Monday, March 9, 2009

Traveling with Kids!

Let me start by saying that we had a WONDERFUL weekend at home, and we would drive 1 million miles to be with our family, if we had to (Thank God we don't, though-ha!). We LOVE being with our family more than anything, but let me talk a little bit about what we experience with each of these trips home! ha!

First of all, if you travel more than one hour with children, someone should be waiting at your destination with a medal. (maybe the same someone that should have been there with my Mother of the Year award when I let Abby flip head first over the side of a cart at Target) Anyways, I have never ran a marathon, but I am certain that being in the car with kids for 4 hrs. is harder than any race out there. haha! Abby has NEVER been a good traveler (I remember when I would talk to other parents and they would be like, 'oh, yeah...Little Jimmy falls asleep the minute we get in the car,' and it would take all I had not to yell at them!-haha!). I can count on my hands the number of times she has fallen asleep in a vehicle. Even as an infant, she would NOT sleep on our long drives. I used to swear after every trip home that I would NEVER, EVER do it again, but we all know that's not going to happen! I love being home too much! :) And, I can't even tell you how many times I have contemplated jumping from the moving vehicle...ha! Back to what I was saying...after about 18mo. of trips from hell, Abby was finally what we would consider a 'good' traveler, soon after that we added to the family! :) ha! While Abby the Traveler is hit or miss these days and Olivia is a good traveler (knock on wood), we have never had a trip without a few meltdowns, or Abby puking, or Scott and I getting angry, etc. You get the picture. So, the actual drive itself is the greatest form of birth control ever. On to other things...

Now, we are not on a strict, strict schedule by any means, but our girls are used their routine. Everyone pitches in to try and keep this going while we are gone, but as we all know, things get pretty out of whack, and it takes us a few days back at home to 're-program' the girls. A good example of this is Abby's eating habits. I am quite certain she could go an entire weekend at home without consuming a single calorie. So, on top of not eating, if she does eat, there is a 100% chance that it's CRAP that she finally does eat. By the time we left Mom and Dads yesterday she was so hungry and grumpy she ate her entire lunch, 2hrs. later ate a whole turkey and cheese sandwich, as soon as we got home she was asking for milk and a snack, had almost a whole personal size pizza for dinner, along with a soft pretzel, was STILL eating on the pizza after that, and then ate cheerios before bed. Think she was a little hungry??? haha! But, (YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU, MOM!:) Mom woouldn't dare make Abby eat something if she doesn't want to, so if Abby wants Fruity Pebbles for every meal, she gets Fruity Pebbles....NOT in this house, though! And, I won't even touch on the sleeping issues and now Olivia's eczema that we will be dealing with for the next few days. But, I will let you know that we did not make it without having to clean a car seat along the way...we rarely do. Olivia held up that end of the deal by pooping all over herself, the carseat, etc. about 1hr. into the trip. SUPER! haha!

And, I will end that with the same thing I started it on. Despite all of that, we will be on the road again in a couple of weeks. Like I said, we LOVE going to our homes and seeing our family/friends and nothing would keep us from doing so, but I won't deny that I look forward to the days when it's a little easier to travel with the girls. :)


And, now....some pictures of our trip home! :)

Abby found some of my old things and had a blast playing dress up. Here she is in my first communion dress!
Of course, it was a princess dress for her! :)

Another old dress of mine!


I love this picture! She was spinning and twirling and loved it!

In my first cheer uniform! Go, Cougars! ha!

Saturday, Brittney had a cheer competition. Her squad won 1st and overall champion! Go, Britt!! (for those of you that have known Britt since she was a baby, I know...I can't believe how grown up she is, either! Since when did I have a 14yr. old niece and nephew!?)

Cheering on Brittney!
Back to Nanny and Papaws to play outside in her dress! haha!

Britt and Olivia hanging out before we had to leave yesterday!

4 comments:

The Cantlons said...

I SO almost called you yesterday when we were home on the off chance that you would be there too. Then I decided that there was no way we would be there at the same time (or that you would answer your phone. . hee hee). Now I wish I would have. . .I'm sure Jackson would have loved to see the girls and I would love to see my Annie!! MISS YOU!!

Anonymous said...

come on some of you grandmothers help me out here!! what can one day of sleeping with nanny and eating fruity pebbles do to ruin a child, we know better don't we, it is minor in prospective

The Utley Crew said...

Whatever, MOM! haha! Yes, it is minor, which is why I don't throw a MEGA fit about all of it, but when Abby is up AGAIN at 3am wanting to get in bed with us, and crying because we won't let her, I will be sure and call you. It's so minor, you can talk to her about it and tell her to stop crying and get back in bed, right!? :)

Anonymous said...

nope, nanny can't tell her no, she is too angelic, just like her mommy was, sorry it backfires and bites your little ass, but,it is GREAT for me though!!! i love you all

About Me

Welcome to our life! :) Our life seems to be a constant 3 ring circus these days, but we have a lot of fun, laugh a lot and enjoy every minute of it (okay...almost every minute-haha!) Scott and I have been married for almost 9 years, and we are the parents of 2 amazing daughters, and another little one on the way. This blog is a way to keep in touch with family and friends. It also serves as a 'year book' of sorts for our family. Enjoy!!