Diaper Cakes: Pretty and Practical

When I was on my third trimester, Joey, the twins and I got spoiled with not one, but two baby showers. The first shower was hosted by my friends when I was seven months pregnant. The second shower was hosted by my family one week before I gave birth - just in the nick of time because I gave birth early!

Surprised by our favorite lullaby

When the twins were newborns, my go to song whenever they would cry was You Are My Sunshine. All I had to do was start singing it and they would instantly keep quiet. It was a win-win for everyone because the song helped me relax too. It worked in any given situation from the small stuff like when they would get cranky after waking up from a nap, to the big stuff like when they had to go through blood extractions during their hospital confinements. I must have sung the song at least 20 times a day in 2017.

 

Toys That Are A Hit For One-Year-Olds

When Audrey and Antonino turned a year old, they were both very eager to walk and raring to talk. They also showed a lot of interest in throwing, toppling, and banging stuff. Then after a few months, they wanted to climb all over everything. When they turned around 1 1/2 years old, they also picked up the habit of copying us - we sneeze, they fake sneeze, we scratch our heads, they do the same! Needless to say, the twins are in a very active phase right now. Oh and let's not forget the times when they would prefer playing with boxes over the toys inside. That is, except for these toys which they absolutely love:

Grandma Loves You!, by Helen Foster James

"Grandma Loves You!" by Helen Foster James is a sweet book for grandmas to read to their grandchildren. The tender rhymes and soft pastel illustrations capture the feelings of grandmothers from the moment they first see their grandchildren.

Audrey and Antonino love it whenever LaMom reads this book to them. They sit on her lap while fighting over who gets to turn the pages.  Right now they like looking at the photos and the snuggles they get when LaMom reads to them. But I'm sure when they're older and able to understand the text better, they will definitely feel how special they are to their grandma.

Simple, warm and sweet, "Grandma Loves You!" is a lovely gift for new grandmothers. In fact, I think parents can even use it to announce a pregnancy to grandmas-to-be.

Audrey and Antonino are lucky enough to have 2 grandmas and even a great grandpa around. My Lolo (grandfather) is already 90 years old. And although he may sometimes forget our names, he always remembers that Audrey and Antonino are twins. When we were in Ilocos to celebrate his 90th birthday, he would always ask "Where's the other one? They're twins, right?" whenever he would see only one of them running around. I find it really sweet that he's still able to remember that detail. So I have to give a special thank you to LaMom, Mima and GG Pin (Great Grandpa)! We love you! 

Happy Grandparents' Day to all the grandmas and grandpas out there!

Thank You, LaMom!

Audrey and Antonino are so lucky to have LaMom in their lives. We cannot thank her enough for everything she's done to make our lives better but of course, I'd like to try. So in honor of Grandparents' Day, I would like to list 5 reasons why LaMom is the best!

Keeping Our Toddlers' Sippy Cups Mold-Free

Joey and I introduced Audrey and Antonino to sippy cups when they turned a year old. It took them a while before they found THE cup. They tried everything from soft spouts to hard spouts to those flat lid types where liquid comes out around the sides of the cup when you suck on the edge of the valve. Still no luck.

Then, we made them try straw sippy cups. They LOVED them. Joey and I... not so much. Why? Because they turned out to be the most difficult to clean. We also read various product reviews which said that some sippy cups have internal components where fluids get trapped, causing mold to grow. What's worse is that in some cups, those components cannot be disassembled. Some parents even sawed through the lids of their kids' cups and found mold. Yikes!