Hello again!
Sorry I've been MIA for quite some time now. As the kids get older, I get busier it seems. Especially right here at the holidays! As you can tell by the title, I am going to be blogging today about my personal toddler must haves. The boys turned 2 in September (pictures to come) and these items have been life savers for me. They have saved me time and headaches! I hope they're helpful for you as well!

1. Disposable Diaper Sacks

It isn't the best experience when your baby makes a big stink (literally) while you're out and about with little to no bathroom accessibility. I remember when we were having family pictures made, and one of the boys did this to Eric and I in the studio. It was borderline an emergency and if we hadn't had these little disposable sacks with us, the whole place would have known what had happened. They trap in odor and you can toss them in your diaper bag until you can find a trashcan or restroom to dispose of it. They're also super inexpensive!

2. Snack Pouches

My kids prefer the original apple sauce flavor, but these snack pouches come in a very large variety of flavors and brands (they also have organic options). They are so handy to toss in the diaper bag as you're walking out the door. The caps are re-attachable, which is handy if your child doesn't finish it all in one go. These have saved us from a few meltdowns in the past. They're also a healthier alternative to your traditional snacks (i.e. chips and cookies).

3. Easy Velcro Shoes

I know my toddlers are twins, but their feet are very different. Lucas has very narrow, thin feet, while Zachary has very thick and bigger feet. That makes getting shoes to fit Zach very difficult. My husband and I actually found the above shoes at our local Wal-Mart on clearance for $3 a pair! I kid you not. They are easy to put on both boys, there is no fuss, and no yanking or pulling on them. The Velcro makes it easy to tighten them for Lucas and also loosen them up for Zachary. I can't say enough good things about these shoes. They aren't on clearance anymore but I'll link them here if you want to go check them out. They are still only $10 a pair. The boys wore them all summer and they are still in great condition. I just throw them in the wash when they get dirty and they're like new again!

4. Step Stool

A stool is a great help in a home with small children. They make washing hands, brushing teeth, and getting drinks of water much easier. No more heaving and straining to lift your quickly growing young ones up to reach the sink. They can just grab the stool and do it themselves. Plus, I've noticed that it makes them feel independent and they really like doing these types of things on their own. A definite must have!

5. Mess Free Markers
If your children like to color and draw as much as mine do, then these are a must for you. Maybe everyone already knows about these and I'm the last one to get the clue. But, I have definitely cleaned my share of crayon and marker off the wall at my house. My mom mentioned these to me and I suddenly got very excited. Now I don't have to hide the arts and crafts basket from the twins!

6. Boo Boo Buddy
These aren't necessarily a "must have", but are still really neat anyway. I didn't even know about these until someone gave my daughter one in a gift. You just put them in the refrigerator or freezer, and whenever your little one falls down and gets a scrape or bump....well pretty self explanatory! The kids like these a lot better than a plain ole ice pack or wash cloth. I guess it's the cute little animals on the front....

7. A REAL Spill-Proof Sippy Cup
They are harder to come by than you'd think. Or at least in my experience they are. And if your little ones are anything like mine, then these will also need to have a hard spout. We first tried the soft spout sippies, and my boys just chewed them right off. The ones pictured are the Dr. Brown's brand. They are about $8 for the two of them! I like that you can see them lying sideways on the floor and not worry that milk is dripping everywhere. They've helped my sanity haha!

8. Potty Seat
In my experience, kids would rather go potty on the potty they see you use, other than their own special-makes-noise-and-sings-$45-potty that you've purchased just for them to use. Go figure....
So I've found these nifty little "fit in your own toilet" potty seats to be a must have! They fit their little bottom just right and the toddler feels like a grown up sitting there. They're also very inexpensive. Win-win!

9. Faucet Cover
Let's face it, once the kids turn two (and sometimes even before), they become wild animals in the bathtub. I have had serious fears about one of them raising up and raking their back across those sharp faucet edges. But never fear! Faucet covers are here! Most people already know about these as well, but I had to include them because they really are a must have. They will give Mom and Dad great peace of mind. We have the one pictured. It's made of a soft foam and has worked really well. We got ours at Target.

and last but not least....
10. A Good Diaper Bag Back Pack
I had a Thirty One diaper bag when the boys were infants and it was really nice and spacious. However, as the infants turned into toddlers, it became a lot harder to lug that thing around everywhere. I don't need to take as much stuff with me when we go out, so I don't need that large of a bag. I saw a YouTuber (KKandBabyJ) order one of these off Amazon and had to have one. It really is a must have. It's stylish so you don't actually feel like you're carrying a diaper bag. You can carry it on those rare occasions you go out without the kids, and you won't feel strange. I don't carry a purse, I just put all of what I need in the diaper bag as well. Plus, these are only $30 on Amazon and they come in different colors. It has plenty of room inside for a couple changes of clothes, diapers, wipes, a wallet, sunglasses case, and checkbook case. There is a front pocket for your phone, and several pockets inside and one on the back. I also have a small pack of random baby essentials inside and it fits as well. Do yourself a favor and get one! You can thank me later :)


Hopefully you found this post helpful and will benefit from some of these things like I have. It's hard being a parent sometimes, so anything that makes life a little easier is always nice! I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season so far and I'll talk to you again soon!

Hugs and Love,

I have been wanting to start a YouTube vlogging channel for a while now. I kept being a chicken and finding excuses to wait, but I decided there is no better time than now! I hope you guys will check it out, subscribe, and support me on this fun journey! I will be writing again soon!

Hugs and Love,

Whew.


I think that is the first deep breath I've taken in weeks.


I'm so glad to be back to my blog and I have so much I want to write about! My family and I took a little vacation the week of February 15th. It's the first vacation we've taken together. Ever. It was just a nice getaway, and also a Valentine's celebration (of sorts) for my husband and I. The week leading up to vacation was somewhat of a blur. My husband was working mandatory overtime, so I was left to take care of all the packing and trip prepping, along with taking care of the kids. It was chaos for all of us. The day before we left, it snowed (AGAIN), and it was a lot. Ugh, I'm so sick of snow and so ready for spring. On the day we left, it was pouring down rain, which was good because it was melting said snow. But it was a slushy mess loading the luggage and kids into the van and getting out of town. We traveled to Pigeon Forge, TN The Great Smoky Mountains. Growing up, my family and I took a spring break vacation there every year. It's not too far away, roughly four hours (tack on a bit more when travelling with small children in the pouring rain.) Seriously, the trip there was so rough. Props to my husband for remaining so calm. We couldn't see the road in front of us at some points it was raining so hard. I was a nervous wreck the whole way there. When we finally arrived, it had stopped raining and I got so excited! Like a kid again! Pigeon Forge is a very family friendly area. There are things to do year round, and the mountains are gorgeous. Since we had our small babies with us, we mainly stayed at the resort. There was an indoor water park and the condo was gorgeous.



Lucas was so eager to explore the place that he's not pictured above. But he was with us! Izzy was so thrilled. Her first vacation! She kept saying "mama, this is the best VEEcation ever!" Melted my heart. And as you can see from the photos, Zachary was pretty happy too!

We got in pretty late that first night and we lost an hour on the way. We all ate Steak N Shake at about 10:30 and then called it a night. I promised Iz that the next day would be a whole day devoted to the indoor water park. She couldn't wait. And to be honest, I couldn't either. They had splash pads, water fountains, indoor water slides, a big pool, and a hot tub! Count me in.




Izzy probably went down the water slides at least 50 times (not exaggerating) and all by herself too! She's so independent for a four year old, and definitely an adrenaline junky. She did not get that from me. I wish I had gotten a picture of it, but it's a lot harder than one would think having your phone around that much water and wrangling 17 month old twins. So the snapshots I posted are the only ones I have from the water park. Did I mention all the pools were heated? Okay, I'm ready to go back!

The next day we decided to get out and take the kids to WonderWorks, or the upside down house as we called it. It's a really neat place (a bit overpriced in my opinion) but still fun! It's described as an indoor amusement park, but I wouldn't call it that. It explains science in a really neat way for children to better understand. I'll post a link here to their website if anyone wants to go read about it! There wasn't much for the babies to do, but even they had fun walking around exploring the place. And there is fun for adults too.



After we left WonderWorks, we headed over to a really neat restaurant called Harpoon Harry's Crab House. It was HUGE and very nice. We splurged and I got the filet mignon while my husband enjoyed the rib-eye. We also had fresh sushi for an appetizer. It was pricey, but I would recommend it. Delicious food!

The next day was spent shopping and we ate at a Mexican restaurant called Cielito Lindo. They had authentic Mexican food, huge portions for a great price. The food was also delicious there. I wanted to take my husband to Knife Works, which is known to be the "World's Largest Knife Showplace". I truly believe that. It's three stories and we didn't make it through the whole thing. My husband bought a new, really nice, pocket knife, and I was able to get a really nice gift to take home for my dad.

We rested in the room that night and my husband took Izzy back to the waterpark. They had a blast, and I believe that was my daughter's favorite part of vacation or uh...VEEcation ;) I really enjoyed just relaxing and spending time with my family.

Zachary giving kisses to sissy

The kiddos really enjoyed the jetted tub!

Lucas loves his daddy so much

The day came to come home and disaster struck. Okay that might be a little dramatic, but it was pretty disastrous. My husband woke up more sick than I have ever seen him. He had a horrible stomach bug. We first thought it might be food poisoning, but we all ended up getting it later so that was ruled out. I let him rest and I packed up our entire condo and got all of the kids ready, loaded up the van, and drove us all home. It was stressful to say the least. But I was so worried about Eric. Poor thing was so sick. I ended up getting it that night (after we had arrived home--thank goodness) I can't imagine having that while trying to drive home, I would have had to stop and get a room for another night. And then it made it's way through my children one by one. I spent the next several days bleaching and disinfecting my house. We are all finally well!

Izzy went back to school today and the routine is back in full swing once more. We really had a great trip, but we are all glad to be home. And I am very happy to be back to my blog! I hope you are all well and enjoying life :) I'll post again soon!

Hugs and Love,

I'm not sure if it's my 4 year old's new found sass, or a case of cabin fever, or both, but she's been driving me 10 shades of crazy lately. She was out of school Monday for MLK Day and out today for a snow day (preschool only goes two days a week here). So in all fairness she has been cooped up indoors for several days now. Some children would do fine with that, not my kid. She has so much energy that sometimes I get tired from just watching her gallop through the house. Izzy is the type of child that needs to get out and burn off steam, so I figured it would be a great day to get all the kids out to have some snow time fun! It's also the twin's first experience with snow. And they loved it! I got some really great shots of them playing today.






But now is the end of this blog post, and it's back to the real world for me. Back to teaching my 4 year old the lesson "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." So don't peg your brother with that snowball if you don't want him doing it back. And don't tickle him till he cries. I don't think she realizes that one day they will be bigger than her....Yep this is the life. And I wouldn't trade it. But I still wouldn't mind some prayers sent this way ;)