For MOMs by MOMs: Baby Gear

There were a lot of things that we wondered if we needed when we found out we were pregnant, and then we found out we were having twins, our list of needs shrunk very quickly simply b/c of lack of space to put stuff!!!

Things that we used all the time...bouncy seats, swing, jumperoo, exersaucer, and our space saver high chairs.  The only thing that we are still using @ this point is the high chairs and our exersaucer b/c it converted to a toddler toy.  I would say that those were definitely our can't live without things. 

The logistics of transportation were huge for me b/c most of the time I am getting the kids out by myself if we get out.  The hubby has a very demanding job and so I knew early on I had to find things that enabled me to get out of the house on my own.  As far as strollers, we lucked into a double snap n go from another twin mom and it worked great when they were tiny and enjoyed their car seats, however, that stage didn't last long and I needed something that I could take to football games, ie, something that I could push up a hill and not die!!!  We ended up trading in the snap n go @ Babies R Us trade in days and got a Combi side by side umbrella stroller which I love for shopping and dr. appointments.  And I searched high and low on Craigslist until I was finally able to get my hands on a BOB jogging stroller.  It is by far my favorite stroller of all that we have had, however, it's not practical for very many inside spaces so that was why we got the Combi also. 

As far as car seats, we had the Chicco Key Fit for infant carriers and I loved them.  They were easy to get in and out of the car and the kids really didn't seem to mind them all that much.  When we started shopping for convertible car seats, there was a lot for us to consider...the biggest thing being that we wanted something that we could fit in the back seat of our Jeep so that we wouldn't necessarily be limited to one vehicle for transportation.  We ended up getting the Diono Radian RXT convertible car seats.  They are on the pricey side, but they convert all the way up to a booster seat, so ideally, we won't have to buy the twins another car seat.  The one other negative about them is that they are HEAVY!!  They are made of a metal frame and so they weight about 30 lbs before adding a kid in.  For this reason, we got the Cosco convertible car seats to put in my mom's car b/c I didn't want her having to drag my heavy ones in and out of her car and end up hurting herself.  We love the Diono b/c they are narrow and they fit great in our suburban with plenty of room to put an infant car seat in the same row with them, however, I will say, if you don't have a car with a big backseat, this might not be the car seat for you.  Because they convert up to a booster seat, these car seats are TALL and so when they were rear facing, Hannah's seat was right behind the passenger seat and the passenger seat had to be pushed forward almost as far as it would go.  This made for not fun road trips when we were all 4 in the car, but since it's mostly just me and the kids it really wasn't that big of a deal.

And since the only reason anyone ever really reads blogs is to see the pictures of kids, here's a couple of pictures of my cuties enjoying all their fun gear!!

 We love this little piano b/c the seat comes out and they can then walk all over it and still play with it, and the songs it plays don't get on our nerves!!