Traveling to Florida

We went on a great family vacation last week to Florida. We went to Blue Mountain Beach which is in between Santa Rosa Beach and Grayton Beach and just a few miles away from Seaside. It was SO beautiful. Marc loves the ocean and beautiful views but all he remembers of our last trip to this area five years ago was seaweed. He was pleasantly surprised to find the Emerald green waters and white sand beaches at their best! We had wonderful weather as well... not overly hot and not a day of rain. It couldn't have worked out any better. :)

Marc and I were excited to get away for a week to relax, but we also couldn't wait to see Eli take in all of these "firsts." It was our first time flying with two little ones and we made it through with no tears from either of them (or from us!).

Eli loves anything with an engine that makes loud noises so airplanes are no exception. He was so excited looking through the window on the plane seeing all the other planes take-off and land.

He also loved his new portable DVD player and head set. I did a little research before we bought one because I knew it would come in handy for our LONG trip to Africa next year. I wanted one with a long battery life and the option for two headsets to be plugged in. This is the one we decided on and we got these headphones to go with it. We really like it so far. Thanks to any of our family who sent Eli money for his birthday because that is what we purchased with it! :)

I can say that I feel like I learned a lot after flying for the first time with two kids. On our way to Florida we maxed out our carry-on items with three bags and three smaller personal items. We had a diaper bag, a breast pump bag, Hailey's car seat in a shoulder bag (this didn't count as one of our items), my over sized purse, Marc's backpack, a laptop bag, and a small carry-on luggage piece. Whoah! We were both worn out lugging all that stuff around so on the way home I decided to combine a few of these bags so that we had less strapped around us. I carried Hailey on my front in her carrier and Eli made a fashionable statement this way...

I had seen this strap on Amazon (I am getting a little link happy in this post!) and decided it sounded like an easy way to travel. Several reviewers said they bought a strap on their own and made a cheaper contraption so we went that route. Our strap was a little time consuming to put on so I think if we traveled this way again I would just buy the $15 strap. The main reason we chose to get Eli around this way vs. in an umbrella stroller is that it freed one of Marc's hands up (compared to using both hands to push a stroller) and it ensured that with our tight connection Eli's car seat would not get lost (we checked it under the plane on every flight). Marc also carried Hailey's car seat in a shoulder strap bag but it was too much for him to handle so we put it with our checked bags on the way home.

Here are a few other tips I learned from this first traveling experience with kids:
1. Pack lots of snacks, especially if you have a tight connection and just might miss a meal!
2. Breast milk, baby food, fruit juice boxes, etc. can all make it through a check-point even with the liquid regulations. I even put some water in a bottle for Hailey to drink with take-off and they didn't have a problem with it. On the way home, they did take a sample of the breast milk for a test to make sure it didn't have any explosive materials in it. Ha!
3. Try to plan flights if possible that work with your kids' schedules. Hailey slept for the entire second flight on both days of travel. She slept on the boppy on my lap. It worked out great.

I have lots of pictures to share tomorrow of our trip so check back!

Eli is Awesome!

This is a favorite phrase around our house these days started by none other than Eli himself. :) While I am still sorting through our Florida pictures to share I thought I would put up a video of bath time tonight (and no, the bathtub is not the only place we video tape our kids but it is one of our favorite times of the day where we are all together!). ENJOY.

Our Big Welcome Home

We are back home from a great vacation on the beach in Florida, and I am now sitting down to the computer for the first time since we left. The house where we stayed for the week had no Internet service so I took a much needed break from the technology world. I feel really behind in the blog world but hope to catch up over the next hour.

I have lots of fun pictures to sort through tonight from our trip. Eli had such a great time this past week. He flew on a plane, walked on the beach, and saw the ocean all for the first time. He talked about it all the whole way home. His enthusiasm for every new thing he saw was just priceless. I loved watching him take it all in.

It is nice to be back home again today and even better to have a few surprises welcome us back. Before we left for vacation, I checked one last time on a bird's nest that we had been watching over the past week. This mama bird was very determined to make her nest in my hanging fern. I fought with her for several days at the beginning and would take her nest out every time she started making a new one. Poor thing made three nests in the same plant. I thought it would be pretty hard to water the plant with a nest in the middle but she just wasn't getting the message! Eventually, I came out one day and found that she had made another nest and put four eggs in it. So, I decided to let the nest be, and I have been carefully watering the plant from the side underneath the nest. When I walked up to water the ferns tonight I gave the plant a little shake to see if mama bird was inside. Instead, I heard the sweetest little squeak.

There are three baby birds in the nest and still two unhatched eggs. She must have laid another egg after we left because there were only four to begin with. Although this nest has been a bit of a nuisance to me, I must admit that these birds are really cute. Eli really thought they were great and it will be fun to watch them grow over the next week or two.

Our other big surprise came when Marc and Eli were in the bathroom unloading our bath stuff tonight. (I should probably add in here that Eli tells us at least fifty times a day when we are home that he wants to go potty. He LOVES his Elmo step stool and Sesame Street seat for the big potty and will take any opportunity to use them. Marc and I actually quit asking him if he wanted to go because in a five minute period we might end up putting him back on the seat ten times. It was quite exhausting getting a diaper on and off and I just haven't felt like he is ready enough for a pull-up. He usually squeezes out some every time we put him up there but it seems like he goes just enough for us to let him flush the toilet. Ha!) So, tonight when I was unpacking in the living room I heard Eli tell Marc, "Eli need poo-poo in da potty." Since Marc had just changed a poopy diaper (and since Eli has never gone #2 in the potty) he told him that he didn't need to go. But when Eli insisted, Marc helped him onto the potty and he actually went! We were both screaming and cheering for him. I think he thought we were crazy, but he sure loved the chocolate candy I gave him as a reward. :) With only six months to go, I am more hopeful after all that we will only be taking one baby in diapers to Africa!

Well, I guess I should start sorting through the pictures from the week so I can show you all our vacation!

What a Weekend!

I am loving Marc's laid back month. For four months straight he was working in the hospital every weekday and had to be there at 6 am. That meant that for four months I got both kids and myself up and ready in the morning and then to school/work. Whew! Well, now that Marc is on a clinic month he doesn't have to be at work until 8 and he has been taking the kids to school some for me. It has given me a much needed break each morning. :) Marc has also had all of his weekends off from rounding this month which is even better. We were able to enjoy sleeping in until eight on Saturday and Sunday (thanks to our kiddos for cooperating on that one!).

We officially rented our house last week for the next year which was a huge relief for us. If we had sold this year we would have taken a loss so we will hold onto it for now and see how things look next year. We ended up renting to an older couple who are relocating from California to be near their kids and grandkids. I don't know if they are looking to buy after their lease with us is up next July, but since they don't have kids, pets, or smoke we are hoping they will only put gentle wear on the house. So, our house was withdrawn from the market on Saturday. It was so nice not worrying about the house being clean for a possible showing over the weekend. We enjoyed staying in our PJs for a good while on Saturday morning. :)

On Saturday night we went to the international medicine fellowship director's house for dinner and a quick French lesson. I really thought I was done with text books but now currently have a "French Made Simple" book on our kitchen table. :) The country we are going to next year speaks French so we are hoping to learn a few phrases and common words before we go. The Stephens are fluent in French because that is the national language in Rwanda where they were missionaries for quite some time before moving back to Wichita.

Hailey wore a new dress to go out to dinner. I almost missed this dress completely because it was hidden in her closet and she will be too big for it pretty soon!

We took Gracie her birthday present! She is turning one this weekend. Eli was really excited to give her the present but didn't have much patience waiting on her to open it up.

Dean and Dianna brought Hailey and Eli a French kids book back from their recent trip to Mali. I loved getting to hear it read with a French accent. :)

Marc woke up on Sunday morning and told me that he was craving a donut. Marc NEVER wants donuts for breakfast so I thought we should take advantage of it and head to the donut shop before church.

Hailey was just hanging out in her car seat and watching us eat. I promised her we would come back when she is a little bigger so she can have a taste. :)

After church, we brought the kids home to take naps and then we loaded them up again in the car for a quick trip to the zoo. I am thinking more and more about getting a double stroller but need to do a little more research. Until then, we will keep pushing them separately. Eli loved showing Hailey all the animals. "Look Haywee!"

 Eli and his Daddy

 After the zoo we went to a new park to play and then stopped off for ice cream sundays from McDonald's. Eli wanted his own. He is getting to be so independent these days. ;)

Well, I think that was all the pictures we had from our weekend! It has taken me three days to get this posted onto blogger. I was having the hardest time getting my pictures to load and then realized I had exceeded my space on the blog for photos. Everything is fixed now (for a small fee to upgrade my storage space!) and our next posts will be coming from Florida! Time to go pack.