My new way to drive myself crazy

When the boys were born we had a great nursery for them with matching cribs, matching bedding, fun colorful furniture and awesome prints on the wall.  It was very neutral and not too babyish.  Now that they are toddlers and sleeping in real beds, I wanted to find them the best bedding to match what we already had for them.  Their curtains could transfer over, as well as most of the furniture and some of the decorations.  Plus we ordered these awesome prints from Etsy that have song lyrics and they look a little like this but different colors:

So I wanted to find the perfect bedding to go on their new twin beds that they would be moving into when we got home from camp (more on what happened to burst that bubble later).  I looked at Pottery Barn, I looked at Land of Nod, Target, Macy's, JC Penney... I looked everywhere, I even looked at Walmart... I hate Walmart. 

I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, in the right colors or size... so I decided I would do it myself.  Why not?  It can't be that difficult to make a blanket right?  I had done it once before, it hadn't been perfect, but it serves its purpose... I decided I was going to do a Turning Twenty pattern... how hard could it be, its just squares sewn together right? So I went to JoAnn's Fabrics and bought a bunch of fat quarters and half yards to get myself started... realized I needed a whole lot more and went to Marden's... and realized I needed still more and went back to Marden's... At this point I have all the squares cut, and have started sewing... so far I feel like it is going well, and I will show you when it is done, as long as it gets done!  

It will be interesting to see what happens once I get all the squares sewn and have to start sewing them together, because I honestly have a hard time sewing in a straight line, and I want these to come out really well so that the boys will be able to enjoy them for a long time.  

cloth diapering twins

When I found out I was pregnant  I was terrified... and excited!  I had all these plans and dreams, I wanted to cloth diaper like my mom had with me... I pretty much figured I was going to have to considering how sensitive my skin was and still is... I wanted to baby wear and make my own food, I was going to breastfeed until he/shere was at least 1 and keep going if I was able to...
Then we went for an ultrasound and I discovered that I was pregnant with twins... a lot of those plans changed from that moment, I was overwhelmed and couldn't think clearly about what it was going to be like to raise not just one baby, but TWO, at the same time!


I changed my mind on a lot of things that day, and cloth diapering was one of them... I just couldn't fathom how on earth I would be able to buy enough diapers to cloth diaper two babies, plus have the time to wash all those diapers, all their clothes, it was too much for me at the time.  And then we were given a very generous gift.  Most of the teachers at my husband's school made a calendar and picked weeks to buy diapers, two teachers per week bought us diapers starting in April and going all the way to August!  It was amazing, every day my husband went to school, it seemed he came home with another box of diapers... plus all the diapers I received at my shower and from the showers held for us at school.   Needless to say, while we were using disposable diapers, we almost never had to buy diapers, unless we ran out of a size before they were big enough for the next one!

We had enough diapers stock piled that we really didn't have to think about buying diapers until the boys first birthday... at that point I was thinking of the cost and it was blowing my mind how expensive diapers were!  After having bought formula for the past year after nursing didn't work out, the idea of adding diapers to the expense list was a little daunting!  At that exact time, a friend of mine had a few cloth diapers that she had tried, but they just weren't working out for her and her daughter.  I figured it would be a great way to ease into and see if cloth diapering worked for us.

We bought the Flip diaper system from her with I think 4 covers and 6-10 inserts?  Plus a whole bunch of the disposable inserts (which I hated, but I hear they have changed them since then).  Josh wasn't sure if he was going to be able to do it.. so we continued to use disposable wipes and kept some sposies on hand just in case.
They were awesome!  I knew this was going to work for me, so I convinced Josh that we should invest in a few more covers and inserts to cut down on the laundry.  We ended up having 12 covers and about 30 inserts at our highest stash count.  The great part about the Flip system is that you can reuse the cover until it gets dirty (pooped on... or I found 2 or 3 pees were about the limit before it started to smell... or overnight pee).  So we could have just a few covers and lots of inserts and still be good on diapers for a couple of days.  My mother in law didn't want to use them, so while the boys were with her they were still in disposables but when my mom had them or they were in day care (as briefly as that lasted... wish I was blogging back then) they would be in their Flips.  It was great.  I was even able to cloth diaper them while we were living at camp sharing a washing machine with the guys on staff.

And then I made the best discovery.... Rockin' Green
The best laundry detergent I have ever used!  I still use it on our towels and sheets because the stuff is awesome.  We had been having trouble with a funky smell in our diapers which not even the best natural , CD friendly detergents could get rid of... I soak our diapers in the Rockin Green and they were soft, clean and smell free!
And washing the diapers was so easy... every two or three days I would throw everything in the washing machine, including the pail liner, run them through a wash and a couple of rinses then I could throw the inserts in the dryer, and line dry the covers... not nearly as overwhelming as I had feared when I was nine weeks pregnant and freaking out about having twins

I loved the time we were cloth diapering, their fluffy bums filling out their shorts/pants, the ease of washing diapers, not having to worry about whether or not I had to run to the store to get more diapers, it was great!
We started potty training over the summer, and I would like to say we are using cloth training pants... but we are not.  The washing machine situation at camp changed over the summer, and we had a ton going on (the boys had a very busy social calendar this summer) so we are using Pull-Ups and Huggies Slip-Ons at night because it just wouldn't make sense to use two diapers a night and have to wait 4-5 days to have a load (plus that would be smelly... pew).
 I miss our cloth diapers and while we have sold/donated/paid forward most of the things we had for the boys when they were babies, the cloth diapers are something I plan on hanging on to... just in case.

Birthday Party for two two year olds

When we started to think about boys birthday party, we realized we would be leaving for DC the day after their birthday and that our friend, Heidi, would also be having a party for her daughter who shares a birthday with the boys, but is a year older.  We decided we would party down at Heidi's party, have a little celebration with family on the boys' birthday and wait to have their party after we got back from DC.  It was great.  Heidi is super thoughtful and made special cupcakes for the boys to have at Elliot's party.  We then went home and had a special dinner with Josh's parents and CAKE!

We left the next day for our trip and had a great time (which I posted about right before this!) and after we had come home and things had settled down, we had a little party for them.  Last year we had a gigantic party with over 30 people and it took us 3 hours just to open the gifts from everyone!  It had a sock monkey theme and was a whole lot of fun, but we just weren't up for that again this year.  So we invited just a few close friends and our families and had a much smaller party.  This year's theme was construction.  The boys love anything involving trucks of any kind and so I knew that construction was the way to go... I didn't want to go overboard, so there were a few decorations and balloons, and the best part were the construction orange cupcakes for guests and the John Deere green giant cupcakes with tractor candles for the boys. 

I think they liked them!

The boys had a great time and we had so much fun celebrating with the people closest to the boys!

OK here it is... the long awaited... DC post!

I have got to get this ball rolling on this blog, so I am going to update a bunch tonight and start them rolling out over the next week or so... first off... DC!!

My husband Josh and I decided around Christmas time last year that we were feeling adventurous and that it was time for a family vacation.  The boys were walking, they were sleeping well, eating well, and for the most part are pretty well behaved two year olds.  We racked our brains on where would be the best place to go.  We knew we wanted to go during April school vacation, being that we are both teachers and it would really be too cold to go anywhere in February.  We also knew we were not ready to fly with two newly two year olds (the boys birthday is in April right around school vacation time).  We just weren't ready for that challenge.  So that left us with the area surrounding our home state of Maine.  So we thought maybe Boston...  nah can do that in little day trips, which we have done numerous times with them... New York, lots of things to do... but not very kid friendly in our opinion... Washington D.C.... a bit of a stretch as far as the drive, but the museums we wanted to see were free, the weather would be warm and there were lots of things for the kids if they got burnt out on museuming!  Perfect!  I, being the planner in the family, immediately started to think of what we were going to need.  Diapers, lots of diapers, wipes, two single strollers, pack and plays, snacks, sippy cups.... whew!  My head was spinning... I made a list and started packing (yep in December folks!)

I started that early because I knew there were some things we were going to bring with us that just wouldn't really be used until the trip... and lets put packing in quotes, because really it was just gathering supplies and making lists.
Here is what we brought for our weeklong trip with two two year olds:
two single strollers
two pack and plays
1 box of wipes from BJs
1 box of diapers from BJs (yes we were a cloth diapering family... but I wasn't going to do that 11 hours from home!)
7 pairs of shorts/pants each (we were there for 5 days)
24 pairs of jammies
7 shirts each
2 pairs of shoes each
24 pairs of socks
2 hats
4 sweatshirts
3 boxes of grammy sammys
15 squeezable yogurt smoothies
4 sippy cups
2 bags of goldfish
3 bags of animal crackers
magna doodles, crayons, paper, 3 new toys each and stickers!
all of mine and my husbands clothes and shoes
a GIGANTIC bag of gummy bears and also one of pretzel M&Ms

and I am super happy to say that everything fit into the back of my Saturn VUE and I could see out the back window!!

Our best idea was that we leave at 11 at night and drive through the night so that the boys would be sleeping and we would arrive in DC around breakfast time the next day, hit the ground running and be ready to go!  Well, the boys slept for most of the night, but I was not able to sleep during my sleeping shift so I was a little tired, managed to make it through the day and crashed at 6PM with the boys!

Our trip was phenomenal!  The boys behaved fantastically, we got to see everything we wanted, and we had the chance to spend an entire week, just the 4 of us.  I honestly have no complaints from the trip... the hotel was fantastic, we walked every where but the zoo... and we ate at some amazing restaurants!

We have already started to talk about where we are going to go this April break... some ideas we are throwing around:
South Carolina
Boston... yeah again
Quebec
any ideas anyone?

Hi!

I have been thinking about blogging for a long time. I think it is a great way to share all the fun and exciting things that we do as a family. I guess I will start with an introduction the key players. (so people who know me, know they found me, and for those who don't to get a chance!)

I am Kristin and I am the mom of the family. I work in high school special education. I like to read, spend time with family and friends, shop and the color green!

My husband is Josh, he is the dad. He is a high school history teacher and the director of a summer camp. He likes ska music, the New England Patriots and the Boston Red Sox.

I have twin sons. Jack is almost 2 and loves to play with trucks, try on Mommy and Daddy's shoes and bite his brother.
Keaghan is also almost 2, and loves blocks, puzzles and coloring, as well as trucks and helping Mommy cook. Jack and Keaghan get to spend 3 days with their Nana and 2 days with their Grammy and Grampy while Mommy and Daddy work.

We also have two cats, Hermione and Chloe the Wonder Kitty (yes, that is her real name...just ask her vet :) ) who love to chase each other and sleep on the couch.

I created this blog to share funny stories, adventures and misadventures, cloth diapering, going green, living thrifty and healthy, photos of Jack and Keaghan (probably lots of those!)and as a way to let friends and family who are not living close right now, still have a light into the life of 2 Js and 2 Ks!

Bear with me as I try to get myself organized and figure out this blogging thing... it could get really cool!