Toddler Travel Finds

I like to think of myself as a bargain shopper.  It's just a way of shopping that was embedded into my brain by my mother.  At times it's frustrating because I see something I really want and I just. can't. buy it.  That little voice in the back of my head won't let me!  Have I ever mentioned that my Mom bought my prom dress for $30 without me even being present?  It fit perfect and was gorgeous!

When it came to picking up some toys and dvd's for our cross country drive I was not going to spend much money.  Speaking of dvd's, what's with them being so expensive to begin with?  $20-50 for a single movie?  No thanks, we'll rent through red box or Vudu and be done with it.

The first place we went was Target (as if I needed a reason) and I noticed a bunch of Superman themed items in the dollar bins. 

 

I picked up a sticker book, pencils, a pencil case, velcro wallet, and a little notebook.  They also had these adorable pop-up books.  One is about robot cowboys and the other dinosaurs in outer space.  In other words, perfect for little boys!  I realize most of the Superman stuff is way above Landon's age of 2 but I know my kid.  He loves stickers, containers to put random things in, and he will probably play with the velcro wallet for about half a day.  At a dollar each, mission accomplished.

 

Next we went to Ollie's Bargain Outlet and found the following.

 

Word World, Bob the Builder, two Thomas the train DVD's each over an hour long and a Dinosaur Train book.  Each of these items were only $3.99!  My plan is to give Landon one or two of the new items each day on our road trip which we are expecting to be 4-5 days long (still working out the drive details.)

Neither store really had bargain items suited for Emmi, but I have a bunch of Baby Einstein DVD's I plan to use (in case of emergency) and I'll just rotate some of her smaller toys she already has.

We expect full on meltdowns from both kids probably more than once on our drive but with a few new items we can at least minimize the damage!

My Favorite Things - Fort Drum, NY

As we are packing and preparing to move back across the country to Arizona my husband and I have been talking about what we are going to miss about New York and what we are looking forward to in Arizona.  One of the great advantages of military life is having the opportunity to live in many different places with new experiences. 

Funny, less than 3 months ago I wrote this blog post about reasons I love the north country because I thought we were going to be here forever.  Now we are leaving Fort Drum in under two weeks!

Here is a list of my personal favorite things at Fort Drum.

1. New York Pizza - My poor husband is so sad about leaving behind NY Pizza.  We have rarely gotten pizza from a chain (mostly just when I had pregnancy cravings) in our 3 years here.  When family or friends come to visit, they know without question NY pizza is what will be served the night they arrive, in fact they expect it!  For our first two years here our local pizza joint didn't even deliver but that certainly never stopped us from eating it.  Once they delivered it just increased the frequency.  New York Pizza - your greasy goodness will be sadly missed.  We will shed a tear each time we order pizza from a chain restaurant.

2. North Country Red - Oh beloved North Country Red.  This is one of the most popular (and my favorite) wine from the local Thousand Islands Winery.  North Country Red got me through Chris's first deployment and helped me paint our downstairs one hour at a time after baby went to sleep each night. 

3. Snow - Now hear me out.  Yes, you have heard me complain a lot about the snow up here.  But growing up in Virginia we always had a very wet and icy snow that made roads terrible and everything a mess.  The snow up here is best described as a snow globe.  Fluffy, powdery, and just beautiful!  When the snow is falling and you are watching by a window inside your home you really feel as if you are inside a snow globe!  If you want to go snow tubing/skiing/ice skating/snow mobiling (is that a word?) you don't have to plan a weekend trip and drive to a resort.  You can simply drive 10-30 minutes to a local place and spend the day having fun!

4. Lake Ontario - From the local beaches, historic battlefield at Sackets Harbor, to Pirates Week at Alexandria Bay there is much to enjoy by the lake.  I love that during the Summer we can dine on the deck of the Boat House, enjoy the breeze, and watch the boaters or spend a day on the beach and then in the Winter months we can walk out on the frozen lake and watch the ice fisherman.

5. Farmer's Markets - The picture at the top of this blog is from one of my first trips to the Lowville Farmer's Market - peppers, sweet onion, sweet corn, tomatoes, red potatoes, apples, free range chicken, cinnamon rolls, white wine, strawberry, raspberry, & blueberry jam.  Several villages surround Fort Drum and most have their own market so there is always somewhere to find fresh local produce, meat flowers, crafts, or just about anything you can imagine.

6. Tractors, Cows, and Helicopters - I love that my little boy routinely can see and identify all of these things.  We pass huge farm tractors on the road and wave to the cows along the way.  Landon stops dead in his tracks to tell me when there's a plane or helicopter flying over us, which I never used to notice. 

7. Maple Syrup - Before living here I bought some random brand of syrup at the store.  Here I have been to several sugar shacks and seen the process of how REAL maple syrup is made and I'm pretty certain I can never go back.


If you are here or have been at Fort Drum before, what are your favorite things?  Let me know in the comments below!


In other news I've decided to join the world of twitter.  A little behind the curve, I know.  I actually created an account a while ago and never did anything with it.  I have a feeling this move will provide plenty to tweet about.  I mean, over 2,000 miles of driving with a toddler, baby, and a very big dog?  Yeah, so you should follow me.  @MaysLiz

Make a list

Movers will be here to pack up our house in about 16 days.  16 DAYS!  Given that realization, yesterday I decided it was time to start making lists in an attempt to make this move organized.  Forgive the poor handwriting, it never was a strong point of mine.  I have a feeling there will be lots of additions to this list as I start to cross tasks off.  It's a great starting point though.  There is the usual tasks of cancel this, schedule that, pick up Dr. records, pet records. 

On our last two moves we packed one single container of kitchen essentials.  We don't always know how long we'll be waiting for our household good to arrive so it's nice to have a few pots and pans to make a home cooked meal.

The first time we moved to Arizona we pulled our second car on a trailer and filled the car with as much of our essentials as we could fit. (*Side note - our two big dogs fill up the back of our SUV so we can't pack anything in there.) On the way back to the east coast we rented a U-Haul trailer and filled that with our essentials.  This time we got smart and bought our own trailer!  We can fit one set of mattress and box springs and maybe even a couch!  We have air mattresses (as does probably every military family I know) but a real mattress and a real place to sit during the day until our household goods arrive sounds fantastic!

The two lists that are pretty bare right now are the 'Food/Snacks' list and the 'In The Car' list for us and the kids.  I routinely drive 12 hours to Virginia and back with both kids and have that down pat. But at the end of one long day I arrive at my parent's or my Mother-in-law's house with extra hands, food, and anything else I might need.  This time Chris and I will be spending 4-5 days on the road with two kids, one dog, and lots of hotel rooms.  I've picked up some toys and books from the Target Bargain bins for Landon and plan to have a couple new items he can 'play' with in the car each day, plus lots and lots of DVD's.  I also have an idea of foods that have worked well for road trips before...banana bread, ham rolls, scones...and of course the typical easy toddler snacks...goldfish, bananas, raisins, vanilla wafers.

Now I have to tackle this list and plan out the actual road trip.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  :)  What tips have you found work for young kids on road trips?

Moving

Here we go again!

PCSing, aka moving, can be one of the more exciting and frustrating parts of military life.  The thrill of moving to a new location and a new experience met with the terror of making new friends AGAIN, moving with kids for the first time, and the logistics.  Ohhh the logistics.  I'm sure every military spouse's story is different.  I'm not sure how many end up with cross-country trips like we do but this is my experience.  

We are currently stationed at Fort Drum, NY with orders to report to Fort Huachuca, AZ.  That's about 2,500 miles.  We did this move before from Virginia to Arizona with just the two of us.  We didn't book hotels ahead of time, we just stopped and found one.  We didn't have housing planned ahead of time, we just arrived and figured it out.  This time we have two little people so we are attempting to have a plan.  We are going to Fort Huachuca for about 6 months of school and then will PCS again to a more permanent (read 2-3 years) location.

But Liz, why don't you just stay on the East coast while Chris goes to school?

While it may seem a wee bit like torture to make this move for a measly six months, school time means quality family time.  School hours are more reasonable and Chris will likely be home for dinner every night, maybe on occasion even for lunch.  Not knowing what the next job or location holds for us, this is valuable time for us as a family.

Our most immediate to-do list involves selling or renting our current home. 

Wait.  Doesn't the Army give you housing?

Yes, military posts DO have housing.  Enough for everyone stationed there?  Ha, yeah right!  When we arrived at Drum we were told it was an 8-10 month wait for on-post housing.  I was 6 months pregnant at the time and Chris was set to deploy in 3 months so I wasn't thrilled about the prospect of moving twice, the second time by myself with a newborn in the dead of Winter.  Thanks, I'll pass and get my own place.  We didn't have to buy a home but that was a choice we made.

Now onto our move to Arizona.  

They have housing available for us!

YAY!

It's the same old housing we lived in before that has swamp coolers for a/c and was supposed to be torn down by now.

BOOO!!

They ARE tearing them down in 2014 though, so we'd have to evacuate by the end of the year and possibly move twice in a 6 month time frame.

BOOO!!

But there are lots of really nice off-post rental houses in Sierra Vista!

YAY!!!

We found one that we LOVE!

YAY!!!

But the rental company won't reserve the house for us until we do a walk-through.

BOOO!!

Call me cheap (and I am) but I'm not flying out to Arizona to look at houses we will live in for less than a year.  No matter how perfect it is.  The important thing to remember is that we have choices.  It is the little things, right?  And we'll be together as a family.  That is most important of all.

I suppose if it wasn't a roller-coaster it wouldn't be an adventure now would it?  Didn't I tell you PCSing is both exciting and frustrating?  

Just another day navigating a PCS.

Blizzards for Monsoons

In good Army fashion, just as we settled into the we'll be here another year mindset at Fort Drum, we get orders to PCS!  (For those non-military PCS means Permanent Change of Station or basically a move.)  For us?  We will be on our way back to the other border and by the 4th of July we'll be in Fort Huachuca, Arizona!  While this may seem quite fast, I must say...this is the most notice we've ever been given for a PCS.

So I'm getting out of the blizzards in Northern New York and headed towards the dry desert heat of Southern Arizona.  Poor me, right?  I know, I know.  I'm actually quite excited to kiss my snow gear goodbye, but I'm not looking forward to monsoon season in Arizona!  We managed to escape it last time as we left Arizona in early July for NNY.

                    I might actually dislike rain more than snow.

I guess I will report my official opinion on that topic in a few months.

In the mean time there is lots to do.  The last time we moved we didn't have any kids.  This time we have a two year old, six month old, and the gazillion things that come along with them.  There's a house to sell in New York, a search for housing in Arizona, lots of cancellations to make and paperwork to gather.  Lots of see ya later's (never goodbye) to say and quite a road trip to plan.  Yes, yes, we are going to attempt a road trip from the East Coast to Arizona with our two little munchkins, and don't forget the Great Dane!  The last time we did this road trip we drove as far as we could manage in a day and found a hotel randomly to stay for the night.  Something tells me this trip will be very different. :)  So stay tuned, as always, there is a great little adventure ahead of us.

Baby Led Weaning

When I was approaching my due date with Landon, a friend in the office who had her baby a few months before brought up introducing solids and a method called Baby Led Weaning.  I knew that I wanted to make my own baby food instead of buying jarred baby food, but I was curious about this "new" method so she filled me in.  The idea behind Baby Led Weaning is that 1.) you don't introduce solids until around 6 months of age IF your baby is ready and 2.) your baby feeds his/her self.  If you have interest you can read more about it in this blog.  I love this resource because the Momma documented week by week with her daughter and I found it to be SOO useful.

Confession:  When Landon turned 6 months I tried it for a few weeks and then got scared of potential choking (one of my biggest fears anyways) and with Chris deployed at the time, I just didn't feel comfortable on my own.  A few weeks later our lives were turned upside down when Chris was brought home on emergency leave and we just did solids the old fashioned way for a bit.  I was browsing through my blog trying to remember when exactly we started back up with Baby Led again but Landon was 10 months old and he was already pretty much eating what we eat. 

As Emmilyn approached 6 months, I knew that I wanted to do blw (baby led weaning) with her from the start.  The second time around I feel much more comfortable with the gagging (yes, there is gagging involved) and realize it makes so much more sense for her to eat what we eat because that's what I expect in the years to come anyways.  So of the first foods we tried are banana, sweet potato, red potato, and avocado. These lend themselves as easiest to hold, and easily mushable.  Emmi was definitely ready as she reaches for what I put on her tray immediately and takes it straight to her mouth.  I remember Landon playing with food a bit more but Emmi means business!  Here are some snaps from our first couple weeks.

We started with banana and since theycan be slippery I leave the peel on the bottom so E had a handle to grip.

 



Next was sweet potato.

 

 

 

I fixed steak fry red potatoes with dinner so I decided to give E one.  She loved it!

 

 

Landon felt left out of the picture taking tonight.

 

 

Tonight I gave E a slice of avocado. 

She always grabs food off of the tray the second I lay it down.

 

 

 

I think the avocado felt good on her bottom teeth coming in.

 

 

 As with the introduction of any solids, we introduce one food a few times before introducing another.  I also don't sweat it if I don't give Emmi food one day because, as the jingle goes....

 

'Food before one is just for fun!'

Where's Landon

With all of the negative and sad news this week (don't worry, I'm glued to the TV too) I wanted to post something light and maybe a little funny.

So....                                                             Where's Landon?

 

 

 

On the couch

 

On a basket

 

In a bookshelf

 

In a box

 

On the potty?

 

On a shelf

 

In a cabinet

 

On the door

 

In his bed?

 

On Emmi's crib

 

On the dog crate

 

In the hanger

 

In the basket

 

IN the crib

 

On a ladder

 

On monkey bars

 

On the dining table

 

On a side table

 

Just on the go

 

On the floor

 

On the sink

 

Stuck in a stool

 

At Target

 

Behind the towel

 

On the TV

 

aaaaaannnnd upside down!