::Traveling With Toddlers & Twins

I've traveled with my boys several times since they were born, via airplane, car, etc. I've had several friends and other moms around me pick my brain about traveling with little ones, so I decidedto write a little piece on traveling with toddlers & twins... If you don't get anything else useful out of this post, please take away the golden rule of traveling with kids of any age (especially those still in diapers).. MAKE A LIST OF THE THINGS YOU NEED, AND DOUBLE IT! That's right, folks, DOUBLE it! If I think I need 4 diapers, I pack 8... If I think I need 2 changes of clothes, I pack 4... If I think I need 2 bottles of milk, I pack 4... If I think I have enough toys and distraction methods, I'll grab a few more (just in case)... One of the things I've learned in my traveling adventures with my kids is that you always have the "just in case" moments hit when you least expect it. Case in point: our last trip to Las Vegas. Anything and everything that could have gone wrong, did! The plane ride home was particularly horrific. Landon blew out 2 diapers before we even got on the airplane, and then did it again midflight! Liquid poop up his back, down his legs and even on my shorts I was wearing! I started our trip home with 5 extra changes of clothes and when we got home, I had 1 clean pair of shorts left. Both boys were fussy and whiney, and nothing was working. Bottles and binkies were being thrown into the isles, toys were hucked at unsuspecting passengers, and snacks made their way into people's hair. It was bad. In a last ditch effort to not jump out of the emergency exit into the sky, I riffled through my awesome and totally fabulous JuJuBe Diapers Bags for something that would divert this bus from becoming a total wreckage. I happened to find a few of the apple sauce pouches that I had thrown in there for the "off chance" that the boys might like them. Thank God I did that! Those damn apple sauce pouches were a LIFE SAVER!!! That seemed to be the turning point for us on our trip home, and we were able to manage the rest of the way without getting drunk off of those tiny little Jack Daniels bottles they serve to you. Here's a quick list of things to keep in mind or pack when traveling... PLAN AHEAD!!!!!!!!!! I can't emphasize this enough! Run through the scenarios of the day and play in your head how you picture your trip will go. Everything from the morning of, to driving to the airport, parking and how you plan on unloading your luggage, car seats, etc, what checking in will look like, how you plan on getting through security, what your plan will be while you wait to board your plane, and then how you think the flight will go. Run through the good scnearios, and plan for the bad ones. Plan, plan, PLAN! :) Hopefully you get the point by now ;) You're allowed 2 carryons... utilize them! I always travel with my JuJuBe BeRightBack backpack and my JuJuBe BePrepared. Check out their entire line of super fabulous products HERE. Both are awesome bags that hold a ton and are super user friendly to pack up and keep organized. I put all of my essentials (bottles, snacks, a few toys, a few diapers, etc in my packpack that goes under the seat in front of me (easy access!), and then I pack all the extras or back-ups (changes of clothes, extra diapers and wipes, extra snacks and bottles, extra toys, etc) in the BePrepared that goes in the overhead bin. On many occasions, I'll need a paci, a bottle, a snack or whatever during take off (when the seatbelt sing is on, of course), so it's crucial to have all that stuff right at your fingertips for when you need it most. What I pack in my bags: -Diapers & wipes...and LOTS of them! -Bottles of milk -Sippy cups with water -a variety of snacks -treats for the kids -extra changes of clothes -toys -extra iPhone with all kid apps on it (life saver!!!!) -boogie wipes, paci wipes, clorox wipes, face and hand wipes, antibac wipes, & tissues -wallet -extra pacifiers (learned this lesson the hard way) -jackets for the kids -receiving blankets cause sometimes it's cold on the flights -a special security toy (Connor has this little Curious George that he LOVES, & Landon has a glow worm that's his fave) -water -phone charger (delays happen, people, and imagine being stuck in a airport without any way to contact the people picking you up, etc) -any other last minute things that I can grab while I'm walking out of the house that I think will be beneficial Every kid is different, just like every kid is different. What works for me and my kids may not work for you and your kid(s). Naturally, when we book a trip, I go into obsessive mode trying to figure out in my head how the day will play out. This OCD quality of mine has made life so much easier. PLAN AHEAD.... that's the key thing!!! :)

::Teething & Travel Tribulations

Landon and Connor decides to start cutting multiple molars while we were visiting Chad's family in Las Vegas. As you can imagine, it made for a stressful, difficult and not-so-enjoyable-at-times trip for everyone involved.... I'm still reeling from the unrelenting trials that we were faced with that trip!

Since we were all together, which is rare these days, my mother in law wanted to get together for a family picture. Good idea, right? Not exactly. Not when the pictures were taken outside, in Las Vegas, in mid-May, when it was 95 degrees at 10am. Chad and I were miserable, and so were L & C. They were so pissed off and they wanted everyone to know it! My poor little Connor SCREAMED at the top of his tiny little lungs the whole time we were there (which only ended up being about 45 minutes). After tears were shed by both of us, I quietly told Chad that I wasn't going to subject my kids to this nonsense any longer and I walked the opposite direction as the group and headed straight for the car. Connor screamed the entire way, and I cried because I felt so miserably exhausted and bad for my little guy. He had sweat dripping down the back of his neck and his race was as red as a vine-ripened tomato. Once we got to the car, it took 5-10 minutes of full blast AC, and a bottle, to get him to stop crying. Shortly after he calmed down, Chad walked up to the car and we got the hell outta dodge.

The thing that frustrated us both was the pressure and pushiness from the photographer. While I appreciate her persistence in trying to make the pictures happen, my kids were NOT in the mood to oblige her, nor was I at that point. Parents know their children best, and Chad and I both knew that we were past the point of no return with the kids. The only thing we could do to protect and calm our boys was to remove ourselves from the situation and get them to a calm, cool and quiet place where they could relax.

Parenting Lesson # 1,208,208,657::: Don't ever let anyone MAKE you do something if you know if your gut that it's not in the best interest for your babies. In that moment, I went from wife, daughter and sister to Mother Lion. Don't EVER mess with my cubs or I'll bite your head off!

Happy Tuesday, Friends!!!