car seat advice

As I had mentioned earlier we are on the verge of needing new car seats for the babies.

We have started doing some research on car seats and we are a little overwhelmed at the options. My first inclination was to find the car seat that would last the longest, thus saving us from having to buy yet another set in another year or so. Some seats have weight limits from 5-100lbs. Meaning that your child can go from the hospital and them almost to college all while sitting in the same car seat. This seemed a little extreme. According to most growth rate charts, most babies will not reach 35 lbs until they are about 3 years old.

In our research we have also found that the AAP is now recommending that, while 1 year old and 20lbs is the minimum recommendation for moving a child into a forward facing seat, children should stay rear facing for as long as possible.

• Read the AAP article.
• Click here for an article explaining the benefits of keeping a child rear facing for as long as possible.
  

What else should I take into consideration when choosing a car seat? What have been your preferences, etc?

she's got the whole world in her hands

going to the grocery store

Getting out of the house is hard with twins. oing to the grocery store is one of our most frequent adventures. Yes, it may sounds strange to say that we go to the grocery store for entertainment, but that is what we do. Of course it also has the utilitarian purpose of providing food for our family but I must admit that there are times when I

new skills

We are behind on our blogging. But I decided to post a couple photos to keep my mom and our other baby fans happy for a couple of days while I get caught up.

The babies are getting more and more mobile. Which also means they have a greater ability to antagonize each other. For several months when Max would take something from Maya she would patiently wait until he was done and then pick her toy back up and act as if nothing had happened. Well, it seems those days are over. Max is still trying to take away anything that Maya is playing with (there is nothing more fun than something sister has), but these days Maya will either fight back or throw a fit.

Here is a photo of the babies after Max took Maya's sippy cup.

Thankfully the babies also seem to enjoy each other even more. Yesterday while I was reading on the couch I heard the babies both laughing. I leaned over and saw Max pinning Maya down and they were both playing with each other's faces. For some reason they thought it was hilarious. Unfortunately they stopped before I could get a photo.

Max's new favorite place to sit is on the bottom shelf of the living room built-in bookshelf. The babies are never far apart in the room. They almost always will play right next to each other.


Maya has also started walking. She isn't as steady as Max yet, but she loves to strut her stuff. She started walking just two days after her one-year-old well -baby check up.

Max's newest skill is pointing. He points at anything he wants. He will even point towards his bed when he is tired or ready for a nap.

pretty cool

As a mother of twins, this bike would be a joy. I could pop the babies in, throw in the beach bag and be off to the neighborhood pool in seconds.

Click on the link for a chance to win one yourself.

swim party

We had a "swim" party for the babies on Saturday to celebrate theirs and Anna's first birthdays. We wish we could have had all of our friends and families with us to celebrate but the babies were a bit overwhelmed as it was. Thankfully the weather held out for us and we have a lovely afternoon garden party followed up by a serious thunder and lightning storm just a couple hours later.

cake face

I can't forget to post photos of the babies eating their birthday cake. I made them each their own banana cake. They were a little unsure of it at first and just looked at the cake, but once they figured out what it was they were pretty excited. Maya doesn't like getting her hands dirty so after a while she just stuck her face directly into the cake. I was laughing to much to even get a photo.

katy heritage

We decided to take a Sunday drive over to the Katy Heritage Park so we could do a photo shot of the babies in thier new 1-year old outfits that were lovingly made by our friend Susan Combs.

birth day

One year ago today the babies came crashing into this world, five weeks ahead of schedule and weighing only 4 lbs. They have since quadrupled their birth weight and have gone from scranny little babies that I was scared to hold because I thought I would brake them to beautiful funny and happy babies that love to wrestle. Motherhood is so much more complex than I imagined it would be. I love these two little ones with all my heart, but they also drive me crazy. They bring out more patience and determination that I thought I had and yet they also frustrate me to no end. My emotions are so tightly wound up in their emotions, whether it be laughing or crying, that I have ridden an emotional roller coaster or confusion and euphoria for the last year. I am grateful for the learning. I am glad to have passed this far. I am so happy that the babies sleep through the night so that Ian feel more emotionally prepared in the morning. I love getting to

happy birthday babies