Categories
Everything Else Motherhood

What I’m Loving {first world mom edition}

It’s been a while since I’ve done a shopping post. Well it’s rare I’m shopping much at all except online these days!

But I love seeing what other bloggers are digging & thought I’d join in. This is completely unsponsored.

My new Lilly Pulitzer Chi Omega bracelet. lilly-chi-o-bracelet.JPGI was unable to pass it up during their summer sale. And I’m so glad I didn’t! I’ve found reasons to wear red/yellow/mint green since it arrived Thursday.

I’ve been going to the same salon for a couple times now, & they recommended {& had on sale} KMS Free Shape shampoo & conditioner. It was more expensive than my usual Target brand, but it feels like a delicious smelling luxury & makes my curls & color shine.

I’ve been loving a few moms of multiples resale Facebook pages recently. I’ve bought most of Lucy’s 18-24 mo & Zach’s 12-18 mo clothes from other MoMs. Including a new lot of Trumpette 12-24 mo socks. I’m obsessed & love that they’re gender neutral!

I haven’t hit purchase as I currently refuse to spent $25 for an outfit for Lucy when she has a closet full of 18 mo clothes I’ve super sale or consignment shopped for her. But oh my goodness I love the current owl line at Gymboree! Look at these ruffle leggings.wpid-IMG_20130823_113627.jpg

 

Lemonade. Random? Yes. But I think since I couldn’t handle lemonade while pregnant due to heart burn, I’m making up for it this summer. I like it pink, homemade, store bought &/or mixed with sweet tea. My current favorite is from Panera.

I am loving my current read: Stephen King’s 11/22/63. I’m also loving that my cubemate, dad & husband have all read it. So in addition to September’s book club chat, I’ve been one-sided {no spoilers!} chatting as I read along. I’m getting close to the end & can’t wait to see how it wraps up!

Whole Foods: it’s nicknamed Whole Paycheck for a reason, but if you’re in a rush & need a quick meal that you know is going to taste great, you can’t beat it. This week I went to Whole Foods for a to go dinner for a new mom friend & also left with breakfast muffins & a bean & cheese burrito lunch for myself. Loved every bite.

What’s your current obsession? Be it food, drink, clothes? I am missing something I will ‘need’ for fall?!

Categories
Babies Everything Else

Introducing Babyhuddle

I was recently introduced to Babyhuddle, after Susanne {yes, her name caught my eyes first!} stopped by & left a comment on my cloth diapering at daycare post.

I jumped over to the babyhuddle site because I hadn’t heard of it. I noticed immediately that it was a cool, user-friendly & very interactive site for all things baby. I noticed the prices were all in EU, they used the term ‘mum’ {which is just too cute} & wondered if they were going to have a US site. Turns out, they’re launching their US version of babyhuddle today.

My favorite part about babyhuddle? The lists! I love lists! {Remember my pre-babies list that didn’t quite get finished before bed rest?} I searched online before the babies were born for blog posts to help me register for what I’d need most as a twin mom. I found very few.

I so wish there had been US babyhuddle then. I love being able to see the lists made by real Moms like myself showing products they use & adore. {I know Amazon has lists but these feel more personal.} I immediately started a list I called ‘twin mom must haves’. It includes many of the items I listed in my newborn must have post plus a few more items that I forgot.

Babyhuddle also has an ask questions feature where you can throw out a question about any baby topic & have it be answered by other parents. I answered questions about breastfeeding {how long I would nurse, what products I used most} & my favorite baby shower gift {the brestfriend twin pillow btw}. I asked a question on babyhuddle too ~ What was the best product for the 6-12 month crowd? I need Christmas gift ideas as my family has been inquiring.

Not only is babyhuddle interactive with their lists & ask features, you can also shop. *ding, ding* {happy bells in my head}. I have no time to go to stores anymore, so online shopping has become a new favorite. Babyhuddle has a great selection of all my go-to baby product as well as perfect mom to-be gifts. And their prices seems very reasonable too.

If you’re like me & enjoy being one of the firsts to try something new, go check out babyhuddle. Look for me there. I’m ‘suzstreats’. Join, make lists, ask & answer questions & you can shop too of course.

After checking out babyhuddle on my own & for myself, I was contacted by babyhuddle for a review post. This was sponsored but all opinions are genuine & my own.

Categories
Pregnancy

To Do List {updated}

A couple weeks ago, I posted our then current pre-babies to-do list. Thought I’d update here all we’ve gotten done since then! At most, 7 weeks left!

Sell 3 2 vehicles. Get Jason new car.

Remove computer & desk from nursery. Have AT&T fix internet spot.

Put together & set up cribs in nursery. Put dust ruffles, mattress pads, crib sheets, etc on cribs. Set up dresser/changing table. Put diapers & sleepers in it.

Wash remaining blankets, crib pads, wash cloths, hooded towels & organize linen closet.

Trip to Buy Buy Baby: Buy second crib mattress, changing pad covers & crib tent. One more BBB trip, to return now recalled crib tent. Anyone have good ideas for keeping 18 lb cat our of the cribs?

Move den changing table to final location. Make room for hand-me-down rocker in den. Remove pile of baby things in corner. Put 3 mo clothes bins on top of babies closet. Move organizer into that corner. Set up pack-n-play in our room.

Clean out garage. Make place for second frig/freezer in garage.

Put car seats in van. Get ok’d from fire station.

Organize nursery making room for skinny chest from Mom & Dad’s. Put tiny baby stuff {socks, mittens, pants, shorts, bloomers} in that chest. Make room for & purchase glider for nursery.

Set up video monitor. Buy second video monitor camera {Trip to Babies R Us}?

Childbirth class 4/14 & 4/21

Breastfeeding class 4/18. Finish reading Mothering Multiples. Attend LLL meeting?

Cloth Diaper class 4/19. Wash new cloth diapers. Buy few more cloth diaper covers.

Hospital Tour 4/25.

Maternity Photos 4/29.

Pack hospital bag.

Tour one more daycare. Decide daycares.

Categories
Everything Else Pregnancy

Cloth Diapering Multiples {take one}

My guess is that this will turn into a two {or three+} part post. My pre-babies cloth diaper plans, how things are going once we’re home & doing it, how cloth diapering happens once I’m back at work & them at day care.

I figured I’d share my stash & plans now for cloth diapering the babies. This could will be funny to look back on. I’ve mentioned before that thanks to blog giveaway wins & the Haute Green party last August, I have a decent starter stash of pocket & AIO diapers as well as a pack of FuzziBunz cloth wipes. My friend Jenny passed down her size NB & size one Green Mountain prefolds & my book club buddy Jamie is letting us borrow 20+ Kissaluv fitteds & a few covers {Thank y’all!}.

Our my plan is to start using cloth on the babies fairly soon after they get home & after we use up the two packs of NB disposables from showers. We’ll use a mix of the Kissaluvs & prefolds with a snappi, using covers for both, & see which we like best. I think we have enough fitteds & prefolds to be able to go a couple days between laundry washes, but we’ll need a few more covers. At this point, I’m holding off on buying anymore until I see which brands works best.

Over the last few months, I’ve purchased four Thirties covers, been given another one & had received one at the BH party {mostly in size XS or 1}. This past Thursday, I went to a cloth diaper class at a local boutique & after hearing the store owner rave about Flip covers, I purchased two of those. I also ordered two Rumparooz NB sized covers last week. Are there other covers y’all would recommend?

I think we’ll wait on trying the pockets & AIOs {most are 8 lbs+ & I don’t expect Z & L to be that big}. I’ve heard pockets & AIOs are great for night time, so I’m guessing we’ll move in that direction when they’re big enough. As you might be able to spot on the laundry line, we have one Bumgenius freetime AIO, an Apple Cheeks size one, two Itti Bittis {both size ones, a pocket & an AIO}, a SoftBums pocket, a Thirties duo wrap, a Charlie Banana pocket, a Happy Heiny’s pocket & a FuzziBunz pocket. Like the covers, I’m willing to review/try more brands & also then purchase more of our favorites.

Sunday night, I washed all the brand new cloth diapers ~ the covers, pockets, AIOs, inserts & wipes. Admittedly, I was a bit nervous & overwhelmed. You know the saying, “opinions are like a$$holes, everyone’s got one”, that’s how I felt as I was asking for how-to-wash-CDs advice. So I stopped searching online & asking everyone, & I just listened to a few friends & went with what they’d done/do.

First cloth diaper wash

We have a top loading Whirlpool washer & I discovered it has a Heavy wash with a Rinse, Spin, Rinse cycle. I used Tide free & gentle liquid detergent {this is a bit controversial} although I’m looking into ordering some Country Save or making my own powder for the long run. I also have Rockin Green & Eco Nuts samples I plan to try. For the first cycle, I put everything in, set the water level to medium, the water temperature to HOT/COLD {I don’t have a HOT/WARM option} & poured in the Tide {to the 2 line in the cap}. I checked to make sure the water level covered the diapers {it did}, then opened a book on the couch near by. I went to check it again at the first rinse {still some bubbles} & again at the second rinse {no bubbles}.

Since I saw no bubbles, I knew had been told it was okay to then take out the covers & pocket diapers. Again there’s some discussion on line drying vs throwing them in the dryer on low. Since it was the first time, I line dried.

Drying Covers & Pocket Diapers

In the washer then, the inserts, wipes, & AIO diapers remained. I’d read the wipes only needed to be washed once but I figured why the heck not wash them again vs trying to figure out what was a wipe & what was a thin insert. Since there was less, I did the same wash cycle, at same temperatures but as a small load size & only poured in a level 1 cap size of Tide. I checked again at the beginning of the second rinse, saw no bubbles, so once that wash was complete, I threw them all in the dryer on low. A few thicker ones weren’t super dry after two dries on low heat, so before I went to bed, I hung those inserts on the drying rack too.

Clean Cloth Diaper Stash!
Categories
Everything Else Pregnancy

My New BFF

As soon as I announced my pregnancy, a few friends proclaimed, “get you a Snoogle!”. I looked it up on Amazon & brushed off spending $50+ on a body pillow.

Then I became 28 weeks pregnant & was sleeping in 1 hour spurts surrounded by 5+ pillows, behind my head, propping up my shoulders, between my legs, by my hips & on either side for belly & back support. It was getting ridiculous. Husband had no room in bed & I was still uncomfortable.

At childbirth class last Saturday, another pregnant momma-to-be mentioned loving her Snoogle. Jason googled it this time & said $50 is worth it if it helps you sleep. I still said no on Saturday evening. Then slept rough Saturday & Sunday nights before emailing him Monday morning & saying “I give in, Amazon prime that shit”.

The Snoogle arrived Tuesday afternoon {right before we headed off to the hospital for our PTL scare}, & I whipped it out of the package Tuesday night. I’m not sure who loves it more, Jason {who has more room in bed}, Moekitty {who loves sleeping up against it}, or me. I think me since I’ve been sleeping in 3-4 hour stretches since having it in bed. My favorite position is having it under my shoulders, resting one arm under & one arm above it, the belly on it, & having the curvy parts in between & under my legs. Even if I only use it for the next 7 weeks or less, it’s money well spent.

New BFF

Snoogle & Amazon have no idea who I am. While it would’ve been awesome for them to provide it to me; they didn’t & this is just my own glowing opinion.