Sunny Arizona

This past weekend, we took a girls' trip to visit my best friend, Elizabeth, who lives outside of Scottsdale, AZ. She moved there a couple of years ago (her husband grew up in Mesa), and we had not been to visit her yet. So we decided that the long weekend of MLK would be perfect. We had so been looking forward to escaping the cold, dreary Alabama weather for the warm, sunny skies in AZ! Curran and I flew from Birmingham with my sister and our friend Katharyn, and our friend Sheela flew in from California. Let me back up and give you the history of these people for those of you that may not know us well.

Christopher (my sister) and I grew up with Elizabeth. We met in kindegarten and have been best friends ever since. We used to pretend we were triplets. We even went to college together, and although we all decided to go potluck for roommates, Elizabeth and I somehow ended up together. Christopher still thinks there was a consipracy against her and we secretly arranged it somehow, but truthfully we did not. She was just mad because of who she ended up with for a roommate. And I don't blame her. But that's a whole 'nother story. So we went to college and met Sheela who was in our pledge class. She and Katharyn grew up in Homewood together and were roommates Freshman year. But we really didn't become friends with them until second semester Freshman year. Katharyn went on the Italy trip with Chris and I, and we became fast friends. And through her we became friends with Sheela, too. So ever since, the 5 of us have been best friends. Katharyn used to come down to mine and Elizabeth's room Freshman year and play Nintendo all the time. She would even spend the night with us and sleep on the hard concrete floors. Not sure why, but we had fun. The 5 of us lived together for the rest of college (except for Katharyn who moved in with the owls for junior and senior year). Sheela and I lived together for one year after graduate school, and then she moved to Cali in 2006 to be with her future husband. Elizabeth lived in several different cities after graduation, and is now in Cave Creek, AZ. It is so hard having Sheela and Liz so far away, but we have had a wedding or something every year for the past couple of years, so we got to see each other at least twice (for the bachelorette party and then the wedding). This year is the first year we don't have one, so we needed a reason to get together. Ok now that you know us a little better...

Elizabeth, Katharyn, Sheela, ML, Christopher

This was Curran's first plane ride, and I was a little nervous about how it would go, but luckily I had Chris and Katharyn to help me. And I could NOT have done it without them!!! I am going to go into a lot of detail here, so if I bore you I'm sorry. But I'm thinking some of this could be beneficial to someone who may be planning on traveling with a small child. Also, some of this may be TMI, contrary to my usual writing, but again, it may be helpful to someone.

Our flight left Friday morning at 6:15, so I figured I would feed Curran at her usual time around 3:00 am, and then it would work out perfectly to feed her again during takeoff. I read that nursing them during takeoff/landing is good to help their ears pop. Now if you know me but at all, you can imagine that I was not excited about nursing in public, but I didn't want to deal with the hassle of lugging my pump and bottles through security. I bought one of those nursing covers, and I was sitting in the window seat (which I would highly recommend because you have more room) next to Christopher, so I felt like I had plenty of privacy. Curran did great and slept all the way to Memphis. The timing of our flight to Phoenix worked out perfectly, so I was able to feed her during takeoff and again before we landed. She slept for about 2 1/2 hrs of the 3 1/2 hr flight. When she was awake she was pretty easy to entertain. And it helped that she had 3 sets of arms to rotate between. She did start "talking" loudly when we were descending, and the people who were sitting diagonally behind us said they didn't even realize there was a baby on the plane until then. So I was glad to hear that!

Curran was not interested in looking at the camera.

Navigating security and the airport with an infant proved to be slightly hectic. I made it through security with relatively few problems on the way there (minus needing a few extra arms to get everything loaded on the converyer belt--stroller, carseat, everything--while I held the baby), but I got my suitcase searched on the way home because I forgot to check Curran's toiletries. Whoops. I checked one bag and carried on a wheeled suitcase. I also had my purse and a diaper bag, plus the carseat and stroller, not to mention the baby. Luckily Katharyn and Christopher were so very sweet and helpful. One of them pulled my suitcase and the other was always willing to hold the baby if she wasn't content in the stroller, or carry the diaper bag, or watch my stuff so I could run to the bathroom or eat. As I said before, I don't know what in the world I would have done if they weren't there to help me! I don't know how people travel with babies alone. Most of the airport workers were helpful, and they even let me board first on the last flight home because Curran was way overdue to eat and she was in a mood.

Arriving in Phoenix! Curran greeted her Aunt Liz with a big ol' glob of slobber on her shirt!

The whole weekend in Arizona was so fun and relaxing! I should have known not to waste space in my suitcase by packing cute clothes since we basically just sat around the house talking, went on walks, and shopped some. The weather was perfect...usually about 70 degrees by the afternoon. Elizabeth cooked some great meals at home, and Elizabeth's husband, Brandon, babysat Curran on Saturday night so the girls could go out to eat. I put her to bed and gave Brandon a crash course on what to do if she woke up as we were heading out the door. The restaurant was delish, but the best part was the dessert. We had pazookies. Not sure if any of you are familiar with these but O.M.G. They are awesome!! It's basically just chocolate chip cookie dough baked for a few minutes in a ramekin with vanilla ice cream on top. SO yummy! We tried to recreate them at home on Sunday night, but they were just basically chocolate chip cookies in a bowl with ice cream on top. Still delish but not quite the same.

When we got home from dinner on Saturday night, Brandon said that Curran had done well except for one episode of crying, so he tried to put her pacifier back in, but that didn't soothe her. So he got her up and changed her diaper. He said, "I tried to put her pajamas on, but there were too many snaps and she was kicking and screaming, so I just threw some t-shirt thing on her. I hope that's ok." Several thoughts were going through my mind at that point: 1) what was wrong with her pajamas with a zipper that she was in when I left? and 2) what t-shirt? I don't remember packing one...Hmmm. So I thanked him for taking such good care of her and went upstairs to check on her. She was sound asleep wearing her Splendid dress and looked just as content as could be. All of us girls got a good chuckle out of it every time we looked at her in her crib. To Brandon's credit, the dress is really soft, and I guess it could have been confused with a tshirt. But I couldn't figure out why he changed her pajamas in the first place. I even closely inspected the ones she had been wearing and they were clean. Elizabeth politely (so as not to hurt his feelings) got to the bottom of it. Apparently he thought you were supposed to change her clothes every time you change a diaper. He didn't like the first pair he grabbed out of her bag because they had too many snaps (sounds a lot like someone else I know...huh John?) so he grabbed the "t-shirt." Later Brandon asked me if Curran had a green long-sleeved J.Crew t-shirt. I said that no she did not, but I did. Apparently he grabbed that one first but couldn't figure out why it didn't fit. :) Brandon was SO sweet with her and was always willing to hold her and play with her. I was so appreciative of him babysitting!

Out on a stroll. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of the beautiful mountains that surround Elizabeth's neighborhood.

Hanging out with Liz and Kat.

I hate that Curran is in her "rags", as I call them, (that's what I would call my play clothes when I was little. My mom always tried to dress me cute but I said I just wanted to wear my rags.) in every picture. No cute clothes in sight. But that's probably because she soiled them 5 minutes after I put them on her.

I was able to have a relaxing weekend because there were 5 other people always wanting to hold Curran. So I appreciated the break. And Curran slept great at night, too, so I was very happy about that! We had such a wonderful weekend and I was so homesick for my buddy Liz when we got home Monday night. Lately, now that I have the baby, I am always ready to get back home and back into our "routine" (if you can call it that). But not after this weekend. Elizabeth made us feel so comfortable and at home there, and I wish we could have stayed longer! But I am so glad that Curran got some good quality time in with her "Aunt" Lizzie, and all her other "aunts," too. I am so lucky to have such sweet friends who love my little girl so much! And Curran certainly loves them too. She is starting to get a little bit of stranger anxiety but not around those girls. She was so happy to be with each of them, and I love that!

Note on traveling--do not open a bottle of hand sanitizer anywhere close to your face (or anyone else's) when it's been in a pressurized cabin. I did that on Saturday while we were out eating lunch and a huge glob of alcohol flew in my eye. That felt about as good as you can imagine it would.

My Tips on Flying with an Infant:
-Get to the airport a lot earlier than normal. It takes so long to go through security with all that baby gear, and I always felt rushed with trying to get something to eat, go to the bathroom, and change the baby before the flight.
-If you breastfeed, forget about the pump/bottles. Too much of a pain (I would think) to lug through the airport and too bulky to check. And you don't want to have to worry about getting grief from security about carrying liquids through. Just bite the bullet and buy a nursing cover (or hooter hider as some lovingly refer to them).
-I personally was glad to have the stroller so I didn't have to carry C the whole time. I bought a lightweight one that the car seat just snapped in so I didn't have to take the big travel system stroller. Plus it had a big basket underneath for storing things and I could hang her diaper bag on the handle. I checked it along with the carseat at the gate. I checked the carseat base along with my big suitcase when we checked in. They don't make you pay extra to do that, thank goodness.
-If you don't have your husband or friends to help you (or even if you do), don't be afraid to ask the airport workers for assistance or to accommodate whatever your needs may be.
-Pack lightly, especially if you're going somewhere with a washer/dryer like I did. I should have known I would have taken over Liz's laundry room, so we could have gotten by with far fewer clothes than I packed.
-Carry on plenty of pacifiers, burpcloths, a few changes of clothes for the baby and one for yourself (although thankfully I didn't need it), and toys to entertain the baby, more diapers and wipes than you think you'll need, and plastic bags to put soiled clothes and dirty diapers in.
-And don't accidentally leave your nursing cover on the plane when you land in Memphis and not realize it until you are taking off for Birmingham and trying to feed a crying baby. If that happens, pray that your sister has a large pagmina to use in place of a cover or risk losing your modesty on the spot.

This is, quite possibly, the longest post ever. Bless you if you are still reading! And I might have some more pictures to post after Liz sends me hers.