Holidays

I have never been one for holidays.  I never enjoyed looking at Christmas lights, I detested Halloween (my birthday is right before) and Thanksgiving seemed to be a reason to eat a lot.  I would celebrate with my family and friends, but I was never really in the spirit.

Nadia and Nicole changed all that for me.  Last year was their first holiday season.  They were 7 months old for Halloween and didn't think very much of the adorable costumes I forced them to sit still in. 

Nadia the tiger, Nicole the monkey

Thanksgiving passed very much the same way.  Their Great Uncle and Aunt visited from China, we had the traditional dinner, and Nadia and Nicole didn't care.


All that changed with Christmas.  I decorated a small tree and hung some garland on one of our fish tanks.  The girls loved the lights and really loved ripping open packages.

Now that the holiday season is here again and my girls are a year older, I find myself excited about decorating for them.  I have hung a small amount of spider webbing and placed some glow in the dark rats and spiders around.  My fish tank has been decorated for the season.

I cannot wait to finish Halloween decorating and decorating for the other holidays.  I hope my girls find wonder and joy in the holidays.

Aspiring Parrotheads

One of the nice things about living in Las Vegas is all the fun things to see and do.  Yesterday was the grand opening of the Margaritaville Casino at the Flamingo.  While the event was a bit crowded, my girls rode in their kokopax carriers and had a great time.

Nicole and Grandma Judy

The day started with a street fair with lots of live music, entertainers, and food.  The worlds largest margarita was made to kick off the festivities.  While the girls couldn't taste this, I can assure you there was booze in the blender.  Afterwards we had a wonderful lunch with an old friend at the Margaritaville restaurant.

Nadia and Nicole split their first cheeseburger in paradise while dodging pirates.


Nicole danced almost the entire meal to Jimmy Buffett.  We will be sure to return soon.

Night Terrors

Around 1am this morning Charles and I were woken up by Nicole screaming.  A child crying in the middle of the night is bad enough, however, when  you know there is nothing you can do to comfort them it is even worse.

Nicole was about 3 months old when she first started waking up in the night screaming.  She would cry, hit us, and scream inconsolably for about 20 minutes.  Nothing seemed to calm her, then just as fast as it started it would end and she acted like nothing had happened.

Her pediatrician stated these episodes were night terrors and were a sleep disorder.  I immediately started researching the topic.  Night Terrors are different from a normal nightmare.  The child cannot wake up from the terror.  All our attempts to console her were making no difference because she was sound asleep.  Research states that children have no recollection of the night terror the next day, which is a blessing because they appear to be very traumatizing.

While there is no cure for the night terrors, there does seem to be ways to control them.  Consistent sleep schedules work very effectively with Nicole.  If she misses a nap or stays up late, we can pretty much guarantee she will have one either that night or the next. In more severe cases, parents have reported that waking their child shortly after they fall asleep can interrupt their sleep pattern enough to stop the night terror from happening. 

Keeping Nicole's sleep schedule consistent helps alleviate the amount of night terrors she has, but does not completely stop them.  When she is sleeping well she has about 1 night terror a month, compared to the 2 to 3 a week she was having.  When they do occur, all we can do for her is hold her and be there for her when she wakes up.

For more information:
http://www.nightterrors.org
/http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000809.htm

Kokopax

One of the first items I received as a gift when I had my twins was two Kokopax backpack carriers.  Unfortunately I was unable to use the carriers until my girls were about six months old, for safety reasons kids need to be able to sit upright unsupported before using backpack carriers.  However, since this time the carriers have become indispensable.

The carriers are lightweight, under 3 pounds, and made of durable, washable fabric over an aluminum frame.  I was worried at first that the girls would pull hair and ears because they were at head level, however, they seem to love being able to see what I am seeing and they leave my hair and ears alone.  

We love to go hiking and these packs are sturdy enough to take on day hikes, yet easy enough to use while doing housework or going shopping.  During long outings, the girls often fall asleep in the carriers and the sides of the carrier are padded so my girls are nice and comfortable.

Nadia asleep in Kokopax carrier

Grandma Judy with Nadia in Kokopax carrier at Death Valley

www.kokopax.com
 Our Kokopax Carriers were such a success, when a friend had a baby I knew she had to have one.  Her daughter is almost old enough to ride in her carrier and updates will follow.

Diaper wipes, who would have thought they could do so many things.  Having twins and animals means having messes, lots of messes.  I have never enjoyed cleaning, I don't like cleaning products (don't like chemicals around the kids or critters, and hate the price), and have always been frustrated that I didn't have the right product to get things out.  Almost all of that changed when I discovered diaper wipes.

It happened shortly after Nadia and Nicole were born.  Spit up formula is horrible to get out of clothes, bedding, carpet, anything.  I heard that diaper wipes were great at cleaning up formula so I tried it, and VOILA!   formula came right out.  That got me thinking...what else could diaper wipes do.

I soon discovered that diaper wipes are the magic cleaner.  Charles and I are clumsy people and often spill things.  Coffee, grape juice, and wine in carpets are no match for a diaper wipe or two.  Car grease on your hands?  Try a diaper wipe, they will take it right off.  No dust bunny can hide from a diaper wipe.  Charles even fixed the suction on our aging vacuum cleaner with a diaper wipe. 

We shop a lot at a large chain warehouse store, where I buy my diaper wipes at an average price of $0.02 per wipe.

Homeward Bound

I am a lover of all animals and believe that animals improve peoples lives.  We started the day Nadia and Nicole were born teaching them a love and respect for animals.

In addition to our own animals, we strongly believe in animal rescue.  While my schedule does not permit me to volunteer at any shelters or organizations, our family does foster kittens and cats for a local cat rescue, Homeward Bound.

www.homewardboundcats.org
www.facebook.com/HomewardBoundCatAdoptions
We are currently fostering four 6 week old kittens.

Fostering involves providing love and shelter for cats until they are old enough to be adopted.  Many people wrongly assume there are many people who are fostering so they won't be needed, however, there is always a lack of foster parents.  Another misconception is that it will be hard to return the cats when it is time for them to find their forever homes.  The joy that comes from a kitty finding their forever family outdoes any heartache that comes from returning the kitties.

 Nadia and Nicole love the kittens we foster.  They have learned to become gentle and play nicely with them.  Since they became old enough to interact with the kittens, Nadia and Nicole have become more careful in all their activities.  They have learned to respect the animals boundaries, as well as becoming more respectful of peoples boundaries.

Fostering has been a win win situation for us. I highly urge everyone who is able to volunteer in any capacity with an organization.  The benefits are more than can be counted.

Nadia and Nicole

My name is Jennifer and I am a 30 year old mother of twin girls, Nadia and Nicole.  They are 18 months old  and  were born in Las Vegas, NV in March of 2010. They are fraternal twins and are about as different as two people could be.  Nicole has dark brown hair, looks just like her Dad, she tends to be shy but when she feels comfortable is extremely silly.  Nadia has blond hair, looks just like her Mom (except Momma has red hair), is very outspoken and outgoing. 

Our family is fairly widespread.  Three Grandparents live in Las Vegas NV (Judy, Gary and Qing Qing) and two in Seattle, WA (Bob and Kat).  There are four Great-Grandmother's still living, one in Gig Harbor WA (Marilyn), one in Fort Collins CO (Bette), one in Princeton NJ (Ruth), and one in China (Chong Rong).  Nadia and Nicole also have three uncles, Fong Fong in Las Vegas, Shawn in Seattle and Chris in Montreal Canada.

Their Dad, Charles, is a 26 years old upper manager for a large retail pet company.  He attended the University of Washington and obtained degrees in German and Political Science.  He is passionate about his family, photography, and animals.

Since becoming a mother of twins, my life has changed drastically.  I quit my job to become a full-time stay at home Mom.  This has put some financial strain on our family, however we feel it is important for our children to have a parent at home.  The purpose of this blog is to share the knowledge I have accumulated, review items, and connect with other parents.