My Baby Looks Like A Seahorse...: Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Lincoln is festive and ready for the big day!

Already 6 weeks old tomorrow!

Lincoln is a great baby traveler. He has already been to three different swim meets and has done well! He has also spent the night at my parents house in Ripon for two whole nights and did fantastic!
He has a big 5 day vacation coming up for Easter. We will be going to Turlock, Ripon and to Monterey for his first beach excursion. It will be a great Easter weekend celebrating family, and I don't think the lord would have it any other way to celebrate His resurrection. :)

Traveling with a newborn can be difficult, but only if you make it that way.
There are plenty of things that can be done in advance to make sure that you are prepared and ready to go on time none-the-less!

1. Have a good attitude.
I have found that when I stress, the baby stresses. You know this isn't going to be as easy as before you had children, so just embrace that. If you do, it will be a much better vacation for all involved. The baby will poop and throw up when you are not expecting it, so just deal with it and move on. If you forget something, don't worry that's why we have things called stores. Most of the time we travel far distances to have fun/vacation, so do that have fun and vacation! Trust me you will have so much more fun and less stress.

2. Avoid a departure time when you know the baby is going to be eating.
If you can, plan on leaving after you know when your baby is going to want to eat, that way you are not struggling with a hungry child and trying to get out the door. Generally, nap time follows eating time so that way baby will want to sleep for a good part of the trip.

3. Have an 'essentials' bag in the car at all times.
Find a place to store a little bit of diapers, wipes, 1-2 outfits, and small toy. This makes small trips to store easier that way you don't have to lug that big diaper bag around and you have everything you need for those 'just in case' moments

4. Plan ahead of time.
Pack all the baby's stuff ahead of time. Make a list of things that you need. Don't under pack! If its a long car ride, say 4+ hours, try to plan stops into your route about 15 min before feeding times that way you can stop and get everything done in one spot and baby is not screaming its head off in hunger. Make sure the car's gas tank is full before leaving the house. If you know your baby struggles with explosive poop and throwing up pack lots of wipes, towels and an extra outfit for yourself!

These are just some small things that work for our family when traveling and I hope they will help you! I know traveling with a newborn/children can be difficult and things don't always go as planned, but I have learned that if you plan ahead a lot of extra stress can be completely obsolete. When you get in a situation where nothing is going as planned, the baby is freaking out and you have a flat tire on the side of the road just remember to laugh it off because if your biggest problem is a flat tire and a screaming baby, I think you will be just fine in the end. If you find yourself stressing just remember to smile and if you 'lose your cool' then just forgive yourself, and move on to the next part of your tip. :)

Lincoln is doing well as always. Our days are filled with smiles, formula, sleeping, swinging, pooping, peeing, reading, playmat time, and exercising when dad gets home. He also got to meet his Aunt Ginger and Cousin Sadie this past weekend at one of the swim meets he attended and they were just lovin' on him! I love seeing our family members with him.