Things that saved my sanity!

A friend's sister was about to have twins so I was going to send her a link to a post that I wrote, only I can't find the post I was looking for.  Maybe I just dreamt that I wrote it.  Anyway it was a list of things that saved my sanity that first year of having twins and a one year old.

1. We kept a journal of every time a baby was fed, changed or bathed.  You will be so tired that you won't remember the last time a baby pooped - and you need to keep track of that! 

2. Baby Einstein dvd's.  There were times that all three were screaming, but the moment the Disney logo came up and Tinkerbell flew over the castle they all stopped crying, it was amazing and gave me a minute to compose myself and deal with one at a time. 

3. Best advice I ever received...it is ok to let one cry while you deal with the other.  And that advice was truly the key to keeping me sane.  You are only one person and will be alone with them a lot, you can only deal with one at a time.  You will quickly learn what works for each baby and which one will settle down faster.  And if all else fails you need to have a couple people who know that when you call and say "help" and then hang up, they know to come as fast as they can because you are about to lose your mind :) 

4. People like babies, but they LOVE twins, the moment anyone walked in my house I handed them a baby and said "here this one needs..." feeding/changing/burping/rocking or whatever.  I was always handing a baby to somebody.  They loved to be useful and I loved that my baby got the extra attention that I felt they didn't get when it was just me. I rarely got to just sit and rock a baby.

5. Establish routines early, I talked about this in the tips blog post.  I had babies falling asleep in bouncy seats during play dates when there were something like 9 kids under 3 in the house. I believe it is because I never worried about them waking or said "shhh you'll wake the baby". 

6. Take them out a lot.  I used to put them in their car seats and just go for a drive.  Sometimes we would go have lunch at a park, which I managed by keeping Ben & Carlee in the double stroller at all times. They have always travelled really well so it was a break for me. Even now, they are much better behaved when we are out than when we are at home and I know it is because they are used to being out and knowing they have to be good or we go straight home.  We also had a triple stroller and I would push them around the neighborhood.

7. and finally...take lots of pictures, I made sure to stop what I was doing at least once every single month and get at least one individual photo of each one and also one group photo.  I still do this and I upload them to Snapfish and make a photobook every year. 

Oh and another tip. I have been watching  old videos lately and I wish I had taken more random video during that first year.  It is fun to go back and watch short snippets of what everyday life was like.

Something like this....

too funny - overalls

So here is the dilemma I have...

We have tried very hard to teach our children responsility.  For example, if they do not clean up the toys in their rooms for several days then I go and do it the toys get put away in the attic.  The reasoning being that eventually they will get bored with no toys and next time they will realize that when I say clean up the toys they will do it so they won't lose the toys.  Logical thinking right?

Nope, not my kids - they NEVER get bored!  Here is an example of what I mean.  They grabbed a few bags and turned them into overalls by making holes for their legs to go through and putting the handles over their shoulders.  They did this so that they had work clothes to go to work at their construction site.  The construction site was under the table and they were using hats, mitts, and boots for building blocks.

Not a single idea came from me, I could never be that creative! So the moral of the story is that you should take away toys from your children to encourage and dramatically increase the level of creativity.

Yummy

Why Daddy would bring these back from his trip I will never know!!!  They could have them only when they promised to stay sitting on the floor!

I love you Daddy! You are the best Daddy in the whole world!

Here Daddy, I will share with you!

HAHAHAHA lesson learned!  If you buy something for your children make sure you are willing to have some!

Visit sevenclowncircus.com for more Wordful Wednesdays.

A tip for staying at a hotel with kids

We spent a couple nights in a hotel - really long story why and not all that important.  Just sharing that you don't need to take a bunch of toys along with you when you stay at a hotel, just borrow the luggage cart for awhile LOL

Here is just 30 seconds of the fun they had for a really long time with that cart!

A tip for safety

Before I had kids I read an article about how easily children can get lost in a crowd. Now that I have kids this is one of my biggest fears, but I have always remembered that one of the tips was to take a photo (obviously digital works best) before starting your day. That way if your child gets lost you can show what he or she looks like and what they are wearing.

And so, before we started our day I tried to remember to get a photo. At least the days that made me nervous about kids getting lost. These are an example of the first photos I took on each day of our week with Aunty Mel.

At the aquarium I forgot before we went in because it was cool and rainy, but I did take this one soon after we got in. There was not alot of people there, so I wasn't too nervous.

I completely forgot the day we went to the zoo. Probably because I had already been to this zoo twice before and knew the layout. I also knew from the large number of empty spaces that there were not alot of people there that day. It was not a nervous day for me and so I did not take one of the three of them early on, but did get this one later in the day. As you can see, we pretty much had the place to ourselves!

The next day was spent on a boat, my nervousness was not due to losing a kid in a crowd this time. Oh no - I was much more nervous about one of them falling over board. As the trip went on I began to be very thankful that it was quite a rough day on the ocean making for quite a rough ride. The kids were pretty good at staying close and being clingy. Fine with me!

Then we went to the beach. There was not another vehicle in the public access parking lot. Again, it was not a nervous day for me.

But then there was Busch Gardens. Nervous? Oh yes! I took a photo as soon as I could!

Have you heard of the Mo-Mo fairy?

I have to tell the story of the Mo-Mo's. All our kids became attached to the Soothie brand of pacifier. One of the only pacifier attachments I could fit to fit them had an Elmo on it. Here is a picture of Sam with his "suckie" when he was only a few weeks old.


Well when Sam started to talk a bit he couldn't say suckie, instead he started to say mo-mo, because of the Elmo attachment. And that is what we all started to call them. Ben and Carlee called them that as well, even though theirs had Pooh attachments. Here they are with theirs at about 2 1/2 months old.

They were never really allowed to have their mo-mos except for sleeping or in their carseats. Most mornings or after naps we collected them and put them out of reach. But there were times that they managed to get them, such as this last Christmas Day after naptime. They are past the board books stage and were getting actual story books for Christmas. When I looked at this photo I suddenly had visions of them in high school with their mo-mos. YIKES it was time to get rid of them. I also started to notice that Sam's top front teeth were really starting to be pushed out, he was getting a really bad overbite. it was now a dental issue too - they needed to go.

But that of course is much easier said than done. They were very very attached to them and needed them to go to sleep. If they woke up in the night the only thing they looked for was their mo-mos. We knew it would not be an easy thing to accomplish. But I had seen episodes of the SuperNanny show where she used the Binky Fairy concept and thought that it could work for us. Now it was just the timing.

We waited for my mom to arrive and told her what we had in mind, thinking that if it was so terrible that at least we would have one adult per heartbroken child. And so for weeks I had been talking about the Mo-mo fairy, and that she comes to houses and gets mo-mos from big kids who don't need them anymore and takes them to sad babies to help them to be happy. I loved it when we were in a store and we heard a crying baby - I told them that the Mo-mo fairy would soon take that baby a Mo-mo. Of course they intrigued.

One day Daddy made a big announcement that he heard that the Mo-mo fairy was in the neighborhood and maybe she would be coming to our house. But they all had to go upstairs and be very quiet or they would scare her away. This of course was so that I could hide the presents and get things set up. When I was ready I began to make some loud noises in the kitchen, banging pot lids and things like that. My mom said to them, Oh maybe that is the Mo-mo fairy, to which Carlee replied very seriously "No, that's just Mama in the kitchen". Haha first attempt failed.

Anyway, they finally came down to find cards for them that explained she needed Mo-mos for babies and if they were ready they could put them in a bag and when they did they would get a surprise. Of course they all did and they got these for sleeping with...





Then we had a party and all seemed fine. Until bedtime - the worst night of screaming and crying ever! The next night at bedtime was still pretty bad but somewhat better. Sam and Carlee were then fine and just needed a bit of comforting during the night for a few nights. Ben had some really bad nights when he would wake up in the middle of the night and could not be comforted for an hour or two. It was tough but was not as bad as I thought it could have been. We survived and so did they. Hooray NO MORE Mo-Mos!!!!

Using this concept worked because we just didn't take the mo-mos away, instead the kids gave them away to help the babies. I think that is what was the key. The crying at bedtime and at night was them getting over their comfort habit. We knew that it would be tough for them to break the habit, especially for Ben because he was the most attached to his mo-mo. But they are better off and Sam's teeth have already improved.

A trip down memory lane - newborns

Here is an email I just got from my cousin who will soon have her first baby...

Well my dear friends the countdown is officially on....Thus, the anxiety is starting to set in. I am trying to get prepared for the lil bambino to arrive. I am starting to make a list of all items to buy and have on hand for at least the first few weeks. I thought who better to ask then all my beautiful friends whom have already experienced this. Please let me know everything from the kind of diapers, lotions, bottles ( incase the old naturals dont work...lol) to strollers you would suggest!!!!

I look forward to hearing from all of you!!!!


Thanks a mil!
T

This response is written directly to her, but I posted it here for the benefit of anyone who is about to have their first baby.

Wow, T, you have really got me thinking! I wasn't working and had alot of time on my hands so I ended up doing soooo much planning that really didn't mean much once Sam was born!! Life is now so chaotic around here that I forget how quiet and peaceful it was before we had Sam. Well except for moving three weeks before he was born haha I do not recommend that unless your mom will be there to unpack your entire house!!! My mom and hubby literally did unpack everything. I just watched, I was so huge and tired by then that I couldn't do a thing!

I seriously cannot believe that I am going to post these on here, but what the heck.... it is what it is! This was me right before we left for the hospital to have Sam. If you haven't been taking monthly pictures of your belly (which I didn't do) make sure you take one like this!


Or like this!!! Right before we left for the hospital to have Ben & Carlee. I was 58 inches around - I am only 60 inches tall!!!!!!




Quick scroll really far down so you can get these horrible images out of your mind!!! Think about what I produced - BIG babies... Sam was 9lbs 11oz. The twins were big on their own: Carlee was 7lbs 7oz and Ben was 7lbs. Whew that is 14 1/2 pounds of just babies!!!!!! No wonder I look so miserable and uncomfortable in that picture - I WAS!!!!!




Hospital
Decide what you need at the hospital - you don't really need that much, I took way too much stuff that I never even used! Once the baby is there you will not be interested in anything else. Just remember the essentials - brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, chapstick, etc and comfy clothes to go home in (not pre-preg clothes!! Your tummy will take a long time to contract).

Okay - here is something that maybe no one else will tell you!!! But I will share because you are family and I love you!!! Make sure you have lots of super duper max strength maxi pads at home. They will probably supply you with some while you are at the hospital, but you will need lots at home. It is kinda nasty but goes with having a baby!! You will have a major period for probably weeks. I was surprised I never knew that it would be so heavy or last so long - with both pregnancies it lasted a full 6 weeks. YUCK I recovered quicker from the csection!! The first few days are the worst and then it will gradually get better.

As for baby stuff at the hospital - I didn't use anything of my own. They had all the supplies and kept him dressed in a hat, shirt and diaper and wrapped in a blanket. They don't want them in "real" clothes because they have to take regular vital signs. Yes, I asked! LOL Here are some pics from the hospital showing their fancy outfits.
This is Sam, only a few hours old!


And here are Ben & Carlee about a day old.


Of course you have to have a car seat. Don't bother with the extra padded stuff you can buy, just use the headrest that comes with the carseat and roll up receiving blankets along the sides. This was Sam's first trip to the doctor.



Okay, now I will try to think back to when it was just Sam. This is difficult by the way! It is hard to remember what they were like as tiny newborn babies when right now I need earplugs to drown out the noise. And I don't even want to know what kind of devastation the Hicks Hurricane is creating while I am trying to type this.

Anyways! The first couple days were all about settling into a routine. I was so very fortunate to have lots of help. Hubby was home for a couple weeks, his family were visiting for about 10 days, and my mom was there for quite awhile too. It was really helpful and made it easy for me to get the rest that I needed to recover.


Setting up your home - basically think sleeping, eating, changing, clothes, bathing

Sleeping
You don't need the fancy bedding sets, you can't have all that stuff in the crib anyways! Get a few nice crib sheets and a waterproof mattress pad and you're done! I always layered the mattress. First a sheet, then the waterproof pad, then another sheet on top. Makes it much easier if you have to change the bedding in the middle of the night - just take off the wet sheet and pad and you are left with an already made mattress!

We had a crib set up, but not the bassinet where he would sleep for a few nights. I didn't really like that he was all the way in another room, but I got over it once I realized that I would jolt awake at the first cry. If you can, put the baby to sleep in the crib right from the start. And keep regular sleep patterns as soon as possible. For example, if it is day time open the curtains, have the TV or radio on and go about your day. Your baby will sleep when he or she is tired and will learn to sleep through the noise. When it is night time, the lights are off and it is quiet. Feed and change when necessary then put them right back to bed - I never talked much and even limited eye contact (usually I was still half asleep LOL). Soon they will learn to eat and go right back to sleep. Ben and Carlee slept in the same crib until they were a year old and started to wake each other up by steamrolling over each other and stealing pacifiers right out the other one's mouth!
Here is a picture of them a few days old in their shared accommodations.


Feeding
I was not able to breastfeed, so we were using bottles right from the start. The hospital sent some home with us and that ran out very quickly. I don't know why I did not buy some formula before he arrived! Hubby was sent out on a very quick trip when I realized we were very low. We had easy babies that took to whatever bottle we gave them - no problems there. I would recommend having a few bottles in case you also cannot breastfeed or if you decide to supplement with formula. There are many kinds and brands, cheap and expensive. To start it makes no difference, if your baby has trouble, that's when you would need to experiment with differnet bottles. When you are looking watch the number for the flow of the nipple. Make sure you get ones that are for under 3 months old. At first I made up a batch of bottles, then I got smart! I measured the water (at room temp - no need to warm it), measured the formula, dumped it in and shook it well. Bottle ready in less than 30 seconds.


Changing - Diapers
I recently figured out that we have changed over 16,000 diapers! YIKES!!! There are newborn sized diapers, but the baby probably won't be in this size very long. Sam never was, he started in size 1.

Changing - Wipes
Funny now when I think back to those first days. I remember not having the changing station set up properly. I was in the middle of changing the first poopy diaper at home and did not have wipes within reach OOPS!!! Good thing there were 4 other people in the house LOL. I have used about a bazillion wipes and continue to use them without a second thought to how much they cost. I do not care, they are the best invention ever! Having said that I have to tell you they are not good when your baby has a diaper rash. Do not ever ever ever use wipes on a rash - even the mild ones still have some chemicals and your baby will scream in agony. Use a wet, warm facecloth instead. In times of bad rashes I used a changing pad on the bathroom floor so I could be near the sink.

Changing - Creams
There are lots of diaper rash creams, but few are worth anything. For diaper rashes I use Desitin Original and I bought Zincofax in Canada too. The brand does not matter, the ingredients do. This was advice given to me by a wonderful pharmacist - Always use a cream that has at least 40% zinc oxide. It totally works, most rashes are gone by the next day. For dry skin I sometimes use a lanolin ointment.


Clothes
For the going home outfit, of course pick something cute but also something that looks easy to get on. Trust me on this one - some of those little baby clothes tested my intelligence and patience!! I no longer have a photo of Sam in his going home outfit, we lost nearly all of his first nine months of photos and videos when our computer crashed. BACK UP your photos and videos people!!!! I now upload everything to Snapfish! I also do not have a photo of Ben & Carlee in their going home outfits, but there was alot going on and taking pictures was the last thing on my mind that day!

Oh yes, and make sure that the outfit you chose can be quickly changed. Both Sam and Ben were soaked through and through by the time we got them home. You should also have a couple sizes, Sam was a big baby and never even fit into the newborn sizes!

As cute as all those little itty bitty baby clothes are, most of them are impractical. You want things to be very easy in the first few weeks. Also, newborn babies are quite difficult to dress. Choose things like these:
- footy jammies, but make sure they snap up both legs. The ones with snaps only on one leg are hard to get on the leg that doesn't snap. And with footy jammies you don't need socks - socks are useless for little babies, they never stay on!
- sleep gowns, I didn't discover these until Ben & Carlee. They are awesome, especially while you have them wrapped up in a blanket, just unwrap and change!
- If you want to dress them up a bit more chose outfits that have simple pants and a onesie. I liked onesies when they were little because it stayed in place when you lifted them up.

Bathing
I had a little baby tub that fit right into the sink. I rarely gave a bath when I was alone, they are just too slippery. I never liked to take them out so I always bathed them in the evening when hubby was home to hold the towel. I only ever used baby wash and baby lotion after. No specific brands, just whatever smelled the best the day I bought it. Sam's umbilical cord took forever to fall off so it was awhile before he even had a submersed bath - this was his reaction LOL


Other stuff
Okay, so you have fed and changed the baby, now what?? After the first few days of doing nothing but holding and staring at your precious baby who is FINALLY here, you will realize that there are things that need to be done. What do you do with the baby? Well, you must have a swing and you must have a bouncy seat. I used both with Sam, but these things truly saved my sanity when Ben & Carlee arrived.


This was when they were about three months old. After my parents abandoned me and went home I had to come up with a way to feed them at the same time, they were always hungry within minutes of each other! As soon as one would start to eat, the other would wake up starving and scream, then the first one would scream in horror if I stopped feeding to get the other. Propping seemed like a solution, until I found Sam stealing bottles!! It was a nightmare, until I solved it with bouncy seats!


Strollers
Best advice for strollers is to go to a store and push some around. I am short so for me, most of the bars were too high and uncomfortable. Make sure you also test out how to collapse them and how heavy they are to lift. If you will be using it alot in the first month or so you want to make sure that the backrest lays completely flat. The one I bought was not that expensive and was a stroller/carseat combo. Worked perfectly for alot of miles! Until Ben & Carlee - then we had to get "The Limo"



Pictures
Take lots of pictures. They really do grow quickly and you will forget how little they were until you look at a picture. One of the things that I did, and still do is make sure I have a good picture of each of them and one of the three of them together every month. Then I use Snapfish to create picture books for the year.

Well, T, that is probably way more information than you were expecting, but I hope it was helpful. I pray that you have a safe and easy delivery and a beautiful healthy baby. I am sad that we live so far away but maybe I will be able to make it home this year. Until then keep us flooded with all those pictures you are going to be taking!!!

PS.. I have heard that it is possible to get pregnant while breastfeeding! I wasn't breastfeeding, nope just not paying attention (or God's plan!!) and was pregnant before Sam was 3 months old!

A reflection of time

Today I saw a picture of my Dad without his beard. I knew that he shaved it off recently but I have not yet seen him in person. He has had this beard since I was a young teenager so I realized that I have known him longer with a beard than without!!

Then I got to thinking about age. I remember as a young child asking my mom how old she was and when she really had to think about it I thought she was joking. At the time she probably was in her late 30's. Today I commented to someone that my birthday was coming fairly soon and I seriously had to think about how old I was!!! It must be something about being in your late 30's that makes you forget your exact age.

Today I also held a 5 month old baby. As I held him and snuggled him I realized that my little niece is over 2 months old already. I still have not seen her and probably will not until she is at least 10 months old. Sam was walking at 10 months!! This really made me sad that I would miss seeing her as a little baby.

Then I remembered when Sam was only a couple months old I was visiting a friend who had a baby a year or so earlier. As she held Sam she commented that she could not remember her child being so small. At the time I thought that was so silly and how could she possibly not remember! Well as I held that 5 month old baby today I had a hard time remembering what my kids were like that young!!

I don't know why all of these things came into my mind today, but as I reflect on them I am so grateful for all of those moments - even the ones I don't remember right now.

As I think back to all the times people say how quickly babies grow it really is true, I just wish they would also tell us how to preserve memories. I have tried to do it by taking lots of pictures and even some video and that has helped. I have my photos randomly pop up as a screen saver. Sometimes we just sit and watch the random photos. There is always something that comes up that makes us smile or laugh at a funny situation.

So I guess this post can be labelled in the Kid Tips category. My tip is to take lots of photos. I use Snapfish to print the best of the snapshots. Even though I have no idea when I will find the time to actually organize them into photo albums I do know that someday I will have the time. The most important thing is that I have taken the time to take the photos and preserve at least some of the memories.

One of the best things that I do is to make sure I take a photo of each of my kids every month. I used Snapfish to make up little booklets of these photos for each child's first year. Seeing one photo per month really shows how quickly they change! Now I make sure I still have one usable photo per child as well as one of all three of them together. This is not always an easy task! I use them to make photobooks in snapfish, one page per month. If I keep up with it and try to set up a page every month it really does not take that long to do.

Annual kids photos

I have started the tradition of getting the kids photos taken every year in October. This year we were a little late and didn't get them done until early Nov. This gives me enough time to have them ordered, picked up, organized and mailed for Christmas. For family we don't give gifts instead they get pictures. Everyone that gets a card will get a family photo and then grandparents and Aunts & Uncles get 5x7's of the Sears photos.

Lesson learned this year was - make sure they nap before going to get them done! We did not have an easy time getting these shots. These were the ones I chose, Sears did them up nicely in a collage, so I just added that.

For me pictures are a worthwhile investment I deeply cherish them. They will never be this age again and I will never be able to get photos of them all 2 years old. Sam turned 3 shortly after this was taken. I will always take photos and I will always cherish them!

WFMW - Toys with no batteries

This is my very first Works For Me Wednesday. Go to Rocks in my Dryer for more posts about Toys Worth Buying.

I feel very strongly about toys with no batteries. I believe that kids are not developing their imaginations, they are stuck in the world of electronics.

I have noticed a trend with my kids, they play more with the toys that do not require batteries. Of course the flashy, noisy toys always grab their attention at first, but the novelty quickly wears off. So last Christmas I took the extra effort to only buy gifts that did not require batteries. And I have continued that pattern. Throughout the year I don't buy them toys, instead I buy books and crafty things like crayons, stickers, notebooks/coloring books etc. But I think that birthdays are for getting fun, cool stuff. So this year I bought them these toys. The novelty is not wearing off of the cars, tools, & kitchen toys!

Ben is 150% boy and nothing is better than cars, trucks & trains. So for his 2nd birthday gift I bought him more Matchbox cars and a spiral racetrack. When I took the racetrack out of the package I found out that it has batteries and makes a comment whenever the cars are released. So I messed up a bit, but it is not that annoying, and they love how they cars race around and then go across the room.



All of them have shown interest in tools. I was not able to fix anything with "real" tools if any of them were around. It would turn into a war when I would not let them have a hammer or screwdriver! So I also bought a toy toolkit. Even though it was technically a gift for Ben's birthday I knew that they would all play with it. And Sam was the one who really loved it. Especially the "goobles"



Carlee has been very interested in kitchen stuff - bowls, spoons, measuring cups, etc. So for her 2nd birthday gift I decided to get her some play kitchen items - I found a pot & pans set, a baking set and a basket of plastic food. It was a hit! She "cooks" all the time and even pretends to wash her dishes. She carries around her basket of food and feeds everyone.



They all play with all of the toys and so this year I decided that for Christmas we would get them one big item. I debated between a swingset or a play kitchen. They have all been playing with kitchen stuff and the play items I got for Carlee's birthday were a big hit with the boys too. I had a play kitchen when I was little and played with it for many years, so I got the idea of getting them a play kitchen to put in the playroom. I found a Kidkraft one on Amazon like the one below and saved it in my cart with the intention of purchasing it closer to Christmas. Well a couple weeks later the price dropped quite a bit so blew the budget for that month (oops) and bought it. I know they will love it and I can hardly wait for Christmas! Another Christmas with no batteries!

Kid Tips

Michelle at Our Little Monkeys left me a comment and asked this question:

As far as taking care of the kids, coordinating schedules was the hardest part. Any tips for that? :)

I never really thought of myself as an expert, but with three kids under 2 I suppose I have some experience. HAHA that's a joke!!! But seriously my best advice it set a schedule and stick to it - at least until they change it on you!

I had alot of trouble early on with coordinating nap schedules. For a long long time they all napped at different times. Sam only need one nap, and Ben & Carlee still needed two. But I tried to set it up so that we had lunch at the same time every single day and then right after lunch it was time for Sam's nap. Slowly I was able to move the babies into just one nap and by the time they were one I had all three napping at the same time! What a blessing that was - a two hour break for me, for awhile I napped when they did but eventually I started to do my own thing - like read a book or a Bible Study.

This nap schedule worked well for us until a couple weeks ago. They are sleeping in later and are not sleepy enough for a nap after lunch. Later in the afternoon is too late because then they won't go to bed well. So I am now struggling with what to do with them all day without a nap and me without a break! uggg

What I really need to do is get them outside for most of the morning and see if the fresh air will help make them sleepy.