Flying With an Infant

A few weeks ago The Sailor, The Seamonkey, and I packed up and got ready for a trip across the country! As I may or may not have mentioned before, I'm originally from Massachusetts - aka as far as you can get from Naval Air Station Lemoore without leaving the country!  Since my whole family is in New England and they were all itching to meet the first grandchild in the fam my crazy Mom offered to buy us plane tickets to fly home for a trip as a belated wedding present.

Now, there is an airport in Fresno which is less than an hour from us, but if we flew out of there we would have had to change planes somewhere - something I really didn't want to do with an 11 week old baby.  Instead we opted to drive 3 hours to San Francisco and to not only have a direct flight, but to also get to fly Jet Blue (my favorite airline).  Our flight heading to Boston left San Francisco at 10:18 pm.  Instead of parking at the airport, we saved some moolah by parking at the Radisson hotel which has shuttles to the airport every half hour.  I really wanted to have more than enough time to get there and I wasn't sure if we would hit any traffic or not, so we left our house at 3:30 pm.

Ready to go!

The first 2 hours and 45 minutes of the ride were flawless - no traffic and the baby was sleeping!  The last 15 minutes took almost 45 and the baby started screaming while we were stopped dead in traffic and I couldn't even pull over anywhere to feed him....the last 20 minutes of the trip were HORRIBLE as The Sailor tried to console The Seamonkey to no avail. But once we got to the hotel and I got to feed and change my Little Man he calmed right down.

We chose to carry on both our stroller and the carseat.  We didn't really need our stroller for the trip itself; in all honesty I only really use it if I'm going shopping and want to try on clothes or if I'm walking the dogs.  Other than that I use one of the many carriers that I've accumulated.  But I had to bring the carseat and I would rather gate check it than check it with the rest of the bags because in my mind there's less risk of it getting broken if it's gate checked.  So basically, the stroller was just a means of easily transporting the carseat (and our other carry-ons) through the airport...

Strollers are so handy!

Where was the baby, you ask?  Well, in the airport itself I wore him in a mei tai (more info on what exactly that is when I post about babywearing) since it doesn't have any metal parts meaning I could keep him in the carrier as we went through security.  Speaking of security...the Baby Jogger City Mini does not fit through the x-ray machine in airport security!  We found this out the hard way since it fit through the initial opening and then got stuck in the middle of the machine.  Seriously...who designed that thing?  If it fits in it should also fit out, and yet it did not.  So we spent a half hour holding up the line at security as the TSA agents tried to get it out.  Luckily they didn't break it or else I would have flipped shit.

So, once we got through security we went and grabbed a bite to eat, I nursed The Seamonkey, and we headed down to the gate.  At this point I was really happy I had made the decision to leave so early since we basically had just enough time to re-arrange everything in our carry-ons to make things we would want in-flight easily accessible (we had my Vera Bradley diaper bag, the large digi-camo diaper bag I made, a Planetwise wet-dry bag that was just holding all of our cloth diapers, and my Boppy pillow to carry onto the actual plane with us), go to the bathroom, and change the baby before it would be time to board the plane.

Fun fact - we didn't want to be flying all over the country with dirty cloth diapers so we chose to use 'sposies in transit.  Those things are effing gross!  How do the majority of parents use them!?  They smell funny! {sorry for the rant} The first one I put on The Seamonkey that he pooed in, the poop shot straight up the back of it and onto his clothes.  I was terrified of this happening while we took off and then I would just have to sit there with a poop-covered baby waiting for the stupid fasten seatbelt light to turn off.  So I double-diapered him...I put a 'sposie on him and then put a Best Bottom cover over it.  Since the thought of poop just floating around in the cover grossed me out I ended up putting a disposable insert in the diaper cover so he was legit wearing two diapers at once.

After I had him double-diped and in his jammies we went to sit by the gate...and he turned into a silent terror.  He wasn't crying, but he was being a complete turd.  He spit up on me twice...he rarely spits up.  He was fussing like a madman.  He refused to be put in the ring sling, which I planned on wearing him in on the plane since it is easy to get him in and out of it (more on ring slings when I post about babywearing) and kept straightening his legs so he wasn't securely in.  All I could think was this is going to be the longest night of my life....

We boarded the plane and left the stroller and the carseat at the gate and he continued to be a silent terror.  He could tell things weren't "normal" and he was refusing to go to sleep even though it was past his bedtime (it was almost 10 pm at this point).  Everyone else is boarding and I could feel them all staring at me with hatred as the watched me struggle to settle The Seamonkey as we geared up for a 6 hour red-eye flight.  After everyone boarded and they started going over the safety info I started to nurse the Little Man and he passed right out.  I think the whole plane let out a sigh of relief as I put him into the ring sling and he continued to sleep soundly.

Passed the eff out!

He only woke up twice during the entire flight to eat.  He didn't even poop, so I didn't even need to get up to change his diaper.  In fact, since he was securely strapped to my chest in the ring sling, I actually slept pretty well myself!  Once we had landed and were waiting to get off the plane he let out one loud "waaaaahhhhh" but then went back to being quiet and the people around us actually chuckled at it.  We had arrived in Boston at about 6:30 am local time so we got off the plane, I changed his diaper {into one of his normal cloth diapers}, got him dressed, and while we waited for our baggage I nursed him again.

He really couldn't have been any better during that flight.

The flight back to California was during the day and he slept for the first half and then the second half I just bounced him on my lap.  It wasn't as easy as our first flight, but there weren't any real issues.

Since this post turned out to be way longer than I initially anticipated I'm gonna wait and post later with my personal tips on flying with an infant.  Until next time...

Things I'm loving right this second...

Literally, right this second since I didn't even have to get off my ass to take these pictures...

My husband!  A certain baby who is generally even tempered and quiet has decided to be a total turd today and if I'm holding him he just wants my nipple in his mouth.  He doesn't want to nurse, he just wants to use me as a human binky.  Being a human binky makes it quite hard to get anything else done.  Luckily, The Sailor has this magic power where he can lay down with The Seamonkey and the baby falls asleep (The Sailor usually falls asleep soon after, actually).  And even though I'm pretty sure Little Man is teething (yes, I realize he isn't even 12 weeks old yet, but he is legit trying to eat his hand and drooling like a mo'fo) The Sailor's power is still working.

My new sandals.  They're from Payless.  I normally don't buy shoes from Payless because they're super cheap (not economical, poorly made) but my sister had these ones and I kinda fell in love.  They're like flip flops only better because they have a back strap.  And when I went to check them out today, they were actually comfortable.  And they're only $15.  If you decide to go get some, just a heads up, they're on the wall not in the boxes.

Totally killed two birds with one stone with this picture...sleeping baby AND awesome new sandals.  BAM!  And, since it's a crappy cell phone picture you can't even tell I desperately need to shave my legs...

Water with cucumber and watermelon slices in it.  Put fresh cucumbers and watermelon in water magically makes it more refreshing.  The added flavor isn't overwhelming at all, it's just freaking amazing.  And it makes you look super fancy.  Although drinking it out of a Camelbak water bottle does not make you look super fancy - don't judge me, I love this water bottle!  You should totally try it...

So this post wasn't completely pointless, just wanted to let you all know I didn't fall off the planet again.  Actually, The Sailor, The Seamonkey, and I were in Massachusetts visiting my family for a week!  So I'm in the process of putting together a post about flying across the country with an infant!  I'm also still working on a post on babywearing (which actually goes with the traveling post since I don't think I would have survived the flight without my ring sling), breastfeeding, cloth diapers...  Plus I have a few cool DIY projects I should be doing in the next few weeks so you can expect some posts about those.  Bottom line - you should be pretty stoked about my blog for the next few weeks.  But now I have to go shower, shave my legs, and start the process of actually styling my hair because The Sailor's squadron is having a party tomorrow and I want to look cute.  And yes, it takes two days for me to do my hair, especially with a baby in the mix.

Until next time...

Wesley Glenn - 2 Months!

Ok, so he's a little past 2 months old, but whatevs, at least I'm blogging again!

"Yeah Bitches...WHATEVS!"

So...a little about The Seamonkey.  First of all...he is seriously growing like a weed!  At birth he was 7 pounds 6 ounces and 21 inches.  At 2 months he was 12 1/2 pounds and 23 inches!  It is absolute insanity to think that he grew 2 inches in 2 months!

"See...I'm talllllll!"

Now, let's talk "milestones."  I'm taking this chart from Baby Center and I'll just use it as a guideline to discuss milestones on my monthly updates:

Child's Age	Mastered Skills (most kids can do)	Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)	Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
1 month	Lifts head when lying on tummy Responds to soundStares at faces	Follows objects briefly with eyes Vocalizes: oohs and aahs Can see black-and-white patterns	Smiles, laughsHolds head at 45-degree angle
2 months	Vocalizes: gurgles and coos Follows objects across field of vision Notices his hands Holds head up for short periods	Smiles, laughsHolds head at 45-degree angle Makes smoother movements	Holds head steadyCan bear weight on legs Lifts head and shoulders when lying on tummy (mini-pushup)

So, 99% of those things The Seamonkey does.  He doesn't really laugh much, but he smiles a ton.  And I'm not sure what qualifies as noticing his hands...he has yet to pull his hands together and fiddle with his own hands, but he sucks on his hands a lot!  And he's a huge chatterbox!  I'll try to get a video of it to share, because it is freaking adorable!

He's still sleeping in the bassinet next to our bed and I dread the day he outgrows it and has to go in his crib in the nursery.  He doesn't even usually nap in his crib.  His naps are so irregular it's just easier to let him nap in the swing in the living room or else half the time I'd be running upstairs every 10 minutes.  When I workout he's almost always napping in his swing and if he wakes up I can talk to him and keep him from crying...if he were up in his crib he'd be crying before I even knew he was up!

Also, when he sleeps at night I still swaddle him or else he doesn't sleep at all.  Wesley still has a very strong moro reflex (the reflex where an infant will randomly start flapping their arms for no reason) and if  he isn't swaddled his arms will fly upwards and it wakes him up.  I have no problem swaddling him for as long as he needs it!

Throw your hands in the air, and wave them like you just don't care!

Ummm, not sure what else to say.  He's 100% cloth diapered, breastfeeding like a champ, and the dogs are doing great with the adjustment but each of those topics is totally worth of their own blog posts!  So I'll just show off one more picture of my handsome little man...

Until next time...

You know you had a bad night...

...when you wake up with a nursing pad stuck to your face.

Person Paint Creation

Yup...that was me Thursday morning.  The Seamonkey was basically in my armpit with his arms out of his swaddle but his lower half still in it.  Gabby was taking up the majority of the bed forcing me to sleep diagonally (The Sailor was at training in San Diego).  Lola was basically sitting on my head since Gabby was stealing the rest of the bed.  One of my boobs was still pulled out of my sleep nursing bra, and my nursing pad was stuck to my face.

More often than not The Seamonkey is a great sleeper!  We get in jam-jams around 7:30 and he falls asleep either on The Sailor's chest or in his swing until we decide to go to bed (around 9:30).  Before I go to bed I bring him upstairs, put him into his triple-stuffed night diaper (yeah...he's a heavy wetter), nurse him, swaddle him, rock in the chair for a bit with him, and then he sleeps in his bassinet right next to me.  Then he'll usually wake up around 3 am to be nursed again, and back in the bassinet he goes.  Then he wakes up again around 6 which is when I just pull him into bed with me (The Sailor is already gone for work), nurse him a bit laying down, and we snuggle until around 730 when we get up and start our day.

But not Wednesday night...oh no.  Little Man did not want to sleep.  I don't know if it was gas, a growth spurt, or general fussiness, but that boy refused to sleep in his bassinet.  So, instead of driving myself crazy I just pulled him into bed with me, especially since The Sailor wasn't there.  I spent the better part of midnight to 7 am nursing him in bed, and that's why I woke up in such a disheveled state.

But, I can't stay angry at that boy for too long...

::Yawn:: I'm sleepy since I kept Mommy up all night!

Especially since, without fail, when I bring him into the nursery to change his diaper in the morning he stares up at the lanterns and starts smiling giggling like crazy (his favorite spot in the house is on his changing table)...

You can kinda tell he's smiling in this picture

And luckily the past two nights have been back to business as usual!

When you have a fussy baby do you pull him into bed with you?  If not, how do you get any sleep on a bad night?  More importantly...have you ever woken up with a nursing pad stuck to your face? haha

Until next time...

I'm Fat.

I tried to come up with a clever title for this post, but I've been doing laundry for just under 12 hours and so my brain is kinda mush.

But yeah, that title says it all...I'm fat.  Okay, so I'm not really fat, I'm just fat for my standards.  I was well aware of the fact then when you get pregnant you gain weight but I didn't realize how much it would really mess with my head.  If you followed me during my pregnancy at all, you know my biggest gripe with pregnancy was just having to sit there and watch myself get fat. And now I'm on my way to getting my body back but in all honesty, it isn't happening as quickly as I would like.

Two days before The Seamonkey was born I weighed in at 198 pounds.  At my initial appointment (at 5 weeks) I weighed 158 pounds.  The weekend of The Fourth of July I weighed 142 pounds but I completely stopped working out and eating right right after that.  I will be happy when I'm back down to the low 140s.

So, for the first month after The Seamonkey was born I just didn't worry about it.  I was still getting used to having a baby and I was losing weight anyway since I was breastfeeding (and Little Man is quite the hungry, hungry hippo).  But, on May 1st the work started...

First of all, I joined Weight Watchers.  I had a lot of success with Weight Watchers when I was preparing for my wedding to The Ex.  I loved it.  I liked the plan, I really liked the ladies at the meeting I went to, and I loved my meeting leader.  I just assumed I would have a similar experience.

...But I didn't.  The nearest center is like 45 minutes away, but that didn't stop me since I had such a good experience in Pittsburgh.  The first meeting I went to I just didn't feel it.  They seemed obsessed with sticking to the topic that Weight Watchers says to talk about that week.  The Leader really didn't include any of the members in the meeting; it was a lecture, not a discussion.  So I tried a different leader...same thing.  I think it is just the policy of that specific location to stick closely to the topic at hand and I didn't like it.

The fact of the matter is I know what I should eat to lose weight.  I don't really need the plan itself.  I just like the camaraderie that goes along with going to meetings and I just wasn't feeling it.  So after a month (where I lost 10.4 pounds) I stopped going.

On top of dieting I also started working out...Last spring I had purchased and completed TurboFire (a Beach Body workout {like P90X or Insanity}) and loved it, so I started that on May 1st.  That I still love!  And although I only workout 4 times a week (their schedule calls for 6 days a week) I haven't missed 1 day of my schedule yet!

On the left is May 1st, the right is June 1st

I almost look normal again from behind already! lol

So, since I decided to stop Weight Watchers I started a different program...Body By Vi.

BBV is a meal replacement program.  Their most popular plan is replacing two meals a day with their shakes but since I'm exclusively breastfeeding, I'm not comfortable cutting my calories by that much so I'm just having a shake for lunch (I did get the okay from Wesley's pediatrician before even considering the program).  Trying to explain the shakes would be stupid since they have a bunch of awesome videos on their site, lol, so you can just go there to get the deets.  And, if you get three other people to start the program you get your shakes for free every month so you can go directly to my site for any info: http://agmhinson.bodybyvi.com/

I know a bunch of women on base who are getting awesome results on the program, but if you have any questions about it for me, just ask!  If you're intrigued by what you see on the site I encourage you to at least try it since they have a 30 day money back guarantee...if you don't see the results you want just send whatever product you have left and they'll give you your money back!  I actually had my first shake today...BBV, ice, light chocolate soy milk, and peanut butter....and it was seriously delicious!

So yeah, I'm fat, but I'm working on it!  Did you obsess over your weight post-baby?  How did you lose your baby weight?

Until next time...

Oops I did it again....

...I played with your heart, got lost in the game, oh baby baby...


I don't know what's wrong with me (blogging-wise, that is)!!!  When I was planning my wedding to the Ex I was SO GOOD at blogging on a near daily basis, and now I can't even get myself to post on a weekly basis.  I have so much to say and share, but I feel like I don't even know where to start.  I am really going to try and blog regularly but instead of trying to catch up completely on the past two months (because, yeah, my Little Seamonkey turned 2 freakin' months last Friday) I'll just give you a quick run-down...

The Seamonkey is pretty awesome.  He sleeps in his bassinet right next to me every night.  I'm not ready for him to go to his crib yet, but every night the bassinet seems to get smaller and smaller so the move down the hall seems to be getting closer and closer, whether I like it or not.  He usually falls asleep downstairs with us around 830, then gets fed right before we go to bed around 10.  Then he gets up to eat around 3, and gets up again around 6 which is when I just pull him into bed to snuggle with me until we get up around 730.

Breastfeeding has been super easy for us.  Actually, the biggest problem is I'm still overproducing and he doesn't really appreciate it.  In fact, when I let down he starts chomping down on the tip of my nipple to slow down the flow.  I just started block feeding to try and help that and I haven't noticed a change yet; I'll try to get myself to do a post specifically about my boobs (because I know you all love reading about my boobs).

As for milestones - his neck control is getting pretty awesome and he loves to stand (with me holding his hands).  He hates tummy time but loves being worn in our favorite baby accessory - the Babyhawk Mei Tai.  He smiles when he's happy and his lower lip quivers when he isn't and his favorite place in the house is laying on his changing table staring up at the lanterns.  And when he sees his reflection he starts babbling to himself.

The Sailor is an amazing father.  He supports my needs/wants in parenting 100% (like breastfeeding, having the baby sleep in our room, babywearing, etc.) and always wants to help.  I feel bad because by the time he gets home from work the baby has started his evening-crankiness where all he wants to do is nurse in preparation for going to bed, but the easiest way to get the baby to fall asleep is to have The Sailor hold him against his chest; he passes out every time.

And I'm doing really well.  As afraid of postpartum depression as I was, I couldn't be further from depressed.  I can honestly say I love being a Mom and I just feel like a lot of it has come naturally to me.  But, I've been super lucky since The Seamonkey is a pretty easy baby!  It would be a completely different story if he never slept, couldn't latch on, and screamed all day and night.  My biggest problem is that I fucking hate my body.  I definitely plan on posting more about that!  I've also been sewing a lot and plan on starting my baby book/scrapbook soon so I obviously will post about that.

I'm not sure if I told you guys or not but it turns out The Sailor is getting deployed again in August.  Yeah, I know...it fucking sucks.  And he'll be due to get back right around The Seamonkey's first birthday.  The thought of it makes me sick.  Actually, I'm tearing up right now thinking about it (and I don't even blame it on my still wonky hormones...the idea of him leaving just makes me want to curl up in a ball and cry).  I have no idea how I'm going to take care of a baby, two dogs, and a cat on my own.  When I think about it I get so bitter.  Being a military wife is basically being a single Mom.  But, this should be his last deployment for a very long time, and I just need to focus on that.

So yeah, that's the cliff notes version of what's going on in my life right now.  I'm really going to try and stay on top of blogging!  As hard as it probably is to believe, I love blogging.  It's incredibly therapeutic for me!  I just have to force myself to sit down and do it.  So, if a few days pass and I still haven't posted someone please send me a virtual kick in the butt (in the form of a friendly reminder comment)!

Until next time...

PS - look how much my little man grew!!!!!  Make it stooooooooop....I want him to stay little forever...