Finding time for me

      This is not meant to come off as a whiny, "woe is me" post. As parents, I'm sure we hear enough of that for a lifetime in one day. I just have a sneaky suspicion I'm not the only one who feels this way. So, here goes...

Mommy time is very elusive

    I've come to realize that I'm doing a great job of taking care of just about everything and everyone in my life these days, all except for little ol' me. My children are well fed, showered with affection, and the center of my universe. My boyfriend is supported, loved, and his manly needs are almost always met- even when I'm dog tired from chasing the little people all day. My home is relatively clean (mostly because we are in the process of selling it and I try to have it ready for a showing at a moment's notice). I enjoy making home cooked meals that nourish my family's mind, body, and soul. Yup, I'm feeling pretty good about everything these days except me, ya know, that person who is supposed to be #1 for herself, so she can be everything to everybody else. Yeah, I'm failing miserably with that.
    After 2 beautiful children (my son is 3 and my daughter is 5 months) I can honestly say I have no clue who I am anymore other than "mom." I also hold the title of "girlfriend," but that's not so helpful either. I used to be wild, carefree, fun, always ready for an adventure, and continuously trying to learn new things. The only new things I've learned in the past several months are a few nursery rhymes. I don't identify with any specific religion, but I used to feel connected and one with the universe around me. My soul feels stagnant. I used to love to write poetry and was beginning to attempt painting. I haven't even so much as looked at a pen or brush in months.
    The irritating thing in all this is that I know better than to have let myself get to this point. I know I matter. I know I need me time. But that is really hard to come by anymore and I always have an excuse:

The baby will flip out because I won't be there to nurse her and whoever is left caring for her will be stressed.
I need to spend more time with my son since his sissy came along.
I need to cuddle with my man because our relationship matters, too.
The house is a mess and I can't rest until it's somewhat clean.
I'll do something for me tomorrow, or next week, or next month.
I could nap but who am I kidding one of them will wake up as soon as I close my eyes.

      If I had a penny for every excuse I'd be rich. I guess I just feel like "me time" is selfish. And I'll have to work twice as hard to catch up for whatever time I do get. But I'm starting to really feel the run down. The depression. The overwhelming feeling of I just can't freaking do all of this...and it's because I simply can't. None of us can do it all but, wow, do we exhaust ourselves trying! I'm waiting for something to give. A levy to break. Eventually, I'm going to have to suck it up and take the first step. Go get a mani/pedi- the baby and babysitter will survive. Only sing 5 bedtime songs to the boy instead of 10. Tell my lover tonight will have to wait. Splurge and hire a maid one week. Do something in the next hour for myself, like cover my head in pillows, put on Mickey Mouse, and make that nap happen! I'm going to have to just do it at some point because if not, I run the very serious risk of spontaneous combustion. I have to take care of me so I can take care of them. They need me. We have to take care of us because they need us.
     This evening I took a baby step and went on a walk. Granted I had the baby with me but the stroller kept her occupied and my ear buds bumping Florence and the Machine let me escape for a much needed break. Tomorrow, I might just polish my nails. Haha, gotta dream big. Got to take it one day at a time. Got to find me again and honor her, because she is an awesome hardworking mama and she deserves it. We all do!

Working Mommy Guilt

“Mommy, do you have work today?”

“Yes baby, I do – it’s Wednesday..”

I see her sweet little face filled with hope become crestfallen.
“Oh… When will it be the weekend?”

“I have to work today, tomorrow, and Friday, but then it’s the weekend and we get two whole days together!”

She smiles again. I’ve successfully cheered her up, but I feel worse than ever. Three more days of work and then only two with my family until it’s back to work again. I know we need my income, and, if I’m being brutally honest, I do like that I have my work to myself and am a role model of an independent woman for my daughters (4 years old and 9 months old). However, being a working mom is harder than I ever imagined it would be.

When I used to dream about being a mom I always fantasized about doing what my mom did. She took a couple years off from work when my sisters and I were babies, then she taught high school, so she was essentially working when we were at school anyway. Then reality hit. I tried the education major thing, and a class full of six grade math students taught me that I hate teaching!

So I’m an accountant/office manager. Because that’s what I’m good at and I can make enough money to cover our mortgage, groceries, utilities, and other bills.

I send my oldest to a Montessori preschool because she’s precocious and I feel less guilty about being at work on those days when she’s busy at school.

And that’s really what is the hardest thing about being a working mom (or actually, a mom in general). The constant guilt. Am I doing enough? Am I present enough? Am I enough? When I’m at home the housework piles up. When I’m at work and I have nothing to work on, I am desperate to get home, but I have to stay. I feel like I’m never giving, never doing, enough. I like to sleep in sometimes, but I hate to miss time with my kids. Bedtime is a struggle because I desperately need to recharge, but I hate missing out on more time!

I work in a small office and I was fortunate to be given four weeks of paid maternity leave, and then brought my baby into office for another six or eight weeks. While I totally understand that I am lucky and that many, too many, new mommies have to leave their babies because they don’t have the luxury of paid maternity leave or the option to bring their babies to work, it was not an easy time. Trying to work while breastfeeding; answering the phone while trying to shush a crying infant; or restraining myself from killing anyone that made noise while she was sleeping was really stressful. Even being able to have these extra weeks of bonding with my infant gave me guilt. Was my older daughter jealous? Was I really doing the best thing by my baby by trucking her into the office everyday and exposing her to the public? Was she getting enough sleep?

Now that she is older I can’t bring her in with me. And the saga of pumping began. As I mentioned, I work in a small office, so pumping was INCREDIBLY awkward. I had to leave my desk and go into the conference room (which has a fully windowed door), and then the pump was so loud. I didn’t even get that much milk. I recently weaned my baby, even though I wanted to go longer, because my supply was decimated from being away from her and having such a stressful pumping experience – more guilt.

I know that I am luckier than most, my husband gets to stay home with the kids, so I don’t have the additional guilt of leaving them with “strangers.” But it’s another kind of pain because I am intensely jealous of my husband. When I’m home I’m constantly making sure I’m the one they need, getting drinks and kissing boo-boos, and playing. I want to make sure they remember they can ask for mommy to do these things for them too. And, since I’m being honest here, I know my husband is jealous of my time away, and that makes me feel guilty too. Why should I get to leave the house and go do things while he is stuck at home all day?

So basically: Hi, I’m Katie and I have Working Mom guilt. I know that if I stayed at home I would have Stay At Home Mom guilt. We moms worry and worry and worry about our babies. We want the best for them, even if what we want for them doesn’t logistically make sense. I mean, it’s best for my kids to have a home (hence the working to pay the mortgage), but I also think it would be best for me to be at home with them (hence the guilt!). And as hard as it is, I’m going to keep being a working mom, because that’s what works right now for my family. And I’m proud to be able to show my daughters that they can do whatever they want to do and that they can provide for themselves and their families. So, I’m trying to work on my constant guilt and just be in the moment and enjoy the time that I do get to spend with my girls. Because THAT is what’s best for all of us.

Just a little note from Crazytown

I'm conflicted. Every day. About the same thing.

As I typed that first line, my baby woke up from his nap. My god.

Thirty minutes later, I've set up my son's play area with toys and books and stuffed animals. Still he keeps looking up at me and occasionally fake-crying.

Oh, he slept for a good 20 minutes earlier. He was out cold when I put him down for what was supposed to be his only nap for the day. The nap should have been more like two hours. There goes some of the things I wanted to get done.

My son is 13 months old now. I wish I had a numbered list of advice to give other parents, but some days we really don't get anything done. Except for this whole child-rearing thing. I suppose that's pretty important. Okay, I know it's the most important thing I'll ever do, but that doesn't erase any of the mom guilt.

That mom guilt, though!

I breastfed my son for a year. Still, there was guilt that maybe BLW (baby-led weaning) would have been better for him, but he seems healthy and eager enough to eat adult food.

Then there's cloth diapering. My husband and I contemplated cloth diapering for, you know, a minute, then decided it was too much for us. To be fair, I actually did read up on it and just really wasn't convinced that's what we needed to do. Except I still feel like I should be doing it, especially since most of the moms I've met through this great group called Hike It Baby (No, seriously, check it out. It's a great group for getting outdoors and meeting other parents and kids.) do the cloth diapering. So you know what? I signed up for a Curious About Cloth class, and it's tomorrow. I will probably be the only one there with a kid this old (or who isn't still pregnant), but that's okay. Even if we decide not to do it still, I'll feel better about whatever decision we make. My thought process was, hey, there's still time to do it if we change our minds. And there is.

That's kind of been our guide to parenting so far: Do what you think is best right now with the information you have. It's probably a little looser of a parenting style than many others', but it keeps us sane. Well, maybe saner than we would have been? Oh, who knows.

To get on with the blog I thought I was going to write, I have this inner dialogue that happens every day. If I decide to read while my son is napping, a little voice inside my head says there's probably something more important you should be doing. Another part of me says I need some down time like this and I need to stay sharp (Ha! Except for mombrain, am I right?), so keep reading. I've finished three books in the last month. That's three more than I read the entire first year of my kid's life. That counts as an accomplishment, right?

Except there's the dishes. They really get out of hand. The more I cook, the more there are. The more I cook, the more money we save. The more I cook, the less time I have to do other stuff, like working out.

Aah, exercise. The Hike It Baby group has helped tons, but after talking with my new general practitioner, she said I also need non-baby exercise at least twice a week. That means I had to break the news to my husband that he would have to watch my son so I can go to the gym two nights a week for 30-minute workouts. That look in his eye, though, makes me feel guilty. It says something like, "But I just worked all day." And the look in my eye says, "I did, too, punk. Don't devalue me."

This leads me to the weekend of Mother's Day. I had previously asked for my Mother's Day present to be "a day off." Then I was invited to "Girls' Night at the Lightning Ranch" - a friend's house that, yes, has a cool name so how could I miss that - and my husband agreed to watch our son for that, too. And then there was the moment he realized those two days would be back to back, and I heard him tell our son, within earshot of me, "Well, I guess it will be just you and me for the entire weekend." Stop the drama. Just stop right there. Woes you.

Anyway, somehow while I was at the Lightning Ranch, he managed to swiffer the floors, do the dishes and light a candle that made the house smell like a pumpkin cookie farm. Way to overdo it and make me feel like crap for not getting crap done. I mean, how awesome that he did that so I didn't have to.

Guilt, guilt, guilt.

I guess I'll just keep trucking, and one day I'll figure out how to be a Homemaker Extraordinaire.

Or not. Maybe I'm already doing an excellent job and I'll be at one with it one day.

If you have a numbered list of ways to eliminate that guilt, let me know.

Because I really should be interacting with my kid. Or maybe he's liking this independent playtime?

Aaagh!

One Mom. One baby. One Awesome Disney Trip! (Part 2)

Dear World,
Recently I started a post about traveling to Disney World with my daughter without another adult. You can read my tips and tricks from the first part of the journey here.

(Part 2)

We left off at the changing station/restrooms, right before diving into the rest of the park. One big change that happened since the last time I've been to Disney was the FastPass system. It used to be set up so you go to a ride's entrance, get a FastPass printout, and come back at the designated time slot on the card. Well, things have changed! Now you go to one kiosk to get all of your FastPasses, but the default amount is three. I think there is a way to upgrade to get more, but three was plenty for us. If I had known about the new system, this would have certainly been our first stop. However, I had no clue, so by the time I figured out where it was, most of the rides I would have wanted a FastPass for were not available anymore. Live and learn. So, if you're planning a trip, make this your very first stop! It is located right behind Cinderella's castle, to the left of the carousel.

After you make your selections, they ask you to take a picture with your phone-- so here it is.

Let's talk about stroller parking. Outside nearly all of the rides, there are little "parking lots" for strollers. There are always employees standing around, sometimes rearranging them so they're all easier to access. There is a huge honor system at work here. Now I'm not saying I would trust leaving a diamond necklace around there, but I wasn't about to lug my diaper bag onto every single ride, so it was left with my stroller, unharmed. I don't think any other parent at Disney World is going to loot your stroller, and I'm pretty sure if someone walks up to a stroller without a baby, that would seem pretty suspicious. If anything does get lost, I'm sure you can report it to the employees and they will keep an eye out for it. I made it through the day with everything in place and no worries.

Congo Connie! I love the boat names.

Anyway, our first ride was the Jungle Cruise. Since the line and the actual ride are all outdoors, this is a good one to start with before it gets too hot. We traveled in March, so the weather wasn't terrible, but if you're going during summer, it helps to know where you can avoid the heat. Knowing that my 9 month old is cool with boats, I thought this would be a good start to see how she reacts to the animatronic robots everywhere. Well, she seemed more fascinated by the other people around us than the actual ride experience. If you've been on the Jungle Cruise, you'll remember that the most entertaining part is your tour guide. Every time I take this ride, I hear a different set of corny jokes. My mom asked us later on if the gun scared my baby, because she remembered the gunshot at the end of the ride. I hadn't remembered a gunshot and probably would have skipped it altogether if that was my expectation, because I know my little one is jumpy. When I was pregnant I saw a human cannonball at the circus. The noise was so loud that it made her jump (in utero). Our guide, probably noticing that there were many small children on the boat, acted like he was about to shoot the gun, holding it up and warning us "this might be loud," and instead yelled "GET OUT OF HERE!" Whew. Dodged a bullet there, so to speak.
We went to retrieve the stroller after the Jungle Cruise and headed down towards the "Liberty Square" area. We skipped the Pirates ride and the Haunted Mansion, because baby is jumpy. However, these are both a lot of fun if you think your little one is up for it. The Pirates ride has a pretty intense dip towards the beginning, which makes me nervous about holding a little baby. She may have loved it, who knows. But if she didn't, there would be a screaming child ruining everyone else's time for the whole ride...so I wasn't going to take my chances. The Haunted Mansion is intended to be scary-ish, so that's a no brainer for me.
Our next ride was It's a Small World, which happens to be my favorite. This also turned out to be baby's favorite! She looked around all over the place and was so excited that she didn't want to stay sitting. I let her stand on my lap (while I securely held her, praying she wouldn't try to jump overboard) as she looked all around at the dancing "dollies." It's a Small World is awesome because the boat ride is slow and gentle, the line always moves pretty quickly, and there is sweet, sweet air conditioning. The line is mostly indoors. This is a good relaxing break from the sun.

"It's a Small World"= Air conditioning

The Peter Pan line was pretty long and we didn't get a FastPass for it, so we unfortunately skipped that ride. After It's a Small World, baby fell asleep, which meant it was lunch time for me!
I asked an employee where a restaurant was that allows strollers. Many of the restaurants have stroller parking, much like the rides, and don't allow strollers inside. The recommendation I got was Cosmic Ray's over in Tomorrowland. This worked out because our first FastPass was for the Buzz Lightyear ride, which is my second favorite. We made our way over to Cosmic Ray's where I ordered a barbecue sandwich and fries, and a giant bottled water in an attempt to stay hydrated. An employee carried the tray for me so I could push the stroller to a table. It is always helpful to find an extra set of hands! If you're doing this alone and nobody offers to help you with something like that, just ask. People are happy to help. I chowed down and was just finishing in time for baby to wake up. While she was still in the stroller, I quickly visited the restroom before getting her back in the Kinderpack.

Stroller nap= lunchtime for the mama

After lunch, we got through the FastPass line to the Buzz Lightyear ride. We literally waited five minutes, which is why the FastPass is awesome. Baby enjoyed the ride because there was a  big red joystick that moved our car around. She started playing with that and was having a blast!
Our next ride was Dumbo, which she didn't seem very impressed with. This ride also has a joystick that you can use to make your car go up and down, but ours didn't work. This is another outdoor ride, so I was feeling the need for air conditioning again. We headed over to the very back of Fantasyland, which has also been renovated since my last visit. There used to be an area called "Toon town" where you could tour Minnie Mouse's house. This has been replaced by circus-themed areas. We went into a giant tent to meet Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse. There is a cute outdoor splash area where little ones can cool off. Since baby isn't walking yet, we skipped that, but did purchase a stroller fan because it was getting pretty warm out.
I could feel my energy winding down, so I wanted to go ahead and get our last FastPass out of the way, which was meeting Ariel. The Little Mermaid ride had a super short line, so we squeezed that in first. Baby totally freaked out when she saw Ursula. Screams everywhere. Also, despite the very quickly moving line, the ride was stopped. While we were in the room with Ursula. Greeeat. Baby cried the rest of the ride and calmed down after I got her out and back in the Kinderpack, which is her safe place. We then headed over to "Ariel's Grotto" which was super charming. Baby really liked Ariel and started petting her fin! Ariel was a pro, so I'm sure she's used to that sort of thing.
Baby was clearly tired, as evidenced by the screaming fit on the last ride, so we started making our way to the park exit. She fell asleep in the Kinderpack and slept through a very noisy parade on Main Street! Once the parade was over, we had access to leave the park.

Stoked about the parade.

Overall, I think the trip was a success. If I could do it differently, there isn't much I would change. Stay tuned, next time I'll be blogging about our trip to Puerto Rico!

Love,
Stephanie

One mom. One baby. One awesome Disney trip! (Part 1)

Dear World,
So I keep reading on the internet about how it might be considered "crazy" to take a baby to Disney World, since they won't remember any of it. But I have also read that it can be very worthwhile, because the babies can still have a good time, regardless of whether they remember it or not. (That's what pictures are for, right?) So let's throw another wrench in the equation. What if you're taking a baby to Disney World by yourself?

Being in charge of a baby by yourself is pretty hard, but does that mean you shouldn't get a vacation? I'm thinking no. Whatever your situation may be, whether you're single, have a deployed husband, or just feel like taking some one-on-one time with your little one, I'm here to share my experience and tell you it IS possible!

So, step one for us was traveling to Florida. I shared my experiences with flying/packing/etc in my previous post.

One of the charming sights in Downtown Disney

Our visit was relatively short, so I decided to do Downtown Disney and the Magic Kingdom. If you've never been to Downtown Disney, it's basically a place to go shopping. (Plus it's free to get in, so that's a plus). There are some super restaurants, as well as Disney Quest and Cirque Du Soleil, which would be great for bigger kids/adults. However, we were just here to shop and gawk at all the stuff. As pictured above, I got the iconic Mickey ears for my little one, and a few other cute accessory items. I thought it would be best to do souvenir shopping first, so I'm not as tempted at the actual park to lug around a bunch of items throughout the day. For myself, I scored a sweet Darth Vader tank top, which I ended up wearing at the park the next day. (Yep, I'm a Star Wars nerd.)

Dino themed restaurant? Yes please.

After shopping around, we enjoyed this street performer/human robot for a while, and then called it a day.

The main attraction awaits. Magic Kingdom. Oh man I was so excited.

So, how do you pack for the actual park? I had been reading that a reclining stroller is a good idea for naps. I have one of those "travel systems" where the car seat snaps into the stroller. Even though my little girl is big enough for the stroller without the car seat, the way it positions makes napping easier with the car seat in: 

This way there are also two shades providing full coverage from the Florida sun.

The only cumbersome part about the stroller/car seat was getting it to and from the parking lot. If you have been to Disney before, you might recall there are little trams that take you from your car to the park. If you have a car seat/stroller/bunch of stuff, sit at the END car. They are slightly bigger because they have two benches instead of one. I sat at the end on the way in, but didn't think about it on the way out and had a heck of a time getting the car seat in and out of the tiny bench. Thankfully another mama was there and offered help. Shout out to that awesome mama. 

Other than that little snafu, I was totally glad to have the stroller. I'm a babywearing nut, and barely ever use the stroller, but when you are by yourself with the baby all day it's good to have the it so you can use the restroom and eat without too much fuss. Now, that being said, I did have my Kinderpack with me and actually used it most of the day, but when baby fell asleep, into the stroller she went! 

So from the parking lot tram, we boarded the Ferry. You could also choose the monorail, but the Ferry seems a lot more spacious and exciting.

Note: The employees claim the monorail and the boat take the same amount of time. If you're itching to get inside quickly, I'm guessing the monorail is actually quicker, due to more efficiency with loading/unloading. I could be wrong. However, I like to take my time and soak in the views, so I was not disappointed with my choice. 

Who doesn't love a good boat ride?

For children under 2 years of age, it is 100% free admission. For myself, not so much, but it evens out since baby was free. Upon arrival, she was given a "First trip to Disney" pin (also free)! I pinned it on my diaper bag for the day. Once inside the gates of the Magic Kingdom, we headed down Main Street to get some pictures. There are professional photographers all over the park. When they snap a picture of you, they will give you a card to give to everyone else to track your photos. You can download them all later for 200 dollars, or at a certain price per picture. The actual price escapes me, but if you plan on taking advantage of the 200 dollar unlimited package, you might as well get as many pictures as possible. This includes the random ones taken during rides. Just get your picture card to register the photo after the ride, and you'll be able to download it later. 

Now, for those of you who don't want to spend 200 dollars on pictures (because let's be honest, that's twice the price of admission for one adult), there was an INGENIOUS invention I saw people using throughout the park. I had never seen these before, but have seen/heard of them since then. It is called a "selfie stick." It holds your phone far away to actually get everyone in the picture. Brilliant, right??! I did not see any for purchase at the park, so if this is the way you want to go, make sure you pick one up in your hometown or order it from the internet before your vacation. I've seen them advertised at our local tourist trap/beach gear/buy hermit crabs here type store, so I'm guessing they are not terribly expensive. 

After soaking in the sights and sounds of Main Street, we headed over to the baby station. This little area is amazing. If you take a left off of Main Street towards Adventureland, there are restrooms and the baby room tucked away in a little corner (with well marked signs). So let's talk diapers.

This is Disney World. There are changing tables in every women's room. (Can't speak for the Men's room, sorry fellas.) Not the junky small Koala Care things, but an actual built in segment of the counter designated for changing diapers. However, in the baby station, there's so much more:

That's right, they're padded. Mmm.

Not only is there this adorable changing room, but there's a mellow little feeding room where I saw some toddlers watching cartoons and having snacks. That's awesome. My only complaint was that the grown up restroom in there wasn't accommodating for a stroller, so I wheeled over to the regular restrooms next door to take advantage of a generously sized end stall.
Disney is also smart enough to sell diapering accessories in case you run out. Isn't that thoughtful?

After getting freshened up, we were ready to hit the rest of the park! Stay tuned for Part 2, where I discuss where to eat that is stroller-friendly, and taking baby on the rides! 

Love,

Stephanie

How to Fly Solo with a Baby

Thinking about taking a vacation with your baby? Nobody else is going with you? I've got you covered!

Last week, I accomplished something that would make a lot of people nervous. I took my 9 month old baby on a plane. By myself. No matter what your situation may be, whether you're single, have a deployed husband, or just happen to be traveling without another adult, you'll have to do some extra planning to make sure you can carry everything. So I'm sharing what I did to give you ideas!

1. Plan ahead- That's why you're reading this, right? I decided quasi-last minute to take my baby to Florida for a 30th birthday celebration for myself. However, even though the decision was last minute, I still considered every detail very carefully. Upon my research, and while buying the plane ticket, there was mention of potentially needing to bring baby's birth certificate because she is under the age of 2. When you don't buy a separate seat for your baby, he/she will still get a boarding pass. Some people at security will ask for the birth certificate, some won't. Really it's a game of luck, like many other things at airports. Instead of a birth certificate (how cumbersome!) I packed her passport. Small, easy to carry/store, not going to get crumpled up in a mess. Perfect. It turned out that I didn't even need it.

Mama's on the left, Baby's on the right. Top flap.

2. Pack the gear. So the big question when bringing baby along, is what gear do you take? For this trip, I brought the stroller, the carseat, and a soft structured carrier (God's gift to moms with puny arms.) I was able to check the carseat and stroller for free, which is another thing to research with whichever airline you choose. I also checked our suitcase, because I'm not lugging that around. I really struggled with the idea of taking the stroller, because I really don't use it much, but decided that it would be worthwhile as a solution for transporting all of the stuff:

Meet my free luggage cart.

The other issue of packing is trying to guesstimate how many diapers to pack. I threw an unopened small bag of diapers in, hoping to use them and free up room for souvenirs. In retrospect, the whole bag was way too much for our very short visit, so I should have left more space/brought a bigger suitcase. Live and learn.

3. Lodging- Something to keep in mind when traveling with baby is your sleeping arrangements! Do you really want to pack that pack n play to lug around? Probably not if you have to lug it all by yourself. Some hotels offer "cribs" for you to use at no additional charge, which is totally what we did. And by "cribs," I mean the hotel's pack n play.

Complete with sheets!

4. Transportation- Do you want to take taxis everywhere? If you're like me, then the answer is no. I love accidentally discovering things when I'm being a tourist (read: getting lost). I also like the freedom to just hop in the car whenever I feel like it, without having to wait on a cab. Plus, my little one naps really well in cars but not if you try to take her out. So, rental was the obvious choice for us. However, if you happen to have friends living in your destination city, you could save a lot of money by allowing them to be your super-awesome chauffeur. 

Note: I have been the chauffeur/host before, and it can get annoying and exhausting, so please bribe them by paying for dinner or something of this nature. Especially if you're also crashing in their house. If you can't afford dinner, make them a trinket. Something. Anything. 

5. Tips for the actual flight- Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you to make cutesy little party favors for other passengers to apologize in advance for having a baby with you. Nobody has time for that, especially people who travel alone. 

Carrying baby around-I have a Kinderpack, which is an amazing soft structured carrier. I use this to carry baby in the airport, onto the plane, etc. My diaper bag can be worn as a backpack, so I basically wear them both and have my hands free to text/take pictures/etc. This way I don't have to worry about folding down the ginormous stroller and wearing out my arms when I have to walk stroller-less to the back of the plane where my seats always are. 

Ear Pressure- When most people fly, they keep gum handy to prompt them to swallow to deal with popping your ears to adjust to the pressure changes during take-off and landing. If your baby is breastfed, then that's what you'll need to do to prevent discomfort from the pressure change. If your baby is bottle-fed, same thing. Have something ready for baby to swallow so those darling little ears don't hurt. I intentionally had both aisle and window seats just to see if I had a preference for either while nursing. I guess the window seat is better if you care about privacy. I kind of don't, so I was comfortable at both. (Although if you're going to have a super long flight, think about if you want other people crawling over your lap to get to the bathroom.)

Entertainment- Depending on the length of your flight, you'll want to have an arsenal of entertaining things to occupy your wiggle worm as you travel, confined to one seat. Babies love new stuff, so maybe get a few new toys/books/random items for your little one to investigate on the plane. Our longest flight was around two hours, and I just made sure to keep her favorite distractions at arm's reach in my diaper bag. My baby also happens to be a people watcher, so keeping her entertained in a plane full of strangers was a piece of cake.Baby ended up falling asleep in my arms for half of our flights, so that was nice too. 

At the end of the day, you know your baby's personality and patience limits better than anyone else, so you are the most qualified person to decide if he/she is ready for a flight! Good luck, mamas!

Love,
Stephanie

The Dirty Thirty

Dear World,
I've noticed many of my friends make a really big deal out of turning 30. In a way, the 30s are supposed to be like the new 20s. The 20s are basically the last chapter of childhood because young people like to not grow up as quickly as they used to. I had my fair share of fun in my 20s. I'm not sure if I sat down and made a list of things to accomplish in that decade, but if I did, it probably looked like this:
-College
-Get married
-Have babies

Check, check, and check. (Barely squeaked the last one in!) For the majority of my 20s, I dated (on and off) the guy who turned out to be my husband. We got married in New Orleans almost two years ago. We welcomed our beautiful baby into the world about nine months ago. So I accomplished my big goals. I did college. I got married. I had a baby.
But, I ended up accomplishing some other cool stuff too. Here are the highlights:
-Finished Master's degree, started a Ph.D. (Which I will return to someday.)
-Presented at an education conference
-Got published
-Got nominated for Teacher of the Year
-Lived on a tropical island
-Went snorkeling
-Flew on a plane by myself
-Had some cool cats (Especially Moobies, the living embodiment of Garfield)

Now it's time to look ahead to my 30s! While I won't be taking a crazy vacation to get drunk somewhere cool with my friends, I will be celebrating with a trip. I'm taking my baby on a plane (her first time) to Florida! While it could be more glamorous, I think a small trip is a good start for her.

After much deliberation, here are my big goals for the 30s:
-Get KangaTu released (website isn't live yet)
-Work on that Ph.D. a little more
-Have another baby
-Move back to a tropical island, possibly live on a boat

Obviously, getting the website up and running is the biggest priority on my list of goals. I will be blogging to keep everyone updated on the progress of the site and with fun mom adventures.
I always like to include pictures, so here is a sneak peek of a logo concept we're working on:

Copyright of KangaTu. Don't steal it.

You'll hear from me about my Florida adventures soon!

Love,
Stephanie