Leavin On a Jet Plane...Traveling With a Little One

Over the past two years that I've had Aidan, one of the most common questions I have gotten (besides "is he sleeping yet?") is "How in the world do you travel with a baby so much??"  The most common comments are "I would never try that!" Since I've been asked a LOT by moms for tips or things I've learned while flying a lot with the little one (by the time he turns 2 in January he will have been on 18 separate trips--and yes when I write it all down like that it DOES sound crazy!)  I thought I'd consolidate some of the tips and tricks I've picked up here and there for anyone who is doing any holiday traveling with a little one.

Booking Tickets:

So if you already have tickets, it's a little late for this topic, but there are a few things to try & keep in mind when choosing flight times. 

• I've tried both early morning flights and later afternoon flights, and I will say the early morning flights, while more brutal on me because I hate getting up when it's still dark, tended to be easier on Aidan.  The flights we've had that didn't leave the east coast until 3 PM or later just made for a REALLY long day for him, and made navigating his nap schedule with having to be to the airport early much more difficult.  However, the plus side is that if the flight is long enough you will eventually hit bedtime on the plane and hopefully he'll crash in your arms and sleep a good portion of the flight.  But leaving early is much easier--he'll arrive at our destination with daytime left to explore his new surroundings, he will nap on the plane, and babies are just generally happier in the mornings (at least mine is!)  So go for an earlier flight if possible and just know you'll be tired but it is better than being awake almost all day and then boarding a 5 hour flight across the country at dinner time! 
• Remember, it's free to take a baby on your lap until they are 2 years old, but you will need to pack the birth certificate to prove to the ticket agents your child is under 2!  I used to NEVER get asked--I probably got asked one time in 2 years of travel with Aidan, but now that I'm traveling with Asher I've been asked a LOT to prove he is under two.  So I always take copies of both my kid's certificates just in case.  Apparently an official shot record with the child's name and birthdate on it is also acceptable as an ID form but one time I didn't have either document with me and it was a problem for Southwest Airlines. 
• Don't be afraid of a lay over.  The layovers I have where I only get about 30 minutes are stressful.  Not only do you need to schlep baby and all your gear to your next gate but your little one will want down and to crawl or run some of his wiggles out.  30 minutes is not enough time to let him do this!  An hour and a half is a perfect amount of time to get to your next gate without sprinting, and let baby explore the airport, watch planes, get out of your arms for awhile, but it's not so long that your travel day feels unbearable!  I try my best to break up all my flights about half way. 

Car Seats and Packing:

If you're traveling with a husband or helper, it's not quite as big of a deal, but if you're on your own with an infant in arms,  the packing AND organizing of the diaper bag is a huge thing because once you have a baby on your lap in an airplane seat, you often won't be able to bend down enough to see the contents of your bag--you'll have to know where everything is by touch.  So a few things to keep in mind when packing.

• First, baby gear like car seats and strollers fly free--you can check these items at the ticket counter when you check the rest of your luggage and you won't have to pay for them, you'll just pick them up on the luggage carousel at your final destination (It's 2 pieces of baby gear per baby that goes for free).  
• Car Seats: You have probably heard that if there is an empty seat on your plane you can bring your car seat on board and have that empty seat for the little one without paying for it.  This is true, but my experience is that in this day and age there are usually very few empty seats on planes, so I haven't found lugging my heavy car seat along with everything else I'm carrying through the airport just in case there might be an empty seat (only to find out that there never is).  Make sure the people who check your car seat put it in a plastic bag!!  We have arrived at our final destination with a sopping wet car seat that had apparently sat outside on the tarmac during our lay over in a monsoon rain storm.  They have plastic bags both at the inside ticket counter and the outside curbside check in spots.  I have also learned the hard way that if an airline accidentally leaves your car seat on the run way in Denver, when you land in Burbank at 10:00 at night they will have a loaner car seat they can give you until they get yours back.  They're cheap and not awesome, but you won't be stuck at the airport. 
• For toddlers who will have their own seats on the airplane, technically the FAA does not require them to be in a car seat, however, while a pain to carry, putting your child in a car seat just as you would in a vehicle is by far safer than letting them sit in the seat on their own.  The lap seat belt just slides through the belt path on a car set, you put your weight on the seat with your knee and pull tight, just as you would install it in a car.  Your kiddo will also appreciate sitting up that much higher so he can see out the window easily and I've learned from many first hand experiences that it is actually much easier for a child to nap on the plane if they are buckled into their regular car seat just like they would nap in a car.  They are less wiggly, and there is something about being in the familiar that is helpful.   I've told friends to take car seats and they didn't and told me later they would NEVER make that mistake again--their kid would NOT hold still in the regular seat and settle into a napping position.  So for 2-3 year olds I always took the car seat on board.

There are 2 items that I absolutely could not survive traveling without--everyone has their "must haves" and these are my 2 when it comes to flying (especially since I usually travel without my husband).  My Beco baby carrier (this is my 3 year old niece modeling my carrier with her baby) is the number one item I used while traveling with Aidan until he was about 13 months old.  (He just got too heavy at that point to carry him and my carry on items by myself through big airports so I stopped using this when he started walking).  You NEED something to carry baby in through the airport and to keep him contained until you have your luggage and things situated on the plane.  If you are wearing your baby in a carrier you do NOT need to take them out at security--they will have you walk through a regular metal detector with baby attached to you and then they will swipe your hands to check for explosive material.  Both my boys would sleep in it if I have a nursing cover over him as well, so you can use it to induce naptime once on board by standing in the back and bouncing. This is also how I got away with never traveling with a stroller the whole first year--I just wore him everywhere we went at our destination--now that he's so much heavier that doesn't work but for the first year any hands free baby carrier is a must have when traveling! (Note, you are actually not allowed to keep baby in the carrier for take off or landing, but it is awesome to have one for mid-flight or the getting on and off the plane process.)

The second item that is my must-have once my kids got too big for the carrier to be comfortable is a contraption called a Go Go Babyz Travelmate.  Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it is brilliant.  If your little one is still in an infant car seat, this isn't necessary for you, but as soon as you start traveling with a full sized convertible car seat you need help.  Those things weigh a TON and I can barely lift it let alone carry it through an airport.  A Go Go Babyz is a set of wheels that straps on to your carseat through the belt path, turning it into a stroller of sorts.  I wouldn't use it as an actual stroller at a destination, but you can wheel your little one through the airport with incredible ease.  You do have to remove him at security, but then ask the TSA agent to hand check your car seat (so it doesn't have to fit through the metal detector) and you'll walk through the metal detector with your munchkin.  When Aidan was old enough to walk but still young enough to be considered an "infant in arms," I kept him in his car seat until we got right to the door of the plane.  Then I'd "gate check" the seat, and they would bring it right back to the jetway at our destination.  Now that he has his own airplane seat, I take it on board.  On a full sized airplane (Southwest flights...) my car seat is narrow enough to wheel him right down the aisle to our row so he stays constrained til we get to our seats.  They aren't cheap, but it is the absolute best money I've ever spent on a piece of baby gear just because those car seats are so darn hard to maneuver.  I got mine through Amazon and it works fantastically.

Other things I always take on board the airplane in my carry on: (sometimes I need some of these things, sometimes I don't, but here's my standard diaper bag packing list for flights):

• Enough diapers for 1 day--you know your baby's diaper-filling patterns, so plan around that with a couple extras.  I WAY over packed diapers my first few flights and ended up cutting way back for subsequent flights since they took up half my diaper bag.  If you find yourself in a pinch there will be another mom somewhere on board who can help!  
• A pack of wipes--great for diaper changes but also for sticky hands, spills, and the unfortunate day when my child threw up all over himself upon landing in Burbank one flight...I think I went through the whole pack of wipes and then carried him naked off the plane...
• One extra outfit for my kids packed in a zip lock baggie (so if there is a major accident or spilling of anything on him you can put the soiled clothes in the zip lock when you get the new outfit out).
• My nursing cover or light swaddle blanket.  Even if you're not nursing it's nice to have something to cover their little faces and bodies if they fall asleep--for warmth, and to block some of the light.
• Portable white noise.  If you have an iphone with a white noise app that works great. This is to place near his head when he does fall asleep because the captain will inevitably come on the intercom to point out some landmark as soon as your little one drifts off.  I've found having white noise near his head really does help him stay asleep longer with all the noisy intercom announcements.  
• A few toys.  Don't go overboard here.  Most babies will be completely entertained for quite awhile practicing putting the arm rest or tray table up and down.  They'll be fascinated by the pictures and bright colors on the safety information card.  Aidan liked to rip pages out of the sky mall magazine (hey when stuck at 10,000 feet with a 9 month old, you go with whatever entertains them!).  Ask the flight attendant for an empty plastic cup--they will chew on it, put things in it, crinkle it etc for a good 10-15 minutes!  I usually make a quick Target run before a trip to get a couple new books he's never seen before and one new easily portable toy.  That way whatever you pull out for him is new and exciting, but you certainly don't have to do this! 
• Now that he's a toddler, I pack some books, a sticker book for him to work on, and then the portable DVD player with some of his favorite movies.  He has flown enough he now knows he can't have his DVD player set up on his tray til we're up in the air and he hears the "ding" stating we're at 10,000 feet.  So we read books, look at the Sky Mall catalog (there are lots of kitties and doggies in there!), and do stickers until we're airborne (and then again when we're in our descent).   Play dough is also a great airplane activity for toddlers. 
• Snacks for BOTH of us!!  He loves his puffys and yogurt melts, and these will keep him busy for a LONG time!  Especially if I make him fish them one at a time out of a cup or my hand!  Don't forget food for Mommy!  Your hands will be full, so I've found that power bars with good protein, PB&J sandwiches, or pre-sliced fruit are the easiest since you'll need to eat with one hand.  Again not an issue if you have daddy traveling with you!  Most flights won't feed you any more, so if you're traveling a long distance, pack a lunch--wraps, sliced fruit, cheese and crackers with salami, all great airplane food.  You ARE allowed frozen ice packs on board, so you can use those to keep food cold or cool off your baby formula or breast milk. Note: You ARE allowed to take baby-related liquids on the flight--bottles of formula or breast milk that's been pumped and they are NOT limited to the 3 ounce rule other liquids must be.  Simply make a separate bag of the baby-related liquids and let them know when you get to the check point that you have baby formula or milk with you and they will screen that separately. 
• Sippy cup for him, water bottle for me--take them empty through security and fill with the drinking fountain when you get to the gate.  Babies little ears are sensitive on flights with the pressure changes so the number 1 way you can keep those open is to either nurse, feed, or let them suck on a sippy cup straw during both take off and landing. 
• My kindle.  He will end up falling asleep and so I like to have my kindle reachable for when he does.  I can read one-handed until he wakes up and wants to play again

All this really does fit in our diaper bag with careful planning (with the exception of a lunch box--now that he's in his own seat he technically gets 2 carry ons, so mine are my purse and diaper bag, his is the lunch box).  There are things others will tell you to pack, which you are welcome to, however I found they just took up space & I decided I could function without them.  For instance, I don't ever pack an extra shirt for me.  Some say this is a bad idea, but I've never really needed it and don't tend to have space.  Instead I dress for travel in 2 layers (a tank top under a loose long sleeved or short sleeved shirt).  If there's an oops on mommy's shirt I have another layer without taking up diaper bag space.  I also don't pack clorox wipes any more.  I used to try frantically wiping down all the germy plane surfaces he'd be touching but then I realized it was pretty futile.  He always went straight for the one thing I hadn't wiped down and it didn't end up seeming worth it.  I figure he's had his shots, he eats healthy, I just need to be ok with him exploring the plane even if it does kind of gross me out!

We have all seen the families with the stroller, pack and play, car seat, diaper bag and luggage trying to check in, and we have all sworn we wouldn't be "that" family and that when it was our turn we'd be the ones to travel super light.  The reality though is that there are certain things you need to have in order to make the vacation a success--baby needs a place to sleep, needs to be safely buckled into a car when you arrive, and may need a way to be contained at meal times.  Unless you're traveling to visit people who already own all these items, you'll need to take these things with you.  The good news is you can check most of these things on a plane and don't have to haul them through an airport.  It is worth asking whoever you are visiting if they have a friend they could borrow a few baby items from.  If they ask around at church or in the neighborhood it's amazing how many families do own extra baby gear!  (I haven't ever had to fly with a pack and play--everyone I have gone to visit has been able to borrow one from somewhere, or my parents went to a second hand children's shop and got one for about $25 to just keep at their house--and most hotels have portacribs you can use for free so call and ask before you haul one across the country).  To save suitcase space I don't pack enough diapers or baby food for the whole trip.  Wherever I'm going has stores, so I pack enough diapers, wipes and food for the travel day and the first day at our destination and then head to a store to stock up on anything I didn't want to use suitcase space on.

Other Random Tidbits:

Ask a flight attendant when you board if there is a changing table on the plane.  Southwest flights all have them in the front lavatory, they are fold down things over the toilet.  If there is no changing table on board you have a few choices.  If you're with other people from your family just have them stand up and lay baby across your two seats to change him.  You can always lay your changing pad or mat on the floor at the back of the plane if you need to in a worst case scenario.  

He may cry.  And it's okay.  No one will die from listening to your baby cry, and most people on the flight have been in your shoes (even if they shoot you dirty looks and act like they haven't).  You can always stand and bounce with him in the back of the plane if you need to, or walk him up and down the aisle to let him make new friends.  Sooner or later you WILL land and get off the plane and you will survive.  I've been amazed at how many people really are willing to help especially if you're alone. I've had other moms offer to hold him so I could use the bathroom or get situated, a flight attendant made him a rattle with a plastic cup, lid and pack of pretzels, a business man played peek a boo with Aidan over the seat back for WAY longer than I'm sure he wanted to, and countless people offered to help me put my luggage up above, let me use their tray table for an extra surface for my own drink to keep it away from little hands, and helped me get my luggage back at baggage claim.  

Why is all this worth it to me?  Because I want my boys to know their family as much as possible, and if that means every 6 weeks or so I deal with a travel day, well, it's worth it.  We survive the flight and then he has a blast with cousins or relatives.  Yes it can mess with his sleep schedule, and I do my best to follow his tired cues to know when to put him down (rather than a clock), and within a day or two he adjusts and we're back on a normal routine.  But to me, it's all worth it.  Happy travels my friends!

What I'm Into (June 2013)

Clearly writing is not something I've been into in the past few months!  Yikes!  It's been almost 2 months since I have posted anything--how in the world did that happen??  I thought life moved quickly when I was in grad school--you get the syllabus on day 1 of the quarter and before you know it you're at finals 10 weeks later.  But that was nothing compared to full days with a very busy and very curious 17 month old.  I never. stop. moving.  I never sit down.  If he's napping I'm busy trying to prepare the next meal or quickly do a load of laundry since hauling laundry baskets and a 27 pound wiggly boy down to the laundry room is no longer physically feasible.  Life feels full, rich, a bit tedious somedays (how many times can you beg a 1 year old to not touch the DVD player??), and always always involves at least one change of clothes per day (for him...but often for me as well...this kid is a pro at finding water, dirt, mud, etc).  So as I think back over the past 2 months, here are a few of the things we've been into and up to in our little corner of Northridge.

The Little Man:  Aidan is growing & changing in new ways every day.  Today I heard him "baa" like a sheep for the first time.  I know, probably not earth-shattering, but I've never heard him do that before!  He surprises me all the time with new things and he is trying so hard to communicate, and he doesn't miss a thing.  This morning the car seat was sitting in our entry way when we woke up because my husband had gone to the beach super early & left the car seat so I could use it in a friend's car.  Aidan sees it and immediately starts making his airplane signs and sounds--he knows the only time we ever pull that car seat out is when he goes on an airplane.  It took me forever to convince him we weren't going on a plane today, no matter how many times he asked for Papa and Grandma, but I was amazed--that was a connection he made immediately that I probably never would have.  He's trying to learn how to "sing" which as one of our high school friends says is "the. cutest. thing. EVER!"  (I agree, it is).

We got him a water table at Costco one day because it was so warm outside and we wanted something he could play with out on our patio.  This kid is obsessed.  He's out there all the time, often before 7 AM in his pjs playing in the "wa-wa."  Definitely money well spent! He is completely in love with Elmo (Mo-mo) and will ask for Elmo at all hours.  Part of me is beginning to regret introducing Elmo but part of me is grateful that for the first time in a year and a half I can make dinner without him tearing my pantry and cupboards apart while whining to be entertained.  I used to be one of those moms who thought I'd never let my kid watch TV this young.  Yeah, there are a lot of things I used to think about parenting.  And then I had Aidan.  And now we do what works as we go along, and in this season of constant toddler activity and destruction, that means we watch Elmo twice a day (as Mommy drinks her morning coffee and as Mommy makes dinner!).  Just today for the first time he started asking for "choo choos" so we watched Thomas the Train instead and he was fascinated (my parents took him to play with the Thomas the Train table at Barnes and Noble last weekend and he LOVED it!) So perhaps there is hope that I can have a bit of variety in my toddler-TV time :)

Since we have a tiny apartment and almost no outdoor space with a very active little boy, I spend a lot of my days taking him on outings.  We've gone all kinds of random places together which has been so fun.  Underwood Farms, Universal Studios City Walk, the LA Zoo, friend's houses, a local park with a splash zone in it, and lots of places that involve ice cream or frozen yogurt.  I love these times with him, getting to see new things and getting to explore more of LA myself.  He adores the beach, can't get enough of the sand and water--this kid definitely doesn't have sensory issues that we've found so far!  While his mommy hates the texture of sand, he rolls in it.  I can't imagine having to roll in sand, but he dives in--usually face first. Yuck.

Books, Music, and Netflix:  We cancelled our cable, so whatever we watch now is either online or on Netflix, which so far has been just fine (I do miss the Today Show.  A lot).  In May I watched season 1 of the show Hart of Dixie on Netflix while I was home in the evenings by myself and I got a teensy bit addicted.  I loved it.  Small town, cute characters, medical stuff, love triangles--I was hooked and am looking forward to season 2 coming out this fall on DVD.  Charles and I finished season 1 of The West Wing last night and were going to start season 2 tonight (but someone decided to go to bed at 7:30 after an early morning surf session....I'm not naming any names!)  We both adore this show, the writing, characters and politics.  I always said if Jed Bartlett could run for president he'd have my vote in a heartbeat!

I'm super late to the party but I just discovered The Lumineers and adore them.  I've known Hey Ho for awhile now but hadn't ever heard the rest of their album....it's fantastic. The Nashville Soundtrack has also been frequently played in the car this past month, which has some wonderful new songs on it, and I'm still living in my obsession of Elizabeth Mitchell's kid's music--so beautiful and folksy and not obnoxious at all.  I just found out she's doing a kid's concert at The Getty in August and I think I might be a teensy bit excited.

I got to go on vacation in June for 2 weeks to see my family, and I managed to read a lot while I was there.  After Aidan went to bed every evening at 7 I read for a couple of hours because I didn't have any responsibilities of cleaning or laundry or anything else that occupies my time here at home.  I read 3 books and started 2 more (hey, for me that's a lot these days!).  I loved Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, a novel set in India about two cousins born on the same day and raised together.  It's a story of their lives unfolding, their arranged marriages, their family's secrets and past--all woven together beautifully.  Definitely recommend this one!  I also read Sparkly Green Earrings, Catching the Light at Every Turn by Melanie Shankle.  She's the author of the Big Mama blog which I really love and this is her first book, a memoir of parenting that is hysterical and will bring you to tears.  Her chapter on potty training made me about die laughing!  The last book I read was one my mom's neighbor read and immediate brought over to us.  My mom read it in a couple days and then I picked it up and finished it in a few days.  It's called Left Neglected by Lisa Genova, author of the popular book Still Alice.  It's about a woman who is incredibly successful, a high powered exec, mother of 3, carefully juggling her life.  A car accident leaves her with a brain injury that causes "left neglect" where her brain completely ignores the left side of everything.  She isn't blind but she literally doesn't register the left side of her plate, a book, her body, a room, anything she's looking at.  It's a very real disorder that people experience (often stroke patients) and reading her story & her path to recovery was fascinating.  It's a fiction book, easy to read, and definitely one I'd recommend.  I've started Francis Chan's Crazy Love, and Sticky Faith by Kara Powell and Brad Griffin from the Fuller Youth Institute (since I'm going to be Kara's TA in the fall as she teaches a class on Sticky Faith I figured I should read the book!)  I get the opportunity to preach at First Pres Granada Hills in August and have been doing some reading to prepare for that as well.  Walter Brueggemann's book The Message of the Psalms is fantastic, and has given me a lot to think about as I dive into the world of the Psalms of Lament.

Other Events and Happenings: Memorial Day weekend saw us heading up to Forrest Home camp with 110 other folks from church for the All Church Retreat.  It was a lovely weekend of connecting with those I might not have known well, and letting Aidan explore nature a bit more and playing.  I will say it was REALLY exhausting with a 1 year old--who didn't sleep hardly at all and who needed to be watched at all times to avoid you know, falling off a mountain or down a hill into a rockbed.  But I am still glad we went and am hoping next year might be a bit easier.

We're still house hunting, which is a painful process in LA on a limited budget!  The market is ridiculously competitive and we've put in offers on several places now only to have 15 other offers be submitted as well.  So nothing exciting to report on that front!

June saw us getting to attend two graduation parties from students we've known and loved since they were freshmen at the church we were at previously.  It was wonderful getting to reconnect with them and their families, and to hear all about their plans as they head to places like Stanford, Yale, and Harvard (yes I had a ridiculously smart freshmen girl's small group one year!)


I hopped on an airplane June 12 and headed to Minneapolis to spend 2 weeks there with my parents (with a 5 days side trip down to Iowa to see my sister's family & new home!)  Charles was in Costa Rica with the high school students so I headed east.  It was a blast letting Aidan explore, get to know his cousins, and having extra people to chase him and keep him from eating dirt (too much anyways) and falling into the fountain at my parent's house.  He LOVED being with his cousins and asks for Lulu and Book (Lily & Brooke) all the time.  They taught him the lovely skill of shrieking and he's been practicing to see if he can give them some competition next time we see them.  He could not get enough dirt and bark and rocks and grass and sand and water in their yards.  I think we went through 2-3 outfits a day while we were there.  But in my mind that's exactly what summertime should be for a little boy!  He discovered a few new foods that he loves while there--most notably "nini" (Zucchini).  My parents took him one Saturday for several hours while I worked on my sermon, and the 3 of them went to explore the aquarium at the mall of america and then went to eat ice cream and play with the train table at Barnes & Noble.  He had an absolute ball.  He learned to make choo choo noises, and came home with a stuffed turtle just like the turtles he saw swimming in the water.  He loves his new "turtle" and makes sure turtle is now in his crib for naps.  My parents also discovered having a little boy in the house is a little different in terms of what he's interested in exploring and getting into than having the two girls come to visit.  He got into all kinds of things the girls have never dreamed of touching and kept all of us running.  I loved eating delicious summer food off the grill almost every day--steaks, teriyaki burgers, apple basil chicken burgers, shish ka bobs twice, and salmon.  Stuff I never make for us but love to eat!

 Phew!  I think that's about it for what's been going on here.  Mostly I love having a little record of what each month has held for us since life is busy enough that I'm not journaling or writing much these days.  As usual I'm linking this post up with the lovely Leigh Kramer's collection of What I'm Into Posts from around the country :)  Happy summer everyone!

What We've Been Up To

Since signing off Facebook on Ash Wednesday we've been up to quite a bit in our little family!  It's funny, I keep thinking of "facebook statuses" to post and then realize I can't post them (which is probably not a bad thing!) but it does mean that family members and others who are closer to us don't know what's going on as much!  It's been wonderful not doing any social networking these days (I realize that it is strange to write about this on a blog...) and I have actually learned a lot about myself through this little Lenten fast.  I realized how much I love signing on and seeing that little red number saying someone commented on something I posted.  I think we all do, but I've started realizing that it's actually kind of nice living life "off line" if you will.  I flew to Denver and back last week and realized based on certain texts and emails I received while gone that very few people knew I was traveling.  That was kind of nice in a way--recapturing some privacy maybe?  But the flip side is that grandparents haven't seen new photos of their adorable grandson in awhile!  (And do you know how much easier it is to write a talk or grade papers when Facebook or Pinterest or Instagram are not options for distraction anymore??  I wrote a talk last week in about 1/2 the time it normally would have taken me!) I have a few minutes today and thought I'd share a bit of what we've been up to this month. (and it's Sunday which means Lenten fasts are to be broken, so Facebook and I have been getting reacquainted today) 

Travel!  I mentioned I was in Denver (well Greeley really) last weekend.  Charles took 20 high school students to winter camp over Presidents Day Weekend and Aidan and I hopped on a plane and headed to visit my grandparents for 5 days.  It was such an amazing trip.  I originally planned it back in December.  Denver is a super easy flight from Burbank (less than 2 hours) and I know my grandparents, who have played such huge roles in my life, are getting a bit older so I wanted them to have some time with my son.  I had asked my dad if he wanted to join us for a few of those days, both to see his parents and to help with Aidan a bit, so he flew in for a couple days too which was great.  I had no idea how special that weekend was going to be, both for my grandparents and for me.  I realized it has been years since I've had that much time with just them.  Usually there are a bunch of other family members around (which is always fun!) but it's been so long since I've sat down with just the two of them.  To have multiple days to drink coffee, eat a ton (Grandma's purpose in life is to fill me with as much food as she can before she sends me home, which I am more than happy to participate in!), and watch them play with Aidan was so so special.  They LOVED having him there and it meant so much to them to have us come to their house, so I'm going to try & plan another few days maybe in June when I can head back there again.

Aidan, his Opa, Oma and Papa

Four Generations--Two Moms and their Two Boys

83 Years old and she can still play trucks with the best of them!

Reading books with Opa

Flying his airplane!  He knows it goes up!

Being in Colorado also meant I got to see other people I adore!  One night we had a cousin dinner at my grandma's house--well it turned into that anyways!  Five of us got together again!

Charles' Hair: Yes this needs it's own category in the update :)  Back in January he made a deal with the junior high students that if they sold out winter camp he would let them dye his hair.  They did and he came home from youth group one night looking like a rainbow snow cone.

Then the high school students wanted to help him get ready for the Valentine's Day banquet so they re-bleached his hair and tried to put a heart into it.

When he came to pick me up from the airport after high school winter camp he is almost bald, which gives me hope that his normal hair color will grow back and will stick around for awhile!

Aidan! Our little dude is learning an incredible amount of new things every single day.  It is amazing to me watching this little person develop.  He is trying SO hard to say some words like "mail," "Truck" "Tractor" "Cracker" and "Doggie"  He is fascinated by anything that moves and makes noise--every time he hears a car start or an airplane overhead it is the highlight of his day.  He loves the garbage truck, dirt, trying to pick up rocks, pushing his Pooh car around our apartment complex, and reading his books.  It is so so cool to see how in love with his books he has become lately and he will sit for quite awhile and let you turn pages with him and he can now find and point to numerous objects in various books.  He LOVES his patchwork quilt that my grandma made him for Christmas and every day when he wakes up from his nap we spent quite a bit of time in his crib pointing out things on the quilt--he can now find the cars, trucks, monkeys, doggies and owls.  He's not really walking yet, he'll take a couple steps every now and then and then sit down but he's getting better and better at standing without holding on to anything.  I can't believe I'm the mommy of a little BOY!!  

Me!:  I've still been loving getting to work at Fuller again and be there one afternoon a week, I realized how much I missed being in a classroom setting!  MOPS is going great, we've had a wonderful group of ladies coming together every other week to connect, learn, craft, play and eat!  I LOVE being part of this group!  I have had the incredible privilege of getting to do a bit of volunteer work at the church lately in some really fun areas for me--I got to help co-lead a discussion on what is Family Ministry with our church elders and with the family ministry team and had the chance to share some of my studies in that area with them which was a great experience.  Yesterday I had the honor of being the speaker for the church's women's tea and got to write the first talk I've gotten to give in several years!  It was SO much fun to get to use the passion I have for teaching and preaching again and I'm hopeful a few more opportunities may arise in the future. 

I think that's it!  Feel free to check back on Wednesday for my monthly "Things I'm Into" post if you're interested :)  

There and back again and there and back again and party time!

Every year I hear people lamenting about how busy and stressful and crazy the holidays are--with shopping, cooking, parties, traveling, gift wrapping, standing in line at the post office and a myriad of other tasks that creep onto our to-do lists.  And every year I don't quite understand why people are so stressed out!  Until I experienced trying to do these tasks with an 11 month old.  Ahh.  Now I get it.  Shopping, gift wrapping, planning a Christmas party, baking treats....all are so much harder with a tiny "helper" present!  It was a bit of a full month for us.  We had multiple Christmas parties to both attend and help throw between the staff party, the MOPS party, the youth advisor's party, the junior high party and the senior high party.  We had gifts to buy, gifts to make, gifts to wrap--all of which took place after the munchkin was asleep.  And then we traveled with our sweet little non-sleeper.  Don't get me wrong, it was all worth it, and getting to see both of our families was so amazing, we wouldn't have traded it for anything!  But it's mid-January and I am just now finally feeling as if I'm catching up on sleep!

Our first stop was Minneapolis where Aidan and I headed a few days before Charles was able to take off.  We spent a week there playing with cousins, baking, playing board games, taking turns watching the kids and just generally hanging out.  Aidan loved having Lily & Brooke to play with, and tried his hardest to keep up with them.  He fully explored the lower shelves of Grandma's pantry and tupperware drawers, completely removing every item from these spaces more than once.  He tried his harest to get the baby gate open so he could go down the stairs, and he nearly succeeded.  As Nathan said "that gate has worked fine for 3 years, then Aidan shows up and all of a sudden it's not baby proof anymore!"  (Yes, I think he's a bit of an engineer at one year old already...)  Bath time in Grandma's big bath tub, dancing to Papa's silly turkey, and playing with new Christmas gifts rounded out his time in the midwest.  Because we were traveling on Christmas day, we pretended like the 24th was Christmas day and just moved everything up a day.  Santa came the night of the 23rd, presents were opened throughout the day on the 24th culminating in church that afternoon.  On the morning of the 25th we did something none of us had ever done--the 4 of us "kids" went to go see the movie Les Mis at 9:30 AM.  Rather than popcorn we enjoyed our hot mochas while watching Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway bring to life a story we've all grown to love over the years.

Lily spent the week regaling us with her one-liners as only Lily can do.  My personal favorites were: "Auntie Sarah, you are doing such a good job taking care of baby Aidan!" (Thank you Lily, we all need cheerleaders in life!) and "Maybe Gramma Nan is out shopping in heaven." (Maybe, but if you know Gramma Nan, you know that is NOT how she's spending her time in heaven!) and "What are these cookies Grandma?"  "Those are lady fingers."  "Oh.  Well can boys eat them?"  and "Do the stars have eyes?"  "No I don't think stars have eyes."  "Well in the song it says the stars in the heavens look down where he lay. How do they look without eyes?"  I love that kid.  A lot!

We flew home for less than 48 hours, long enough to repack and try to adjust back to west coast time before catching the bus to LAX for our flight to Honolulu!  We were so so blessed by the amazing and generous gift of a week in Hawaii with Charles' family.  There were 17 of us there for a week of sand, snorkeling  exploring, and even some surfing.  Unfortunately several of the crew ended up with the 24 hour stomach bug, but thankfully Aidan, Charles and I had all had it in October and that made us somewhat immune to it.  We discovered that Aidan has a lot of his daddy in him and LOVES the sand and water more than anything.  He went nuts trying to get in the ocean every time he saw it.  We enjoyed an amazing polynesian show, a lovely luau, some delicious wine, grilled steaks, and board games with the older nieces and nephew.  The highlight for me was having amazing family members watch Aidan for an evening so Charles and I could escape to Waikiki for a lovely dinner at the top of a tower there--with amazing views and really good food.  (My husband also picked out and bought a sundress all on his own for me to wear that night--something he's never done before which was so sweet!)  It was so wonderful having so many people there to love on Aidan and care for him--I love that he's able to get to know his family even though we live so far away!  

We had one week after returning home before my family flew in for Aidan's first birthday, and one week to put together a party.  It was a busy week!  I felt like we had suitcases and stuff everywhere, no clue how to decorate a rather unattractive fellowship hall, and a baby who decided to start teething as he was trying to readjust to being back in his own bed and own time zone.  None of us slept much last week!  But his party was so fun, and it was a great weekend celebrating him and the ways he has grown in the past year.  We tried keeping things pretty small and low key--just about 20 people who know us and Aidan well, with homemade decorations from construction paper and photos of him.  We were so blessed to have a great community around us to celebrate this milestone!  

Now life has returned to "normal."  I don't have any more parties (Christmas or birthday!) to plan, our MOPS speaker schedule is finally filled out for the semester, I'm home for several weeks without traveling anywhere, and I don't have an insane to do list.  It feels absolutely luxurious.  I want to write a bit more, I finally picked up my book that I had set down for 3 weeks (our book club meets next Monday and I still have about 240 pages to go!), I want to enjoy days with my little one where I don't drag him on errands--where we can just go for a walk to look at the trees and birds or where I can sit on the floor with him and play with him rather than trying to merely keep him distracted while I quickly get something done.  I'm so grateful for all we were able to do in the past month.  And I am so grateful for this next month of "nothing."  Until I head to Denver over President's Day weekend that is....:)

Weeks 29, 30, 31 & 32...Baby Showers and Uhauls and Boxes Oh My!

Phew! We are done with travel until after this munchkin is born, thankfully! These past couple weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind, full of seeing people I love so so much, but when I got off the plane yesterday here in Burbank my first thought was "no more. I'm done. I just want to stay in one place for at least a full month!" Here's a bit of what myself and our little guy have been up to these past few weeks that I've been ignoring the blog :)

In week 29 our little dude was weighing in at about 2 1/2 pounds (the weight of a butternut squash...perfect for fall...hmm, that sounds good even now...) His little skeleton is growing stronger as his bones are hardening even more and his lungs and muscles are continuing to mature getting ready for life in the real world. Week 29 kicked off with a Halloween party/welcome party that the youth group threw for us, which was a very fun way to start meeting high school students and leaders. Our little guy's first Halloween costume? A jack o lantern (hey I had to take advantage of the belly somehow!)

Also in week 29 I headed east to meet our newest little niece, Brooke, who of course managed to capture my heart in the first few minutes I held her! I had a great long weekend playing with Lily, hanging out with my sister and brother in law, and snuggling baby Brooke as much as I could! I'm not sure when I'm going to get to see them again, baby Brooke might not be as tiny of a baby by then!

Week 30 found our little one the weight of a head of cabbage--about 3 pounds and counting! (I'll be curious to find out how big he actually ends up being!) We mostly hung around Northridge this week, I was able to get our apartment paperwork finalized and we secured a move in date for the week of Thanksgiving. I spent the week arguing with the insurance company on the phone about my eligibility for coverage (they finally got everything straightened out but it took several days and more than one episode of hanging up the phone in tears to do so).

Sunday night of week 31 (the 13th) we flew up to Seattle to get things ready for the rest of our move (taking full advantage of Southwest's preboarding policy for pregnant people!) On Monday Charles and two guys we hired through Uhaul loaded everything we owned into a truck and then he and a friend of ours from Fuller drove the truck all the way down to LA pretty much in one long day (arriving about 3 AM). I stayed up in Seattle for the week with a good friend, and even got to take the train down to Portland to visit one of my best friends there for 2 nights. Saturday of that week my friends in Seattle threw me a baby shower which was fantastic, I am so so grateful to them! It made this whole baby thing feel even more real and immanent--knowing he's going to be using these fun things in not too long! Here are some fun photos from the party :)

The beautiful spread Missy & Heather created for us! Missy made the diaper cake (and then gave me all the newborn diapers--score!) and the delicious (pasteurized!) cheeses (the world's best is Trader Joe's Gouda/Goat Cheese combo. Seriously you have to try this someday), cupcakes and fruit made for a wonderful afternoon snack!Jen, Anu and Karen try to guess whose baby photo they are holding (they were all asked to bring one to the party--it was a lot harder than we expected!)Lynn & Darbee playing the baby photo game

Missy doesn't look like she minds holding Levi for awhile (Karen's super sweet little one!)

Aidan got some super cute outfits as well as several very generous gifts from our registry (that were mostly shipped here to LA which was very thoughtful of them!) This one was picked out just for Charles, it's a baby rash guard that says "I'd Rather Be Surfing" on it :)His first tuxedo :)

Everyone got to put in their prediction as to when he'd be born (date, time and weight), so if you'd like to join in the guessing feel free! I think the official Kennedy household guess is January 18th. (Our due date is the 15th, but the 18th was the first day of work at West Side for Charles, and I just feel like in God's great sense of humor our little man will arrive to book end the year for us--the biggest gift in the midst of the hardest year).

I flew back on Sunday morning, the beginning of week 32 for our little guy and finally on Monday I got to see my new OB. I didn't get a choice, I was just assigned someone through our insurance company, so I was a bit nervous about how I was going to like her, but I was extremely relieved that I did like her and her office staff. I think she's going to be really good, and is going to stay right on top of the rest of my prenatal care. I at least know what hospital I'll be delivering at, who to call in an emergency, and what doctor to expect to see! Knowing those things lowered my stress level immensely! It's been amusing to me how "textbook" my pregnancy has been. Every day I get an email from What to Expect When You're Expecting about what might occur that week, or what you might be experiencing. Almost all of it has been dead on. Heartburn? Check. Dry itchy skin? Check. Achy back? Yup (although moving could have something to do with that!). A little insomnia here and there? Unfortunately, but thankfully not much! Short of breath now that baby is pushing on my lungs? Definitely. None of this stuff is anything to really complain about, I am still super grateful for how easily things have gone, I just find it funny how I'll experience something and think "is this normal?" and literally have an email about it the next day. The only thing I've had to really say goodbye to this trimester has been caffeine. My heart couldn't handle even the small amount I was drinking each morning, so I cut that out based on "Nurse Dad's" recommendation and have noticed a huge improvement. Apparently caffeine, plus a history of heart issues, plus extra blood flowing through my body was a bit too much! I am not sure I even really miss it, and it's definitely worth it to feel a normal pulse again!

Tuesday of this week was finally moving day!! We had hired another couple guys through Uhaul (BEST money ever spent by the way!) to unload our truck into our apartment and then I've spent the rest of the week unpacking and organizing. My dad kept telling me "don't over do it, don't over do it!" and well, I think on Tuesday I overdid it a bit. I was so sore and exhausted by the end of the day I literally couldn't move, even to roll over in bed. So Wednesday I was a bit more careful and have been fine the rest of this week. We spent a lovely Thanksgiving meal with the family we've been with the past 3 years now--a family from the church we used to be at, and we are so grateful for their hospitality!

We got all signed up for our childbirth classes (every Thursday for the next 5 weeks), a basic infant care class, a breastfeeding class, and our doctor wants us to make sure to take an infant CPR class before he's born, so we'll be busy learning in the month of December! Charles had breakfast with a good friend of ours who just had their first baby a couple months ago, and he recommended a book to us that sounds great. Charles was excited to order it and tell me all about it, so we're looking forward to scanning that together too. Lots to learn, but we realize that most of our training will be on the job come January! (Still it's good to know a few things ahead of time!)

That's about it for now! Sunday begins week 33, which seems very crazy to me! We are looking forward to our first week in our new place, finishing the unpacking and getting settled into what will be our "normal" life here in Northridge. We are so grateful to be here and be settling in, and we look forward to what this last month of childlessness holds for us!

Weeks 20, 21 & 22--Time is Flyin!

Life got away from us a bit these past few weeks & I'm just now getting a spare moment to sit down with my computer this evening--I feel like this past month has been a whirlwind! Baby has progressively been getting bigger and bigger, in the past few weeks HE (that's right, if you missed out on the facebook announcement, we're having a BOY!) has gone from the size of:

The length of a banana (week 20)To the length of a carrot (week 21)

To the length of a spaghetti squash (this week, week 22)

Baby Boy weighs about 1 pound and is busy moving and squirming all over the place, which I LOVE feeling. When we had our ultra sound last Thursday we were able to see all his fingers wiggling around which was very sweet. Otherwise, I was really bad at the whole "guess which body part is up on the screen" game. I kept seeing something round and asking if that was his head and the tech kept telling me it was his abdomen. Maybe when he's out in the world I'll be a bit better at figuring out what is his head :) Our ultra sound tech was very sure of his gender though, so we shouldn't have any major surprises come January!

What have we been up to these past several weeks? Well, Charles finished up his training with Tentmakers (a fantastic organization!) September 2nd, and I had the opportunity to go up to the retreat center for the last 2 days of his training to check out where he had been and what he had been up to. We spent the long labor day weekend with my parents at their home, seeing Carrie Underwood in concert (she gives a great show!), helping my parents with some jobs around the house (Charles and my dad stained the back deck and we did some transplanting of some of mom's plants), and celebrating the wedding of some of our friends from Fuller.

We arrived back here Wednesday evening and spent Thursday trying to get a bit organized after being gone for a month. Our first issue to take care of was transportation. We only owned one car, and back in July it was parked on the side of the street while we were on vacation. Someone hit it and completely totaled it, which left us with nothing to drive. We decided to rent a car for the weekend and then spent all day Friday, Saturday & Sunday car shopping. It was quite the process, and we learned a lot, and in the end we bought a 2004 Ford Escape which we LOVE. Every time we get in it we exclaim about how much we love it and how fun it is to drive. It definitely was a great purchase!

The past couple days we've been doing a lot of baby registry stuff, researching products, and creating registries on both Babies R Us and Amazon.com (if you check out our Amazon registry you can check out our very cool baby bedding that we chose--I'll let you guess who in our family definitely approved it!) It's been a fun process, I'm down to figuring out the "big items" (car seat, stroller, crib, crib mattress) since those 4 items take a lot of safety rating research.

I have other thoughts, but those will have to be for a future post. Hope the beginning of fall is treating all of you well!

Week 16--Time for some guacamole!

These past two weeks baby has reached the size of my two favorite guacamole ingredients: an avocado and an onion. Week 16 (which began last Sunday while we were on Houseboats) found baby reaching about 4 1/2 inches in length and weighing about 3 1/2 ounces--about the length of an avocado--one of the best pieces of produce on the planet if you ask me! Apparently in the next couple weeks baby is going to be headed into a growth spurt--doubling his weight. His eyes and ears have moved pretty close to their final positions (did you know your eyes start on the side of your head??) and his little toenails are starting to grow. I saw my doctor again at the end of July and she moved my due date to January 15th (instead of the 13th) so now each new week starts on a Sunday. She did the doplar heart monitor again and immediately we heard the amazing "whooshing" of our baby's heart beat. It's strong and healthy sounding at 155 beats per minute. I love that little sound and wish I could hear it every day :)

We headed to LA last Wednesday (a week and a half ago) and have LOVED our time with friends here. It's been SO good for us to get away from Seattle and be in a place surrounded by people who know us both so well. Here's a little of what baby and I have been up to since getting here:

The night before we left for Houseboats Jenn & I threw a dinner party for our husbands and Ryan & Alethia. It was a blast cooking with her, and enjoying an evening of catching up with dear, dear friends whom we have missed like crazy! Both the Gunthers and the Whites traveled Europe this summer so we decided to serve the meal "French style" where you eat each thing as a separate course. Jenn and Josh eat a gluten free diet and also adhere to the Paleo diet (which you can read more about by clicking on the link above) so everything we served was fresh, healthy, and gluten free. Here are a few photos from our evening:

The coffee table became the dining room table as we set it for six.The chefs

In our French evening we served drinks and appetizers first (even guacamole in honor of baby's size this week!)Our second course was the salad course (which I didn't get a photo of but involved Jenn's homemade basil vinaigrette dressing that everyone absolutely raved about). You can find the recipe on her food blog here.

Our third course were the potatoes--oven roasted with fresh herbs and olive oil--delicious!The potatoes were followed by almond chicken and sauteed zucchini with a bit of Parmesan.

In France a cheese course always concludes the meal (before dessert) so we served three types of cheese.It was a delicious evening that we finished off by playing with Jenn's camera and taking some fun photos:
Some of our Soul MatesThe beautiful AlethiaMy sweet, adorable husbandMe!Our incredible hostessRyan, looking slightly like he has something he's schemingJosh, the photography instructor :)
Other than our dinner party and Houseboats, we've been enjoying time with friends--Chuck surfed two different times, we had several coffee/meal dates with others, and have relaxed a lot. It's been a fantastic vacation!