My Kitchen Helpers...

I'm starting them off in the kitchen early. I plan on having two little helpers!

Playtime on Dad!

This is the scene at our house every night when Dad gets home from work. Dad used to play with the girls now the girls play on him!

Big Girl Smiles...

We are two very happy 11 month olds!

Playing With My Sis...

Joe and I put up one of our two pack and plays in our living room. We did this to have a safe place to put the girls when we need a minute to ourselves. For example when I'm cooking dinner, using the bathroom, in the laundry room, etc. Abby is really on the move and Chloe is close behind so this is a great spot for them when I can't always watch 24 hours a day. Yesterday while I was cooking dinner the girls had a blast playing together. These are a few pictures I took.

My Favorites...The Baby Addition

Now that the girls are almost a year old we've tried many products and have come to love some and can definitely do without others.
So here is my list of Favorites:
* Diapers- My favorite tried and true diaper is Pampers. They just work for us. Very few blowouts or leaks. The only downfall is they are pricey. I can honestly say I've tried them all...all the top brands as well as the store versions. Luvs are a great substitute. They are made by the same company as Pampers (many stores take pampers coupons for Luvs), they are a great diaper and you'll save a few bucks on every pack!
* Wipes- My favorite two are Huggies wipes and Target wipes. Huggies wipes are thick and durable. They hold up to the messiest of diapers and also come in my favorite cool cucumber scent. Target wipes are a great price and they are ohh so soft. Just like diapers we've tried all different wipes and most were just fine for doing what they are supposed to do but some are too dry, some too wet and some feel itchy.
* Munchkin dishwasher basket. I have two and use them every single day! I have Dr. Brown's bottles which are great but they do have a lot of parts that have to be washed, so these baskets allow me to stick all the bottle parts in them and throw them in the dishwasher! I think my first few months as a new mom was spent washing bottles. Right now we use 8 bottles a day but back when they were really little it was a ton. This is a huge time saver for me!
* The Safe Bather is a cushion for the bath tub to lay the baby on for baths. It is awesome and I can't say enough about it! The only place I've seen it sold is on Target.com. We got it as a gift (thank you Mike and Bridget) and we also gave it as a gift. Also it stores well because it's not big or bulky. Once it dries I just hang it on the back of our bathroom door.
* Swings- My swings got me through the first months with the girls. They napped in them, rested in them or just played in them. With twins you can't hold them both so it was nice to have somewhere to put them where they were comfortable, safe and still in my line of vision. We loved our Fisher Price rain forest versions. The swing could switch directions and you could plug it into the wall or use batteries. It was nice to have the option because those things eat through batteries but with power outages during storms (you know what I mean if you live in Florida) it's nice to have batteries too!
* Baby Monitor- We love our monitor! No Batteries required...it charges! It came with two handhelds so I always keep one plugged in our bedroom (which we use at night) and just switch them out when the other needs a charge. You will save so much money not buying batteries! It features 10 channels for the best reception and it lights up with noise too. I like the light up feature so you can turn down the volume but see when the noise starts or stops. On a side note...be sure to turn off the receiver when not in use because your neighbors might pick up your conversations:) This hasn't happened to us but some friends of ours have a lot of small children on their block and often pick up other people on their monitor.
* Diaper rash cream- We haven't had much diaper rash (after the girls left the hospital) but when we do Boudreauxs Butt Paste is the best. It's thick, creamy, stays put and it really works. If and when the rash gets bad, stop using baby wipes. We learned this trick from the NICU, just use a wet wash cloth so it will not irritate the rash further.


TO BE CONTINUED.......

Daddy Caught on Camara...

Joe has so much fun with the girls and I just had to catch him in the act. He took Chloe into her room to change her and get her dressed in a onesie for bed and well the video will show you the rest.....

Playtime with Grandma

This video was taken about two weeks ago. Chloe loves counting with her Grandma Nichols!

We're 11 Months Old Today!

One more month and the girls will be turning 1! I can hardly believe it. This past month has brought some fun changes. Both girls are very active. They love playing on the floor, in their exersaucers, in your lap, on the couch...okay they really just love to play. They still do not have any teeth but they continue to try more solid foods. They love macaroni and cheese (our new fav is the Kraft 50% whole grain), whole wheat pasta, toast, peaches, bananas, and they ate little pieces of chicken yesterday! Chloe is in love with our cat, Vivian, although I am sure the feeling is not mutual (poor Vivi has never been fond of the girls). We can ask Chloe, "Where is the Kitty Cat?" and she will look around the room until she finds her. A huge smile will let us know she found the kitty cat. She even says "Key Ca" which is baby for kitty cat. Abby is our first crawler. She is fast and knows what she wants. she is also very proud of her crawling skills.
One more month of formula here we come!

I thought this cartoon was cute...

Our Crawling Baby....

Abby (or as I like to refer to her "Crawling Baby") is really on the move. She is a fast crawler and we are having to watch her at all times. She likes getting into trouble like splashing in the cat's water bowl, playing under the coffee table (which usually includes a bump on the head) and finding anything anywhere to eat. Check her out in this video I took today...

Ice Cream

We let the girls try ice cream for the first time on Sunday. We only gave them a few licks (because the bar had a chocolate center which we knew they could not have) but could tell they really loved it. Chloe was mad when it was all gone.

Weekend Fun!

We had a busy but fun weekend. We spent Saturday down in St. Augustine with our friend Valerie and her boyfriend Ronald. We took the girls to the beach for the first time. They absolutely loved it. They enjoyed playing in the ocean and eating some sand too. The girls did great and we have determined we have a couple of water babies.




On Sunday we drove two hours south to Titusville to watch the Space Shuttle launch. We packed a picnic dinner and hit the road around 1:30pm. We arrived about 3:30pm and found the most perfect spot just across the Indian River from Cape Canaveral with a clear view of the Kennedy Space Center. We tailgated for a few hours and were extremely bummed when the launch got scrubbed for bad weather. We still had a fun time but would have loved to see the launch!

Nichols Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Nichols Look-alike Meter

Thought I'd give this a shot at 10 months to see who they thought the girls looked more like...

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

All Smiles from Chloe...

We are going to have to watch out for this adorable baby and her smiles.

Trouble Maker Abby

This baby's on the move and she knows exactly where to go to get the toys she wants. Check her out...caught on camara with her basket of toys on it's side while she is digging through it.

Sunflowers

Here are two pictures from my sunflower garden. This is the largest one I have so far.

Bow Love...

These are pictures from Father's Day. I just love putting bows in the girls' hair!

Green Cleaning...

If you remember this post about living green then you will remember my pledge to try out several green solutions to my cleaning products. I wanted to try out several homemade recipes for cleaning products. I've tried the Abrasive Scrubber for my shower & tub, the Window Cleaner for my mirrors and windows, and the All Purpose Cleaner for my kitchen counters, sink, etc. I really like them all and will continue to use them in my cleaning regimen. The Window Cleaner is awesome! I used it on the mirrors in the bathrooms and on my always dirty sliding glass door. I liked this cleaner so much I don't think I'll ever go back to Windex or any other similar product. I had no filmy residue or streaks at all. Better yet the recipe probably cost pennies to make and all the ingredients I already had in my house! The only downfall I found was the vinegar smell but that faded in about an hour or so. The All Purpose Cleaner is nice too. It cut through the food messes in my kitchen and worked well on my stainless sink too. The recipe called for Borax which I have to admit I never bought before. While reading the box of Borax I discovered many other common household uses for this natural cleaner. I think this will be a new staple in my house. It's natural, gentle enough for baby clothes and fine china and is a natural deodorizer. Another bonus the box only cost $3.99 at Wal-Mart.

Try out my recipes here and let me know what you think!

Nicknames...

Over the past 10 months Chloe has gotten s few nicknames. My mom starting calling her Chloe Belle since she first came home from the hospital and it just stuck (which I sometimes refer to her as Chloe Belle Belle), I call her Chlo which is just short for Chloe (and if Joe is near when I call her Chlo he corrects me saying her name is ChloE) and Greg & Laura call her Wiggles Nic Nic (because she is squirmy and the Nic Nic from her middle and last name). A few weeks ago I started calling her Chloe Tongue Tongue because for about a week straight all she did was stick her tongue out. You might ask where she picked up this new skill and I have no idea where she could have picked up this behavior because I never stick my tongue out...ha ha.

Crawler.....

Abby starting slowly crawling on Sunday. She is now perfecting her skill and is officially on the move! I know Chloe will be short behind her.

Good Monday Morning!

I am happy to announce the Nichols house is all better! Everyone has recovered from their illnesses and are in good sprints.

We attempted to take the girls to their first fireworks opportunity on Thursday, July 2nd at the World Golf Village but we got rained out and ended up leaving before they went off. It has been sort of a tradition for about 3 years to go with our friends Todd and Kerry to see them (usually held on July 3rd) and this year was going to be extra special with our new additions and their new addition, but we will have to try again next year. We continued the weekend celebration with my parents who came to visit on Friday and stayed through Sunday. My Mother-in-law (Dawn) and Sis-in-law(Heather) are here now but can only stay until Tuesday. We were bummed that Bro-in-law (Cory) couldn't come due to a conflict with his work. Cory- you need to come soon...the girls are getting really big and fun to play with:) oh ya, and we'd like to see you too! Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th!

I have some new pictures and videos to post this week so stay tuned!

Chloe Got the Bug Too:(

This teaches me to open my big fat mouth. I was just saying everyone in our house except Chloe got the cold but sure enough on Monday night my baby got a runny nose and a fever. Tuesday she maintained a 101-102 degree fever all day and suffered from diarrhea that gave her the nastiest diaper rash. Today she has broken her fever but we are still dealing with her diaper blowouts and diaper rash:( I am back to using only wet clothes on her booty, I much prefer the wipes but that only makes her rash worse. She is feeling better today, this I can tell because she is actually playing with Abigail and I saw a smile or two as well. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better!

P.S. This stuff has a funny name but it is the BEST!