Happy Blogiversary!

This week at one of our favorite, most helpful blogs-Multiples and More is celebrating their 1st Blogiversary! Multiples and More is written by two amazing women who of course, have multiples. They started this very resourceful and fun website for parents of multiples a year ago in April. To celebrate they are throwing a week long party with contests, giveaways and the readers favorite posts of the year.

We decided that since The Riplets are also celebrating a year of blogging in April, that we should join in the fun and have another give away! Since we love all of Haley's items at Sweet Sugar Beet - we asked her if she could do another give away for us. Since she, too is a mom of twin boys, she said she'd love to help us out again and be part of the celebrations. The items at Sweet Sugar Beet are unique gifts for Mother's Day (*hint*hint*) or for a birthday gift and cost less then $20! Infact, most of her items are $12 and $15.


She has a few great new items that we LOVE including these great clutches:

The Ruffle Clutch in Brown Sway or
The Rossette Clutch in Cocoa Wallpaper

This time, we asked her a few questions so our readers could get to know her and her store better.

1. How did you come up with the name of your shop, Sweet Sugar Beet?
When I first thought about starting my own business I wanted to name it based on something that represented me. I grew up on a farm and every summer my brothers and I would work for my dad in the sugar beet fields. It taught us a lot about hard work and how to earn an extra dollar. I thought naming my business "The Sweet Sugar Beet" was a perfect fit! Not only does it represent my past but also my shop carries a lot of little "sweet" things in it!

2. How long have you been sewing/designing items?
For as long as I can remember I've always loved to create things. My mom taught me how to cross stitch when I was 5 years old; although I never really used a sewing machine until about 5 years ago! I really had an itch to learn how to use one and my husband surprised me with one on Easter! My first project was a pair of pajama pants.

3. What is your favorite item from your Shop right now?
My favorite item right now is the Ruffle Clutch. I was looking for a new way to add a little flair to some of my items and thought this added the perfect touch!

4. Since a lot of moms of multiples (MoMs) read our blog, what is one piece of advice you'd give them about having twins?
Hmmm, that's a tough one! My boys will be 1 year old in a week. I don't feel like I should be giving advice, but rather receiving it! One thing that I have realized is that I am better mom when I can find a little time for "me". Whether it's leaving the kids with a grandparent so I can run to the grocery store or just taking a nice shower (with no interruptions!). I find that when I return to the kids I am recharged and ready for what they are going to throw at me.

5. Do you shop on Etsy a lot? If so- what is one of your favorite stores?
I LOVE to shop on Etsy! I have a lot of great things that I've purchased. One of my favorite shops is Tinkerdot Designs. (http://www.etsy.com/shop/tinkerdotdesigns) We are in the process of moving into a new house and I absolutely cannot wait to have Jenni, the owner, design some items for my kids' rooms. I'm in love with the "Be You" canvas!

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Sweet Sugar Beet will give away this medium ruffle cosmetic bag to one lucky reader!

To enter you must go to Sweet Sugar Beet and pick out your favorite item from the store. Then come back to our blog and leave us a comment. There is a list below of what you can do for additional entries, please leave a separate comment for each entry.

For addition entries:
-Add Sweet Sugar Beet to your favorites on Etsy
-Become a follower of Sweet Sugar Beet's blog
-Become a fan of Sweet Sugar Beet on Facebook www.facebook.com/sweetsugarbeet
-Become a follower of The Riplets
-Grab The Riplets button (top right column) and put it on your website or blog and leave us your web address
-Grab Sweet Sugar Beet's button (at the top of our blog on the right) and leave us your web address

We will be taking entries until Friday, April 2nd at 5pm. The winner will be drawn and announced on Saturday, April 3rd. The winner will have until Monday, April 5th at 5pm to contact us to claim your prize. Good Luck!

The Magic Box

In the last month or so we started to figure out where mommy & daddy keep our stuff. We love the closet that has all of our snacks and we are always trying to get into it to get out our puffs and yogurt melts and whatever else we can grab before someone pulls us out.

Well, we just realized that next to the closet is a huge white box. It is magical, too! Every time mommy or daddy opens it they take out ice cold sippies for us of milk, juice or water. We always wanted to see what else was in there but they would close it up too quickly. Luckily though we are faster now and we sneak right into it each time mommy opens it. Mommy calls it the "fridge" and tells us to "stay out" each time we try to dig around in it. Of course if she tells us "no" we know its going to be a fun game to get in there. Yesterday I found some of our fruit and some guacamole! I really love both of them, too. Well, Jack & Addison really love the fruit and I am just now starting to eat it on my own. The other great thing about this magical box is that things can stick to the outside of it. Its so crazy! I laugh and laugh whenever someone puts something that sticks on it. It sticks really well. I try to pull it off and sometimes I can but its not that easy to do. I try to put some of my toys on it to stick, but they usually don't. I don't know why some things just stick to it and others don't. This is why I say its MAGIC!

Anyways- here's a picture of us this weekend in the "fridge". Enjoy...

The Easter Bunny

We went to see the Easter Bunny again today. I say "again" because we tried to see him earlier this week (at the mall) but he wasn't there yet. Then, mommy made us an appointment at a photo studio to get our picture with the Easter Bunny but we found out it was a live rabbit, not The Easter Bunny!

So finally, today we went back to the mall and met the real Easter Bunny. Mommy told us on the way there that we'd probably cry when we saw him and that we shouldn't be scared. When I got out of our choo choo wagon, mommy told the photographer that "she'll cry the entire time we try to get a picture" and that it was ok to get the picture with me crying anyways. I was so annoyed. Why did she think I would cry? Instead I walked right up to him and petted him. He's just a HUGE stuffed animal and I love my stuff animals, so why wouldn't I like him? I even went up to his basket and bent down and dug through all of his toys. I handed a few over to him and then he played with the toys with me. I even let him hold me for the picture.

Funny thing is, my brothers did not want to sit with him! Neither of them cried, but no one wanted the bunny to hold them on his lap. Jordan just wanted to run around and Jack just seemed annoyed he had to sit with us. After a few minutes of mommy looking stressed out, she finally decided she had to sit with the bunny and hold Jordan while they took our picture. Mommy told us afterwards she better actually wear make up next time we go for any type of pictures.

Since mommy was in our picture, she didn't to take a picture to put on our blog. She did take a few of me with the bunny afterwards though. Here they are...enjoy!

17 Months Old

Can you believe it? We are 17 months old today! We can't wait until next month so we can say we are 1 1/2 years old. That makes us really sound like toddlers and not "babies" anymore. This morning mommy tried REALLY hard to get our monthly picture. We knew it was annoying her that we were running away, jumping off the furniture and not staying where she put us. I knew if we just sat there for her, she wouldn't get to become creative and find new ways to keep us entertained. So really, we are doing it for her- not us. She started out having us sit outside on a stool. That did not work. I, of course looked at her and smiled for the camera but my brothers didn't look at her at all. Infact- they were jumping off the stool most of the time. Then she tried having us sit on the couch and you all know how those pictures turn out. She eventually decided to feed us yogurt melts at the coffee table, thinking we'd stay still long enough for a shot. She was wrong, we wanted the bag of yogurt melts so we kept leaving the table. Finally, G'ma Jean came over and told mommy to give us each a Veggie Tale DVD to hold to entertain us. We never get to hold the cases, just watch the shows so we didn't move an inch when they gave us those to hold. I guess G'ma knows best. Here's a few outtakes from the day.

We tried to go see the Easter Bunny today at the mall but he wasn't there yet. How can that be? Mommy said its only a few weeks until Easter so you'd think he'd want to see us all before then. Instead, we got to ride around in our choo choo wagon and go play at the play area. We were excited to do that since we hadn't been there in a few weeks.

Super Jordan & Jack Kneewalker

This past week at the Riplet house was full of excitement. Addison had an allergic reaction to amoxicillin she was taking and developed Serum Sickness. She was up all night, every night for almost a week straight. She went to see 4 different doctors and even went on a midnight visit to the ER. She looked like she was in so much pain and she was itching like crazy. I was really worried about her. Whenever she'd get her coat on to leave, I would bend down to look at her making sure she was going to be OK. Jack wasn't as concerned because he liked the break from Addison stealing his toys. Here's a picture Addison with her hives.

Mommy & Daddy were both very worried and sad for Addison, too. Mommy was worried because she was supposed to go away for a girls weekend this weekend and daddy was worried because he was scared to have us all alone with Addison not sleeping! Luckily- she started to feel like herself again just in time for mommy to go on Thursday evening.

Jack and I were kinda bored this week because mommy & daddy were too busy with Addison most of the time. We decided we needed to do something to get their attention. That is when we decided we would become heroes. I already had the outfit for a super hero so I decided to start climbing the coffee table and acting like Superman. I also figured out how to get between the end table and the chair and dig through all of the magazines and take all of the remotes.

Jack has been tired of trying to walk all of the time so he decided to walk on his knees. He looks kinda silly and very short next to us walking on our feet. He is getting pretty fast at it though. He even convinces me to "knee walk" with him now and then. Auntie Dawn told him he could be Jack Knee Walker (like Luke Sky Walker). Jack loves being a hero now, too. He gets more attention this way then just plain walking.

Sunny Days

Over the weekend, mommy & daddy pulled out the choo choo wagon and took us outside for a ride in it. We loved getting some fresh air but really hated that they made us wear our hats. We wanted to let the wind blow through our hair! (Well, Jack and I did- Jordan couldn't care less)

We also got a fun surprise when daddy came out of the garage with our own car to drive! He told us there were two more in boxes still that need to be put together. He told me mine is pink, which made me very happy! We got them from Auntie Melissa (and the Hobson Family) and boy are we excited to start racing each other. We will be bugging daddy this weekend to put the other two together for us, that's for sure. Thank you Melissa, Doug, Olivia and Tyler!!

Daddy took us each around for a ride while mommy and g'ma pulled two of us around in the choo choo wagon. Jordan had his first car accident while he was getting a turn. (Mommy said he will NOT be the lucky Riplet to get to drive us around when we turn 16) Actually- it wasn't his fault though, daddy took a corner too fast and his door flew open and Jordan hit the pavement! Luckily- he is strong and stopped his fall with his hands first. He still ended up with a scraped nose and dirty all over his face though.

Here's a few pictures from the day. Enjoy!

A St Patty's Day Surprise

Memere & Pepere sent us a BIG box full of fun treats and books for St Patrick's Day. We were so excited to dig through it all! I especially liked the bags of yogurt melts, Addison loved her new shoes and Jack went right for the new St Patrick's Day Countdown book. I also LOVED seeing the new "So Big" book with Elmo that they sent us. That is our very favorite book, but our old copy was ripped and torn into pieces.

I think most of you remember that when we first got the So Big book, Jack was terrified of Elmo popping out at him on the last page. He'd actually cry and jump whenever we'd read it. After only a few days of having it, Jack ended up ripping Elmo right out of the book. We had to read our book without anything on the last page now for months! Well, Jack didn't realize this was a new book. He thought it was the old one and boy was he shocked to see Elmo pop out at him at the end. Here's a video of him reading it.

Jack was so mad and upset at Elmo popping out at him! That night, when we got in our cribs, he told me he has no idea how that Elmo got back in the book. He said he knows he ripped him out, tore him into pieces and "disposed" of him. Thank you memere & pepere for the great box of goodies and for a good laugh.

This week Addison has been mastering her push toy skills. She loves racing around the house with our push toy and turning corners or turning completely around with it. She pretends she's shopping. She knows she needs to get her skills down so mommy will take her with next time she goes. Here's a video of her racing through the house this week.

Finally, mommy caught me climbing down the stairs this week. I love to turn and get on my hands and knees and crawl to the stairs as soon as I see the gate is open. Mommy always laughs when I start to do it. I'm not sure why, how else would I get down the stairs if I didn't back up to them? Here's my video for the week. Enjoy!

16 Things I've Learn in 16 Months of Being a Mom

Mommy has begged us to do yet ANOTHER post as our "guest" blogger. We asked her if she's expecting to change our blog title soon to "The Riplets & Mom" or something since she always has so much to say. So, once again...here is our mommy:

I just found out some exciting news for our family. My sister, Brittany and her husband, James are expecting a baby! She is due in October (10/10/10 how cool is that due date?!) and all of us are so excited for her. My kids will now be the "older cousins" and we'll have someone new to play with and give our hand-me-downs to!

The real fun is that I get to share with her all of my "mommy" experiences. I've already been sharing all of the ins and outs of having triplets with her. Although, she found out there is only one in there! I say that jokingly because our house talks in plural about all things"baby". We need to remember that is not the normal way for most people to have kids. Anyways-- I told Brittany that I would think about all of the things I've learned in the last 16 months of being a mom. I feel like there are so many things the books just don't tell you! So, here we go...I hope some of these will help you, Britt! Even if it is just a few things.

1. Sleep

Everyone told me while I was pregnant to "enjoy your sleep now" and "oh those first few weeks you'll never sleep". I remember Scott's grammy telling me how much she hated the 2AM feeding. I remember thinking, "Oh I'll be fine-- what's getting up to feed my precious babies once or twice a night?" Wow, I had no idea that in our house the 2AM feeding was more like the "10pm, 10:45pm, 11:30pm"...etc feeding! My kids obviously did not read the baby manual before being born because they thought they should eat about every 2 hours...AND they wanted to each eat at their own time! (this I will address next). We literally went with no more then 45 minutes sleep for the ENTIRE night and we did this for probably the first 10 weeks. Luckily, we had family around to help us nap otherwise I think we would've died. Literally.

2.Schedules

This may not effect you much now, but maybe when you have your 2nd child if they are close together. For us, we were told over and over again to "make sure you get them on the same schedule!" We thought, yeah obviously. Little did we know how hard it is to get three newborns to want to eat, sleep, and be up together. So, not only at night were we getting up every 2 hours but we were feeding one & changing & burping and then the next would wake and then the 3rd would wake up. By the time we finished the 3rd it was about 1 1/2 hours later. So you guessed it- baby #1 was gearing to get up for feeding time all over again! My only advice for a new mother is to try to get them on a schedule so that when the next baby comes whether its a year or 2 later you can try to find at least 1 nap they can do together so you can have some time for you! Also- I noticed putting my kids on a schedule really helped them sleep better during nap times and at night.

3.Being modest

I remember being in the hospital after the kids were born and the nurse coming in to show me how to pump. My mom and Scott were in the room with me and I said they could stay since they'd both be home with me when I'd be pumping. Little did I know what a crazy sight I'd be pumping. I remember Scott watching in awe (and I'm pretty sure disgust) at me. At that point I told him to go away and please don't watch this! Too late, he was mortified and I'm pretty sure he'll never look at me the same again. That is just one of the many things as a pregnant woman and mom you'll experience that you'll think "wow- I would've never guessed I'd be subjected to that. EVER!" Just wait for exams towards the end of your pregnancy and then of course all of the fun things your body will do to you while you are in labor. Now, as a mom all of those not so modest moments helped me to be a stronger woman. I notice we'll go out in public and everyone will stare at us. I really don't care anymore. I know I have things to get done and we just do it. If you would've told me we'd look like a circus, I would never have believed you! So-- my advice is don't stress the small stuff. Get out if you can with your new baby and remember all babies will cry or have a fit in public at some point! Let it just roll off your shoulder.

4.Meals

I always heard moms tell me that they just didn't have time to eat or that they ate the left over chicken nugget and a french fry for lunch today. I am a lover of food, so I always told myself that will never happen to me. I will eat and I will eat something good each day. Wow, was I wrong! By the time I get my kids fed and then clean up I am lucky if I have a minute to make myself something to eat, let alone eat it! So, now I've learned to either make extra of what they are having or make sure I have a lot of one-handed food ready to eat. Either that or I don't eat.

5.Teething

This was a joke in our house. I thought from about 8 weeks on, that Addison was teething. I mean, why else would she be crying and crying and drooling if it wasn't teething?! We gave them teething medicine and Tylenol for months waiting for that first tooth to pop. We didn't get a single tooth until 9 months old! Jordan didn't get a tooth at all until a year. At our house teething always means a bad night and few days. We thought all of the teethers we had would do the trick and calm our kids, but none of them really liked them. Instead-- all three will roll up their blankets and stuff them in their mouths. So, when all else fails and you think they are teething try the blanket.

6.Messy clothing

I was always hearing moms say that I'd be changing my kids outfits a lot each day. I remember thinking "wow, I must be a supermom because I never have to change their outfits!" Ok, I was speaking too soon. Mine did great the first 10 months and then I started see what moms were talking about. Once they started to eat finger foods, life with clean clothes was gone. Addison always drools her sippy down the front of her shirts and the boys always wipe their messy hands on everything in site. My only advice here is the early months I'd put a bib on them each morning to catch the drool from the psuedo-teething my kids were doing. That helped save us from a lot of wet tops.

7.Bibs

Speaking of bibs, we realized our favorite bibs are any of the plastic ones. Especially the ones with a pocket to catch the food that misses their mouths. We started out having them wear the cloth ones (we used for drooling each day) and we were always doing loads and loads of laundry. Until we found our plastic bibs by Bumbkins. These things are the best ever and you can just wipe them off with a sponge or a wipe when they are done. So much easier then doing all of that laundry.

8.Diapers

I was that person that thought I needed to have Huggies or Pampers for diapers. I had heard moms say they used generic kinds and how great they were, but I didn't believe they could be as good as the name brand ones. After a few months of using name brands, I was convinced by a few other multiple moms to try out Up & Up brand diapers from Target. We tried them and the kids did so much better in them! We didn't have the leaks we had from the other brands and they actually were cheaper by $7/box!

9.Overnights

Speaking of diapers though, we also weren't aware of the joy that an overnight diaper brings to parents. We started using Huggies Overnights around 4 months old (I think) and what a difference our nights were. The kids actually started sleeping through the night for us! (ok not all of the time but it was definitely a lot more and for longer periods of sleep). The only trick with overnight diapers is that their sizes start at size 3. Those are also sometimes hard to find so check online at http://www.diapers.com/ or other baby sites and order them.

10.Swim Diapers
Do you sense a theme here? I just have learned so much about all kinds of diapers since becoming a mom. Last summer I was so excited to take the kids to the pool. I had it all planned out in my head how it would go and since I am a very organized person, I decided to get them in their swim diapers and swims suits AND sunscreened before we left. I figured that way when we were in the sun everyone was ready and protected. We headed for the pool and when I took them each out of their car seats everyone was soaking wet! I had no idea that swim diapers actually don't hold in wet! They are really made to just keep the poop out of the water and in their diaper. I learned the hard way, oops. So my advice is-- put the swim diaper on right before you put them in the pool or water.

11.Diapering Boys

A final thought on diapers. Always point your boy's pee pee down as you put their new diaper on. it saves on a lot of leaky diapers.

12.Mum Mums

I had never heard of Mum Mums until I had my kids. They are like the secret snack of toddlers and babies that are just trying out finger foods. We have problems finding them around here, but our Wal Mart does carry them. They are these surf board looking snacks that melt in your kids mouths. They can hold them and suck or bite them and my kids just love them. I also love them because they aren't that messy and its a great snack for a car ride. I've tried puffs in the car and we end up with them everywhere.

13.Veggies

I was always that mom that thought "my kids will eat veggies and love them, I'll just have them try it all and give them it all of the time" Wow, was I wrong! I just figured the kids that had troubles liking veggies must just not get to try them a lot or eat a variety of them. I had no idea how hard it was going to be to get my kids to actually like them! Here's a few tricks I've learned to get them to eat them. I make them sandwiches and then place peas or anything that can mash easily into the sandwich like a spread. I then smash the sandwich together nice and tight and use a pizza cutter to cut the entire sandwich into bite size pieces. My kids will eat the bread and have no idea what they are eating inside. My other trick is to put veggies that are the same color as something else on their plate and then they don't realize they are picking them up and eating them.

14. Pop Up Books
My kids LOVE pop up books, but for all of the wrong reasons. All three of mine tear out every, single pop up picture we have. I've learned that we will not be buying those types of books until they are much older. They all love the sound books though.

15.Toys
I always thought I'd be so good at picking out toys for my kids. I am the worst though and it took me this long to final admit it. When it comes to buying your kids toys or asking for toys for gifts, first ask moms that have kids just slightly older then your own. They really know what toys are the right ones to get. We've spend a lot of money on toys we "thought" would be perfect and the kids never touch. If all else, give them something that isn't a toy that they can't kill themselves with and I guarantee they'll love it! My kids can't get enough of my Tupperware bowls.

16.Enjoy Your Time
My first year as a mom was a very stressful one. Between getting used to my babies, getting used to my new schedule and getting used to having very little "me" time-I missed out on a lot of moments. I know you'll have hard days, we all do! (even if some moms won't admit it to you) Just try to remember in even a year from now you won't get this time again to enjoy them as a baby or toddler or whatever stage they are in. I still struggle with this, so try to remember it goes by fast and whatever is stressing you, it will pass! I promise.

Thanks for making it through my long post. Here's a few pictures as a reward!

A Day in the Life of a Riplet

Mommy always says to us, "If people only knew what happens at our house each day!" Well, we were talking last night in our cribs (its the only private time we get around here) and we decided, why can't everyone know what happens at our house each day? We think its usually a good time and we definitely know how to "make some fun" if it seems boring around here. We threw sippy cups to see who would get to write this post. I threw it the farthest out of my crib, so I get to post!

Our day begins each morning between 5 and 6am. I am usually the early bird and I try to get up about 5:15am. Sometimes, if Jack & Addison have been up all night, I decide to sleep in until 5:45 but that's only under extreme circumstances. Speaking of getting up, this week we will be working on getting up 10 minutes earlier each day so that by Daylight Savings Time this weekend, we will be back to our normal 5:00am wake up time. We overheard mommy & daddy talking about how we'll start getting up at 6:00am once they move the clocks ahead and we wouldn't want to mess with our great schedule.

Anyways- our day begins with a sippy of milk and some Veggie Tales. We love our "VT" time which is what mommy & daddy started calling it. I think they think we don't know that "VT" stands for Veggie Tales. We know exactly what they are talking about when they say that in "code". Around 6:30 am we get breakfast. This is the best meal of the day because we get waffles or pancakes and yogurt melts or regular yogurt. Sometimes mommy gives us a banana, too if we seem really hungry. My favorite food by far is Gerber Yogurt Melts and I'll come running from anywhere in the house if I hear the bag shake or open.

After breakfast we play in our toy room or in the kitchen with mommy. Our favorite toys right now are anything we can find in the cabinets. Mommy's cabinets are all broken (Jack says they are locked, not broken) and we can never get in them. Auntie Dawn's house work great though and we love to go and open all of her cabinets up and look inside. Mommy usually lets us into one of them each morning though and we fight over who gets to stand in the cupboard and throw everything out and who has to wait and dodge the items as they hit the floor. My favorite thing to do is to sit on the floor and wait for all of the plastic bowls to come tumbling out when Addison or Jack tosses them. I will throw them around and watch them spin and spin until they stop. Jack also likes to pretend he's making dinner and uses mommy's big spoons and stirs things (like my truck a ball) in some of the bowls.

We are still napping two times a day and boy is that our favorite time of the day (usually)! We nap around 9am and mommy says "boy, I can tell its almost nap time" almost every day. I wonder how she knows? We just started getting books to read in our cribs during nap time, which makes things so much fun. Sometimes we sit quietly and read them, but most of the time we throw them out at each other or bang them along the crib rails. Mommy says we sound like we are prisoners in jail.

When naps are over we usually get a snack (hopefully its applesauce because that is my FAVORITE) and a sippy cup of juice & water. We just started to get the hang of straws so when mommy or daddy lets us use those cups we get excited. Some other toys we play with during the day include our tunnel, tent, slide, ball pit and our house. Our play house used to be smaller but we added on after Christmas when Linda & Chris gave us a new kitchen for it. We love to all sit in our house and ring the doorbell and open and close the windows. I learned a fun trick from Isaiah (my cousin) and when someone tries to open our front door of our play house I shut it in their face and laugh. Jack and Addison don't find it very funny.

If things are getting boring, we usually start climbing on the furniture. Jack is the "goody-two-shoes" who usually doesn't climb. He always reads books while Addison and I climb and jump and "act like monkeys" (that's what mom calls it). I recently figured out that once I'm on the couch I can climb onto the end table and throw things off. Mommy & Daddy do not like me doing it, so I try to do it as soon as they turn their backs on me. They always catch me though and usually try to pull me off. I think its really a fun game to play with them. I'm so glad they play along! The other day though, I fell off the end table and got stuck hanging by my feet between the table and the ottoman. I screamed for mom and Jack tried to get her attention. She was down by the front door and didn't see it happen. Boy was she surprised when she saw me (or my feet)!