Pack 'em Up and Ship 'em Out!

Today's post is a list that should help you, my faithful, loyal and lovable readers, get to know me (and my craziness) just a little better.

Normally before taking any trip I make endless lists, both on paper and in my head, of things that need to be packed. I obsess over outfits and personal care needs that I'm terrified of leaving behind although, we've yet to travel to a place where it's impossible to find a toothbrush.

I get it, I'm a bit obsessive when it comes to being prepared for every possible situation on vacation. Unfortunately, for my psyche these are the things that I did not get in time to pack them for today's flight.

1. Matching shoes for the entire family. As silly as it sounds, Elijah and I have always worn matching shoes (same brand, not color) on our flights and I thought it'd be a neat tradition to carry on with our family trips.
2. Another bathing suit for me. Everyone else has plenty of suits to rotate I, on the other hand, have not had any time to run this dreaded errand alone and there was no way my mind was going to survive trying on bathing suits with BOTH kids attached.
3. Cleaning the house. Our home isn't cluttered or messy, except for my room which has clothes strewn all over the place. If someone has found a non 'pulling everything out of the closet, trying on outfits, experimenting with shoes then finally settling on at least 20 options for your 5 day trip,' I'm all ears. No, the house is dirty - like needs vacuuming, dusting and washing dirty. I hate coming home to a dirty house, but I completely ran out of time on this one so...oh well.

Things that I was able to get/do/find...YEAH ME!

1. I got a pedicure! It was last minute (7:45 last night) but I totally swung it. Phew!
2. I got Asher's haircut. At least this way his head'll tan evenly instead of being scary white in spots were we to get it cut after vacation.
3. I found luggage for the kids. It's matching and adorable, although I think I went too young with Asher's and it'll have to be replaced soon. But I wanted the kids to have adorable matching luggage and mission accomplished!
4. Everyone is pretty much packed with their "airplane outfits" laid out. Elijah did pack his own clothing, but everything else was all me. I just hate to get somewhere and realized I forgot something that we HAVE to go get before we can start our vacation.

I think I did ok. Elijah assured me that I can go shopping for a bathing suit in Florida, but I'm not so sure they are going to have any stores that carry swimsuits, right? We'll see.  There's no time to worry about all the things I may have missed now...we're off!

Just Trippin'

This week should be chaotic, crazy and also a little bit fun.

If I can get everyone packed and on a plane by Wednesday, we just may have our first ever family vacation. It'll be Amelia's first airplane ride, after which, we might just decide it needs to be her last one until she's potty trained and able to keep those damn earphones on her head.

Either way, we're heading to sun (fingers crossed) and sand and hopefully at least one child free night out to dinner.

I am planning to blog during the trip so check in for some jealousy inducing updates.

Funny Ha Ha

I Found This Funny was a refreshingly different book for me to read. I don't usually read short stories (except for the hilarious works by David Sedaris) but this book, edited by Judd Apatow, appealed to me. I usually only get pockets of time to read, so I liked the idea of being able to pick a page and read through a story in a small amount of time. The pieces surprised me. Some funny, some sad, and others just plain disturbing. A good mix that even introduced me to some new authors I'd like to read.

You can get to the NPR article/interview here.

Freedom

Amelia's first day at Mommy's Day Out.

This is how she looks.

Aaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnd.

This is how I feel.



Sure, it's only two days a week and yes, I will be spending most of those days sleeping off the previous night's shift, but the promise of a consistent schedule of child free hours is enough to make me giddy.

La La Love You

We kicked off the summer with a visit from our niece Harper. Her parents (Elijah's brother and sister-in-law) came too, but she's the main attraction so whatever.

We are now old fogies with kids so we stayed close to home and didn't partake much of Austin's nightlife. We did take turns (boys, then girls) having an evening without the babes. Rikki and I spent our free time - OMG CAN YOU BELIEVE WE GOT OUT WITHOUT THE SCREAMING TWO YEAR OLDS! - shopping, getting pedicures, and eating the most amazing meal at Second Bar + Kitchen. If you ever want a great meal, but aren't quite ready to commit to David Bull's Congress. Just head to the sister restaurant next door for some wonderfully understated and delicious food. (Plus, there's no kids menu!)

So since that's pretty much the highlight of the visit, I'll just leave you with some pictures of the little ones. It was adorable to see the cousins playing together. Asher treated Harper just like his own little sister chasing her around and letting her climb all over him. Harper is a little over two months older than Amelia and they also got on swimmingly - pun intended.