The best bits

by Bex

Now I've written about the twins' birth, our time in hospital, breastfeeding and baby products, I feel I should write about the twins themselves and where better to start than listing all of my favorite things about them and about being a new mum!

I've decided to make this post just that - a list.  Lists are quicker and easier to write which gives me more time for editing pictures of them while they're asleep!  ;)

So, in no particular order, the best bits (so far):


The noises they make, especially the satisfied noises they make when eating and the little squeaks and sighs in their sleep.

Watching them enjoy their baths, kicking their legs about and enjoying the warm water - they rarely cry when they get out now too.

Watching them stare at the mobile I made them.  Now they can see better, they seem to love watching it twist and bob about above them during nappy changes.

Priya's super soft hair tickling my face when she snuggles into my neck as I carry her through to the nursery between night-feeds for her nappy change.

Kissing them all over their gorgeous, soft faces.

Cuddles.

 

When we're all waking up in the morning and I bring them into the bed beside me for cuddles.  I could watch them for hours!

When they stare into my eyes during feeds.

Kal's stretching face.

Priya's yawns.

Their gorgeous smiles, especially the cheeky ones!

Taking photos of them.  Dozens and dozens of photos.

Watching them grow and get chubby little wrists and folds as my breast milk does it's magic stuff.

Playing with their little toes every time I get their legs out out for a nappy change.

Kal raising one eyebrow.

Massaging their wee bodies after a bath every night and then winding down with a story and one last feed before bed.

More cuddles.

When they smile in response to me saying hello or chattering away to them.

Seeing them all snuggled up with Daddy.

The Electric Gardens

by Roz

Last week I managed to head along to the wonderful Botanic Gardens in Glasgow's West End to the preview night of The Electric Gardens - a "fantasy of light and sound" that runs from now until 15th February.  This event is organised by the West End Festival which Bex and I both love and have blogged about in previous years here and here.

The weather was perfect when we went along on the preview night, a dry, crisp night and the snow lying underfoot in the gardens simply added to the magical atmosphere.  It's easy to forget just how big the Botanics are and we spent an hour exploring the pathways - there are a few surprises along the way, look out for the giant disco ball and fab ice lolly! - and having a walk through Kibble Palace.

The lighting was well done, and varied from spotlights to draped canopies of fairy lights and more, and there was also music in one area and 'fire' performers in another.  You can get some pretty awesome pictures or just enjoy the sights as you wander around.  I think this event is a great way to showcase the Botanics in the evening and hopefully it will return next year.

In the middle of the grass are giant speakers adding some erie music to the atmosphere!

As I was walking round I remembered just how big the Botanic Gardens are! I used to come here a lot when I was at university, to sit and chill out or soak up the sun, but these days Kelvingrove Park would be my go to place. The Electric Gardens definitely reminded me to start spending more time exploring the Botanics and I love that more people might rediscover the Botanics through this event.

Tiny star lights around the base of the tree!

Mmmmm a giant lolly!

Juggling fire!

If you are heading along, don't forget your camera to capture some fabulous shots!

Roz xx

Baby products we love

by Bex

So, almost 3 months in, there are a few of the baby bits we bought which have really stood out as great buys now that we've used them so I thought I'd share them here.

We absolutely love the Nipper Clipper nail clippers invented by Tom from The Apprentice.  Cutting the babies' nails was something I was dreading as the thought of catching their skin made me shudder.  I planned to leave that job to Nik but after being scratched a bit too much on the boobs one day during feeding, I had to take the plunge myself (the babies never seem to scratch themselves, just me!).  Using the Nipper Clipper was so easy and took the fear away as it has a little window so you can actually see exactly where you are cutting.  Not only that but it has more of scissor action than clipping which means you can press the bottom edge against the skin under the nail and confidently press down knowing you're just going to get nail.

It also comes with a nail file but that seems like way too much of a faff when you have two babies so we haven't used it.

The huge changing mat I bought with deep curved sides has also been great.  Nik still loves it even after I told him it cost twice as much as the white John Lewis one (which is smaller and shallower).  It's so solid and deep that we feel quite confident the babies are well contained while we're changing them and hopefully this will continue to be the case when they're bigger and more squirmy.  

Our whole changing area in fact works really well for us.  Using the top of the Hemnes dresser is ideal for us as we're tall and it's the perfect height.  the top drawers are ideal for organising everything and we have one specifically for nappy changes.  We tend to just keep the vaseline, wipes and a pile of prepared (unfolded) nappies out on the top as this is where we do the night time changes so it makes it easier.  In one of the top drawers we have the other nappies, cotton wool (although we don't really use this now we're onto wipes) and nappy bags.  Incidentally, we really rate the Aldi 'Mamia' nappies.  We had free samples of Pampers and Adsa nappies and also bought Waitrose own brand once as we needed emergency supplies (Aldi is on Nik's way home from work but we ran out n a weekend) so we have compared a few.  The Aldi ones are our favourite, we were really disappointed with the waitrose ones.  The Mamia wipes are MUCH better than the huggies ones we tried too - the huggies ones tore way to easily!

We have a box of tissues on the window sill behind in case of peeing & pooping emergencies when nappies are off, which is also the reason we invested in some £6 Ikea bath mats to save the carpets in front of our changing stations after Mummy experienced a projectile poop from each baby within 24 hours!  (Daddy has now also had the pleasure.)  Being a rookie, I automatically jumped out of the way - silly as it would have been much easier to strip me and wash my clothes than to clean the yellow stains out of the carpet!!!  Anyway, the bath mats are genius as we've since had a couple of similar occurrences and have just popped the mat in the wash.

We had to add a lamp to the dresser too as this end of the room was quite dark at night.
This is just an old cheap one we had from Ikea.

You'll notice I said changing stations as we also have a similar set up downstairs in the playroom on an old table.  It saves us having to go upstairs to do changes during the day which with two babies is much easier as we can still see and talk/sing to the other baby in the living room if they are upset while one is being changed.  We had planned to get a pedal bin for nappies but have found that just piling up the overnight bags and then taking them straight down to the front door works best as we've positioned our wheelie bin right outside - not very aesthetic but it's practical and easy which is what you want with twins!  Smell hasn't been an issue luckily.

Our maxi cosi car seats with isofix bases are definitely one of the things worth spending on (although we were lucky to receive one base from my friend Vikki) as they make it so easy to get the twins in and out of the car.  Finding parking spaces with enough space on BOTH sides to get them out however can be tricky, especially at the hospital where we've had a couple of appointments for them - the spaces are very tight and there are no mum & baby spaces.  I once thought I would actually have to reverse out of the space, get the baby out and then park again but luckily the car next door left in time so I had room.

Our co-sleeper for twins is also another big purchase which was worth splashing out on (although we did save by getting it second hand), having the twins right there means it's much easier for me to settle them if they just get mildly upset in the night.  I don't have to get out of bed to reach either of them and the same goes for feeding, I can lift them both onto the bed and feed them both without having to get up.  And while we're on the subject, the twin feeding pillow has to be one of the best products we bought (again second hand) as I can feed the babies at the same time, saving me lots of extra sleep!  I've talked about this more in my breast feeding post.

The duck bath has made bath time so much easier.  We have Roz to thank for recommending this one!  The first bath time was not fun and we learned a lot about what not to do!  I also decided having the soft duck bath would make things much easier and more enjoyable.  It was a bargain at just £11.95 (we missed out when it was £8.99 in Argos) and has been fantastic, the twins love it!

Here they are enjoying it at 4 weeks old:

We were lucky to receive our Bugaboo Donkey as a gift from Nik's parents and we absolutely love it!  It's SO easy to manoeuvre, it's a dream to push around, easy to collapse and build once you know how and it looks great.  It does take up A LOT of space in the boot though and if we want to take the carrycots in the car, we have to remove the wheels on the base to fit it all in.  I do love being able to put the car seats on it, especially as they sit higher up and it saves space in the boot, so thanks for the advice on that everyone who recommended it.  We've found it deceptively narrow when out and about.  We often think we won't fit through a door, space or pathway but more often than not we do.  In fact, we've only had trouble with doors when the car seats are on as the handles make them stick out more at the sides.

 Sunny days and not so sunny days!

These dummy clips are also fab so we don't drop them on the floor when out & about!

Out for our New Year's Day walk :)

I'm sure there are other things I've forgotten so there will probably be more posts like this in the future! 

Forever House - A's nursery

by Roz

So it's been forever since my last blog post, life has been hectic! I'm not going to list the reasons here but I've missed writing posts and wow am I in awe of Bex finding the time to blog with two babies!

I'm excited to finally post about a finished room in the house and it's my baby boy's room. I just love how his room has turned out. I previously wrote about my thoughts for his room here where I shared the wallpaper I was going to use and a few things I had my eye on. Of course I initially shared the nursery in the second floor house tour here (bedroom three) which shows the room as an empty shell.

It's funny but having spent so many days working in the room, sanding and filling the woodwork, the walls, mist coating and painting - including the cornice 4m up whilst pregnant with A! - the room was always empty and I guess felt quite small. With everything in it, I'm amazed at how big the room is!

 This picture is a little blurry but I wanted to include the big light

 Aaron wanted in on the photo shoot!

Love the reflection of the light in the window!

 I am so in love with the rainbow rug :)

I am so happy with the grey colour on the walls, it's a lovely deep shade that works so well with all the white wood work in the room and doesn't feel dark at all. We actually bought the paint for our hallway but B is having second thoughts about grey paint (much to my disappointment) and keeps wanting magnolia or cream shades. Someone tell me how to convince him other wise?? All the bedrooms have the same grey carpet that is in the nursery, it's a beautiful deep pile carpet that is so cosy underfoot but has the added bonus of being scrubbable and bleachable for any little accidents! I hoped it wouldn't be too much grey but I love it and of course the rainbow rug adds a massive splash of colour.

The room has a built in cupboard / shelving unit which is so handy. I've added a hanging rail in the bottom for clothes and changed the handles for stars :) It's just a lovely place to display some of the lovely gifts we were given when A was born.

Nearly everything in the picture above are presents from wonderful family and friends

Another item that I am so happy with is our Ikea spolling change table. Unfortunately Ikea don't make them anymore, it took me about three months of Gumtree and eBay searching to find one local, and then when I spoke to the seller it turned out she had two for sale so we bought them both for a total of £30. Until A was about 7 months old we changed him on top of the oak dresser in his room but now he is way to wriggly for that! The change table is made of fabric and the curve hugs him in place, it's genius. I first used it in a restaurant in Glasgow and am so happy we have them. A loves it too!

Lots of pockets to store nappies, wipes, creams etc!

A loves it, even if he is longer than it already!!

Similar to Bex, I ended up with a bit too much stuff for A's room, so the playroom is going to have rainbow bunting, prints and animal heads that were originally bought for the nursery. The playroom is still very much a dumping ground at the moment though so won't be on the blog for a while!

Similar to Bex's post I've included a few links to where some of the bits came from as so many people have asked from my instagram photos, especially the rainbow rug!

Rug - ebay rugssupermarket
Armchair with matching footstool (not shown) - eBay the sit and sleep shop
Cloud cushion - This Modern Life
Light - Maskros Ikea (the 80cmwide one!)
Coloured wooden letters - This Modern Life
George the Elephant Head - Emiline House
Animal Alphabet - Ketchup on Everything
Cable & Cotton lights - Achica
The cot is a Mama's & Papas Chamberlain cot bed in oak that I bought from another online seller for way less than M&P and the M&S oak dresser was bought second hand from the lovely Sarah

Roz xx