Transformation Tuesday... er... Wednesday

It's almost the end of the 1st quarter of 2015. Have you stuck to your New Years resolution? Have you changed for the better since 2014?

Time to celebrate the good changes since 2014.

Good vibes!

The goal was set, it was achieved, now bring on the good vibes. Dan and I must both be radiating some good ones, because after 2+ years of trying to find some close friends, we have managed to find a small group of like minded young professionals to tear up the town with. Date nights are 10x more fun when you have people to laugh with. We even had a BBQ to celebrate the amazing weather on Saturday and people didn't leave our house until 1am. It was a blast and I can't wait to do it again!

I'm not going stir crazy anymore. Yes we just got another 6 inches of snow last night, but I am getting out of the house on a consistent basis. We go on date night once a week, no matter what. I go out for drinks with friends every other week. I am taking the kids to the pool, alone, which before was a suicide mission, but I am strong enough now to carry a 20 lb baby + 15 lb car seat, a 10 lb bag of supplies, and a 28 lb toddler out of the pool area when she starts having a tantrum. 6 months ago, I would have never even considered it.

Cheers to looking and feeling amazing!

I am 2 months into the Body Beast program and things are still changing for the better. I have transformed my body into the best shape it's ever been with the help of P90X to lose weight and Body Beast to gain lots of lean muscle mass. At this point it is really just fine tuning and getting stronger. I wish I could wow you like I did a few months ago, but now this is just how I look. Badass!

That before pic will always make me cringe.
 

Huge accomplishment is in the last picture which was taken this morning, I had just finished my workout. The accomplishment is that I have a terrible cold and a sore throat but I STILL worked out. Yesterday I felt even worse but still did Bulk Legs, which is pretty much the most grueling workout ever.

I feel like I am eating healthier. Not as much processed food like frozen meals, but I am eating a lot of bagels with vegan butter spread. I think gaining muscle makes you hungrier for carbs. Dan really wanted to eat healthy for his last month of Body Beast so we are eating dinners that consist primarily of meat and veggies, with maybe a slice or two of crusty bread or corn bread.

My after workout (or sometimes during workout) drink is about 16 oz of water with 2 scoops of recovery drink and a teaspoon of creatine. Then I slam a protein shake immediately after. I added creatine after reading an article about creatine and sleep deprivation. It was specifically talking about the benefits to women after having children. Dan was already taking it, so I added it to my drink. It hasn't made me gain huge mass, or an excessive amount of water weight, but I feel like my arms and legs are definitely more defined and I get a great pump during my workout.

In case you wanted to know the brands I use.

The Mandy Project continues...

The second round of botox not only took 10 years off my face, it brought be right back into puberty when I had pimples all over my forehead. I haven't had a pimple in years. Plus this time it hurt a lot more. It wasn't just me either... 2 other people said it was more painful. I was looking to find something to help the wrinkles that botox couldn't fix anyway, so the search started for a new facial routine.

You can only see 1 pimple in this pic, but there are
 3 more the camera didn't pick up.

Since I will be 35 this year and I didn't even wash my face before bed until now. I wanted the best of the best, so I decided on the Nerium line of night & day cream. The added bonus is that I also bought the Firm cream to use on my stomach to tighten the skin from my pregnancies and subsequent weight loss. So far so good! Before and afters coming soon...

These are not my before and afters but they were my inspiration for trying the product:

This is not me, but if it can do this for her,
then firming me up should be a snap.

I really need to find a self tanner that works. I am trying out different brands and will share my knowledge with anyone that wants to look brown without gaining wrinkles. So far I have tried 4 brands, 2 more and my write up will be complete.

I put self tanner on one side. Can you tell?
I need better lighting.

I have lots more transformation Tuesday posts to come, it just takes a while when before and after pics are involved. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please share! Thanks for reading!

This post contains affiliate links, because if you're going to buy a product, why not buy it from me?

Me and My Phone

I have an intimate relationship with my phone. Oh don't act like I'm weird... lots of people have relationships with things. I know people that feel this way about their cars, ipads, computers, TVs, and their Keurig machines. I am just in the open about my relationship.

My phone is my assistant. Siri dictates my emails, texts, and helps me navigate. She organizes my emails, notes and tasks. Without her I wouldn't be able to juggle multiple jobs, appointments, and clients.

2 weeks ago my iphone 5c broke and I was pissed! It wasn't that I dropped it in the toilet, or Kenzie dropped it on the cement, or the screen shattered... nope the screen just wouldn't turn on. I stormed into my sprint store and demanded why they ever let me purchase that phone to begin with. As I glanced around not one of the workers had an iphone so I decided: never again!

I tried a basic LG G3 android phone and at first I was excited. It was bigger than the iphone and all my google related apps were already there right on the first screen.

It took me 48 hours and I had my "must have" playlist downloaded, my work emails up and running, and at least 5 videos of the kids all nicely accessible. My contact list was missing and converting my iTunes into mp3s took some time but I managed it.

I was happily an android user until... I tried to download a siri type of app but it wasn't the same. This lady was pushy, she wasn't just willing to help me when I needed it. Nope. She was trying to get me to find gas stations, and stores, and use stupid emoticons. I deleted it immediately. Then I tried to reply to an email by typing. The autocorrect had a mind of it's own.

By the time I finished one message, I had 15 more waiting to be answered. I was hurrying to type and autocorrect was playing tricks on me. It was purposely trying to make me look like an idiot. I would type "they're" and it would correct to "their." I would type "then" and it would correct to "than."

It corrected "my" to "ty"
It corrected "Anway, we need..." to "And she weeds..."
It corrected "private space" to "pirate face"
It corrected "bring home lunch" to "boring nose punch"
It corrected "I f***ing hate this phone" to "I ducking ate this home"

I was trying so hard to type the right thing, but kept correcting to something totally different, even when I was spelling everything right. Oh hell no!

Plus there were all these notifications. Lights of every color were constantly blinking when the phone was off. It was letting me know there was an update, someone liked a facebook post I liked, I had 14 new emails, my texts were coming through as emails... it was all wrong! I was stressed out just trying to manage my notifications.

I had to fire my assistant. Today I took her in and faced the 3 scowling sprint reps (who seemed perfectly happy when I first walked in). I only had 14 days to try it, and today was day 14.  I switched her up for an iphone 6. Like most firings, I felt relieved when it was over.

I ran to my car after the switch and scrolled through my contacts, all accounted for! I looked through my iTunes, all there! I logged into my work emails and just like the wonderful assistant she is, she didn't hold it over my head that I had spent 14 days without her. Siri willingly turned all my words into perfect text and 2 minutes later my inbox was empty.

So here's to the one thing in my life that eases my stress and helps me manage my crazy schedule. I can't imagine a better assistant to share a St. Patty's Day drink with. Cheers!

I need a life.

The Favorite Child

"Ketcher is obviously your favorite." "Why don't you post any pics of Kenzie?"

I am going to address this since I have heard comments like these from no less than 10 different people.

I post pictures of Ketcher all over my instagram, facebook and occasionally twitter. In the last 6 months I have probably posted 2 pictures of Kenzie. Let me explain...

Why Ketcher's pictures are all over the place.

First of all, Ketcher is insanely cute. His gigantic eyes, chubby cheeks, spikey hair, and constant smile makes him look like a muppet. He is photogenic and easily holds still and smiles for any picture. I feel like it's my duty to plaster my walls with his face.

 

Learning to howl.

 

Second, that first year goes by SO FAST! Month to month he is changing more than he will the rest of his life, I need to capture it all. I learned with Kenzie that all too soon I will only remember that first year if I look at pictures.

Third, he is still mostly stationary.  He is just now on the cusp of being 100% mobile. I can set him on his butt and he won't move from that spot, but if I lay him on his tummy he is all over the house. I have to take pictures now because all too soon he will be running away from me or hiding when the camera comes out.

First week of army crawling.

Where did Kenzie go?

Kenzie is still here. She doesn't make the media because she can't stop moving. All the pictures I take of her are in a constant blur.

When I try to make her stay still, she hides her face or screams at me. Dan and I have tons of videos of her, but I don't generally post videos unless it's on youtube.

 She is also temperamental. One minute she could be singing and sweet, and literally the next breath she is screaming and crying. So I see her doing something hilarious, I run to grab my phone to take a video or picture, and by the time I get back (2 seconds later) she is in hysterics.

Our normal morning battle.

 

 

The battle continues.

 

Kenzie also wears the same outfit everyday. See that dress in the video below? 90% of the time she has this on. If it's in the wash she has a frozen dress she wears. It makes the pictures I do take look exactly alike. 

 

She still loves to pretend to talk on the phone.

Do I have a favorite?

Sure, I have a favorite child, however it isn't always the same one. It depends on the day and sometimes the hour. Rest, assured I love both my kids and they make me smile and laugh every day.

The very rare photo with both kids.
I didn't send Christmas cards this year but if I did,
this photo would have made the front.

The long drive to realization.

The last 4 months have been life changing for me. I'm not just talking about getting back into shape. I have been on  mental journey to find myself as a person again. I lost the person I was and solely became a mom, but I am still me damn it!

Between taking care of 2 little ones and working, some weeks more than 40 hours, I don't have a lot of time to sit and think. The only time I can really get introspective about myself is when I am driving alone. Unfortunately (or fortunately) everything is about 10 minutes from my house which is not enough time to get into the deep stuff.

When I decided to go to my company Christmas party alone, because we couldn't get a babysitter, it was the first 2 hours I had alone with myself since... well I couldn't think of the last time that happened. I was so tense from being cooped up for too long.

The commute to the Springs was 2 blissful hours singing to MY music, dancing in my seat, and getting over-the-top excited for dinner with my old co-workers and then a night out with my friends. After 2 glasses of wine, a shot, a few mixed drinks, and realizing that I really don't belong downtown after 10pm, I passed out around 4am. Of course the next day when I drove home, I spent the entire 2 hours trying not to vomit because I was so hung over. Not my best move.

A month later was our company annual meeting. Again on the drive down I sang and chair danced and enjoyed my ride, but I also had time to think about why I was so happy to be leaving. It wasn't until the drive home the next day that things started to get heavy.

My presentation was over, and the day was done. I started the car and turned on the 90s station. As I listened to the nostalgia from my teen years, I started to panic.

I had just been at work all day. I missed it. I missed the camaraderie, the intelligent banter, and talking to people that could talk back in complete sentences. I didn't have to say "stop" or "no" or "be gentle" or any of the other 100 phrases I repeat every hour of every day.

Somewhere along I-25, I realized what I was going home to: Long days of cleaning and feeding, and trying to squeeze work into a moment of silence that feels like 10 seconds. I was coming home to cleaning up pee from the floor (dogs), changing poopy diapers (kids), and trying to put clothes on a wiggly octopus (octopus, obviously). Having conversations about princesses, Frozen and the Muppets. Answering the question: "Where's daddy?" A thousand, no, maybe a million times a day. Wiping noses and tears off cheeks. Trying to find food that a toddler will eat, or as I like to call it: Pandora's box.

It felt like I was driving back to a prison. I started to feel hot, I rolled down the windows to a balmy 50 degrees in Denver. It felt like I couldn't breathe and I had a lump in my throat.  I sank in my seat and tried to let the music soothe me to a happier time. It didn't.

I got home just before the kids went to bed. I figured as soon as I saw them, all thoughts would be extinguished, and life would go on as usual. When I walked in the door, I was greeted in toddler style with a "MOMMMMYYYY" and the best hug in the world. Then the baby's smile and squeal as I snatched him up and squeezed him. It was a great moment.

As I went to bed that night, the moment had faded and I was left with my thoughts. I stared at the ceiling and felt my eyes sting with tears. I couldn't sleep worrying that I wouldn't be able to shake these feelings of unhappiness. A few days later I had to get out. It was breakfast, and I told Dan that as soon as the baby was down for his nap, I was going to take a shower and go to target. He told me. "No, after the baby goes down, workout, and then we will all go to Target together."

"No." I said, "I will be going out without you or the kids." I thought about how many times I had been out this month alone. Aside from my 1 day work trip... none.

As I slowly pushed the cart through the clothing isles I saw T-Shirts I swear I owned in 1995. Same styles, same bands on the front, same colors. I looked around and realized the mid-90s clothing fashion is back. I smiled and shook my head.

Add some flannel and overalls and here is target's line of clothing.

When I got into the car after an exquisite hour of shopping alone I turned back on 90s music. As I entered the highway, I realized that my teen self and I are going through the exact same thing at the exact same time, 20 years apart. We are both searching for our independence.

20 years ago in January of 1995, I was 14 years old. I was awkward, lonely, and sad. My wounds from Junior High were still so fresh. I was trying to find a place in school, in life really, that I could be myself, but I didn't know who I was yet. I was hurting to be independent, as all teenagers are.

As I have been working through my Mandy Project, there has still been a piece missing that I couldn't put my finger on. Some small unhappiness, that nags at me in the middle of the night. I need to find my independence again. I need to find myself away from all of my other daily roles.

In my usual fashion, I went right to work on it. I found a contracting job where I can either work from home, or go into the office 1-2 days a week, when Dan can watch the kids. It is an opportunity for me to be me. Yes, it's work, and I am sure I have boggled the minds of some of my readers, that would give anything to NOT have to work. For me the workplace is where I feel intelligent, confident, and happy.  Although I have never stopped working, I need a space outside of the home to get things done. A space without having to take care of laundry, dishes, food prep, diapers, noses, baths, dogs, toys, boo-boos, and bills.

It's been a little over a month since that fateful day in January. I made the commute to Colorado Springs yesterday, there and back, my 4 hour trip in sketchy weather. I had plenty of time to think.

Not only have I found a place to go and work when needed, but I have found some friends here to grab a Moscow mule with from time to time, and Dan and I decided that a weekly date night is worth more than the cost of a babysitter.

I know I am a better parent now that I have a little more freedom. I don't take my time with the kids for granted. I don't get as stressed out. I laugh more. I smile more. I say "I love you" so much more. Isn't that what it's all about?

Note: I wrote most of this back in January right after I realized what it was that I was missing. I am glad I can go back and update with good news before posting. Those years when our kids are little are short, happy, and exciting, but very isolating. I hope that all of you have found your perfect balance between home life and life away from home.

The Mandy Project: 90 Day Before and Afters

I know this is sadly overdue.  I have been trying to get this blog post posted for about 10 days but work and family come first, so without further ado...

I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, I not only did it, I f***ing KILLED IT!

If you haven't been following the blog these past 3 months, click this link to see the journey from beginning to end.

I am about to break all the rules our founding puritan mothers put forth - I. Look. Ah-may-zing!!! Seriously, I can't fit my head through the door these days, I am so conceited. However, I earned every right to gloat about myself because I worked HARD!

I will save the text for the end because I know you probably just want to see the pics.

See the results for yourself.
Side note: I could not find a time at night to take my pics, so the lighting is definitely different in the last set. It also makes me look pasty white, so my apologies to your eyes.



For sarcastic comments see my previous posts on the makeover. 

 

There is no point in posting measurements or weight, because the proof is in the pictures.

What have I learned?

• I do have time to workout every day, even though I have a baby, toddler, household, a job and run my own business, with a singular employee... me.
• It's okay to put myself first for an hour or two a day. This doesn't mean neglecting my family, it just means that I don't HAVE to entertain them during that time. My toddler has learned to entertain herself, or join in on the fun during my workouts.
• It takes a combo of weight training, cardio, and not gorging yourself on crappy food.
• Cardio, which I hate, does melt fat but it's only a small portion of the overall plan.
• Weight training gets you the body you want. You have saggy arms? Belly? Butt? You HAVE to weight train. Plus weight training builds muscle, muscle burns calories at rest... so if you weight train you will melt even more fat while watching your favorite shows before bed.
• We all know we should eat healthy. I ate moderately well, and often, with an emphasis on protein and cutting out cheese. I do not limit my carb intake other than to make sure I don't stuff myself on bread. I also eat at home 98% of the time because taking my children to a restaurant is social suicide right now. 
• What I did do is work hard during every workout and made sure I only had 1 rest day per week. If you are going to do it - DO IT!

 What have I gained?

• Energy. There is no end to my energy these days. Which is good because I have a FULL plate. Life is good and aside from the random moment of overwhelming stress, I have changed my outlook and attitude.
• Self-esteem. I have never, ever, felt better about myself than right now, in this moment. This is coming from a Mother of 2 that will be 35 years old this year.
• Health. There have been illnesses in the house, but I haven't caught a single one!

What have I lost?

• Fat.
• Post-baby flabby belly.
• Wrinkles.
• Brown hair.
• Pasty, winter-white skin.
• The feeling of being so tired I could slip into a coma.
• Back pain.
• My standard Mom wardrobe of plain T-shirts and yoga pants.

Workouts during the last 30 days:
I did get incredibly bored with P90X. The first 60 days were great because the workouts changed, but the last 30 is just redoing everything you have already learned. I decided to swap out the weight routines and do the Body Beast weight routines instead. This program is specifically for building muscle. So instead of doing 3 weight days, 2 cardio days, and 1 yoga day, I did 4 weight days, and 2 cardio days. No yoga: I. Hate. Yoga. I used P90X plyometrics and kenpo x for cardio.

Nutrition during the last 30 days:
I really wanted to do something that would make these last pictures amazing, however, I didn't really do anything different. The only thing I added was to slam a protein shake right after my workout, in addition to the recovery drink. This did help stop the mindless eating I do after a workout because I am starving. Aside from that, breakfast, lunch and dinner remained the same as before.

My final thoughts:

This has been the best thing I have done for myself in almost 10 years. There is no way I could have made it through this past month, with my sanity in tact, without the energy I have gained from these workouts. I haven't been sick since October, right before I started the program.

Dan and I have been encouraging each other to work towards our fitness goals. We have changed our loft into a gym and we make sure each of us has time to complete our workouts. We have even hired a weekly babysitter so we can go on date night once a week. There are so many other good things that have emerged from this project, I had no idea when I started I would be this happy at the end.

There is nothing more rewarding than modeling healthy habits and body image for my kids. I am never negative about myself. I don't stare into the mirror and point out things that need to change. The kids see us workout hard, eat healthy, and encourage each other to be the best we can be. They see me moving heavy furniture, and hanging big pictures high up on the wall. There is nothing their Mom can't do.

What now? Well, I am going to continue on with Body Beast weights and P90X cardio hybrid and just enjoy the results and feeling great. As the spring fruits and veggies emerge in the super market I might be encouraged to switch up my eating habits. I might do a cleanse to see if I can get that six pack to show up. I don't know. Whatever I do, if I get results I will share.

Thank you all for your encouragement and sharing your projects with me. There were certainly times I was ready to skip workouts for the week, but knowing that we were in this together kept me going. Please share your projects with me by private message, facebook, or leave a comment here.

Breaking Point

Last night I hit my breaking point. After a long month of deadlines, tasks, and being stretched to the max I finally exploded. 

We were getting into bed when Dan noticed a puddle of water on the sheets by our pillows. One of the dogs had knocked down a glass of water from our headboard. We got up and changed the fitted sheet. I soaked up what I could with some paper towels, and went back to trying to send one last email to a co-worker. As I am trying to fight with autocorrect (a minimum of 5 times) on my phone over "FYI" and it kept correcting to "Fri" Dan said. "You didn't soak this up very well, it's leaking through the sheet."  I looked down and hysterically yelled. "I CAN'T DO EVERYTHING!!!!"

This sums it up.

It has been a really long month. Work has been eating up ALL of my free time. With one company I am prepping taxes and getting out hundreds of 1099s, with another company I am pricing thousands of catalog items, and Dan pimped me out to his boss to help with their ever growing admin tasks that haven't been getting done.

I am working 50+ hours a week this month, trying to get in my workouts, cooking dinner, keeping the house clean, and trying not to neglect my two surprisingly patient children.

It's a good time of year, my bread and butter, but it's demanding and this is the first time I have tried to do it with 2 kids. I would say I have been keeping it together pretty good, you know, stuffing my emotions deep down, real healthy like.

So when I yelled at Dan his look of shock made me start laughing. Like a crazy hysterical laugh/cry. I was laughing but tears were coming out of my eyes, and not in a this-is-super-funny-so-I'm-crying kind of way. He just sat there thinking I was losing it for good.

If only...

I tried to explain, but there was really nothing he could understand. Since I work from home, it appears I do nothing all day except play with the kids and sing and dance, like a Disney movie. We have woodland creatures come and clean the house for us, and fairy god mothers to cook our meals. After the kids are in bed and I log into work for the next 3 hours, I really must be blogging and facebooking, not actually doing anything productive.

The reality is I am pretty much always logged into work. Either on my laptop or checking my emails from my phone. There are times I force myself to step away and hang with the kids, or workout. The workouts are certainly for my sanity as well as my health.

Only 1 more month of this grueling work schedule and things will be back on track. January is the worst of it. February will get better. At least that's what I tell myself.

After I wiped the tears off my face, I jumped up and ran to get a towel, because apparently I can do everything.

Epic Travel Mistakes that Ruined our Vacation

This list is a public service announcement so no one makes the same mistakes as we did, on our vacation to visit family in NC.

We made some serious mistakes - one after another - that resulted in a botched vacation.

It appeared that we had planned everything perfectly. We were flying direct. We packed tons of toys and downloaded enough movies to keep us all occupied for a week. How wrong we were...

Epic travel mistakes that ruined our vacation:

Note: We traveled from Colorado to North Carolina to visit Dan's family over New Years (6 day trip). Remember that we were traveling with a 7 month old and a 2 year old (that just turned 2 on December 1st.) Also that there is a 2 hour time difference from here to there.

Mistake #1: Flying during winter. Chancing a connecting flight is suicide this time of year. No flight leaves on time from December to March unless you are on the first one in the morning. There was only one flight from Denver to Raleigh that flew direct. The departing time: 5:45pm. Inevitably we were delayed. After a delay and de-icing, we didn't actually depart until 7:00pm both kids' bedtime.

We were thinking this time would be great. The kids are used to going to bed so they would drift happily to sleep on the plane. NOPE! The toddler was awake the whole 3.5 hour flight and was NOT interested in watching a movie. She wanted to sleep but couldn't so instead she cried and squirmed and screamed the whole flight. The baby? He slept on and off, but the second half of the flight he had a terrible time trying to fall back asleep and instead decided to cry extremely loud so we could feel his pain.

Make no mistake, it wasn't just our kids. Every kid on that plane from rows 20 on back took their turn wailing from exhaustion.

Mistake #2: Flying too late. Even if we had left on time - 5:45pm (mountain time) - that still would have put us in NC at about 11pm (eastern time) and at our hosts house at 12:00am. Sleep deprivation in children, proves to be torture for parents.

Mistake #3: Rental car. We booked a rental car, not knowing some rental car companies actually close. So by the time our delayed flight made it to NC, the rental car company had closed and we had to seek another option at 1 o'clock in the morning.  The toddler was STILL awake at this time. The rental car we had booked was non-refundable.

Mistake #4: Testing the bedroom situation. We never had both kids sleep in the same room before. They each have their own rooms at our house and we usually don't stay overnight anywhere because of the dogs. We had no idea what we were in for... 

We arrive at our accommodations at 2:00am. I hurry up and feed the baby a bottle to get him to sleep. The toddler is up walking around the room talking in her not-so-quiet voice. The baby wants to sleep but keeps waking up from her. We finally got her settled into her bed and she spent another 30-45 minutes singing. We eventually all fell asleep around 3am eastern time on Tuesday morning.

The baby was up at 9:00am eastern time (or his usual 7am mountain time). Naturally the toddler woke up too and the day began, after only 6 hours of sleep. This is a stark contrast from their normal 12 hours of sleep every night.

Mistake #5: Figuring out how the kids will fall asleep. After that shit show, we needed these kids to nap. The baby napped with no issues, but the toddler isn't much of a napper. At home we put her in her room and sometimes she naps, but mostly she just plays quietly for an hour while her brother sleeps.

I brought the video monitor with us, so we set it up and put her down for a nap. Which resulted in her walking around the room, crying, banging on the door, and touching things she shouldn't. On Tuesday we had her nap in the car as we drove to visit family, but there had to be another way.

The real test was getting both kids to sleep that second night. After an hour of both kids crying and keeping each other up, I decided we would let the toddler fall asleep first and then put the baby down. Again, she wouldn't fall asleep in a new location. We ended up putting her in the infant car seat with her blanket and bear. At some point she fell asleep and we could put the baby down much later than normal.
 

Yup... that's about it.

 Mistake #6: Bringing too much stuff. I thought we were traveling light. I had formula and diapers sent to our destination. However, as usual I packed too many toys, too many pieces of clothing, and we are drowning in bags at the airport. We checked 2 car seats, 2 giant bags, and 1 carry-on.  We gate checked a stroller, and carried on 3 back packs... one for me, Kenzie and Dan. P90X had nothing on that arm workout. I should have assumed that relatives would be giving our children gifts of toys and clothing, especially since Christmas was only 1 week ago.


Mistake #7: Thinking the toddler would eat normally away from home. The second day we went grocery shopping so we could have all of her normal eats. Naturally, in true toddler fashion, she didn't want any of it. I think she ate a meal or two collectively over the 5 days we were away.

Mistake #8: Not taking enough with us on an outing. I am very controlling with my kids schedule when we are home. I call the shots, and that's it. I had no idea that we would be going on, what I thought to be a short trip to say good-bye, that turned into dinner and socializing for several hours. My kids were starving, I didn't pack any meals, bottles, or pouches, and we were again, approaching bedtime. Sigh...

Mistake #9: Flying too early. There was only one direct flight from Raleigh to Denver and it left EARLY in the morning. As we got up at 4am mountain time (6am eastern) we quietly tried packing up while the kids slept. Which lasted a whole 10 seconds before both kids were up and crying because they were still tired and cranky from 6 days of massive sleep deprivation. They whined and cried for the next 6 hours, until we were back in our car driving home from the airport. That was probably the best part of the trip. The 120 minutes of silence from the airport to home.

Hmm... I'll have to remember this for next time.

Mistake #10: Misplacing the parking ticket. Let's just top this crap cake with an icing of stupidity. Dan couldn't remember where he put the parking ticket, so we spent another 20 minutes scouring the car for the tiny stub hidden in the back of the console. Yes we found it, but not without a healthy dose of fear and anger.

So for those of you with tiny tots that have enough time to print up little poems and make up treat bags with ear plugs for the random strangers on your flight, you will probably just shake your heads at me... and please tell me about how wonderful your life is...

If you or someone you know is traveling with children, particularly a toddler and baby, please send them a link so they can better prepare themselves for the coming storm.