41 lbs

Our suitcase weighs 41 lbs. We have a 50 lb limit! All I have to add to it is 3 empty bottles and a few of Nate's medicines. It is a marvel.

Months ago (a year+?), I got these lovely packing cubes from Avon. I'm kind of a packing nerd, so I knew I'd use them as soon as I saw them. They're great! You can squish a lot of soft stuff in them, zip them up, and it takes up less space.

The boxes are a gift for Mama Esther. We sent her a Christmas gift, but it was stolen by postal workers. Before we sent it, I asked Rodgers if we should use FedEx, but he said no because it's so expensive. But what a waste to use the postal service when you're 85% sure your stuff will be stolen. Anyway, these are photo mugs, with pictures of us.

That's what's under the big packing cubes. Nothing is under the diapers.

And on top, the travel bed. The lid has some depth to it, so even though it looks too full...

...it closes!

The carryon in progress. It's less than half full, despite how it looks in the picture. There are several things to add to this, but we're still using them in Nate's diaper bag.

Front pocket with passports (in a beautiful passport cover made by my father - big enough for Nate's and mine both), liquids (Mylicon and Tylenol), and some "no jet lag" homeopathic remedy recommended by our good friend Trish.

cleaning!

I like a clean house. I've been more of an "as needed" type than one who cleans on a schedule. I would clean everything on the same day, when it seemed like it had been a while or the place was starting to look like it wasn't clean. Then, I'd collapse in my chair with a glass of iced tea and smell the lovely aroma of my clean home.

After getting married, Rodgers would join in the cleaning when I cleaned. If he saw me doing the bathrooms, he'd bust out the vacuum. He's awesome like that. Then I got pregnant and would collapse in my chair with a glass of iced tea at the mere thought of cleaning anything at all. Rodgers graciously took over cleaning duties while I was busy being an incubator. The whole apartment would be cleaned over a course of a month or two, though, rather than a week or two. I was dissatisfied, but not enough to do anything about it.

After Nate was born, cleaning became not a priority at all. I was looking through pictures one day and saw a picture of our living room a week or so after we moved in. It was beautiful. Then, I looked at is as it was that day. Gross. It was then that I decided our willy-nilly cleaning style needed to change.

I like having everything clean on the same day, but, short of hiring a cleaning service, that just can't happen when Rodgers and I are both working full time and have a baby at home. Ideally, everything would be cleaned every two weeks, but laundry needs to be done weekly. I drew up a Cleaning Calendar (CC) (I alluded to this a few posts back):

Every Wed: Nate's laundry
Every Thu: Our laundry

Mon A: toilets, bathroom countertops, mirrors
Tue A: scrub showers/tubs, sweep/mop tile floors (bathrooms, kitchen, dining nook)
Fri A: kitchen (clean out fridge, scrub microwave, wash stove drip pans and rings, scrub oven [if needed], run coffee pot cleaning)

Mon B: tidy living room and dining room (this used to be a daily task, but no more)
Tue B: vacuum all carpet
Fri B: laundry (towels and sheets)

Daily/as needed: cook, dishes, take out trash, buy groceries (usually on the weekend)

Chores are generally done after Nate's in bed. We don't have to do anything besides groceries on the weekends. There have been weeks when we needed laundry earlier in the week, so we swapped days. We are halfway through our fourth rotation (this is our seventh week under the CC) and still going strong! Rodgers likes to clean, but doesn't always know what I want to be cleaned. I don't like to always be telling him what I want cleaned because then I feel controlling or like I'm nagging him. One of the biggest benefits of the CC is that Rodgers knows what I want to be done without me asking him to to do a chore every day. Some days the chores are split evenly between us, some days he does it all, some days I do it all. It's a good 50/50 split. It may not work this way forever, but for now, I'm happy with it!

vids

Some new Nate videos.

His favorite games are Peekaboo and Extreme Closeup. Here's a video of us playing the latter:



Usually we make Nate bottles as needed, but I'd needed a bit of formula to mix with his cereal earlier one day, so I went ahead and made his whole next bottle, used a tiny bit for the cereal, and put the rest in the fridge. Then, I had to warm it up. While I was warming it, he got impatient, so here's Rodgers singing a lullaby of sorts:

cross-continental travel with a 6 month old, part 2

Rodgers is allowed more checked baggage than I am. Also, he won't have Nate with him. So, he's taking some of Nate's stuff that we won't need in England. We will need most of it, though. Sigh.

carseat: Cat found us a carseat to use in England so we don't have to fly with ours!

clothes: 1 outfit per day, a couple of pjs, and socks for each outfit, lots of bibs and burp cloths. I'm taking all the cute outfits to England, and Rodgers has a handful of onesies. I'm taking travel packets of laundry detergent so that we can wash because I'm sure we'll go through more than 1 outfit some days. I am also taking his swimsuit and a few swim diapers, just in case we have use for them. We have 2 extra-cute outfits for wedding day, just in case one gets covered in spitup or poo.

diapers: Rodgers will buy diapers at Nakumat when he gets to Kenya, but I'll take a whole package (48) with me. I guess we could buy diapers in England as well, hmm... I'm taking 1 full package of wipes. I think it will last the whole time. If not, we'll make another trip to Nakumat.

food: We are each packing 1 can of formula, 1 tub of baby food per day (me the England days, Rod the Kenya days), and a ziploc with 1 Tbsp of cereal per day. I'm taking 3 bottles in my checked bag, bottle brush, and a small bottle of dish soap (though maybe Rod should take that since we'll likely only need it at the hotel in Kenya), and mesh feeder. In my carryon will be 1 Playtex Drop-in bottle with 2 nipples and plenty of sleeves (so I won't have to wash bottles, just nipples), in addition to enough formula for the flights and layovers.

sleeping: On roadtrips, we take the Pack-n-Play. For this trip, Cat is going to attempt to find something for Nate in England. For Kenya, we're taking a travel bed/bag/changing pad combo dealy, and we'll use it in Englad if we need to. I will take one of our flannel feeling waterproof pads, a quilt, and a couple of thermal blankets. Nate will have one pacifier on him when we get on the plane, I'll have one in my carryon, and a third in my checked bag. We tend to lose them (we have 6 NB pacis and currently know where 4 of them are, but yesterday I could only find 2), so maybe Rodgers should take one, too.

baths/toiletries: Shampoo, body wash, lotion, plus a few washcloths and a towel, Desitin, sunblock (Neutrogena Pure & something), Tylenol, Mylicon, teething tablets, gripe water, saline spray, bulb syringe, clippers, and thermometer. The teething tablets, at lesat, will be carried on; the rest may be checked. I'm going to talk with the doctor on Thursday about bug spray. I have some California Baby bug spray, but we'll see if doc's ok with that, and if it actually does any good. I may buy one of those clip on bug repellant deallies and wear it myself, keeping Nate within the circle of protection.

toys: He's not a big toy guy yet. He enjoys playing with a towel as much as anything. We'll have his razzberry teether in my carryon (which is his teether of choice currently), his lovey and elephant in my checked bag (they're noisy), and his stuffed lamb in my carryon.

various items to carry on: A 4 compartment formula dispenser and his stacking food storage thing. In the airports, Nate will be in the Baby Bjorn. I may also pack our sling, but don't think it will be in the carryon. From London to Nairobi Nate should eat some solids, but not from Houston to London. It would be easier to have him all on formula during the flights, which is what I'm considering doing. I'll carryon our diaper wallet, because that will be easy to grab and go to the airplane restroom for changes. The quilt I'm taking will be in the carryon so that, even with our minimal layovers on the way out, if there is any time in the airport for Nate to get down on the floor, he can. I should have a full change of clothes for myself in the carryon as well. As close quarters as Nate and I will be in, it's likely I will either be covered in spit up or become the victim of a poosplosion. Also in my carryon will be Nate's and my passports, as well as my camera. Rodgers is taking the camcorder so that he can shoot some video of the mission trip.

So that's Nate. And...I still have to pack for myself, too!

cross-continental travel with a 6 month old, part 1

We leave 2 weeks from tomorrow. I'm excited about our destinations but the transit part is intimidating. Packing is the most complex, brain teasing puzzle ever. What do we need? What do we need in the carryon? What do we want to take with us if it will fit? What can we pick up when we get there? Once we get all that figured out, all that's left is enduring the flights.

Trip 1: Nate and I travel from Houston to London. It's 2 flights (a long one and a short one), a layover in between, and a total flight time of 10:22; about 11:22 from departure to arrival. We leave in the afternoon and arrive at 10 am. Nate's a good nighttime sleeper, so he should sleep from DC to London. If he doesn't, Lord, help me.

Trip 2: Nate and I travel from London to Mombasa. Two flights again. The long flight is longer than the first trip, but the short flight should be less than an hour. It's a daytime trip, so there will be much eating, playing, and diaper changing, and hopefully much napping as well. Our total flight time is 9:30, less than 10:30 from departure to arrival.

Trip 3: Rodgers, Nate and I travel from Mombasa to Houston. It's four flights, but bonus: I will have been through it all with Nate by myself, and now Rodgers will be with me to help. Our total flight time is almost 22 hours, with a total of 13 hours of layovers. That's an hour short of a day and a half between departure and arrival at our final destination. I want to puke just thinking about it. I love flying. I really do. But that is a long trip!

I think the biggest struggle will be that Nate loves to lay on the floor, roll around, attempt to crawl, and basically spend some time on his own. I see him being held or sitting in my lap for the majority of the flight times. I am afraid he will get frustrated from being so confined. We'll worry about that when we get to it. We will endure it. For now, I need to focus on packing. I have lists, many lists.

to be continued...