Monday, February 8, 2010

A few of my new favorite things...

As a mother of young multiples, it's very easy to forget the things that make you, YOU and focus exclusively on baby land. But every once in a while it's good to indulge just a little. Here are a couple things that made my life a little easier:

 
 The Ipod Touch. No not an iPhone, but it has plenty of the features without the monthly charge. This was a lifesaver during the first couple months of motherhood. There are several great apps for parents, including Baby Geek. The most useful though, Just Light. It's simply a white screen that provides a soft light. I still use it during my before bed breathing checks. I can see them, but the light isn't bright enough to interrupt their sleep. And it's FREE! This gadget also provided middle of the night entertainment while I was up alone pumping milk for the next day. I played games, watched YouTube and read books.


 

Kashi Dark Mocha Almond bars, aka "Crack bars"  Chocolate, almonds, fiber with a subtle rich coffee taste...enough said. NO one takes my Crack Bars.

 
Kindle, aka Otis. I never thought I could read on a gadget, but I downloaded the Kindle app on my iPod and read "The Book Thief" for book club only weeks after having my babies. This was my birthday gift from Andy and I love it. I read a lot of historical fiction so if I want to read more about the subject of the book, I can scroll down to the name or place and instantly access the Wikipedia entry. Yes, I can do this by going to my computer too, but I often read in bed at night. I would make mental notes to look something up, but always forgot. It's not for everyone, but it works for me!

 
 
This is a new discovery! I had a gift card to Bath and Body Works and was desperately in need of a good lotion for my winter dry skin. I'm kinda cheap and my other lotions were not doing anything. This costs $15, which is expensive for me, but I had a gift card. Wow! My skin feels as good as the babies!
 
A pop-up camera flash is one of my biggest pet peeves. I prefer not to use it at all, but the lighting in the house in the winter isn't the best, especially for those impromptu snapshots. Then I found the Opteka Universal Soft Screen Flash Diffuser. Wow! No more deer caught in the headlights photos. It fits over the pop up flash of your DSLR in seconds and the harsh flash is instantly softened. And it's less than $10. 
Of course, I can't finish without a picture of my two most favorite things:


 
 Maya and Maxwell--8 months
before I had the flash diffuser
 
Next time...my favorite baby related items that make life easier for mom and babies.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Busy, busy, busy...

Ok I'm still lacking on the blogging thing.... Sue me.

Another house hits the market! Yes, we're finally moving! After almost 10 years and all the new toys from last Christmas, we're running out of room and need to expand. So our house will be officially on the market by the end of the week and we can start looking for a new home. I'm very excited! Even though Andy and I were dating when he bought this house, I really didn't have much say. So to me this will kinda be my first house. And the decor and organization will be how I set it up.

Here are some of our requirements:
  • at least 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms
  • maintenance free siding
  • two living areas
  • a decent size kitchen with a dishwaster (goodbye dishpan hands!)
  • at least a two car garage
  • a good sized yard (preferably fenced in)
Here are some things we would like to have:
  • a dining room
  • first floor laundry
  • fireplace (I've just always wanted one.)
  • a finished basement
There's more...but I'm drawing a blank. We're really not expecting to have trouble finding something, but hopefully we can sell our house pretty quick.

Because I just don't have enough to do, raising almost nine month old twins and all, I decided that I needed to start making our own baby food. Ever since I was pregnant, I've read about how easy it was...even in my twins books. My friends did it too.

So I started with peas. Why? Good question. I HATE peas! We had a couple jars in the cupboard, but I've been putting them off. But Andy gave them peas one night and raved how much they loved them. And peas were the first recipe in my baby cookbook. And homemade pureed peas looked so much prettier than the Gerber variety.

I bought some frozen peas, a steam basket and used my new food processor.

 

  
My eager little testers...
It was pretty easy. However, Maya and Maxwell didn't feel the same about Mommy's peas as they did for Gerber's.
 
  
The short of it...both gagged then Maxwell vomited all over. 
My first cooking experience for my children and my son vomits! I shared my news with the Facebook world, and was quickly assured that not many kids like their mom's peas. In fact I reread the section in that twins book and the author admitted that her twins didn't like peas either. Stupid cookbook.

I admit that I haven't tried again, but I would like to try some applesauce because that's their favorite, but I'm a little scared. Maybe Gerber isn't so bad after all...