Category: Plan

May 19, 2020 Plan

Everything You Need To Know To Successfully Leave The House With Twins (Or Any Kids)!

You’ve got this, Mama!!

Seriously, you really, really do.  They are yours.  You were literally made for this. As a parent…  heck!  As a human, you are going to have fears and worries in the back of your head (well at least I do so far)….some realistic and some not so much.  If you let them be the guiding force of whether or not you leave the house, you never will. 

You just have to go for it and see what happens!  Some days it will feel like a seamless work of art where everything runs smoothly and people practically cheer you on as you seem to have it all mastered.….and then there are the other days. We all have them. The days where it will be (or at least feel like) a total shit show.  This is life. It happens. You just have to give it your best shot, be prepared, and hope for the best. Throughout, the rest of this page, you will find my tried and true tips and strategies to help prepare you to get out the door. I want to help guide you towards having more positive and successful experiences, like the earlier example. Below you will find a guide to leaving the house with babies and a second guide for leaving the house with toddlers. I hope it helps to encourage you to head out into the world with your littles!

Let’s gets started. You’ve totally got this!!

In the beginning, I had my diaper bag fully loaded with every possible thing my new sweet little babies might need, but I quickly realized that paring it down to just the essentials made my life a whole lot easier. 

It’s much easier to shuffle through a few essential items versus digging through to the bottom of the stuffed and overflowing diaper bag to find the one item that you actually need (especially when one or all of your littles are losing their cool).  Make sure all basic needs are met prior to walking into wherever you are going to ensure you have the best possible chance of having happy, content babies and kids while out. 

The following includes things that I bring with me to the outing, store, library, or wherever we happen to be going.  I do usually bring a bag with extra clothes for everyone and additional snacks, but I leave it in the car as a back up. 

Leaving the House with Infant Twins

What to do before leaving your car:

  • Nurse or feed the babies
  • Make sure they have clean diapers
  • Double check your purse or diaper bag for the following items
  • Take a deep breath and tell yourself you’ve got this (because you totally freaking do!)

What to bring with:

Swaddle Blanket – These have about a million different uses and seriously come in handy ALL THE TIME.  It is great to be able to bring one item that can easily take the place of ten items. They can be used as a blanket (obviously), burp cloth, car seat cover, nursing cover, distraction to play peak-a-boo, and so much more.  The large bamboo muslin ones are my favorite!   

Diapers – 2-4 depending on how long you plan to be out.  We used cloth diapers at home but opted to use disposable when out and about for convenience.  You do you and do whatever works best for your family!

Wipes – Honestly I don’t leave the house with my kids without some form of wipes.  These are great for not only changing diapers, but also wiping face, hands, carts, spills, you name it!

Wubbanub –  None of my kids have been big fans of pacifiers.  However, in the beginning I would usually bring a wubbanub pacifier with me just in case they were in the mood for one and it doubled as a toy or distraction.

Your boobs or a bottle – I went the nursing route, but if you are bottle feeding then you can bring a bottle if it makes you feel more comfortable.  Otherwise, you can probably just leave bottles and feeding supplies in the car.    

Small, easy snacks (if they are old enough)-  As soon as my kids started eating, I would usually bring a snack or few that I could fit into my purse and easily pull out if needed.  Frozen peas were a favorite snack for us!  The kids loved them, and they seemed to help with teething.

Leaving the house with toddler twins

What to do before you leave the car:

  • Feed the toddlers –  If you can’t tell by now, my kids get very hangry, so we don’t take the risk of leaving the house hungry.
  • Make sure they have clean diapers or have them do a potty break
  • Double check your purse or diaper bag for the following items
  • Take a deep breath and tell yourself you’ve got this (because, again, you totally freaking do!!)

What to bring with:

Snacks (and a couple extra snacks) – Seriously! As soon as my kids get a little hungry, they can go from being my sweet littles to hangry crazies in a matter of seconds. I always…I repeat ALWAYS bring extra snacks. We eat a lot of produce snacks in our house, so this is usually what we bring. Apples, oranges, and bananas are great for this! Bonus tip: If any produce snacks are not eaten during the outing, ALWAYS remember to put them back in the fridge or kitchen. I have forgotten to do this one time, and the experience was so horrifyingly disgusting that I have not made the mistake again.

Water Bottle – We all bring our water bottles with us all day long whether we are out and about or at home. It is a perfect way to make sure everyone stays hydrated!

Diapers/Pull ups or Extra Undies – It’s always great to keep a few of these with you just in case someone has an accident 

Wipes – I still carry these in my purse for the reasons above.  They are great for wiping up pretty much anything and definitely come in handy!

A small distraction – A small quiet book and/or quiet toy works well for our littles. Our favorite quiet toys are usually small animals or cars! I did always try to bring a toy that was a “quiet animal” or at least one we weren’t sure on what sound the animal made (that way they wouldn’t be baa-ing, moo-ing, or growling the entire time we were out.)

What are you waiting for? 

Get out of your dang house and explore the world with your kids or just get out and get your errands done while managing to stay sane.  You’ve got this!!  To download my free Leaving the House Checklist Printable click here.  

Bonus Tip: “It’s not on the list”

It’s not on the list.  When we go shopping, we bring a list.  If we want something but it’s not on the list, we don’t get it.  Using the phrase, “It’s not on the list” has saved us from so many fits and tantrums.  It has worked for my kids like magic.  I usually say, “Oh that sounds good, but it’s not on the list.  We will have to remember to add it to the list next time.”  My kids have yet to throw a fit over not getting something that they wanted at the store…..I’m really hoping revealing this top secret, yet totally obvious tip, doesn’t jinks us! It seriously works like magic and takes the pressure off of me and puts it onto The List. It totally clicks with my kids and completely avoids the fit and battle of whether they get the item or not. Give it a try next time you and your kiddos are at the store and let me know if it works wonders for you too!! Good luck!!

These ideas have been a lifesaver!! If you’re interested in finding more ways to encourage your young kids to be more independent, click here!! My kids love doing these!
April 14, 2020 Plan

Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping Made Easy

For quite some time, meal planning and preparation was a bit of a struggle for our family.  I would overthink the menu and spend tons of time looking up new recipes to try each week.  Once I’d have my lengthy list ready with obscure and seldomly used ingredients, I would head out to the store to buy everything on my list including other goodies and extras along the way. 

Throughout the week, we would only end up making half of the extravagant meals and end the week with a ton of wasted grocery items. Some meals were hits while others were not. 

This would result in a TON of food waste from uneaten leftovers or just unused ingredients, a TON of wasted time looking for and making recipes, and a TON of wasted money spent on foods we didn’t end up actually eating.  

Over the past few years, my husband and I have been working to simplify this entire process to accomplish the goal.  Feeding our family everyday, with much less food, money, and time wasted by the end of it. I want to help you and your family do the same!!

We started by writing a list of our family’s favorite go-to meals to act as a solid foundation for our weekly menu while only adding a few (if any) new recipes a week.  I highly recommend starting your own family’s go-to recipe list and for more information on getting started click here.  Our old meal planning schedule would include mostly new recipes which was overwhelming and anything but simple. 

Throughout the rest of this page, I will explain our new meal prep and planning strategy.  I hope it saves you and your family as much stress, money, and time as it has saved ours.  Scroll down for a copy of our free Meal Planning and Grocery List printable.

Meal Plan

Step One: Start with what you have.


Look through your fridge, pantry, and freezer to see what items you already have available.  This is an excellent place to start because chances are you probably already have most of what you need for at least a few meals.  I usually just quickly glance through what I already have and make a list, either mental or physical list, of what could be potentially turned into a meal.

Step Two: Plan Out Your Meals

While you decide on your menu for the week, write out your grocery list to fill in the gaps of items you are missing.  While filling in your menu, you can add one or two new recipes but try to keep it simple and fill your menu primarily with meals you know your family already loves. You can download my Menu and Grocery List Planner to help you get started. 

Step Three: Shop for what you actually need.  Only buy the items on your list!

Grocery shop for the items ON YOUR LIST.  This is big.  It is so tempting to get more than you had planned or more than you need.   I usually keep a little extra money set aside to buy sale items that we use on a regular basis (primarily sale meats that I can freeze).  Aside from that, we really do stick to the list.  It also helps that when I go grocery shopping I usually bring all three of my kids with me, and the list helps us stay focused instead of just quickly throwing items in the cart.  

Bonus Benefit: Shopping with a shopping list has actually been an amazing tool to help my kids avoid wanting everything in the store and throwing fits if they can’t have it.   If they ask for something, I just kindly respond that it isn’t on the list, so we won’t be able to get it this time or that I wish we could get that too, but it’s not on the list, so maybe next time we can remember to add it to the list!  As if by magic, it takes the pressure off of me and transfers it to the list.  To this day, it has worked like a charm, and my kids have yet to throw a fit over not getting the grocery item they wanted. 

Step Four: Prepare your food.

Clean and prep your food. Depending on the week we will prep the food in advance or we will just prepare it on the day we plan to eat it.  Either works, but prepping and/or organizing the food as soon as you get it home definitely increases the chance of it actually being eaten.  For example, I wash and prep all of my kids’ produce snacks and set them up in the fridge so that they can help themselves at snack time.  The weeks that we don’t do this I tend to notice a lot more food waste.  

Step Five: Actually Eat the Food that You Bought and Prepared

The point is to focus on the food you already have and the meals that you know your family already loves.  I have a google doc that I use as our family’s running list of our go to family favorites.  This ensures that my family will actually eat the meals that I make, and I waste a lot less time because I already know how to make many of the recipes.  To learn why and how to make a family favorites list click here.  

Eat your leftovers the very next day. This cut down significantly on the food that we were throwing away at the end of each week.

Another way that we have simplified our meals is by using mostly whole foods. Instead of having to buy a specific brand of premade foods it is surprisingly easy to make you own. Instead of buying hash browns, dry mashed potatoes, potato soup, etc. you can buy potatoes and make any of these recipes on your own.   Instead of buying bread, pita bread, English muffins, tortillas, etc you can buy flour and make your own.   To learn why and how our family uses mostly whole foods click here.

To download your free Meal Planning and Grocery List printable simply fillout the below information and it will be sent to your email shortly.

Get My Meal Planning Printable Now!

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For simple recipes you are going to love, start here!