Travel Tips

As most of you know I am a bit of a researcher and about a month before our big trip back east to visit my family I started asking around from other moms, reading articles, etc on how to make traveling with a baby as easy as possible. I gathered a few great tips that I thought I would share with you all. First and foremost if you have friends/family at your destination with kids try to borrow as much as possible. If you are anything like me you don't usually like to ask for help but one thing I have learned that once you are a mom you have to learn to ask for help every once in awhile. You already have to pack so much stuff that it will save you the hassle and money if you don't have to bring everything with you. I was lucky enough to borrow a pack-n-play, stroller, infant play seat and booster seat from my aunt. All I had to bring was Henry's car seat and our clothes. I also recommend only bringing as much diapers and food as you need for the travel day and buying the rest at the store once you reach your destination. The airlines are becoming much more particular on weight limitation as well as charging you per checked bag (not all but many). It cost me $15 for my first bag and $25 for the second. No longer free!

Also, I will never leave on a trip via a plane without my gogo Kidz Travelmate (check out One Step Ahead for this). At least 20+ parents made a comment about how great it was and many more were staring in envy as I traveled with Henry through the airport. It really made going through security and traveling to the gate a piece of cake, especially if you are alone. It is worth every penny and considering Henry will be in his seat for at least 3 - 4 yrs and we will take at least 1 plane trip a year there was no question whether we would get use out of it.

The other great purchase I made was a $10 rectangle, thin and super soft pillow from Target. I simply laid it across my lap and put Henry on his side and belly and he slept half the flight. Of course his legs are long so having my mom next to me helped as his feet dangled over on her. The way back home will be harder as I will have a stranger sitting next to me that will likely not appreciate baby feet on their lap! Regardless it also helped give me elbow support when feeding/holding Henry. I do not like the idea of using the airlines pillows/blankets as they are not washed after every flight...germs, germs and more germs!

What about feeding? Well, everyone said to feed him on the way up and down to help with his ears. I did that and it worked great. But what about heating up your bottle? Well, a flight attendant recommended asking your flight attendant for some hot water in the barf bag (a clean one of course!) and placing your bottle inside to heat it up. The bag is made to hold liquid and many moms do this I guess. Since my little one freaks out at the sight of his bottle now I opted to stop by Starbucks before our flight and filled a canteen of hot water. I simply mixed half the hot water with half room temp. bottle water and it was perfect. If you are not breast feeding they make these fantastic formula packets that look like pixie sticks and hold 4 oz of powder formula each. They are super small and easy to pack as well as pour into your bottle without making a mess. A pacifier will also help with the ears too. And, if that doesn't work you can try Baby Tylenol or Children's Benadryl (check w/ doc on dose). About 10% of babies will have the opposite effect of Benadryl and freak out/super wound up so test this out at home before you leave. The idea is to calm them down and help sleep on plane. I prefer to not use any meds but I did have these as a back up plan and my son actually is in that 10%!!!

Changing a poopy diaper? Well, to my surprise as I never noticed this before but one bathroom on every large airplane has a changing table. I recommend bringing a disposal changing pad to put on top of it as it's not the cleanest thing in the world. But I thought I was going to have to sit on the toilet put Henry on my lap and try to change a diaper without getting peed on so I was really happy to discover there was a changing table!

Other tips: I recommend not only bringing a change of clothes for your little one but pack an extra shirt for yourself. You never know when an accident up top or below will get you too! A long flight with a messy shirt is so not comfortable. If you are staying at a hotel and are not too excited about the idea of bathing your little one in the tub (I'm a bit of a germ freak) then I recommend the Munchen Bath Tub Duck. It is super easy to pack and blows up in a flash. It's great for little ones that can sit up by themselves but still take a tumble every once in awhile as it provides a bit more cushion. Henry loves his ducky and mommy doesn't worry about how the tub was used or cleaned prior as much! ;o)

We head home Friday. Wish me luck on my first solo flight with Henry! I sure hope he does as well as he did on the way out. It's an hour longer going home due to the head wind but we are traveling during bed time so that should help I hope!

Miss and love you all! See you real soon! XOXO

First Swim

A couple days ago at my aunts house here in Kentucky Henry took his first swim. The water was a bit cold so it took him a few minutes to get comfortable. I think he will really like the heated pool when we start swim lessons. We are having a great time with my family and trying to stay cool in this humid heat!

Perfect Traveler

Just a quick post to let you all know we made it to Kentucky safely. Henry has been the perfect traveler! One woman even said on her way out of the plane that she didn't even know he was there he was so quiet. My family here is eating him up and he definitely is putting on a show. Such a happy little boy full of laughter and BIG smiles. I have gathered a lot of tips for traveling that I will share with you new mommy's when I get more time. I can't believe my grandma and papa both have internet at their houses! That may seem little to most of you but not out in these parts! ;o) So I won't be unplugged for 2 weeks after all. Good thing as I was already missing being connected to everyone.

Other big news....Henry's first tooth is making it's appearance! It is breaking through his gums more and more each day (the bottom right one). He has not shown any signs of being in pain and it doesn't seem to be phasing him at all (except the massive drooling and biting down on anything he can get in his mouth).

Anyway, hope you all are doing well. XOXO

Blue Grass Bound

Henry and I are headed to the airport for Kentucky in a couple hours. He is taking his last nap in his bed for a couple weeks...hope it's a good one! Wish us luck on our first flight. Thank goodness my mom is going with me on the way out. I will be solo on the way home! I am sure I will have lots of stories to tell when I get back. Until then, be safe, be happy and we will catch up with you all again soon! XOXO

And, Happy 6 months to Henry (tomorrow!). Can't believe he has been with us for a half a year already! It has been the best 6 months of our lives....what a gift he is.

Got Crab?

This past Friday we had Grandma keep Henry overnight so we could enjoy a night out with our good friends Matt & Deanna and later in the night Justin & Jennifer. We all love being on the water so much that we decided to do some crabbing out on the Puget Sound. It was the perfect weather, perfect company and the best damn crabbing we have EVER had! Huge, delicious crab! Plus I wasn't able to go but one time last summer due to being prego and was not allowed to eat the crab either...so game on this year! Here are a few pics of our evening:

First pot....

Matt & The "King" Crab

Matt & D

Deanna & IAnd, trying not to laugh....so hard with this crew!Group Shot at the new family house on Brown's Point in Tacoma

Killer sunsetCookin' the crabby

Craziness

Today we had a play date with a group of us WSU mommy's and of course it was so much fun, full of chaos and laughter. I just love our play dates and can't wait to have more. And, to mark the calendar for all us moms to hit the town together without the little ones soon! Anyway, here are a few pics from the day.

Henry (5 1/2 months) with the Thurik Twins Chloe & Carter (11 months)

Henry & Westyn (4 months) - they love each other already!

Our attempt to take a mommy/baby photo....there are 3 mobile kids that did not want to sit still. So funny! Henry & Westyn seem to be wanting to get in on the action in the one photo!

(Henry, Westyn, Chole, Carter, Liam (15 months), Izzy (3 weeks) & Makena (3 weeks)

And of course I have to end with my cute little man!

Big Kid

Sitting tall like a big boy now! Trying to have my first beer on July 4th but mom said no!

Henry has also been sleeping in his own bed in his room for 3 weeks now! He takes 3 - 4 naps a day (about 40 minutes each, sometimes will give me 1 really long nap) and also does well at night with bed time around 7pm. He still does not sleep through the night and I often wonder if he ever will! Usually I am up once for a feeding and 1 - 2 times to simply pat his butt give him his binkie and he goes back to sleep within minutes. I really hope he can learn to self soothe here soon as I would love to only get out of bed 1 time in the night. So, while I am getting more sleep I am still somewhat of a walking zombie on most days!

Other new things:
- He can finally use his Baby Einstein Jumperoo and loves it!
- We have had bananas, apples, sweet potatoes, peas and squash and he loves it all!
- He is getting better and better at drinking out of a sippy cup...so cute to watch him try to figure this out!
- I also think he is starting to mimic me around meal time as I always give him a bite and say "Mmmm" and now he is starting to take his bite and make a similar "Mmmm" sound. Really funny and also a reminder to watch the trucker mouths around our casa!
- He can also roll over from his back to his belly. Still hasn't perfected the belly to back, which is opposite as most babies do belly to backs first. This causes a bit of anxiety for mom as I find him stuck in his crib on his belly a lot now. However, he is strong enough to move his head from side to side and yell out for some help.

Overall, things are going really well. I love being a mom and am learning more and more every day. Chris and I also are finding more times to have alone time now that he goes to bed around 7ish in his own room. That has helped us a lot as any new parent knows you tend to not get much couple time for awhile. And, finally the boys won their Softball Division yesterday! They had to beat the same team twice to get 1st place. The first game was 23 - 22 with our friend Evan hitting a walk off home run! So exciting! Then they beat them 13 - 3 to take the title for the billionth year in a row! Next year Henry will be running all over that ball park...can't wait!