Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Fun in the Tub!

The boys are water babies, Noah started swim classes at 3 months and we take the twins almost weekly! Their favorite part of each day was bath time, but, recently their passion for bath time has been...fading.

And by fading I mean splashing. The bathroom walls would be dripping with water , my clothes were drenched. All in all, not cool. So of course I go straight to Pinterest, the store, the internet...anything to keep me dry! Here's what worked and what didn't....
 *make sure you check out the last item listed, it's a real shock!

Toys

We bought these from Boon about a year ago and didn't get much friction, but now they are great! It's a great way to keep little brains working!



I added these and combined with the products above make a lot of fun for Noah and us! It's fun to make a waterfall/gear system on the wall! The twins love them! It's the one thing that will keep them from standing in the tub! I'd start with these then add the tubes later.



These are not fun, I returned them. I thought they could be cool, but I was wrong.



This was the biggest hit in Noah's swim class, we got it for him and the twins and everyone still loves it!



Pouring water is a great developmental activity, we have a rinser mixed with an assortment of cups. Plus, we use them with the above Boon items!



You will not find a better, cheaper bubble bath around! Mr. Bubble is old school and still around for a reason. The boys can get little eczema spots with things that are overly fragranced or too harsh and Mr. Bubble has never bothered their skin. We use the bubble bath, bath foam, and bath crackles (pop rocks for the bath!) The best prices I have found are Smith's/Kroger for bath crackles, Walmart for bath foam, and Target for bubble bath.



We use the bath foam with this shaving kit once it's foam ran out. Noah thinks it's really fun to "shave like dad."



OMG these color drops!!! We have used so many containers so far. The color is amazing and the fizz when introduced to water AND they wash away easy peasy! I have tried different brands...don't. They load the container up with yellow and red (every kids' least favorite colors) and they just don't hold up.



Noah got this volcano for Christmas, and we have used it almost every day! Noah LOVES it, the twins are so entranced by the eruption and it's just fun! We have crushed up leftover yellow and red color drops (listed above) and mixed them with baking soda to make red, yellow, and orange lava and it's super cool! Very easy to use, I recommend getting a child sized pitcher (we took the one from our play kitchen) and let your kiddo pour the vinegar. We usually do one or two in the tub before we fill it with water. We also use baking powder during the bath and it makes the volcano "smoke" under water.

Becoming a SAHM

I am a new stay-at-home-mom and man, is it hard! So fun, but hard. I am getting into a schedule with the boys and finding play groups and other moms to share our time. The boys are beginning to move more so we are finishing up our playrooom and I will post pictures of that soon. We had built-ins installed last year and I will use the vertical space to separate Noah's big kid toys from baby toys.

But for now, I am trying to remember to eat and drink water!

Finding my New Mom Style

I need help. I, like many moms, am having an identity crisis. My pre-pregnancy clothes look and fit weird and I find myself shrugging to say "guess this is what it is" before I leave the house. I have so many friends who hail to le tote and stitch fix, but I can't get on board with spending $35 for a proprietary shirt!

Welcome to the Trunk Club! This styled box is from Nordstrom. Yas! I will say this first...I HATE paying full price for clothes. BUT, somethings gotta change. I went through the process and I can say, I love it. I answered a ton of questions about my style and what I want it to be. Then I messaged for about an hour with Meagan, my stylist. I explained my body shape and what I was looking for, etc. and she got to work. A few days later, I got to preview my trunk. You can cancel any items, but they really recommend you try everything on. I cancelled a couple pieces I knew I would never buy/wear and was charged the $25 styling fee (this is applied to your cart if you buy something). The first box, I found the most amazing jean jacket. Second box, finally a pair of jeans that fit! And each box had more and more goodies. They were all great brands, quality, and decent prices. I have got dresses I wore to weddings, work clothes, and every day clothes. Jewelry, shoes, and accessories all within my cheap budget and supreme quality with the Nordstrom customer service to boot!

If you are struggling to find your style, make a new style, need a refresh, or just hate shopping this is the box for you. I'm confident you won't be disappointed. I feel confident in my appearance and it has made so much difference in my daily life. It's a must for moms and really anyone who just feels blah about their clothes.

This is my refer a friend link, I think you get a discount and I do too!

Try Trunk Club

NICU Diary

This will probably be one of the most difficult things to share. But being finally being on the outside, I feel I have more clarity and less emotion in the matter.

We were NICU parents for 84 days.

None of it was planned or expected. My labor was a surprise to everyone, including my doctor and the L&D doctor March 16th. I don't remember too much from those first couple weeks to be honest and I think it's probably for the best. I do remember the warm eyes and touches from the doctors and nurses. I remember the handmade blanket with holes to hang on the isolet. I remember the nurses "graduating" the boys often and having so much joy and happiness to take every step.

We were lucky, most babies born at 29 weeks don't have our story. The boys had lung development problems which is pretty much a given for that age. But we got out without surgery or anything terrifying. And trust me, the things that can happen will make your heart sink. But, we did have damage. Noah is still scared of the hospital, I still don't lift the boys' legs too high when I change them. My body stopped producing milk. Our family is forever changed.

But we are together, finally. The boys are thriving and Noah is the best big brother in the world! We have the boys next to me at night in a full size arms reach co-sleeper and they nap in rock n' sleepers. They are chubby bundles of joy and no matter how hard and chaotic the past three months has been, we are together. 💗

It's a Bird, It's a Plane...It's Identical Twins!

These two look pretty similar don't they? All the doctors said they were fraternal since they were di/di twins. I was not convinced....we were living in the 1% world, remember!?

Enter zygosity testing. We doled out 100 smackaroos to test their DNA and they're 99.99999995% certainly IDENTICAL. Matt is holding onto that 0.00000005% chance he was right and they're fraternal. Fat chance :)

They have grown to big boys Zach weighs 6 pounds 10 ounces and Teddy is 7 pounds! My chubby cheek chunks <3

My milk disappeared and has not come back. This was so hard for me to deal with. I exclusively breastfed Noah for a year and so to not spiral into depression about it, I have taken a new outlook. I am pumping to stimulate, if I get milk that's an added bonus. We will cross the pumping/breastfeeding bridge after the boys come home. Because I did not get my earlier wish. 

They still need time. And time and love and kisses and everything they will ever need is what they will get. 

The Best Mother's Day Gift of All Time, Hopefully

A lot of you have asked how the boys are doing so here's a little update! After they were born at 29 weeks to everyone's (including our doctors) surprise! Zach (Twin A) was 2 lbs 11 oz and Teddy (Twin B) was 3 lbs 2 oz.

They have made amazing progress and growth in the past 5 weeks! Zach is now 4 lbs 9 oz and Teddy is 5 pounds! They are on low flow cannulas which means they are almost breathing completely by themselves and they have started to bottle and breastfeed.

Feeding themselves (not through a gastro-tube) is the main hurdle for them to come home. This takes time for them to master, but our boys are fighters. The doctors say to not expect nicu babies to come home before their due date (June 2nd), but we are hoping and praying they come home for Mother's Day!




We really appreciate everyone's kind words, prayers, thoughts, and meals. We are so full in our hearts with all our boys, we can't wait to be full in our home too!

Work-life balance doesn't exist these days. Being the only employee definitely doesn't lend to taking time off to heal or to spend all day sitting watching two little angels sleep. It's stressful, the stress makes my milk supply stress, so I try getting a symphony to help with milk. Welp, that has been battle royale for no known reason and here's the kicker...it wasn't the insurance! The stress of that topping everything else is dwindling my supply and patience. I can only hope to get it going again, fingers crossed!.

One Month Old!

Happy Easter everyone! These little bunnies are hopping along their merry path to the door!