The nice thing about decorating a nursery is there are so many adorable themes and sets to choose from - and some universal in the fact that you can use them for a boy or girl, and you can often interchange accessories between sets. I wish I would have seen this more girly version when I was shopping, however new products come out and replace others often.  Anyway, I bought the bedding from one theme and then just intermixed the accessories from others.  But, when decorating the nursery, consider this (as I have recently experienced):  Think twice about putting a cute border up - or at least where you put it.  We chose a custom natural color chair rail for the wall and right above that we placed a nice border; and of course the crib is against the wall.  My daughter must be really intrigued by this because in recent months she has decided to “pick” at it. I thought, no problem, I will just fix the surface tears and it will look as good as new.  Too late!  Now she has decided to just plain “rip” the border off.  Now, I think I am just going to remove it since replacing it would just result in the same outcome.  I guess this gives me a little excuse to redecorate!

I was so wrapped up in the fact that my oldest daughter is now occupying her own seat on the airplane that I forgot to mention a few things about traveling with an infant.  Our pediatrician made some recommendations.  First of all, it is best to wait until after 8 weeks of age, the reason for this is you want to wait until they have at least their first series of shots (because out in big public places like an airport they are susceptible to many illnesses).  The next thing that was recommended is that at take off and landing, you want the baby to either be sucking on a pacifier or to be drinking (either from a bottle or nursing).  This helps their little ears with the change in pressure - just like we as adults would chew on a piece of gum or something to make our ears “pop”.  The American Academy of Pediatrics gives a great list of travel tips when traveling with children of different ages.

Well, we are about to embark on our first cross-country plane ride with two kids.  It was pretty easy with just one child when she could just sit in our lap.  Now that our oldest is turning 2, she is required to occupy her own seat.  And, did you know that children 2 and over who are still in a car seat do not have to be in a car seat on the airplane?  You just buckle them in .  I never knew that until recently.  It might be better this way since she might feel less confined and will have a little “wiggle” room.  I am glad that at least we will now have our own row of seats.  There is nothing like having lap children and being cramped in the seat with total strangers and bumping elbows.  Our youngest will be 4 months old soon and will just sit on our lap.  The only downside to our whole trip is the length of the flight.  Can you say portable DVD player, coloring books and lots of snacks? 

Hello and welcome.  If you are priveleged to be the proud parent of one or more children or are parents -to-be, then I invite you to listen in and look around.  I for one know there are many uncertainties that come along with having a baby, not to mention children in general.  I hope I can provide some insight on where to find this or how to deal with that and how does this work.  There is just so much to know and learn but unfortunately, kids don’t come with an owner’s manual and alot of what we experience is trial and error.  Having a good network of friends and family to help out and share stories with is always a good thing.