Elephant Toes

We received several very nice personalized items for the babies and one of my favorites was a set of burp cloths from my friend Alison. She purchased them from Elephant Toes. They have so many beautiful things. The burp cloths are almost to pretty to use! I will definitely be ordering some gifts from Elephant Toes!

Lilgrams

A friend of a friend created the site Lilgrams. It's a way of communicating special moments, stories, pics and videos about your children to family and friends. I am just starting to navigate through the site and learn more about it. You can have a 30 day free trial if you are interested.

Minted - Great Designs on Paper

I saw Minted mentioned in Real Simple magazine and checked out the site. As many of you know I am a huge fan of Tiny Prints, but I really like the invites on this site. Here are a few of my favorites

Kids CDs You Will Like Too

I have received lots of CDs as baby gifts which I have loved. My husband and I both love music and want to play lots of it for the twinkies. I hope it helps them develop a love for dancing and I have my fingers crossed that they have my rhythm and not my husbands! Here are two of my absolute favorites. Nicky's Jazz for Kids and Rockabye Baby Lullaby Renditions of U2. I also just found out that the Rockabye Baby cds are a series and you can get lullaby renditions of Coldplay, The Beatles and Bob Marley. Who knew?

Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay

My friend Maria gave me this great book, Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. It's a hilarious read for new moms. Here's the book description:

The moment the second line on the pee stick turns pink, women discover they've entered a world of parenting experts. Friends, family, colleagues, the UPS delivery guy -- suddenly everybody is a trove of advice, much of it contradictory and confusing. With dire warnings of what will happen if baby is fed on demand and even direr warnings of what will happen if he isn't, not to mention hordes of militant "lactivists," cosleeping advocates, and books on what to worry about next, modern parenthood can seem like a minefield.

In busy Mom-friendly short essays, Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay delivers the empathetic straight dirt on parenting, tackling everything from Mommy & Me classes ("Your baby doesn't need to be making friends at three months old -- you do! But not with people you'll meet at Mommy & Me") to attachment parenting ("If you're holding your baby 24/7, that's not a baby, that's a tumor"). Stefanie Wilder-Taylor combines practical tips with sidesplitting humor and refreshing honesty, assuring women that they can be good mothers and responsibly make their own choices. A witty and welcome antidote to trendy parenting texts and scarifying case studies, Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay provides genuine support, encouragement, and indispensable common-sense advice.

Stefanie also has a blog, Baby on Bored. Check it out for a good laugh.

Stella and Dot

My BFF gave me the best birthday gift a few weeks ago, a necklace from Stella and Dot. It has three charms. Two initial charms and one birthstone charms for the babies. I absolutely love it and wear it almost every day! Stella and Dot really has a lot of beautiful pieces. I added a few pieces I loved above.

Head Above Water

It's been almost three months since Max Alan Cranley and Tessa Louise Cranley were born and I finally feel like I have things under control. Well, really that I just have my head above water. It has been an amazing experience having twins, but very very hard too!

I'm going to try and get back to posting good baby finds as I learn what I like, what works and what's just plain fun/cute. I'll start with my top ten for the first three months. These are products that we have really liked and some that have been life savers. What are your favorite products for the first three months?

Safety 1st Bathtub - fits perfectly in a sink separated down the middle and has drainage holes so no overflowing
Black on White Book - the babies could focus on these images within the first couple of weeks
Carter's Velour Sheets - so soft you will never use anything else
Mam Bottles - these were a recommendation from my sister-in-law and the babies love them
Mam Pacifiers - babies took these very easily from day one
Graco Pack n Play - this one was a lifesaver because of the vibrating bed. Puts the babies right to sleep
Gymini Play Mat - Both babies fit on this and there is lots to look at. They love it!
Medela Sterilization Bags - Great for cleaning when you don't want to run the dishwasher every night (when it's not full)
Aden & Anais Swaddles - These work great because they are huge. The babies quickly grow out of all other swaddles on the market. We only used these for the first month an a half, but when we did use them, they did the trick. Cheapest at Target.
Kolcraft Contours - Because we have twins, it was hard to pick a stroller that met all our needs...this one does