Colorado { 2 adults, a 2 year old, a 2 month old & an airplane}

A few weeks ago we flew to Colorado for my brother's wedding.

DJ and I had a long talk about how horribly traveling with a 2 year old and 2 month old could go.

We both decided...no matter what happens, we will be laughing about it in 10 year.

So we might as well be laughing about it now too.

We had to leave the house at 6am to head for the Chicago Midway airport.

We live in Michigan...3 hour drive...really not a big deal.

A Back story:

At 11:00 the night before, Ellary went to bed like she always does.  Except she woke up an hour later screaming.  She continued to scream until 4am, when she finally fell alseep next to me in bed.  Poor baby had a horrible tummy ache, and while I do know co sleeping can be done safely, with the way DJ and I sleep, it isn't a safe option for us.  Which stinks! So there my 2 month old is, finally resting...in my bed.  I didn't have the heart to move her.  So there I laid, after only sleeping for an hour, with no other option but to stay awake and watch her & DJ sleep.  Life of a Mommy.  It didn't last long, at 4:30 she started screaming again, so we moved to the rocking chair, where she snuggled in and finally calmed down and fell asleep.  Dead weight-asleep.  Just in time for DJ's alarm to go off, signaling it was time for us to get up and start our very long day of traveling.  ...with a Mommy going on 1 hour of sleep.

We loaded up the car, strapped in the kids, made a necessary stop at Biggby for Mommy, and headed for Chicago. 

 We parked the car and unloaded:

1 Britax Carseat

1 Infant Carseat 

{with the base}

2 Rolling Suitcases

1Rollling Carryon

1 Diaper Bag

1 Camera Bag

1 Duffle Bag

1 Two Year Old

1 Two Month Old

1 Double Stroller

Mind you, there are only 2 adults.  One going on only 1 hour of sleep.

Ellary went in the sling.  Karson went in the Ergo on DJ's back.  Everything else got heaped up on the double stroller...and on the bus to the airport we went.

Karson was in Heaven getting to ride on a bus.

Did I mention we parked right next to a train track.

And a train went by when we were unloading the car.

Karson was LOVING every minute of our travels, which made for a very happy two year old.

And since Ellary had been screaming the entire night before, she was out cold, sucking on her thumb in the sling.

The kids were behaving, we were all set!

We stopped a TSA agent and double checked the rules for drinks for Karson & whether or not the kids had to come out of the carriers for security. 

{Karson did not.  Ellary did because she was in a ring sling with a metal ring. 

 DJ did however get smelled for explosives because we kept Karson in the Ergo.  No biggie.}

Again, the kids were amazing!!!!

Ella slept & Karson couldn't stop talking about getting to ride on a bus.

We gave ourselves plenty of time, which meant the exhausted Mama could get more coffee & we had time to stop and eat lunch.

Again, the kids were amazing!!!!!

We got to the gate about 45 minutes before the plane took off.  I did not bring anything for Karson to play with.  All I brought was a DVD player for him to watch movies.  Right next to the gate was a moving walkway.  Perfect.  Entertainment for the 2 year old.

Taking a break from the moving walkway to have some juice, and talk more about the bus & getting to go "up sky" on the plane.

And then there is Ellary.  Who woke up from her nap in the sling, had a blow out, and felt much better!  She loved looking around & was happy as could be!

He got antsy...enter a rare treat-chips!

...more juice.

And finally we boarded the plane.  The kids had been amazing up to this point, so I was waiting for the melt downs. 

 Look at Ellary's little fingers-she is signing "i love you"

The only melt down was from Mama...who hates flying! I am pretty sure I repeated that over, and over, and over when we were taking off, and Karson was repeating "Mommy up in the sky...Mommy up in the sky."  Karson Mama is freaking out right now, please stop repeating that we are up in the sky.

When we could, we turned on his movie...

 

He watched it the entire time...and didn't fall asleep until the plane landed.

The kids did a.m.a.z.i.n.g. on the flight.  Ella slept & Karson watched his movie.  

When we landed we got to ride on a tram...and another bus to our rental car.

The 2 year old was in Heaven.

The 2 month old was sleeping.

Mommy & Daddy did it.

No melt downs.

No screaming.

My kids are amazing travelers!!!

...more on our Colorado trip to come...

Can you guess...

who started sleeping through the night???

Last Week

I would love to tell you where we were last week..

 

About DJ & I taking a 2 year old and 2 month old through an airport & on a 2 hour airplane ride by ourselves. 

About the wedding we traveled to be a part of.

 About all the cousins together for the first time.

 Five of the seven cousins...when we tried to get one of all seven, a certain little boy karson, wouldn't cooperate for a picture.  By the time we had a chance to get another one, the two older boys had already headed for home.

Except a certain little girl, who shall remain nameless, has decided not to sleep.  Ever.  She will, however, let me sleep at night.....for 3 hours maximum.  Apparently we are back to the newborn sleeping patterns.  She is lucky she is so darn cute!

The Many Faces of "E.S."

explination of "e.s."

"Karson how do you spell your name?"

"e.s.!"

I have absolutely no idea how he came up with it...and no matter how may times we spell his name to him, he still says "e.s."  we caved...we just call him e.s. now.

Ellary {8 weeks old}

She is 8 weeks old today.  I am not sure how that happened.  I am having a harder time with Ellary getting older, than I did with Karson.  I think because I know how fast it goes.  Pretty soon she will be sitting in the front of the cart at Target repeatedly saying things...heard from her Daddy...that I wish she wouldn't repeat.

Karson may or may  not have repeated "baby toot...baby toot...baby toot" over and over in target last week.  

Why is bathroom humor so funny to boys?

Little Ellary, at 8 weeks you...

Sleep pretty well at night!  You usually go to bed between 9:30 & 10:30 and sleep until 4am.  You are up for 2 hours, and go back to sleep until your brother gets up around 8.  You are all smiles at night.  I love our few hours in the quiet together!

You started smiling a few weeks ago.  Occasionally, we get a huge grin with your tongue out.  It is my favorite smile, but you only let us see it every once and a while.

You love to eat!  To be honest, I have no idea how often, because I have never looked at a clock to see how long you go in between.  Sometimes a few hours...sometimes a few minutes.  I think we finally have all the nursing stuff figured out...as long as you don't come up with something new to challenge me with.

You have a hard time with dairy.  After you started screaming and coiling up in the middle of the night....every night...I talked with a few friends and decided to give dairy free a try.  It seemed to help, and the tummy aches seemed to go away.  After a month of no dairy, I oopsed last week at Panera.  Ok-I didn't oops...the person working there gave me incorrect ingredients.  Regardless, you did not tolerate it well, and spent 24 hours throwing up and blowing out of every one of your diapers. Poor girl!  I promise, no more Panera, and no more dairy!

You love your paci.  There are times when you get cranky, and make it very clear you do not want to nurse.  However, when we offer you your paci, you calm right down and go to sleep. 

You have a cranky time in the evening, and whenever you are falling asleep.  You hate the in between awake and asleep time.  You usually scream until we figure out exactly how you want to be walked/held/rocked until you fall asleep.

You found your thumb.  It is one of the cutest things I have ever seen watching you find it.  The other night you were fussing, and by the time Daddy walked around the bed to your pack and play, you had found your thumb and were back to sleep.  Yay!  You find it often, and I love it!

I can't believe you are already 8 weeks old.  But at the same time, I can't imagine life without you.  You are such a sweet baby, and Mommy loves you so much!!

Memorial Weekend {2012}

Memorial Day weekend was so.much.fun!  We were busy all weekend, but enjoyed some time at home too.  To be honest, I don't remember what we did Friday night...no clue.  Saturday morning I met my Mom at a green house, and got some flowers for our house.  We ran some errands together, and went to an open house.  Karson didn't go down for a nap until 4.  We left him sleeping with Bumpa, while my Mom and I ran to the mall.  I needed a dress for my brother's wedding.  A dress that I could nurse Ellary in, and preferably one that will still fit me after I loose all this baby weight.  Needless to say, I tried on a lot! of dresses until I finally found one.  We didn't leave the mall until late, and kept calling Bumpa to check on Karson.  He told us he was having a grandson party, because my nephew was there too, and to take our time.  I love how much my Munchkin loves his Nana & Bumpa!

Sunday, Nana came over to make cake pops, and we put Karson down for a nap early.  When he woke up, we headed to one of my favorite places....the beach!  DJ's parents were camping, so we stopped to eat dinner with them, then headed to play in the sand.

 I have been waiting for 7 weeks to take Ellary to the beach.  It was super windy, and I wasn't as prepared as I should have been.  The umbrella had to come down, as soon as it came up because of the wind. 

Karson had a blast.  He stills calls the beach, "the peach."  Complete with the sign for "peach."  I could correct him, but it is cute!  Even though the weather was in the 90s, the water was absolutely freezing!  I can't wait until it warms up, and Karson can play in it!

She is destined to be a beach baby!

We had to stop playing to watch the airplane fly past us.

Our beach trip was interrupted by a screaming baby.  She was hungry, but the wind was blowing my nursing cover, and then the wind would catch her breath.  Needless to say, it was a quick trip.  A must after a beach trip, is a stop for ice cream at the general store.

The General Store won brownie points for their dairy free sorbet.  Not as good as ice cream, but a good second!

Monday morning, we planned to leave the house at 8:00 to head to the Memorial Day Parade.  We didn't set an alarm clock, because we have a 7 week old-human alarm clock.  Said human alarm clock decided to sleep in, and at 7:30 DJ & I shot out of bed.  We ran around the house, I nursed Ellary while DJ made eggs for breakfast & packed up the car.  We woke Karson up, thew on some clothes, and headed out the door by 8:00.

I absolutely love our double stroller, but it is hard to keep Ella in the shade.  At the last minute, I told DJ to throw in the umbrella from his camp chair, and some zip ties.  It worked perfectly...we just looked a little hillbilly-ish.

 Karson loved the parade.  He was so excited to see "Bumpa Trucks" & fire trucks!

Ellary wasn't so impressed.  She slept through the whole thing.

After the parade, we filled up the pool and let Karson play.  He had a blast.  While he took a nap, DJ & I planted flowers & got ready for our neighborhood bbq.

The boys from the neighborhood.  Poor Ellary is the only girl.

Time

I don't have time to blog. 

 So instead, enjoy some cute pictures of my babies.