Twin Tuesday...a Few of our Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses
And whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Alright, alright now that your singing your best Julie Andrews, for this week’s installment of Twin Tuesday (hopefully, I’ll post before Wednesday…) I thought I would share a few of our favorite things. I think they helped us survive the first 6 months of twins….

Table for Two… say what?! When a fellow twin mom asked if I wanted to buy a used table for two, I looked at her and was like “huh?” She assured me that it was worth it and advised me to buy it and research it later. She was totally right! It’s kinda big and surprisedly heavy, but is so helpful when trying to feed both babies at the same time, and trust me, at some point, you’ll need to feed both the babies at the same time. It’s good for bottle feeding and first foods.

Stroller and Car Seat……Total disclaimer, I wanted matching car seats and a integrated stroller system - I could have made my old car seats (we had an extra one) and our side-by-side double stroller work but I knew I could find something better. I set out to find the perfect system and did plenty of internet research trying to compare reviews and weights and sizes. I finally decided on the UPPAbaby Vista stroller and the MESA car seat. I couldn’t be happier. This stroller is amazing! The car seats are wonderful - the bases are a dream to install. Seriously WAY easier than my old Britax products. The stroller folds up so easily and it’s relatively compact for such a heavy duty stroller. It has lots of room underneath to store all the things necessary to go out with twins. The only downside, it requires purchasing extra parts…you’ll need the extender and adapter to use the second seat. The adapter will allow you to lock in both the car seats directly on the stroller. You’ll also have to buy the second seat and extender to make it a double stroller. Sounds like a pain, but totally not and super easy to figure out.

Ya’ll I felt like a rock star when we first used the car seats/stroller for one of our first doctors appointments after we brought the babies home - I felt like the transition from the car to stroller took no time; we fit through all the doors without any fuss and when we were done, we had the babies back in the car, stroller loaded in the back in under 2 minutes. It took more time to grab the diaper bag, the loose papers from the doctor and the pacifiers then it took to unload and fold up. Again, can’t say enough about it! LOVE it!

UPPAbaby Vista stroller and MESA car seat

Diaper Bag….I knew I wanted a backpack-style bag that didn’t scream DIAPER BAG! With four kids, I knew it was necessary to have my hands free. I have been so happy with the Petunia Pickle Bottom Intermix. It fits SOOO much and has great compartments.

Petunia Pickle Bottom intermix Backpack Diaper Bag

Bath Cushion….I’ve always used a cushion for bathtime, we’ve had a million of the cheap ones - you know the ones that eventually rip because they have gotten so wet and heavy. Anyway, I purchased the Skip Hop Moby SoftSpot Bather as a total impulse buy. I actually only bought one because I figured I would only bathe one baby at a time. WRONG…I ended up getting a second and it made bath time quicker and easier! The great thing about this one is that it floats. It keeps the baby’s head and ears mostly out of the water. (never leave a baby unattended in the bath - no matter how safe a cushion appears). The babies are 7 months and we still use them. They sit on them now and it provides some cushion and prevents them from slipping and sliding around. Also, drop this guy in the washer and it cleans right up!

Swings…. buy 2, don’t think twice, you'll thank me later. Nothing beats the good-ol’ traditional swing - they are huge suckers of space but helped me on so many occasions! I tried the modern, space saving ones (I literally get motion sickness watching them) but they just didn’t work for us. Having a swing is like having an extra pair of hands….all my kiddos just loved swinging. It was calming and kept them somewhat elevated to help with spitting up. Some of those early nights, the twins actually slept in them.

Fisher-Price - My Little Snugabear Cradle ‘n Swing

Other items that were super helpful…

Pump - Medela Symphony Breast Pump. if you are an exclusive pumper like I was, I suggest renting a hospital grade pump. My hospital offered this one and I rented it for months for all of my babies. I had a serious love/hate relationship with the thing! I would use the regular Medela pump for when I went back to work or traveled. Buy yourself lots of extra parts so you don’t feel stressed about constantly having to clean them.
LOTS OF ZIP-UP PJs…ain’t nobody got time to button all those buttons. get the zipper ones or even better, the magnetic ones and thank me later.
Bassinet - for our first baby, my aunt and cousin purchased us the Restoration Hardware bassinet and base. We loved it so much that when I found out we were having twins, I went on the search for a second. Of course, Restoration Hardware discontinued them. Ugh! But by the grace of God and the determination of a friend (you are dream Brittany!), we found one on Facebook Marketplace and my husband drove to Jacksonville to get it! So worth it! it’s nice to have the babies close to you when they are little.
Vibrating Chairs - a great alternative to the swing and offers some toys to help work on hand-eye-coordination. We had the Bright Starts brand - simple, no rocker, but bouncy/vibrating chair.
Go-to relaxing drink - wine, vodka, soda, tequila. just saying..sometimes you’ll need something for those hard days.

Ok, that’s all I can think of for now - I’ll add anything I may have missed if it comes to me later. Hope this helps!

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

(good luck getting that out of your head…you’re welcome)