california

You know that feeling you sometimes have, after being on vacation, that you just need another vacation to recoup? That's how we feel today. Here's just a sample of all the craziness and fun we had in California & Utah... which might explain why we're getting on a plane headed for

Puerto Rico tomorrow morning. Wanna come?

Day 1

Mommy & M fly to California without Daddy.

The airport was insane.

(My experience was seriously identical to hers.)

The flight was insane.

D told it all oh so well, except for the part about M's diaper...

M did fabulously well for her very first flight. She's a trooper for sure. A trooper and a pooper. Let me begin by saying that several weeks ago D emailed me a list of helpful

items to pack in the diaper bag while traveling. You know, the basics... extra diapers, trash bags

for dirty clothes, good treats, basically extra of everything. Being the obedient little sister that I am, I followed all of her advice to the T... all of it, that is, except an extra change of clothes for

me. "I can handle a little spit-up on my shirt if I need to," I thought. I did, after all, spend four

months in a Romanian Orphanage with more than just spit-up on my clothes. Well, about an hour into the longest leg of the trip, Chicago to Reno, M passed a little gas. Good girl! Sometimes she has a hard time getting that gas out. A few minutes later, I began to feel

something warm seeping through my shirt. As I lift my darling little baby away from my body, it seems that that all I can see is yellow goo (poo) dripping from every part of her tiny self. At this moment I drop my head and, yes, begin to cry. Thank heavens for big sisters.

"You can do this," D says.

"No I can't," I reply.

"You have to," D says.

She begins asking me if I have all the necessary emergency extras while juggling her cute seven month old on her lap and searching for these items in my diaper bag.

Diapers? Check.

Lots of wipes? Check.

Another blanket? Check.

A change of clothes for M? Check.

A bag to put the stinky, soiled clothes in? Check.

A change of clothes for mommy? Silence.

A change of clothes for mommy? Silence again.

Oops, I must have forgotten those.

Never mind that for now... So I'm sitting in an isle seat with two extremely large

men to my left (yes nursing was quite the adventure on that flight...) and D across the isle from me. All I really remember at that moment was her handing me wipe after wipe after wipe after wipe as I pretty much give M a bath with the wipes, since the goo (poo) was ALL over.

(No really... hair, ears, up her back, up her front, on her face, legs, and arms, in between fingers...) The wipes keep coming, and the poor people surrounding us on that packed to the max flight... there was nothing else I could do. Finally M was all cleaned up, smiling like nothing had ever happened, and wearing a fresh new clean outfit. Stupid Mommy. Remember that extra outfit I didn't bring for myself? Yes, well, for the remaining 8+ hours of travel, I had a nice yellow blob smeared all over the front of my, no, not black, WHITE t-shirt. Yes I smelled great, thanks for asking. I learned my lesson... ALWAYS listen to your big sister.

Days 2 - 10

Let's just say we had way too much fun once we finally arrived in California.

(And were able to shower and change out of those icky clothes.)

-Lots of smiles with Grandma & Grandpa M

-Meeting new cousins and aunties and uncles

-Too many trips to In & Out (Is that possible?)

-Too many doughnuts (That IS possible.)

-Beautiful sunny skies and perfectly warm weather

-The color GREEN everywhere we looked

-Pedicures with sisters

-Girls night out at a hotel with leopard print robes

-A day of organizing (Dreams do come true.)

-Visits with wonderful old friends

-One day of throwing up (okay, not so much fun.)

-Many walks around the block

-A trip to Target just because there was one to go to

-Jumping on the trampoline with cute nieces

M loved her first trip to California...

It was even worth that one (very) bad diaper on the airplane.