happy.harvey.home.

Battling Reflux

Posted on May 29, 2016 by annettelharvey

This has been a pretty incredible week- life changing to say the least! If you’ve ever dealt with a baby (or babies) with reflux you can certainly relate!

When our girls were born they started Similac NeoSure to help get their weights up. After about 2 months we went to Similac Advance. We quickly then switched to Similac Sensitive. Why all the changes? REFLUX. It really is one of those things that makes you feel helpless, frustrated, sad and overwhelmed all at the same time. There are different types of reflux. Our girls started with the spitting up phase (which basically resulted in one or both throwing up their entire bottle immediately after finishing it) and then silent reflux where they would constantly push away their bottles and struggled to even get 2 ounces down at each of their feedings.

After trying two different medicines and switching formulas I went to one of my mommy boards (twin moms to the rescue!) and begged for help. The result.. Similac Alimentum. It’s a different formula I hadn’t heard of .. more expensive and it definitely has a different smell to it that reminds you that your baby is drinking something man made but IT WORKS. It works! After a week of mixing it with their previous formula (so we could slowly get them used to the new taste) our girls are finishing their bottles and wanting more. With over 4 months left of formula this has already become a game changer for us. (Not to mention the girls also started holding their bottles on their own this week as well!) I can’t get over the difference and in just a short time. We’ve even stopped their medicine completely. So if you’ve got a baby with reflux give Alimentum a try – it just might change your life.

Jude Turns Two!

Posted on May 16, 2016 by annettelharvey

Over the weekend we had a birthday party for our favorite TWO year old! I can’t believe he is two already! The days are long but the years are short.. really short! Here’s a recap of everything we did to celebrate our birthday boy!

The Outfit

You can’t have a birthday party without the perfect outfit. 🙂 I wanted to get something for Jude beyond the normal birthday shirt with a number on it. I found this cool shirt through VazzieTees on Etsy. It comes in a variety of color combinations. It was perfect for the big day.

2. The Invitations

We invited all of the kids from Jude’s class to his party. 8 kids and their siblings! That’s a lot of pre-schoolers 🙂 We sent an evite this year instead of paper invitations which worked perfectly for the amount of people. We decided to suggest no gifts since we have plenty of toys for our boy already and kept the party to 2 hours. It was the perfect amount of time.

3. The Decor

We aren’t big into themes so for Jude’s party we opted for Elmo and Sesame Street plates and cups and napkins but then went for general blue, red and yellow colors for the remaining decor. I also printed a picture of Jude from every month of the last year from his 1st birthday to his 2nd and made a banner for over the fireplace. The triangle banner was actually a purchase from GroopDealz about 2 years ago. We had some balloons around the house and then one Elmo balloon that sang “Happy Birthday” as well.

4. The Food

What party would be complete without a tasty spread. Our goal after last year was KEEP IT EASY. We ordered a nugget tray from Chick-fil-A, a fruit tray from Publix, we made pigs in blankets, a sausage and cheese dip for chips and a caramel toffee dip for apples. We also set out individual bags of goldfish from Costco as well as applesauce pouches. There were also several coolers setup with drinks for all ages. To finish it all off we of course went for an Elmo cake from Publix.

5. The Favors

What two year old doesn’t love chalk? I debated what to do for favors (if anything) but then found these boxes of chalk at Wal-Mart for $.97. They were a big hit with all the kids and perfect for a fun giveaway.

6. The Fun

What do you do to entertain about 10 two year olds? Get a bounce house and throw some balls in there! We were fortunate that a friend actually offered us her bounce house for a very discounted price weeks before Jude’s party. We jumped at the opportunity and purchased some additional bounce house balls on Amazon as well. We also had corn hole for the adults and a couple of little tykes cars and a tunnel as well. Between this and all the food (not to mention our playroom inside that the kids seemed to find!) there was plenty to do for everyone.

7. The Result

I think its safe to say we all had a great time- especially our sweet boy! It was the perfect day to celebrate Jude turning 2!

7 Months!

Posted on May 1, 2016 by annettelharvey

Happy 7 months baby girls. In this past month you both started solid baby food and are slowly getting the hang of it. Applesauce is the current favorite. You both are so close to sitting up on your own but not quite yet. Maisie loves to roll all over and is hardly ever in the same place you leave her in. She also loves standing and playing in the exersaucer and moves backward in Jude’s walker. Sloane is still our laid back baby- often content wherever she is and just wants to be held and talked to. Crazy weekend so pj pics were the best we could manage this time around. We love these babies!

6 months and solids

Posted on April 1, 2016 by annettelharvey

Happy 6 months to our sweet baby girls! Wow! I can’t believe 6 months has gone by already! These two are so sweet! They smile and giggle and its so much fun when they recognize our faces. They love Jude and love watching him play around them. He also brings them toys from time to time and more often will lean over and kiss or hug them! One of my favorite things is how they greet us in the morning- every day when we walk in to get them out of bed we gently wake them up and they will look up at us and instantly smile. It is so sweet!

Sloane is still pretty laid back. She likes watching everything around her. She can roll all the way over now! She loves to smile and giggle and sleeps on her side most of the time but always start with her right thumb in her mouth.

Maisie is our wiggler. Always looking to move around and look around however possible. She can roll halfway and loves meeting new people. She falls asleepon her back with her right hand over her face, usually with her wrist over her mouth!

Oh how I love our sweet baby girls!

When I first started this blog I had two goals in mind. 1) Help other moms who are just trying to figure babies out and 2) Help myself remember what do! I’ve definitely accomplished the 2nd goal and I hope from time to time I’ve accomplished the 1st as well. Today was one of those days where I was so thankful for writing things down. The girls turn 6 months today which means its the start of solids in the Harvey Home. Goodness I’m so thankful for all the posts I wrote on baby food but most importanly Introducing Solids and a 4 hour feeding schedule with solids. Our girls are on a 4 hour schedule and have been since they were 3 months old. With 3 children under 2 years old the move to a 4 hour schedule quickly was not only out of sanity but our girls were just honestly ready and not hungry anymore at 3 hours. As a refresher here is their current (non solid) schedule:

6AM – Wake and Eat 7 oz
8–10AM – Nap
10AM – Eat 7oz
12PM-2PM – Nap
2PM- Eat 7oz
4PM-6PM – Nap
6PM- Eat 7oz
In bed by 6:30PM

And here will be their revised schedule starting tomorrow. We will start with introducing the morning solid feeding and then after about 2 weeks or so will add one afternoon solid feeding and then finally the last afternoon feeding.

6AM Wake him up and Eat – 7 oz bottle
7AM – baby food (usually 1 fruit and 1 veggie)
9-10AM – nap
10AM Eat – 7 oz bottle
11AM baby food
12PM-2PM – nap
2PM Eat – 7 oz bottle
3PM – baby food
4 –6PM – nap
6PM Bath, Bottle, Bed – 7 oz bottle

Lastly, the actual order of solid foods. Some recommendations include starting with cereal then fruits then orange and yellow veggies then green veggies then meats. Others recommend doing all veggies first then fruits. I do some alternating and I plan to skip cereal this time around. Jude didn’t love it and I’d rather give them some fruits and veggies over a cereal.

Here’s our order of solids to start with the girls. I’ll be adding in how they react as we try each!

Carrots
Bananas
Butternut Squash
Apples
Peas
Pears

Baby Girl Clothes

Posted on March 19, 2016 by annettelharvey

So I love to shop. Seriously. I absolutely LOVE IT. It’s one of my favorite things to do. When I was single it was for clothes, once I got married it was for furniture and home decor. But now that I have kids its all about the kids…mainly their clothes! I absolutely love shopping for baby clothes! It’s so fun! I enjoyed it with Jude but now having two girls I’m obsessed! My latest obsession and newest discovery.. Matilda Jane.. don’t get me started- I know nothing about the brand but have already fallen in love with all the patterns and styles and I’m trying to figure out how to get a trunk keeper to become my very best friend. But of course, as with everything else, my wallet can’t support my taste and so I’ve been stalking Matilda Jane Facebook resale groups (I’ve already joined eight.. that’s right eight!) trying to find the latest deals. Which I might add is nearly impossible when you need two of everything.

So in between the hunts for the “perfect” MJ outfits our kids still need some clothes… and inexpensive. When the girls were first born we were given some outfits which I thought were pretty cute and then every time I put the girls in them I got an overwhelming amount of compliments. Pretty cute indeed! And so I googled the brand wondering where they had come from and you’d never guess.. Wal-mart! Yep you you got it. Garanimals at Wal-mart has some super cute stuff including these cute outfits. I love dressing our girls in their “colors” of pink and purple and these outfits were prefect.. and only $3.88 each might I add and with free shipping which is an even bigger bonus as a mom of 3 under 2 years old. So while I save up for Matilda Jane for these two giggly girls I’ll be shopping at the local Wal-mart. 🙂

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Posted on March 17, 2016 by annettelharvey

Sometimes the non-posed pics in between the perfectly posed ones end up being my favorite. Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! Love, Sloane, Jude and Maisie 🙂

Five Months!

Posted on March 1, 2016 by annettelharvey

Happy 5 months baby girls! You are growing up so fast! This last month really flew by. The girls are getting more and more expressive, constantly smiling and giggling. Sloane is the first to smile but Maisie finds the simplest things to be the funniest. Yesterday they moved classrooms to the “older babies” room and are no longer with the new babies. Maisie is working hard to roll from her back to her belly but she can only make it halfway so far. Sloane loves to suck her right thumb at any given moment no matter if she is awake or sleeping. Both will still take a paci but only on occasion.

The girls are on the same feeding schedule as they were at 4 months so no changes there. Still sleeping great and all through the night around 11.5 hours every night. They are still wearing 6 month pjs and 3-6month onesies fit them the best. We still have them in some 3 month clothes but we are about to retire all of those. Their pants range from 6 month to 9 month pants depending on size and if they were bought new or are hand me downs (I believe the hand me downs must have shrunk some already).

I’m constantly amazed at how much joy these two bring to our family of five (six with Toby!). We are beyond blessed!

Bathing Twins

Posted on February 25, 2016 by annettelharvey

Recently another twin mom asked me how I bathe the girls when I’m by myself. It’s a pretty simple process but it is still a process and was one another twin mom had to teach me in order for me to successfully handle bath time with both girls by myself.

There are a couple things you need for this method:

Baby Bath sponges like THESE
At least one bouncy seat (two makes it even easier but I don’t like having two bouncy seats in our bathroom at all times)
Two towels

To get started I fill the tub with warm water a couple inches high and place the bath sponges in the water and place a towel on the bouncy seat. Then I strip down both babies to their diapers. I place baby A in the bouncy seat with her diaper on. Then I take baby B and take off her diaper and lay her on a sponge in the water. I then remove baby A’s diaper and put her on a sponge.

I was them both back and forth continuing to cover them with warm water starting from their head to their toes. Once they are clean I take baby A out and place her in the bouncy seat with the towel and wrap her up and leave her in the seat. Then I grab the second towel and take out baby B. At this point you could lay her in a second bouncy seat but I take her to the bed and then go back and grab baby A. They both then get diapers and pjs.

And that’s how you bathe twins on your own 🙂 Anyone else have any other bath time tips?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 14, 2016 by annettelharvey

From our babies to yours.. Happy Valentine’s Day with LOVE!

Four Months!

Posted on February 1, 2016 by annettelharvey

January flew by and the girls turned four months old today. They have done a great job their first month at “school” and have also survived their first colds. They both weight 14lb and are still sleeping about 12 hours every night. They are wearing size 6 month in pjs (due to their length) and in their pants (due to their bellies!) but still can wear size 3 month in onesies and tops. All of their dresses are size 3-6 months. Our girls love to smile and laugh. Sloane is more laid back and Maisie is the first to giggle uncontrollably and already more opinionated. They love to look at each other and smile when they see each other. They also love watching their big brother. Most of all they love to be held but we can’t complain because we love snuggling them.

Here is their current schedule:

6AM- Wake and Eat 7 oz
8AM – 10AM – Nap
10AM – Eat 7oz
12PM-2PM – Nap
2PM- Eat 7oz
4PM-6PM – Nap
6PM- Eat 7oz
In bed by 6:30PM

(Side note: The struggle is real to get a picture of these two. These pictures were taken one after another in a total of about 30 seconds. Now you can see why it’s so hard to get them both smiling!)