Leading the Double Life: baby shower

Mama, Interrupted...

This post was written one week ago on the sunny beaches of Key Largo. Unfortunately, due to spotty Internet connections I was unable to post from Florida.

Aloha! I am writing to you from sunny Florida! We are on Spring Break (wooooo!) here in Groffland, and Hershey, the twins and I are spending our much-anticipated week off with Hershey’s parents at a beach club in Key Largo. It’s paradise.

Life with twin toddlers these last 2 months have been…well…LIFE. It’s been messy and horrifying and beautiful and amazing. We have had some highs and some seriously serious lows, but we are optimistic about the future.

Jane and Emma have continued to battle the dreaded Day Care Cough and Sniffle. They’ve been hacking up a lung for months now and have regressed big time in the sleep department. Janey is screaming “MAMAAAAA” in her crib as I type this, and it is way past her bedtime!

On top of the constant illness fight, Hershey got really sick 2 weeks ago and passed out in our kitchen while he was home from work alone one morning. After a multitude of tests “they” have determined that it “may have been a seizure” but there’s no way of knowing because the hospital screwed up and released him instead of holding him for tests and now there’s no way to know for sure.

My sister-in-law’s baby shower was last month and I had a lot of fun making a nautical-themed diaper cake and favors. I ordered salt water taffy from our fave candy spot in Stone Harbor and filled mason jars with the taffy for the guests. Heather’s aunt put together the coolest baby shower gift I’ve ever seen (similar here), and the girls had a blast re-gifting all of the shower gifts to their godmother when the shower was over. I also loved feeling my tiny nephew kick in his mommy’s belly. I’m so excited to have a little nephew!

The best news of all is that we finally got some nice weather in NJ. We brought out the swings and our chairs and the girls have actually gotten a couple of rides in their little pink cars. Warm temps mean open windows and less germs, so Hershey and I have been on a cleaning spree. We have also been busy trying to finish a few little projects around the house to get ready for..

Jane and Emma’s 2nd Birthday Extravaganza!!!! Since we never got to throw the girls a legit birthday party last year due to our closing circumstances, you can bet your booty that we will be celebrating this year big time!

Speaking of the twincesses, they are on a roll. With BUTTA! They have a huge bank of words, are speaking in simple sentences, know their ABCs, can count to 13, and are really interested in the potty. They also repeat EVERYTHING, which I can tell you is not so fun when you hear your beautiful innocent almost 2 year old blurt out “SHIT” in the backseat of the car, and start wondering where else she is saying it during the course of her day.

But they do say some things that crack me up. Emma says “LEEsard” (lizard) and Jane says “peppy RONI!” (pepperoni). And Jane walks around scolding Emma (“NO NO EMMA BAD GURL!” while wagging her finger at Emma) as Emma giggles and cocks her head to the side and says, “Janey funny!” I want to bottle it up and save it forever because I know that this time is so fleeting and when it’s over it will never be back!

There are some other big things coming up that I can’t wait to share with you. With Hershey being so sick the last few weeks and then wrapping up school before the break, I haven’t been able to get my head straight. I will hopefully be able to get back into the swing again soon.

What are you doing to help usher in the good weather? What are you looking forward to for spring?

Hope you’re hanging in there! I hear it’s icky back in Jersey, so I’m sending some sun rays and beautiful vitamin D your way!

photo http---signatures.mylivesignature.com-54493-79-BE2F1C230B2E09DDB90549082CF6E130_zpsogacqeac.png

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2:05 PM
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October-Schmocktober...

babies

This has been an incredibly BUSY month for us. While I feel so blessed to have so many people in my life who are celebrating wonderful happenings, I wish that I could just SLOOOOOOWWW DOWWWWN for a minute and enjoy life and my daughters. Who, by the way, are getting SO BIG!

October 13, one of my besties, Erin, had a shower for her baby, Olivia, who will be here in just a couple of weeks! The day was gorgeous, and the girls had their first girls' day out, as daddy stayed home to catch up on zzz's and football.

My beautiful friend Erin with her little Olivia in the oven.

(Don't you just hate how awesome she looks preggers? Yeah, me too!)

Erin and her hubby, Rich, who nobly stayed for the ENTIRE shower...

Talk about a cock in the hen house!

Then, on October 20, I was lucky enough to help throw my very best friend, Suzanne, a baby sprinkle for her expected bundle of joy, Ryan. It was my first time throwing a sprinkle, and since there haven't been any boys in our group of friends to shower in a very long time, it was extra fun being able to plan all of the little details!

Ryan will be here in less than 2 weeks!

The proud parents and very excited big sister.

It's all in the details...

Cake by Sugar Nest

Cupcake Baking Cups by Designs with Distinction

Cupcake Toppers by Lengingham Shop

Party Flags by My Party Design

Nautical Themed Straws by Bake Me a Party

Thank You Cards by The Invite Lady Shop

Diaper Cake by Yours Truly (with some help from Emma, of course)

To wrap up the month, my sister-in-law married the man of her dreams. I always love it when two people who were meant to be together tie the knot, and this was NO EXCEPTION. In fact, I couldn't be happier that Brett is finally my OFFICIAL brother-in-law. Now we just have to get the girls baptized to make Brett and Heather the OFFICIAL godparents of Jane and Emma.

This weekend we get to kick our shoes off and relax at a Halloween Housewarming party! We got the girls the CUTEST costumes, and chose our costumes based on them! I'll be posting pics on Sunday.

Have a BOO-rific Halloween!

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10:02 PM
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Takes a LOT of Stuff to Welcome a New Human Home

baby registry

When I first started to consider what I needed to bring home my twins, I didn't realize what a huge undertaking it would be. It takes a LOT of stuff to bring home a new human being! It's nothing like registering for china or linens.

When you register for your wedding, all you have to think about is what YOU and your significant other like. It's all based on your taste in home goods. When considering what you need for a baby, you have to do the research. I mean, pretty much everything you are going to buy in preparation for your little one's homecoming is going to have 9,382 warnings about choking hazards and ways that your baby can die once you purchase this product and begin to build it.

What I also did not realize is that what you want to register for to bring home ONE baby is DIFFERENT from from you would register for to bring home TWO OR MORE. And the store clerks don't know. Their sage advice is "Just register for two of everything." Sure, and just buy a second house for all of the sh*t that you're now going to be bringing home while you're at it.

So here is my list of ABSOLUTELY must haves for your baby registry. I tried to include accommodations for multiples where applicable.

1. Onesies, onesies, onesies. Your newborn will LIVE in these for the first few months, and you will be happy to have just 2-3 snaps to undo for those frequent diaper changes. If you're having multiples, multiply what the registry guide says is normal for one by however many higher order multiples you are expecting.

2. Footie pajamas. If you are expecting multiples, get at least 5 pairs of footie pajamas per baby. If you deliver prematurely, chances are good that babies are not going to be able to regulate their own body temperature, so the NICU will be asking you for footies to help keep them warm once they take them out of the incubator and introduce them to a crib. And if you're having a singleton, get yourself 2-3 pairs. They're great for nighttime sleeping. Zippers are better, unless you have a baby on a monitor. Then get jammies with snaps to let the cords out.

3. Dr. Brown's bottles. Great for reducing gas. WARNING. There are SIX parts per bottle for washing. SIX. The biggest pain in the a$$ ever, but so worth every moment you spend assembling and disassembling them. Which leads me to my next must have.

4. Dishwasher Basket. Get a couple of these. Dr. Brown's bottles are fully dishwasher safe, and you will be thankful for these little baskets after you have washed 457 parts in 2 days.

5. A swing. ANY swing. We went with the ones that matched our nursery bedding, but you can choose whichever one you think is prettiest, or most handsome, or matches your living room. Just get one. If you're having multiples, get two.

6. Fisher Price Rock N' Play. If you have a baby with reflux, this will take the place of the beautiful bassinet that has been passed down through generations of you or your hubby's family. Our babies both have bad reflux, and they sleep in these perfectly. We had to prop up the bassinets, and the babies would slowly make their ways into the bottoms of the bassinets after a while, and I would find them in a ball in a puddle of puke after 2 hours. The Rock N' Play keeps them at a 45 degree angle. It's not a fix, but it certainly helps them to sleep better!

7. Medela nursing bras. They were so comfy, and even though my milk dried up weeks ago, I am still wearing these nursing bras at night.

8. Diapers. You are probably looking at me thinking, "Seriously?" YES! After my shower, where I got a LOT of wonderful gifts, I realized that I had NO diapers. And when I went into labor 8 weeks early, one of the first calls I made was to my best friend to beg her for newborn diapers. She ordered some off of Amazon Mom (by the way, sign up for an Amazon Mom account!) and brought me a case to the hospital.

9. Aden + Anais Swaddle Blankets. These beautiful blankies are made of muslin (a very light and breathable material) and are HUGE. If you fold them over a few times, they keep babies very warm, and if it's a hot day and you're just looking for a light layer, they are great. They also double as car seat covers for when you're out in the sun.

10. Baby Jogger City Select Stroller. We haven't gotten MUCH use out of ours yet (since we've been in a heat wave), but when we have used it, it has been super easy and lightweight. It folds down to be easily stored, and you can buy different adapters for all types of seats and seat configurations. Great for singletons OR twins. We plopped our Graco car seats right on there, and it was like pushing a feather. Well worth every penny.

A word about car seats. All car seats are the same safety-wise. They all have to pass federal standards for safety in order to be sold, so it's really all about your preference. When you install your car seat(s), call your local police department to find out who their car seat safety officer is, and if he can inspect your car seat installation. I learned so much from my safety inspector. He fastened my seats in beyond anything that my husband or I had done. My kids are going NO WHERE if we are in an accident. I also learned that if you purchase those handy back seat mirrors, if you get into an accident and they fly off and hit your baby, it's the equivalent of 60 lbs of pressure hitting your baby in the face. I returned mine, but it's up to you. Also, you don't want to buy any snugglers or anything to go in the car seat with the baby, because it could cause your baby to fly out of the seat if you are in an accident, and most hospitals will not let you leave with your baby if you have one of those in the seat with him/her. So put that extra money towards a nicer bathtub, or for a knee-saver for bath time, or for a nice bottle drying rack!

Hope that this helps! If anyone is interested, I can break this list down further into top 10 for each category. Just leave me a comment and I'll be happy to create another post. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy twinning!