Our Big Purchases...

I just thought that I would go through our big purchases for the twins upcoming arrival.

1.  Honda Odyssey Van - We found a great price on a used van in excellent condition with low miles at Carmax.  Within a week, we were the proud owners of a navy blue Odyssey.  It will be the manvan since CJ will be driving it.  I will take over his Mazda 3 and my borrowed Mustang convertible will go back to my parents.  (While I'm sad to be giving back my convertible, I will not missing getting in and out of it...it was definitely getting more difficult.)

2.  Baby Jogger City Select Double Stroller - In red.  It's awesome.  I like that it is not really that much bigger than a single stroller (in fact, it can convert to a single stroller) and it will last from infants until they are 45lbs each.  It was a wonderful gift from my in-laws and we are very grateful.  We will hold off on a jogging stroller for now because while I definitely want to get into running, I just don't see myself running with twins.  That's my me time!

3.  Maxi Cosi Mico Car Seats - these were another gift from my in-laws and we really liked them for the excellent safety rating and how light they are.  We got one in red and one in blue so that they will have red sox colors!!

4.  Baby's Dream Ocean V1 Cribs - these were a beautiful gift from my parents.  I love them and cannot wait until they arrive.  Plus, we plan on using them as twin beds when the twins are older too.

5.  Angelcare Monitors - these were a gift from relatives for my shower and I'm so happy we have them.  They did not come highly rated from baby bargains, but my sister has used them with her 3 kids and loves the piece of mind that comes with the motion sensor.  I could not imagine not have the motion sensor, so I'm very excited about these!!

6.  Chico LX Pack N Play - This was a gift from my sister in law.  We wanted to get one nicer pack n play with a  changing table that we will leave open in our family room downstairs.  This one is really cute and has music and vibration!!  We received a 2nd hand-me-down pack n play from my parents for travel.

We haven't really started with nursery decorations yet, but we did pick out sheets and my mother-in-law will be working on curtains for the room.  I know we still have 2 months, but it definitely seems like a lot of things still need to come together.

The other thing that I've been doing to prepare for the twins arrival is reading Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman.  It is an awesome book.  CJ is going to read it next and we are going to do our best to implement many of the french parenting strategies she discusses in the book.  I highly recommend it and if anyone has any suggestions for how to use french parenting strategies over here in America, please share!!  Basically, I love the idea of The Pause, the Meal Schedule of 8am, noon, 4pm (snack), and 8pm dinner with no snacking between meals, and saying Hello and Goodbye.  I love the idea that the parents lives do not center around their children, but rather they bring the children into their world.  We also have the book On Becoming Babywise for more of a practical, how-to approach for helping our twins "do their nights" (to borrow a phrase from Bringing Up Bebe.)