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

Light Dimmer for Any Lamp!

So, this isn't fancy or cute...but it is a fabulous idea! I read that having a light that has a dimmer in your nursery would be very helpful for nightime feedings and soothings, so I went to Ikea to see what type of lamps I could find with dimmers. Well, they don't have that many. BUT, what they do have is 100 times better.

This is the Ikea Dimma. It's a cord that you can attach to any lamp and you in seconds you have a lamp with dimmer. I bought one (and should have purchased several) for $7.99, brought it home and plugged the lamp in the nursery into it and it works great! Basically, you plug the Ikea Dimma into the wall and then, plug your lamp cord into the back of the Dimma plug. I need to remember to pick up a few more as this would be a nice feature for lamps in any room.

Who knew it would be that easy to make any lamp dim???

Custom Chalk Board Paint

I initially didn't want to hang anything on the walls above our cribs, so I was thinking of different options so the walls didn't look so bare. I kept thinking about chalkboard paint. Maybe three circles for the babies initials, but I didn't want black circles...and the schoolhouse green chalk board paint definitely wouldn't go in the room. I kept thinking, I wish I could get chalk board paint in custom colors.

Well...you can! Not only can you buy chalkboard paint in 24 beautiful colors from Hudson Paint, apparently, you can make your own. You can find instructions to make your own on Martha Stewart's site, on Apartment Therapy's site, or a bunch of other sites online if you just google it.

Mobile

I just purchased this mobile. We don't have too many "stimulating" toys yet, so I thought we should have at least one. Everything in the nursery is pretty calm and understated color wise, so I thought this would be great for the babies to stimulate their visual activity. It's cute and it attaches to the crib, so we don't have to figure out how to hang something from the ceiling. It comes with 10 double sided black and white cards and 10 color cards. I purchased it from Giggle...a great modern baby products site.

Baby Update

For the two of you who read this blog, sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. I have been busy getting things ready for our twins. They should be ready to come out and join the world in two weeks or less! We can't wait. I'm certainly ready for them to join us! I'm getting pretty impatient these last few weeks, so I'll try to pass the time by posting a few more things before the big day. I probably won't be posting too much after that for a while. Hopefully, I won't loose the few readers I have!!

Great Baby Blog

My very stylish friend Jenny sent me a link to this very stylish baby blog called Kenzie Poo. It's very cute and you can find a lot of great ideas for your babies room on this blog. Check it out!

Cool Playhouse

I hope some day we have a big yard so we can build a playhouse like this one. How cool would that be to play in as a kid??? I found this on a design site I love, Design*Sponge. A couple from Sweden made this using their old windows after having them replaced.They really built it as an outdoor hideaway for themselves, but when I saw it, I thought it looked like a really fun play house for kids. Go here to read about the project.