What We Can't Live Without...Right Now

Here are some of the things we just can't live without right now. This is what keeps a family of four...including a 9 month old and a 25 month old...HAPPY!

1. Crippety-Crap Baskets - Our baskets-o-junk which include Happy Meal toys and other random treasures. The kids spend hours taking everything out...playing with it...and putting it all back.

2. Twilight Turtle - This is the greatest night light EVER! It's soft like a stuffed animal, but projects moons and stars on the ceiling. Lili LOVES her turtle! We will soon be investing in a 2nd one for Wee Willie.

3. Giraffey - In case you are wondering what the world's greatest infant toy is.......check out Sophie the Giraffe here: http://www.parentingbynature.com/sophie-giraffe-toy.htm We refer to her as "Giraffey" here in the Lane household and Will can often be found joyfully biting her head off (literally!).

4. Gerber Graduate Fun Grip Sippy Cups - I've posted about my quest before to find the TRUE leakproof sippy cup...one that would withstand a toddler who LOVES to shake her cups and watch the milk/juice/water sprinkle out. The closest I have come so far to finding this perfect cup is with these: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3393751 I think we have tried just about every brand of cup now and although most of them start out leakproof, they don't seem to last very long...especially after a few washes in the dishwasher. The Fun Grip cups however are still going strong. Some of them we have had for almost 4 months now and the seal just as tight as when we 1st bought them!

5. Pampers Extra Protection Diapers - These have become a staple in our house for Will's nighttime waste-catcher. That boy can really fill up a diaper and after several leaks, we starting purchasing these heavy duty bad boys. So far...no more leaks! Yay!

6. Safety 1st Tubside Bath Seat - This has been a lifesaver when bathing 2 little ones by yourself. With Will in this seat, I know that he is safe and I can at least have my hands free long enough to wash Lili. I'm pretty sure the kiddos would be stinky lil' buggers if we didn't have this!

7. Bright Starts Around We Go! - Before I had Lili, I remember thinking that I would only need 1 stationary playground...so either an exersaucer OR a jumperoo OR something else of that nature. A friend of mine suggested that I register for both an exersaucer AND a jumperoo, because I was going to want different stations to put my child in for entertainment purposes. Boy was she ever right! We now have an exersaucer, a jumperoo and the Around We Go!, which is a slightly different concept. Will loves all of them, but he is especially excited to spend time in the Around We Go! Lili used to love it as well. In fact, Lili will still sometimes hop in it to play for awhile...and even tries to squeeze into the seat WITH Will when she's frustrated that it's not her turn.

8. Crayola Washable Markers - All I have to say is...THANK.GOD.FOR.WASHABLE.MARKERS!

9. Google - When in doubt...I Google it. There isn't anything you can't Google and get instant answers for!

10. Barney - Barney is still # 1 in our house. In fact, we have yet to find another show that Lili will sit through an entire episode of. Will has even gotten hooked! Personally, I don't mind Barney...though Drew is now banning certain ones because they annoy him too much. Whatever keeps them ALL happy is what I want to do!