Traveling with a Newborn

Our friends Nate and Kaela got married in Corpus Christi this past weekend.  We could have come home after the wedding, but I love any opportunity to get away… especially to the beach!  Getting out of the house took much longer than it did when it was just Michael and me.  Karis requires a lot of stuff!  We stayed in a hotel, so she needed her pack-n-play.  We were also planning to go to the aquarium, so she needed her stroller.  Those two items took up the whole trunk.  I don’t know how Michael did it, but he made everything fit.

The ceremony began at 4pm.  I planned Karis’s entire day out so that we could stop once on the way to eat.  Then, she’d sleep through the ceremony (so that I could enjoy it), and eat at 5pm.  Instead of sleeping through the ceremony, Karis screamed louder and longer than I’d ever heard before (or maybe it just seemed worse since we were in public).  I tried to rock her on the porch and watch the ceremony through the window.  No luck.  I was getting some looks.  With Karis strapped in her Moby wrap, I covered her head and ran through the wind and rain to the car.  After performing “the five S’s,” Karis fell asleep for about 30 minutes.  When she woke up, I fed her.  Bummer!  I missed the entire ceremony.  

Karis and Daddy's first dance

Asleep at the Party - too much to drink

Friends passed Karis around during the reception, and she did great.  Eventually, I strapped her back in the Moby and “danced” with her.  She peacefully fell asleep, and Michael and I enjoyed the rest of the wedding reception. 

April and Karis with Ellen and Charlotte

(April's messy hair - Remember the wind and rain?)

Michael with the Groom, Nate

We got to our hotel right at Karis’s bedtime.  As usual, she ate, and I put her in bed.  Then, she cried for about 15 minutes.  I was just waiting for the phone to ring, “We’ve received complaints from other guests, and we’d kindly like for you to find another hotel for the night.”  Thankfully that never happened.  I gave in and rocked Karis to sleep.  Finally, at about 11:30, she fell asleep.  Karis woke up once to eat, and then slept till 8am.  It felt stressful at the time, but when I look back, I see that Karis did a pretty good job!

The groom’s brother, Jon is Michael’s childhood friend.  We went to his house for breakfast at 9 am.  Jon and his wife Ellen have two small children, Theo and Charlotte.  Since we were enjoying each other’s company so much, we never made it to the aquarium.  Truthfully, I’m glad.  It would have been difficult to go to the aquarium with the kids.  My biggest concern was nursing in public.  I was much more comfortable taking care of Karis at Jon’s house.

Charlotte and Karis

Jon and Michael

Not that I’m ready to leave town this weekend, but all in all, our first family trip was a success.