California Trip - 2011

I'm lacking for words, since I'm not feeling at my best and still had to go to the optometrist this morning and then work a nine hour day that still has six hours left on it, but here's a photo bomb recap of our vacation trip! Full post on advice for flying with a toddler forthcoming another day :) Enjoy!

Day 1: Arriving, and relaxing

Post-travel family pic (excuse the tired looks)..

Riding a big girl trike! What a big girl!

Playing with aunts and cousins!


Day 2: Cover's Apple Ranch and Down Time

Fun times at Cover's Apple Ranch and Petting Zoo (though super disappointed the train was down!)




Day 3: Pinecrest Lake

One very full car (1 of 3!) en route to Pinecrest

Welcome to Pinecrest Beach

Ava's major lifevest. No one was going to drown on this mom's watch:

Ava & G-pa!

Papa-paparazzi:

Shocked she would go in the COLD water!

Floating with mama :)

The gorgeous scenery that is Pinecrest Lake:




Day 4: Home again...

Our big family pic, with the three of us, Ava's three aunts (my baby sisters), and my grandparents:

Headed home!

Ava LOVES planes!

Travel Tips for Toddlers?

It's that time of year again. It's shaping up to be an annual tradition for us to take a quick summer vacation out to California to see my family each summer, and that trip will be taking place in just over two weeks. As such, I'm interested in any and all tips that may come in handy when traveling with a toddler, especially given that she will NOT have her own seat. Not to out myself as the cheapest person alive, but I just couldn't spare the extra $350 when she could technically still fly for free. Ask me how I feel about that decision after the trip, though.

Anyhow, I know I saw somewhere a great toy that clipped or suctioned to the airplane seat back trays and gave someone's child hours of fun. If the mama that posted that great invention is reading this (I cannot for the life of me remember who it was - sorry!), can you please let me in on the secret?

Other than that, what should I pack to take on the plane with me? What are things you packed that you didn't actually need, or things you wished you had? Any anyone with successful ideas on how to keep my extremely energetic and rambunctious toddler from going berserk will be handsomely rewarded...not sure with what yet, but I'll keep thinking on it ;)

Two weeks until vacation leaves just enough time to make a zillion Target trips and turn to Amazon for anything I can't find! Thanks, ladies!

Vacation!

It's the week that I spend all year looking forward to: my summer vacation.

Now, let me clarify. I keep getting well-meaning questions asking where we're vacationing. HA! By vacation, I just mean that I don't have to go to work for an ENTIRE week. Booyah! It's, in short, amazing.

Now we all know that stay-at-home mom's bust their tails. Being a mom is hard work, and being the one putting out the fires day in and day out can wear on you - I'll be the first to admit that. So I'm using the term vacation loosely, since now I'm only wearing one of my usual SAHM and working mom hats. It's just so nice to be able to go do things in the mornings without having to worry about if I'm messing with our afternoon schedule and how that's going to impact how my day goes at work. Also? Great to be able to make morning trips out without having to think of making a second trip downtown and the eleventy trillion dollars in gas all of it will cost me.

Bliss.

So far, we've played it a bit low-key. Yesterday we had A's gymnastics class (Mommy Brag Moment: Ava can now walk across the thin-ish balance beam, pick up the bean bags, and turn around WITHOUT holding anyone's hand!!!!!), and before that, we explored the library for an hour or so. Oh, and we took a trip to Target yesterday morning, where I spent $100 on nothing. And by nothing, I mean sheer awesomeness. Man, I love Target.


Today's agenda includes a super fun outing with my mom's group, followed by some swimming this afternoon. I may also nap with A when she takes her nap, seeing as how my eyes are shutting as I type this. Turns out our new blackout blinds make everyone sleepier!

Anywho, back tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday. Until then, enjoy your Tuesday!

Our California Vacation!

We're back, and boy did we have a great trip! It was, I'm almost ashamed to admit, D's first time to meet my family, with the exception of my mom, who came out both for my baby shower and also to meet Ava when she was a week old! Anyhow, I was nervous traveling with Ava, but she was AMAZING. I'm talking...just such a good girl!





She slept for an hour or so at takeoff, having been pulled out of bed at 5:45 (and this is my lazy baby who likes to sleep until ~9), but then was up and at 'em for the duration. She cooed, she played peekaboo, she charmed the pants off our seat mate. In short, I was stressed for nothing. From the airport we hopped directly into my mom's car and headed back on the road for the three plus hour trip up to the mountains where my family lives. A was a trooper for the drive as well, barring a bit of fussiness the last hour. She was SO ready to get out when we finally arrived at our destination, and SO WAS I!

We stayed with my aunt and uncle and four cousins (13, 11, 8.5 and 2), seeing as how they had the most room and also baby stuff so we could travel light, and this was an excellent choice. Definitely having access to a high chair/playyard/baby toys/bibs/etc was a lifesaver, and kept A on schedule better than she may have otherwise been. It was also great that she comes to work with me everyday, seeing as how she was around a ton of kids the entire time (not only my cousins, but my three little sisters - her aunts!).

Representing:


After we settled in and A met her great-grandma (nana) and great-grandpa (papa), as well as her aunt, uncle and cousins, we let her take a little snooze while we got ready to head up to dinner with my parents and grandparents and let A meet her three aunts. They're 10, 9 & 6.5. Crazy, right? I was an only child until I was 16, when my mom and step-dad decided they wanted to start over again. Nutjobs.... ;)



Dinner was great, and we were able to spend some great one-on-one time with everyone and let them get to know A, who played happily on the floor with the girls, crawling everywhere and getting into everything!

The next day we went to Columbia, an old historic state park set up as a gold rush town. This place is pretty cool, though definitely smaller than I remembered, and all the buildings are either the original buildings or restored to their original condition.



We got some great pics there, and then headed into downtown for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Mommy may have had a bit more to drink than she's had in a while, citing "vacation" as reason enough for midday booze, and may have cracked some inappropriate jokes in a children's toy store afterwards...one can't be sure :)

After we got back to my aunts for the afternoon, we went swimming and then took a slight nap until dinnertime rolled around, when we grilled some delicious BBQ chicken and sides. We were all exhausted from a combination of the time change, altitude and busy schedule, so we passed out early, ready for the next day!



Friday morning my dad came to get us and let us borrow the Yukon so I could take D around to do some exploring. I grew up in this teeny tiny town (until I was 13 when I hauled a$$ to Texas!), so I was eager to show him our old house, the school I went to, the lake, etc. We even managed to stop by and pay a visit to my best friend Katy's family, and managed to catch her brother, sister and sister-in-law as well! It was so great to see them and for them to get to meet D and Ava!!! AND...as an added bonus, Katy's mom makes seriously THE BEST chocolate chip cookies ever, so much so I hadn't had one in like 15+ years and still think about them, and she had some that she gladly let us take!!!! I'll admit I cheated on the dairy-free and ate some, and Ava hasn't reacted as of three days later!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!


After we left there, I took D and A for a walk on the stream that runs behind my house and stretches many miles each way, showing him where my grandpa taught me to fish, the fire station he used to work at (and I used to play at!), and all the "sights", and then we went to pay a visit to my grandparents.




That night was the big lakeside BBQ my mom had planned so that everyone could meet Ava at once, seeing as how our visits tend to be short ones, and so around 4:15 we headed out to the lake to meet up with everyone. A lot of my moms friends were there, as well as my entire family, and it was nice to get to sit and chat with them. The only major issue we ran into was that dinner wasn't ready until after 6:30 (8:30 our time) and A was starting to meltdown, which I knew would happen. Between that and being passed around, she was over it.

The next day was the trip back to the airport, and we stopped en route to see my best friend Katy and her boyfriend in Pleasanton, near where she lives. It was so great to see her - it'd been nearly FOUR years!!!!!! We miss you, Auntie Katy!


All in all, we had a great time, barring the transportation time. I just HATE the drive that follows/precedes a long flight - we end up traveling about 9 hours each way AT LEAST, and that's just...insane. Hopefully we'll see them soon in Austin!!!!!

A Few Vacation Pics So Far...

I'll officially be back Sunday, but here's a few vacation pictures in the meantime :)

A with her three aunts:

Our little family of three, along with her three little aunts!

All three of us:

On the plane with mommy:

At the airport:

Ava's first Cheerios:

Swimming!!

Poo, Giveaways & A's First Cold.

Alright, folks. Consider yourself warned. This is going to get dirty.

Ava has had two black-ish poo diapers in the past few days. While she recently ate some blueberries - and they were quite dark having been homemade - I'm concerned. Anyone with experience with this type of thing that can tell me if this is normal. I know for formula fed babies sometimes their poo is darker from the iron supplementation, but A is still breastfed only, so I'm not sure what to make of this.

Ick. Now that that's out of the way...here's some more less-than-good news :( T-21 hours until our flight leaves for our vacation, and A is certifiably sick. I'm talking snot everywhere, coughing, sneezing, sick. Thankfully (seriously God I cannot thank you enough!) she's still in good spirits, if a little sleepy, but I'm hoping she feels better soon. *Crossing fingers*

Speaking of snot, though, boy am I glad to have been sent Boogie Wipes to review - they're really coming in handy these days!! And the good news? You can have some also, if you enter my giveaway here. Remember to leave a separate comment for each :)

This is probably going to be my last live post until Sunday, when I give you the rundown on traveling with a sick 7.5 month old. Until then, I've got some posts scheduled, including a guest post by my real-life (and blog) friend Butterbean! There'll still be a Wordless Wednesday post, as well as a sneak peek into my gorgeous, family-friendly city and a review that should help you get the energy boost you need!

Have a great rest of your week, and I'll see you when we get back!

The Countdown Begins...

In something like 44 hours, we'll be stepping off a plane and into the balmy, crisp San Francisco air. While *that* moment will be rewarding and relaxing (well, at least it will be three plus hours later when we finally arrive at our destination - I could only wish we lived in San Francisco as opposed to the middle of NOWHERE), the preceding 40ish could very well be hell.

I've never flown with a little one, seeing as how this will be A's first plane ride and all my nanny traveling was with self-sufficient(ish) seven-year-olds and (*major gasp*) on a private jet. Yeah, you read that right. More on my badass pre-baby life one of these days...

Anyhow, this will be my first time on a plane with a baby. Prior to this, I've taken about a trillion flights (one a week at least for over a year while I worked in NYC - again, more on that later if you'd be interested in hearing about it...) and, as much as it pains me to say it now since karma may very well be a bitch, I was always that annoyed New Yorker resenting the presence of your baby in the seat ahead of me. Damn it.

I'll freely admit that I'm not all that concerned about A. I have the world's biggest advantage (boobies with milk!), so that should keep her calm. I'm more concerned with the horror D is experiencing even imagining me having to nurse in public. He's such a guy. Anyhow, I'm gonna bit the bullet and do it, and have been practicing here and there at the odd social function, including our outing to the Central Market playscape this morning. No one has given me judgmental stares or harsh words yet, so I'll take that as a good sign.

As far as packing goes, it's coming along well. We're only going to be gone for four days, seeing as how that's all I can take of being stranded on a mountainside with my nearest and dearest, so we don't need *too* much stuff. Add that to the fact that we'll be staying with my aunt who has a two-year-old (and therefore a stroller, high chair, etc.) and we're well on our way to not paying baggage fees - score!

Any suggestions for things we should carry on the plane? I am not much of an overpacker, believe it or not, so my diaper bag will be carrying essentials only - a few toys, books, diapers, wipes, changes of clothes, nursing cover, wallet, meds.

Why meds? Besides the obvious precautionary reasons, A was up half the night with a runny nose...uhghhh. Pleasepleasepleasepleasedontbegettingsick.

Wish us luck! Any input on packing welcome! Just 24 hours and I'm off work until next Monday, which will then be my last full week. Trying not to think about that part :(

This Past Weekend...

OK - here I am. Above this you'll find my very favorite picture of Ava I've taken! I have about five whole minutes to myself and just enough energy to post briefly, so I'll leave you with mostly pictures so I can go pass out!

This weekend went well - Ava did GREAT traveling for the first time. She slept the entire way down in the car, and didn't even wake up when we moved her from car seat to travel bassinet. The only hitch was at 4AM when she woke up and didn't know where the heck she was - she freaked for a second, way too distracted to nurse, but quickly recovered. Any by quickly, I mean we both finally fell back to sleep at 6:30. Wah wah.

The visit with the grandparents went well. We did a bit of shopping, and miracle of miracles, we found a second Kitty Bear! YAY! I'd been searching high and low, scouring the internet to no avail, and there in this teensy tiny town's JCPenney was a back-up KB. Hallelujah! Other than our shopping trip and lunch at a local Mexican restaurant (Have you ever tried to order dairy-free from a Mexican restaurant...uh, major fail. Let's just say I snacked all afternoon...), it was a very low-key weekend. I napped Saturday, and sat around reading and getting a bit of writing done.

Sunday we went to visit D's best friend from high school and his wife. They just had a baby last month, though his due date was technically this past weekend. Check out pics of the kiddos together - Weston makes Ava look like gigantababy! Seeing how much she's grown from birth (he's a little bigger in the picture than she was at birth!) makes me proud of my awesome milk :)

"It's OK little buddy - don't be scared!"


Daddies & Babies - adorable!


Ava even slept the majority of the way home, too, despite it being daytime as opposed to bedtime. It was lovely for D and I to get to spend three and a half hours each way just talking and joking and catching up. Sadly, that's the closest we've come to a date since Ava was born.

OK, off to bed. I'm so insanely tired that a few minutes ago I actually had to ask D if I had just gotten up to go to the bathroom a few minutes before, or if I had just thought about it. Unfortunately he was so tired he couldn't remember. That's a pretty good indicator that it's bedtime :)

One last thing - Anyone needing ideas for things to do with older kiddos for Earth Day, click here

Going To Grandma & Grandpa's.

It's that time again where I hope and pray someone is out there reading this and can offer me some suggestions/advice/reassurance on this issue...

First up - our first trip out of town this weekend. So far we've lucked out, and had grandparents come visit US. Baller. Now, however, it's time to repay the favor, so we'll be heading down to Houston (well, Houston-ish. Houston is really just a sneaky label for about a trillion suburbs) for the weekend to celebrate Ava's Uncle Matt's 18th birthday, as well as her grandma's upcoming birthday and a belated Easter. In case that's not enough to fit into two days away, we also are going to be visiting D's best friend from high school's new baby, Weston, who arrived four weeks early on March 12th. Welcome to the world, little buddy (and Ava's betrothed, according to D). We'll see. I'm secretly holding out for Kingston Stefani-Rossdale, but more on that another day.

Anyhow, seeing as this is our first trip away from home, and Ava's second time EVER leaving the city limits, I'm relying on all of you lovelies to tell me what on Earth I'm going to need to pack. I have a list started, but I will inevitably get halfway there and remember about thirty things I've overlooked. Here's what we have so far:

Pack N Play
Breast Pump
Diapers/Wipes
5-6 Outfits(thanks to a tendency towards explosive diapers!)
3-4 Sleepers (ditto)
Ellie (her little stuffed elephant in all her pictures)
Kitty Bear (KB henceforth..)
Stroller
Polka Dot Blankie for Tummy Time
Bottle (just in case)
Toys/Books
Travel Bouncer
The Kitchen Sink?!??
Updates:
Pacifiers
First Aid Kit (nail clippers, medicines, nasal aspirator, etc.) - great suggestion, Rene!
Bath Supplies - travel size if you have them :)
Burp Clothes
Bibs
Monitor

This list looks entirely too short - suggest away!

She Has Daddy Issues.

So far, we've been having a great time just hanging out all day! Yesterday, perhaps due to the time change (???), Ava felt exceptionally lazy and stayed in bed until 11:20AM. What a little sleepyhead. Fortunately for me, I had some sleep to catch up on, so I napped next to her on and off while she slept in :)

After we finally got our lazy buns outta bed, we went to meet daddy at EZ's for a delicious meal. You may recognize EZ's from Friday Night Lights - it's the diner they're always hanging out in. And with good reason - it's amazing. Best onion rings and milkshakes around!

Afterwards, strangely enough, we found ourselves at the D's at the exact time we'd normally head there for work. Weird. We were just going to lock up since the housekeeper frequently forgets, and of course I took full advantage of the opportunity to nurse Ava so we could finish running our errands! We made some pit stops at Old Navy (I was shopping for me, but ended up buying things for Ava instead - isn't that how it always goes these days?), Target for some new baby toys and little sunglasses, and Michael's to finally get the letters for Ava's room.

This brings me to last night. Ava had a great day and slept pretty much ALL DAY LONG. She was so sleepy yesterday, that I assumed she was growing? Anyhow, when D got home last night, mommy decided to set out to get a pedicure, since I wanted a little pampering myself! Unfortunately I got there only to find that they closed earlier on weekdays, and ended up just turning around and heading back home. When I got here, Ava was screaming bloody murder. I could actually hear her when I was unlocking our door. I went running upstairs, convinced something was very wrong since she's never cried like that, only to find a very stressed out D bouncing and rocking her all over. Apparently, she'd been like that since I left. I took her, wondering if she was just wanting to eat again as she's been eating pretty frequently at night, and she immediately calmed wayyyyyy down. This has become a bit of a sore spot for us around here. Ava, for whatever reason, probably due to the fact that she's with me constantly and has only been left with D without me twice now, gives him a bit of a hard time. Don't get me wrong - she loves her daddy. She smiles at him and falls asleep in his lap all the time. BUT - she does tend to cry a lot more with him, and stares at me when he holds her, leading him to tell me last night, "She doesn't like me." And unfortunately, despite it not being the least bit true, he truly believes that.

Does anyone else have a baby that clings to mommy? Gives daddy a hard time? Vice versa? What do you do to discourage this? Do I just need to leave them alone more often?

While I find it flattering secretly, I want to discourage this seeming favoritism at all costs, since it, a.) hurts his feelings in a big way, and b.) makes for lonnnnnnng days for mommy when she wants me all the time!

Any advice? Suggestions?

I Heart Friday.

Lots to tell today!

First off, today has been a great day :) I got a TON done -

*First, my car hadn't been washed since before Ava was born. Actually it was significantly before, if we're being honest, so S, Ava and I ran over to Arbor Car Wash, a local place that does a great job and offers $2 off their already cheap hand wash service ($13 before the discount!) if you're a frequent customer, aka if you've been there EVER. My car is now vacuumed out, squeaky clean, sweet-smelling as the day we bought it. I LOVE that feeling! If you're a fellow Austinite, click here for coupons!

*Second, I took Ava and S to the fountains up at the Arboretum where you can feed the ducks/geese and have a picnic, so that was really nice. It's been hitting 80 for the past three days straight, so we've been taking full advantage and getting to do all sorts of fun stuff. More on that later.


*Third, I paid all the bills I had due through mid-April, with the exception of our April mortgage, which always puts me in a good mood. When I was young I liked nothing more than spending. Now, I like nothing more than remaining debt-free and SAVING!!

*Did I mention it's been 80 degrees for three days? And mid-to-low 70's prior? By all accounts, the weather's here to stay during the next week, which brings me to:

SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I graduated from UT, I thought my days of observing Spring Break were long gone. I spent my last college Spring Break in NYC, living it up like the wild child I once was, half celebrating my upcoming graduation and half mourning the loss of what is one of my favorite weeks of the year.

Luckily for me, when I took my job with the D's, I quickly realized I would be getting that precious, sun-filled week back! This is the second year in a row I've been off for the entire week while the D's go away to Florida, and I can think of absolutely nothing I could enjoy more than having a week to spend just me and little A. On the agenda?

*Spring cleaning (I know it's sick, but this is something I actually enjoy!)
*Long walks/runs on Town Lake & Lake Pflugerville in the gorgeous sunshine
*Ava's three-month pictures (a couple weeks early, but I'm a busy working mom most weeks!)
*Planting spring flowers in the front flower beds and pulling weeds (not looking forward to that second part, but it'll look so much better!)
*A trip to SA to introduce Ava to our "family"
*Zilker Park Kite Festival this Sunday
*SXSW!!!! (As much of it as I can with a baby strapped to me!)
*Visiting daddy at the office!
*Laying around the house, cooing and staring at each other and just generally enjoying being a mommy!

I cannot wait! It's such a nice feeling to not have anywhere to be until the 22nd! Believe it or not, there are actually even MORE reasons why I'm in such a good mood. First off, I stumbled into Babies R Us earlier realizing I needed to nurse and hadn't planned very well around that, and so in we went to the Mother's Lounge. Clearly their design team is genius, since as I walked to the back of the store to the lounge, I passed by many, many, MANY great sales, and ended up picking A up a few cutie patooty outfits! Two are 3-6 months, and boy they look huge! I can't believe she'll be wearing them soon!



What's that you say? I have a spoiled little bebe? I know, but how can you not spoil this:


In case that surprise sale wasn't good enough, I came home to two packages:

Ava's Easter basket:



(any clue how to get the wrinkles out?!?)

and...

HER BOOK!!!! Yay!

(Sorry, Ashlie - I stole your catchphrase for my subtitle. Hope you don't mind!!!)



I think I'm still a bit high from the endorphins of taking two separate three-mile walks yesterday - one around Town Lake, and the other around Lake Pflugerville with one of my mommy blogger friends! So exciting :)

Hope everyone else's Friday has gone as fantastically :)!!