Frozen Tundra...Here We Come!

Emmeline and I are getting ready to head out to the Midwest for Christmas. We leave tomorrow and there certainly is a lot of things to pack when traveling with a baby!! There are diapers, wipes, clothes, extra clothes, blankets, bath stuff, breast pump, bottles, emergency medicine, toys, teethers, books, car seat, car seat base, stroller, baby carrier, waterproof pads, baby bowls, spoons, bibs and rice cereal, baby monitor, and of course, the baby. That is on top of all of my things and the Christmas presents. And we we will landing in below-zero temperatures and that will not make anything easy. (I had better pack a few extra blankets and jackets). Paul is leaving a week after us so I will be traveling alone with Emmeline. I did this in September as well. She was only 3 months old then and I was very nervous about traveling with her. The worst part was going through security: I had to get the car seat, car seat base, stroller, and diaper bag on the belt for the x-ray machine with the baby strapped to my chest in a sling. When I finally got through security, they made me go back down to ticketing with all of my things because I was not given an infant pass!!!!!!! I was so livid. By the time we finally got on the plane, we were delayed on the ground about an hour. Before we actually took off, Emmeline had sucked down both bottles I had brought for her and pooped twice. So I had to make two trips to the small, stinky airplane bathroom and breastfeed her in the cramped airplane seat. I don't mind breastfeeding her in public, but I think other people do. And when she was 3 months old, I was still getting the hang of discretely feeding her in public. This time I am not going to let other people bother me with their stares and uncomfortable shifting. She is significantly bigger now, though, so she might be spilling out of our seat as she nurses. Oh well. I must be off to pack. Paul is nagging me that I am not making the best use of my time.