Road trip!

Alternatively titled, All I need to know I learned from 22 hours in the car with my kids
Or, I used to hate road trips

There's nothing quite like a booster shot of super-mommy-ness to my ego other than two - count 'em, two - successful 11 hour road trip journeys with my two kids. Now I'm not suggesting that anyone else channel their inner mommy diva by hopping in the car and driving 600+ miles, but it worked for me.

Maybe a time or two I've doubted my mommy instinct, and doubted my children's ability to bounce back from a routine change (late naps or bedtime) or dietary indiscretion (processed food). I was so afraid they may melt down into a weeping pile of toddler-infant-babyGap-drool-and-snot on the floor. Rational me knows that is not going to happen.* Irrational me watches the clock and has more than once removed forks from hands mid-bite when we are approaching bedtime and are away from home. (Tell me I'm not the only one...)

Dear Self, doubt no more!

We got back from vacation number one: Lake Michigan (where it's like the beach but better - fresh water, little waves and no crabs, stingrays, sharks or other digit/limb removing creatures) and I had been thinking about driving the kids down to see my parents in Florida. With clean laundry, beach accessories, snacks and the double BOB already packed, we hit the road. Once we were on our way at 6:30am I knew we were locked in. I tried to quiet that little voice of doubt in the back of my mind; and quiet it did.

It was the perfect age for both of them. Sophie is so dialed into tv and movies that she had zero qualms about watching the screen for an entire day. Tucker is no longer nursing, so bottles were really easy to mix and administer. He's also just starting to worm around on the floor, so he isn't an anxious-I-want-to-run-everywhere toddler yet. (Although he is a oh-you-thought-your-floors-were-clean-watch-me-worm-around-and-then-check-my-onesie type of kid these days.)

All of our food and drink was packed for the day, so stops were mainly about gas, bottles, diapers and stretching our legs (as if we needed yet another great reason to delay potty training until 13 years old). We played on QSR playgrounds and rocked on the porch at Cracker Barrel and stopped about every three hours.

Our road trip was SO uneventful. Blissful, even. Tucker might make a peep every so often, but Sophie was quick to make a funny face or "speak whale" to make him giggle. Sophie watched Finding Nemo FOUR times on our return trip (where she learned to speak whale). Three stops on our way down south and two stops on the way back to KY.

Speaking of the return trip... I have a family member that once told me she used her daughters diapers to thwart extra stops if baby was sleeping but el baño was calling. Let me just tell you that a size four diaper does not accommodate the bladder of a 31 year old adult.

And that's all you need to know about 22 hours in the car with my kids.

*I'll still defend my nap/sleep/dietary choices as the number one reason why I have happy children 95% of the day.

Photos from our Florida trip. Not pictured: Tucker's first tooth, delicious, fresh shrimp and oysters, yummy burgers, Peg Leg Pete grouper sandwiches, infamous Brussells sprouts, a trip to the children's museum and six days of shake-the-house thunder, lightening and rain.

Girl loves some bubbles.

I really just take pictures of this swim suit
because I think it's so cute.
Going to sell it soon though :(

Happiest Baby on the Block.

Yaya and her babies.

Sophie and her Avengers "swim-a-ring"

Girl's got some hops.

Sweet thing.

I mean, this is not an act.
90% of her day is spent loving Tucker.

Beach bum.

Yes, the sun actually came out.

Sir splash-a-lot and Yaya.

Case and point.

Tucker's model face. Those lips!

"You would have more fun with
wet sand on your face."

New towel from Yaya's friend, Peggy!
(Her handmade creations are adorable, yall.)

Traveling with tykes

We try to travel light (yeah, right, Delta stole my wallet and $115 to check my bag), so here are my toiletry essentials from our most recent trip to Florida. Good thing I'm a big fat slacker when it comes to unpacking because I just tossed the whole bag right back in my luggage for our road trip this weekend! (Not pictured is our Purple Prairie sunscreen which was shipped to FL when we got there.)

Orajel Training Toothpaste & toothbrush
Up & Up Saline Spray: I have one labeled with an "S" and one with a "T" to keep their germies separate.
Up & Up Children's Motrin: for Sophie
Children's Tylenol: for Tucker
Exergen Temporal thermometer
Plastic syringe
Hair Bean: what can I say? One of the best stocking stuffers and detanglers.
Beadroux Butt Paste: or "bus pace" as Sophie calls it.
California Baby Deet-Free bug spray: you never know when you'll encounter mosquitos in the South.

I also made a quick trip to the pediatrician a few days before we left town to get the most up-to-date and accurate dosings for the kiddos specific to their weight for the pain relievers. Nothing like having a sick child (or a teething one) and being up at a random hour of the night trying to remember how much Tylenol they're allowed to have.

Interesting toiletry bag, right? I save these zipper pouches that usually come stuffed with pillow cases or sheets and use them for toiletries. Much better than my old method of plastic grocery bags!

Spring break 2012

Spring break 2012. Yes. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed some adult beverages and worked up a little sunburn. Isn't that was Spring Break used to be about? Instead of waking up nursing a hangover, I woke up with a little nursling in my arms; a difference I'd say was welcomed. These last few years of Spring Breaks have been the best ever with our babes in tow.

For a brief recap before I get to an insane amount of REALLY cute photographs...

Tucker slept like doo-doo in the room with me, rolled ALL the way over, like 360, for the first time (and then kept rolling and rolling to the other side of the room while mommy brushed her teeth thinking baby boy was just fine on his play mat), was scared of the baboons at the zoo that were crazy loud, protected his Super Baby status by being perfect on his first flight, and the sweetpea was Baptized on his first Easter Sunday.

Sophie ate the pavement on day 1 and had a giant boo-boo that (thankfully) quickly healed, slept like a dream as always (asked to take naps and "go to night night" because the excitement of our visit wore her flat out), enjoyed her day at the zoo, was great on the plane, and got her fill of fun, sand and wind on our somewhat short trip to the beach.

For a vacation that started with solo travel mom slamming her thumb in the car door at 6am en route to the airport, I'd say it turned out rather nice. I guess I never realized how much I need a thumb until it is throbbing and can't come in contact with anything (anything including a stroller, a toddler, a nursing infant or a carry on bag - you get the picture).

Chillin. Mackin.

My little dumpling. I think she was off to check on Tuck.

See that boo-boo on her forehead?

Yep, she was off to check on Tucker.

Sibling love.

Bath time body paints!

I do this all. the. time.

Feeding the giraffes with Yaya.

She wanted to get IN the bunny pen to figure out which one
was the actual Easter Bunny,

Hugs with sweet Harper.

Cold and windy, but she didn't seem to care!

Working with some sandcastles.

My little cutie.

Sweet friends. Only six weeks apart!

"BIG MUCH!" when asked how much mommy loves her.

Gummy smiles are my favorite!

Just love.

Tucker's baptism Easter Sunday.

Easter Sunday.

Looking out for eggs.

Easter egg hunt!

"Aqua Man" and Tuck-tuck.

Roar! Tucker and Grandpa.

The only thing harder than raising a child...

Is planning a vacation to Maui.

There is an over-abundance of information for such a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific... and it never fails: I sit down to do some research and find myself two hours later in a daze, not remembering one thing I've read. Wish us luck (we need it). The ONLY thing I've confirmed is that Sophie's two grandmothers will be able to share babysitting duty while we're gone!

One day soon, I hope to actually taste food again. Sophie doesn't just pass out in her car seat when we're out to eat anymore, she needs entertainment (or bottle, or food, or just wants to play with your face). So I either wind up inhaling what's in front of me simply for sustenance or I let the meal pass with hardly touching my food. I almost ruined dinner with friends last night by just being an anxious mess trying to take Sophie out past bedtime. Good thing they are good friends :) Once we got home I actually had to think about what I ordered (ate it so fast I didn't remember).

Happy Wife, Happy Life. I can literally hear Bryan's eyes rolling over this phrase. It's the kind of thing you see stitched on a kitchen towel (the stiff kind that doesn't absorb a THING) or etched in a little wooden plaque in a touristy gift shop... but this is one happy wife... and we have a great little life! Another wonderful weekend is drawing to a close; planted flowers, ate out, got a massage, dinner with friends, vacation planning and I sort of feel skinny today.

Some of the flowers I planted in baskets (collars are model's own)

Another day of World Cup games. My mommy brain doesn't stop just because Sophie is napping upstairs. "Watch out for the soft spot!" Every time I see the players go for a header, I cringe, thinking they still have soft spots in their skulls... which would only apply if we were watching baby soccer... and that probably wouldn't have 19 times the viewership of the Super Bowl.