Here's what I wrote last night before going to bed, so it doesn't count as today's post.
I'm too wiped out to blog tonight, but this thought keeps running around in my head, "Does it really matter if my house is spotless if I have clean kids?"
I am going to attempt to answer that tomorrow! Right now I'm going to get a few hours of sleep before the middle of the night "baby buffet" opens for business!
Until then...
Friday, September 10, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
My baby girl got braces!
Yesterday McKinley got her braces. After she got them, her whole face was gleaming with pride! Not having braces myself, I didn't really understand how she could be so excited. Then it hit me like a 2 x 4 straight in the face. She was so excited because braces on her teeth meant she was growing up. Duh! Silly me, every time I look at her I still see my sweet, smiling, chubby cheeked toddler... She looks in the mirror and sees herself as an emerging young lady. Not exactly sure when it happened, but somewhere between potty training and Polly Pockets, my little baby grew up.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Have Baby, Will Travel...
I'm back from a weekend away from home, the two older kids, and my hubby. Although my time away was relaxing, I realized no vacation is truly a vacation when traveling with a 9 month old! I had a very hard time deciding whether driving or flying would be better with the baby, and flying barely came out ahead as the better option. Times have changed since 2001 when I first traveled with a baby.
First, I had to figure out how to pack. The airline I flew charged an extra $50 to check a bag, and I was not about to fork that over, so I had to figure out what was really important. It ends up a frugal person only needs about half of what they think when $50 is involved! Leave the diapers, wipes, toiletry items, running shoes, and your novel at home.
Next, how would I get through security and to my gate with baby, a stroller, car seat, diaper bag, and my suitcase? First off, ditch the stroller. Can you imagine having to take the baby out of the stroller, fold up the stroller, put stroller, car seat, and suitcase on the belt, all the while holding the baby? Oh, and take off your shoes while you're at it. NOT POSSIBLE! Here was my solution: wear the baby, put car seat seat on my rolling carry-on suitcase, carry diaper bag on my shoulder, and go! Unlike me, remember to wear your easy slip on shoes.
I saw couples traveling with their infants in the airport, and I was relieved I had gone the frugal route. They had SO much stuff, and looked WAY more exhausted than me, and they had each other to depend on! I think I even saw them look at me with a bit of remorse, as if they wish they had thought to pack less, MUCH less!
Okay, now we were on our way... next challenge, boarding the plane. I was tempted to pre-board when they made that announcement about those traveling with young children. I resisted the temptation! You may think it is a privilege, or even a favor, but it is not. Pre-boarding would extend my time on the plane by one half hour! And in "traveling with baby" time, that equals about two hours.
When I boarded the plane, I noticed that no one would make eye contact with me. Don't take it personally if it ever happens to you. It is because one of two reasons. Either they think they will be required to help you, or they think if they look at you, you will sit next to them. Just smile, give your baby a smooch, and move on with your chin up! Chances are they will get their payback when you walk by, and since they weren't looking, the car seat you are carrying will hit them in the head and knock a little sense back in.
Now we are up in the air, and what does baby decide to do with his time? That's right, big #2! As mentioned in an earlier blog, my plane did not have a changing table. YUCK! I'll spare you the details. But just so you know, the reason I carried the diaper out of the plane in a barf bag was because the flight attendant asked me not to dispose of the diaper in the bathroom trash. She told me she would bring me a bag to put it in. Great, something else to carry out with me...
My baby of course decided to settle down and fall asleep just minutes before the plane landed. At least I had a few moments to taxi in peace before debarking the airplane. I relished in the few minutes of peace before trekking through the airport once again only to find the next vehicle in which I had to reload my baby into.
As I stood on the airport curb waiting for my ride, I watched travelers being greeted by their loved ones with nothing but smiles on their faces. One group in particular brought tears to my eyes. They were overjoyed to see one another. It was then that I realized it was all worth it. I may have felt like I had been through the wringer, I had poop on my shirt, my hair was a mess, I was dehydrated, starving, and had not a stitch of make-up left on my face, but soon my parents would arrive to pick me up, and it would be my turn to smile!
First, I had to figure out how to pack. The airline I flew charged an extra $50 to check a bag, and I was not about to fork that over, so I had to figure out what was really important. It ends up a frugal person only needs about half of what they think when $50 is involved! Leave the diapers, wipes, toiletry items, running shoes, and your novel at home.
Next, how would I get through security and to my gate with baby, a stroller, car seat, diaper bag, and my suitcase? First off, ditch the stroller. Can you imagine having to take the baby out of the stroller, fold up the stroller, put stroller, car seat, and suitcase on the belt, all the while holding the baby? Oh, and take off your shoes while you're at it. NOT POSSIBLE! Here was my solution: wear the baby, put car seat seat on my rolling carry-on suitcase, carry diaper bag on my shoulder, and go! Unlike me, remember to wear your easy slip on shoes.
I saw couples traveling with their infants in the airport, and I was relieved I had gone the frugal route. They had SO much stuff, and looked WAY more exhausted than me, and they had each other to depend on! I think I even saw them look at me with a bit of remorse, as if they wish they had thought to pack less, MUCH less!
Okay, now we were on our way... next challenge, boarding the plane. I was tempted to pre-board when they made that announcement about those traveling with young children. I resisted the temptation! You may think it is a privilege, or even a favor, but it is not. Pre-boarding would extend my time on the plane by one half hour! And in "traveling with baby" time, that equals about two hours.
When I boarded the plane, I noticed that no one would make eye contact with me. Don't take it personally if it ever happens to you. It is because one of two reasons. Either they think they will be required to help you, or they think if they look at you, you will sit next to them. Just smile, give your baby a smooch, and move on with your chin up! Chances are they will get their payback when you walk by, and since they weren't looking, the car seat you are carrying will hit them in the head and knock a little sense back in.
Now we are up in the air, and what does baby decide to do with his time? That's right, big #2! As mentioned in an earlier blog, my plane did not have a changing table. YUCK! I'll spare you the details. But just so you know, the reason I carried the diaper out of the plane in a barf bag was because the flight attendant asked me not to dispose of the diaper in the bathroom trash. She told me she would bring me a bag to put it in. Great, something else to carry out with me...
My baby of course decided to settle down and fall asleep just minutes before the plane landed. At least I had a few moments to taxi in peace before debarking the airplane. I relished in the few minutes of peace before trekking through the airport once again only to find the next vehicle in which I had to reload my baby into.
As I stood on the airport curb waiting for my ride, I watched travelers being greeted by their loved ones with nothing but smiles on their faces. One group in particular brought tears to my eyes. They were overjoyed to see one another. It was then that I realized it was all worth it. I may have felt like I had been through the wringer, I had poop on my shirt, my hair was a mess, I was dehydrated, starving, and had not a stitch of make-up left on my face, but soon my parents would arrive to pick me up, and it would be my turn to smile!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Still on vacation!
Happy Labor Day weekend! I'll be back to blogging Tuesday. I'm still
in AZ soaking up some desert heat.
in AZ soaking up some desert heat.
Sent from my iPhone
Thursday, September 2, 2010
On the go!
Here is my first mobile blog! I'm on my way to Arizona to spend the
weekend with my parents, my sister, and my brothers. I will also meet
my newest niece, as well as see a bunch of my other n & ns!
weekend with my parents, my sister, and my brothers. I will also meet
my newest niece, as well as see a bunch of my other n & ns!
This is my first solo flight with Hagen, and I have two things to say..
They need bigger bathrooms on airplanes (prefably with a changing
table), and I so needed to wear a longer shirt with these short wasted
pants! I'll spare you the deTails!
Sent from my iPhone
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Our Ice Cream Fantasy
Last night I had a grand idea in honor of the first day of school. Wouldn't it be great to take the kids out to Cold Stone for a "surprise" special treat. I even had a coupon for buy one, get one free! It would be perfect...
I had dinner done well before 5, so we were ready to go after Daddy got home from work and had some dinner himself. It would be perfect...
It was a nice evening for a walk, so we all agreed to walk to our "surprise destination" that was only down the big hill, and 3 blocks over. It would be perfect...
The kids had a blast trying to guess where we were going the whole way there. So far, it was perfect.
When we got there the choices were daunting. It occurred to me that we don't go out for ice cream often enough. And that was even before I told the kids they could pick one topping each. Perfect...
It was right about that time that I smelled something foul. Mark apparently caught wind of it too, because he started unbuckling the baby and offered to go change him while I dealt with ordering the ice cream. We both felt he got the better end of the deal. So far, so good...
"Where's the diaper bag?"
"Uhh... " I guess I didn't exactly picture a dirty diaper in my ice cream fantansy. "Just go in the bathroom and see if you can clean him up a little and flush some of it down the toilet." I said. Mark is such a good sport, he actually agreed, while I continued the impossible task of choosing ice cream flavors with the other two. Things were still going okay...
Then Mark stuck his head out of the bathroom, "Hon, could you come in here?" Oh, this must be bad. I walked into the restroom and found Hagen spread out on a cabinet not meant for changing babies. He had the most satisfied look on his face. Mark, on the other hand, had that look on his face that anyone with kids is familiar with. It's that "what in the world are we gonna do?" look. The one you give eachother when you feel utterly trapped, and no amount of parenting experience would be helpful. Things did not look good...
Mark's idea was to make a diaper out of paper towels. My idea was for Hagen to go "commando" and hope for the best. It was afterall, our ice cream fantasy! I won. We got him cleaned up and exited the restroom as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened in there. Things were going swiftly down hill by this point...
The other two still hadn't chosen their flavors. I was trying to give them suggestions like mint with oreos, cotton candy with sprinkles, chocolate with peanut butter, but they wanted things like lemon tart with peanut butter, or cotton candy with M&Ms. They won that battle and ordered whatever they wanted. There went my plan to share with them! We ended up buying four ice creams to make everyone happy. Thank goodness we had a coupon. Cold Stone is not cheap! But things were looking better again...
While we were walking home in the dark, eating our ice cream, Mark turned to me and said, "This wasn't exactly how I pictured tonight." He then described to me how he thought things would go. Apparently he had an ice cream fantasy of his own... All of us sitting at the table outside the ice cream shop, enjoying our treats, as the kids told him all about their first day of school. That would have been perfect...
But then, it may have been more forgettable. This Ice Cream adventure would not be one we would ever forget. And that makes it perfect in my eyes!
I had dinner done well before 5, so we were ready to go after Daddy got home from work and had some dinner himself. It would be perfect...
It was a nice evening for a walk, so we all agreed to walk to our "surprise destination" that was only down the big hill, and 3 blocks over. It would be perfect...
The kids had a blast trying to guess where we were going the whole way there. So far, it was perfect.
When we got there the choices were daunting. It occurred to me that we don't go out for ice cream often enough. And that was even before I told the kids they could pick one topping each. Perfect...
It was right about that time that I smelled something foul. Mark apparently caught wind of it too, because he started unbuckling the baby and offered to go change him while I dealt with ordering the ice cream. We both felt he got the better end of the deal. So far, so good...
"Where's the diaper bag?"
"Uhh... " I guess I didn't exactly picture a dirty diaper in my ice cream fantansy. "Just go in the bathroom and see if you can clean him up a little and flush some of it down the toilet." I said. Mark is such a good sport, he actually agreed, while I continued the impossible task of choosing ice cream flavors with the other two. Things were still going okay...
Then Mark stuck his head out of the bathroom, "Hon, could you come in here?" Oh, this must be bad. I walked into the restroom and found Hagen spread out on a cabinet not meant for changing babies. He had the most satisfied look on his face. Mark, on the other hand, had that look on his face that anyone with kids is familiar with. It's that "what in the world are we gonna do?" look. The one you give eachother when you feel utterly trapped, and no amount of parenting experience would be helpful. Things did not look good...
Mark's idea was to make a diaper out of paper towels. My idea was for Hagen to go "commando" and hope for the best. It was afterall, our ice cream fantasy! I won. We got him cleaned up and exited the restroom as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened in there. Things were going swiftly down hill by this point...
The other two still hadn't chosen their flavors. I was trying to give them suggestions like mint with oreos, cotton candy with sprinkles, chocolate with peanut butter, but they wanted things like lemon tart with peanut butter, or cotton candy with M&Ms. They won that battle and ordered whatever they wanted. There went my plan to share with them! We ended up buying four ice creams to make everyone happy. Thank goodness we had a coupon. Cold Stone is not cheap! But things were looking better again...
While we were walking home in the dark, eating our ice cream, Mark turned to me and said, "This wasn't exactly how I pictured tonight." He then described to me how he thought things would go. Apparently he had an ice cream fantasy of his own... All of us sitting at the table outside the ice cream shop, enjoying our treats, as the kids told him all about their first day of school. That would have been perfect...
But then, it may have been more forgettable. This Ice Cream adventure would not be one we would ever forget. And that makes it perfect in my eyes!
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