Hitch in Our Giddy-Up

With all the determination that Miss Brynne uses to keep her sunglasses on her face, even as they slip down her tiny little button nose...

...she and her sister used that same willfulness to fight naps all week long.

It's hard to be thankful when there's been such a big hitch in our giddy-up.

But...

I have wonderful mama friends who listen, and offer their wisdom and experience to me as I try to figure this napping thing out (1219)---and who give me permission to change up the schedule a bit (1220).

I have a friend who listened to me sob over failed naps and poor parenting for over an hour (1221), and then called to check on me the next day (1222). And then she wrote this. (1223)

I have a husband who gave me an afternoon off, so that I could get a massage and a hair cut (and made dinner too!) (1224)

I have a patient friend who lets the girls and I come over, so that I can learn to sew (1225). I have two dresses for the girls that are half-done (1226)-------so excited!!

That same friend was so encouraging at church yesterday when my girls were melting down (1227).

I have a garden full of color! (1228)

Brad and I have a great community group family, that prays for us and encourages us (1229), and blesses us by letting us pray for them too (1230).

I have Brynne, who loves music so, so, so, so, so much! (1231)

I have Hadley, who determinedly mastered a new puzzle in one afternoon.(1232)

And---the girls went right down for their nap today, and slept for three hours (1234). So, there's that.

Thank you, Jesus!

Oh. My. Goodness.

So.

Tuesday, the girls and I met some other mama friends for a special story time at our local cupcake bar.

As the weather has gotten cooler, we've tried to find fun activities to do indoors, and this event was something we've been looking forward to for quite some time!

The book they were reading was Purplelicious. I should have previewed this book ahead of time. It was terrible! The main character of the book got bullied the entire way through the book. Her "friends" said mean and nasty things to her.

For goodness sakes! Children figure out how to bully on their own. Do we need to show them how to do it, and introduce them to ugly language like that--in a children's book no less?!

I digress. Let's just say I could only find three positive things to say about this book:

1. There is a school bus in the book.
2. There was a pink sheep in the book. Hadley spotted it right away during the reading, pointed and said "Baaaaa," in a very loud voice. We do love our farm animals around here!
3. We learned that pink + blue = purple.

All of these points were running through my head as the story finished up, and we moved on to snack.

Now, I'll say this: I knew that having story time at a cupcake bar would probably mean a sweet treat.

I was prepared for a small sliver of cupcake. (And I know I'm not crazy for thinking this, because my friend brought along an egg-free cookie, so that her son, who has an egg allergy, wouldn't feel left out). In fact, I was sorta hoping against hope that just maybe the "small sliver of cupcake" would be the pineapple upside down cupcake, so at least there would be some fruit involved.

So, you can imagine the look of horror that came over my face when they walked out with this:



Yes, that's right. Cups of purple buttercream frosting. With sprinkles.

Just. Frosting. (with sprinkles)

No cupcake. Oh, and a spoon, so that our toddlers could get every last bit of frosting. With sprinkles.

I didn't really know what to do. So, I gave each of the girls a taste. Then I tasted it. HOLY SUGAR!

I wasn't sure if my turning stomach was guilt that I'd just given the girls pure sugar, or if it was the jolt of consuming something so atrociously sweet before noon.

Still not sure.

As we left the cupcake bar--dazed and shell-shocked by the events that had just transpired, my friend says:

What just happened in there? I gave my son spoon fulls of frosting. At 10AM.

I don't know about her, but I'm totally expecting my Mother of the Year Award to arrive any day now.

Now that I've had a few days to reflect there are a few things I'm certain about:

1. The organizer of this event (God, love her or him) does not have children.
2. Purple buttercream frosting + sprinkles = terrible naps.
3. Next time I'm bringing grapes.

Mama Loves: Time Change

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! So glad that you've stopped by!

Mama Loves is a linky party where mamas can share anything that has made your life easier as a mama.

Maybe you've found:

• a toy or book that captivates your child(ren)
• gear you just can't live without
• a recipe your choosy toddler gobbles down
• a parenting book that you've found perspective changing
• an activity that wears your kid(s) out (these lead to good naps, which we all love)
• an outfit that flatters your post-baby body and makes you feel fabulous
• or anything else you're loving--creativity welcome!

Share it with us! Blogging has made me a better mama, because I've learned about all kinds of great things, like those listed above, from mamas just like you. Here's your chance to share it with all of us!

To link your post up, click on the linky tool at the bottom, and follow the directions, it's really easy. You can also add this beautiful button to your post. Just grab the code in the box, copy and paste it into your post. Easy.

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Do you just have no idea what gear to buy sometimes? Here are a few fantastic ideas for mama, babies and toddlers:

• Mandy can tell you all about the best bibs ever invented.
• She can also tell you about the miracle of the swaddle.
• Ginger has a great list of her Oprah-style favorite items to welcome a new baby.
• Want to save every drop of breastmilk a.k.a liquid gold? Affton raves about a product that does just that.  
• Are your wee ones tall and skinny? Katie has the perfect solution for you!
• Sometimes "baby gear" includes stuff for mama! Check out these great tee-shirts Melissa loves that are long enough to keep your belly and back covered while you're "mama-ing" (and even while you're pregnant!).

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Okay, so I don't really love the time change. Gone are the days of getting an extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning.

Our babes just don't get that yet.

They will.

Soon enough they'll be rallying to extend their curfew an extra hour, because of the time change. And we will say no, and hold the fact that "they used to wake us up at 5:30 AM after the time change" over their heads, and it will be a glorious victory.

One day.

So, when the girls were six months old, in sheer desperation for some much needed sleep, we went to a sleep specialist. She is also known around my husband's office as The Baby Whisperer.

She gave us a huge packet of information about every aspect of a child's sleep. Seriously--she thought of everything, and every six months or so, I remember to be thankful to The Baby Whisperer.

Why?

She gave us one page paper on time changes.

But, I told you The Baby Whisperer thought of everything. She sure did.

So, until mamas can unite and rally for them (whoever them is) to just move the time 30 minutes and keep it permanent, maybe her wisdom will help you too:

Although the time change officially takes place on a Saturday night, for the child, it actually begins the next evening on Sunday. The parent should stick with the "old time" all day Sunday for the child's nap. Then on Sunday evening, the parent should move to the "new time" essentially making the child stay up an hour past the usual bedtime. The parent must continue putting the child down at night at normal bedtime for the child to make the adjustment to sleeping in till their usual time. Most children continue waking early for several days, then intermittently for several days. After about 10-14 days most children are back on schedule if the parent is consistent. It will take longer to adjust if the parents intermittently put the child down early.

*Disclaimer. I am not a sleep specialist, and I don't play one on TV. I'm just very grateful to The Baby Whisperer, and thought I'd pass this along. I'll say this: we've followed her recommendations, and each time our girls have adjusted within a couple of days. Painlessly.

Can't wait to see what you're loving this week!

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Duck Tales

A couple weeks ago we took the girls to the zoo.

They loved it! They would point at the animals, and babble excitedly. (Hadley is looking beyond the camera at a monstrous black rhinoceros--man, those things are big!).

I love that the girls can read about animals in books, and then see them in real life too!  

I have no idea if they made the connection that they were seeing the live version of what they've seen in books, or not, but it was fun to see all the animals. I pointed the animals out, and referenced lines from our books all along the way, anyway.
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So, fast forward to today. We're transitioning to one nap. They are so very tired in the mornings, so I've been trying to get them out after breakfast, before the heat of the day, to take a walk or run an errand, so that they can rest in their carseat or the stroller.

One place we visit a couple times a week is a nature reserve, comprised of wetlands, prairie and forest. Much of the path is shaded and cool and it is teeming with wildlife.

Part of the path goes out over the marsh. I'm so thankful that the path is wide enough to accommodate the double stroller. On the path we: hear frogs singing, see dragonflies dancing, ducks floating, turtles sunning themselves, fish tails flicking, snakes slithering *shudder*, and one day we even saw a beaver carrying a log to his dam!

Today, as we went along, I was pointing out the dragonflies and the sounds of the frogs singing, as usual. Just ahead of us I saw something moving in the reeds. Suddenly, five startled ducks were madly flapping their wings, one of which flew up on the path right in front of us! It waddled along in front of the stroller for a few moments before hopping back in the water.

The girls got so excited, exclaiming, "Duck, duck! And making their duck noises. All the way home Brynne was repeating the word "duck" and then making her duck noise, which actually sounds like a siren, "Aawha aawha aawha."

When we got home, we had lunch and then settled down to read a few stories before naptime. I asked the girls to pick out books to read. Brynne very excitedly brought me Little Quack Counts, full of dragonflies, fish, frogs, turtles and ducks.

She made the connection. Be still my heart!

Sleepy Babies

So. We're transitioning to one nap.

It's been rough.

We're tired. 

Two Will Become One---But Not Yet

So.

This whole napping thing.

These two naps might soon become one, just like a bad Spice Girls song.

But--I won't go down without a fight.

New Year and Follow-up Thankfulness

I've written a couple posts recently about changes the girls were going to be experiencing. I thought I'd follow up on those--I know I was praying. Some of you must have been too, because things really did turn out much better than I could have hoped.

 

Holiday travel. I had written about how my anxious heart feared and dreaded holiday travel this year. Mostly, I feared that disrupting the girls' schedule would poke a hole in the raft of routine that we'd worked so hard to inflate.

 

As some of you predicted, the girls adjusted to the changes with minimal difficulty, and had no trouble transitioning back once we got home. This mama is beyond thankful! Here are a few things we did to maintain some consistence away from home:

• We departed as the girls were supposed to be going to sleep. Two of the trips were around two hours long, so we left when the girls were supposed to going down for a nap. The other trip was four hours, which we made at night as the girls were supposed to go to bed. They did a pretty good job of transitioning from the car to their crib.
• We made their sleeping environment as close to home as possible. We brought along a box fan for white noise as well as their sleep sacks, blankets and binks. Their room at home is dark, really dark. We covered windows with blankets in attempts make wherever they were sleeping as dark as possible.
• We stuck to their schedule. If it was naptime, it didn't matter if we were in the middle of opening presents, we made sure that we kept to their schedule.
• We kept bedtime and naptime routine the same. We also made a point to have family say goodnight early, so that we could give the girls some time to wind down from the extra stimulation.
• We remained flexible. One of their naps just wasn't working, so we got in the car and went for a drive. We wanted them to be well rested, so that they could have a good visit with family.

Transitioning to separate cribs. We made the change this past Friday since it was a long weekend, and Brad would be around in case things didn't go well. Between their two naps we set up the second crib in their room. We put the cribs in an "L" shape, so that they can still interact if they want to. We divided up the binks, and assigned a crib to each of them.

The girls' first sleep apart from one another was their afternoon nap. It did not go well. I think I cried as much as they did. They struggled so much; it broke my heart. That night went, only slightly better. As predicted, Hadley had a harder time being apart from her sister. Again--just a lot of struggling to figure out how to sleep apart from one another.

The next day went better. Much better, Infinitely better. No crying at all. Now, when I put them down for naps, Brynne lays down. In the same motion of me laying Hadley down, she is sitting up and pulling herself up to standing. I let her do it. The first time it happened, I watched her for a few moments before leaving the room, I saw that she is peeking at her sister. After I left, I heard her through the monitor chatting to Brynne for a few minutes, and then it was quiet, and that was it.

What a blessing to have such resilient and adaptable daughters. Brynne and Hadley pretty much rock. I am also enormously thankful for my awesome, supportive husband, who has really big shoulders for me to cry on as my babies grow up.

 

267. The girls' excitement at getting to drink out of cups.

 

 

268. Brynne banging on the register.

269. Two babies warm with sleep.

270. Almost 11 months of babies sleeping in the same crib.

271. Fairly easy transition to separate cribs.

272. Lots of meals in the freezer.

273. An awesome husband who prepared all those meals.

274. Fascination with the frog night light.

 

 

275. Going to aerobics with Laila.

 

276. Getting home without the muffler falling off.

 

277. Listening to Hadley chattering away in her crib first thing in the morning.

 

278. Ringing in the new year sound asleep. 

 

Schedule Nazi

I admit it, unabashedly so, I am a schedule nazi.

Call me a control freak, I don't care. Mothering them is my job and my mission, and scheduling them, I believe, is loving them best.

So...I have a confession to make.

I am not looking forward to the schedule disruption of the upcoming holiday travel.

There--I said it.

I am giddy about sharing Thanksgiving and Christmas with our girls--I bought them a Christmas present the other day, and wanted to give it to them as soon as I got home (my husband made me put it away). I am also looking forward to spending time with family--with all the quirks and dysfunction that comes along with family, I do love the witty banter, laughs and precious conversations that are had. It's been over a year since I've been to my parents' house, between bedrest and the girls being born; I'm eager to visit them. This whole napping and sleeping on the road thing, though, is going to be intense, and I fear the worst.

Maybe my reservations would be better understood if you readers knew our sleeping nightmare journey. From a very early age, our routine with putting the girls down at night was to nurse them to sleep on the nursing pillow. I would then text my husband when they were good and asleep, and he would pick them up one by one off the pillow, and lay them down in their crib. Seemed like a pretty great system. The girls were never great nappers, but that was okay with me, because they were sleeping pretty well at night.

Then the four month sleep regression hit. The girls would wake up multiple times a night, and they had a very hard time going back down each time. I would spend an hour nursing them back to sleep, only to have one or both of them wake when Brad would lay them down in their crib. I remember the sinking feeling I would get in the pit of my stomach each time I would hear on of them cry, only moments after my head had hit the pillow. If I only had one baby, I would have gladly nursed it while sleeping on my side. With two, it was just not possible, and I was exhausted.

Finally, when the girls were six months, Brad and I walked, bleary-eyed into a sleep nurse's office, in desperate need of some answers, and some sleep. She gave us a plan to gently guide our daughters to putting themselves to sleep, and getting them on a napping schedule. Brilliant! Fast forward three months later, our daughters sleep through the night (most of the time), and take two naps a day. For the most part, everyone is happy and well-rested, as long as we stick to our schedule.

So, perhaps our history explains my vigilance with keeping their routine in tact. We schedule walks, playdates and errand running around naps and feeding times. Events that interfere with our schedule have been taken off the calendar. We have watched, amazed, at how well easily our daughters drift off to sleep with an ordered and predictable bedtime routine.

Over the next two months, I'm trepidacious, and a little curious, to see how the girls will adapt to makeshift bedtime routines in strange, new places. And, too, how they sleep away from the comfort of their own crib with all the familiar sounds and smells.

Anyone with any helpful advice to put this schedule nazi's heart at ease, do share!

Napping bootcamp update

We've been hitting the napping hard for the past week and a half or so. There have definitely been some successes. Yesterday, I was able to sit outside and read for a bit while the girls napped, and later on during another napping session I was able to paint my toes. I know, the time spent on these activities is time most people, including my former, pre-mama-self, took for granted--now I revel in the luxury of those precious minutes.

It's not about me though, it's about them, and while they haven't mastered the whole talking thing just yet, I think they are telling me that the person who came up with the whole concept of naps was pretty ingenious--I have to agree with them. Now, if I could just get them to say the same thing about sleeping through the night.... On days when napping goes well, we've noticed that the girls seem content and relaxed. It's made evenings much more enjoyable, and their papa's limited time with his daughters, after a long day of work, a pleasant experience.

Getting both girls down for a nap is an intricate dance. The performance needs to be flawless, and everything must be timed perfectly. It's exhausting work to choreograph this frolic, but I am determined. First, I look for sleep cues: yawning, rubbing eyes, fussing, disengaging from play--the trick is to catch these before it turns into a meltdown, which can thwart the napping performance even before it's started. These cues present themselves after the girls have been awake for about an hour. After identifying a need for sleep, I swaddle both girls up. I've found that we are most successful if I can lay Brynne down in the crib first with her bink and get her situated--she will sometimes waltz herself right into dream world with no extra coaching from me (those are really good days). Then, I tackle getting Hadley calmed down. Sometimes this is a simple little two-step of bouncing on the yoga ball and, other times it's a complicated number that goes on and on and on--imagine dancing to Stairway to Heaven, or pretty much any song by The Who. Once Hadley is drowsy and almost asleep, I can lay her down and creep out of the room. This is a successful napping session.

There are plenty of unsuccessful napping sessions--those are frenzied dances that end with the curtain crashing down in a tears, or determined smiles. The girls tend to feed off one each other's energy, both good and bad. If one begins to cry the other determines to out perform the other, if one smiles and coos, the other tries to woo my attention away from the other; such prima donnas! There are also partially successful napping sessions, when I can only manage to convince one of the girls that she is giving me all the signs that she is tired. The other, despite my best efforts, keeps her eyes peeled open in staunch defiance, and since you can't really force sleep, we hang up the tap shoes until the next napping session.

All in all, things are better--any amount of napping during the day is a good thing. Sleep begets sleep, or so the books all say, so we will plug away, ever chasing that tricky last letter of the alphabet.

Napping bootcamp

I had a small breakdown/revelation this weekend. My husband had three baseball games, so I spent much of it alone with the girls. It was a long, stressful weekend for me--the girls seemed fussy and irritable most of the time; I was tired, outnumbered and feeling very overwhelmed. At one point I looked at my sad, exasperated daughter, and saw dark circles under her teary eyes. It was then that I realized--my daughters are exhausted.

When the girls were sleeping through the night, I didn't consider it such a big deal that they weren't napping, but they have since hit the four month sleep regression, and/or are teething, and/or are going through a growth spurt--whatever it is, they aren't sleeping for long stretches at night anymore. This coupled with no naps makes for two very tired little girls (and two sleepy parents too).

Saturday evening while nursing the girls to sleep, I began my research to figure out how to get these girls napping. Now, I will say, I can get the girls to sleep during the day--they take small snoozes on the nursing pillow, or will fall asleep in the car on the way home for aqua aerobics, but they hardly ever lay down and sleep for long stretches of time. It's so rare, in fact, that I can probably recall, with detail, each of the instances in which this has occurred. Okay, so enter my sleep research. There are many schools of thought on getting babies to sleep, and I think I explored just about every single one of them. I knew I did not want to do the "cry it out" method, this is not meant to offend anyone who may adhere to this technique, just my personal preference based on research I've read, plus it just does not jive with our parenting style. So--I found a no-cry gentle sleep training solution, courtesy of some like-minded ladies on Baby Center's sleep training message board.

So, Sunday, after church, I began this napping bootcamp. Bootcamps are intense, and yield results--I was/am determined! My goal is to follow the basic format of wake, eat, play sleep. The key is to pay attention and watch for "tired cues" from the girls, to get them ready for a nap before they become over-tired, which basically means that they get worked up and cry. At their age they should not be awake for more than two hours at a stretch. Once they are ready for their nap, I'm supposed to lay them down with their pacifier (we call those binks). When they cry, I am to go in and give them back the bink. If that doesn't work, you pick them up, calm them down and begin again. Sound like a lot of work? Trust me, it is!

Day one of this adventure did not yield too many results. The girls took a few short naps, in the swing, or in my arms. Not a total loss, but I wasn't feeling too encouraged.

Day two was a little bit better. I got them both down at the same time for about 20 minutes at one point. Mostly naps took place in swings, slings and automobiles. Brynne tends to fight sleep a bit more than her sister. It seems she just wants to hang out with her mama, which is okay too--she does eventually fall asleep in the sling, so at least she's snoozing.

On day three things started to look up. I decided that I was really going to buckle down, and try this whole process--I mean people have done this, and it's worked for them. I decided that I wasn't going to lay the girls down and walk away. Instead--I would bring all their laundry into their room, and put it away while they were trying to go to sleep. I hummed or shushed, so that they knew I was there. If their binks fell out, I was right there to put them back in. This worked out pretty well; Hadley took three naps this way! Brynne only fell asleep this way one time, so she and I hung out quite a bit. Again, she did fall asleep in the sling, so she did get some sleep. The one nap that they both took together lasted a whole hour. Hallelujah! What I noticed at the end of the day was that the girls were far more relaxed and content, and there seems to be, overall, fewer tears through out the day--it could have been a fluke, but I'd like to say it's some positive results from our napping bootcamp.

Today is day four, and so far we have one and a half naps under our belts (they fell asleep on the way home from aqua aerobics in the car). I've continued to hang out in the girls' room until they are asleep. Their room is going to be very organized by the time bootcamp is over! My spirits are lifting, and I'm feeling very proud of our girls for having such patience with their mama as we transition to this schedule. We'll keep you posted.

Easy street

I hope all you moms out there had a fantastic Mother's Day yesterday. I love being a mom. It fills me with great joy when I think of my daughters. Just one smile or coo from them sends me to my knees, thanking God for each day he gives me with them. At the same time, I don't think I even need to say it; being a parent is hard. Being the parent of twins is hard. There have definitely been days when I've counted down the minutes until my husband walked in the door, and I've probably cried more tears than my daughters have when I can't seem to figure out why they are so unhappy. There are a few things that have happened recently that have made our parenting journey a little easier. I'm not saying it's easy--far from it, but things might be getting just a little easier, and, yes, I'm going to rejoice in that!

1. Napping. Our girls really struggle to take naps. Occasionally they will both go to sleep and take a long nap, usually in the late afternoon. Most of the time one will nap while the other one stays awake, or they both stay awake. Recently I received some great advice about napping, which this individual got from the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child. The book is all about doing what works to get your child to fall asleep, and to do it consistently. Probably the most important thing the book talks about is putting your baby to sleep after being awake for no more than two hours. This small piece of information has been SO helpful. I was keeping our girls up for much too long, they were getting over-stimulated and were having a hard time winding down. Since learning this, I've been giving the girls more quiet time, which they do often use to fall asleep.

2. Baby wearing. I've mentioned before how much we love our slings, so this will just reiterate this. Recently we've been able to use new holds with the sling as the girls have gained stronger neck muscles. By "wearing" the girls, we are able to get much accomplished, while facilitating bonding and attachment to our daughters. The girls are so comfortable in their slings--they both love to look around, and when one has had enough stimulation, she puts her head on my chest and goes to sleep. This weekend my husband and I were able to clean, cook, bake and do yard work--all thanks to our Baby K'tan slings. A bonus about the slings is that it allows me to hold both girls when I'm by myself--a big help when they both need to be soothed.
3. Play mat. My friend graciously let us borrow her son's  play mat. This thing is amazing! My girls love to be held, and love attention, as all infants do. There are days when putting them down, even for a moment causes and eruption of tears. Further, I often feel overwhelmed with the task of  engaging the girls in the necessary play to help them developmentally. This play mat works wonders. There are so many things to look at on this thing that it has kept the girls' attention for up to 45 minutes. This gives me time to get a few small chores done around the house, and I can sit there with them engaging them in all the developmental play that the play mat has to offer. We even read a couple of books today!!
4. Mobility. As I mentioned in a previous post, being able to get out and about with the girls has been very freeing for me. We have been able to meet friends for walks, and small visits, all while trying to balance napping and down time. These outings make the days fly by, and can sometimes provide me with an extra hand for a few moments when I need it. 
5. Sleep. For the past two weeks the girls have slept through the night for stretches ranging from six to eight hours at a time. This has been amazing! I realize this is most likely fleeting, and a growth spurt or teething will thwart this pattern, so we treat each night of good sleep as a gift. Being less tired makes the days seem brighter, and for this I give thanks!

Parenting certainly is an exciting journey. I love the ride, and am ecstatic that, for the moment, it's a little less bumpy.

I Feel Pretty: Preparations Before Baby

I probably don't need to tell you that having twins has completely rocked my world. Life changed for me the moment those two little girls made their way into the world. What I noticed most of all is the way it changed my beauty routine. While this sounds silly and perhaps a bit shallow, but I'm telling you ladies, if you don't already have kids, there are a few things I have to share with you that you might consider taking care of before they enter the world, because it will just make life just a little easier.


1. Hair--before I had the girls I went to get a haircut. I wanted cute layers, and for my stylist to take some length off, but still leave it somewhat long-ish. If you are breastfeeding like I am this was a complete waste of time. When you're figuring out breastfeeding, you are looking down at your baby(ies), both because he/she/they are new and beautiful and wonderful, and because you want to get the latch correct to avoid all kinds of unpleasantness. As you look down, your hair inevitably follows, falling in your face and on top of the baby(ies). This will eventually exasperate you, and you end up throwing it in a ponytail.

On a walk yesterday with a friend, I was speaking of this, and she said that she's actually asked her stylist to cut her hair above chest level for the purpose of breastfeeding. Isn't my friend smart?! That is an excellent suggestion. I would add that you'll want to make sure that it's still long enough to pull back, and DO go for some cute layers, so that you when you go out on your first postpartum date, you can wear your hair down for a change, and love how it looks!

2. Nails--I got a pedicure with a friend a couple of weeks before I delivered. Now, I know that my OB and all the nurses in the delivery room were not looking at my toes, but I had to look at them then and for the weeks after I delivered (I just finally got my first postpartum pedicure last weekend). I'm glad I got this done, because for the weeks following my delivery, when I was so tired I scarcely remembered deodorant on a daily basis, my toes were pretty, and I liked knowing that at least one part of my body was well groomed and pretty.

3. Make-up--my "beauty" routine was not all that complicated, but before I gave birth I very intentionally came up with a make-up routine that was low-maintenance, and speedy. I wanted to be able to make myself look nice in under five minutes. I'm very glad that I took the time to think this out. It may sound silly, but when you have two babies that require your attention, you learn to do everything fast. My routine, in case you're interested, is concealer and bronzer, which both are SPF 20, mascara, and occasionally eyeliner. Slap on some lip gloss and I can run out the door without looking like I just rolled out of bed. Sometimes I do this even if I'm not running out the door, because I like to feel pretty and put together, even if the only ones around to see it are some of the only people required to love me no matter what I look like, my husband and my daughters.

4. Skin care--I learned very quickly this spring that the sun can get you even when you don't realize it. Get a lotion with sunblock in it. That way if you decide to go for a walk to get your baby to take a nap, you won't end up with a terrible farmer tan that you'll spend the rest of the summer trying to get rid of.
5. Grooming "down there"--I highly recommend a Brazilian wax, or some other form of grooming, before delivery. It gets everything out of the way while you're healing. Enough said.
6. Eye wear--if you wear contacts, make sure that your glasses are the correct prescription. Trust me, the lack of sleep that you are about to experience will make it impossible for you to get those contacts in your eyes sometimes. You'll want to have your glasses handy, and it's probably a good idea for you to be able to see out of them.
7. Foot wear--if you are inclined to wear heels, I strongly recommend that you find some cute flats. You don't want to teeter around on heels while holding your baby, and it will make your feet hurt. I made this mistake on the day the girls got baptized. My feet hurt, because I spent most of the church service standing, and it was raining, so I wasn't nearly as sure-footed as I would have liked to have been while carrying a baby. I also recommend getting a great pair of running/walking shoes, so that you can take your little one for walks in the stroller. This will spur on your postpartum weight loss, and lull your baby to sleep--an excellent combination!
8. Jewelry--I found that dangling earrings follow the same path as my hair does when I'm breastfeeding, so I usually skip them and go for the smaller, non-dangle-y ones. I discovered that they do make a necklace that is designed for a baby to play with while nursing. I don't have one, but I think they are an excellent invention--I'm just not sure how it would go over with the girls since I feed them both at the same time.
These are just a few things to think about if you are not yet a mom. If you have other suggestions, I'd love to hear them! Please feel free to comment. You don't have to have an account to do so.

Snug as a Bug

We absolutely love our baby slings. The type we went with, Baby K'tan, are, in my book, geniuses. They allow us to go to church, navigate our way through a store, or to be in any other crowded location with our girls without them being pawed by a bunch of well-meaning, germy people. Most often the twins hunker down and fall into a contented sleep while in their Baby K'tan.

The slings are sized to give us each the most secure hold possible (I'm a small and my husband is a large). If we really want to, one of us can hold both babies at the same time until they each reach 10 pounds (we are working on that whole weight gain thing), which is also a great feature, and one of the few sling makers that offers a double-hold option--brilliant idea for twin parents!

As of late, I have noticed that our sling wearing has given us some looks of wary disapproval. It's not their fault, they just read about the one million slings that have been recalled and assume that 1) we might not have heard the news and 2) that we are putting our children in grave danger. The article has been passed to me about 10 times, so rest assured I've read through it at least once or twice. Don't get me wrong. I totally appreciate that so many people love our girls and are looking out for their well-being.

That being said, let me reassure all you very well-intentioned worriers that Baby K'tan slings were not recalled, and are perfectly safe. They don't cause babies to curl up and possibly suffocate like some other brands. So--when you see me with my baby in the sling, please know that when I smile at you, I do so knowing that my baby is safe, and snug as a bug in her sling.

R.I.P.

I love cemeteries. I promise, I'm not a weirdo, just hear me out. When I was in college there was a cemetery in the very small town of Greenville, Illinois that was in close proximity to the dorms. I would go there with friends to do homework or bask in the sun, or by myself to do homework, or to walk around reading off all the names on the tombstones to fill the alone time that my introverted self requires. Cemeteries are quiet, peaceful, and I posit that they are beautiful.

Now that I am a parent, I discovered today that there is another use for the sanctuary of the cemetery. Today I just needed to get out of the house, so I decided to take the girls for a ride in the car. First to Starbuck's for a treat (for me, not the girls), and then out and about exploring neighborhoods that the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon area has to offer. Our girls enjoy riding in the car as long as the car keeps moving, and they prefer bumpy roads. This is a problem in traffic, because there are inevitably stop signs, stoplights, and other cars in our way. As I turned into the gorgeous cemetery in a historical well-established part of town, I had an epiphany--this is perfect. There are no stop signs in cemeteries and the roads are uneven for extra bumpiness! I'm hoping to go back with the stroller at some point to wander up and down the uneven, hilly roads on foot.

On a slight tangent, parents, soon to be parents, or if you are ever going to be responsible for naming a child, or even a pet for that matter--cemeteries are great places to get ideas for names. There is everything from Alyoisious to Zebadiah--if you're stuck, I'm telling you, you might find the "perfect name" for your child, dog, or goldfish. More to my point though, you will most definitely find some peace, and your little ones might rest in the peace of the uneven roads and absence of stop signs.

For those in the Edwardsville, Illinois area, the cemetery of which I speak is just off of St. Louis Street. If you have a sunroof, and are driving through in mid-April with said sunroof open, be prepared for random seed pods and flower petals to fall into your car. A small price to pay for the beauty of spring, and yes, the serenity of the cemetery.