One question I get so often is "How do you do it?". I'm always speechless when I hear it because I don't do it alone. It really does take a village, no matter who is in your village. Our main helpers have been the grandparents, on both sides. They are lifesavers! When I first became pregnant and took a twin newborns class with my husband, I remember the teacher telling us about getting our team in place NOW! I was 6 months pregnant at the time but thought I would be fine! Since I had nannying experience and teaching experience, I figured I could multitask and I was going to raise these two babies as independently as possible! HA! Was I in for a surprise... I still like to keep control and be "CMO: Chief Mom Officer", but I've learned it makes everyone's life so much more pleasant to let the control go every once and a while.

Letting go of control is a big way I stay calm and centered among the chaos of two sets of twins.

The Village:

Daddy- I think the hubby has to be your number one teammate. A supportive spouse is nice to have but when you're pregnant or nursing newborn twins, there is a unique urgency. My husband, Adam and I, grew closer through the challenge. He worked tirelessly along with me to make sure I always had what I needed whether it be a glass of water, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the middle of the night (pregnancy cravings!) or a foot rub. While I was pregnant and nursing, he took care of me so I could take care of the growing babies. He's also very calm which has really come in handy in our circumstances.

The Grandparents- We are so lucky to have four wonderful grandparents that have helped us through many of the difficulties of having two sets of twins, in two years. One of the hardest times we've had parenting so far were the two months before and six months after the second set were born. Imagine having two babies when you already have two babies! The 'bigs', as I like to call them, had barely turned two when the littles were born. Both were still in diapers, I was going to have four in diapers at the same time! Both were sleeping in cribs, so toward the end of the pregnancy, I couldn't even lift them out of their cribs! I felt like a whale and could barely walk for the last month. It was a pretty extreme situation. My husband was only able to take a couple of weeks off of work for the second sets' birth, so I was pretty desperate for helpers. Luck and love was on our side.

We are so fortunate to have my Adam’s Parents help us and be on back up, anytime. When my parents weren’t living in town, they helped cover the hour I teach yoga, regularly and have been a huge part of all four kids’ lives. They also helped so much with the important date night relief and let us take time to ourselves, if we asked.

When my parents were still living far away, a good friend of Adam’s mom, who lives five houses down the street from us, offered to let my parents move in while she temporarily moved out of state. They stayed for the time that I really needed them- the last two months of the pregnancy and were on call for the littles' first six months of life. For my parents to do this and for our neighbor to let them rent her house was a life saver for us! I would have lost my mind completely if it weren't for my parents and Adam's parents being so close. Adam's parents were very helpful when it came to the delivery time, too! They took care of the bigs when we were at the hospital having the littles. I am so thankful for all four of the grandparents helping us.

Both of our parents cooked weekly meals for us while the littles were newborns which helped so much with getting enough calories. None of the grandparents took a night shift for us and even though the extra sleep would have been amazing, I think it actually helped us get through sleep training, more quickly. I liked being the only one who bonded with them during the night. For me it was important to be the one there for them. But the first set was HARD!! We were like zombies! They woke us up so much and so often and never at the same time! On top of that one only took 20 minute cat naps during the day. We learned so much about how to get sleep and how important a good night's sleep is that by the time we had the second set of twins, it was actually pretty easy. We couldn't believe the difference the experience of sleep training the first set, made.

Auntie Love- My music educator sister likes to send cute clothes, musical instruments and educational toys for the kids. We are a music loving family and she helps us with ideas, songs and understanding the many benefits of music in the home. She also spoiled me with a care package during pregnancy and a Robotic Mop that I LOVE! Robotic cleaners have helped so much (check out my favorite robotic cleaners and home products here)!
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My Favorite Robot Mop

​Delivery Services- I've never been the biggest fan of grocery shopping, even when I just shopped for myself! Now that there are six in the family, we need help. I'm sure some amazing women (you know who you are!) can keep track of their list and go to the store with their whole crew and rock it! This is not one of my strengths nor do I enjoy lugging my kids through the grocery store, so I use Instacart, Prime Delivery, Prime Subscribe and Save (link below),  and DoorDash regularly. If you aren't using these delivery services yet, and you feel overwhelmed by all of the household needs or just don't want to spend precious time at the grocery store, please give them a try!
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Try my favorite Grocery Delivery Service, Instacarat:

Instacart has SAVED us so many times from running out of diapers to stocking our big family up on food when we have no time left to stop at the store! I love that Instacart delivers from a variety of stores. They even deliver from petstores! We're not even Costco members but we love to order Costco from Instacart and enjoy all of the bulk items and delicious frozen foods like their frozen chicken fried rice. 
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Doordash is our favorite restaurant delivery service. We’ve tried them all and I love doordash because they are the most reliable, have the best restaurants, including local and they’ve never canceled on us. Try it out!

​One of our delivery must haves, Amazon Subscribe and Save has made keeping up with household items simple for me. As long as you subscribe to five items in the month, you get 15% off of diapers (Pampers are my favorite). You can interchange which five items but I have the biggest box of diapers and wipes, every month. You can add most household goods: laundry detergent, shampoo, soap, napkins, you name it and they have lots of brands to choose from. It is so nice to not have think about what you're almost out of ever again! Amazing and simple, your favorite brand household items just show up on your doorstep before you even need them. I never thought I would need this kind of service before kids but now I wouldn't live without it. It's nice to have one less (BIG) thing to keep track of in the chaos of parenting two sets of twins! Click the link below to learn more and sign up for Amazon Prime and Amazon Subscribe and Save.

(Try Amazon Subscribe and Save by clicking the link above)

Amazon Prime Family Membership: Program offers special benefits including:
*Save 20% on diapers subscriptions
*Exclusive Coupons and Deals from Amazon Family *Exclusive Baby Registry benefits
*FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items
*Unlimited instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows
​*Unlimited, ad-free streaming of over a million songs and more Prime benefits

Robotic Cleaners- A cleaning crew or person isn't really my thing but if I didn't have help, I would have to sweep twice a day (4 toddlers throw a lot of food on the floor!), clean the toilet every other day and vacuum the whole house, daily. I have so many other things I like to do that aren't cleaning so we invested in some cleaning robots. I love to push the button and leave! We'll leave them on and go hang out in the backyard after the kids are down or turn one on right before I leave the house. It's so satisfying to know that little machine is cleaning our house while I am enjoying a little freedom! I'd love to hear if you have some favorite automatic cleaners or other devices you use to clean the home. Please let me know in the comments. ​

Robot Mop

Wet Mopping Pads (10-Pack)

Robot Vacuum

When you’re a new mom, there is often a biological urge to forget about yourself completely and devote every ounce of your energy to your new love or loves! As time goes on you either start making time for yourself again or you stay in that same frame of one hundred percent devoted energy to your children. I don’t think it’s healthy to completely lose yourself to the point of neglecting your own basic needs. When I am finally able to take some time for myself, it doesn’t matter what I do, as long as I have the time to myself. How important, to just have a few thoughts to myself. Sometimes I’ll meditate in the yard or just look something up that I’m interested in. A yoga class or an outing, even just to run an errand, is a treat and I try to enjoy the solo time when I get the chance. When I drive without the kids, I play my favorite Jazz station and take my time, just letting my mind finally have a chance to wander.

Here are a few of the ways I’ve learned how to make time for myself with four young kiddos:

​Independent Playtime- I started making independent playtime part of our regular routine, when the first two were about nine months old. I make sure this is a positive, fun and safe experience that help the kids gain independence and confidence in themselves. When they were very young, I surrounded them with their favorite toys, played fun music and cheerfully told them, “I’ll be right back”. I started with only a few minutes at a time and as they grew more confident with me out of their sight, I would add a minute or two, building their independent playtime stamina. While away, I would order groceries, change the laundry, sit and have a breather, whatever I needed. I always listen carefully and make sure their room is completely baby proofed. Sometimes during independent playtime, especially when they are very young, I listen or watch through the monitor if necessary. Now that they are four and two, all four are completely happy having independent playtime on their own or together, while I get a little done around the house. When I come back, most of the time everyone is fresh and in good spirits from the little down time and break.

Grandparent Play Dates- It has been so wonderful to have Adam’s parents or mine take the kids on a weekly basis for a few hours so I can have time to take care of things and honestly, catch my breath. If grandparents aren’t an option, a sitter or nanny will do!

Relaxing Evenings- We make sure all of the chores are done before the kids go to sleep so we can relax and recover after they go down! One of our routines that really helps with this, is the way we do bedtime. I sing and rock one baby to sleep at a time while the kids play with Adam. When I sing and rock the second baby to sleep, Adam reads the first book to the bigs. When I come out, I read the second book to the bigs and Adam does the dishes. The dishes are done, books are read, four kids are down, all in about twenty minutes. Then, right when the kids are tucked in, we start our parent only, relaxation time.

Hatch Baby Mornings- This has been one of the best products I’ve discovered that I didn’t know about before I was a parent. This awesome device is a night light, sound machine and the best part of all, it changes colors however you set it, so your child knows if it’s time to rise! It can even be controlled from your phone through the Hatch Baby App! For us, at bedtime a soft yellow light goes on and stays on all night and at 7am the light turns blue and the kids know morning is here and it’s time to wake up. We have a water sound set for the sound machine to help block out noises. If they wake up and the yellow light is still on, they can either go back to sleep or play or read quietly until the light turns blue. This has been an amazing, life changing product for our family. I know it’s a little pricey, but for me it is worth every penny!

Napping/Rest Time- Nap time is so necessary, not just for the kids to have some down time to recharge but for me, too. We have a routine that I don’t stray from. Songs and rocking for the littles and two books for the bigs and down they all go. Now that the bigs don’t actually sleep, I give them quiet activities during their rest time. Sometimes an audio book, a puzzle, beads, train tracks, etc. We use the Hatch Baby for nap time in addition to the mornings, which helps the kids know when rest time is over. Check out my favorite Quiet Time Activities, here:
QUIET TIME ACTIVITIES

Featured Activites: Train Track Set and Fuse Beads

My favorite Train Set, endless fun!

Fuse Beads- this set comes with a mermaid and a unicorn!
Adult Supervision (ages 3&up)

The weather is beginning to get a little cooler and socks are a must every day, now. Going from barefoot, summer, care free days to brisk, cool sunshine can be more stressful with many young children. Not only are there jackets, hats, gloves, boots, scarves and all kinds of warm clothes to put on, now there are the dreaded... the loathed... socks! Creating chaos, with me turning the house upside down trying to find four pairs of matching socks!

Have you ever noticed that the cutest baby socks they sell always come in packs which every single pair is different!? It's maddening! This has driven me crazy since the bigs were less than 6 months old... Well I'm done! I can't take it anymore! The sock chaos has driven me to the point that no matter how cute those little animal faces are, I'm never buying them again! 

Here is the answer... lots and lots and lots of the same color socks! It's so simple and the switch over has already been a lifesaver. I bought all black, with grips for the bigs and all gray, with grips in a smaller size for the littles and now there is sock harmony in our home... 

Sorry kids... the simplicity of all matching socks makes such a difference when you're getting ready to go somewhere and can only find 10 non-matching socks! When you have four children, three and under sometimes simplicity wins and in our home, sock simplicity is one win that keeps mom happy day in day out! It also, of course simplifies the laundry/put away steps, too. ​I keep two bins, one with the gray socks for the littles, one with the black socks for the bigs and these bins are kept out of reach. It's also really important to have PLENTY of pairs so you aren't short when they inevitably start getting lost- behind furniture, in the car, diaper bag and everywhere else. I bought two sets of nine for each set of twins... yes, that's 36 tiny gray socks and 36 small black socks. Sock simplicity...

Why didn't I do this sooner!? It's the little things that make life just a little simpler and help me spend more time enjoying the kiddos!

Click the sock photos to purchase my favorite socks for big families!

Zaples Non Grip Socks
(one color for each age!)