First Bar

Yes I brought my baby to a bar.

First here is a little taste of how we will be traveling.

Through a series of situations and God just outright forcing us we have been pushed to take the Van on tour instead of the Bus. Yes that means baby in car seat, and 10+ people being squished into a 12 passenger van. It's cool tho we feel like this is from the Lord, that we will be seriously tested for the better.

So. A taste of our travels:
Me: climbing into the van
Hunter: passing the baby (in car seat) to me
Me: locking him in
All while wearing full on steam punk gear=big boots, hats, jewelry etc.
(Much more dramatic then it sounds)

Arriving at the venue I had to breastfeed in the van and then Xaundelle attempted to change Julien's diaper on the front seat of the van. The seats all kind of slope back for more comfort but not so much for easy diaper changing. As she wiped his bottom the dirty diaper "flew" out at her and fell to the ground while landing in a puddle splashing her....disaster.

First obstacle (feed and change diaper) accomplished.

Inside the venue:
Trying to find a seat comfortable enough for me to relax in with the baby
Then sound check came along so we had to put him in his sling so KiKi (my mom) could hold him, she some how figured out how to put his big headphones on to block out noise. He slept through our whole sound check AND SET!

Second obstacle (make the baby sleep) accomplished.

After set, before load out:
Breastfeed again inside venue
and finish out the rest of the bands without him waking up.
He didn't wake up! He slept so good the whole time even while other bands were playing, he is such a dream child!

The only downfall:
He has his long sleep while we play and after
so then I have to be up all night with him.
Great.

Third obstacle (survive) accomplished!

Now, to pack!

We are leaving Saturday night/Sunday morning so my packing experience will be blogged about next week. Stay tuned!

Prepare the way!

Julien Misha'el Born July 31st 8:17am 7.15lb 20in.

Preparing to take this little guy on the road is a lot harder then it seems.
Bassinet or Moses basket
Crib or baby sleep wedge
Full swing or table swing

You get the picture, a lot of decisions, and not a lot of time on our hands.

Since we travel 8 months out of the year (on average) finding the right things to bring on tour for Julien is a struggle. I don't have a nursery for him, a full bed set, an Armoire, all those lovely things the average new mother would have.

So here are a few things we have opted for that will be condusive for our lifestyle.

A Moses basket that is a comfortable sleeper and easily portable, a table top swing for all those times he will need entertainment, a table top bouncer seat for when he is sleepy, and a pack n' play for all those times we're at host homes or churches and he'll need a nice place to play.

In the last 2 weeks I have come to find out my son likes to go through NUMEROUS outfits a day, a couple receiving blankets here and there, 5 or 6 burp cloths, you know..I've only done about 8 loads of laundry (that is 4 loads a WEEK). So how will I pack for him?

Did I mention he has gained 2 pounds and grown 2 inches since he was born? He is rapidly growing out of his clothes when it comes to length. Hopefully he won't grow out of all of his clothes while we're on tour.

This is going to be quite an adventure, but I know it will be exciting! Stay tuned to see what it's like having a baby on tour!