A few of mommy's favorite things...

Being the mom of two boys and two dogs only means one thing....I have quadruple the cleaning to do in less than 1/4 of the time I used to have before kids. So when we got our tax return back Wesley let me splurge on a few things to help make cleaning easier and faster and I just had to share how awesome they are with you! 

Cleaning the floors are usually on the top of my list of things to clean everyday. With the dogs (and Penn) constantly coming in and out of the dog door I always have little muddy paw/foot prints on my floor and the thought of dragging out a bucket of water and mop is just too much. There is never a good time to mop with little ones running around, there are always streaks and footprints left behind because I have to hurry. And not to mention keeping the boys off the wet floor is impossible. So I was finally able to get a steam mop! And I LOVE it! I got the Shark Professional Pro Steam Pocket mop and although I have only used it once I know it is going to become a tool I use everyday! There are 3 different settings depending on how dirty your floor is and it comes with 2 pads that have one side for dusting/light cleaning, and the other side is for scrubbing and deep cleaning. It also came with a carpet glider so you can steam rugs and carpets to sanitize them. It was so easy to use and did such a great job, plus the floor dried faster than my boys could walk across it to make little footprints. Definitely a must have if you have little kids or dogs. I am feeling much better about having a crawler again knowing the my floors will be clean and no chemicals have to be used.

 

 I was also in the market for a new vacuum since mine decided to die all of a sudden with no warning! I use my vacuum at least once every day for something and have to go over my whole house at least every couple days. Wesley and I had bought several vacuum cleaners and had terrible luck with them before we finally found our Eureka Pet Vac. It never got clogged, it cleaned our carpets great, got dog hair up really well, was okay on the hard surfaces, and was really easy to empty out and clean. So when it died I was a little upset, but we went and ahead and started looking at new vacuums and I decided on the newer version of our Eureka that died. It is called the Eureka Suction Seal Pet Vacuum. Let me just say this is the best vacuum I have ever had! Of course I have never owned a Rainbow or Dyson but for the money this vacuum is awesome! It still has the feature I liked about the last one (the pet power paw, brush, crevice device, and easy dump canister) plus much more. My favorite thing about this new vacuum is how it has the ability to turn off the brush for hard surface floors. The thing I hated most about the last vacuum was how it spit the dirt out the back of the vacuum when I went over hard surfaces, but now that you can turn the brush off it sucks up everything! Plus they added new suction seal technology and it really works. You never lose suction and it adjusts to each type of floor. Another thing I really like is the cord rewind. You just push a button and the cord rewinds by itself! Needless to say it is the little things in life!

The last toy I bought was not for cleaning but has quickly become one of my favorite things! And that is my new double stroller. We bought a double stroller before Croft was born and I absolutely hated it. I think we used it one time and I knew it just wasn't going to work. It was huge and bulky and hard to steer, not to mention the front chair for Penn was way too small. So with spring coming up I knew we needed to look into getting another stroller so we would have something that both boys could comfortably ride in and this is what we found. It is the Kolcraft Contours Optima Tandem Stroller. It is super easy to steer, goes around the sharpest turns with ease, has a huge storage basket and is super versatile. Both of the seats come off and can be turned either forwards or backwards and it has an attachment for the infant carrier that can go on the front or the back. There are so many ways your kids can sit and my two boys have loved it! Both seats recline and both have footrests that can come all the way up (bassinet style) or down. Plus the umbrellas are huge! The pictures below are not the best but you can see a few ways you can use it. My boys love being able to look at each other and they keep each other occupied for more peaceful grocery shopping..haha!

So I have shared a few of my favorite things, if you have something that has become one of your favorite things I would love to hear about it!!

Courtney