Taking Flight - Preperation for Close Spaces

Holy Cow Moment #:  And I thought I was a pack-rat before having a baby. T-Minus 2 weeks to vacation and a 2.5 hour flight.

What are we doing to prepare for flight with a toddler?  Well to start we are buying several new toys to give her something to distract her.  We are loading ALL of her favorite movies onto the i-pad.  We are trying to get her use to wearing minimouse earphones.  What we are not doing yet is potty training. I think this is obvious why.

We have been asking around to see what the best options are for flying with a wee one.  Some people swear a carseat is the best option, others say no, the empty seat is better.

Pro's to an empty seat -
Place to change diapers
Run around room
A place for all your toys
a place to sprawl incase sleep is a possiblity

Con's -
No good way to constrain the tiny tot
Well-no good way to keep her still

Pro's to a car seat -
One less item to check
A place to harness he tiny butt
It a a familar place, her space

Con's to a car seat -
It's big and bulky
I don't want to carry the thing
It might take up all the "play space" for her

I think in the end we are going to gate check the carseat.  It's free to check why not.

Current check list -
Copy of birth certificate for child - Done
Bags for her carry on items-done
carry on toys - done
Benadryl - done- oh wait it says not to use to make your child sleepy.  Sigh. 

Any tips to flying with kids under teh age of 2?

Nap Time in the Mom Car

Holy Cow moment ?:  The best place to nap is not your bed, not mom and dads bed, not daycare, not a pack and play or a swing, not in mommy's arms but in the mom car. 

I deduce the reasoning is that the mom car has it all - see previous posts.  We have a blanket (well 3 really), a super comfy seat, several favorite toys, climate control, the light rumble of the engine, what’s not to love. Apparently we get this from dad because I get carsick.  I do not sleep well in cars and frankly I hate driving.  My child?  She laughs at daddy’s car noises, is calmed by played ‘slalom course’ in the stroller at whichever store we are in and loves to stand in daddy’s lap playing with the steering wheel.

I’m in trouble. 

Mom Car Update

Not the way to start the morning - sick kid=running late and forgotten breakfast but thank you mom car.  I found a poptart of which I know was only a week old and was in a ziplock bag, forgotten from yet another breakfast-less morning.  So, no worries that I might be eating something unidentifiable, do poptarts ever really go bad (please don’t tell me maybe I don’t want to know).  Being it is so cold out it was almost like my poptart had been refrigerated for freshness – there problem solved either way.

Did you know you can warm a poptart on the defrosting vents?  It might not be toasted but at least it was warm  :-)  YES! Go mom car!  Another victory against cleaning out my car.

Thankful for a lot

Making it to our first holiday season means we've succeeded at parenthood for half a year! Applause please. Making through our first black Friday unscathed also a major feat.

Holy cow Moment ?: I'm thankful for my hubby who talks me off the ledge at times. Im thankful for our puppies who teach me to not take life so serious. Imthankful for my daughter who has shown me I had way too much time on my hands. I'm thankful that i fit into a pair of pre-baby pants!!-okay they were fat pants none the less but the were prebaby fat pants! Who knew there would be a day to rejoice about fitting into pre-baby fat pants.

But really "holy cow" do I have a lot to be thankful for. Looking back I never thought I'd have such a wonderful life filled with love, lots of laughs and maybe a little less hair and a few extra pounds. Life is good.

Mom car moment-was able to donate a few cannned goods that had some how snuck under the seat. also had cough drops for sick husband-he won't admit thisone though.

What are you thankful for?

Photo Op

Holy Cow Moment 3:  Yesterday we took family photos.  Wow, family photos.  It used to be dog photos or couple photos, now its family photos.  I used to worry about my makeup or hair looking perfect, making sure everything was pristine (yeah don’t go look at my old photos because it never was no matter what). Now, all I wanted to know is, “Do I look like I tried?”  or “Is there baby spit up anywhere on me that you can see?”  So I think it is safe to say things have progressed… er maybe regressed? 

I also underestimated how much work it is to get a husband and infant ready for photos.  I had grand plans to curl my hair – I know gasp- what mother has time to curl their hair.  I did abandon this effort after I actually found the time and energy put on makeup and eyeliner!  From there my darling daughter was in sweats and a shirt figuring she has a tendency to spit up on everything, we would just change her at the photo place.  My husband did get himself dressed and very well I might add.  His tie was perfect something I don’t either of us had mastered for last years Christmas party so I was really proud.  (I should note that he doesn’t wear ties but once a year since his job is hands on and rather messy.  A tie would actually be a safety hazard so unless I don’t like him anymore or I need the insurance money he doesn’t wear ties.)

So off to the store we go.  We are of course are running in my mommy definition of “On time.” We have exactly 5 minutes to get said daughter dressed and get into the studio so in the end we were 3 minutes late.  Wow moment again – we were changing her diaper stripping her and redressing her in tights, dress and a sweater in the parking lot.  My husband was slipping a diaper cover on as I was holding her attempting to button her up one handed.  If there had been a contest for dressing a child in less then 2 minutes I think we won.  Our daughter found this highly amusing which made dressing her all the more of a pain since we too were laughing.

As we get into the studio, 3 minutes late, the people seem a little frazzled because heaven forbid they treat people like people instead of cattle going in for slaughter (apparently I have a fixation with cows based on my second post and this one).  As we are sitting down it hits me… where are our daughters shoes and headband… oh right on the seat of the car where we put them.  Go parents! Well these cows just threw a huge pile of manure out there – or at least that is how they looked at us because my husband had to go get these items.  I refuse to pay for photos that I don’t think will look cute and the headband made the outfit, I think. 

Well to make the long story short we ended up swapping appointments with apparently very put together parents (I think they were just brought in to make us feel bad).  The photos were still done in record time – I didn’t know I could sprint in heals – that didn’t even make it into the photos.  What’s the point of having cute shoes if no one sees them? 

So wow moment of my week was – I have a family, I don’t care about my hair anymore and I apparently can’t get 40 things done at once without being late and still forgetting something.  The good news is that at least everything was in the mom car; it’s just too bad it didn’t make it into the mom purse to make the trek inside.

The Mom Car

I have yet to go out of the house minus a baby, that’s just the start of all the changes.  Every day there is some new “Holy Cow” moment, weather it’s me stepping outside my sleep deprived, stressed, spit up smelling self and seeing it or someone else pointing it out there is always that moment when you go, “how in the heck did I get here?”

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Holy Cow Moment 1:  I had the realization that I had the “Mom car”.  Similar to that of the “Mom Bag” or “Mom Purse” but I have the car.  There was sun in my Childs eyes and as I have yet to get a sunshade for her window I dug in the car and found, low and behold, a towel.  Perfect! My husband just shook his head.  My husband complained he was thirsty and, low and behold, I found not one but 4 bottles of water.  The temperature dropped to freezing and of course we didn’t think to put coats on when we left the house at noon, thank you Colorado but, low and behold, the Mom Car had a coat for each member of the family.  After pulling these miraculous yet practical items from my car my husband was silent for, about five minutes.  Shortly there after he suggested I clean my car.  He later would regret this when we went to get a coffee and I had removed the refill mugs that gave us discounted coffee from a specific shop.  He is now leaving the “Mom Car” alone. 

Today there are gloves for every age and size of person, as long as said person can handle girly colors. There are at least three hats, but you would need to have an infants head – but don’t worry found some scarves that could be used as hats (mind you these have been in there all summer.)  Next I found several boxes of unopened Kleenex, so if there is a horde of snot nosed children (or fathers) passing by my car we are covered.  I did find myself surprised when we drove by a food donation box at a store, I was able to get out, look in the Mom Car and donate 2 boxes of Mac and cheese and some soup.  I also had some brining bags which although is a little odd have come in handy for those who might get sick in the area – grocery bags would work too but as I am working on this environmentally safe thing all my bags are cloth (that are in the car anyway).

Of course the Mom Car has the basics, a shopping cart cover to protect the munchkin from germs, a few blankets for sleepy moments, a stroller for when duty calls, several snacks such as granola bars.  There is a little make up for the mornings you forget to put any on, a few books incase you get stuck somewhere- you would have some kind of entertainment.  Taking up additional space are a few more towels that I can’t really explain why, but I guess we are good in a rainstorm or flashflood, hair brushes and clips – you never know when you might have a makeover party in the car right?  I know I am missing a lot since I am too embarrassed to do a full inventory of the “Mom Car.” I fear this is only going to get worse as my family grows.   I guess I should say that my daughter is only 6 months old so, again I repeat – “How in the heck did I get here.”

For now I will dig out a nail polish (a stunning pink, because that goes with everything?) sit back enjoy a packet of instant coffee (I actually don’t even remember buying the little packets of instant coffee, so that’s scary) and the mug that has again returned to the Mom Car and kick back and enjoy being a mom.