manipulate the food in her mouth to eat. Long story.
(With continued therapy she gained the strength to move her mouth correctly and she is all better now!)

Anyways, during the months of Emily's choking fiascos I was trying so hard to find food that she could actually eat and not choke and die on. Each time I found a new food, I was thrilled. Hence, the baby food addiction.

I recently have been taking pics of my baby food plates to show some fun ideas for those of you looking to spice up your menu. I'm a visual person, so this helps me remember better than a list. Oh, and yes, I'm obsessed with Skip Hop plates and bowls.

Breakfast Ideas:

                                         

Bananas*, Waffles with jelly, Yo Baby Yogurt

*banana tip my twin mom friend told me: Roll the bananas in Cheerio dust so for a better grip!                         

Egg Muffin (recipe in a previous post), Yogurt, Buttered Toast, Grapes (in mesh teethers)

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal (adult), peaches

Lunch/Dinner Ideas:

     

Peas (frozen steam bag), Northern beans (no shell to choke on) Cheese Ravioli, cut up (Annie's Organic) 

Colby Jack cheese, Veggie Burger Pieces (yay protein and secret veggies!), Watermelon, Graham Sticks

Turkey (shaved thin at the deli), cheddar cheese, applesauce

Drained Chicken Noodle Soup (natural, low sodium!, cut up chicken chunks VERY small), Pear Chunks 

Adult Casserole (this had brown rice, cheese, black beans, corn, and zucchini), mandarin oranges, blueberry apple sauce

Chicken (shredded thin at deli), grapes (cut very small, seedless), canned green beans (steamed/fresh are too firm), mashed potatoes 

Those are just some ideas of foods my girls like. If you think those are mega portions, don't judge. Remember, those are for 2 babies. And they are chubby. I'm usually not a fan of canned food, but when looking for canned veggies I always hunt for low sodium. As for fruit, I look for ones canned in 100% juice or water, rather than syrup. I'm so excited, because I haven't bought jarred baby food for the girls in probably about 2 months! Freeeeedom!

If you have other finger food ideas, please leave tips in the comments section! I would love to have an awesome, giant, collaborative list here! :)

The One With the No Sew Birthday Banner

 This year I wanted to make a birthday banner for my hubby. I also want to use this banner for all the birthdays in our family. I think it will be a fun tradition for the girls to wake up on their birthday and see the fun banner and have a  yummy birthday breakfast.

I love banners/garlands on the fireplace. I think they are a good way to decorate for an event/holiday without having to decorate the whole house. These are the supplies I used:

1. Ribbon. I wanted something wide and colorful. I also made sure it had boy and girl colors in it, without being too girly or boyish. Colorful polka dots worked for me!

2. Felt. I love felt! I brought my ribbon over to the felt section of Hobby Lobby and picked out some coordinating colors. I also got white felt for the letters.

3. For extra fun, I got pom pom trim. (As in, the stuff that dangles off of sombreros!)  I don't know why, but I think this stuff is adorable. 

4. Hot glue.  I can technically kinda sew, but it's not pretty. Hot glue is my friend.

First, I hot glued the pom pom trim to the front of the ribbon for a fun textured look. 

Then I cut out a bunch of triangles out of the felt, and glued those to the back of the ribbon, making a pattern with the colors.

To make the letters, I typed the words "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" in all caps in a cute font. I made sure that the font had a lot of straight lines, because they would be easier to cut later on. I used size 150 font, but I forget the name of it. It wasn't fancy.  I printed the letters and cut them out.  Once they are cut out, I traced them backwards on the white felt with just a regular skinny Crayola marker. That way, you didn't see the yucky ink when you flip it over. 

Then I cut the letters out an hot glued them onto the triangles. Voila!

And here is my hubs with his birthday banner! I can't wait to take a picture with it every year!

My inspiration to make a family birthday banner is from a website called www.Icanteachmychild.com  Its my FAVORITE blog. It's from a Christian mom that used to be a reading teacher and now stays at home with her 2 boys. She has a lot of fun themed ideas, and sorts her arts/crafts/learning games/book activities by age! Love it! She has 2 boys, so a lot of her things are boy-themed, (but not all of them). All of her ideas are cheap too, like "match your pots and pans with their correct lid" etc. A lot of good rainy day activities are there as well. You should check her out!

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 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 with stuff I like

It's "Stuff I Like" Saturday! It's where I tell you all about my favorite things.
But not in an Oprah way.
Let's just say that when I really like something, I want to tell the world about it. I get giddy about silly things. For example, my favorite pen of all time, the Bic Atlantis (go buy one now, you'll never go back).  If I like my food when we're out to dinner, I will REALLY want you to try it. Possibly to the point where it might annoy you.  I don't mean to be pushy; I sincerely want you to be as happy and giddy as I am at that very moment. So here goes...

Thing #1.  Duncan Hines "Simple Mornings" Blueberry Streusel Muffins

My hubby and I are trying to start family traditions now that we have the girls. We want to have "happy weekend mornings" in which we wake up, listen to upbeat music, and have a fun breakfast. (i.e, not cereal.) It gives us something to look forward to. We really want the girls to be excited to wake up on the weekends so we can be productive and spend quality time together. We want Sunday mornings to be positive for them, rather than, "Hurry up! We are late, throw some clothes on and sing to Jesus or you're grounded." Naturally, muffins, cinnamon rolls, or pancakes are the way to go. Some might call it bribing with food. Others might call it "providing positive correlations" via pastries.

Anyways, these muffins are really great for boxed ones. They are quick and delicious.  The best part is that it comes with this fun crumbly streusel topping that you sprinkle on top. Also, all the ingredients are natural, so there isn't any corn syrup bleh in it.

Thing #2. Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Products 

                                                        (my real life sink and laundry room shelf!)

I could go on and on. I use their hand soap, dish soap, laundry detergent, fabric softener, and countertop spray. Ironically, I heard about these products on a blog I read. Dang, that girl was more obsessed than I could ever be. With good reason.

The best things about these are:
a) They smell AWESOME. They don't have any crazy harsh, fume-y chemicals in them, and everything is plant-based and aromatherapeutic. I first started using them when I got pregnant and I was super sensitive to smells.  I love the basil, lemon verbena, and lavender scents. If people are coming over, I just spray down my countertops, wipe them down, and the house smells fresh and nice. When I had the babies and people came to help me, everyone always commented on my detergent smell!

b) The containers adorable. I know this might sound shallow. But I firmly believe that if you need something sitting out 24/7 in your house, it might as well be aesthetically pleasing. Nobody likes looking at a giant, 2-foot aqua bottle of Dawn at their sink. The packaging and graphic design have a retro look to them that is cute and simple, so I don't mind having them sit out all day long.

The cons are that they don't sell this stuff everywhere, although my Target carries a lot of their stuff now. I recently found the hand soap at my Wal-Mart! If you want a more extensive line of their products (toilet bowl cleaner, etc) you will have to go to Central Market or perhaps Whole Foods. Mrs. Meyer's stuff is more expensive as well, but it's not ridiculous.  I guess if you were feeling really "thrifty" you could buy the soap bottles for your counter and refill them with cheaper soap. That does defeat the whole good-smelling point though. I think the hand soap is around $3 and the detergent is $16 or something.  http://www.mrsmeyers.com/Products/Laundry

That's all for now. In the meantime, enjoy this of my children enthralled with my hubby's storytime.