Splurge or Save

Mrs. Green Grass at Baby Making Merry Go Round is posting about baby items and what we mamas deem "splurge worthy" and where you can save when purchasing baby gear. I posted about my twin must haves a while back, and since then some of my preferences have changed now that the babies are getting older.

 Splurge on fertility treatments. Save on pregnancy tests and birth control. Done and done :) But seriously, once you go broke conceiving your child these are the items that you can splurge or save on, in my humble opinion :)

Splurge: Stroller

Although I started with a Double Snap and Go stroller I got off of Craigslist for $40 save, we're now ready to use a double that doesn't require the infant seats. I learned this lesson the hard way just this past weekend. When registering, I didn't want to splurge too much on items because I knew we needed a lot for twins and didn't want to go overboard. So I selected a modest double stroller that had nice features and I thought would work well. We received it as a shower gift but it wasn't until my walking date with another twin mom that I busted it out. 

The first thing I noticed at the park was how the umbrellas barely shaded the boys, boo. Then I couldn't get my diaper bag in the basket underneath so I had to unpack the essentials and put them in the basket. While walking, she and I test drove each others strollers...when she asked me if my brake was on I knew it was over. I was having major stroller envy. When I got home, I started researching other stroller options and how I could remedy my situation. In the end, I was able to return my stroller since it was used once and was given store credit at Buy Buy Baby. I found a Baby Jogger City Mini online and they were willing to price match so I paid the difference and I'm now a much happier mama! Now the twins are riding in style but most importantly comfort!

Do your research and splurge! Even if you think you can't, try to make it happen...it will be worth it I promise!

Save: Bouncers

The papasan bouncers look cozy and usually don't make your living room look like Sesame Street exploded all over it, but for all intents and purposes the $29.99 Fisher Price bouncers work great! A feature that I actually like is the toy bar that hangs across the top and I use it to dangle toys and teethers as well. This way when my boys are sitting in their chairs, they have something to interact with and I don't feel so guilty if I'm not able to hold them. The covers are removable and washable which is great now that we're eating rice cereal!

So comfy Will decided to take a nap :)

Save: Clothing

Aside from special occasions and holidays, my boys sport the typical onesie and pants combo. I'm looking forward to rompers now that it's getting warmer out. You can go broke buying just the cutest little things but I try not to spend more than $5-7 on a set or item. Maybe it's because I'm buying for 2 at once, but I haven't found that we're missing out on much buy buying 2 packs of Carter's pants at TJ Maxx for $3.99. I also get the 6 pack of onesies for $9.99 and that's $2 a shirt! They're in them for such a short amount of time I just can't justify spending much more. Although I'll admit I'm slightly jealous of the adorably monogrammed babies popping up all over Instagram :) 

Splurge: Bottles, Breast Pump....feeding accoutrements

However you plan (or have to divert from the plan in my case) to feed your baby is pretty important. At first we probably spent 4-5 hours a day feeding babies. Nursing, bottles, pumping...it is all time consuming and at one point I was doing all 3! Once you find what works best for you and your baby invest in a good breast pump (try renting one from your hospital at first, it's fairly affordable and more powerful to help establish supply if needed...still hurts like a sonofagunderson) and pillow, or enough bottles so you aren't washing them more than once day. It can get expensive, especially if you're on the Dr. Brown's bandwagon because the Neonatologist in the NICU convinced you that you're child could grow two heads if they aren't fed with these bottles...guilty.

Splurge: Anythingthatwillhelpyourbabysleep.

Swaddle blankets, I prefer the Swaddle Me with the velcro for escape artists babies, sound machine, blackout curtains.  We're now in sleep sacks and sometimes I won't put them in one for a nap and they definitely don't sleep as long. Don't do it to yourself; sleep and give them what makes them happy when they sleep!

Save: Swing

My swings were hand me downs and thank goodness because those bad boys can be expensive. Some babies live in their swings, ours never became addicted so past 3 months we rarely use them. That's the thing with babies, you just don't know what they'll take to or not. Based on my experience, I'd recommend paying half price for a swing from a consignment store or Craigslist and wash the heck out of the fabric. Then see what your baby likes :) At five months, we're just about ready to put ours away so I'm glad I didn't spend or register for over $400 of baby soothing goodness.

Save: Baby Bjorn

Again, one of mine was a hand me down and I didn't think I'd need a second. I was wrong! So I bought one off of Craigslist and washed the holy goodness out of it. Much better than the $70 for a brand new one. Or two! In my secondhand experience, most people selling baby things are pretty legit and things are in good condition because babies go through these stages so fast.

Hopefully this is helpful for new or future mamas! Where did you splurge or save...what did I miss?

All of these items are Ben and Will tested; Mom approved.

The Twins are 5 Months!

It's Spring Break and spending the week home with the babies has been AMAZING! They turned 5 months ohmygodtimeflies yesterday. My mom is here visiting and she bought them a swimming pool so we tried that out since it was 90 degrees! We also did our 5 month photos today and I finally got a smile out of Benny! He smiles for me all the time but I can never catch it on film ;) So here are some of my favorite photos from the last two days...get comfortable!

Saw It, Pinned It, Did It!

I posted on Facebook the other day that I really only need three boards on Pinterest; "Things I MIGHT do", "Things I'd like to but definitely WON'T do" and "Things I'll forget to do".

These are a couple of the things from my MIGHT do category and I actually accomplished them! Granted, none of them are super involved or difficult but fun nonetheless! I'm also linking up with Katie and Stephanie for their weekly "Saw It, Pinned It, Did It" :)

During the babies nap last week, I made this shamrock banner. Fun, easy and the only thing I needed to buy was one piece of green glitter scrapbook paper. I felt a little guilty tearing pages out of a book but whatareyougonnado? 

Glitter Shamrock Banner

Last week we had a wedding shower for our music teacher at school and one of the awesome 5th grade teachers put this together from her team. I told her she had to Pin it so I could copy use the inspiration, thanks Amie! I'm going to a wedding shower this week so it worked out perfectly, inside is a silverware set off the registry. I used 3 kitchen towels but bought 2 sets of 2 so I tucked the 4th in with the silverware before I wrapped it. Amie advised me to wrap the silverware with one towel and use two for the bow. $1.49 for the 3 wooden spoons at Target and voila! 

 Kitchen Towel Shower Gift

 I decided to put this together as a hostess gift for the ladies hosting the shower, I got the argyle knee socks at Target, love that place!

 Sock Wine Gift 

I also made this pasta recipe, cookie pie and a version of this salsa. It's amazing what you can accomplish during Spring Break! I did not take my own photos because...I forgot. Also mine never look as good as the pin. But I will recommend that you try all 3!

Zucchini Ricotta Penne

Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Pie

I can't find the salsa pin, probably accidentally pinned it on another board! I basically used 4 whole tomatoes, half a white onion, handful cilantro, 4 green onions, half a jalapeno and serrano pepper, garlic salt and pepper to taste. Chop then pulse in the blender and enjoy!

In addition to being a pinning fool, I've had a great week spending family time and the twins get cuter every minute! 

 And in case you were wondering, these photos were taken in this order! Oh brothers :)

I'm on a Roll!

Or at least it feels like it :) One of the things I've had a hard time with while working full time, having twins and a husband living across the country is finding balance. I used to cook, bake, sew, craft, spend time with friends...when the babies were born I struggled to find time to keep up with anything. Around the time they turned 4 months, I decided I was going to make an effort to incorporate some balance. Since then, I've cooked more meals, attempted Pinterest projects and tried to keep up with blogging.

This week I'm feeling very accomplished, obviously since it's Spring Break and I'm not working. Also, Dan has had a few days off and it's been amazing! I'm being productive during nap time and getting out more. I was able to spend some one on one time with each baby too which rarely happens!

Sunday I took Will to Target and we got a wedding shower gift for our friends. I also managed to get groceries and some projects done around the house. We started rice cereal that night, they both did pretty well.

Monday we met the cousins at the park and used the jogging strollers for the first time! I also made a Pinterest recipe for dinner and Dan's sister and husband came by to say hi.

Tuesday morning, Will's cough was getting worse so I made him a doctor's appointment. While the babies napped, I showered AND baked a Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Chip Pie. I was a little overzealous trying to get both of the chores accomplished during one nap time, especially while Dan was out running errands and the babies quickly put me in my place! Ben and I went to a playdate at our friend/neighbor Nikki's house. Will got some one on one time with Dan and then I took him to the doc later that afternoon. He's back on Albuterol breathing treatments and now we have our very own breathing machine, wah, wah, wah. At least I can use it for both of them and don't have to run off to the Ped and pay a copay every time we need to borrow one. Night 3 of rice cereal and going strong! Sheila stopped by and fed Ben, assuring me that the babies did, in fact have the hang of it :) Dan's cousin and his girlfriend brought Pei Wei over for dinner and visited with the babies. We also ate aforementioned cookie pie :)

Wednesday is "Baby Time" at the library down the street. I really wanted to take the boys, it is geared toward birth-20 months with songs, stories, puppets etc. I didn't know if I could handle them both without Dan but with Will being sick, I didn't want to bring him. Well Dan was supposed to leave at 10:30 to commute back to Philly to be on call tomorrow. He wound up calling to see if they had assigned him a trip and they did so he doesn't need to leave until tomorrow!! So again, it was Daddy and Will time while Mommy and Ben went to Baby Time. It was super cute and more crowded than I expected. I was hoping to meet some other mommies but it was pretty obvious that these ladies attend regularly and have already made friends with each other. This working mama won't be back until summer so no such luck for me. At least I know what to expect and once they're both sitting up I feel like I could manage with the two of them and make some friends ;) I made fresh salsa while we watched the Pope coverage and now I'm trying to post this quick blog before the babies wake up. Maybe we'll go sit in the backyard and enjoy the Arizona sun...or watch the Jodi Arias trial...and eat salsa.

Tonight we are going to a wedding shower for our friends Emily and Stephen, Dan is going to get to come thank goodness! I'm hoping Will is feeling better but I'm not too worried since its mostly adults and he's been getting in some good naps today. My mom is coming to visit since it's Spring Break so I'm sure we'll work on some projects and celebrate her birthday this weekend. Maybe we'll bring the babies with us to a restaurant...who knows!

I'm so happy to have this week to feel like a happy and fun mommy. I wish I had the opportunity to enjoy life like this all the time and I'm really dreading the next 9 weeks. But I just have to remind myself that in 9 weeks I will be that lucky. Then we'll just need to figure out our move and we can be together again!

Random Stuff

Things have been a little crazy lately with Dan being gone for 7 day stretches but it's finally Spring Break and he's coming home today! We are going to relax and enjoy being a family. I want to get the jogging strollers out and tuned up for Pat's Run and maybe go for some walks around the park. I also found a "Baby Time" event at the library down the street with story time, songs and a parachute game. I really want to go since I'm off this week and Dan can actually come and hold one of the twins. A friend and neighbor of mine is also hosting a playdate at her house this week so we're looking forward to that. So many great things to do, too bad I only get a week to cram it all in!

We tried rice cereal last week before Dan left and it didn't go so well! I decided to wait until this week to try again so they can get the hang of it when it's not just me feeding them. We used the bouncers which I think we should stick with although the idea of getting the high chairs out is exciting. They will take up so much space though, that's the only reason I'm hesitating.

Last time Dan was home (or was it two times ago? I can't keep track) we got a new car! New to us, that is. When we were getting ready to go through IVF we sold Dan's truck and bought a small SUV so we wouldn't have a car payment. We thought that would be a great little car for me to drive with the twins. Well we wound up having to do so many repairs on it, it worked out to be almost a car payments worth a month. It seemed like every few weeks something new would go wrong and we finally got to the point where we didn't want to keep fixing the crappy thing. Plus the fact that the carseats barely fit and Dan couldn't drive or sit comfortable because we had to have the seats so far forward. He didn't want me driving it with the boys, so I had been driving them around in my Camry for weeks, also not the best vehicle for 2 carseats, stroller, groceries etc. SO, Dan had been scouting "new" cars for a while but I maintained that we couldn't afford another payment with me getting ready to quit working and him living in Philadelphia and all of our medical bills. Long story short, he found this Toyota Sienna at a dealership, happened to go on a rainy day and got a smokin' deal! They even gave us a decent trade in for the SUV considering what a piece it is. So now I'm 30, with 2 kids and a mini van. Jealous?

It's super momish and even though we only have 2 kids and don't technically need the 3rd row, it is so convenient for all of the stuff we need for the twins, fits the dog, and doesn't use as much gas as an SUV. Plus, the push button sliding doors are amazing when I have my hands full with both babies!

My mom sent me a letter the other day and included some old photos, so fun to look at! She included one of me with my grandma when I was about the twins age. We both think I look like Benny :)

And just because they are so cute and sweet, here are some more pics of the little men :)