Leading the Double Life

Awesome Sauce

Holy snowfall, Santa! We got dumped on here in NJ on Saturday. And not the good get-a-free-day-off-from-school-and-play-in-the-snow kind of dumped on. The ruin-your-holiday-shopping-for-the-day kind of dumped on. And here in Bergen County, we suffer from the dreaded Blue Laws, meaning retail stores are closed on Sundays. Thanks for ruining it, Mother Nature.

At least we still got in some godparent time! They must be SO happy to come home from their honeymoon in Hawaii to this mess.

I've been talking a lot about making Jane and Emma's baby food from scratch over the past couple of months, so I figured it was time to put the puréed apple where my mouth is. The one good thing about being snowed in on the weekend is that I got to make ALL of the girls' breakfasts AND dinners for at least a week. Awwwwesooomee!

I'm not going to lie to you. In order for it to be worthwhile, you must make at least a week's worth of food in advance, and that takes a lot of time. At least an hour and a half (including clean up and if your kids leave you alone). Having 7 month old twins, the being left alone is the hard part.

But I love being in the kitchen and who can be cranky with a sous chef as cute as this?!

To start, I bought this book all about weaning your baby onto solids, and it comes with a lot of quick and easy recipes. And so far the girls have loved everything.

The most important tools that I use the most are my rice cooker, my food processor, my Magic Bullet (which was bought as a gift for me by my husband for Xmas 3 years ago so that I could make individual margaritas, go figure I now use it for baby food making), these OXO food storage containers, and a vegetable peeler. I also use a wok with a bamboo steaming insert, which works GREAT for steaming multiple veggies at a time.

I try to remember to clean as I go, because a.) my husband has made fun of me for YEARS because of what a messy cook I am, and b.) it is a bear of a job to try to clean up when space is limited. We still live in an apartment, and our kitchen is FAR from ideal, so everything gets in my way.

Below are Jane and Emma's favorite recipes so far. We are moving on to the second stage of weaning, which means socializing the girls (aka family dinners!). Yesterday morning Jane and Emma sat at the table and had their apple sauce while Mama and Daddy had their breakfast. The looks on their little faces when they first realized that they were sitting at the big girl table and eating at the same time as us was PRICELESS!!!!!

Apple and Pear with Cinnamon

2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
2 medium pears, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice or water
Generous pinch of ground cinnamon (optional, but DO IT!)

Put the fruit into a saucepan together with the apple juice or water (I use filtered H2O) and cinnamon (if using, which YOU ARE), cover, cook over low heat for 6 minutes (or until the kids start screaming). Blend the fruit to a smooth puree (I use the Magic Bullet for this).

Start this recipe at 6 months. Makes 4 portions. Suitable for freezing.

Potato, Carrot, and Corn

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 medium potatoes (8 ounces), peeled and chopped
1 cup water
1/3 cup canned or frozen corn kernels
1 to 2 tablespoons of your baby's milk/formula

Melt the butter in a pan and saute the onion for 1 minute. Add the carrots and saute for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, cover with the water, and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Add the corn and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Puree through a food mill and stir in the milk to make the right consistency for your baby.

Start this recipe at 6-7 months. Makes 3 portions. Suitable for freezing.

I have to say, Jane and Emma were PRETTY patient while I busted my ass in the kitchen all morning. They are getting quite independent! *tear*

I hope that your weekend did not get snowed out and that you were able to enjoy the holiday season which is now in full swing! We finally got our tree up AND Hershey hung our icicle lights. It's finally beginning to look a lot like Xmas around here!

Have a great week! xoxo

P.S. Janey says, "PLEASE VOTE FOR US!"

If you like what you just read please click to send a quick vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs- The best mommy blog directory featuring top mom bloggers

10:05 PM
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Dear Time Burglars...

mommy blogs

Don't you know that the holiday season is upon us? If you are anything like me, you started decorating on December 1, got interrupted 3,479 times to go entertain a whining, teething, seven month old by singing Christmas carols or wearing flashing antlers, and then...

Never got back to it.

I knew it was bad the other day when I asked my hubby if he liked my xmas decor and he said, "All you did was throw a couple of xmas dish towels in the kitchen and break out the penguin spatulas."

Aw crap.

So now I am in mommy blog envy. Where the *bleep* is our stork? is listing the 21 ways to be selfless this holiday season. LBG is delivering doggie treats and making homemade red and green play dough as part of her advent calendar activities. Selfish Mom is visiting Times Square and the M&Ms store.

And here I am, in freezing cold NJ, trying desperately to figure out how to schedule in a trip to the grocery store as my eyebrows grow to wooly mammoth proportions. Bah humbug!

Today I planned a trip to Target, a homemade dinner using just one pan, bringing our little Martha Stewart pre-lit tree down from the attic (since we couldn't find time to go get a real one), creating our Xmas cards, and writing a blog post. Instead of the tree and the cards I watched the season finale of SOA on my DVR (btw DID THAT REALLY HAPPEN?!) and emailed my principal back. Three outta five ain't bad, right?

I am still trying to figure out how to be supermom. You know, the mom who has 95 things up in the air at once and never drops a single one? But for today, I will go to sleep grateful that 1.) my kids went to bed clean and with full bellies, 2.) I have homemade breakfasts and dinners in the freezer for them for the next 2 days, 3.) I only had to change my shirt once due to spontaneous spit up, and 4.) I cooked my hubby a warm meal that was healthy and have enough leftover for my lunch tomorrow.

So, if you truly ARE anything like me, don't feel bad about not getting to the other stuff. We're doing our best, our children are loved, and The holidays will come again next year.

Hopefully by then Obama will have figured out how to add more hours to a day.

Until then, spend your time enjoying the little victories, and squeeze in the trimmings, if you can.

Happy Holidays everyone!

6:40 AM
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Slumber Train Derailed

contest

First and foremost, thank you so much to everyone who took the time to participate in the Pampers Celebrating Firsts giveaway last week. Congratulations to the winner of the raffle, Suzanne Penn! What makes this win extra sweet is that she's my bestie with a new baby and a toddler, so if anyone can use a win, it's most def her!

After last week's post, the girls continued their ride to Sleepytown, until a wrench was thrown into the mix. Now, if you know anything, you KNOW that my babies LOOOOVE a schedule. When we brought them home from the hospital, the nurses in the NICU were so awesome that they had them on a military-like schedule. They got their diaper changed, they ate, they slept, they got their diaper changed, they ate, they slept, like clockwork, every 3 hours.

As they grew, their schedule changed, but as long as I kept them on a set schedule, happy babies. And everyone who cared for them when I went back to work knew, SCHEDULE OR BUST. Honestly, if anything differed in their daily schedule, they were crazed animals.

This new schedule that we put them on to get them to sleep through the night worked like a charm. And then I was nice enough to share my cold with them. And then Hershey and I had a wedding to go to on Friday night. And it's been back to square one ever since.

Emma wouldn't go to bed for the Grandma Squad on Friday night. I texted my mom at 8:15 and she was still up playing. When we got home, my mother said she was having a lot of trouble breathing and that both girls were sleeping "fitfully." They were up the rest of the night.

Yesterday, nap-time was a war. They both napped, but it was on and off, half an hour here half an hour there. Jane was awake most of the morning, playing with anything she could get her little hands on.

Old Navy Jammies

And both girls were stuffy and I had to fight them with the NoseFrida every couple of hours. After their dinner bottle, I ran the shower in the bathroom on hot for 5 minutes and sat in the bathroom with them as all of our nasal passages cleared out. It was such a beautiful sight, all of the Groff women with snot running down their faces. Yum.

Last night, Emma was up at 2:00 with breathing troubles. I had to bring her out and Nose Frida her again and then put her back and listen to her play in her crib for 25 minutes before she finally put herself to sleep.

Today seems to be better. The girls both have very runny noses, but that gives me hope that the cold is passing. We have the humidifier running full-power in their bedroom, and they have taken AWESOME naps today (they've been sleeping for about 3 hours now). I'll be giving them another steam treatment tonight before bed.

I really cannot emphasize how important keeping a stringent schedule is. I'm literally now turning down any nighttime activities that occur before their bedtime because I want to be here to put them to bed, since that's their routine. Until they get a solid month of sleeping through the night under their belts, bedtime for mama will be the same as for baby. And maybe that's not such a bad thing, since I need to catch up on my sleep, too!

How have your sleepytime battles been going? I'd love to hear from you!

I'm looking forward to when the girls wake up from their long winter's nap today, because it's CHRISTMAS PICTURE DAY! I'll post those once my cards go out, which I'm doing (on Shutterfly) for the first time in YEARS!

Stay warm out there! And please click the links below to vote for us!

3:51 PM
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Battle of the Snooze

CIO

First and foremost, HAPPY DECEMBER! If you are anything like me, you have already begun decorating. I spent the last two days of my long weekend Christma-tizing our apartment and showing Jane and Emma all of the pretty, enchanting holiday swag. And then this happened:

Merry Christmas...ya' filthy animal.

Poor Emma.

But in actuality, I don't feel so bad.

When I was pregnant with Jane and Emma, my sleep cycle completely changed. I used to sleep like the dead. 8 hours. Through everything. I was even a nightly sleep walker; sometimes I walked around the apartment for HOURS as Hershey and Tyson sat and watched me until I decided to put myself back to bed.

So when the constant pee urges and insomnia started in my third month, I was not exactly the glowing pregnant woman. As the girls grew in utero, I grew out-utero (is that a word?). I was HUGE. And rolling from side to side in bed did not help. I would roll one way, and poor Emma would wiggle and move until her butt was sticking out of my side. I would roll the other way and she would wiggle and wiggle until her head was sticking out the other side. I would try to sleep on my back, but they would press on my vena cava and I would start to lose consciousness. And forget trying to sleep on my stomach.

When the girls were born, I was so excited for a full night of sleep. HA! In the hospital, I was poked and prodded every other hour or so. Then, when I came home (without the girls), I was up pumping every 3 hours. The nurses would tell me, "Skip a pumping session if you need sleep! You need to SLEEP!" That was funny, because if I skipped a session (which started happening frequently because I was hitting the SNOOZE button without even waking up), I was in major pain.

Fast forward to today. The little twincesses will be 7 months old next Friday. And they've only slept through the night twice. Yes, you read that correctly. Twice. It has been almost a year since I've had a full night of sleep.

Now, if you know me, you know that I devour books. And books that teach me something? Fuggedaboutit! I've got The Baby Whisperer, How to Rock Your Baby, Your Premature Baby, and The Happiest Baby on the Block. I've read this blog and that blog in the quest for sleep. And finally, FINALLY, last night marked the THIRD night in a ROW that Jane and Emma slept through the night.

Don't talk to me about this mess. I'm devastated.

Here's our schedule:

5:35 a.m. Wake up

6:00 a.m. Small bottle/Play Time (bouncy seats, exersaucers, toonies!)

7:30 a.m. Nap

8:00 a.m. Breakfast (apples, pears, bananas, apricots)

9:00 a.m. Bottle/Play Time

10:30 a.m. NAP (this is usually a long one, about 3-4 hours, and I DON'T WAKE TO FEED again)

1:00 p.m. Bottle/Play Time

2:30 p.m. Nap (little one)

3:00 p.m. Play time (Mama and Daddy come home from work, yey!)

4:00 p.m. Dinner (carrots, corn, sweet potato/broccoli, mashed potatoes, avocado)

5:00 p.m. Bottle (large)

6:00-7:00 p.m. Baths, Books, Dundadundundadundunda dun Dun DUN!

7:00 p.m. Lights down - Get ready for bed

7:15 p.m. Bottle (large)

8:00 p.m. Crib (NO CHOOPIES!)

8:00 p.m. - 5:35 a.m. SLEEPPPPP

Now, here's the thing. MY body hasn't adjusted yet. The first night, my eyes flew open at 3:00 a.m. and I stared at the monitor for the next 2 hours. The second night, I was awake at 2:00 a.m., Emma was awake and having a conversation with a stuffed animal in her crib at 3:00 a.m., and then I was awake until almost 4:30. Last night I was up at 4:10 having to pee, but laid there until around 4:45 hoping it would just magically go away. I've also been fighting this holiday season cold for over a week, so I was wishing that away, as well.

I think that the biggest issue with their sleeping was the dang choopie. If we put them down with them in their mouths, they would fall out and at some time between 1-3 a.m., they would notice and freak out. Something about waking up in a different state than that which they fell asleep in. Cray.

Also, in my mind's eye, in one of the books I read (I'm pretty sure it was Baby Whisperer), I remember seeing the words "Wear the baby out before you put them to bed." Which, if you think about it, makes sense. What do you do if you have energy and can't sleep? You get up, get a glass of water, visit the bathroom, make a ~~Honey-Do~~ To Do List. Babies don't have that luxury. If they have pent up energy, all they can do to wear themselves out is lay in their crib, thrash around, and CRYYYYYYYYYYY. And, I don't know about you, but, for me, that is SO hard to listen to! Plus, with Emma's cyanotic breath holding spells, I can't let her cry for TOO long, unless I want another episode like the last one.

What tips and tricks do you have to get your little one(s) to sleep? What experiences have you had with sleepless mommyhood nights? I'd love to hear from you!

And if you're in the throes of the Battle of the Snooze, hang in there. You will win. You're not alone. And YOU GOT THIS!

If all else fails, WEAR THEM OUT!

Hope you get some sleep tonight! xoxo

9:44 PM
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These Are a Few of My Favorite Firsts (Plus a Giveaway!)

firsts

The first year of a child's life is FULL of excitement as your baby explores the world around them. I'm lucky enough to have twice the enchantment as Jane and Emma bobble around, grabbing, touching, tasting, hearing, and seeing everything around them for the very first time.

When the girls were born, they had a 6 week stay in the NICU. The hospital that we stayed in used Pampers Swaddlers, the favorite first diaper of so many mommies. Being a BRAND NEW mommy, I didn't know the difference between any brand of diapers, but I was thankful that they had such small and soft diapers to cover their little heinies!

That's why, when Double Duty Divas asked mommy bloggers to create a post all about their baby's firsts along with a review of Swaddlers diapers, I jumped right on the bandwagon. The thing that I love most about Pampers Swaddlers is that they are soft AND impossibly thin. My girls NEVER have badonkadonks when they where Swaddlers!

Swaddlers make it easy to forget about leaks and drips and explosions when you're trying to focus on all of your baby's firsts. Jane and Emma have already had so many great firsts, from SMILING, to LAUGHING, to ROLLING OVER and EATING!

Here Janey rolls over for the first time. I love the look of pride on her face as she realizes that she's now facing a totally different way than she started!

In this video, Emma uses a spoon for the first time. She literally just grabbed it out of my hand and started feeding herself like a big girl!

As Jane and Emma grow and start to move around independently, Swaddlers now grow with them. The diapers are available through size 5, which means that they get to wear the softest diapers made by Pampers through their first year of life. And to celebrate Swaddlers sizes 4 & 5, Pampers has 30 days of incredible giveaways and a grand prize of FREE Swaddlers diapers & wipes for a year. Join the celebration and enter the 30 days of sweeps on the Pampers Facebook page where you can win daily prize bundles, plus the grand prize of free Swaddlers diapers & wipes for one year!

Also, please join me for a #SwaddlersFirsts Twitter Party on Thursday, December 5 at 9:00 p.m. EST where we can all gush and boast about our babies' firsts! Please RSVP using this link. Put the kids to bed and come out to play with other mommies like you and me! Prizes that night will include:

3- Celebrating Firsts Gift Packs, which include:

Baby’s First Friend Plush Doll
Baby’s First Tooth and First Curl Treasure Box
Baby’s First Words Book
Baby’s First Steps Push Toy
$50 Shutterfly Gift Card to celebrate all “firsts” moments
Baby’s First Bath Robe
Pampers Swaddlers
Grand Prize: Canon EOS Rebel T3 DSLR camera worth $450!

To participate, follow your hosts @DoubleDutyDivas, @BridgetteLA, @CeceliaMecca @AngieKcom @WhatMommiesNeed @RamblingChick, and our sponsor @Pampers.

The great news is, if you can't make it to the #SwaddlersFirsts Twitter Party, I've got a prize pack to giveaway to one lucky reader! Please enter using the form below. I will announce the winner next Sunday, December 8. You can enter once a day!

Celebrate your baby's firsts with us here at Leading the Double Life and Pampers Swaddlers. We're excited to take this ~~first~~ step with you!

This review was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Pampers. I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% mine.

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9:30 AM
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We Made It Through Another One (Thankfully)

holidays

Thanksgiving used to be my favorite holiday. I mean, I love eating (check!), I love parties (check!), I love spending time with loved ones (check, check!), and I love eating (double-check!).

Last year, Thanksgiving was ruined for me because I was newly pregnant and SICK as a dog. It was fun, because Thanksgiving was when we announced we were pregnant to our family. Well, Hershey did, in his most debonair way (Hey Aunt Nancy, I'm having twins! -- to which everyone looked at him funny and I had to swoop in and save him with, "Well, I'M pregnant with twins."). But I couldn't eat much of anything, couldn't drink any wine, and was getting morning sickness at around 7:00 pm, at which point I had the privilege of playing DD and taking us home early. Poop.

This year, our day went like this:

We got up and fed the girls at 6:00 a.m. after a full night of letting them CIO (at the suggestion of our pediatrician). They then stayed awake ALLLLLLL day. We packed half of our apartment, spent 20 minutes loading the car and dressing them, and drove the 20 minute ride to Hershey's aunt's house.

When we got there, Emma immediately threw a temper tantrum, and about 13 minutes later I was stripping both girls of their adorable outfits that I had spent months picking out and trying to get them settled in their pack n' play for a nap.

Which went great.

Emma screamed bloody murder and Jane smiled and kicked her legs for 10 minutes.

We spent the rest of the night feeding them their first turkey/mashed potatoes and listening to them howl as our VERY patient moms (aka the Grandma Squad) rocked them and walked them and tried to feed them bottles and let them sleep on their shoulders. Hershey and I got to eat cold turkey and smelled like spit up from about 29 minutes into the night. And we never even got a family picture.

Needless to say that after dessert we packed the girls up and ran out of there as fast as we could. When we got home, we practically catapulted them into their cribs and collapsed onto our couch, wondering where our holiday kick-off day had gone!

I feel like for the last year we have been saying, "Just think, this time next year it will be better." I'm ready for it to be better. I hate to wish their babyhood away, but something's gotta give!

Amidst all of the hullabaloo, I did find some time to be thankful and to cook some noms.

Here are the things that I am thankful for this year:

My husband. His unending patience and fortitude have gotten me through this last year in times when I thought I would literally die. It sounds cliche, but, without him, I'm not sure what I would do (besides probably cry a LOT).

My daughters. They are a light at the end of this tunnel called life. Even when they are cranky, screaming, drooling messes with diapers full of disgusting, they are the best thing that I have ever done in my life, and I am thankful that they are such happy, healthy little babies.

Family. Even though we don't always see eye-to-eye and we don't always get along, I wouldn't be the person I am today without their love and support, and for that I am grateful.

Teaching. There are days when I wonder how I will make it through, but my students breathe life and energy into me even when I feel like I have nothing left to give.

You all. Thank you for continuing to read, comment, share, and encourage me in my journey. The comments that I get from everyone keep me going, and I draw strength from knowing that there are others alongside me on this path, even if I can't reach out and physically touch you!

And here is a list of NOMS that I made:

For the grown-ups, I made homemade cranberry sauce. Find the recipe here.

For the kiddies, I made sweet potatoes/broccoli, corn, corn/carrots, carrots, and cinnamon apple sauce. I'll create a post later detailing how I make the girls their favorite baby foods.

How do you celebrate the kick off of the holiday season? What do you find most fabulous/frustrating about this time of year? I'd love to hear from you!