"it gets better"

We hear this phrase a lot as moms. "Don't worry, it gets better." We hear it when we're bleary eyed, wondering if we'll ever get past the newborn sleep deprivation stage. We hear it when we don't think we can muster the courage to nurse that baby one more time. We hear it when we drop off our toddler at some childcare room and he screams as though you've just abandoned him. And those people are right, it does get better. Eventually they sleep through the night, they learn to eat real food, they understand that you'll be back.

But then sometimes people will give you some hard truth. "It gets harder." What?! What do you mean it gets harder?! They give you a little glimpse of what your schedule will look like with two kids playing eight hundred sports a piece. They say you'll wish your biggest issue is your kid throwing food off his high chair instead of whether he abides by curfew. You'll yearn for the days of sweet baby snuggles and the pitter patter of little feet.

Well, I choose "it gets better," and this is why. Even while decisions get more complicated and I learn every day just how impossible it is to control the actions of another human being, I am glad that my children are becoming their own people. This past weekend at church, I sit down in the pew next to my husband and 3-year-old son who are staying in service to watch the children's choir. A second after I sit and take my coat off, I feel a hand gently patting me on the back. At first I thought it was Andy greeting me. Then I realized it was my son. He wasn't asking for anything, he was simply saying hi to me in the sweetest way. A newborn doesn't do that. A one year old doesn't really do that either. He's growing out of those sweet innocent baby phases, but in place of that he's becoming a little person, one who chose to express love to me that morning just because. I love my memories of his baby years, but moments like this remind me why I choose to see the joy that comes with each new phase. I choose to believe that it does indeed get better.

just some things

It's nearing the end of October. Two years ago, Levi was just almost ready to start walking without holding onto our hands. Last year, Wendy was a little gummy bear blob that had no choice but to nap on the go, sleep on the floor if we were busy playing in the basement. Now this year, is completely different. Wendy is practically running already. She thinks she can jump if she swings her arms high enough in the air. In fact, she can get both feet about an inch off the ground if she tries hard enough.

The popular things around our house right now are baseball (Levi bounces a ball against the wall and catches it with his glove, over and over again, and Wendy is even saying "bayball"), Veggie Tales and Tarzan soundtrack music. Wendy is an absolute hoot these days. Her little face is so expressive. She shifts her little eyes around when she knows she is being sneaky. She loves to wear my necklaces and her shoes. Levi is learning how to take turns with things like choosing what music we listen to, but it's a tough sell. Chloe is very much loved by Wendy. Even when we take a walk and see another dog, Wendy will possessively go over to Chloe and start petting and hugging her, as if to say "this here is my doggie."

The days are getting lighter later and darker sooner. We have less than one week until we move back our clocks one hour and we officially begin counting down how many days are left before the days begin to get longer again. In terms of weather or seasons, this is one of my least favorites because of the shortening daylight, but I do look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmastime. Christmas this year will be so fun with the two kids at these ages. I know that Levi already holds memories of what Christmas is like, so we are beginning to truly build up his bank of good memories.

How's that for a random little update?

he's definitely my son

I'm beginning to realize how similar Levi and I are. I think I need to keep that in mind when we butt heads. It's like trying to win an argument with myself!

Anyway, Andy and I were discussing Thanksgiving plans, trying to talk through the idea of us hosting the meal at our house. Levi keeps piping up with his ideas for who we should invite. This is how our conversation goes:

"You know Levi, you are old enough this year, you are going to have to be in charge of something this year," I tell him.

"What's it going to be?" he asks me, with wide eyes.

I'm trying to come up with something on the fly. Perhaps he can be in charge of mashing potatoes or stirring the cranberry sauce. Andy suggests that he can set the table. That idea makes me cringe... it's not often I get to make my house look nice for a special occassion. I'd rather it not look like a preschooler set the table.

"I don't know yet, Levi. Do you have any ideas what you can do?" I turn the table back to him.

"I can make something!" he says. "I will build a new chair."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, with a high chair on it. And then I will build a new table. A big one. And I will build a new house. And a new tree!"

He's getting carried away. I know of no one else who gets carried away with grand to-do lists. Eh hmm... *thatwouldbeme*... eh hmm.

"Really? Do you think we should paint the house, too?" I ask.

"Yes! I will paint it yellow. And blue. And red and green. And I will build it all!" He looks triumphant now that he has a plan.

preschooler logic

I almost titled this post "toddler logic," but then I stopped myself. Levi had his first day of preschool today. *gulp* He's a preschooler now!

So last night at dinner:

"Hey mommy, do you drink beer?"

"No, not really."

"Why not?" he asks with a sly look on his face.

"I don't really like it," I reply.

"Is it because you don't want to get that scratchy stuff on your face?" he asks.

"Yes, Levi, that's exactly why."

Apparently, drinking beer will give you a beard, just like daddy when he doesn't shave often enough.

levi's story to me

This morning, as I was getting Levi up from bed, he saw that I was wearing a very old T-shirt with beach chairs on it, one that I got when I was little. I told him about how I got it, and this is what happened next:

"Mommy, do you want to hear a story about when you were little and went to the beach?" he asks me.

"Sure!" I sit down on his bed.

"Once upon a time, when you were little, we put you in Wendy's... uh, my... car seat and we took you too the beach. And you played, and you dipped your toes in the water, and then it was time to eat. And we ate and ate. And then there was more. And then we put you back in the car and took you home. And then we got to the house.... That's it. Did you like your story?"

"Oh yes, Levi, I did!"

;)

(Usually I'm the one who tells him stories about when he was a baby. This was a fun twist.)

realizing something about this fall

It's the middle of summer, one that I've really looked forward to for several reasons.
1. I'm not pregnant this time, sweating around in my giant maternity clothes.
2. I'm not recovering from a c-section, again, sweating as I make the effort to get my body moving again.
3. I'm not unpacking after having just moved into a house.

All these things I've done in summers past are lovely, wonderful, life-altering things, but they are things I prefer to do as few times as possible.

But back to my main point... In the middle of this unremarkable, and therefor very enjoyable, summer, I find myself thinking about the next autumn season. It's never been my favorite because as a child I didn't like the back to school anxiety. As an adult I don't like to day goodbye to long, hot days full of sunshine. The approach of the busy winter season sometimes makes me antsy too. I do like fall, for its own good things. Pumpkin muffins, wearing boots, Halloween, blankets, a return to my activities with MOPS and church bible studies. I'm now realizing how very different and wonderful this upcoming fall season will be. It's a sit back and enjoy season, not one that is full of anticipation, questioning or adjusting. Fall 2009 we dove into the process of starting the expansion of our family. Exciting, yes. Relaxing? No.

Fall 2010 we had a new baby in our family. I was beginning to hit my stride, but it was just so much newness all at once. Memorable and wonderful, yes. Peaceful and confident? No.

Fall 2011 we suddenly found ourselves thinking about baby #2 and the bigger house that we would require. We went into hyper overdrive, getting our house ready for sale, looking for a home. Made me want to giggle with anticipation and expectation for what the next year would behold? Yes. Carefree? No.

Fall 2012, we had the new baby and the new house. Life was good, we were on a new track. Each day was another lesson in finding out how to make our new normal work. I overcommitted to a few too many activities in response to my desire to have a new normal. I backed off a little. Go forth, assess, adjust. Go forth, assess, adjust. Watch toddler grow into a preschooler. Watch infant grow into a baby. Hold breath a little bit every time I tried something new, wondering if I'd have the kind of easy going baby that would just go along with being dragged around to other big kid activities. Let that breath out every time it worked or didn't work. Hard work and big rewards, yes. Total rest and trust in our new life? Not completely yet.

And now here we are, approaching fall 2013 and it feels really good. Yes, there are new things to give me that little skip of anticipation. Starting two days of preschool a week for Levi. Being on the leadership team with MOPS. Teaching Wendy how to talk. But I'm so excited for these things. I love how different each fall has been over the past four years and how they seem more and more special as I reflect on them.

And this ends my mid-summer's day contemplation on a season still one month and many swimming suit days away.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone. Not reviewed or edited for typos. Sorry about that.

pretty

Levi was watching me look through my recent issue of Parents magazine. He points to the beautiful blond woman in the beauty products section.

"Look, there's a mommy!" he tells me.
"You think that's a mommy?" I ask

"Yes."

"She's a very pretty mommy," I point out.
"Yes."

"Do you think mommies are pretty?" I ask him.
"Yes. You're pretty, Mommy."

little monkey see, little monkey do

Every evening, after dinner, we have dance party. That's us being silly in the family room with Pandora playing over the TV. Our current station is built on the song I'm a Gummy Bear. So, yeeeeah....

Anyway, whenever the screen goes into screen saver mode after a few minutes and starts spinning, Levi always wants us to stop the spinning so he can better see the cover art pictures.

Well, last night our little monkey see monkey do noticed the spinning screen before any of us did. She found the correct remote, pushed on the buttons until the spinning stopped, then returned the remote to its proper place. Uhh really?! She just turned one! My little baby is turning into a big girl fast.


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launching the nap sequence

So last year, when Wendy was an itty bitty baby, I recorded what was our naptime routine. Reading that now... oh my, so much has changed! It's time to update and write down what our current naptime routine is.

So we finish eating lunch. Wendy is a good eater, enjoying her cheese cubes most of all. Wants to eat hummus using her hands. Very messy. Get two wet paper towels from the kitchen and wipe off kids. Levi's actually pretty clean, don't know why I'm still wiping his hands for him. Sometimes he does it himself. I need to start reminding myself that he can do it himself. Wendy hates being wiped off. Screams.

Get kids out of high chair, try to clean kitchen. Listen to the footsteps echoing in the empty living room as Wendy walks around, chasing after a ball or as Levi runs around, trying to make her laugh. Enjoy this moment for what it is. They are generally in good moods after lunch. We have about 20-30 minutes of playtime after lunch and then we "launch the nap sequence" at 1:30. "Levi? Wendy? Two minutes until naptime," I call out after both kids have looked at me. "Ok, two minutes!" Levi shouts back at me. "One minute left," I say. "One minute!" Levi shouts back.

I tell them it's time to go up. I scoop up Wendy and prod Levi up the stairs. Sometimes Wendy tries to dive bomb out of my arms so she can climb, too. She's too giddy over being let down to climb, that she starts flopping around the stairs in a giggle fit. Scoop her back up. I take her to her room to change her diaper and put on sleep sack. Levi goes into the bathroom, turns on the light himself and goes to the bathroom. He's now just barely tall enough to reach the faucet himself to wash his hands without help, too. I tell him to go put on some pajama bottoms and sit quietly in his room to read while I put Wendy down. He goes into his room, no problem. Close Wendy's door, turn on sound machine and read her a book. (Up until a week ago, I'd nurse her instead, but we are almost done weaning. I cannot wait to throw away these nursing bras.) Wendy is cuddled up with her mousie blanket and her binky. I put her down, she rolls over immediately.

Go to Levi's room, squish ourselves together into the rocking chair and read a story. Current favorites are Arthur books, Curious George, or sometimes some other random one. We read one story at nap, two at bedtime. He knows the rule, but will sometimes try to get more books out of people who don't know the routine. More than one book at naptime, though, and he gets wound up. Put him in his crib. (He's still in a crib because he never climbs out. Transitioning to big boy bed, soon. Need to buy new mattress.) Put him in bed. Cover him with spaceship blanket first (stripey side down), then the fleecey cars blanket. He never keeps the blankets on. Surround him with stuffed animals. Say "sleep tight." Close door.

Man, that seems easier than it did nearly a year ago!

this is thirty

I did it, I turned thirty. Fortunately most of my closest friends are going through the same transition from the twenties into the thirties, so it doesn't seem all that bad, but wow. Thirty. 

As my hubby pointed out to me, if we look back at when we were twenty and think of all that has changed up until this point, how much more will things look different by the time we turn forty? We will be on the cusp of raising a teenage boy and a ten-year-old girl. Maybe we'll be in the same house, maybe we'll have moved on. Maybe, fingers crossed, Andy will finally get at least *one* gray hair! (I think he will be quite the catch as a silver fox, but as of yet I haven't found a single gray hair on his head.)

Anyway, I had a really wonderful day. Andy was so sweet in all the planning he did to make the weekend one to remember. These are the highlights.

Strawberries in bed with my little strawberry-loving boy. When I was pregnant with him, I would eat four pounds of strawberries a week... at least.

I was greeted with this lovely towering gift display. 

My birthday had a theme... past, present and future. Andy selected all these little things that related to things I enjoyed in the past, that I currently enjoy and that he wants to encourage me to pursue in the future. The thought behind this was so special to me. He even added pictures of me from childhood to each present. These were "crafty/creative" pictures. Inside was a new seam ripper for my new sewing hobby.

I hope to spend many, many birthdays just like this. Even better that now we have a little photographer to take pictures of us.

Can't get away from a self-timer shot! Who knew that I'd actually have two kids by the time I turned thirty. 

Oh yes, we did have cake for breakfast! The rest of the day was so packed, and since Andy I were out to dinner in the evening, we couldn't do cake then. So I decided to have cake for breakfast. Levi did not object.

Neither did Wendy. Just kidding! She didn't have cake, not until her birthday. But I did give her a lick of icing. Shh, it's my birthday... I can do whatever I want.

Levi helping me open my big present... a sewing machine!

And we finished the evening with dinner, just the two of us. My glass of champagne was delivered with a mermaid hanging off the edge. I guess I did have a Little Mermaid birthday party like Levi had been suggesting all along!

last MOPS of the season

So today was the last MOPS meeting for the season. My how much things have changed for us since the beginning this past fall.

Then: a newborn and a young two year old.
Now: a cruiser/crawler with her first tooth and an almost three-year-old who uses the potty.

Then: keeping Wendy with me, nursing her under a cover and hoping she naps and sleeps peacefully during the meeting.
Now: dropping Wendy off in the nursery, letting her nap in the lap of one of the ladies there, and not even being called back to nurse her.

Then: Levi giving me cryptic little clues about what he did at MOPS (like doing open and shut with his hands, from Wheels on the Bus, and me knowing that I didn't teach him that.)
Now: having conversations with Levi about what he did, who his friends are there, and knowing he enjoys himself there.




I love being part of the Mothers of Preachoolers group. I am excited to be more involved next year as a discussion group leader, and I'm already marveling at the thought of dropping off Wendy in the walkers room where she'll do crafts and get her own little snack. It's amazing to think of time marching onward and to be blessed by my part in this journey.


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tales of a traveling circus

Back when I was pregnant with Levi, Andy and I were flying somewhere. I remember seeing a woman at the security checkpoint with two kids by herself. Suddenly I felt the walls closing in on me. How, oh HOW in the world, was I ever going to do this?? I felt like I could barely take care of myself alone, how was I ever EVER going to travel with this baby I was carrying, let alone a potential hypothetical sibling some day in the future? My mind reeled at the thought of sippy cups, food, entertainment. Crying. They say you should travel with a backup outfit for you and for the kids. Maybe two backup outfits. What could happen that would require all of us to change our clothes twice in four hours?!? It seemed completely impossible for me to do that. But seeing as though I was almost 24 weeks pregnant at the time and that I wasn't prepared to swear off airplane travel completely, I knew I'd find myself traveling with child/children in the future.

Fast forward about three years. I just flew with an almost 9-month-old and a 2.5-year-old. I should elaborate. Make that an almost 9-month-old who just figured out how to crawl, who does what I call the alligator death roll every time she's in my lap where she constantly flips around front to back. And a 2.5-year-old who just learned how to use the potty about three weeks prior. (Andy had to fly back a few days early for a work conference.)

The traveling circus.

These were my favorite moments of the day:

1. Watching the kids look out the airport windows to see the airplane.
2. Making our way through the airport with Levi holding onto my back pocket like I taught him. 
3. Realizing that I was so busy talking to Levi about how cool the airport was that I walked four gates too far. Had to make a u-turn.
4. Holding two tiny hands during take-off.
5. Hearing Levi turn to Wendy after take-off and say "we're flying, Wendy bird!"
6. Thinking about how easy it will be to fly by the time Wendy is old enough to be entertained with an iPad. Apple, I love you for moments like this.
7. Knowing that both kids are too young to have any fear of flying.
8. Leaving the airplane behind and walking straight up to an Auntie Anne's pretzel stand. Levi said "Look, I see pretzels!" I said "You know what? We did such a good job, we deserve a treat!" Oh it was the most delicious soft pretzel I've ever had. And bonus: Levi doesn't like lemonade, so I didn't have to share that.

This was our pre-take-off photo. Happy baby, right? She mellowed out.

And the moments that I'll file under "let's remember, but not repeat if we can help it":

1. Using the public bathrooms. For some reason this was the only time Wendy would *scream* in her stroller, which didn't exactly make Levi very happy.
2. Crab-walking sideways down 17 rows onto the airplane with Levi holding my pocket, Wendy on my hip, my diaper bag, purse, food bag, Wendy toy bag and Levi toy bag all strapped to me. I felt like every single person was staring at me, especially the guy who watched me smack my head on the bulkhead when I got to our row. Oops.
3. Cramming myself, Levi and Wendy into the airplane bathroom when Levi needed to go. Poor Wendy had just fallen asleep in my lap, so I had to wake her up, get us all to fit in that impossibly tiny room, and somehow help Levi maneuver up onto the toilet. Who knows what we all touched when we were in there. Wendy, again, screamed.

She forgave me for the airplane bathroom incident.

Would you look at that, the positive moments win! It took a lot of prayer to feel ready for this trip. Couldn't have done it without that.

potty training... in less than one day

(I'm writing this post for all my fellow parent and parents-to-be friends who may be interested in the details and how our experience went.)

So the time had come for us to potty train Levi. I was honestly nervous about doing it for all the obvious reasons (what if it didn't work? how do we handle public toilets? what about nighttime?), but fear isn't a good reason to not do something. Friends/mentors from church gave us a copy of this book, "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day."

Yes, cue the raised eyebrows, my own included. How could you possibly retrain something that this kid has been doing all 2.5 years of his life? Well, I read the book, cover to cover, and even took the test at the end to see if I fully understood the method. I figured we'd go whole hog on this, exactly by the book, and if it worked, great. If not, it was only a day. I also adjusted my attitude to one of "yes, it will work" and not "if it works." No point in setting us up for failure. (If you are pressed for time or don't like reading about all the research stuff that went into the development of the method, read the last chapter which is a narrative of how a woman trains her son. It's a fictional composite of many real life examples and shows how the day of training should go. It's very detailed. I had Andy read it after I read the whole book so that he'd understand the process and could step in where needed on training day.)

The first step was determining if Levi was ready. Could he stay dry for significant periods of time, could he follow a series of directions? Did he have enough language understanding skills? Yes, he was ready according to the book.

We assembled all the necessary items, according to the book. A baby doll that can drink and wet, a potty chair with a removable bowl, a lot of drinks and snacks for training day, a list of "Friends Who Care" about Levi being a big boy, easy-up training underwear.



We talked up "Big Potty Day" for several weeks. We scheduled this day to be a Saturday when both Andy and I could be home, completely dedicated to potty training, with no other big events nearby on the calendar. I told Levi it would be so nice when he could finally get rid of the diapers and use the potty. We got a few "big boy potty" type picture books. We showed him how we use the potty. The night before, we went to the grocery store and let him pick out the snacks and drinks we'd use for Big Potty Day. He was *thrilled* to be able to get whatever he wanted from the snack aisle. This was also one of my favorite parts. ;)


After breakfast on Big Potty Day, we took off his diaper and helped him get into his new Spiderman underwear. He was in charge of actually doing the pulling up, something he had never done before. I was to verbally instruct him on how to pull up the underwear, how to grasp the band in the front and back, bend his knees and pull. If he didn't do what I told him after a moment, I'd guide his hands into the correct motion and remove my hands as soon as he started to do it correctly. Yes, it's really hard to watch a toddler try to dress himself and not help, but this is a key part of the method. The child is to be responsible for all that they do in the potty process.



Then, I offer him his drinks to make his bladder full. While he drinks, I show him how his dolly can drink too. When dolly drinks, she needs to pee. I show how the dolly will run quickly to the potty, pull down her pants, sit, pee, pull up pants, empty the pot, flush the toilet and wash her hands. Now Levi has to show the doll how to do the whole process. This teaching part of the method is to help reinforce the learning. After we do this, we check that dolly's pants are dry. Yay for dolly! She has dry pants! We give her a treat for being dry.


We check again in five minutes. Oh no, dolly is wet. She had an accident. We love dolly, but we do NOT like wet pants. She has to practice running to the potty.

Now Levi gets his turn to practice. Every five minutes, we do a dry pants check. Yay for dry pants, you get a treat. Oh no, Levi had an accident. You immediately say no loudly, tell him how much we do NOT like wet pants. We love you very much, but we do not like wet pants. Your friends care about you very much, but they do not like wet pants either. He has to practice 10 times how to run quickly to the potty, pull down pants, sit down, immediately stand back up, pull up pants and leave the room. Practice from several different spots in the house. If he doesn't run quickly, I guide him to move faster. "You had an accident. We have to practice how to go quickly to the potty so your pants stay dry." Then he has to clean up the wet puddle (yes, this is difficult to watch a toddler do, but important to make them responsible) and then take off wet pants and put on dry ones.

Continue with the dry pants checks every five minutes, and make sure he goes to sit every 15-30 minutes until he has success. He then has to dump the pot into the toilet, flush and wash his hands. Dry pants inspections are rewarded with snacks and more drinks.

I'll tell you, it was a little messy sometimes, but he got the hang of it very quickly. I explained that mommy and daddy won't be telling him when to go to the potty, but that he had to go whenever he felt like he needed to pee in order to keep his pants dry. And somehow or another, it worked! All of a sudden, he left the room and went into the bathroom. "I'm peeing in the potty!" he shouts out to us. At lunch time, he interrupted his own lunch time to get down and go pee. The dry pants inspections became less frequent and turned into more casual remarks about "wow, it's so nice to have dry pants. You're such a big boy." We also frequently referenced all the Friends Who Care, saying how much they like big boys with dry pants and how proud they are of Levi. We got to call a few friends to tell them of our progress. I think this aspect of societal pressure/praise/expectations really helped Levi see the importance of becoming potty trained. It also helped that Levi thought he was talking to Boz, a cartoon bear, on the phone. (Switched Daddy's profile picture on my phone... Daddy does a very convincing Boz voice, apparently!)

On the following days, training follow up is continued with less and less frequent dry pants checks. We are on day four now and haven't had an accident since day two (which was when we were at church and he asked to go, but couldn't figure out how to get up on the miniature toilet in the kid room by himself). And prepare yourself for parental TMI, but he's also been successful with the #2 on the potty now, as well. He has been wearing real underwear since training day, and wearing pull-ups (which we call nighttime underwear) for naps and nighttime, but even those have been dry.

So there you have it, the results of our one-day potty training. I wouldn't have thought it possible unless I had done it myself. I'm still a little on edge when it comes to how to navigate this new underwear world, especially when it comes to going out in public, but just like any other parenting milestone, we'll find our new normal soon. Until then, I have swapped out those size 5 diapers in my bag for a ziploc of backup clothes. ;)

a floor picnic... finally

One time I gave Levi two options... One was to stay here (home) for lunch and the other was to go out, get something special to eat, and bring it back here (home) to eat. He chose option two. As I was getting everything ready, I saw him ever so carefully carrying his plate of food off the kitchen table and into the family room. I quickly grabbed it and asked what he was doing. Apparently he took me very literally when I said we'd eat "here" because I was sitting on the playmat in the family room. Poor kid wanted to have a picnic. That day he learned the meaning of the words "option" and "misunderstanding."

Today we really did have a floor picnic, and it was pretty awesome. All our friends from Sesame Street joined us. This may need to become a new Friday tradition.




(Chloe, as always, was on clean-up duty.)

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road trip survival

This Christmas, we traveled as a family of four plus dog to Florida. That's 13.5 hours of drive time, plus stops. I'm so happy to report that we not only survived the car rides to and from, but that we maybe even enjoyed ourselves. Say what?! I prayed many times that we would be joyful travelers, and I believe that was a good prayer to pray.

 Some of my favorite discoveries and tips that helped us along the way...

1. The DVD player. Ahh yes, the wonderful invention of built-in entertainment systems. Although we purchased our minivan in May, we had not yet allowed Levi to even glimpse the DVD player screen. This meant that it was a huge treat for him. It occupied probably 80% of his time in the car. I am so not ashamed of this. He was thrilled to be able to pick show after show. We put restrictions on it, of course. No shows until after breakfast. No shows during naptime. No shows after bedtime. Which brings me to point #2...

2. Schedules. I wrote up a schedule for the trip. Maybe some people aren't as, uhm, particular about things as I am, but this really helped me. My schedule had three columns. One for time, for me and for Andy. I listed when we'd start the drive, how long each leg of the trip would be, how long each break would be, and what we would do on each break. Breaks were 30 minutes for short stops, 45 minutes for a snack/fuel stop and 1 hour for a meal. I wrote out what adult was going to care for which child's/pet's needs. The schedule helped us not question "should we keep driving? when should we stop?" all the time. I also scheduled in nap time for Levi at his usual nap time, which helped him feel more relaxed.

3. Stocking the car. Each nook of the van had some purpose. Snacks and cooler were up front. Toys for the kids (one bin per kid) were behind my seat where I could reach. The driver door has baby wipes, hand wipes and clorox wipes. Glove compartment has a ziplock bag of ziplock bags and rubber bands (because it seemed like a good idea). The designated trash bag was a zipper-top gallon bag I kept up front with me. It was very helpful in keeping together all the little pieces of paper, wrappers, etc. that collect in cup holders usually. I also threw a roll of paper towels in the trunk just in case. Extra outfits for each kid were in a gallon zipper bag under a seat.

4. Packing early. We packed the whole car the night before. The only things left were the "last minute bag" and the cooler. We packed the cooler with sandwiches and drinks the night before and left it in the fridge. The "last minute bag" is my old diaper bag. I put my list of last minute items that we need to get ready in the morning (the kids' monitors, sleep sacks, our toiletry bags) on it, fill it in the morning, and throw it in the car.

And some of my favorite moments of the drive...

• Levi asked for a snack. I told him I had bunnies (graham cracker bunnies). He accepted the bag happily. A few minutes later, when daddy returned to the car... "Look daddy! I have bears! Mommy thinks they's bunnies." Turns out, I had graham cracker bears. He didn't feel like correcting me.
• Wendy played with a crinkly book for so much of the drive. I loved how she'd just fall asleep, and then in an hour we'd start to hear *crinkle crinkle* again.
• Seeing Chloe curled up in the middle row, middle seat between the two kids on her own baby blanket. Half the time I forgot she was even with us, she was so good! (Whenever we stopped the car, however, she'd turn into a nutcase.
• Watching the temperature gauge climb higher and higher as we drove further south.
• The outdoor picnic lunch we had on our return trip. It was perfect weather to sit outside at a rest area. So glad I packed the extra picnic quilt so Wendy and I could play on the ground.
• Letting Levi sit up in the driver seat (keys out of ignition) during a few of our stops. 
• The lunch break on our way to Florida, when Wendy and I sat in the open tailgate of the van, her practicing sitting up, and watching all the people walk by.

It'll likely be another two years again before we do the drive instead of an airplane to Florida, and I'm already looking forward to seeing Levi as a 4.5-year-old and Wendy as a toddler. I guess we'll have to take turns who gets to pick the next video to watch!