I recently traveled from Texas to Tennessee with my 14 month old and dad to visit my Grandmother. This was my son’s first airplane ride and big vacation. I was a little nervous going into since he stopped nursing at 13 months and is extremely BUSY. Sitting still is not his thing, so imagining him sitting on my lap for a few hours was a little nerve racking. I wanted to share my take-aways from our trip!

• Have snacks, water, and food ready to go!
  • I brought a meal on the plane both times to give him something to do and eat during his “normal” time. I also offered a squeeze pack during landings to help with his ears since swallowing helps pop them (taking off their ears are able to naturally clear).
• Have toys, books or entertainment out and easily accessible. 
  • I don’t know about you, but I feel like seats keep getting smaller and smaller. They seem especially tiny with a 24 pound toddler on your lap so having everything out and in the seat pocket in front helps!
• Bring what you really need.
  • Limiting what I took was amazing! I already had a pack n play at my Grandmothers (thanks Dad), we rented a car with a car seat for a few extra dollars a day, and I wore a backpack as my purse/diaper bag. Not having 23024504 things to worry about was SO nice and made it extremely easy!
• Flying during “nap” time is prime.
  • On the way there we flew late afternoon/evening and he was a WIGGLE worm. I got a workout trying to entertain him the entire time, and wow it was exhausting. However, on the way home we flew in the afternoon during his normal nap time and he slept most of the way which was amazing, and a nice break for Momma!
• Board last …
  • We boarded in our normal group the first flight and sat there SO long. It was just extra time of him getting anxious/wanting to move, so boarding last the second round was beyond helpful! We basically took off a few minutes after boarding which was amazing.
• Have a “diaper change” bag
  • I kept my changing station essentials in a large ziplock bag to carry with me to the restroom while changing him. This helped not dealing with the entire backpack and trying to pull everything out. I like to keep diapers, wipes, small diaper cream (if needed), doggie bags, and a change of clothes all together.
• Go with the flow!
  • Traveling can be stressful without kids, but adding them in the mix can raise your blood pressure. Kids will be kids, so just do the best you can and enjoy the memories!

We will be traveling to Florida this summer for a family trip, and even though he can sit in my lap again, I learned he would be better in his own seat where our family can have an entire row and he can get some movement/wiggles in.

What are your travel tips for little ones? I would love to know!

 

For those of you who know me well, you know I love to organize. As odd as it sounds, it truly brings me joy to live in a clear space. My family tries to live simply and not be cluttered with things. We clean out the entire house twice a year to really think about what we have and the importance of material items. If a space in our house is a disaster, I feel like it just weighs over me and I can’t be as productive or efficient in other areas as I want to be.

Since organizing is a hot topic right now, I thought it would be fun to share how I like to organize different things and areas in our home (especially with a child). We all have different systems and techniques that work for us, so I always think it is fun to get new ideas on how to do things! Of course, what works for one person may not work for another…

Today I want to share the least favorite…paper items. I feel like papers are the first things that get crammed in a junk drawer or pile up in a random area of the house. I decided a few years ago I was going to organize our important papers, documents and bills with binders and I have stuck to it since then.

Each member of the family as a binder with different sections, and I also keep a house one. I go through the binders once a year and shred anything that is no longer relevant or needed.

For the family members I keep things in the following sections:

• Health (wellness reports, blood word, power of attorney, important bills, etc)
  • I added a “baby” section to mine with all pregnancy documents
• Dental (treatments, bills)
• Vision (wellness reports, bills, current prescriptions)
• Car (title, any important papers or big maintenance)
• Investments
• Insurance (policies, important statements)
• Taxes (current forms needed and yearly returns)

Our sons is a little different than ours so his is starting with “records, bills, information, investments”

For the home I keep the following sections:

• Loan Information
• Receipts (big purchases)
• City Information (annual taxes, appraisals, etc..)
• Contract
• Additional

How do you like to keep all of your documents organized? I would love to know!

 

Yesterday we made our monthly Costco run, and I thought it would be fun to share what we enjoy buying in bulk. We are not ones to buy anything and everything because of my need for organization and as little clutter as possible. I like everything to have a place, and not be thrown somewhere random.  Personally, buying everything in bulk overwhelms me, so I thought I would share our top ten items!

1. Paper Towels & Toilet Paper
2. Trash Bags
3. Laundry Detergent
4. Foil (we use a lot grilling/smoking)
5. Meat (cut and freeze)
6. Trail Mix (portion out into snack bags)
7. Granola/Protein Bars
8. Frozen Fruit (our whole family has a smoothie almost every day)
9. Apples (or any fruit/veggie your family eats daily to prevent them going bad…also use for applesauce)
10. Coffee

As you can see we like to stick to the staples and will sometimes grab other items that catch our eye. We do not like being wasteful with any food items so we try hard to prevent that from happening.

What are your favorite things to buy in bulk?