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Summer is nearly at a close, and you know what that means!
Getting Your Kindergartner Ready for School: 10 Tips for a Smooth Transition
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
With holiday travel slowly creeping up on us, I thought I'd compile a *short* tried and true list to help make your holiday travel a little less stressful.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
We successfully completed our second road trip with both of our girls in tow. I just wanted to share some easy peasy tips that made our trip so much smoother.
Packing: I am notoriously an over packer. Always. This time I decided to only pack a weeks worth of clothing for our 10 day trip. Our rental home had a washer and dryer and I knew I'd be able to do laundry whenever I needed to. So for packing, I didn't pack for each day that we'd be gone. Of course we packed extra undies and things of that nature - but packing lighter is always better on the road. I also brought along special dolls for the girls. Moana for Olivia and Rapunzel for Ava. I brought Olivia's boppy along (total comfort for her), and a no sew frozen blanket I made. I made sure to buy an extra case of diapers and wipes (thank you extra storage stow aways in the mom wagon) and the basic hygiene necessities.
Travel Time: This is personal preference of course, but for us - we love driving during the night. I am the car loader (all bags, essentials, and electronics) and I will usually load the car when my entire family is asleep. Justin heads to bed a little early when we travel at night so he's well rested for the road. This allows me to check things off my list and get the car packed without distraction. I usually don't even go to sleep prior to actually getting the kids in the car and leaving. Driving at night means the girls are STILL asleep for most of the car ride. I love this. Justin loves it too because he actually gets to control the radio for a change!
Easy Access: When traveling, I always keep a backpack stocked outside of my diaper bag. This backpack is filled with underwear, diapers, wipes, seat covers, and a change of clothes. If something happens on the road, I want to get the girls changed or ready to go without taking up a ton of time digging for things. I also made sure to pack their snacks in an easy to reach location, along with their car time activities. This just makes it easier because you aren't digging around a car while driving and it saves you a pull over, so you don't lose drive time.
Entertainment Galore: Because we have a DVD player in my mom wagon - we stock it heavily with the girls' favorite movies. This is great for the day time driving. It gets bored being on the road for hours and hours - the movies help keep the girls entertained when they are getting ancy from being in their carseats. When our car is in park, the front drivers can tune into the movie as well... that rarely happened though, since we were driving! I myself ended up in the third row seat when the ancy was at an all time high! I would give the girls kisses, hold their hands, or tickle them. When we were over the tickles and mom - Justin would crank up the itunes library with all the troll songs and Moana jams possible! Sometimes I'd catch both babies looking at the scenery outside of their windows too.
SNACKS: I try really hard not to let the kids veg out on food that isn't good for them. For this reason I decided to pack snacks - HEAVILY. I brought along bananas, grapes, craisins, and a few other items. This way, they could get something into their little tummies between meal times. I also made sure the girls had a few water containers and cups for our trip. When we stopped, we made sure to stock up on FIJI waters galore so the girls never had to be thirsty.
STOPS: This is probably one of the most important parts of road trippin' in my opinion. You may only be X amount of hours from your destination, but with kiddos - you are going to stop more frequently, so give yourself the extra time. I downloaded a truck stop app on my phone during this trip so we could stop at truck stops rather than gas stations. Truck stops have CLEANER bathrooms (at least in my opinion), more variety of snacks for adults, and they are opened 24 hours a day. It was great to let the girls walk around for a bit while Justin fills up on gas and cleans the bugs off of our windshields! Sometimes the stops were unplanned (Ava ironically had to potty almost every time we were about to get on an interstate) but they never delayed us with our arrival times.
I'm almost positive that pretty much covers it. I LOVE taking road trips with my family and driving from Texas to Florida to Georgia was one for the books this year!
♥- Leilani
Packing: I am notoriously an over packer. Always. This time I decided to only pack a weeks worth of clothing for our 10 day trip. Our rental home had a washer and dryer and I knew I'd be able to do laundry whenever I needed to. So for packing, I didn't pack for each day that we'd be gone. Of course we packed extra undies and things of that nature - but packing lighter is always better on the road. I also brought along special dolls for the girls. Moana for Olivia and Rapunzel for Ava. I brought Olivia's boppy along (total comfort for her), and a no sew frozen blanket I made. I made sure to buy an extra case of diapers and wipes (thank you extra storage stow aways in the mom wagon) and the basic hygiene necessities.
Travel Time: This is personal preference of course, but for us - we love driving during the night. I am the car loader (all bags, essentials, and electronics) and I will usually load the car when my entire family is asleep. Justin heads to bed a little early when we travel at night so he's well rested for the road. This allows me to check things off my list and get the car packed without distraction. I usually don't even go to sleep prior to actually getting the kids in the car and leaving. Driving at night means the girls are STILL asleep for most of the car ride. I love this. Justin loves it too because he actually gets to control the radio for a change!
Easy Access: When traveling, I always keep a backpack stocked outside of my diaper bag. This backpack is filled with underwear, diapers, wipes, seat covers, and a change of clothes. If something happens on the road, I want to get the girls changed or ready to go without taking up a ton of time digging for things. I also made sure to pack their snacks in an easy to reach location, along with their car time activities. This just makes it easier because you aren't digging around a car while driving and it saves you a pull over, so you don't lose drive time.
Entertainment Galore: Because we have a DVD player in my mom wagon - we stock it heavily with the girls' favorite movies. This is great for the day time driving. It gets bored being on the road for hours and hours - the movies help keep the girls entertained when they are getting ancy from being in their carseats. When our car is in park, the front drivers can tune into the movie as well... that rarely happened though, since we were driving! I myself ended up in the third row seat when the ancy was at an all time high! I would give the girls kisses, hold their hands, or tickle them. When we were over the tickles and mom - Justin would crank up the itunes library with all the troll songs and Moana jams possible! Sometimes I'd catch both babies looking at the scenery outside of their windows too.
SNACKS: I try really hard not to let the kids veg out on food that isn't good for them. For this reason I decided to pack snacks - HEAVILY. I brought along bananas, grapes, craisins, and a few other items. This way, they could get something into their little tummies between meal times. I also made sure the girls had a few water containers and cups for our trip. When we stopped, we made sure to stock up on FIJI waters galore so the girls never had to be thirsty.
STOPS: This is probably one of the most important parts of road trippin' in my opinion. You may only be X amount of hours from your destination, but with kiddos - you are going to stop more frequently, so give yourself the extra time. I downloaded a truck stop app on my phone during this trip so we could stop at truck stops rather than gas stations. Truck stops have CLEANER bathrooms (at least in my opinion), more variety of snacks for adults, and they are opened 24 hours a day. It was great to let the girls walk around for a bit while Justin fills up on gas and cleans the bugs off of our windshields! Sometimes the stops were unplanned (Ava ironically had to potty almost every time we were about to get on an interstate) but they never delayed us with our arrival times.
I'm almost positive that pretty much covers it. I LOVE taking road trips with my family and driving from Texas to Florida to Georgia was one for the books this year!
♥- Leilani
Monday, January 11, 2016
This has been a highly requested blog post since I traveled to New York while being a day shy of 36 weeks pregnant. I was so nervous when I got closer to our travel date, simply because everything on the internet talks about all the cons of flying later in pregnancy. There were very few resources I found that were actually helpful, but the amount of worries with a pregnant woman flying were abundant. I have mentioned in other posts that my flying experience was far from terrible, and that part was true. We had a couple contingencies while traveling that were airline related, but other than that, it was a smooth trip both ways for me. The two MAJOR things that really assisted me during our travels were:
1) Compression Socks
2) Hydration
3) Hygiene toilet seat covers
4) Comfy clothes/ loose fitting shoes
I was most nervous about dealing with blood clots and/or swelling in my feet from being so high in altitude and I really think the compression socks helped immensely. I had zero swelling, zero blood clots, and absolutely no pain in my legs what so ever. On the way back home, I didn't get up and walk around nearly as much as I should have, but even then, I had zero discomforts. I slept more on the plane ride home then I did on the plane ride to New York. I did get up and walk to and from the bathroom each time I had to go, but that wasn't nearly as much walking as some do. Each of our flights were completely packed (holiday travels, gotta love them), so I didn't like having to move my way through isles of toddlers, people sleeping with half their bodies in the isles, etc.
I brought my filtered Brita bottle on board, and I made sure to take advantage of the complimentary drinks that were being served by the flight attendants. When I wasn't drinking, I made sure to suck on ice cubes. It was a pain in the rear to continue to get up to use the bathroom so frequently, but it did work out. I also made sure to bring my own toilet seat covers that I ordered from Amazon... Boy, am I glad I did this. Not only are airplane restrooms freakishly small, but NONE of the Southwest bathrooms came equipped with toilet seat covers. I seriously would have lost my marbles if I hadn't brought my own. I am a germ FREAK when it comes to public restrooms, and airplane bathrooms are not exception. That really isn't pregnancy related, but for a woman that already feels huge and would like to use the restroom with added comfort... yes, those toilet seat covers are golden.
Dressing comfortably was also the smart way to go. I think everyone who travels for the most part, dresses comfortably. I worse a lose fitting sweat outfit that I bought a week before we left, I also wore really loose Roxy boots that I could slip on and off really easily. My feet never hurt, but they did get a bit sweaty at times from the compressions socks. Justin took care of Ava bug pretty much during the entire time we were actually traveling and I can't rave enough how much of a saving grace that was. I got sleep when I wanted to, Ava and daddy got to have some quality time together, and when we were landing... I got to glance at them looking out the window at the pretty city lights.
If I had to mention a couple other tips or discomforts.. I would say to sit on the isle row. With a family of 3 in our own seats, it was so nice not to sit next to strangers. I sat on the outside so I could access the bathroom a lot easier. My pregnant belly was too big for me to put my table down in front of me (huge bummer), but either Justin or Ava sat in the middle, so I just used their table. We had a lot of luggage during our travels as well, but the only thing I carried was Ava's gate checked carseat from time to time. Justin was such a trooper with gathering all of our carry on bags, and checking the huge luggage bags that needed to be checked. Walking through the airlines wasn't completely ideal either, but if we were early enough to our seats, I got to sit and relax and put my feet up.
Overall, that's all I took into consideration while flying just days away from my due date. When I got home, I did head to Labor and Delivery triage to get myself and the babe checked out, we both got a clean bill of health. This pregnancy has also been low risk and uncomplicated, which allowed me to receive the green lights from my providers. Had there have been some concerns, I most definitely would not have risked traveling at all. Every pregnancy, every woman, and every situation is completely different. I would still recommend discussing travel plans with your provider, assessing the risk factors for flying, and then making the best educated decision from there.
If you have any further additional questions, or if there was something I didn't list that you were eager to know, feel free to email or message me!
Happy Monday all!
♥- Leilani
1) Compression Socks
2) Hydration
3) Hygiene toilet seat covers
4) Comfy clothes/ loose fitting shoes
I was most nervous about dealing with blood clots and/or swelling in my feet from being so high in altitude and I really think the compression socks helped immensely. I had zero swelling, zero blood clots, and absolutely no pain in my legs what so ever. On the way back home, I didn't get up and walk around nearly as much as I should have, but even then, I had zero discomforts. I slept more on the plane ride home then I did on the plane ride to New York. I did get up and walk to and from the bathroom each time I had to go, but that wasn't nearly as much walking as some do. Each of our flights were completely packed (holiday travels, gotta love them), so I didn't like having to move my way through isles of toddlers, people sleeping with half their bodies in the isles, etc.
I brought my filtered Brita bottle on board, and I made sure to take advantage of the complimentary drinks that were being served by the flight attendants. When I wasn't drinking, I made sure to suck on ice cubes. It was a pain in the rear to continue to get up to use the bathroom so frequently, but it did work out. I also made sure to bring my own toilet seat covers that I ordered from Amazon... Boy, am I glad I did this. Not only are airplane restrooms freakishly small, but NONE of the Southwest bathrooms came equipped with toilet seat covers. I seriously would have lost my marbles if I hadn't brought my own. I am a germ FREAK when it comes to public restrooms, and airplane bathrooms are not exception. That really isn't pregnancy related, but for a woman that already feels huge and would like to use the restroom with added comfort... yes, those toilet seat covers are golden.
Dressing comfortably was also the smart way to go. I think everyone who travels for the most part, dresses comfortably. I worse a lose fitting sweat outfit that I bought a week before we left, I also wore really loose Roxy boots that I could slip on and off really easily. My feet never hurt, but they did get a bit sweaty at times from the compressions socks. Justin took care of Ava bug pretty much during the entire time we were actually traveling and I can't rave enough how much of a saving grace that was. I got sleep when I wanted to, Ava and daddy got to have some quality time together, and when we were landing... I got to glance at them looking out the window at the pretty city lights.
If I had to mention a couple other tips or discomforts.. I would say to sit on the isle row. With a family of 3 in our own seats, it was so nice not to sit next to strangers. I sat on the outside so I could access the bathroom a lot easier. My pregnant belly was too big for me to put my table down in front of me (huge bummer), but either Justin or Ava sat in the middle, so I just used their table. We had a lot of luggage during our travels as well, but the only thing I carried was Ava's gate checked carseat from time to time. Justin was such a trooper with gathering all of our carry on bags, and checking the huge luggage bags that needed to be checked. Walking through the airlines wasn't completely ideal either, but if we were early enough to our seats, I got to sit and relax and put my feet up.
Overall, that's all I took into consideration while flying just days away from my due date. When I got home, I did head to Labor and Delivery triage to get myself and the babe checked out, we both got a clean bill of health. This pregnancy has also been low risk and uncomplicated, which allowed me to receive the green lights from my providers. Had there have been some concerns, I most definitely would not have risked traveling at all. Every pregnancy, every woman, and every situation is completely different. I would still recommend discussing travel plans with your provider, assessing the risk factors for flying, and then making the best educated decision from there.
If you have any further additional questions, or if there was something I didn't list that you were eager to know, feel free to email or message me!
Happy Monday all!
♥- Leilani
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