Leaving...

...on a jet plane...in a few days...without the girls!

Although I am really excited about going on vacation to the all-inclusive we went to for our honeymoon, Couples Swept Away in Negril, Jamaica, I'm also a little sad because we will be leaving the girls for a week. I have never been away from them this long, maybe a long weekend, but never for a week. We are going with another couple, Matt and Alison. I know we'll have fun, I'll just miss the girls terribly!

I sent my mom a list of "tips/tricks" regarding the girls while we're gone and thought it would be something interesting to post on here for the girls to be able to look back and read when they are older:

Natalie:

~ You will know when she gets tired!  She'll want her milk and her blanket. You don't have to heat up her milk, she takes it straight out of the container.

~ Naptime is typically after lunch, but a lot of times at home, she doesn't truly fall asleep until somewhere around 2 or 3.

~ Timeouts seem to work the best for discipline with her, but lately she hasn't been a great listener or nice sister.

~ Foods to avoid in large quantities because they seem to give her diaper rash: mandarin oranges, citrusy stuff, even sometimes animal crackers I've noticed

~ Foods she loves: apples (without the peel), grapes, eggs, sausage, mac n cheese, chicken nuggets, melon of any kind, cucumbers, veggies, cheese

~ I packed some fruit packets for both girls because they both love them and it's an easy snack

~ Large amounts of desitin seem to do the trick for her diaper rash

~ Her morning wake-up time varies quite a bit, nothing too consistent

~ Lately she likes to put her own pants on, but may need some assistance; same with shoes

~ She's afraid of loud noises, especially thunder!

Aubrey:

~You will know when she gets tired! She sometimes will take milk (heated up in microwave for 20-30 seconds), and other times she'll push the milk away and just want to suck on her blankie.

~Don't be afraid to lay her down while she's crying, sometimes that's the only thing that works. Plus, lately, she's not a huge rocking fan...sad, I know!

~ Naptime: if she gets up around 7:30 (her norm) or earlier, she'll usually still take a morning nap around 9/9:30 and then again after lunch time

~ Her afternoon naps are usually the longest of the 2.

~ She doesn't tend to have any food allergies that give her diaper rash, but if she does get it, any cream usually works for her.

~ Foods she loves: anything...haven't found a whole lot she won't eat :)

~ She can drink milk (whole), water, or apple juice with water mixed.

~ She doesn't consistently go to sleep at night with milk like Natalie still does.

~ She has been waking up again at least once a night and either wants milk or to be rocked a bit. She typically will lay back down after a little bit even if she's still awake.

~ Warning about meal time: Aubrey has started the initial phase of taking a drink and spitting it out, as well as putting food on the floor...oh joy!

Medicines:

If the girls get fevers, give them acetaminophen (red) first (Aubrey 2.5mL and Natalie 5mL). After an hour if they still have a fever, give ipubrofen (2 separate ones): Natalie's is purple (give as directed) and Aubrey's is orange bottle, milky white substance 1.875mL.

The acetaminophen can be given every 4 hours and the ibuprofen every 6 hours for each of them.

I will have both of their insurance cards in the outside pocket of the large gray bag that has their clothes...hopefully you won't have to use those!

So far, I have the girls' bags packed, now just onto ours, but I told Bobby he had to pack for himself!