Baked Ziti

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Another great dish brought by another great neighbor as we are learning how to be parents of 3 under 2 years old! It’s easy for larger groups or for weeknight dinners. If you don’t like a lot of sauce check out the original recipe linked at the bottom of this post. If you’re like me and like a some sauce with your pasta then check out my adapted version written below. Thanks Jenn!

IMG_1140Ingredients:

  • 1 pound dried ziti pasta
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound sweet and or spicy Italian sausages, casing removed and crumbled
  • 1/4 medium onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • One jar tomato/spaghetti sauce
  • Fresh basil (about 3-4 sprigs)
  • 1 pound fresh mozzarella, half sliced and half cubed
  • 1 cup shredded Parmesan, divided
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt generously, and boil the pasta until al dente, tender but still slightly firm. Drain. (Meanwhile start sauce).
  • Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes.
  • Add the onion and garlic, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes more.
  • Add the basil and tomato sauce (about 1/2-3/4 jar depending on how saucy you want it)  and bring to a boil.
  • Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
  • Season with salt and paper
  • Toss the cooked pasta with the tomato and sausage sauce, half the mozzarella cubed, and h1 Parmesan cheese.
  • Transfer the pasta to an oiled 9 by 13-inch baking dish.
  • Cover the top of the pasta with the sliced mozzarella, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.
  • Bake until lightly browned and hot, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Original recipe available here.

Two Weeks!

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Our twins are officially two weeks old! Currently we average about 19 diapers per day, 8 feedings which are all about a 45-60min process, a total of 5-6 hours of sleep in a 24 hr period (but at no more than 2 hrs at a time), 2 loads of laundry per day, countless dishes, and at least 1 major blow out of some sort. Who knew two tiny babies could create so much mess and yet win over our hearts so much more. We are all loving the joy they bring to our family. Jude and Toby have both become attached to their baby sisters as well which is priceless to watch and be a part of. I love his little family of ours!

Favorite Baby Products Part 2

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Last year after our son was born I wrote a blog post about all of my favorite baby products and “Registry must haves.” While I still love and agree with all of those products here are some new favorites to add to the list (in no particular order)..and stay tuned as this is a growing list!

Screen Shot 2015-10-09 at 11.28.51 PMBasq Stretch Mark Butter

I used this cream with our first and had zero stretch marks. Awesome! However what sold me on this product was being pregnant with twins and still getting zero stretch marks! I also got the pregnancy rash pups on my belly. After using this cream for a couple days it went completely away. One jar lasted my entire singleton pregnancy and then I use 1.5 for my pregnancy with the twins (i.e. bigger belly!) I love this stuff!

Screen Shot 2015-10-09 at 11.32.13 PMUbi Diaper Pail

I originally wrote about the Arm & Hammer Diaper pail which is great however the Ubi is definitely a step up. There are no special bags you have to buy – you can use regular trash bags – or if you really prefer you can buy their bags. There is no smell and you slide open the pail to reveal a hole to drop the diaper in. Completely one handed – and you don’t have to physically push a potentially squishy diaper into the pail like you do with so many others. Just drop and go. This is definitely a new favorite! (oh and it comes in lots of different and fun colors- enjoy!)

Screen Shot 2015-10-09 at 11.40.31 PMLollipop Labels

One of my neighbors is super talented and owns her own Etsy shop called Lollipop Labels. She makes labels that are super cute and durable! My favorite is her “back to school”
bundle which includes labels that are dishwasher & microwaves safe, iron on, laundry care labels for clothes and shoes and 2 bag tags. It is the perfect set for daycare or school. I already put in my order for labels for the girls so I can start labeling some of their things (like pacis) that I want to keep separate. You won’t be disappointed!

Screen Shot 2015-10-10 at 10.20.57 AMWow Cups

So this isn’t something you will need right away but the amount of slippy cups options available is a bit daunting. Especially when you finally choose one or two or serval to try out and they ALL leak. It’s so frustrating. These cups are the only ones we have found that are essentially spill proof. They are awesome. So easy to use, dishwasher safe and no spills- even when our little man drops it on the floor, bangs it on the table or throws it in his toy box. Note- these are pretty expensive ($10/cup) at the baby stores but you can get them for less than $5/cup on Amazon. Enjoy! 🙂

Screen Shot 2015-10-16 at 10.24.30 AMSimple Wishes Hands Free Breastpump Bra

I wish I had found this pumping bra with my last pregnancy. I ordered about 6 of the medela hands free pumping bras with my first because the zipper kept breaking and because my size increased as my supply did. The Simple Wishes bra is SOO much better! It has a zipper front but velcro on the back so you an adjust as needed as your body grows or slims and changes. It also has more coverage in the front and can be used with or without straps. This is a must buy if you plan to pump!

Introducing…

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IMG_856112088561_10101480880465599_5880826435607904315_nIntroducing… our beautiful baby girls! Born Thursday, October 1, 2015.

Sloane Anne Harvey
10:05am, 5lb 5 oz, 19in long

Maisie Lynne Harvey
10:06am, 5lb 1oz, 18 in long

They were born via planned c-section (post coming soon on the ins and outs of c-sections). Sloane was “grunting” after she was born and so after a quick introduction she was taken to the “Transition Nursery” which is the level between being in the room with you but not serious enough to admit into the Special Care Nursery (NICU) of the hospital. KH followed her as Maisie and I headed to recovery. After being in recovery almost the full hour, our sweet Maisie started “grunting” as well and had a low glucose (blood sugar test) and so she too was taken to the Transition Nursery. It was quite a wild ride. I was wheeled up to my room, after delivering two babies, and found myself alone which was a completely heart breaking experience as I wanted nothing more than for our sweet family to be all together.

A lot of different things happened (many of which are hard to remember at this point) but eventually Maisie came to join us in our room later day followed by Sloane. I was overjoyed. We spent one night all together in our room until the next morning when Maisie failed a couple of her glucose tests and she was admitted to the Special Care Nursery.

We spent the next several days going back and forth between our room and taking care ofScreen Shot 2015-10-09 at 11.21.14 PM Sloane, and the Special Care Nursery where we could visit Maisie. I wanted nothing more than for our family to be together! One comfort was found in one of our friends and neighbors who is a nurse in the Special Care Nursery. She took care of Maisie all day on Saturday and kept us updated on how she was doing. Maisie was eating well but it was zapping all of her energy so she eventually was put on a feeding tube. Lauren was the first to get her to drink out a bottle but then the following feeding was completely by tube again.

KH, Sloane and I were discharged on Sunday and sadly had to leave Maisie behind. KH and I spent the next couple of days going back and forth visiting Maisie during the day and then heading back to the hospital after Sloane’s 9pm feeding and visiting with her until close to midnight. Each day she was getting stronger and stronger and was eating less and less from the feeding tube.

On Tuesday we went to the hospital to visit Maisie and to our surprise we found out that not only would Maisie be going home- she would be going home with us immediately! We were expecting later that week so it was a complete and wonderful surprise to be able to pack up and get her home so quickly.

Screen Shot 2015-10-09 at 11.18.22 PMAnd so we made it home and surprised my mom, who was there watching our little man, and we walked up with BOTH babies and finally got our picture of 5 (6 with Toby!)

It’s crazy how recent it all was but how quickly everything is meshing toward and becoming a blur. We feel overjoyed and blessed to have our sweet daughters home together with us. Let the fun begin!

 

 

30 Weeks

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Well in case you were wondering, life IMG_7535is certainly bigger with twins! Today marks 30 weeks
with our baby girls. Here’s a side by side from when I was pregnant with Jude (left) and now the girls (on the right). Today I also hit one of my milestones- I’ve been super anxious, excited and ready to make it to the 30s. Here’s to getting even closer to our delivery date and the arrival of what we are praying will be two healthy babies. Currently no major complaints- I’m getting more and more tired, heartburn is getting worse but i’m managing and moving/walking is slower and more uncomfortable (especially at night after a long day).  6 more weeks to go! Can’t wait!

15 Months!

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IMG_7606 Our sweet boy is 15 months today! He is growing and changing so much its hard to capture it all! He currently weighs 21 pounds and is about 30 inches tall. Despite his dad’s 6’3″ height our little man is hanging in right around the 25th percentile for his size. He is finally growing out of his 12 month clothes and now wears 12-18 month (Old Navy and Gap) and 18 month clothes (Carters).

Jude is running all over the place and prefers to walk into school instead of being carried. Still no definite words but the closest is when he holds a phone, remote or anything else up to his ear and says “hi!” 🙂 He can say please, more and all done in sign language and also waves bye and night night.

He still loves his paci and also enjoys playing outside with his Little Tikes car, as well as playing with balls, cars, trucks, books, Little People playsets and any boxes, bags or anything else random laying around the house.

This boy is keeping us running around and on our toys but we are loving every minute. He’s a handful and tons of fun all at the same time 🙂

His current schedule during the day is..

  • 7AM: Wake and Breakfast with Milk
  • 9:30AM: Snack at school
  • 12:00PM: Lunch and Milk at school
  • 1:30PM-3:30PM: NAP
  • 3:30PM: Snack at school
  • 6:00PM: Dinner and Milk
  • 6:30PM: Bath
  • 7:00PM: Bed

Showers for the Twins

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This month we were blessed by two wonderful showers for our baby girls. The first one was hosted by my mother-in-law and was a diaper and gift card shower and the second one was hosted by 6 dear friends from work. Both of them were so special and so thoughtfully planned and I thoroughly enjoyed them both so much. Kyle and I feel so blessed by the love and support of so many who are helping us prepare and celebrate as we await the arrival of our daughters!

Some favorite gifts for our twins if you’re looking for items to add to your own registry or give to someone having twins (remember these aren’t our first children so our needs are different than someone having twins as their first and second children as opposed to their second and third).

  • DIAPERS (its not fun for the person who buys it but its so so helpful!)
  • WIPES (same as above- the big boxes from Costco are awesome!)
  • More bottles, bibs, blankets, pacis and swaddles
  • A second bouncy seat, pack n play, carseat, and camera for our monitor
  • A double stroller and double snap n go with accessories
  • Another changing pad and cover
  • Sound machine for the bedroom and for travel
  • Sheets and bedding for two cribs
  • Bath sponges, towels and toys
  • Coordinating outfits (and/or matching outfits)
  • Lovies and toys
  • A git for the big brother! (My sis got our little man a Little People playset which he loves)

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First Day of Toddlers!

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Today marks Jude’s first day in his new Toddler’s class with his new teachers: Ms Luciane, Ms Amy and Miss Hannah. He will officially move to a more formal schedule with his classmates with no morning nap (only one longer afternoon nap now) as well as a set morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack time. We decided to celebrate the occasion by transitioning out of the diaper bag and into a book bag 🙂 I’m pretty sure our little man loves his new REI gear. 🙂

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First Haircut

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Days away from our little man’s 15 month birthday, we took Jude to get his first haircut. We opted for a place about 20 minutes away called Circus Cuts. Overall we were moderately happy with the experience- liked the hair dresser and loved the haircut itself yet the venue left much be desired (and cleaned!).. not sure the last time it saw a vacuum or a lysol wipe…but we made it! Next time I’ll probably research and ask around a little bit more to try and find a cleaner location that still caters toward young children. But, in the end our boy ended up with a great and much needed haircut just before school tomorrow. So handsome!

(Please excuse his blank stare in IMG_7287the picture on the left- he was distracted by an Elmo video during the entire experience!)