I’m really glad I did because it was over two hours before Alan was done.

Do you know what I actually said a few weeks ago?  “Oh, it won’t be hard, prepping for the move, with just one baby here.”

I will give you all a minute to laugh at my stupidity. BAHAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA

One baby is all it takes to thwart perfectly good plans. Back to my story: a rough morning was had by all.

Alan: -At the beginning of the inspection, Alan dropped a brand new set of blinds, which we had just bought last night after the maid service broke them–and wouldn’t admit that they broke them. The blinds shattered all over the floor.

–Several lights just randomly decided to not turn on this morning that had never done that before….and the packers…..who do not pack light bulbs, as a rule, actually did pack the light bulbs that go to those particular light fixtures. Bizarre, considering they left us mountains of light bulbs, batteries, candles, and cleaning products. (Not complaining–just pointing out the irony of the missing light bulbs.)

-At the end of the inspection, Alan went to crank the van, and nothing. That’s right. He had to use his truck to give himself a jump-start.

-While sitting and letting the van run, Alan suddenly felt pain in his left arm. A wasp had gotten into the van and stung him in two places.

All of this before the road trip even started, but I have to tell you, he handled it all so well.

**********

Meanwhile, while I was skipping the home inspection, at the park:

First, I tried walking. JD started to cry, so I took him to the park. John David was well entertained by the playground equipment for about 20 minutes. Thankfully, just as JD was getting restless, a sweet family arrived. I have talked to Kevin, Liz, and their kids several times at our neighborhood park before. They are a really cute family with a daughter that’s Daniel’s age, as well as a daughter that’s JD’s age, and one more on the way.

I don’t know what I would have done without them today. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I’d been praying all morning for help with this stressful move, and God came through for us as always. There are few accidents!

The little girls kept John David entertained. Actually, they kept me entertained too! It was amazing to see their toddler walking all over the place. I just kept thinking, “Wow, I can’t believe that’s going to be JD soon–walking all over the place!”

As JD was getting super cranky after an hour or so, they even shared their snacks with him. Kevin even held JD for me for a bit, which was a welcome break!

I want to wish this precious family much luck! Liz, I wish I were still there to offer you babysitting during those foggy postpartum weeks. I hope everything goes well. I’m sure it will. You two are such wonderful parents.

After these friends left, I pushed JD in his stroller, back and forth, around the park, until he fell asleep. I was so fortunate. I figured I’d sit on a bench while he slept, and maybe let myself just feel sad for a few minutes…….but then I was reminded yet again what made that community so great. Friend after friend dropped by and talked to me at the park. There was never a spare second to sit and reminisce–which was great! Thanks for stopping by, ya’ll, just to say hello, you really brightened this tired momma’s day!!

*********

Once we finally hit the road, we were starving. I never even had breakfast. With Joshua safely in Alabama, we thought, “Hey! We can eat at Chick-fil-a!” Woohoo!!  And so we did. The JD/possible peanut allergy thing never crossed my mind. We’ve had so many things on our minds.

The next time we stopped, we discovered a little red rash on JD’s face. Just peachy. Chick Fil A uses peanut oil, and I had given him a french fry. We gave him some Benadryl and drove on. The bad news is that the Benadryl worked. I was suspicious before, but now I am just sure of it. We have another peanut kid on our hands.

It was a very successful road trip today. We made it to Knoxville. Then we decided to stop, to give JD a chance to play in the hotel room before bed. That has worked nicely so far.

********

The three oldest boys are doing great in Alabama. Alan’s parents have sent me a few pictures.

……and a couple of good quotes:

Alan’s parents: Who wants to say the blessing?

Dan: Me!!  Me!!!   Danks, God. Amen. 🙂

****

Nonna (after taking the three boys to a museum–with Janet and her grandkids):  I’m so tired I can’t see straight.

Oh, Nonna, how we know that feeling!!  Thank you so much for doing this!!!!!

****

One quote from our road trip today:

Alan: Yeah….you’ve got an Anna voice, trying to sing an Elsa song…..

Humph! Whatcha tryin’ to say, Alan?? 😉 Ha! That’s okay. Idina Menzel is one of a kind.

****

Tomorrow: We’re meeting Alan’s extended family for lunch in Alabama!  Plus, we get reunited with all of our children. Can’t wait!

The post Road Trip Day 1: First stop, Knoxville appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

I’m back from my Alabama visit!  I caught the last flight from Atlanta to Baltimore last night.  It is a good thing too because  each flight after it was cancelled, due to the weather. And boy, do I have some tips to share about flying with an infant. Of course, I had to go and learn them all the hard way.

Best things about my trip:

• I got to visit with family.
• I got to hold a precious newborn.
• I spent time SITTING on a sofa.  : )
• The food!  Oh, the food!!!  We had Arby’s!!!  We had Swiss Cake Rolls, Fage Greek yogurt–my very favorite, but I’m usually too cheap to buy it, pizza, and oh!  Goldfingers chicken!!!  It was a party in my tummy.  : )
• We went through many of Granny’s things, mostly clothes, jewelry, and cards that she’d saved.  I brought home a few beautiful broaches that will remind me of Granny each time I wear them.

The visit part was awesome.  The flying part was where the work came in.

Have you ever flown with an infant?  It’s not really my favorite.  While waiting to board one flight, this nice, well-meaning lady came up and talked to me.  She said, “Just wait….” and I must’ve had a look on my face that let her know this wasn’t actually my first rodeo, because she stopped and said, “Is this your first?” Of course, you know I explained that I have four, but she went on to say how much easier it is to travel with just one, rather than two or more.

Well, yes, that’s true, BUT that does not negate that traveling with even just one infant is difficult–especially when you’re traveling ALONE with the infant.  Oy.  I have flown with four different babies at different times over the years–usually without Alan–but also a time or two with him.  It’s much easier when both parents are present.

Here are a few lessons I’ve picked up over the years on flying with infants:

#1. Ergo Vs. Strollers    

While I use my Ergo often, I’m not really the queen of baby carrier wearers.  I have trouble fastening them by myself.  I also have back issues, so I can’t wear them for very long at a time.

On my flight down south, I decided to only use the Ergo. I didn’t even take a stroller with me because I figured I can travel rather quickly that way. After all, I had a crazy short layover in Atlanta.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT.

If you love wearing your Ergo, fine, but I highly recommend that you have a stroller with you. Have the stroller for when your back starts to hurt so badly that you become super jealous of the people in wheelchairs.  I spent a few minutes there at the end, fantasizing over riding in one of those wheelchairs, let me tell ya!

While in Alabama, I went to the store and picked out the most awesome little almost-umbrella stroller I have ever purchased.  HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS:

I used this stroller on the trip home, and I didn’t bother with the Ergo.  It worked much, much better, and I won’t spend two days with an achy back as a result of it either.

#2.  Food

Food is the number one way to entertain little ones on an airplane.  JD is pretty messy with his food, so for him I used a bottle of apple juice.  My kids have to drink apple juice for their bathroom issues, so it’s a guilt-free tool for us.

JD still doesn’t really take a bottle, so he mostly gnawed on it, took sips here and there, and played with it.

Breastfeeding usually solves a lot of problems too.  Don’t be afraid to breastfeed your baby on the airplane.  People, in general, are very understanding, and if they aren’t, who cares?  Babies have to eat whether your seat mate is weird about it or not!

Which brings me to point #3:

#3. Breastfeeding on an Airplane….

Oh, the joys…I have this weird problem:  When I feel nervous or uptight, my milk STOPS.  It just won’t let down for the baby.  No milk = mad baby.

Have any of you other breastfeeding mommies had this no-let-down- when- nervous problem?

On my first flight, I was walking down the aisle, looking for my seat. All I could see in the area I were men.  “Noooooo,” I thought, “Oh, please, no, oh please, no, don’t let that be my seat next to the pretty man,” because it really looked like it was.  I did not want to have to breastfeed next to the handsome man.

I was lucky.  My seat was right in front of his, right beside a SUPER sweet girl, about my age.  PHEW!!!!  She was awesome.  We had such a good time talking, I really wish I’d caught her name.  She was a kindred spirit.

All went well with the breastfeeding.

Yes, I use a nursing cover.  I forgot mine, so I had to use a blanket, which is only a little more difficult.

On my return flight, I DID have to sit next to a man, about my age, and guess what happened?  I felt uncomfortable, as he was not a dad yet, so I knew he was probably uncomfortable, and my milk would not let down.  What is wrong with me???  Am I the only one with this problem???  Tell me I’m not the only one!!!  Ugh.

THANKFULLY, the lady I mentioned before, that I’d talked to at the airport, who’d said, “just wait until you have two kids”, appeared out of nowhere, and rescued me with a strand of Mardi Gras beads!  JD  was in Heaven with those beads.  Thank you, bead lady!!!!

God provides.

I simply fed JD later, after we landed at the airport, in a carefully selected seat near a window, across from a nice grandparent-ish couple.  Halfway through the feeding, this young man behind me–that liked to look around, but I’d forgotten all about him–suddenly said, “Oh, sorry!” looking at me….apparently he’d gotten a peek.

There was really nothing to say to that…..so we’ll move on.

#4. When the baby fights sleep, and the crying begins….

The very last flight was when JD started to lose it.  Don’t worry, I didn’t cry, but JD sure did.  Whatever you do at home to quiet a crying baby is what works on an airplane too.

Joshua was the type of baby that never cried once, the airplane just lulled him to sleep, and I thought flying with babies was so easy.

JD was more difficult, but he only got really upset on the very last flight.  We were sitting by the “We’re not talking here,” type of guy.  Boo fun.  I do not like sitting by non-talkers.  Holding the baby with no one to talk to is lonely.  The talking soothes JD, so without it, I was left with sleepy-grumpy-poopy JD.

We’ll talk about the poopy part in a minute…..

As it turns out, it’s perfectly acceptable to stand up, rock your baby back and forth, and even sing to him.  : )  Can you picture it?  Yes, I had to resort to all of these things, but at least he went to sleep.

#5. Diaper changing on an airplane:

Somehow, JD always chose to do his business ON the airplane.  Great.  I handled this 3 different ways, all which worked just fine:

A.  On a flight where the back row was empty, I snuck back there and used that row to change his diaper where no one could see us.

B.  On a flight where I boarded first, so the seats around me were all still empty, I hastily laid JD in my lap and changed him right there.  Thankfully, it was just a wet one.

C.  JD went full-on messy diaper during our very last flight, so I just marched him down to the airplane bathroom.  Do the plane bathrooms have changing tables?  Um, no.  I put the lid to the toilet down, sat there, and changed a seriously poopy diaper right there in my lap.

This would’ve all been a lot harder with a Daniel-sized toddler.

#5.  EARS

If your ears are bothering you, their ears are probably bothering them.  I tried to keep a pacifier in his mouth for this, as it never happened when he was hungry. In the past, I have done the whole feeding during the descent thing.  The descent always seems to be the worst for ears. JD seemed to handle it best lying down, rather than sitting up.

***************

 Our journey was quite the adventure.  I do have this knack for getting myself into scrapes.  On the way home, I ran into a major snag when I couldn’t find my car in the parking garage.  

Advice to myself:  Always write down your parking space number.  

I spent ten minutes wandering around the 1st floor of the garage in the freezing cold because all I remembered was that I parked on the 1st floor, to the left of the elevators……I didn’t realize there are 4 different sets of elevators….

 I ended up with a cold, hungry baby, getting back on the shuttle bus, not really sure where to look next.

Guess what happened next?  Remember my post about the kindness of strangers?  I ran into some more angels-in-disguise.  Their names were Bob and Jan.  They were a grandparent-ish couple, and they asked me if they could drive me around the garage until we found my car.  We found it right away because I remembered exactly how I’d turned into the 1st floor and driven to the third row.  Phew!  Thank you, Bob and Jan!!

Again, God provides.  Be silenced, all ye who credit coincidence; there are few accidents.

Okay, so my next big goal is to start making better decisions so that I’m not constantly requiring help from strangers!!!

The post Expert Tips for Flying with an Infant (that I learned the hard way) appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.