Dear 3 Boys

Dear 3 Boys,  You've given my life purpose and have motivated me to be the best version of myself that I can possibly be.  A lot about me has changed since I became a mom of 3: some of it has been easy and some of it I am still trying to figure out how to manage.  The thing I know for certain is that when mommy takes care of herself and feels less stressed and more positive, then you boys receive and respond to a happier mom that you deserve.  I may not be doing everything right, or even coming close to it, but I do hope my boys remember and realize that mom was happy (and she tried).  This blog post is not about how to make time for yourself as a mother, but rather the essentials that help me feel like a happier, less frazzled mom.  When I look back on this past year of becoming a mom of 3 boys, I think about all the times I forgot to take my contacts out, or the showers I skipped because I opted for sleep, or the ridiculous clothes I wore outside with the spit up and stains, a

Dear 3 Boys,  We've reused some baby items, bought lots of new things and received a few hand-me down's over the course of this year.  Some things we barely used and some we used so much that we had to buy them again because we broke them or decided that we really wanted double of them.  And well, 'these are a few of my favorite things' we've used in this past year with you all.  Side note: I really hope that some day we'll watch 'The Sound of Music' altogether because Julie Andrews and this movie rocked my childhood.  To all the mama's reading, I hope you find this list of OUR favorite items useful to you!  I've hyperlinked several of them (click on the blue wording). xo, Vicky FAVORITE BABY ITEMS FOR THE TWINS IN YEAR 1: Angelcare Bath Support  seats  - We used these for bath time until the twins were just shy of 6 months old.  They are easy to clean, mildew resistant mesh material, and you can easily stack them if you need more than

Dear 3 Boys, You know mommy adores you, but it's really frustrating when you decide to be picky about your food.  Maybe it's because of my Albanian background, or because I don't remember being a picky kid eater, or because I just assumed you'd all be chunkers, but I can't help but be concerned when you decide not to eat something.  I've made a ton of mistakes when it comes to feeding my boys, and I wouldn't dare say I have 3 non-picky kid eaters - but I've got some tricks I've been implementing to get the infant twins and my preschooler to not be as picky, or picky on the daily.  Here are my 10 "secrets" to keep in mind when you're trying to raise non-picky kid eaters: 1.  Introduce the new with the old! Blend new foods that you are introducing to your kids with "old" ones they are already familiar with or that you know they'll totally eat.  I can't begin to tell you all the different fruits and veggies I've

Dear 3 Boys, I am so excited about sharing my journey of motherhood with everyone through this blog. Each of you inspire me and motivate me every day to be a better person and have given my life purpose.  Finding out I was having twins has been the most shocking news I have ever received in my lifetime, and nothing would have ever prepared me for this adventure of raising 3 boys. In April it will be a year since we welcomed Adam and Matthew to our family, so I wanted to share my greatest learnings.  These are 15 lessons I learned over this (almost) first year of my motherhood journey of having twins plus one: There is room in my heart for all 3 One of my greatest fears about even deciding to add another baby to the family was around the idea of how I’d divide my love, my time, my self with anyone other than my first sweet boy, David.  I mean, we spent 3 years together just him, Dad and myself - how could I love anyone else like David? Finding out we were going to add no