Looks like we’ll be trying to get a weeks worth of stuff for us and E in to two carry on bags, a diaper bag and a laptop bag. Yeah, I know. Go ahead and laugh in my face now… I’ll wait.

I am a Tetris master which means I rock at utilizing every available free space when packing, I’ll do well at really loading up the bags we are able to carry on the plane. I still think we’ll just have too much crap though.

We are flying out to Arizona and then driving the 1800 miles back to Evansville later that week. Translation= Airline hell + road trip hell + hotel hell.

We’ve already decided we need to bring the Pack N Play to Arizona since there is no way E will sleep in an unfamiliar bassinet or crib. We are going to ship it there in advance via FedEx since it will be cheaper for shipping than it will be to pay to check the thing.

We also had to figure out how to get the car seat and stroller out there. The car seat is obviously for the road trip back, the stroller is basically our bassinet on wheels for E’s naps and transportation during our full day of airport fun. We have a pretty long layover before we get on the big plane and make our way to Arizona.

Plus, we are holding E on our lap for the entire flight so the last thing we are gonna want to do is hold her some more while we walk the airport and wait for our connecting flight.

Turns out we can indeed gate check the stroller and car seat free of charge for the flight down… I’ve heard talk of some airlines only allowing an umbrella stroller, others don’t specify a stroller type. We are flying Delta and I am hoping we can take our bigger, travel system stroller since E is able to recline, be covered and easily nap it it.

I am not excited about how all this will impact little Everly’s sleep schedule. Poor thing is going to be so overstimulated and confused by the change in routine. I hope she is adaptable.

The other thing I am weighing is cloth diapering on flight day. Cloth is bulky, much more than disposables which will limit how much we are able to fit in our bags. Plus there is the lugging around soiled diapers on flight day. Although, I might get a kick out of someone searching my pile of soiled diapers at security. LOL.

We will need all our diapers and also our diaper detergent for washing them throughout the week. What I can’t determine is whether or not it would be cheaper to cloth diaper on the trip or not. We could ship the diapers and detergent down with the pack n play, we could carry it all on with our belongings, we could just buy disposables…

I am just not in the mindset to be making decisions or weighing any options it seems. I am too tired, overwhelmed and would love to just pretend like I don’t have to decide or figure anything out. It’s too bad I can’t hit the pause button on life until I am ready to resume and go forward.