Tips for Traveling with a Baby

I'm not going to pretend to be any sort of expert, and we've only been on 1 flight with our son so far, but I do have a few tips that I thought would be helpful to pass on to others. So here are my 5 tips for traveling with a baby.

#1. Wear them

Yes, you read that correctly. Wear your baby. If you have a wrap, sling, or carrier this is VERY helpful for getting through security and to your gate. I wore my Ergo 360 with him in front and forward facing. I did not have to remove him for security and we went through a separate gate (no detector) and they simply wiped my hands and checked that. It also gave me two free hands so I could be carrying my ID and boarding pass as well as a bag or two so my husband didn't have to be the Sherpa. At least for our son, he is much more content and lasts longer being carried in the carrier than just in my arms.
Here's the carrier and wrap I have:

 

#2. Borrow BIG baby items at your destination

What do I mean by this? I mean borrow a stroller, car seat, pack & play, high chair, even nursing pillow rather than taking your own. I realize this one is not always feasible due to the nature and location of your trip. But, I'd encourage you to be creative and try to find a way to make this work. Fortunately for us, we were visiting family that was expecting a third baby in another month so they had everything I mentioned above. She picked us up at the airport with the car seat and let us borrow that and the stroller when we drove to visit other friends. This was SUCH a blessing and saved us a lot of hassle checking and carrying those things on the plane. Even if the people you are visiting don't have them, they probably know someone who does. I have found that people are very willing to lend baby items that they are not currently using so don't be afraid to ask.

#3. New toys for travel

This was suggested to us by our pediatrician at the wellness appointment before our trip. I had not even though of this and it was a GREAT help so I highly recommend this tip! I searched and searched online for a fun, interactive, engaging, multi-task, yet quiet toy. I wanted it to be something that would hold his attention for a good length of time but not make noise and drive everyone in the plane bonkers. I searched high and low and found this great option:

The Oombee Cube was great! He enjoyed all the strings and shapes and colors. He pulled and chewed and shook. It made NO noise, didn't have any pieces we had to keep track of, and entertained him! 

This was not the only new toy we had for him. I wanted one toy for the travel there and one for the way back. I made the other toy which is a sensory tag blanket. My mom had all sorts of ribbons and cords and some fun fabric scraps that I was able to gather together and make into another quite, multi-task, engaging toy.

Here's a similar version you can buy however it appears that all the "tags" are the same material just different colors. This is one of the reasons I made mine because I wanted all different textures.

 #4. Don't give the toy to your baby

Wait...what??? I thought #3 was all about a toy for your baby...
Stay with me. I didn't say the baby doesn't get it, I just said don't give it to them.
Still confused?
Okay let me explain.
We have found that with our son, things we give him to play with (aka his toys) he is semi-interested in for a short time. BUT...things that are ours and we don't hand to him he is VERY interested in and wants so badly. So, while I was nursing him during take-off, my husband took the toy and put it in a spot where it was visible but not front-and-center. We paid no attention to it and let Easton totally discover it on his own. It worked! He was curious and eager, proud of himself for finding something new, and so interested.

 

#5. Don't plan too much and be flexible

Before kids, you could jam-pack every day of a trip with plans to see as many places and people as possible. I would caution you to attempt that with a young kid. You already know from everyday life at home that getting out of the house to go anywhere takes 3x longer. Well be prepared for your child to not sleep as well and be off schedule (especially if you change time zones). Your time will be much more enjoyable if you scale back and have a well-rested happy baby for the adventures you do go on.

What other tips do you have for traveling with a baby? I would love to hear them! And if you try any of mine, I'd love to know how it works out for you! Happy traveling!

A 5-Date 5-Year Anniversary Celebration

July 14th was our 5th anniversary. The first milestone one. With a 9 month old baby we weren't able to get away and celebrate big. But that's A-OK because we came up with a plan that was just as special as any weekend trip.

Our shirts are from Emerson Grace Boutique! #momlife #dadlife

We started in late June by discussing things that define marriage to us. We individually came up with words that finished the statement "Marriage is..."

Some of our answers were: teamwork, romantic, fun, adventure, family, growth, humor, and love.

We then got creative and thought of dates that could embody each of these words. Finally, we narrowed it down to 5 and scheduled them throughout the month for a fun and festive 5-year anniversary.

Date #1 -- Marriage is Adventure

 

For this date, we chose to take a drive around the lake near where we live in our '72 Chevy Blazer.

 

It was a beautiful day but also hot. Thankfully we have automatic AC with our convertible rig.
Such beautiful scenery all around the lake.

 

This date only cost us the gas to drive for a couple hours.

 

Date #2 -- Marriage is Romantic

On our actual anniversary, we went out to dinner. We both love sushi and the first time I ever had it was on our honeymoon in Cabo. Nate read reviews and found a great place in a nearby city. We ordered 5 different rolls and it was AH-Mazing! First...it was the most beautiful sushi I've ever had and oh man it was just so good. We would try one roll and go "oh this is our favorite." Then try another and say "mmm, no this one is!" 
 

 

Definitely a fun experience and romantic dinner out since it's not something we eat often. What's more romantic than raw seafood!?

 

Our most expensive of the 5 dates, but hey, it's a our 5 year anniversary so we get to splurge a little!

 

 He likes my hair straight and I like him clean-shaven so tonight was a win-win for us both! 

 

Date #3 -- Marriage is Humor

On the same night, we went to an improve comedy show after dinner. We have gone to The Blue Door several times over the past 5 years. It's an inexpensive ($7/ticket) entertaining date night that we enjoy a lot. Tonight was no exception and we also laugh so much.

 

 

Date #4 -- Marriage is Fun

 

 Just north of where we live is the largest theme park in the Pacific Northwest. I used to go here many times during the summers growing up and Nate had been several times in the past as well. Neither of us had been in probably 10 years though so there were several new rides to try out. We realized after ride number one that we are both a lot more sensitive to motion sickness than we used to be! We didn't get sick, just queasy enough to cross a few things off our list without even going on them. Our favorites were the 2 newer waterslides that are for 4-person rafts.

 

This date was free thanks to a friend who works there. He gets several day tickets each summer and never uses them all so offered a couple to us.
 

Date #5 -- Marriage is Family

 

Our final date included our son. We had professional family pictures taken for the first time. We haven't gotten them back yet so this is all I could post for a picture...my arranging several different outfit combos to decide which looked best. This is the one I went with by the way.

It was a lot of fun but I'm not very confident that we will get several frame-worthy pictures. For no fault of the photographer...she was awesome! No...it our kid. He is Mr. Serious around new people. He wasn't grouchy or whiny or shy. He just was stone faced and refused to smile in the slightest. So you have him on the one extreme and then Nate and I were over-smiling to try and get him to smile! So I'm sure the dichotomy is hilarious. But that's okay because that's what real life is like right now and we captured it and will love looking back someday saying, "Oh Easton you used to be so stoic in a new situation and dad and I were big goofballs trying to crack you." And yes, I will still pick one to frame and put somewhere in our house. It just may not be a 20x30 canvas on the mantle! haha
 

 

This date was also free. The photographer is the mom of one of Nate's former basketball players from the last 7 years. She offered to take family pictures for us once Easton came along and insisted that our money was no good with her because of all that Nate had done for her son. So sweet of her and I cannot wait to see them!

 

 

So that's a wrap on our 5-year anniversary celebration. I had a lot of fun with the plan we came up with and think it was a great way to enjoy multiple things that encompass our relationship. Here's to the next 5!!!

 

What fun anniversary dates have you had? What has been the most memorable? Any great recommendations of cheap or free dates?

May Goals

Warm weather! Flip flops! Ahhh! I hope this weather sticks around and no more surprise snow flurries!

Here were my goals for April:
1. Go to the gym 5 times
2. Make 1 new recipe
3.Choose what we are going to do for curtain rods
4. Blog 1 time other than this post
5. Choose a paint color for master bedroom

I did run in my neighborhood 3 times but work and an annoying cold kept me from my last two times.

I made SEVERAL new recipes this month! For Easter brunch I made Blueberry Pecan Crumble Coffee Cake from Country Cleaver, which was SO delicious and I definitely will make it again. Along side this I made Perfect Roasted Sweet Potatoes from A Kitchen Cafe although I didn't use any oil. Finally, I made Crustless Sausage Broccoli Quiche from LAQ Fitness which was also delicious but took an hour longer to bake than she said so needless to say our brunch was more like Linner (or is it Dunch?) and we were hungry! Part of the difference in baking time could have been that I only used whole eggs instead of any egg whites. While the egg white conversion is 1 whole egg for 2 whites, 10 whole eggs (the 5 she calls for and 5 from the conversion) was not enough to cover my broccoli and sausage so I added 6 more eggs I believe. I would make this again but definitely allow for more cooking time.

Other than the Easter, I also made Perfect Homemade Biscuits from Mom On Timeout which were truly perfect! Very easy to make and went along perfectly with Potato Soup which was a first-time recipe try from my cookbook "Betty Crocker's Cooking Basics". I also made The Marlboro Man Sandwich from The Pioneer Woman. Very happy tummy but I'll use less butter next time. Shhhhh, don't tell Ree! :) And last, but certainly not least, I made a Bacon-Spinach-Chicken-Pesto pizza. SAY WHAT? Yes, it was DELISH! I didn't follow any recipe although this is the pin that inspired me. I used Pillsbury dough and Costco pesto. Lots of fun and tasty cooking this month!

Not only did we choose what we are going to do for curtain rods, but we purchased all the materials and got started! My beloved birdie curtains from Pier1 are up in the office and we're just waiting on the shipment from Target to arrive so we can hang the living room and dining room. The two panels we had for the dining room were different by 2 inches so we had to order a couple more to see which two will match each other. Craziness! Once those are up, I will post about how we did it with step-by-step pictures and prices.

I have yet to narrow down let alone pick paint colors. But I need to get on that ball because my bestie is coming the last weekend of this month to visit and help me paint!

This is gonna stay short and sweet because I'm working hard on grading and lesson plans tonight but also need to pack for a weekend celebrating my "little" brother's college graduation! He's receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Photography. The night before graduation we get to attend a mini Oscars (complete with red carpet, I'm told) for his school called the Tracy Awards. He is nominated for Best Cinematographer and his film is nominated for Best Film along with 8 other nominations! So exciting and so proud of him! I can't wait to see where his career takes him and what kinds of cool projects he gets to work on. He is very talented and loves what he does which is so awesome to see in young people these days!

So here are my goals for May:
1. Go to the gym or run 5 times
2. Make 1 new recipe
3. Hang living and dining room curtains
4. Blog 1 time other than this post
5. Choose a paint color for master bedroom
6. Paint master bedroom
 7. Project Life date with my mom
8. Finish "Love Does"

Happy May Day!

I'm Still Here

Wow. It's been almost 2 months since I last posted. Eesh! Ya probably not the best idea to have a big giveaway, gets lots of new followers and then never blog. It was SO not my plan. Every weekend I kept trying to get to blogging but it seemed like another things to do (or 5) kept popping up. We squeezed all the last bits of fun we could from summer and then reality hit and I had a new classroom to get going. THAT has taken way more work than I anticipated. Teaching two classes is a lot of work. Two sets of lesson plans for every subject, two (or four) different teacher manuals for every subject, two different tests and activity pages to copy, two different spelling lists to keep straight, and on and on. 

  I'm not complaining, I'm just finally coming up for air and realizing why I have not been on here.

So what have I been up to? Well for one, taking a lot more pictures on my phone than with a regular camera. At least I'm still taking pictures though!

 We had a handful of weddings this summer! All very fun times. I was bridesmaid for my dear friend. She played the flag game like I did at my wedding...I got to pick all the questions for her. 

Love my Cannon Beach girls. Guess I missed the memo that we had our shoes on, oh well, I'm tall enough without ;). My mom made my bridesmaid dress! So nice having a mom with that talent because the stores were just not coming through for me.

 My college roommate came to visit for a weekend! Never enough time with her. We talked so much, baked, watched Friends and movies, coffee, shopping, farmer's market, scrapbooking and more talking! I wish she lived down the street!

 Celebrating my mom's birthday. Check back soon to see what I got her and hopefully the idea can provide some inspiration for your next birthday gift.

 I love my mom! We text everyday and the days that we don't just don't feel right. She spent two whole days helping me set up my classroom and is even painting a new desk for me! Plus all the other amazing things she does like talk, laugh, listen, hug, give advice, and pray for me. She's the best!

Another wedding--family friend that I have known his whole life. I got to help set-up the decorations and reception, which was so much fun! I was also the photographer's assistant, aka the bossy person telling people where to stand/look, etc. I got the job done and we stayed on schedule!

Time flies. I can remember when all these kiddos were born, how can the youngest be driving and two of us married now?

My family did the Color Run! My first 5k and a lot of fun! It was my mom's birthday present. I now want to do another 5k...wait who said that?

 We put our new guest room (and YES I am still going to show you pictures of our new house) to good use this summer! Our newlywed (from the wedding pictures at the top) and newly-engaged (wedding next summer and I'm a bridesmaid again) friends came to visit for a weekend. So much laughter and smiling--they are good medicine!

Final wedding of the summer--a previous co-worker of Nate's.

We borrowed my parent's boat for a week and went out almost every night for picnic dinner, swimming, and hanging with friends and family. Can't beat summer time at the lake.

Played and won (for the 2nd year in a row) the volleyball tournament that Nate and I met at.

Been riding my gorgeous new coral Townie bike all over. It takes only 8 minutes to get to work!

First Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season...while riding in the convertible haha.

Living in denial that summer was really ending and fall was on its way. I hate putting my Rainbows away for 9 months.

Flowers from a student.

Weekend trip to SoCal for my Grandma' memorial service.

It's always summer in Cali. (yes, I know Californians will disagree with me and say it gets cold)

Family breakfast at Denny's to celebrate my Grandpa's accomplishments. 

Check it out! It's in all the new menus now :)

My first Coug game at WSU!

 

A weekend getaway thanks to our wonderful friends. They couldn't use their timeshare and didn't want it to go to waste so offered it to us! We found a really cool hot springs nearby.

And Crystal Fields with quarts everywhere.

AND...you know fall is here when the TV shows come back! Wednesday is my night for the TV. I've been waiting all summer to find out what happens in Nashville.

AND....as if my life wasn't jam-packed enough with fun stuff and school and just normal life, I became the assistant coach for the girls varsity volleyball team at my school. I love it! We played against my team from high school and both my coaches were there...we beat them by the way which felt good :). Only bummer thing is it makes me really miss playing. Hubby and I might start hitting the Friday night open gyms to play now.

So now you are all caught up. Those are all good excuses for not blogging right? Just maybe? Okay, well I'm going to try to be better! I'm working on a whole bunch of posts today to get them ready for the week!

Are you sad to say goodbye to summer too? What are some of your favorite things to do as a last summer hurrah or a fall welcoming? And if you are already chomping at the bit for Christmas, you are not allowed to comment your seasonal input for at least another month. ;)

Reliving Memories

Even if you have lost a loved one before, it never gets easier. And it's not something you really want to get easier. It's hard and it hurts because we love and have memories. We were created to have relationships--the most important one with our Creator--and so when any of those relationships fall apart, of course it's going to hurt. It is going against our reason for existence.

At 3am this morning, I lost my Grandma J. She was my dad's mom and my last living grandparent (my Grandpa, shown in the picture, died when I was 4). She would have been 92 tomorrow. She had four children, ten grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

I have many memories of visiting her when I was little and her visiting us. We got baptized together. She used to let me take all her curling clips out in the morning and brush her hair. She came with my family on a cruise to Alaska. She always had really pulpy orange juice to drink. I was a flower girl in her wedding when she got re-married.


When I was a freshman in high school, she started forgetting things, making things up in conversations, and asking the same question over and over.  She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. Over the years, her body and mind started wearing down and she continued to have more problems with memory, sleeping, medication, etc. I talked to her on the phone regularly but the conversations became more and more difficult as she wouldn't remember who I was. When I went off to college, I rarely talked to her anymore. I do regret that I didn't still continue to call her and just talk and tell her I loved her. How do you have a relationship with someone who doesn't remember who you are? It's not easy of course, but many people do it. My aunt was amazing and spent so much time taking care of my grandma and visiting her. My dad would talk to my aunt and my grandma and give me reports of how she was doing.

This picture is from the last time I saw my Grandma J in October 2009 at my cousin's wedding.

Here's my Grandma just two weeks ago with her other son and one of her daughters. They are holding the plaque sent by Denny's CEO, acknowledging my Grandpa as co-founder of Denny's Restaurant 60 years ago. It was my Grandma's idea to name it Denny's. It had originally been Danny's Donuts but then when they expanded to another city they wanted to avoid confusion with Donut Dan's so my Grandma suggested just changing the 'a' to an 'e'.

I can't change the last few years. I can't turn back time and make all the phone calls that I didn't make. I can't change that my Grandma didn't remember me. I can't help that she wasn't at my wedding.  I can't ever introduce my husband to her.

Regrets? Yes.
Hurt? Of course.
Memories? So many.

Death has a way of taking away that last ounce of control that we sometimes think we have. We can, to some degree, control how things go in a relationship as far as phone calls, visits, and taking the time to invest in another person. We can't control the outcome or their response, but we do still have some tiny grasp of control. And then, in the middle of the night, in a moment, we can lose even that. We lose the opportunity for any more chances. We lose that tangible relationship. We lose that comfort knowing that person is there.

And in that time of loss, every single memory comes pouring back with each tear. Those memories make you smile. They make you re-live a moment. You see that person again. You hear their voice. You feel their hand squeezing yours. You can even smell them.

So I could continue to kick myself for what I didn't do. But I can't change that. I have no control. And yes, that drives me crazy. But I have been learning over the past few years of my life how to continually let go of control time and time again. So instead of regrets, I am going to fill my mind with memories. The memories of swimming in her pool, petting her dog Nuggets, going to church with her, learning to read my first word while watching Sesame Street at her house. I'm going to hold on to those things. They also are things I cannot change. And for that I am thankful.

She was a wonderful Grandma and I am so thankful for the time I did have with her.
I love you Grandma J.

1 Year Anniversary

Yesterday, my husband and I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe a whole year has already gone by since our wonderful wedding day! It has been a jam-packed year--a year of growth, memories, love, laughter, big decisions, and good times. Some days I look at him and think, "am I really married to him? I really get to spend every day with him for the rest of my life?" As I said in my vows a year ago, "I am so thankful that sometimes too good really does come true."

We originally planned to go on a hot air balloon ride with the Living Social deal he gave me last year on our one-year-of-dating anniversary. We tried to go last year but had to keep canceling because of the weather. Then the season ended and the guy told us he would still honor the deal this spring. So we waited all winter and when May came we called, and called, and emailed. We finally found out online that the place was closed for business! BOO!!! Now what?

Well thankfully we had another option. Last fall, the Chamber of Commerce hosted a New Teacher's Reception and they gave away some cool packages. I won one of them! I think this was the first time I ever won a giveaway. We got 2 tickets for a day cruise on a river near us and included lunch. So I got online to book and when I saw this cruise only happened on Sundays, I knew it was meant to be!

Our pre-sunburn faces.

We did put sunscreen on, just not enough. Oops. I hope my rudolph-red-nose gets all better and doesn't peel by this next weekend--I'm in my friend's wedding.


At this point in the river, it really looks more like a lake. We found out that it used to be a lake on each side and a river in the middle. All three bodies of water were very separated until the river at the other end of the lake somehow caused the water level to rise (I can't remember what the Captain said as to how...a dam or something). The poles are to show the river's course and guide the boats through the deeper parts of the water.

Some parts of the river made me feel like I was on the Jungle Cruise as Disneyland! So then I told my husband a little bit about that ride (he's never been to Disneyland--we are hoping to change that this year!).

It was a gorgeous day for this cruise, perfect temperature and nice breeze. We had a fun time relaxing, taking in the sights, talking about our first year of marriage, getting burned without noticing, and discussing our next year of marriage. I am so blessed to be married to this Godly, wise, hardworking, handsome, funny, listening, caring, supportive, encouraging, awesome loving man!

 After the cruise, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at a floating restaurant. This is the same restaurant where we had dinner the night he proposed! (Sorry the picture is so bad. We just had my little point-and-shoot camera and the sun was bright outside.)

Our dinner: salad bar with boysenberry poppy seed dressing and 

then I had macadamia crusted mahi mahi, and he had prime rib.

We were so stuffed from the big lunch on the cruise, we both brought half our meals home for lunch tomorrow!

When we got back home, we took some pictures. I saw this idea on Pinterest awhile back where a couple held a picture of them on their wedding and took a picture. Each following year they hold the picture that they took the previous year. I thought this was fun and wanted to do it. So we grabbed our canvas picture and the tripod to take some pictures. Then I had a little editing fun. :)

 

 

After pictures, we said our vows to each other again. We both wrote our own vows. It was really special to hear and read them again!

And then, thankfully I remembered that we had our cake! 

I almost forgot and that would have been so sad! I took it out of the freezer a couple days ago and put it in the fridge to thaw. Ever since the small piece I ate on our wedding day, I have been waiting for our anniversary to have some more of that delicious cake!!! It was a vanilla cake with strawberry filling and white chocolate frosting! A friend of a friend made it for us. Here is what it looked like on our wedding day.

It tasted just as good as I remembered! Again, we were so stuffed so just ate a couple bites.

We had such a fun and food filled day! Hooray for our first year of marriage!

What did you do for your first anniversary?