Life With Twins

Tips for Going on a Road Trip With Twin Babies

Are you taking a road trip with your twin babies? A little advanced planning could make all the difference in the world. If the next holiday season has you and your little ones hitting the road, here are some tips for a successful road trip with twins.

Get online and know where to stop, before you hit the road. You will have a more pleasant trip if your little ones get a break from the car. Check your state’s Department of Transportation website for rest areas along your route. Keep a list of rest areas handy so that you will know where you can stop if the crowd is getting restless. If you are breastfeeding, rest stops with park benches will provide a more pleasant environment for nursing as well.

Plan to entertain. You and your spouse can take turns riding in the back seat with the twins, reading them books or offering toys. The longer they are kept happy, the farther you can drive without having to stop!

Don’t overdo it. Traveling with little ones can add up to 50% more time to your road trip. You will probably have to stop every 2 hours for diaper changes or feedings, so keep this in mind when you are deciding how far you will go each day.

Organize. Use sturdy bins and containers for keeping food items, books, toys, and other travel necessities from rolling around the car. Keep a container of toys and a container of snacks for the day nearby so whichever parent isn’t driving you can easily get to them.

If you plan to do some of your traveling at night, bring along some soothing lullaby music and a battery-powered nightlight. Just be sure it has a soft light that won’t distract the driver.

Bring and drink plenty of water! You may need to make an extra restroom stop or two, but water has the power of energizing your mind and body. Staying well-hydrated will help prevent fatigue and keep your mind sharp.

Provide interesting things for your babies to look at. You can tape bright pictures to the seat that they will be facing, or suspend brightly colored paper designs to the ceiling of the car using yarn and tape or a safety pin.

Pack smart snacks. If your twins are eating more solid foods, keep a stash of car-friendly snacks that won’t make a mess. A few ideas are soft cheese, baby crackers, bananas, squeezable fruit and vegetable pouches, and no-spill sippy cups with their favorite beverage.

If your twins are forward-facing, bring along some of their favorite movies on a portable device like an iPad. There are plenty of gadgets like this one that will mount your tablet in place while you drive.

If they are potty-training, be sure to take along a travel potty and practice using it before you take your road trip with the twins.

Be flexible! You are going on an adventure, and there is always a chance that something will go wrong. You and your spouse will be much happier if you don’t let little things ruin your family road trip.

Best of luck to you and your family on your next road trip with the twins! If you have anything to add to these tips, please share in the comments.

My Favorite Things about Having Twins

Some weeks being a parent of twins feels like an extremely tough job. During these times, it’s helpful to keep in mind all the wonderful things about being the mom of twins. Here are some of my favorite things about being the mom of twins, in no particular order:

You get 2 babies with 1 pregnancy. A two-fer! Now that’s what I call efficient.

Watching them make each other laugh. They are always sending each other into hysterics, like they did here.

They will always have each other, which will be great during those tough teenage years.

Twice the hugs, kisses, and cuddles.

They are different, yet the same. It’s interesting to see 2 people who have so much in common (like the same birthday and same life experiences) behave so differently.

It’s fun to watch them play together, bring each other toys, give each other hugs.

They are a miracle.

“Chasing games” around the house are twice as fun!

They get a lot of attention-and so do Mom and Dad because everyone has questions!

They have a built-in companion.

Little old ladies go nuts over baby twins. It’s such a joy to see how they bring joy to others.

Everyone loves to share with you about the twin that they know. It’s amazing how many people have a twin in their family or are dating one!

I couldn’t think of any more favorite things about having twins. If you are the parent of twins/multiples/children close in age, I’d love to see your favorites in the comments!

Crazy Busy-ness

I’ve been pretty absent from the blogosphere lately, and I’m starting to really miss writing and reading posts! I have a great excuse though- well, three excuses, in fact.

This guy is keeping me on my toes. I don’t know where he finds his energy. Lately the fad in our neighborhood is playing marbles. Yes, you read that right- the super old-fashioned game played in a circle in the dirt. All the kids at school are obsessed with marbles! It’s weird.

Then there’s sports, friends, sleep-overs… I love it but I am burning out trying to stay involved in all of this kid’s stuff!

But our big event of the ~~month~~ year was our twins’ first birthday! Yee-haw we made it a whole year! My hubby and I still like each other, we’re relatively sane (oh, if you only knew…) and our kids are healthy! I think that’s a lot to celebrate over.

The girls’ first birthday party was a low-key, family event. We had simple pink and purple decorations (these are their “colors”, since we got their ears pierced at 2 months).

I found cute purple butterfly decorations to hang about, along with these pink eyelet lanterns and some accordion lanterns. They were a pain in the butt to get to stay in chandelier shape, so I made it a point to get several pics under them.

My husband found this recipe for a “baby smash cake”. It turned out pretty yummy!

The cake ends up tasting like a really healthy banana muffin. We made enough mix for 4 small cakes, and the next day Daddy and I enjoyed the leftovers for breakfast!

Of course, Mommy and Daddy went overboard on enormous and overpriced presents. We basically bought them a door, but they love it. 🙂

It’s really a cool toy that lasted us several years and was even passed on to their little brother! This is the newer version of the door toy.

The twins also received some thoughtful and fun gifts from friends and family. The dresses they’re wearing in the pic were from Grandma .

We have more busy chaos coming up, when we “get away” (is it really a vacation when you’re traveling with twin babies?) for the weekend. Not sure I’ll have time to post on that, but I’ll take pics just in case!

*Update* Want to see what their big toy was for their third birthday? It’s at the end of this birthday post!

As always, thanks for being a loyal reader! Leave a comment if you feel compelled and don’t forget to sign up for my mailing list to get my newsletter!

Wordless Wednesday

All clean bathtime babies!

9 Months of Pure Busy-ness

The girls turned 10 months recently. Oh.my.goodness, they’re getting so big! Looking back, that 9-months marker was when we really started to see their little personalities develop.

Both babies have only 2 teeth. They’re the front 2 on the bottom row. They came in almost 3 months ago and inspired this post. I think it’s hilarious that for 3 months, these are the only teeth that have come in. They’re big, huge front teeth, too! My big boy is worried that his sisters will have buck teeth. I guess that’s a big concern for a ‘tween?

We are starting to have some serious sibling rivalry between them already. The major issue is that babies just don’t get the concept of sharing. One baby will want something that the other one has, so she will just go and take it. They’ve been yanking each other’s pacifiers out of their sister’s mouth, swiping each other’s bottle- you name it! It is getting a little frustrating. Almost every time one baby has a toy, the other one is soon taking it away. I’m always close by and I know that ‘she took my toy’ screech, so I usually return the toy and offer the thieving baby another toy. My mom said that when we were younger she handled sharing issues by distracting the baby with another item, since babies are too young to know that they can’t have something that someone else is using. This pic shows pretty clearly who the major toy thief is.

Ok, so this is kind of an older photo… But it serves my point! It was originally posted on my Facebook Fan Page. Not a fan yet? Give me a like here!

Would you believe that they are getting into everything? It’s definitely keeping me on my toes. I’ve dedicated 2 drawers in the kitchen to baby-safe items for them to explore and unpack while I’m working on meals. The rest of the cupboards are off-limits.

But their favorite place to play is, of course, in the bathroom. Babies would choose the least sanitary room in the house as their favorite hang-out spot. Here they are playing a game of open/shut the door.
They are so vocal now!
I’ve had to keep finding new places to store the broom because out of all the expensive and thoughtfully-chosen, developmentally-appropriate toys, they will do anything to get to the broom. I thought the bathroom was a great place until I realized that they never miss an opportunity to get in there.
Oh, and these things? Not helpful in our apartment. The girls can pull them right out of the electric sockets.

I can’t wait to see what they will be up to next month!

Just Playin’

Wordless Wednesday

These girls just love being outside.

Oh, Are They Twins?

I get this comment a lot when I’m out with the girls. I understand that people are just being nice and want to admire my babies (which I don’t at all mind!) but they just don’t know what to say.

The conversations always go something like this:
“Are they twins?”
“Yes.”
“Girls? Boys?”
“They’re both girls.” Duh, they have pretty pink and purple earrings.
“Are they identical?”
“No, they’re fraternal. But they look a lot alike.” And then often end with the usual “Glad they’re yours and not mine”, “Double trouble!/Double Blessings!”, “Boy, you have your hands full!”.

Even though I am flattered by the attention and encouraged by the kind people that still exist in our society, after about 9 months of this type of exchange I started to get a little bored with it. So I came up with a few alternative responses that I’d like to share with you.

Here are my unexpected responses to “Are they twins?”

~Yep, the hospital had a two-fer deal and I couldn’t pass it up!

~Yup. Two babies, no waiting!

~No, I like to carry a spare.

~Dangit I must have lost one! I left the house with THREE!

~No, they’re triplets but they were too expensive so we had to sell one.

~Why? Do you see two babies? I only see one! Has somebody been drinking…?

~No, this one is mine. I’m leasing the other one.

~No, I liked the first one so much I had a duplicate made!

~No, they’re four months apart.

~No, this one is 9 months old. The other one is a 2-year-old little person.

Now, to all the kind people out there who are just trying to make conversation, keep it up! It’s not a dumb question to ask. Parents of twins ask the same thing, I promise! Moms of twins (or triplets, or more!) have a tough job, and we appreciate the attention. At least this mom does. ;-)

What about you? Do you have twins? What’s your take on the common “Are they twins?” question?

Laughter is Contaigous

Raising twins along with other siblings, while working and taking care of a home (ok, it’s an apartment :grin: ) can be hard. I get kind of down sometimes, wishing life was easier. BUT then they go and act totally cute and I no longer care how hard twin babies can be.

A few days ago, the babies were laughing hysterically at each other. The sound of babies laughing with all their might makes me want to laugh right along with them! So I recorded it~and stuck it on YouTube to share with the world ;-) .

I hope you enjoyed the video!

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