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have you checked out my dedicated Thirty-One site for my business yet? Check it out every once in awhile. I'll have specials/giveaways and special offers over there.
http://alifelesschaotic.blogspot.com/
well..... this has been the longest week on earth. i am so looking forward to the weekend. in the vein, weekend = red solo cups, does it not? ok, so i actually don't really even use red solo cups (i use purple ones occasionally because they coordinate with my outfit... duh), but they *do* remind me of cool, crisp college afternoons and that's fun right?
they also can actually help a busy mom! who knew?
ps... totally kidding about coordinating my cup with my outfit... sort of...
i am certainly not telling you anything new with this statement but...
traveling with kids isn't the easiest thing ever.
people have written countless articles about how traveling with kids can be "easy!" and "fun!" and "tear proof!" clearly these people have never sat with two hungry three year olds on the tappan zee bridge in bumper to bumper traffic.
traveling with kids who have special medical needs? well... i will say this. IT. CAN. BE. DONE. (ooh, i just shouted that... like from the top of a mountain (because last year i thought it was a fallacy))
we've got one girl on continuous oxygen (but getting better at being off for periods of time here and there) and both girls with g-tubes and special formula. one of our girls does not do very well at eating by mouth and needs to be fed over a pump (or bolus fed) on a very regular schedule. they both have a significant amount of medications.
so, how do you do it? plan, plan, plan... and start early. i will say, especially if you have a kid on oxygen or another medical intervention, you can't exactly wake up in the morning and take off for another state on a whim.
1) plan as far ahead as possible. one of the best things you can be when the being the parent of a medically-complicated child is to be *organized.*
2) traveling with oxygen requires calling a travel center through your durable medical supplier (dme). they will find the correct contacts with you and provide you with contracts to ensure that the proper amount of oxygen is delivered where you need it to be. (don't think you can pack a whole bunch of oxygen tanks in the trunk and call it a day. it's hazardous and subjecting them to vast temperature fluctuations is asking for a problem).
3) we find that the liquid oxygen tanks work best for us. we have a travel container that we can refill from a bigger tank. it allows us to have a large tank delivered to the hotel room and we can fill as many times as we need on it.
4) when packing, take anything you might need as far as accessories... this includes a regulator, connectors, "christmas trees" (those green pointy plastic connectors) and the correct size cannula. on our recent trip to pennsylvania and new jersey our first hotel's tank was delivered with an adult cannula and a humidifier bottle for the wrong type of tank... the new jersey tank was delivered without a regulator altogether, no connectors and no other accessories. we thankfully were able to fill off of the tank so we weren't completely lost, but that could have been a disaster. lesson learned on our end.
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5) confirm, confirm, confirm. you may annoy the customer service representative, but i'll give you a little scenario as to why you should. when we got to our second hotel there was no oxygen tank as contracted... after numerous phone calls and headache my husband managed to find someone on the phone (it was a saturday and the message service simply told us they couldn't find anyone... great huh?) we thankfully had filled the travel tank prior to our departure from the pennsylvania hotel and had enough to get us through a number of hours. we went to the family function and got word that the tank was delivered to the hotel. phew right? not! we get back and we're exhausted. there is no regulator, there is no accessories... worse yet, we can't fill the tank that we have either because the dope that dropped it off didn't fill it correctly and it wasn't pressurized. as i sat listening to my kid huffing and puffing and about one second from getting in the car to go to the nearest emergency room they finally show up with the tank... at 1:30am. yes, you read that correctly.
anyway we survived. be organized, paranoid and somewhat annoying and you will have a great time. :)
well, i think my husband and i are officially insane... we just decided last weekend to head to sesame place with our girls... this weekend.
there is a function for someone in my husband's family about 45 minutes away and when our in-laws told us about it, p and i looked at each other said... we have to go. (and then my panic attack started)
the love of sesame street is somewhat fleeting (well, i guess that's not true. i still love it and am 34. *but* madeline and mommy are currently obsessed!!!)
madeline is truly obsessed with elmo. we currently use pampers that happen to have elmo on them. she scales the gate, gets over to the changing table and takes out each and every diaper to give him 'kisses.' the mess drives me insane but watching her carry around a little diaper giving it hugs is endearing. yes, i know... get her an elmo doll you say. she does! she just prefers the diaper. hey, each to her own!
anyway, i'm currently in the process of making our 'list.' (we're only leaving tomorrow night. nothing like waiting until the last minute!) for those that travel with kids a list is a necessity. for us it's even more crucial. thankfully we'll have the night nurse start to prepare a lot of the medical stuff we'll need and my husband has already contacted the oxygen company to get a tank to the hotel where we will be staying. it's a little extra work, but i'm proud to say we finally feel confident enough to be able to take something like this on!
we went last year and the girls loved it, even if they didn't really understand exactly what was going on. in hindsight they were a little young but we were just so excited to be able to take them somewhere.
and how can you resist these cute little faces??? wish us luck!
do you know an organization looking to raise some much needed funds? are they looking to fundraise *and* provide the families with something they could actually use? (not that boxes of candy bars and wrapping paper aren't fun) i can totally help with that!
my lovely director has charged me with finding two organizations this june that would like to host a fundraiser. if ten families sold just ten large utility toes (which happen to be on the customer special) your organization would make $1,500! woot woot! I'm in boston (obviously) but i have helped host a fundraiser remotely (and the organization earned over $2,500!)
try me out today. i'm fun, creative and low-key. i'm trying to get my name out there and would love for you to pass this on! read the document embedded below for more great information and ideas.
contact me at 31giftsAmy (@) gmail.com or via my website (http://www.mythirtyone/com/AmyThirtyOne) more the deets! muchas gracias!
I may be a Boston Twin *Mommy* but there is a Boston Twin "Daddy" who is just as dedicated to our little loves. In celebration of Father's Day, I have teamed up with Plum Crazy About Coupons and Flabby Fashionista to bring you an *awesome* giveaway! The prize of a $200 Gift Card will be awarded to one person that will be chosen by Random.org from the Rafflecopter entries below.
This giveaway will run from June 1st 12:01 AM until June 10th 11:59 PM, 2012 so you’ll have enough time to present dad with a gift. The prize is your choice of a $200 Gift Card from Home Depot, Lowes, or Paypal Cash!
You must be 18 years of age or older. Void where prohibited. This giveaway is not affiliated with Facebook, Twitter or any other social media. Please stop by the other participating blogs to say hi and enter one of their giveaways. Thanks and Good Luck!
Thanks and Good Luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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madeline,
molly,
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