1. Do you know what rocks? The last week of school. Oh my goodness – there are so many fun things going on, so many projects that the kids are working on, and I actually feel relaxed. Today is Field Day, and I always love it. However, I think I’m going to have to have someone come and relieve me a few times because I don’t know how I’ll do on my feet all afternoon long.

2. TWO MORE WAKEUPS!!! (Have I annoyed you with that enough yet?)

3. I’m happy to say that we are taking some time this weekend and heading off to Michigan with some family. Even though the forecast doesn’t look too great for this weekend (kind of chilly), I’m glad to just get away. And Charlie will be happy that my brother will be staying with him. That dog loves everyone.

4. Speaking of Charlie, he scared the heck out of John the other night. Charlie is actually not too much of a barker (which we LOOOOOOOOOVE), and when he does bark, it’s this pathetic whisper of a bark (unless he sees the mailman). John was sitting on our couch on Wednesday, and Charlie was like three inches away from his face. Charlie let out this loud howl of a bark at absolutely NOTHING. John’s face was priceless. Oh man, it was great.

5. I made cookies last night…. gluten free chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I haven’t made these for about a year and a half….. ohhh myyyy gosh. I am trying not to stuff my face with them before we hit the road.

6. I’m not going to lie, I’m probably not going to resurface in the blog world until next Thursday. We’re going to get home late Monday night, I have on Tuesday night, and I don’t think I’ll be able to sit down and write anything until Wednesday night. Baby update will be late – you have been warned.

7. I was a total pregnant cliché yesterday. I wasn’t able to leave the grocery store without a jar of pickles in my hand. Then I ate about five of them in my car. Yeah, not going to apologize for that one.

8. You know how last week I couldn’t get any sleep at all? Now this week I can’t get ENOUGH sleep. I slept through my first alarm yesterday and was shocked when I finally opened my eyes. Give me more sleep!

9. Last weekend I became obsessed with Gossip Girl. I’m always like five or six years behind on shows. I’m halfway through the first season, and I’m not going to lie – that is probably what my first week of summer will be devoted to.

10. Happy Friday!

My goodness – every Wednesday I have great intentions of taking pictures of my food… until I don’t do it. It’s probably better that I didn’t take pictures of my food today either because all I felt like eating was chocolate, vegetables, and peanut butter. Obviously I ate more than that, but today’s eating was pretty pathetic.

Instead, enjoy some photos as of late, courtesy of instagram.

pajama day = best day in elementary school. apparently you need to have tired eyes for pajama day too.

new larabar ALT protein bars

lentil stuffed peppers

new hair

Curly – my new best friend.

decaf dunkin donuts… game changer. thanks court!

crazy face, but cute shirt!

banana bread fail

cuddly boy

mildly disappointing, but still completely gone.

All I can think about is the fact that at this time next week I’ll only have 1.5 more days left of school – and that I might not be back in August! It’s crazy to me to think about the fact that these two will be here before I know it.

A few fun facts about week 21…

• each baby is about 12 ounces (although I am sure mine are more than that – they were each 11 ounces almost two weeks ago!)
• They are the length of a carrot (about 10.5 inches long)
• Babies are swallowing amniotic fluid and the taste buds are developing
• Buds for permanent teeth are forming

I feel like my belly looks so different week to week depending on what I’m wearing!

Weight Gained: No clue! I don’t go back to the doctor for a few weeks.

Symptoms: It’s been a pretty good week to be honest with you. Just a few things….

• Abdominal tightening (see movement below)
• Constant feeling like I have to go to the bathroom (MOVE BABY A! )
• Exhausted by the end of the day

Movement: On and off. They’ve been pretty quiet some days which, of course, freaks me out. It’s nothing a little orange juice won’t help to ease my mind. Every single time I drink orange juice, the girls move within 30 seconds. It’s too funny.

Also, I don’t know if this was movement or not – but down where Baby A is (seriously right over my bladder all the time) I felt a lot of tightening yesterday. It sort of felt like she was rolling around, but then I started freaking out and thought they might be contractions (not too uncommon for that to happen this early in a multiples pregnancy). It was happening when I was out for a walk (after being at work all day). When I got home, I drank some water, put my feet up, and it went away. Hmmmm – the verdict is still out.

Food Cravings: Lemon fruit bars and the Vegan Superfood Salad from The Protein Bar. My co-workers and I went there last Friday, and it is so stinking delicious. I went back with my mom on Sunday and am going back today. Can’t deny those cravings!

Food Aversions: Nothing as of late. Woohoo!

Sleep: SOOOOOOOO much better. After last week’s post, my mom actually ordered me a Snoogle (she gets free shipping off of Amazon), and I slept with it on Friday for the first time. Curly (that’s what John likes to call it) has changed my life. I still wake up a few times during the night (mostly to go to the bathroom), but I have been falling right back asleep because I’m so comfortable. Let’s knock on wood that this continues.

Stretch Marks? None.

Miss Anything? A heart pumping, sweat inducing, high intensity workout.

Looking forward to: Floating in a pool this summer!

Belly Button in or out? In – but it’s starting to flatten out. I swear even one part is starting to pop out. I call that it won’t be too long before this belly button pops out and my husband freaks out every single time he sees it.

Happy or moody most of the time? Pretty happy – although who knows if my husband would agree with that. I have had my moments where my emotions get the best of me (for instance, after my husband being gone for 48 hours, he joked that I had to make up for the lack of nagging/yelling because he had been gone for two days). Psssssh, I never nag my husband – ever. I also had a tearful phone call with him last night because he wasn’t going to be home for dinner. Got to love those hormones!

New Baby Items: I don’t think I’ve bought anything this week. Go me!

Exercise: Some walks and a few upper body strength training sessions. I’m not going to lie though, exercising (even as low impact as I am doing) is starting to get harder. I don’t know if it’s just more difficult on days that I work, but yesterday when I went for my walk, it felt pretty difficult to propel myself forward. I’m going to take it day by day and see how I feel, but I definitely don’t want to push myself right now. We’ll see how it goes!

Questions for mamas: Was there a point in your pregnancy that you felt too uncomfortable to work out?

For twin mamas: Did your doctor advise you to stop working out at any point in your pregnancy?

Over the course of the past six or so months, I have really shied away from doing product reviews. I get a lot of offers, but honestly – I know product reviews are some of the least liked of posts for me if that’s all a blogger does.I’d rather tell you all about products I’ve bought myself and have loved.  I have really only been accepting things lately if they’re something I really and truly am interested in trying. I have tried a few new products lately, both of which I had never heard of.

First up – MetroMint

I was SO pumped to try MetroMint. I feel like all I have been doing lately is drinking an exuberant amount of water, and I am so sick of it. When the opportunity arose to try a flavored mint water, I was all over it. Aaaand to be perfectly honest with you, I was not a fan of any of the flavors. I love flavored water, but I think the mint really threw me off. If you like the taste of mint water, then this is your thing. It’s not mine. Would I buy it again? No.

Sambazon Protein Drinks

 
I was a bit skeptical of these. When I drink protein shakes, I like making them at home because I hate the way store bought ones taste chalky. I received coupons to buy a few drinks, and I have to say – I was pleasantly surprised! The Acai Berry + Chocolate was my favorite, but the Chocolate + Almond + Coconut Milk was a second runner up. I was afraid that you would be able to taste the Acai Berry in the one shake, but it went completely unnoticed (which I was thankful for!). There were only two downfalls to these shakes – the price and the sugar content. I think each one of these drinks was almost $3.50, which I consider to be pretty steep for such a small shake (maybe I’m just cheap). The sugar was also ridiculous – around 30 grams per shake. I don’t mind it when sugars in shakes come from fruits, but there was added sugars like crazy in these guys. Would I buy them again with my own money? Absolutely if I was in a pinch and needed something quick.

Question: What’s your favorite store bought smoothie and flavored water?

Today I have a great post from you from reader, Heather. Heather has a gorgeous daughter Lily, and almost immediately after her baby girl was born, Heather literally had the fight for her life. Heather shares below just what it was like having a new addition to the family while fighting her way through cancer. It’s a beautiful story – thank you to Heather for sharing!

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My daughter Lily saved my life.  It sounds over-dramatic, but I really believe it to be true.  No, she didn’t give me CPR or drag me out of a burning building, but she did something just as vital.  She gave me the will to live.  She was only three months old when I was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a type of cancer that kills 95 percent of those who get it.  I knew that the odds were stacked against me, and as a young mother, I was scared to death.  I didn’t know how I was going to defeat this deadly disease, but I knew that I needed to try.  Lily needed her mother, and that was that.

My husband Cameron and I had been married seven years before I finally got pregnant.  We’d wanted to wait to start a family, but once we made the decision, she didn’t waste any time!  My pregnancy was a breeze, and I was so excited as I planned out the nursery and dreamed about all the things we would do with our child.  We were going to be a real family.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to be up for all of the challenges of motherhood, but I was ready to try.  Little did I know what kind of challenges I was going to have to face.

When Lily was born, I couldn’t stop looking at her.  I felt the most intense love for her from the first time I saw her, and I knew that I would do absolutely anything in my power to keep her safe and happy.  Cancer, then, was the last thing I wanted to hear.  Because I loved Lily so much, though, I was not able to wallow in misery for long.  I knew that I had to rally my strength and fight this cancer with everything that I had, even though that meant missing out on some time with Lily during her early months.  It wasn’t easy to be separated from her, but I knew that it was for the best.

I went through a lot after I was diagnosed.  Cameron listened to all of my treatment options when I was too frozen in shock to be much good for anything, and together, we found a plan that would offer me the best hope for recovery.  That meant going to Boston for an extrapleural pneumonectomy surgery that removed a large part of one lung, then staying in a recovery center for two weeks before laying low at my parents’ house in South Dakota for two months.  After all that was over with, I had to go through chemo and radiation back in Minnesota.  It was exhausting, but I kept at it.  I had no choice.

During this time, Lily was well cared for by friends and relatives, and I’m so thankful to them for all that they did to make my cancer ordeal easier for Cameron and I.  I didn’t realize just how many people truly care about us, and I will carry that love with me for the rest of my life.  I also realized through this process that there is no shame in getting help when it’s needed.  Besides, it wasn’t just about me; I had my family to think of.  Cameron was almost as worn out as I was as he stayed by my side throughout my treatments.  We needed all the help we could get.

The biggest help of all, though, was knowing that there was a little girl who was dependent on me and who would need me in the years to come.  I couldn’t let her grow up without a mother if there was anything I could do about it.  I had to fight with everything I had in me so that I could be there for her in all those moments when she needed a mom around.  I thank her for giving me the drive I needed to kick a terrible disease and emerge stronger than ever.  I survived cancer, so please don’t ever give up, no matter how tough circumstances may seem.  There is always hope.

Sorry if you tried to get here yesterday – the site was down. I tried things by myself for a little while, but I always go to my web guy Ryan for help. Thanks Ryan!

I guess I’m “officially” (not by my own terms ) halfway there! This past week has been kind of a doozy, but overall not too bad!

 don’t mind the wide eyes.

Weight Gained: Last Wednesday when I went to the doctor, I was up 8-9 pounds. I’m sure I’m up 10 by now. I went from 2 pounds to 8 pounds in four weeks – so I’m pretty much on track now for the rate at which I’m supposed to be gaining (1.5-2.0 pounds per week for twins).

Symptoms: There aren’t too many symptoms for this week, but all of them have had me kind of miserable.

• Sleep has been horrible.
• I’ve been incredibly teary/weepy.
• My exhaustion is out of control!!

Movement: These two sure live for the weekend/beginning of the week. I think their Mother’s Day present to me was moving like crazy Sunday and yesterday. Yesterday I felt a HUGE kick on my left side, and I was mad that I wasn’t touching my stomach. I think I could have probably felt that one from the outside.

Food Cravings: Breakfast sandwiches. I’ve been making my own in the morning. They are keeping me full FOREVER! I think I’ve finally found something that works to hold me over.

Food Aversions: Honestly, nothing. I was even able to cook with garlic as well as drank hot coffee. I’m pretty proud of myself!

Sleep: Horrible. Really, that’s all I can say about it. I’ve been waking up multiple times a night and never feel well rested.

Stretch Marks? None.

Miss Anything? At this moment, sleeping through the night. I guess I should get used to that, huh?

Looking forward to: Being done with school in two weeks! I can’t wait until I can take a nap during the day because I’m tired. The joys of summer!!

Belly Button in or out? In

Happy or moody most of the time?

Incredibly moody – like horribly so. I’ve been more weepy than anything, and I have been crying at the drop of a hat. I think a lot of it stems from not getting very good sleep. Another reason why I think this week I just snapped emotionally is because I’ve been dealing with some behind the scenes action with my dad being in and out of the hospital for the last four-five months. I know it’s been rough on my mom trying to divide her time and go up to see him, and I feel bad/guilty that I can’t go see this him because I’m pregnant (one of the things he’s been dealing with is a bad case of the shingles – it’s a no no for pregnant ladies to be around people with shingles). Anyway, that’s about as much detail as I’m going to go into about that – but I thought it would be fun to share some funny “I’m an emotional mess” moments of mine over the last week.

• On Saturday when I was driving home from brunch with Kathleen and Lauren, I had to pee SO bad. SOOOOOOOO bad that I started crying before I got home because it was not fun at all.
• On Tuesday, I was frustrated/angry because the Husband wasn’t home to be with Charlie when I was in class (he sent my BIL over to let him out/feed him). I overreacted instead of thanking him for taking care of it.
• I sobbed on Saturday night and Sunday morning because I was just so. stinking. tired.
• I cried in the middle of the night because the Husband’s snoring woke me up.
• I got all kinds of teary eyed when I found out one of my good friends is pregnant and only 8 weeks behind me.

See? I’m crazy. Believe me, there were many many more examples…

New Baby Items: A cute 3 pack of onesies from Target and some leggings.

Exercise: Last week my goal was to get in five workouts. I was able to be really ambitious at the beginning of the week, and I got in three walks and a pilates session. Then over the weekend I totally counted scrubbing down my house as a workout. You have no idea how bad I am panting after scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees. So I’m counting it as five.

20 week ultrasound

I absolutely loved last week’s ultrasound. I went to a high risk doctor for my level 2/anatomy ultrasound. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was my ultrasound technician. She was kind of bossy and really liked talking about herself. I was definitely over it.

My mom came with me, and I was expecting it to take at least 90 minutes since there are two babies to look at. I was pleasantly surprised it only took about an hour!

They started by doing a sex check (both still girls! ), and then the technician looked at each baby individually. She started by measuring their heads and all of their limbs. Everything measured right on track – except for their legs which measured almost TWO WEEKS ahead! I’m going to have some tall girls if they’re anything like their 6’5′” father that’s for sure. Both of them weighed 11 ounces, which was above the average for 20 weeks. I was very happy to see they were both growing right on track.

I can’t believe how much they are starting to look like little people. I am pretty biased and already think they’re pretty cute. I think Baby A is taking after her daddy, and Baby B is taking after me. I’ll be interested to see how that pans out when they come out!

baby a

baby b

The best part is that I now get to go back and get these detailed ultrasounds every four weeks to check for growth as well as to get my cervix length checked (a shortening cervix is a sign of preterm labor, so they watch it closely with multiples). Woohoo! I love ultrasounds!

Question for mamas: What helped you sleep through the night when you were pregnant?

1. I have come to the conclusion that we are going to hold the Guinness Record for biggest twins ever born. Okay not really, but I’ll share more in my post on Tuesday!

2. Creepiest things children have ever said to their parents. Ummmmm odd.

3. On Wednesday I was soooo tired. Like, ridiculously tired. So tired that when one of my favorite shows (The Middle) came on, my eyes were drooping at 7:00. I finally gave up and got into bed at 7:20. I was out like a light by 7:45. No Shame over here.

4. Aubrey freaking cracks me up. She’s in this stage where she’s super animated with her voice and expressions – oh, and she can’t handle people being near her and not talking to her every single second. I don’t know how she’s going to fare when my mom is also taking care of two newborns. Here are her sleeping and “mad” faces:

5. Have I mentioned I’m actually getting to see Lauren and Kathleen tomorrow? I don’t think I have seen them for MONTHS. We’re going to get brunch (typical) and I’m so excited to catch up with those two lovely ladies.

6. You know what I love? When I wake up and I have a HUGE pimple in the middle of my cheek. Perfect. And it’s even better when it’s one that’s underneath the skin and it can’t be popped. Apparently I’m 12 and not almost 26?

7. 12 MORE WAKEUPS!!!! A lot of you commented on how it’s funny that I count down in “wakeups”. It’s just a thing at my school with my co-workers. For some reason, counting down how many more days we have to wake up before summer starts sounds so much better than “3 weeks” or “5 weeks” or however many weeks we have left (ps – 2.4).

8. We officially have two names for the girls. We had three contenders, and we agreed on one name. The other two, I didn’t care because I loved them both, but the Husband couldn’t decide. He decided last night. I almost want to get it in writing so he can’t take it back. And no, we’re not sharing. You’ll have to wait!

9. It’s supposed to be coooold the next few days. And by cold, I really mean upper fifties and lower sixties. I’m not a fan.

10. Happy Friday!! Enjoy your weekend everyone.

I was totally going to post a WIAW this morning. Then, yesterday happened and I didn’t take any pictures of my food. Okay, I lied – I took a picture of the recipe I’m about to share with you. I use the term recipe pretty loosely here as well. It’s not so much a recipe as it is an easy summer side (or meal!) to put together in less than 30 minutes.

The other day, the Husband and I were discussing our days. He just can’t even fathom how we’re going to handle having two little ones with our crazy lives. Thankfully I’m pretty confident we’ll do juuuuust fine. Plus, I’m pretty much the queen of getting the dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes. Just call me Rachel Ray – or don’t. Have you all ever made any of her meals? They do NOT take 30 minutes. Never.

One of my favorite parts about the upcoming warmer weather is summer food. I love cold foods in the summer time – salads, smoothies, overnight oats, and ice cream being the front runners. Last week I had an intense craving for pasta salad, but I didn’t want to run out to the store that night. Instead, I let the anticipation take over. I had been anticipating this pasta salad for almost a full week when I finally got to eat some last night. Deeelicious.

Simple Summer Pasta Salad (serves 4 as a side)

• 1/2 bag brown rice pasta (I used rotini)
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 rib of celery, diced
• 1/4 red pepper, diced
• 1-2 carrots, shaved with a vegetable peeler
• 2 cups broccoli, chopped
• Trader Joe’s Tuscan Italian dressing

There’s really no method to this. All I did was cook the pasta per the directions on the package, drained it, added the veggies, and the salad dressing. I eyeballed the dressing too so I have no idea how much I used. I just put on enough to coat the pasta. If I wanted to make this a meal, I would add some beans to it next time.

It definitely hit the spot!

Question: What is your favorite summer food?

I have been torn on a particular subject for quite some time now, and I think I finally have an answer for everyone.

About six months ago, I developed a relationship with PV.Body (now turned Ellie!). I was approached by one of the team members about the possibility of becoming an ambassador for their brand. With the title of being an ambassador, I would be given some clothes to try out and would have the opportunity to make some money off of affiliate sales. It seemed like a good gig, especially after getting my first shipment of clothes from PV.Body. I loved the clothes they sent me, and I was happy to promote this new brand to my readers. A few weeks down the road, however, I started to hear some negative thoughts about the company. Orders weren’t being shipped, customers weren’t getting their 20% off, and shipping times were outrageous (think, close to a month). I honestly was not impressed, but not having experienced it myself, decided to give them another chance.

In January, PV.Body became Ellie. I was a fan of the look of their clothes as well as the theme that ran for a month until a new theme with new clothes rolled out the following month. However, like any new company, the same problems arose. I myself had a few issues with getting my orders in January and February and experienced the looooooong shipping times that came with my order. I was really on my last leg and was ready to end my ambassadorship. There was no way in the world I wanted to promote a brand that continually disappointed their customers (and ambassadors!) month after month.

The part I was torn on? I looooved the clothes. Like, loved. Loved so much that I would buy them with my own money. I felt the quality was spot on and they fit well. Their pants, lacking of another word to use, mold to your body. Their tops are long and stylish, and all of the tops I have received have been the softest material in the world.

I was ready to throw in the towel when I received an email last month explaining that Ellie was under new management. They had a new plan. Only sell items they have in stock at the time. Ship out orders immediately. I’d say that would make customers happy, agreed?

Ultimately, I’m a believer in second chances. Call me a dip, but I really feel like this company has gone through some learning experiences in the past six months. I’m sure they have lost some customers along the way which is an absolute shame for them because I know so many people were optimistic about the possibilities the Ellie would bring. I have decided to stick it out with Ellie for the time being, mainly because I love their clothes.

However, as an ambassador, I want you to tell me about your experiences – good and bad. Have you gotten clothes from them recently since the company went under new management? I want to know it all. I would hate to stay with a company that is treating its ambassadors well and not treating other customers with the same service.

Whew. It felt good for some honest to goodness open writing this morning.

I’ll be back tomorrow (with a late) WIAW post. Better late than never, right?

I’m sorry if you either didn’t get or didn’t like my little joke yesterday. There really is no exciting picture behind the loading screen and I also don’t have any exciting information to share with you today (unless you count baby updates exciting like I do ). Hopefully some of you understood what I was doing even if it took a few minutes to catch on.

Let’s move onto 19 weeks!

I reeeeally need to stop taking these by myself

Weight Gained: I’m not sure at this point. I have an appointment with my doctor on Wednesday (and an ultrasound appointment on Thursday – woohoo!) so I’ll find out then. I’m thinking I’ve gained about five pounds since my last appointment, so that would bring me up to 7 pounds. We’ll see!

Symptoms: This week has been pretty good!

• I’ve had some lower back pain, especially at night when I’m going to sleep. I’m only comfortable lounging around on my back (and propped up on a pillow) if my knees are bent. Keeping my legs straight puts so much pressure on my lower back.
• Some pressure and cramping in my lower abdominal area. As long as I keep hydrated and don’t stay on my feet for too long throughout the day I’m good! I also think it’s some round ligament pain as well. The other day I was laughing so hard that I was crying and I had to hold my left side near my pelvic bone because it hurt!!!
• Horrible time sleeping!

Movement: The girls definitely were a little on the mellow side for a few days last week, but they made up for it over the weekend. They were moving like crazy!

Food Cravings: Lemon flavored fruit pops and shrimp cocktail – these cravings are so weird. I just go with it!

Food Aversions: Same as ever – the smell of garlic. Disgusting.

Sleep: I actually have been going to bed at a decent hour this past week. In fact, a few days I was turning my lights off at 8:45 to go to sleep. However, I wake up constantly throughout the night and have a hard time falling back asleep. I try to blame the Husband and his snoring, but it’s really pregnancy related. I have a hard time getting comfortable sleeping on my side. I’ve ended up on the couch in the middle of the night a few times this week.

Stretch Marks? None.

Miss Anything? Trader Joe’s was giving out samples of their sangria the other day. Mmmmm – what I would give for a glass of that right now!

Looking forward to: My ultrasound on Thursday! It’s not at my doctor’s office because they want a better picture (and their machines aren’t the best). I’m hoping this level 2 ultrasound takes as long as most people say it does. I’ll take any chance to see these two for an extended period of time right now.

Belly Button in or out? In

Happy or moody most of the time? Happy most of the time. I did snap at John a few times throughout the week, mostly when he was being a stinker and doing things that push my buttons on purpose. And yes, he’ll agree he does that to give himself a laugh.

New Baby Items: Two fancy dresses from my mother in law! I’m hoping we have somewhere they can wear them (like a wedding or something) because they’re adorable.

Exercise: Three or four 45-60 minute walks. This week I’m going to try to get in two pilates or yoga sessions on top of my walking. My goal is to get in five workouts this week. We’ll see how it goes!

Traveling with 2

I have had some questions over the past few weeks regarding some different items we have registered for. More specifically, people have been interested in seeing what items we are doubling up on as well as what items we are only getting one of. I have done a lot of research on my own for great items for twins (and just babies in general!), and I have to admit, my cousin helped me out A LOT with our registry. When we registered a few weeks ago, she immediately went online to check it out and gave me about thirty more things that we were missing and needed to register for. Ha! Thanks Melissa!

I could go on forever about some different items we registered for, but today I just want to focus on travel – what are we going to use to get the babies from point a to point b?

Baby Trend Double Snap N Go

source

I have heard countless times what a lifesaver this system is for twins. There are so many times that I’m sure either John or I will be by ourselves and will need to transport the babies easily by ourselves. I can’t imagine trying to carry two carseat carriers by myself. I’m envisioning using this a lot when we’re out and about at first (church, shopping, etc.) and for our main stroller until they get a little bit bigger. It’s a universal model and just about any infant seat will fit into the stroller – woohoo!

Contours Options LT Tandem Stroller

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For when the babies get a little bit older or for longer walks/activities, I had a few requirements for a double stroller. One, it could not be side by side (I eventually want to get a double BOB so we would have a side by side with the jogging one). Two, both seats had to have the capability of reclining. Three, it could not cost an arm and a leg. Four, it needed to be easy to steer and maneuver.

Do you know how hard it is to find those requirements in a double stroller? Thankfully after much frustration and looking around while registering, we found this Contours model. I actually have never heard of Contours before, so I quickly looked up some reviews online before we committed. The thing I love about this stroller is that the seats can be put in basically any direction. They can face forward, they can face backward, or they can face each other. Both seats also recline, which is something I was nervous about with both babies being at the same age and likely to fall asleep while walking around. The storage area is fairly large on the bottom, and the best part is that it’s affordable. Just like any product, however, there are a few downfalls that I’ve already thought about how I’m going to deal. The top does not have anywhere for parent organization. When I go for walks, I want my phone, a water bottle, etc – this model does not allow for it. I also registered for an organizer that attaches to the back of the stroller to solve this problem. There is also no place for the babies to place sippy cups/bottles or snacks. Hopefully the girls will just be used to this so they’ll know no different. But for what we were looking for, this fit the bill.

Chicco Keyfit 30 Carseat

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Again, I wanted something that was safe and affordable while registering for a car seat. Chicco’s Keyfit 30 model is rated as one of the safest models, so they had me hooked. We registered for a neutral color scheme, Romantic (which is black and gray), and also registered for two extra bases (for the Husband’s truck or for our moms to use while they are watching the girls).

I was worried about the use of the Snap N Go with the Chicco Keyfit model because a few years ago, the Snap N Go was not universal and the Keyfit seats didn’t fit well in it. However, I’ve found as long as you put the Snap N Go together to fit the Keyfit seats, you’re good to go. I actually saw a couple with the Snap N Go with two Keyfit seats at Costco a few months ago, so I know it works. Plus, my husband is a genius at putting things together. (I’m also trying to butter him up because he’ll be hating assembling things in a few months time. )

Moby Wrap

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I was kind of “iffy” on whether or not I wanted to register for this carrier. I didn’t feel confident that I would be comfortable using it, but others made me feel a little more reassured about it. There is also a twins hold that you can do when they’re still tiny which  I love. Some have told me they didn’t feel comfortable doing the twin hold (or that the babies didn’t enjoy it), but I like that the option is there if we do like it.

ERGObaby

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I can’t ever imagine the Husband using the Moby, so I wanted to register for something he could use as well. Plus, if both of us have a baby in a carrier, that means four free hands! Countless people have told me to get the ERGO and it was the best carrier they’ve ever had. I sure hope they’re right!

Questions for moms: Do you have any of these products? What are your thoughts?