Packing

In about 8 days we're off to BC for our Christmas holidays. Last night I began the arduous process of packing for our little family of three. B hates packing, but fortunately I enjoy it (the first time around, at any rate - I hate packing whilst ON the trip itself).

Packing for B and I is easy. If it were just the two of us we could probably get away with one suitcase, though we'd take two to bring back Christmas presents. G presents a whole new problem. I have to pack enough to keep my rapidly growing baby sufficiently clothed for roughly 3 months away. That means A LOT of baby clothes, folks. I've already filled an entire suitcase and that is just stuff that doesn't fit her yet. It's really difficult on another level as well, because there are some things I wouldn't mind leaving behind but because they were gifts, I want her to have the chance to wear them. I've already had to pack away a few summer items that she never got to wear.

*Word of Solid Advice*
When you're buying baby clothes for someone else as a gift, think what season the baby will actually wear them in. So many people bought us summer little strappy onesies that G will never wear because it's too cold. There only ended up being maybe three outfits she couldn't wear, but it makes me feel bad (especially since they were SO CUTE). I am really hoping a friend has a girl baby who can make use of these. Which reminds me. Friends of childbearing age: I have so much stuff you can have/buy from me. Clothes I'd give for free but I'd prefer to actually sell the other stuff (for cheaper than I bought it, obviously...wish I'd got some things used instead of brand new). End of tangent.

Back to packing! I've got to pack wipes, dipes, bibs, sleepers, onesies, socks, blankies, powder, vaseline, clothes, a towel...There is so much involved when packing for a baby. And then there's our stuff as well. We need functional clothes that will last us 3 months. Thankfully we're staying with my parents so of course we can do laundry whenever, but you still don't want to overpack.

By beginning my packing a week early, I'm hoping that by the time we leave I'll have trimmed the fat off well enough that we don't find ourselves with excess items while we're away. On our Manitoba/Ontario trip in October, we had so many clothes in the suitcase that we hadn't even touched. I need to eliminate that! It's such a waste of space.

If anyone has packing tips, I'd love to hear them.

Now I'm off to bed. I went to bed at 1am, woke at 3, fell asleep at 4, woke up at 5 and have been up ever since. I enjoyed a hot turkey/potatoes/gravy sandwich for breaky and also a mildly flat Coke. Not exactly healthy there, but dannng it was good.

PS: Look how teeeeeny weeny G was! I love that she's growing but I miss my tiny baby sometimes!