MyTwintopia

The twins and I just had a very wonderful thanksgiving vacation with my family in CT. We're back home now and I've added "flying alone with toddler twins" to my list of twin parenting laurels. I confess that I was dreading the experience and was prepared for the worst. It actually went a lot better than I expected (I need to trust my girls more!).



Interestingly, it was a year ago that I wrote my post on flying with infant twins. Well, I can tell you that flying with toddler twins is a different ball game. Here are the lessons I learnt
Choose gear that will allow you to navigate the airport "hands-free". This will depend on the age of the kids and if they need a double stroller, leash, car seats etc.  My girls had just turned 2 the day before we flew so they both had their own seats on the plane and needed carseats for the flight. My solution was to hook our two cosco scenera carseats to a double umbrella stroller, leaving my hands free. I chose to travel with…

It was a couple of years back that I first came across the "Want, need, wear, read" gift giving mantra for parents. The idea is a way of simplifying the buying of gifts for kids and it suggests buying them
Something they want Something they need Something to wear Something to read I like this concept because for me it's a much needed guideline. I tend to celebrate special occasions with a range of gifts. I buy something then find something that will be so much better and before you know it, I have a pile of gifts. Limiting myself to a smaller number with a purpose is exactly what I need.
However, I did some thinking and decided to modify the "want, need, wear, read"  to better suit my gift-giving style. So I came up with my own little gift buying formula - Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit -  which I practiced for the first time this birthday for the girls. Here's how it worked Something for the body: Similar to something to wear, but for future it can also be experien…

Ever so often, I "meet" a blog that inspires me; one of those is Krissy's B-Inspired Mama and today I have the priviledge of guest posting over there.
Do check it out. I especially enjoy her "Mama Knows Best" series which showcases wise nuggets from experienced parents. 

Since I have kids in twos, I have wisdom-sharing moments in twos as well. Samantha from Cherry Pie Twins asked me to contrubute to her "Twin Moms Wisdom" post. It's a must read if you got twins and enjoy the idea of staying sane. Pop on over and have a good read!

PS: I just survived a 4 hour flight alone with 2 year old twins! I got lots to share over the next one week.

Taking cupcakes to the daycare was a big part of my 2nd birthday party plan for the twins. Unfortunately, the daycare informed me that some parents had complained about their kids being given cake so birthdays had to be celebrated with fruit. Bummer! Time to change plans. I considered Edible Arrangements but their products would be better appreciated by adults. Next option? Fruits by mommy. Ha! After some consultation with google and Pinterest, I decided to make 2 fruit trays - one for each birthday girl.

Equipment needed:
Cookie cutters (from Micheal's. Buy those with sharp edges to cut fruit comfortably)
Paring knife
Cookie tray or suitable presentation container (Also bought at Micheal's)

Fruit used:
Seedless watermelon, honey dew melon, red grapes, green grapes, mini oranges, pineapple

Main tip for toddler fruit tray arrangements:
Sizing is the most important thing when making a fruit tray for toddlers. The pieces of fruit need to be either bite-sized or real big that they have t…

And so the countdown begins! In less than 24 hours, I'll be mom to 2 year old twins. Be generous with the tissues and the stress balls if you please

My heart is too full and all my words feel too empty for me to write a halfway decent post.

In a few days, my princesses will be 2 years old. I’m all sorts of nostalgic and overwhelmed. Where did the time go? Where did my babies go? And who are these very opinionated young women living in my house rent-free? As their birthday looms closer, I’ve been reflecting on the good, the bad and the ugly parts of my second year as a twin mom; or rather the highlights, the lowlights and the WT??? Permit me to share
The Highlights My Project 52: To take a photo of the girls every week of their second year and put a photobook together. Looking through those photos brings so many poignant memories like the first visit to the park when they were terrified of going up the slide, the second visit to the park where my confident daredevils insisted on going on the big kid slides (and messing with mommy’s blood pressure). I"m missing photos from 4 out of the 52 weeks so I feel quite good about this. Follow up: For this third year, I plan on doing a project 52 but this time it’ll be 52 experienc…

Clothes, paper and toys! The 3 banes of any home with young twins. I’ve already sorta developed systems for taking care of excess clothes and organizing paperwork. The toys were the last (very daunting) frontier to be conquered. Our last month’s home move was my opportunity to finally organize the twin’s toys. Here’s my 10 step program on toy organization for toddler twins 1.STOP BUYING: At least temporarily. I had developed the habit of regularly coming home with some new toy that was guaranteed to make the girls smarter, stronger, happier etc. I had to tell myself that I am in no way compromising their future SAT scores if I occasionally visit Walmart without checking out the toy aisles 2.TOY POLICY AND VISION: Once I stopped buying and gave myself a breather, it was time to define my toy policy. This will be my guideline for all future toy acquisitions and definitely is not a one-size fits all. For us, the toy vision I have is avoid battery-operated toys with all the obnoxious lights…

According to the parenting experts, stacking blocks is a developmental milestone for children between the ages of 1 and 2. So like any parent who spends far too much time on Babycenter and parenting blogs, I bought my twins a set of nesting/stacking blocks just after their first birthday. They chewed on them, kicked them but would not stack ‘em so when it was time to move in February, I conveniently forgot to pack the blocks. 2 months later, I repented and bought another set of blocks and these ones had a “Cat in the hat” theme. Surely NOW the girls would stack ‘em like smart babies are supposed to do? No! They threw them, stood on them (and fell off them) but would not stack them. I was not impressed and decided that stacking was just one skill my girls were not interested in developing so when I got a chance to review a free Green Toys Build-a-Bouquet, I wasn’t expecting much.
Straight out of the box, the girls couldn’t figure out how to stack the pieces so I had to give them a demons…

Letter To The Mom I Was in August 2012; with 21 Month old Twins
You survived the meltdown of the century.
Congratulations!
Not trying to scare you or anything,
but there's plenty more where that came from.
This is the letter number 30 in my "31 letters to a twin mom" series.

Letter To The Mom I Was in March 2010; One Month Pregnant with Twins
You're pregnant!  The home test kit said so.  The doctor confirmed it.  You should be happy. 
I wish you would be happy; but I know you're scared.  It's been a long five years;  and you've learnt that a positive pregnancy test does not lead to a baby.  Nor does a doubling beta HCG.  Nor does making it to the end of the first trimester. 
I know it's hard to be ecstatic when only a year ago you watched helplessly as your little boy grew angel wings I wish you could hear me now; I would tell you to trust. Trust God that He's got it all under control  Trust your body that it can successfully nourish this pregnancy.  Trust your babies that they are as eager to be with you as you are them.  This time will be different!
Do you remember the first month of your pregnancy? If you could go back in time, what would you tell yourself? 

Like I did last year, I'm going to spend the month of October participating in 31 days of change being hosted by the Nester blog. My topic for this October? 31 letters to the twin mom I have been over the last 31 months. It's a reflection of the good, the bad and the "what the...?" 

So for the 31 days of October, I'll have:

One month pregnant with twins - This time will be differentTwo months pregnant with twins - Courage and stupidtyThree months pregnant with twins - Pregnancy style 101Four months pregnant with twins - Twin pregnancy is scary businessFive months pregnant with twins - A blog is cheaper than a shrinkSix months pregnant with twins - Murphy was a woman pregnant with twinsSeven months pregnant with twins - Read the return policyEight months pregnant with twins - Let 'em bakeBrand new mom of twins - The day my life changedMom of 1 month old twins - Post-partum hormones are dangerousMom of 2 month old twins - Breastfeeding twins is hard AND possibleM…

These two smiling faces are the ones that come to my mind when I think of where I want to take my girls behaviour-wise in a year's time. Their mommy in my opinion is a great example of the balance I am trying to achieve with Sugar and Spice when it comes to discipline. Her style is firm but not stiffling. Her girls are lively AND well-behaved. I was tickled pink when MandyE agreed to share her discipline tips in this guest post. Read, enjoy and be blessed!

When Olusola asked me to write on the topic of discipline, I was at once honored and scared.  While I think our 3 ½-year old twin girls are generally well-behaved, I feel like a pretty far cry from an expert on the art of discipline.

I’m here to share a few of the overarching tenets of what has worked for us over the past couple of years.  I don’t know that there are any “answers” here, but I hope it might spur some dialogue.  The only thing I’m certain of is that there’s no one right answer, and we can all learn at least a little…