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Celebrating 1 Year!

Posted on October 4, 2016 by annettelharvey

Our baby girls turned 1 this past weekend! ONE! I can’t believe it. It’s so true what they say, “the days are long but the years are short.” And this past year just went way too quickly. To celebrate our baby girls we had a small party at home with a pink and purple theme of course! I LOVE to color coordinate our girls – its just helped over the past year in telling them apart, especially for other people. I’m also hoping it helps them know what belongs to each girl so they have some sense of things belonging to each of them and that they don’t have to share absolutely everything! So Sloane’s color is pink and Maisie’s is purple. A friend of mine with twins calls them their birth colors. She did something similar with her twins. And I love it!

So on to the party details.. Here we go!

The Photo Shoot

We took one of our office chairs out in the woods behind our house and I took some pics of the girls while KH entertained them and made them smile for me. We used these for the invitation as well as decor at the party.

The Invitation

I was so glad to find one to match our pink and purple theme! Thanks Shutterfly!

The Outfits

I found the design on Etsy but them ordered them through a local contact who was able to make them for me. The tutus came from Amazon. $6.50 each and LOTS of colors to choose from! Can’t beat it!

The Decorations

I really took advantage of Amazon this year. From high chair decor to streamers to pom poms and banners, balloons, candles, straws and paper products, it all came from Amazon! Free 2 day shipping made decorating this year a blast! (And really quick and simple)

The Food

I decided to try and change things up and not do all of my typical “go to” party foods. The caprese sticks and sausage dip are the same but I also added in cheese cubes with pearl toothpicks, a fruit tray from Publix, pink and purple m&ms from Party City, pink (cherry cola) popcorn, purple (grape) popcorn, white (white chocolate candy corn) popcorn and chicago style popcorn all from Heavenly Gourmet Popcorn. Lollipops from Party City were the party favor and pictures were used for decoration. I am missing the main dish in the pic which leads me to these . . .

Ham and Swiss Cheese Slides

Heavenly. That’s all you need to know. I barely got one before they were all devoured. A definite repeat. Make them!

Cakes

Publix came through with beautiful smash cakes as well as a larger pink and purple cake for everyone else. I love how the ombre roses came out! My fav! *Note smash cakes are usually free from Publix when you order a birthday cake there. However when you customize it there is a price associated with it. Based on how these turned out though it was well worth it. I LOVED the girls cakes. (And yes they are both crying.. oh well! Glad they look cute at least!)

Family Pic

A full day but we made it and Sloane and Maisie had an incredible celebration! Big thanks to my besties, Jesslyn and Emily, for helping us decorate and make all the party food. And another big thanks to my mom for taking all the pics so I could play hostess and then just enjoy all the fun as well. And last but night least, of course a HUGE thanks to KH for being the best teammate and husband I could ever ask for. You always make party planning a blast! Love you!

1 Year!

Posted on October 1, 2016 by annettelharvey

I can’t believe its already been a year since we welcomed our sweet baby girls into this world and our family! Happy Birthday Sloane and Maisie! Seems like only yesterday and forever that we were in the hospital holding our precious and tiny babies.

Sloane Anne. Born first but I had to wait to hold you second. It’s so funny how I originally thought you were so “laid back” and then quickly realized you have a little bit of sass in you. I love how you go after what you want and lead the pack in what the next adventure is going to be. I love how you throw your head back when you want us to throw you in the air. You steal toys and pacis like you’re the boss but only with your sister. You are content to play on your own but only as long as someone else is close by, especially your brother or sister. You are big talker and love to squeal, talk, dance and laugh. I love how you suck your thumb when you’re tired and hold your wubanuub’s left with your hand. I love how you will eat anything we put in front of you – as long as we feed it to you. I love how you say “mama” and clap when we say “yay”. I love how you keep us on our toes and always seem to find a piece of dog food on the floor to nibble up. I love how much fun you are. And I love that you are ours. I love you Sloane Anne. Happy 1st Birthday!

Maisie Lynne. Born second but I got to hold you first. You gave us a little scare those first few days but I love how you quickly bounced back and made it home in record time. You are a fighter and adventurous but you are also so snuggly and sweet. I love how you laugh- big, loud, belly laughs. I love how you always have to be moving and doing something. I love how sweet you are and how you always try to hold your sister’s hand (which she doesn’t like). I love how you love to explore and how much you stand and travel from the couch to table. You are so close to walking! I love how you want to be in the middle of all the action and have everyone around. I love how you only cry when you’re tired and want your paci. I love how you eat everything we put in front of you (including what’s on Sloane’s plate) and want to do it all yourself. I love how you try to mimic what we do and clap when we say “yay”. I love how much fun you are. And I love that you are ours. I love you Maisie Lynne. Happy 1st Birthday!

Our baby girls transitioned from formula to whole milk over the past 1-2 weeks. Mainly because we ran out of formula and didn’t want to buy anymore. They have no problem drinking milk however we are having to work with them to get them to drink out of a hippy cup instead of bottle and cold milk instead of warm. We are working on it though! Their sample food schedule is below.

1 Year Schedule:

6:30am – 7oz bottle of milk (working on transitioning to sippy cup and cold milk)
6:45am- Breakfast
- Eggs, Oatmeal, Cheerios, Fruit smoothies, etc
11:30am- Lunch
- Milk
- Finger foods including meat, cheese, veggies, fruits
- Pouch or Applesauce
- Cereal bar or other teething foods
3:30pm- Snack
- Milk
- Yogurt
- Pouch
- Baby food if needed
5:30pm – Dinner
- Milk
- Samples of whatever we are eating for dinner!

We find out their weights at their doctor appointment on Tuesday. They currently wear 12 month clothes and 12-18 month pajamas.

11 Months!

Posted on September 3, 2016 by annettelharvey

Happy 11 months Sloane and Maisie!

Sloane keeps us on our toes. She was originally the “laid back one” but has since successfully eaten Toby’s dog food, most things on the floor and outside including dirt, and even attempted to eat one of my earrings. She loves to follow around her big brother and is the master at stealing toys and pacis (and anything else she can get her hands on.) Her first word was “mama,” but I’m not sure she knows what it means yet 🙂

Maisie is the sweetest. She absolutely loves standing and gets so excited every time she does. She is super patient, even when Sloane steals her paci (most of the time) and loves being around everyone else. My guess is that her first word will be “Dada” – she is so close!

Sloane is our squealer and Maisie is our belly laugher. They are both awesome eaters and sleepers and crawling around non stop. Their new favorite trick is clapping when you say yay! And they are always ready to wave bye-bye in unison. My favorite thing at this stage is when I sit on the floor and they immediately crawl over and get in my lap. Pure sweetness with these two! Love them!

They are currently outgrowing all of their 9 month clothes and moving into 12 month clothes. Only exception is pjs- 12 month are getting too short already and so soon we will be on to 18 month.

Here is their current feeding and nap schedules:

6:30AM – Wake and eat 8 oz bottle
7:00AM- Eat oatmeal (about 4 oz) and cheerios or cut fruit
10:00AM- Nap
11:00AM/11:30AM- Eat 6 oz bottle
11:30AM- Eat yogurt (4 oz) and pouch (4 oz) each
2:00 PM – Nap
3:00/3:30PM – Eat 6 oz bottle
3:30PM- Eat pureed baby food (4 oz combo of veggie and fruit) and finger foods
5:30PM – Eat pureed baby food (4oz – 6 oz) combo of veggie and fruit
6:00PM – Bath
6:30PM- Bed for the night

10 Months!

Posted on August 9, 2016 by annettelharvey

Happy 10 months baby girls!

Sloane is crawling all over, has 0 teeth, loves all foods and is a master at pulling herself up to her knees. She loves to be where everyone else is, loves to be held and is an expert at crawling over most things in her path. You know she’s tired when she lays her head down and sucks her thumb. She is a big talker and her favorite thing is her silly big brother and all of his toys- especially the box that holds his choo choo trains. It’s her favorite!

Maisie is crawling all over, has 2 bottom teeth in the center, loves all foods and is a master at pulling herself up to her knees. She likes to be held but also likes to explore. She is an adventurer – she wants everyone close by but wants to see what’s around that she can get her hands and mouth on. You know she’s tired when she starts to get fussy. Her favorite toy is her paci or anything her brother is playing with- especially his trains. She gets super excited when she is being held to stand.

Both of these girls love the water and love swimming. They also love all veggies and fruits but aren’t huge fans of meat yet. Their newest trick is getting up on their knees and trying to reach for each other through their cribs. We often find them squealing and laughing with each other. We love you sweet baby girls!

Sloane and Maisie are currently wearing 12 month or 12-18 month pajamas. They still fit in some 9 month clothes but they are definitely getting tight. We mainly only wear 12 month clothes at this point.

Here is their current schedule:

6:30AM – Wake and eat 8oz bottle
7:00AM- Eat oatmeal (about 4 oz)
8:00AM- Nap
10:30AM- Eat 6oz bottle
11:00AM- Eat yogurt (4 oz)
12:00/12:30 PM – Nap
2:30PM – Eat 6oz bottle
3:00PM- Eat pureed baby food (4 oz combo of veggie and fruit)
5:30PM/6:00PM – Eat pureed baby food (4oz – 6 oz) and 2-3 oz bottle
6:00PM – Bath
6:30PM- Bed for the night

We are starting to work toward a 10am and 2pm nap for school so the 10:30am and 2:30pm feedings will soon be at 11am and 3pm instead with 1-1.5 hour naps beforehand.

9 Months!

Posted on July 1, 2016 by annettelharvey

The girls turned 9 months old today! We are pretty sure Sloane will be the first to talk and Maisie will be the first to crawl. Maisie has learned how to pull the tabs off her diaper and Sloane is an expert at stealing toys and pacis- even though Maisie is quick to steal them back. Sloane loves to wave and Maisie loves to be held. Both girls are doing great with all their puréed fruits and veggies and have enjoyed everything except black beans. They still have “stranger danger” but are quick to warm up to anyone who talks in a high pitched voice and makes them laugh.

Sloane weighs 16 lb, `13oz and is 27.5 in long. Maisie weighs 16b, 12.4oz and is 27.25 in long. They are both true to size in clothes except for pajamas. Most clothes are size 6-12 month or 9 month. The only exception is pajamas due to their length. They both wear 12 month pajamas.

Here is their current feeding and nap schedule which we transitioned to between 8-9 months old. (Still hold onto 3 naps which is amazing!)

6:30AM – Wake and eat 8oz bottle
7:30AM- Eat pureed baby food or oatmeal (about 4 oz)
8:00AM- Nap
10:30AM- Eat 7oz bottle
11:00AM- Eat yogurt (4 oz)
12:00/12:30 PM – Nap
2:30PM – Eat 7oz bottle
3:00PM- Eat pureed baby food (4 oz combo of veggie and fruit)
4:30PM- Nap*
6:00PM – Eat 7oz bottle
6:30PM – Bath
6:45PM- Bed for the night

We love our sweet baby girls. 9 months. Can’t believe it! ?? Happy Birthday girls!

*About a week after our girls turned 9 months we dropped the last nap of the day. They started to take a long time to fall asleep at night and weren’t as tired anymore. Once we dropped the third nap they were back to their usual selves and fell asleep almost instantly once we laid them down for the night.

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.

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!

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. 🙂

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?