Erin Akin Carroll

I’ve felt really anxious the last couple of days. I can’t put my finger on the reason and while not totally foreign, I don’t feel this way very often. It’s unsettling and distracting.

When I stopped to think about why I felt this restless anxiety, I wasn’t really able to come up with anything. My mind is not flooded with thoughts at all. I don’t feel overwhelmed. In fact, I feel a little bit bored.

I hate using the word “bored” because I feel like the word “ungrateful” is associated with it. And that’s not really it at all. I have plenty to do. I have plenty of things to cross off my list. I have projects that I am working on that are exciting to me. It may be that I have just had some bad days at “work.”

Hudson and I spent the majority of the day yesterday butting heads. Yes, right after I praised him for communicating so well and being agreeable. He spent more time in time out yesterday than he spent out of it. He colored on the walls. He said “shut up” at school. He screamed every time I fed Hayes. There was just a lot of noise.

I called my girl friend and scheduled a girls night for this week just so I could have a couple of hours out of the house with a friend. And a glass of wine.

Taking a blogging break was my plan, but when I realized how much I was missing by not blogging, I realized I needed to just write. I don’t have anything overly exciting to write about right now, but blogging is such a great release for me. No matter what I write about, I feel better after I’ve written.

I know that in a couple of days I won’t feel so anxious and we’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming.

In the mean time, I’m distracting myself with episodes of Parenthood on Netflix. Every single episode puts a big lump in my throat, but I just love it.

p.s. I joked with my mom this morning that I had the blues because I’m missing Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. Wink wink.

p.p.s. My dear friend, Crist, just pointed out the very obvious to me that a good bit of prayer time would do me some good. And she is so right.

I didn’t really intend to take a little blog break, but I’ve been busy.

When I wasn’t holed up in the corner of our sectional finishing the Fifty Shades trilogy (don’t judge a book by its cover or by what the media says– and read this review and this review and this review since I agree with these gals), I was throwing a baby shower for a sweet friend.

I stayed up until 3:00 a.m. on Saturday morning (Friday night?) to finish book 2 and then read all of book 3 on Sunday.

But we had a really fun brunch shower for my friend Tina and her baby girl. My friend, Allyson, made some really yummy baked shrimp and grits that I can’t wait to make here for us. So yummy!

The fabulous girls from Sweet Birdie’s Nest helped us pull together some of the adorable details.  Tina is going to be such a precious mom. She got some great gifts and has the sweetest family and friends. It’s always so much fun to get everyone together.

I never posted pictures from my friend, Caroline’s baby shower. The girls from Sweet Birdie’s Nest helped us with this one, too. We used the colors from Caroline’s nursery and this is such a fun color combination.

Todd and I also had fun working the volunteer table at our church’s Funday Sunday event. Despite a chilly, rainy, Spring day, there was a great turnout. And of course, I don’t have a picture.

I need to finish up a couple of little projects for Hayes’s party and then I think we’re ready. This is my project for the week. I need to make a little bunting for his cake. I may do something simpler than this and just do some felt pennants. And I don’t need the little yellow bows.

I found this on Pinterest, but can’t find the original source 🙁

We’re hanging in there. Both boys are well this week, knock on wood. My schedule is remarkably clear this week and Todd is really busy with work. Fortunately, our busy weeks don’t always collide.

Hudson is almost three years old. How is that possible? I was looking at him tonight and I just realized how much he’s grown this year. No more baby fat. He’s all little big boy now. He still talks like a little boy, but he is no longer a toddler. He’s tall. He’s solid. And he’s independent. And this makes me a little sad. He has his majorly defiant moments, but then in an instant he is agreeable and easy to get along with. He’s easy to communicate with. I know that age 3 won’t be a cake walk, but I love these little hints of who he’s going to be. Love him!

• I keep having to cancel hair appointments. When I schedule the hair appointment I forget to line up a sitter for Hudson and Hayes. Then when the appointment gets closer I can’t find anyone. My roots are getting bad. This is how I ended up with dark hair. I must get a highlight!

• My mom called me all excited this morning about how great Glee was this week. She wasn’t kidding. We love some disco! And we love the Bee Gees.

• I never mentioned that Hayes has hand, foot and mouth this week. Joy. It really is the plague. It’s incredibly contagious and turns sweet, content children into angry, frustrated, sad little people who are in pain that they can’t communicate.

• When I finished reading Divergent, I was looking for something new, light and quick to read. I need books to really reel me in these days or I can’t get past the first 50 pages. I started reading Fifty Shades of Grey and finished within 24 hours. Yes, I’m admitting it. And now I’m reading the second book and can’t put it down.

• Hudson loves playing in his room and he’s usually pretty orderly about it all. I walked in yesterday and discovered that every single puzzle piece to every single puzzle was spread over his floor. He said, “uh oh! I made a mess!” Umm yeah, buddy. So I told him he had to put every single puzzle back together before supper and he did it. Quickly, I might add.

• We need a TV show to watch. We can do Netflix Instant or find something current. But without Damages, Homeland, Lost, Friday Night Lights and all of our other favorite dramas, we just need a show! We can’t get into Dexter- it just makes my stomach turn. Do y’all have any suggestions? We each watch our own individual favorites, but we like finding dramas that we can both get into.

*I should add that we have watched Downton Abbey, a couple seasons of 24, and we’ve seen the past season and are watching the current season of Mad Men.

• Hudson also managed to miss his nap yesterday. But he never got fussy. He was just hilarious! He played quietly in his room instead of napping, which is fine. But when “nap time” was over he just jabbered and jabbered. He did not stop. He was so wired. And it was hilarious! (Not that I hope he makes a habit of it or anything.)

My parents live pretty far away. We typically have to fly if we want to go visit. And visiting them is a must! The logistics of flying with a baby could take up about five different posts. The thing I’m focusing on today is how I pack my diaper bag when I’m flying with one or both of my boys. The challenge is that you need to pack enough necessities and “extras” to get through your long (or short) flight without packing so much that your bag is unmanageable.

My number one rule is to only bring enough stuff to fit into one diaper bag. I don’t even bring a purse for myself. I want my hands to be as free as possible when we’re flying. So I get everything in the diaper bag and put the boys in the stroller and/or a baby carrier. When you have to get into your seat as quickly as possible and wrestle a curious baby, it’s important to have only the necessities. But they need to be useful and just right.

What do I pack in the diaper bag when we fly? Diapers. Plenty of diapers. You just never know if you’ll get stuck in an airport and you just need as many as you can fit in your bag. Wipes. Plenty of wipes. For the same reasons. A change of clothes for your baby. Drool, spit up, and blow out diapers happen everywhere — even on airplanes. A pacifier! Hudson didn’t take a pacifier but I still brought one on flights in case he decided he was going to scream. Hayes takes a pacifier like a champ, so it does the trick for him. Ready-to-feed formula and bottles. I usually pack two bottles and just plan to rinse them out if I need more than two bottles on the plane or in airports. The ready-to-feed formula helps because you don’t have to mix anything and it’s just ready. Obviously! I try to bring one more than I think I need. After a terrible delayed flight situation in Atlanta last summer, we discovered that we should always have extra formula in case of a 6-hour delay! If you’re a nursing mother, you can completely skip this step.

with Hudson and Hayes on a flight that was delayed 6 hours. we ran out of formula!

Burp cloths are a big necessity, too. I like to bring two. Messes are inevitable and isn’t it true that we always have more messes when we’re not at home with all of our “clean up” tools? I always pack some kind of fever reducer to help with any potential discomfort in the ears. I like to pack as many small toys as I can fit in my bag. Small little light-up toys and teething rings. Just a handful of things to keep the baby interested. Books are a great way to keep the baby entertained for a little while. I always pack very small board books because I’m operating out of one bag. A portable DVD player or the iPad has also been a big lifesaver. The iPad takes up less space in the bag and it provides you with a variety of different movies if you have them stored on the iPad. If you bring a DVD player, just bring a couple of back up DVDs.

When our babies were really little and we were still swaddling them, we packed their usual swaddle blankets. As soon as we started taking off, we’d swaddle them, feed them, and then they were asleep. Hallelujah! What do I pack for myself? Nothing! I bring my wallet and make sure my ID is handy. If I’m lucky enough for Hayes or Hudson to fall asleep, I’ll be falling asleep, too. I can always read something on the iPad or on my phone if I can’t sleep. But trying to bring books or magazines when a child is sleeping on me just never works out. I pack the bag as lightly as I can while making sure that I have everything we could possibly need. What are your diaper bag necessities when you travel?

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