Packing list - WDW

As promised, here is my comprehensive list of things to pack for an 8 month old baby for a 7 day trip to Walt Disney World. Jake made the executive decision to rent a car so that we could run to the grocery store (or Target), give tired mommas and babies a ride back to the hotel if needed and the top reason probably being so the men (poor David and Jake) could escape the madness in a moments notice! Since I am totally weird about hotel carpet, we plan on buying a cheap walker/exersaucer when we get to FL and then donating it to the hotel when we leave. The nice thing about this list is that I can always run to the store if I forgot to pack something. I am probably overdoing it, but I am kind of a hoarder-packer.

If we did not have the car I would order from Diapers.com and deliver to the hotel. The two-day shipping is awesome and that would have been a great alternative.

• Stroller - joovy kooper  (gate check, does not count as baggage allowance)
• car seat (gate check, does not count as baggage allowance)
• Copy of birth certificate for flight
• Diaper Bag
• Things to purchase on arrival: bottled water to make bottles, walker, 2 bottles RTF formula
• Feeding
• Powder tub (Similac Sensitive)
• Two formula dispensers
• Three bottles  (green to grow)
• Extra nipples/rings (2)  (the green to grow bottles fit the travel nursettes perfectly)
• Spoons – 2
• Travel bibs (Wal-Mart has cheapest price)
• Travel place mats (Wal-Mart has cheapest price)
• Solid food qty: 20
• Oatmeal with measure & Tupperware container
• Nursettes
• Travel pack formula (8oz bottles)
• Puffs (hit a deal at Big Lots for $1.49 each)
• Sippy cups – 2
• Bottle brush / small dish detergent
• Pacifiers – 3

• Supplies
• Muslin blankets - 2 
• Diapers - 50
• Wipes
• Travel pack of wipes
• Small robot bag (smaller diaper bag to use daily at parks)
• Ziploc bags - quart size
• Bibs - 5
• Burp cloths - 5 (purchased a cheap 5 pack at TJMaxx so we could throw away without guilt)
• Hand sanitizer
• Sanitizer wipes
• Face/hand wipes
• Travel changing pads
• Travel diaper trash bags
• Paci clips (2)

• Medicine (all carry on)
• Gas drops
• infant Tylenol
• Orajel
• Saline spray
• Bulb
• Boogie wipes
• Sunscreen
• Aquaphor
• Q-tips

• Pool/Swim
• pool float
• Swim diapers - entire box
• Swim trunks/shirts - 5
• Hats (3) /swim shoes
• Sunglasses

• Night/Bath
• Nail clippers/brush
• travel Baby bath & lotion
• Robe
• Blanket
• Giraffe
• Pack n play sheets – 2 (pack n play provided at hotel)
• Turtle night light

Toys (figure Ollie will get a few new toys to play with)

• Toy story book
• Sophie
• Links
• surprise toy for plane

• Clothes (I plan on buying some clothes for Ollie while we are at Disney. If you aren't planning on buying anything than I would suggest packing a light jacket or sweater and a hat for cool nights).
• 7 - one piece rompers
• 10 - onesies
• 4 - shorts
• 5 - tshirts
• 2 long sleeve/pant outfits
• Pajamas - 5
• Halloween costume -  (Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween party)
• shoes
• socks

I had to buy a suitcase (HUGE) from TJMaxx last night just for Ollie. I figure it will be worth the investment as we start to travel more as a family with kids. I think we can get by with two checked bags, one carry on diaper bag and Jake's carry on (laptop, camera, etc). Please excuse the excessive linking in this post. I like to know about stuff... so thought some people may be interested.

baby luv

Oliver is still sick. The bulb aspirator has reared its ugly head and I think Oliver actually tried to slap me this morning as I was aspirating his poor little nose for the 111th time. His nose is a little raw where we have been wiping boogies all weekend. That breaks my heart. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow just to get the okay that we don't have further problems. I don't think I can will myself to get on a plane Saturday if he has an ear infection. Please pray that he doesn't. I had big plans to pack our suitcases this weekend but somehow ended up Sunday night and I didn't do a darn thing except pull suitcases out of storage and catch up on laundry. I did check one big thing off my to-do list. I bought some plastic bins and packed up Ollie's clothes into neat little, folded storage containers. All of a sudden he is wearing 9month sizes. I'm not sure of his current measurements but he seems much taller and really long in the torso. I will laugh if our dude is like 6ft tall considering Jake is the tallest out of all the Green men at a staggering 5'8".

Oliver's hair is starting to grow in and get dark. I think we favor in the eyes but for the most part he is the spitting image of Jake. I was cutting his tiny little nails a few nights ago and noticed that his nail beds are the exact same shape as Jake's. How do I know this? I cut Jake's nails. I cut his toenails too. I secretly love to do that. I know that is SO weird! I have no idea how we got here or where I am going with this. I really just wanted to post these two pictures. Some of the few we have together.



baby love




my heart



say it ain't so

Those thighs. I die.

Oliver was really congested last night and woke up with a very runny nose. I busted out the saline and boogie wipes. Please pray for baby boogie that he does not have another round of daycare cold/crud. We leave for Disney in one week and I do not want to deal with a congested infant on a plane with ear pressure issues. Fingers crossed!

Day in the life - 7 months

I thought I would try and do a "day in the life" post once a month so I can remember Oliver's schedule as he continues to grow.

OLIVER - DAY IN THE LIFE - 7 MONTHS OLD

• Oliver wakes up around 5am and drinks a 4oz bottle. He usually goes right back to sleep and cuddles with his giraffe and blanket.
• Oliver wakes up to start his day around 6:30. By then, daddy is ready for work and they hang out together while I get ready. They like to talk, play and watch cartoons. Oliver is happiest in the mornings. The kid is straight up funny. He loves to laugh, clap and talk in the mornings.
• We leave the house at 7am M-F. Oliver plays with his toys and we listen to Top 40 hits as we drive into town. Sometimes he takes a little cat nap but wakes up as we pull into the parking lot.
• I drop Oliver off at daycare around 7:30am. I usually hang with him for 15 minutes so we can play for a little bit.
• Oliver eats his oatmeal and fruit around 8am at school (2tbs oatmeal, 1/2 package fruit).
• Oliver eats a 4.5oz bottle around 9:15am.
• Oliver takes a short nap around 9:30-10am at school.
• Oliver eats his lunch (1/2 packet fruit/veg) around 10:30am. He has started to snack on some baby puffs too and has gotten really good at pinching them and putting them directly in his mouth. He also likes to have a little water in his sippy cup while he eats lunch.
• Next 4.5oz bottle around 11:30am-ish.
• Nap time around noon (an hour or so).
• Another 4.5oz bottle around 2pm.
• His last 4.5oz bottle at school around 4pm.
• I usually pick Ollie up right at 5pm. Miss Meghan is usually pushing Ollie and his friend Carter in the stroller. They like to laugh and smile together. Sometimes they like to hold hands (cutest thing ever!).
• We get home around 5:30pm. Ollie and I like to hang out before daddy gets home. We usually play peek a boo and tickle monster. Once Jake gets home he is on Ollie duty while I make dinner, wash bottles, prepare for the next day, laundry, etc.

Telling me how much he loves dada.

• Ollie eats a 4.5oz bottle at 6pm and then its play time.
• Jake usually takes Ollie for a 30 minute walk or jog around 6:30. Jake and I eat dinner around 7pm while Ollie sits with us in his highchair snacking on a few puffs and his sippy cup.
• Ollie eats dinner around 7:15pm (1/2 package fruit/veg). At dinner he makes a complete mess and has been dining topless so he can make as much mess as he wants and not ruin his clothes. After dinner he goes straight into the tub which is his favorite thing ever. His bath usually lasts around 15-25 minutes. After bath its baby massage, hair brushing, jams on. Note to self: love, love, love this time of day with Ollie and Jake. If we are running ahead of schedule (before his last bottle) we usually take a family walk around the block.

• Ollie takes his last bottle at 8pm (6oz). He usually falls asleep right at the end and goes down for the night. If he is still awake we usually rock until he is asleep or I turn on his mobile and he talks himself to sleep with his giraffe and blanket. He doesn't take his paci anymore except for a few minutes each night.

I have been feeling VERY guilty about the lack of time we actually get to spend together each day. Three hours is not very much. I used to be crazy OCD about cleaning, laundry and dishes each day and then I realized instead of enjoying Oliver I was basically toting him around the house and not paying much attention to him. Now, I give myself an hour each night from 8pm - 9pm to do house maintenance. If something doesn't get done in that hour it just has to wait until another day. How I wish for more hours in a day. A few just for me, a few just for Jake and a few extra with Ollie. I'm sure all moms have this wish. That and the wish for six clones.

joovy kooper

I did it. I finally did it. After months of research, endless review reading and saving my pennies I pressed submit on my most recent amazon.com purchase... Ollie's new JOOVY KOOPER STROLLER in Appletree. Ain't she a beaut?




I debated a LOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG time about buying this stroller. We needed a stroller to travel with. One that would be plane friendly, big enough for Disney World and future vacations, big basket, large canopy, easy to fold and would accommodate Ollie as he gets older. I'm not picky, right? My main hesitation for the purchase was the fact that we are already proud owners of two strollers. Jake got a jogger for Father's Day that he uses 3x a week. My main beef with the jogger is that it is BIG, doesn't fold and sits in our hallway most of the time. Our other stroller has been great. We got the Chicco Cortina Travel System as a shower gift from Jake's parents and I would give it very high marks. My only big dislike is that it takes up a lot of space when folded and is kind of heavy to manage when you have a baby in tow. It takes up almost the entire boot of my Subaru Outback. This stroller makes her home in our dining room. Oh, and don't tell Jake but there might be a bike trailer stroller under the Christmas tree for him. Santa dropped it off early and is storing it in my office because he hit a really good clearance sale at Target (holla target clearance marked down to $39.99) Um yeah, that means another stroller in the house. We will welcome the joovy (stroller #4) with open arms and find a place for it at our house. I think it will probably find a permanent home in my car or Jake might have to build a garage just to store strollers. I hope it lives up to my high expectations. She should be here tomorrow. Thank you amazon.comMom free 2-day shipping. That will give me a few days to test drive before our trip. I'll try and remember to do a product review once we get back from FL. Speaking of FL, it's almost here. We leave next Saturday. I have been working on a master shopping and packing list. Get excited -- Disney prep post to follow.

inspiration(less)

My attempts at blogging are half-ass at best. I have so much to say, so much I want to remember. I have no time. Let me rephrase that. I do have the time, I just don't use my time wisely. The internet has become a huge time suck for me, namely facebook. Like the rest of modern civilization (minus my husband) I have been on facebook for years. I have found all the people I wanted to find and have sufficiently stalked their pages. I know more about my 415 "friends" than I knew about them when I knew them in real life. But, like clockwork, when Ollie is down for the night and Jake is watching television I automatically go there - facebook.com. I can spend hours (oh the wasted hours make me want to cringe) trolling photos, reading status updates and pressing the like button because I am too lazy to actually write a comment. I hold my head in shame when I find myself on a stranger's page... you know the one. The stranger who is friends with a friend of a friend and you randomly ended up on their page because you saw wedding photos four years ago and now you go back again and again because, by golly, I need to know if they enjoyed their family cruise to the Bahamas. Yeah, that stranger. I have decided to strike. To put an end to my time suck. To focus on my life in real time. To make my time count. To make more time for Jake. To let Ollie stay in the bath for a few extra minutes because the kid loves water and loves to kick until there is no water left in his sweet (almost too small for him) baby tub. To actually put my project list into effect. Hello painting, sewing, roman shades, photo organization, fall cleaning, decorating, exercise, recipe trials. To take more pictures of the baby. To focus on me and to be the best that I can be. I need to be.... wait for it folks... my own inspiration. I am inspired just typing that.

Today is my wedding anniversary. Jake is driving home from Wilmington and we have a dinner date planned at Outback Steakhouse (our blind date spot). I am so excited to sit across from my husband and celebrate four years of marriage. To toast to the next 50+ years we have ahead of us and to plant a big ol' kiss on his handsome face. Today I will be inspired to enjoy the company of my husband... and then update my status on facebook.

Hula dancing at our reception (O'hanas at the Polynesian Resort WDW)

7 months

Oliver is 7 months old today!

This little cutie has learned to sit up...literally overnight. About a month ago I started to notice we might have a lazy busy bee on our hands. Oliver loves to lay on his back and watch everything and everybody. He is a nellie (nosy nellie olsen) just like his momma. You would put him on his tummy... and...flips right over to his back. Then he laughs. He's funny like that. Laughs at his own jokes. Again, like his momma. As of yesterday, Oliver could sit up for about a minute tops. He looks right at you and hits the floor. Um, lazy much? So, we get to Grandma's house last night (Jake's mom, Karen) and she has zinnias still looking good in her side yard and I wanted to get an outdoor picture of Ollie. I put out the blanket and sit Ollie up and start clicking away. I'm snapping and snapping because we all know you have to take about 150 pictures to get one or two great ones. Before I know it, I realize Ollie has been sitting up for around 10 whole minutes! Awesome job baby Ollie and what a way to celebrate turning 7 months old!!

Oliver has also learned how to clap. Its about the cutest thing I have ever seen. He claps and then looks around for everyone to clap for him. Smart baby! Loves praise just like his momma. Along with sitting and clapping Ollie has also learned how to drink out of his sippy cup. This past month he has experienced his first earthquake and hurricane. It's been an exciting month to be a baby! Oliver had his first cold/daycare crud for about three solid weeks. It was awful. His poor little nose ran non stop and he was so congested he could barely sleep. Jake and I would fight over who had the dastardly deed of squirting saline up his nose twice a day and then using the dreaded bulb sucker. Oliver hated us for the majority of August. However, we discovered a fond friendship with our froggy humidifier and saline boogie wipes (grape flavor). Ollie loves to talk. He talks about Dada a lot. In fact, he solely talks about Dada this and Dada that. He also likes to scream and shout about Dada. Dada is serious business at our house. If you ask him to say mama... he looks right at mama and says Dada. Very funny Ollie, very funny.