Because sometimes Benadryl and wine aren’t enough

Posted by on April 19, 2009 30 Comments

My husband travels a lot for work.  Not to super exotic places, but places generally more exciting than our neck of Texas.  When he took the job he knew it would require him to be away from home frequently, but we both agreed this would be “perfect” because then Kendall and I could travel with him and enjoy the “experience” together.  Mind you, this was before we actually had the baby.  This was back when we thought traveling with a baby just meant bringing an extra bag along with you (well, and the baby, of course).  ”Babies are adaptable!” we thought.  He will just go with the flow.

My child “goes with the flow” like a Salmon swimming upstream to spawn.  To date, we have only been on 3 business trips with Scott, and each one of them we arrived via car.  We had grand plans to visit Colorado with him in February.  I was going to purchase a plane ticket for myself, seat my (at the time) 9 month old on my lap, and fly three hours, orchestrating our luggage, car seat, stroller and child all by myself to meet up with my husband for a one week “vacation” (as much as a week in Colorado in February can be considered a vacation).

Needless to say, I chickened out.  I had only been on a plane one other time with Kendall, and he was only 4 weeks old.  Don’t get me wrong.  That was an extremely overwhelming experience, but at least I could keep him contained and strapped to me the whole time in my trusty Moby Wrap.  He slept 90% of the time and didn’t have the ability to wriggle free from my arms and boogie down the aisle.  After I finally conveyed to Scott just how apprehensive I was, we both agreed that it would be best to hold off on flying for the time being.  It felt like the right decision, but it made me sad.  I don’t want our traveling options to be limited just because we are scared to fly with Kendall.

That was when I met Anya Clowers, RN and author of Jet With Kids.  She heard my cries for help on Twitter and chimed in with some wonderful advice (follow her @JetWithAnya).  She also sent me a copy of her book to read.  I wish I would have read it a long time ago!

From JetWithKids.com

Flying with children is not a simple thing to do. New airline security regulations and airports that are more crowded than ever can be tough to figure-out; add an infant or toddler to the mix, and you can see preparation has never been more important. With down-to-earth advice and recommendations from experts, Jet with Kids will prepare you for a safe andfun flight with your kids!

Inside you’ll find valuable information for your next trip:
¤ Is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA’s) Lap Child policy safe?
¤ What 3 things do pediatricians recommend to pack for your flight?
¤ Which travel products lighten your load, entertain your child, and keep them well behaved?

The book was full of helpful tips for how to make that dreaded plane flight easier, whether it’s with a baby or a pre-schooler, domestic or international. The chapters take you step by step, from booking your ticket (with a very informational chapter on the pros and cons of purchasing a separate ticket for a child under 2), to preparing kids for the stressful process of boarding and deplaning.  

The seasoned traveler may find some of the tips to be common sense, but everyone can at least benefit from them as reminders.  The book also has a ton of great websites listed, though some of the links are a tad long to type into a browser and may be found quicker using Google.  Overall, still an excellent source of information for the family that plans on flying together anywhere at any point in their child’s early life.  This would also make an excellent baby shower gift for that jet-setting friend or a military mom.

In addition, Anya has a wonderful website www.JetWithKids.com, and she’s a delightful and valuable Twitter friend (she helped me get in touch with @Starbucks re: the changing table issue, which I hope to blog about soon).  She is also generously giving away 7 copies of Jet With Kids here!  Here’s how you can win:

4 copies will be given way via the Contest Machine.  Just fill out the information in the box below.

3 copies will be given to anyone who posts a comment and either
          a. leaves their own traveling with kids tip
          b. follows me on Twitter (@babyrabies), just leave your Twitter name in the comment telling me so
          c.  re-tweets this giveaway on Twitter (again, leave a separate comment telling me so)
          d. subscribes to my feed (separate comments for all of these, please)

Will draw on Wednesday, April 22 at 11:25 p.m. CST

You can also purchase the book from her website.  Regular price is $19.95, but readers can get $5 off with code JWK5

Good luck!

 

***** CONTEST IS CLOSED AND WINNERS CHOSEN ********

Contest Machine chose Kaitlin, Vanessa, Starrinad and Kim9212
Random Number Generator chose commenters 1, 10 and 26 (Emily, Katie and Lindsay)

Congrats!  You all have been contacted via email (and/or Twitter).  

Thanks to everyone for entering! 

 

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Filed Under: Post Incubation, Reviews |Tagged With: , , , |30 Comments

An evening of excellence and brilliance

Posted by on April 17, 2009 7 Comments

Something amazing happens when you get a group of moms together without their babies.  They have actual conversations, full of complete sentences and peppered with wit and humor. They drink wine and swap labor horror stories that probably make the pregnant girl at the table want to hurl/hide, but they can only laugh at the tales they recall.  Sure, 99.9% of their conversation still revolves around babies, and baby puke, and baby poop, and baby love, but they are conversations that happen fluidly, without the interruption of interjections like, “Wait…NO!  That is NOT a toy.  Put that tampon back in my purse.”  In addition, the women are actually able to make and maintain eye contact without risking child neglect and endangerment.

I had one such amazing experience tonight when I had the honor of joining some great gal pals at my second Metroplex Baby and Kids Best and Hottest event.  And, while I didn’t come home with the biggest prize of the night (but who’s complaining?  I won a Quinny Zapp last Friday at their Stroller Safari!), I did have a blast hanging out with these ladies without a baby in sight.  Because, for me at least, the night wasn’t about winning the Best and Hottest prize.  It was about having an excuse to put on a cute skirt and top that had not a trace of juice or Mum Mums crusted on them, leave the house for a few hours, and just be a girl.

Not only did I have meaningful conversations about the joys of approaching toddlerhood and how to improve my cake decorating skills, but I also learned the most excellent parenting tip to date from my friend Teri.  Are you ready for this?

So…whiskey looks a little like apple juice, yes?  And one would normally put apple juice in a sippy cup, no?  So it would be totally normal to take a sippy cup full of a substance that looks just like apple juice into, say, a sporting event, right?  I mean, especially if you actually had a kid with you.  You see where I’m going with this.  Just make sure you don’t give them the wrong cup!

Then I got to thinking…we received these lovely Boon Squirt baby food dispensing spoons in our goodie bags, and seeing as how we are a little past this phase, I immediately thought, “hmm…how can I repurpose this and make it work for us?”  Well, you can see where I’m going with that, I’m sure.  Put a little Jack in there, mix it around in your coke.  It’s like a bartender in your diaper bag!

Maybe this will not be nearly as brilliant and hilarious to me when I wake up in the morning, but for now I can’t stop gigglesnorting.  It’s been a good night.  I’m drunk on laughter.  Isn’t that just the best?

Kendall is 11 months and 2 weeks old

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Filed Under: Post Incubation |Tagged With: , , |7 Comments

My Sweet Little Biped

Posted by on April 15, 2009 1 Comment

So there are some things I must just document on here because, in essence, *this* is Kendall’s baby book.  Poor guy, I know.  He’s in for a lot of therapy.  This is so far beyond documenting immunizations and the cost of gas the day he was born.  Truth is, though, that I suck at filling out that paper one (really, who the HELL notices the cost of gas on their way to deliver a baby?) so this will have to do.

Anyway, I just had to do a run by post to document that this day, tax day, April 15th, 2009, my son officially started walking!  Seems he likes to save these big milestones for holidays, I guess, what with pulling up and crawling on Christmas and now walking on such an ever important national holiday.

He took his first steps about 4 weeks ago at the first birthday party of my best friend’s little monkey…er… I mean boy.  That kid has been walking/running/leaping off of tall buildings since he was 9 or 10 months old, and the sight of his incredibly masterful mobility scared the hell out of me, frankly.  When Kendall saw him climb to the top of a coffee table and jump over to a couch, then reach his  little monkey arm down to help him up, he was obviously touched deeply by the challenge.  The very next day he just took off after him, five whole steps in a row before he had any idea what he was doing.

Also, in an effort to be just like his new found BFF, he took up thumb sucking, but just for that day.  Looks like we need to start preparing that speech about peer pressure, looking cool, and smoking because your best friend does (disclaimer – not in any way trying to equate thumb sucking with smoking, although, I’m sure there is a fortune to be made for the first successful inventor of the baby thumb sucking quitting patch).

However, since that fateful day, he has yet to walk again with such determination, just a few timid steps finished off by a face plant or butt drop.  Today, though…TODAY he decided to go for it, and he will not stop.  He started out with just a few teeters early this morning.  By the time I got around to making dinner tonight he was cruising around the kitchen from one appliance to the next, ever the tiny little drunk man, but so determined.  Much like one would look when trying to pass a roadside sobriety test, I imagine.

So I have now reached a whole new level of screwed and need to, once again, run around the house, testing all things at his eye level to make sure they won’t maim or kill him.  However, I have to say that I’m pretty freaking stoked.  Not only is this just huge in the life of my little baby, growing into a toddler, but it also means I’m one step closer to not risking throwing my back out any time I have to cart him on my hip anywhere.  There was a time I was in no rush for him to walk, I think he weighed at least 2 pounds less at that time.  Now…now I’m ready.

Kendall is 11 months, 1 week and 6 days old

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Filed Under: Post Incubation |Tagged With: , |1 Comment

My very own Cake Wreck

Posted by on April 9, 2009 23 Comments

In my frenzy of planning for this fabulous birthday party, the idea to make Kendall’s cake has always been one I never gave a second thought to.  Yes, my cake making and decorating skills are beginner at best, but I found a lovely and simple design for the most adorable rocket ship cake here (lots and lots of great ideas there, by the way).  Seriously.  That does not look hard, right?  I even gave myself plenty of time to prepare by planning to first make a trial cake.  This was a multiple day process, people!  I took my time.  I froze the cakes, then cut the cakes, then froze the cakes, then iced the cakes with a “crumb coat”, then I froze them again.  I was a little unsure of myself when I started to add the final touches and put it all together tonight, but I thought surely it would turn out decent enough that I could make notes for the final cake and ace it the second time around.

This is what it was supposed to at least resemble.

What I am about to show you is proof positive that I should never be allowed near a can of frosting and red food coloring again.  

Did you know that red food coloring is a fucking joke?  It does not make the frosting red!  No.  It makes it a lovely shade of Barbie puked her brains out hot pink.  So, I think, maybe add more.  Nope.  Just makes it an even more vivid shade of the same putrid color.  This could not work. The rocket was to be blue and red.  But have no fear!  Red sparkles are here!  

Between the sparkles and the pink and the uneven frosting it really couldn’t get much worse.  That is until I brilliantly decided to cut out the picture of Kendall in the astronaut suit from his invite and place it under half an Easter Egg.  Are you laughing your ass off at me yet?  You should be!  I’m about to piss my pants.  OMG.  It’s tragic.  It’s terrible.  It’s hilarious!  Here’s a side view for you.

I do not think a few mental notes for next time are going to be enough to save this.  I’m pretty positive I will not be repeating this for his birthday.  A girl needs to know her limits, and while I may be able to whip up a crafty birthday banner and matching cupcake toppers, I sure as hell can NOT make and decorate a cake.  Of course, my eternally frugal husband just stood there, lying through his teeth, saying, “Jill, it’s FINE.  You did a GREAT job.  Why would you PAY someone to do what you already know you can do?”

I am calling a local bakery first thing in the morning.

Kendall is 11 months and 1 week old.

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Filed Under: Post Incubation |Tagged With: , , |23 Comments
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