#2 it is

DAY 1 I decided day 1 for me was actually going to be Friday. Although we left for Ethiopia on Saturday, we had to leave for Saint Louis on Friday. When we found out our travel dates I had begun to slowly pack and put things together, clean the house, shop etc. I was bound and determined that the last day I was home I was going to be doing nothing but sitting on the couch and snuggling my soon to be oldest son. Well God must have known that sitting around hugging on Wesley would have been even harder on me then had I had the day that I ended up having. Friday morning 12:00 a.m. I finally decided that I had to stop the madness that I called packing. Let's just say Aaron and I had 2 carry on bags packed and 2 checked bags. I thought "wow this will be nice, traveling light, less headache etc. Haahaa. Wed. morning I got a $500 check in the mail to purchase what would turn into 70+ lbs. of formula. 2 checked bags who were we kidding. Well All of Thursday night and early Friday morning I was rearranging, weighing, arranging again. Ahhh. We found out and here is tip #1 having an overweight bag = $60 whether it is 51 lbs or 70 lbs. So in my opinion load that overweight sucker up. Don't pay the $60 for a couple of lbs. Throw in the family dog if you have to. We thought about dispersing everything by using an extra bag...Bad idea tip #2 extra bag = $160. I can't wait to tell you how our overweight bags went over at the airport, you have to wait until day #2. So anyway I was done packing by about 11:00 p.m. This left me just enough time to do a little cleaning and vacuuming etc. by about 4:00 p.m we were off for our 3 hour drive to STL. When we arrived before going to my parents house, we stopped at Target (we don't have one.) First I have to tell you that when I get anxious it affects me physically. By physically I mean hello Target toilet. Anyway, I found myself standing on the baby aisle in Target completely overwhelmed. I don't know if I was nervous that I didn't pack everything or that I was forgetting something, or if it all seemed more real....Anyway I burst into tears. Literally. Then I panicked. Had I packed the right bottles? (playtex with liners Awesome and easier to clean then the Avent with liners same size of nipple...There is your tip #3) Anyway I only know what the Avent ended up being like because I bought $30 worth of Avent bottles and supplies. I was in serious panic mode. When we got to my parents house it was late enough that we put our sleeping boy to bed and then I enlisted the help of the super packer. I do believe this super packing is a gift and it is also genetic. I myself posses this gene but I am still in the apprentice stage. My Dad on the other hand has perfected the skill. Within the next 30 min. (it took me 5 hrs) He had unpacked and repacked all 4 of our suit cases with 3 of them hitting at exactly 48-49lbs and 1 of them being exactly 70 lbs. Awesome! I did have organization that got thrown out the window when he took over but heck it was a beautiful scene to watch the master at work. Then my parents gave me a prescription that they said would help me sleep. (Don't judge me lol). Next thing I knew it was Sat. morning and officially day #2.