Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Featured M.O.M. Cheryl Ringen 12/1/10

Name: Cheryl Ringen


Age: 36

Marital Status: Married

Blog: cherylnlee.blogspot.com

Multiples names and age: Anastasia and Lillian (Anna and Lily) age 2.5

About you: former Teacher and Admin Assistant

About your Multiples: Anna and Lily were born at 39w 5d gestation 20 minutes apart on May 12 2008

advice for other moms of multiples: Go with the flow.. they are only little once.. embrace it all

additional info about you and your multiples: I love to knit and scrapbook, spend time with my girls, currently working at a toystore that just opened in my hometown. Anna and Lily love to play, watch Elmo and Caillou and being cute.


Pictures: Lily in plaid dress, Anna in dotted dress, Anna and Mommy at a Halloween Party, Lily and Daddy on a Hayride




Thank you Cheryl, wonderful photos!


OK I can not hold out any longer!!!

I found a super cool toy for toddlers!!! Pop on Pals! They are AWESOME!!!


I am thrilled I did not make my 2.5 year old twins wait until Christmas to open these.
They love them and they are really fun to play with. I imagine them as a combination of paper dolls, Mr. Potato head, Barbie, and some action figures.....all rolled into one and done in a cool toddler friendly style. OK so these pop on pals come in a variety of animals, girls, and boys. They have these clothing or costume pieces that they snap in to. So neat!! They are for ages 2+

You lay a piece of their "clothing" on the floor or table and sit the person or animal inside of it and push down..they snap down and snap into their clothign or costime! It is really easy to do. I think they might even be good for 1 year olds to at least start out getting them hang of them.





 I am really impressed by these toys. I bought a plastic storage box with a lid so we can keep all the pieces together. Actually I am planning to buy a few more plastic storage boxes with lids to store other toys that have a lot of pieces. I don't like toys with missing parts. I really like to keep the toys with their parts whenever I can for them.

They can mix and match the costumes/clothing with each animal, boy, or girl so it makes it a lot of silly dress up fun too!  The only thing that does not work with the animals is the party hats. They seem to only sit well on the girls or boys head and stay. That is slightly frustrating for my twins but they do not dwell on it. I must say I might have to go buy another bird though. That one is their favorite. They both LOVE birds though and have since before their were even a year old. They ahve a fascination with all kinds of birds. :)

Featured M.O.M. Erika Borden 11-30-10

Name:  Brook and Erika Borden

Age:  36 today:)    (Happy Birthday!!)


Marital Status:  Happily Married 

Multiples names and age: Jacob and Spencer - 21 mo, Hayden - 6 yrs 

About you:  From Texas originally, I have been in the US Navy for 15 years.  I plan to retire and be a SAHM!!! It just can't come soon enough.

About your Multiples : J & S are very different boys. Jacob loves to read, flirts alot, very outgoing, will go to anyone, loves to get into trouble, smiles a ton, and loves to help out.  Spencer is not as outgoing, does LOVE to scream, an explorer, more reserve to go to strangers, loves to jump and dance, enjoys reading in your lap - same book over and over.  They both love to sing Little Bunny Foo Foo.  They could listen to that all day I think.

favorite items for multiples: Double Strollers. 2 cribs! Bibs with catch trays.

favorite toys for multiples: I don't know if I could name one...most items were double purchases.  2 lovies different colors! 



Thank you Brook and Erika, fantastic photos!!
advice for other moms of multiples:  It is hard in the beginning.  But as they become more independent it really gets easier.  With our first - Hayden - I felt all the instant connection with him...smothered and covered in oozy love.  There were 2 of us and 1 of him.  It was different.  With twins, it seem to take longer.  I felt a bond to them - sort of unrealistic that "OMG I have 2 more boys" feeling.  I felt guilty for a long time that it wasn't the same as with Hayden.  But I know now that my life would never be the same nor could I imagine my life without all my boys.  There are some challenges but if I didn't have all my TMMB Twin Mamas - I don't think I could have survived.  Find other moms that you can relate with, vent to, share with...It makes all the difference.  When all the twinarrazi rears its ugly head, you will find the network to be a sanity check.   Oh and one last piece of advice - when it gets tough - take them outside.  For a walk, play, whatever....kiddos do soooooooo much better outside.  It is crazy but it works.
 

Monday, November 29, 2010

Posterboards, so useful!

I remember back when I was a teen that anytime there was a school project or presentation, it involved buying a posterboard. I am actually happy now that I had all of that posterboard experience! I have out it all to good use in the present day!

I kept getting annoyed with how children's coloring books rip so easily and bend up very easily. When you have toddler twins(or more) it really seems like coloring books to not stand a fighting chance. The ones in our house don't.

So one day we were going to have a finger painting playdate with our playgroup, I thought about how that would go with paper. It would be really messy and the paper they finger painted on would be torn and crumpled after all was said and done.  So I bought posterboards! They are usually around $1 each and are sold in most places like Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, CVS, etc. They are big so they provide lots of room for creativity. They are strong, so your multiples can go nuts with finger painting and not tear them (usually)....and the best thing about them is they are PERFECT for coloring on!!

My twins, age 2.5 LOVE to color on them. I just keep one handy and when they fill it up, we pull out a new one. One usually lasts a week or so. We still use coloring books to but I prefer they use posterboards. They are way more durable than coloring books, you can use stencils or stamps on them, you can save them and even frame them if you wanted to.

They are a nice blank slate for maximum creativity and they sit so well on the floor..not like paper or coloring books. Coloring books and paper or coloring pages do not mesh well with carpet. They bend up and fold. Making it hard to color on and avoid ripping.

Just wanted to share 2 of their posterboards, hope you and your multiples have fun with coloring or finger painting on a posterboard sometime soon too!



Him Not Nice Mama

About 2 yrs ago I went into Apples to Zinnias with my friend, Wendy and the LGs. The LGs were still in a stroller. When we walked the man working there looked like he was going to blow a gasket. He followed us around and made us feel really unwelcome. I called the next day and talked to the owner. The owner was as nice as could be and apologize profusely. A week later I went in and bought the wallet I had been trying to look at when I was in there the first time.

Today I had A LOT of time to kill in Orlando so I met Wendy at Borders. After that we went to lunch, then I asked her if she wanted to go to A to Z with us. She said sure.

As we walked into the store I saw the employee behind the counter bristle as if he had just seen something that really makes him angry. I told the girls they could touch things with 2 fingers but could not pick them up. As we rounded a corner Avery came face to face with her first Christmas tree of the season. She was touch, touch, touching it. I repeated my touch but dont pick-up rule a few times. I noticed that the employee (who was still behind the counter talking to another patron) was visibly upset everytime one of the girls touched or even looked at something. He would lurch forward and make an audible noise, like he wanted to yell "STOP!!!!"

I saw that Avery was bending my rule a bit. She was taking two ornaments and "tinking" them together. Not pulling them off the tree but making them touch so that they made a pretty noise. I told her a few times to stop. She wasn't listening. In my head I thought, 'I could make her stop. then she would move on to something more expensive or I could take my chances with the $12 ornaments. ok, I would rather pay for those then something $100 that I dont want.' So I kept walking and the clerk was getting more and more upset. I was about 3 feet away from Avery with Emerson in between the two of us and the clerk yelled, "Hey, They are not listening to you!" I of course was already on edge due to the way he was acting so I turned around and realized he was the same guy from 2 yrs ago. Here is a paraphrased version of the conversation(yelling match) that happened next. I am not proud of my self for loosing my temper. I am trying to be a better role model for the girls...I do believe though that I did a lot less yelling then he did.

"Your the guy who was nasty to me the last time I was in here!"
"Probably, if you had them with you."
"Let me talk to your manager."
"Im the owner."
"I dont think so."
"I'll bet you $50, 000 I am!"
"whatever, If they break something I will pay for it."
"YES, YOU WILL PAY FOR SOMETHING IF THEY BREAK IT!"
as if the fates were listening my gentle little Emerson who was standing right in front of me picked up the ugliest ceramic reindeer ever and dropped it.
"OK, YOUR GONNA BUY THAT!"
"IT'S NOT BROKEN!!!" and it wasn't

"Emerson Avery, come on we are leaving."
"Good. (something I dont remember, but it wasn't nice)"
Avery looked at me and I said, "Come on we are not welcome here." and she started to cry (like a fit cause she did not want to leave) "No, Avery we are leaving...Wait actually cry, cry like you you've never cried before." She just looked at me like, 'what? you've never asked me to cry before...'

Im thinking I need to plan a playdate with all my Mothers of Multiples friends.

When we left I had to go sit to calm myself down and Wendy then told me he was talking about me and the girls to the other customer. Avery said, "Him not nice, Mama." I agree Avery, him not nice.

For those of you who own a business...here's a little customer service advice: If you are worried about a child breaking something all you have to do is engage the child. Talk to them about the things they are looking at. Show them other "shiny" stuff. It does two very important things. 1. It lets you keep tally of what the kid has it's grubby little hands on. 2. It gives the parent time to SHOP!!! SPEND MONEY!!!

I was in retail for over 10 yrs... I should know...

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Featured Multiples in their Strollers!

                      Featured Multiples in their Strollers!

Triplets: Sarah, Jacob, & Lucas ages 10 months
Mommy: Kelly Koenig
Location: Atlanta, Georgia


Mom, Kelly says: We have 2 strollers- we have one that is 3 front to back stadium seating style and a triple jogger which is 3 side by side.




Super cute!!!  Wonderful photos!
Thanks so much for sharing with us Kelly!!

If you would like to send us photos of your Twins, Triplets, Quads, Quints, or Sextuplets in their wagon or stroller please email your photos to TwinsandMultiples@cfl.rr.com
Be sure to include your name, their names and age, and your location (location optional)


Saturday, November 27, 2010

Thursday, November 25, 2010

be featured on Life with Twins and Multiples

If you would like to be featured on Life with Twins and Multiples

Submit the following info to TwinsandMultiples@cfl.rr.com 

  • Name:
  • Age
  • Marital Status
  • Blog
  • Multiples names and age
  • About you
  • About your Multiples
  • favorite items for multiples
  • favorite toys for multiples
  • advice for other moms of multiples
  • 2-4 nice clear crisp photos (close, not far far back in the pics)
  • additional info about you and your multiples

Monday, November 22, 2010

Twinter Fun...



Many things await us the next few months, the twins' second Thanksgiving, Christmas, and winter!!! The first are always so exciting but the seconds that are soon to come will be so much more fun. Another year older and way more skills are under their belt, this mama awaits all the fun times that we will soon have. So much so that we have had our winter gear since it was still 80 degrees out *laugh*. Thanksgiving only three days away, and we decided to put the the Christmas tree early this year, so we could do it is stages and see just how it would stand up to the twinvasion of this crazy household. It is official it has survived the first 24 hours, but mama added these really pretty tiny lights that make it a bit more irresistible (think mama will wait a week or so for the ornaments) than it was last night, and dad seems to think that it will take a small miracle to keep that 10 foot tree covered with irresistibly shiny ornaments standing for the next months. I have faith they will eventually leave it alone, okay maybe not faith....but a whole lot of HOPE! Turkey dinner planned, tree up, now we just await the wonder of snow, and off sledding we will go!!!
Posted by Picasa

YOU can blog with us too!!!!

Moms of Twins, Triplets, or more......There are still a few openings left to be a contributing blogger for the Life with Twins and Multiples Blog. This blog is a group blog for mothers of twins, triplets, or more. Once you become one of the contributing blogger moms, you will gain acess to post on the blog anytime you want. We as that our contributers try and blog at least once a month. You can blog about your day, some challenges you have had, or anything related to being a Mother of Twins, triplets, or more.


email 
TwinsandMultiples@cfl.rr.com


Saturday, November 13, 2010

choo choo wagon update with shade!!


We have SHADE!!! I promised an update on the choo choo wagon from


                                        Well......................................

We love it!! The choo choo wagon is a big hit and wonderful investment, every set of multiples should have one! We have a 4 cart choo choo wagon so when we go out we can either have 1 or 2 toddler friends ride along or store the items we take with us in the extra cars. The shade is so great and so worth buying! We found out about the shade first from our friends at the Cox Quads blog. Big thanks!!

The shade is made by radio flyer but is a perfect fir on the choo choo wagon. It is a red umbrella that clamps on and can be purchased here on amazon.com. This shade can be placed on any of the sides on the choo choo wagon carts. Right now we only have 3 shades but will be getting a 4th one soon.

The choo choo wagon is so great. It can be used at the mall, at the park, around the neighborhood, at the zoo, at the pumpkin patch, at a theme park, to go trick or treating, at an animal petting zoo/farm, at an aquarium, in a parade, in the winter, summer, spring, and fall, or anywhere you can think of, and I guess technically even in a grocery store if you are not getting too much and are shopping during a time of day that there are not many other shoppers in there. I used mine with 3 carts at the science center and even fit it into the elevator. I would suggest a weekday morning during the school year when not too many people are visiting the science center.

My twins ask for a choo choo ride every day! They enjoy it so much. In fact when we have friends over for playdates, we start our playdates off with a choo choo ride around the neighborhood. They enjoy it so much!!


Here is the choo choo on Halloween.....



On a playdate in our neighborhood..............


and even on a cold day, just add blanket for keeping warm!!


Click here to BECOME A FAN of the Step2 choo choo wagon on Facebook!!!

Gymboree = Joy

I decided to try out Gymboree with my twins. We had taken the free class when they were between 12 and 15 months...they did not like it all that much. They love it now though at 2 1/2!!

They ask about Gym-a-ree all the time. They love going there so much!



 There are really not too many children in our class though. Each weel it is one boy and then a different girl. The one boy, we will call him VJ, comes weekly. He is a bit older than my twins. Then so far we have met two little girls. Neither of which seem to come weekly. I was told there are more children and a set of fraternal girl twins in that class too. We mostly see younger babies at open gym, but a few my twins age.