Traveling Anxiety!

The holidays are here! Hunter and I will be going to see my parents the week before Christmas and I am terrified of this trip! I know that I have blogged about this before but this time I am serious.  The last time we went on a trip was to see my Grandma (in September) in the hospital and Hunter was taking at the most 6 steps at a time but still preferred to crawl and actually hang out in the stroller.  This time Hunter is going to be bananas! I am basing this assumption on the shopping that we did this past weekend with going to stores.   For one, he could care less about the stroller unless he was pushing it, which is fine but only lasts for about 2 minutes.  Two, he not only walks all over the place but runs as well and is not a fan of just holding on to mommy and daddy’s hand.  Also, he loves for you to chase him and it is funny because he cracks up while we are doing it but will pitch a fit if we even think of picking him up! Yikes! Is this normal?  Haha. Oh and to top it off, if he is tired, this is a million times worse! So yes, I am terrified. I did make sure to book the flight at 6 am like we did last time around which works out perfect because he is still sleepy and will sleep on me during the flight.  This would be no sweat because the flight from Fort Lauderdale to Charlotte directly is only 2 hours but the thrifty mom that I am booked a flight with a connection which won’t get us to Charlotte until 11:30 am.  So, I’m really just terrified about getting to the connecting flight, getting us something to eat, diaper change (I guess I could do it on the plane if possible) and mommy bathroom break, all while juggling a bookbag, stroller (just in case) and restless toddler.  I can just picture myself now:  That mom with the active little boy trying to juggling him and keep him entertained all by herself! Yep, not that Sean doesn’t want to come but he is still on his probationary period with him becoming an officer that he can’t take any time off so we decided that me going for 5 days and coming back right before Christmas works. So I won't have "Daddy-o" to help me.  

Here are some things that I am going to include for the trip this time to help me out and to entertain him on the second flight:

·         Carry a bookbag rather than a duffle bag (duh, why did I do this last time!?)

·         Checking with the airport/TSA to see if I can take a lunch box of his milk and yogurt  for him so that I don’t have to hunt to find him something semi healthy and what he would eat

·         I have a bunch of little toys that he has never seen before – little gadgety things

·         Coloring book and crayons

·         Our Blackberry Tablet with little toddler friends apps that he can play – may only last 10 minutes but I’ll take it!

·         Portable DVD player to play Gigglebellies – not a 100% on this yet but will decide later

·         Tons of snacks (obviously)

·         Crinkle paper and bubble paper (he loves this)

...And that’s about it.  I am reaching out to all of you inexperienced or experienced flyers with little ones that have any advice, items or ideas that I could use for this trip to help out this wild child of mine (hahaa).  I would very much appreciate it or if you just have any words of solace for me to relieve this anxiety that I have, I’ll take that too. I'm not a supporter of "drugging" my child either so please don't suggest it.  Our trip isn’t for a few weeks but the “planner” that I am is already thinking of this. 

Thanks!

Thankful...

Thanksgiving time! I don't want to sound cliche with telling everyone what I am thankful for each day for the month of November but I am thankful for a lot of things in general.  I am not going to go crazy but since it is that "Thankful" time of year, here it goes:

First and foremost, I am thankful for my parents. If it weren't for them, I would not be here and without me I would not be a mommy and a wife to the most important boys in my life.  With that said, I am thankful for Sean and for Hunter.  Also, I am thankful for being a sister.  Not only to my brother, Matt but also a sister-in-law and of course, I'm thankful to be a daughter-in-law as well. I love my new families through Sean =). I'm also grateful for all of my friends and extended family that I have because without them I would not be the person who I am today without everyone in my life. 

Now, here are the things that Hunter has told me that he is thankful for:

• Mommy and Daddy(duh!)
• My Blanky's (not just 1, 3 of them) and my monkey and rabbit that I cuddle with in my crib and I know mommy thinks that I look so incredibly cute
• His sippy cup of water and his bottle at nighttime (he loves his water and milk!)
• Millie and Marley for keeping me entertained while mommy tries to cook for 5 minutes without me wanting to get "up, up" and see what mommy is making on the stove and pulling out all the tupperware from the cabinet

• My  firetruck that I love for daddy to push me around the house on.  
• Strawberries, Cheerios and eating Life cereal (sometimes this is all I want for dinner and I'm pretty sure it makes mommy happy because it's so easy!)
• My bouncy ball
• My books - every single one of them that I like to pull out of my bin to read everynight!
• Gigglebellies
• Going to Target with mommy!



Mommy putting silly stuff on my head.

• Cuddle time with mommy (I had to slip that one in there =)
• Bathtime and driving mommy crazy by drinking the water out of the faucet when the water is running then filling up the cup (that mommy's washes my hair out with) and dumping it all over the bathroom floor!
• Going down the slides at the park

• Taking a ride in my wagon and feeling the wheels with my fingers while mommy or daddy are pulling me
• Running around in the front yard with daddy and always wanting to go in the street

• Playing Peek-a-Boo/Hide-and-seek where mommy and daddy pop out and scare me
• Throwing all of my toys out of all of my toy bins around the house and not even bothering to pick them up (haha)
• Screaming, yelling and laughing at the top of my lungs before bedtime
• Trying to pick the child locks on all the cabinets and opening and closing the toilet lids and trying to reach in to touch the water in the toilet
• Helping mommy sweep and vacuum

• Going in mommy's closet and throwing out all of my shoes one by one and then pulling all of my clothes off the hangers - I think this one is my number 1!
• I know I have more silly things that I love and I'm happy for,  here is just several of them.

We hope you have a great Happy Thanksgiving! 

Back to the budget...

Since we now have a mortgage again, which is waaaaay less than what we were paying in our old house we still need to get back to budgeting and saving money.  Whereas before, during our process of selling our house as a Short Sale you do not pay your mortgage (not proud of this btw) and at that time we were saving my paychecks towards our new house.  We moved at the end of August and I did not have to pay my first mortgage payment until October so we had one month to catch up a little and start to budget.  Now that we are back to the grind with this adjustment, we’ve been making some changes.  Here are a few things that we’ve done just to cut some corners and save our money again especially now that the holidays are right around the corner:

1).  Plan out our dinners for each day of the week Also, I grocery shop every 2 weeks (sometimes even 3 weeks) for food.  We are milk drinkers in this family and need to buy a total 4 gallons of milk a week. I know! 2 organic milk jugs for Hunty and 2-1% milk jugs for us.  Just by doing this has saved about $200 a month!  Plus this also keeps us from ordering take out food a few times a week.  Also, Sean has cut down to going to lunch (ahem, Quiznos) whenever he was not working so he now has a sandwich at home.  I do use coupons when going to the grocery store.  I’m not one of those Super Coupon ladies.  I could probably do it but I really just don’t have the time.  I usually save around $20 buck when I go but that’s about it. 

2). It’s still warm down here in Florida but the past couple of weekends have been cooler so we’ve shut off the A/C and opened the windows during the day (and when Sean is home during the week).  Then we put the air back on at night to 78 degrees and if we have it on during the day.  I’m still getting used to this but I’m working on it.  I usually tend to put it down to 76 or 77.  I’m waiting on our next utility bill to see the savings with this so then I can determine how much this is helping or not. 

3).  I’m only allowed to go to Target or Walmart once a month and I have a $150 budget.  This is killing me too! Especially now that Christmas is around the corner and I am dying to do some Christmas shopping for Hunter.  I just blew my budget this past weekend for the month because they had some great deals on Christmas gifts with coupons.  I’m hoping that I don’t break the rules and sneek another visit in before the end of the month =).  We'll Christmas shop later but I've managed to do some here and there.



One of Hunter's Christmas gifts that I had to buy for him at Target!



4).  I love having a membership to BJ’s.  We have always had one and I really think that buying in bulk is the way to go.  We usually just buy the basics: toilet paper, paper towels, detergent, fabric softener, diapers, dishwasher detergent, bar soap, dish soap and bottled water.  Plus, they give lots of coupons so this helps on cutting down on expenses.  We spend about $175 every 3 months just getting these items. We usually go when I know that we can save a lot with the coupons that they give out that particular month. 

5).  Another way that we save money and we don’t even try is by Sean and I not going out very often.  We do have a date night 1-2 times a month whereas before (pre-baby) wewent out once or twice a week.  Whenever Sean is home on the weekends, we always plan a “family day” and go to places where they’re obviously kid-friendly and not expensive.  Last weekend we went to a fair that was at a church nearby and admission and parking was free.  We had some lunch and played a few games and had great time.  I think we spent a total of $20 and were there all afternoon. 

Hunty's first time on the Merry-go-Round.  You can't tell how much fun he liked it but he really did!

Overrall, we are cutting back on things here and there as we find something.  We are finally going to have our yard sale this coming weekend (I know, we keep pushing it back!) so right there we are making money instead of spending it.  I'm definitely looking forward to this one because I'm ready for the stuff we are selling to be out of our den!

Also, I havent's had a chance to talk about Hunter's first Halloween but he went to school that day as a skeleton and then later after I raced home after work we put him in a lion costume (one of the costumes, courtesy of my mom).  He did pretty good, we pulled him in his wagon and we met so many more of our neighbors and were able to enjoy a few block parties on the way but we didn't stay too long because it was starting to get late and needed to get Hunter into bed.

By the way, it is getting harder and harder to take photos of him now that he is all over the place and now that he always has an agenda (and looking at the camera is definitely not one of them).  So, I'm going to have to try and think of some ways to get him to look up every now and then. 

Family diet plan...

Now that Hunter is eating whatever we eat, I am constantly making sure that Hunter gets all of his essential food groups and drinking his milk (which he loves!).  Hunter only gets milk and water. No juice.  He doesn't need any extra sugar in him. Trust me!  I feel as if I have become a  part time nutritionist. This wasn’t by choice but literally on purpose.  It all started one day when he had a little stomach virus and a cold after visiting my Great Grandma in Erie that I noticed his B.M’s were really different colors that I haven’t seen before (sorry TMI) but I did notice that he wasn't eating alot. Not that I wasn't offering.  He was just drinking milk and having some yogurt every now and then.  He does this when he’s teething and when this happens, all I care about is that he is actually eating something but this time it was different.  It wasn't entirely due to teething and not really sure if it was because of the traveling or the fact that I wasn't really paying attention to what his diet (I know. I feel awful!) So this is when I realized that I need to start being more aware of what he needs to eat especially now that he is welcoming new foods to try.  So I did my mommy research (google of course) and found this website called: http://www.toddlermealplan.com/, where they give simple meal plan ideas with simple recipes.  Then on this other website: http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/feeding/recipes/ they have ideas for finger-like foods for the different stages depending on the age of your toddler.  Hunter lately has been determined to feed himself  so this was another reason for the finger foods.  I am not really one to search and read through tons of recipes and then hand pick a few because I seriously do not have time. So since they're all right there in front of you, it was perfect. Lately, my laptop has been plugged into the kitchen and on the counter so that I can just open it up and pick something. I usually jot down the few ingredients that I will need to get at the store for the week (other than the usual stuff) so that I don't have to dig and find something.   I liked these websites because it would give simple ideas without all that crazy stuff that I’ve never heard of, nothing expensive, just plain, simple and healthy.  Then after some time of following these meal plans and hitting the grocery store,  I realized that I not only giving this to Hunter but to Sean and I too!  Lately, I’ve been making finger like foods and foods that do not contain any salt and eating a lot more organic like foods.  Which yes, has become pricey. It has been somewhat of a challenge because I do have to worry about what he is going to eat every night and luckily I only have to worry about what he eats throughout the day on the weekends because I have day care to feed him during the week. 

Here are some of our favorites from the toddler meal plan website: 

Applesauce pancakes (super easy btw)

Mini Meatballs

Toddler friendly meatloaf

Toddler friendly lasagna

The other night, I made sliders and little nachos that had the meat and goodies on top on their own individual chip (I had some extra time to make these for Sean and I when Hunter was in bed) so this was our dinner:

They didn't look this pretty but you get the idea.

It's now been about a month of educating myself on easy, simple, nutritious ideas for Hunter so I'm starting to not worry so much about his nutrtion but this has been fun.  I am always up for new ideas if you have any! BTW, the crockpot has been my BFF also.  I'll save this one for another post!



This has nothing to do with my blog but my little guy loves to read the newspaper!