These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

I get questions a lot about items we have that help us with our daily lives.  The items in this post are things we have found helpful or enjoyable.  Some will only apply to multiples, but some could apply to anyone! 

1.  The Choo Choo Wagon

This wagon has been so much fun. A gift from Bevie and Papaw for the triplet's first birthday, it has become very popular. It isn't something I would recommend taking on a super long walk as it gets a little heavy especially uphill, but my kids much prefer it to a stroller. I think they like the openness and perceived freedom vs. a stroller. They like to wave at all the people we pass while walking. A company called Step 2 makes this item and as far as I can tell you can only buy it online. They had made it a while back and discontinued it. There were wagons on Ebay for 2-3 times the original price during the discontinued days and lots of speculation in the world of multiples about when/if it would return. Lucky for us, they brought it back right before our trio turned one. The website is: http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1774


2.  Preemie hats and clothes

When the babies were in the NICU the hospital had some very cute hats that they provided but they were few and far between.  My Aunt Sharon (married to my mom's brother Don) has a sister, Holly, who works in a NICU down in Houston.  They all got together and I think this is the website they ordered all our adorable hats from:  http://www.perfectlypreemie.com/catalog/ (formerly preemiesrus.com).  Preemie clothes are already difficult to find and even more difficult to find in matching sets.  Plus, I was not doing a whole lot of shopping when the babies were in the hospital.  The hats were so fun and they always got compliments on them! 

3.  Bumbo chairs, Bumbo trays, Baby Bjorn Bibs 

The Bumbo chairs are pretty popular among most moms.  Some go ahead and add the trays as we did.  This helped for a long time when they were first eating solids.  They had not quite mastered the whole sitting thing and the Bumboo chairs offered that extra support.  We basically used these as high chairs (that traveled) for several months.  The Baby Bjorn Bibs are AWESOME!  We have used these every day for every meal since they were first eating solids.  All of these items were gifts so I am not quite sure where they are from but I think Babies R Us and Target should have most. 

4.  InchBug Orbit Labels 

The blue, pink, and green labels you see on our kids sippy cups (and previously bottles) are from a company called InchBug.  They are microwave and dishwasher safe.  They have each child's name printed along with braille.  They are removable, but we just keep them on our sets of sippy cups.  Obviously Carter cannot read or tell that the pink one is not for him...


5.  Flat Sheet Protector

OK I may end up making some folks mad here because I am not 100% what retail store you can get this item at since my mom bought it at the Moms Of Multiples sale when I was on bed rest.  Based on my Internet search it looks like they are the Naturepedic waterproof flat sheet protector.  They are these flat mattress covers that you just lay below the sheet (don't tuck in like a mattress pad).  Our process for bedding is this:  mattress pad on mattress, sheet, sheet protector, sheet, sheet protector, sheet.  Then as sheets become dirty we just strip the sheet and the pad under it until we get down to the mattress pad.  This means we are changing the entire bed a lot less often.  Those of you who have changed crib sheets before know that it is not easy especially as they get lower!

6.  Sheet Saver 

 This is no breakthrough item but it sure did save us some laundry.  Especially with our Little Miss Spit.  She would have stains all over this thing!  We put this on over the top sheet and laid her on top of it.  Of course once they start rolling and moving around it becomes useless. 


7.  Wipe Warmer

Again, nothing super extraordinary about this.  I don't even care that it warms the wipes.  These things are fairly inexpensive and it allows you to buy wipes in large quantities and just refill it.  Also, it is heavy so no pulling the entire box of wipes up with the one wipe you want. 

8.  Space Saver High Chair 

This item is not for everyone.  A friend told me that she had not heard great things about space saver high chairs but I read reviews and forged ahead.  Ours are the Fisher Price brand and we LOVE THEM.  They lean back so when the child is drinking a bottle you can recline it.  The trays come off one handed (I mean who doesn't need an extra hand right), and we are still able to use the chairs under them when we need to.  I know not everyone will agree with me here...but these have worked really well for us so far.  Maybe it is because we are blissfully unaware of all the bells and whistles on other high chairs.

9.  Pottery Barn Backpacks

Bevie got the triplets these for Christmas and they are just really cute.  They are still just a backpack, they don't have rocket boosters or teach Spanish...but look how cute they are!

10.  Bouncy Seats  

No particular brand here, we just loved our bouncy seats.  This is how we fed the babies their bottles.  The cute pillows were made by my BFF Andrea's mom.  I probably should dip those pillows in disinfectant since they saw a lot of action!  We would also lean the top of the seats against the ottoman when we did not want them to bounce them.


11.  Tripple Decker Stroller

I thought long and hard about putting this item on here, but I decided that it served a pretty good purpose.  My biggest issue with this stroller was that it always rode to the left and no amout of adjusting would fix it.  Also, once they grow out of their car seats you have to buy new seats ($250 for three).  HOWEVER, this allowed me to be much more independent knowing that I could just snap them in and out of the stroller.  There are other strollers out there that are much more expensive but the reviews say it won't fit in the back of a Surburban.  This contraption fit in the trunk of our Nissan Altima.  You can only get it online at:  http://www.doubledeckerstroller.com/index.shtml


12.  The Tiny Diner

First of all the name makes me giggle every time I say it.  This little placemat has suction cups on the bottom and a little tray that hangs down the edge of the table to catch extra food.  It folds up easily and comes in lots of colors.  You can get it at Bye Bye Babie last I heard.