Traveling with June

Traveling baby girl!! She had her 6th flight just yesterday, and she killed it. I know she feeds off of my mood, and I was feeling really happy, so she was too! Traveling with her for the first time when she was 2 months was tricky but still not that bad. I learned the best way to do it is wear the baby, check the car seat, and then just bring one carry on. She does really well in the carrier as we're going through security and walking to our gate, and then I take her out when we take a seat on the plane and she enjoys just looking around at people (and sometimes grabbing the girl's hair who is sitting next to us . . . oops).

Yesterday we travelled home to Salt Lake from DFW and when I was checking our seats, I noticed we were assigned to a middle seat again.... Agh. I almost paid $10 to switch seats to an aisle just because June is at the age where she's starting to move around a bunch, she grabs everything, she loves to screech, and I just wanted to be able to get up quickly if I needed to. But then, when we got on the plane (and I decided not to pay to switch), I realized the plane wasn't even full! There were so many empty seats and by the grace of God, we got the whole row to ourselves. It was like heavenly baby freedom. She sat in her own seat while we were on the runway waiting for takeoff, and then when we actually took off I nursed her to help with her ears. For the first 20 minutes of the plane ride, she was sooo slap happy because she hadn't napped all day and she was GIGGLING! It was music to my ears.

I could tell she was so tired though and she fell asleep so fast just with her binky and slept the whole rest of the ride, even when we landed. It was so nice to lay back and relax, and they were playing american ninja warrior on the flight (yay American) so I was entertained, too!

My best traveling tips so far with June are:

1. Nurse on takeoff and landing (and sometimes periodically throughout the flight) to help their ears. June has never showed discomfort with her ears needing to be popped, but I'm usually pretty adamant about nursing her several times.

2. Wear baby in a wrap or carrier through security. They don't make you go through the x-ray machine, and baby stays happy while she's with you.

3. Check the car seat where you check your bags. The first 3 flights we went on, I checked it at the gate and that was hell. Carrying it through security by yourself with your carry on and your baby (and possibly trying to go to the bathroom too) is hard! So I would recommend checking it before security, and just putting it in a car seat bag.
*Although, we lost the infant insert the first time we checked it so I would take that out before you send it through lol.

4. Accept help from people. A few times (when I was checking the car seat at the gate so I had to sent it through security), so many people (actually only men, never women) helped me disconnect the base, fix the handles, or sent my backpack through security... just the little things. You don't have to be superwoman. It's really helpful when people can give you another hand with things.

5. Bring a blanket to lay on the ground if you arrive early at your gate. Your baby is about to be held / cooped up for 2+ hours, let them roll around and play with their toys and get their energy out. Of course June is only 5 months so she isn't really crawling yet, so this will be different when she's older.

6. Family restrooms. Use them!

7. Get snacks and water for yourself... You might get hangry if you don't.

SILVER LAKE HIKE

We took June on a hike for the first time in the new Ergo carrier I got . . . and it was amazing!!

The weather cooled down a little bit and we decided to go up in American Fork Canyon and do the Silver Lake hike. We were tossing around the idea of camping before I headed to Texas, but we decided this was a better idea for now. It's about 4.5 miles round trip anD MAN DOES IT FEEL LIKE IT.

Haha you gain about 1,400 feet elevation over the 2 miles up, but I was seriously dying for a second there. . . I had to take a few breaks to get water and we ended up switching June over to Jake because I was sooo sweaty! June was loving it though, just napping as we walked and talked.

At one point on the way up, I could've sworn we were nearly there . . . Like turn the corner, boom you're there kinda thing. We passed a guy and we asked him, "Are we close?!" And he goes, "Ummm.... I would say you're about halfway..." We just laughed. Haha we felt so weak! We were joking with June about how lame her parents were.

When we finally got to the top, it was immediately worth it! One, we could stop hiking, and two, the lake was beautiful! The water was pretty clear at the beachy parts of the lake, so we saw little fish swimming around and jumping up to catch mosquitos. We ate our packed sandwiches, veggies, and chips and enjoyed the view. Jake dunked his head in because he was pretty hot but the water was FREEZING. I only splashed a little on my face, but we cooled down pretty quickly just sitting and hanging out there.

June was loving it. She just watched the movement of the water, looked around at all the trees and sucked on a bell pepper. She is the best little go with the flow baby!

It was also really nice because it was the middle of a workday so it wasn't very busy. There were a few other people there but we were all spread out so it sort of felt like we were up there alone.

It was such a great day, spending alone time with our little family and not worrying about the MCAT at all. It was a much needed break for me and for Jake! And we can't believe that's one of our last hoorahs for school comes.

RECENT HAPPENINGS

Life lately consists of living and breathing June.

It's great and I love it but naturally there are times when I go pretty crazy and think, "That's it. I'm only having one baby." And then I remember how much I love pregnancy, or I see June smile, and then I think, "Okay, I can do this at least one more time." 

We wake up and Jake's usually already gone. It seems like June's new wake time is 7:30. Ever since we went to Ohio and she hit the 4 month sleep regression, her sleeping patterns have been WACK. She is going to sleep earlier than usual (like 8:30 ish), but she's waking up at 6 am ready to go. I usually let her play in her crib for like 20-30 minutes and then I try to get het back to sleep, but she pretty much only sleeps another 30 minutes or so. BUT I REFUSE to have a baby that wakes at 6 am! No thank you!! We will keep working on it...

We go on a walk in the morning before the sun gets too hot. She's liking her stroller now so I put my headphones in and listen to podcasts. Usually I listen to The Birth Hour but I've also been listening to Babes and Babies podcast and Birth Kweens! All things baby and birth, of course.

I've been trying to run a little bit, but that'll be a loooong process . . . I didn't even run before I got pregnant so...

Then I usually put her down for a nap and try to get some cleaning done. I've been watching trash reality TV, AKA the Kardashians, but I'm obsessed and it's an easy-to-watch show as I'm washing the dishes or folding laundry. Then we make lunch and wait for Jake to come eat with us which is always nice.

My goal for every day is to get out of the house once, even if it's just to the grocery store. It feels like June does better when she's not so bored - Of course she thrives when she gets good naps in, but I feel like she also doesn't like hanging out inside all day and likes to visit new places and see people, so we always try to go somewhere at least once a day. We've been pretty successful so far! 

I'm trying to soak up this last month before we start school and the semester from hell begins. I don't know how I'm going to do it, I just know that somehow I am going to do it . . . With help from the village around me, I'm sure. I'm grateful so many people are so willing to watch her when I need help. It'll be an adjustment for the both of us, but luckily I only have to be on campus max 3 hours a day and I don't have class on Fridays. We can do this, June! 

Sam gets married!

My best friend from college got married this weekend to the love of her life and I'm so, so excited for them to begin their journey as a family! The sealing was beautiful and amazing at the Bountiful temple, she looked *FLAWLESS* in her wedding dress and veil, and the reception was so well put together and neatly decorated.

Sam is one of my funniest and kindest friends. She will drop everything at any second to do something for you. She's generous and loving and when I say funny, I mean it. There have been so many times I've fallen on the floor laughing from what she says.

She also has the kindest family in the world. I was kinda hoping I would marry into it, but her only unmarried brother is a LITTLE too young for me ;) Haha

I'm so happy Sam has found Wic and that they are finally together forever. They make the best couple... That was proven when there was a dance party at the end of the reception and they were both GETTING DOWN.

June slept through most of the reception. She was a trooper and didn't get a good nap the whole day. I can't wait until she's walking and talking so we can dance with her and hear her giggle. But for now I'm enjoying the naps she takes on us and her gummy smiles. We sure love her and we love our Sam!