Paris Day Two

 Our second day in Paris, we slept in and after stopping at the little bakery by our hotel and having an late breakfast/early lunch, we then headed off to the Louvre.

Price 9.5 Euros per person.  

After a wait of about 10 minutes we were in the Louvre and spent the majority of the day.

 Joe of course found time to make fun of things!

We thought that we had got to the Louvre late, getting there around 12 pm.
However, by the time we left around 4 pm- it was packed!

We then headed to the Arch of Triomphe.

Free

Because it was raining- we decided not to go up.

Because it was raining and we were still kind of jetlagged, we decided to head to a little cafe near our hotel called Nellie's Pizza for dinner

because again it was packed.

Joe had the Steak and Fries with a glass of wine.

 I had a delicious vegetarian Pizza and sparkling water.

My pizza was awesome, Joes was ok.

Total bill 25 euros. 

Exhausted day two!

Paris Day One...

Ok break from everything baby to tell you about our Europe trip!

We landed in Paris at 6 am Paris time, or 12 midnight our time.  

After sleeping not a wink on the plane, Joe and I were exhausted.
I started cramping on the plan around hour 5 which was not fun! 
By the time we landed, got our bags, and got thru customs and got to the airport by way of the train/metro it was 10am. 

Unfortantely, we could not check into the hotel until 2pm.  

So we stopped by the hotel, dropped off our bags and headed off to kill some time.

We opted to stay at
Fred Hotel in Montparnasse Paris. 
It is a little bit outside of the heart of Paris, still in Paris and right next to a metro stop.  
We did this because of the price.

Fred Hotel  

4 nights

$137 a night

Review of the hotels:

Pros-  Room is very small and cosy.

Located on quite little street

Next two two metro stations

Next to a awesome bakery which we had our 2 euro breakfast every morning.

Price was right

Clean and new.

Free internet

Cons- small boutique hotel

Breakfast not included- which was not an issue for us.  Had a all you can eat breakfast for 13 euros per person.  Not worth it.  

You had to leave your key with them whenever you leave the hotel.  Thought this was a little weird.

Walls were thin so you could hear when people were moving around. 

Was not as close to the heart of the city so alot of public transportation was involved.

After dropping off our bags, we decided to do something low key our first day.  

So we headed off to Notre Dame Cathedral.

We walked around the Cathedral and decided to get inline to go up to the tower.

However after waiting for about 25 minutes in a ridiciously long line and not even moving a little, 

we decided to head back to the hotel to take a much needed nap.  

Note- you can buy a 10 pack of metro passes for 9 euros.  

We purchased two sets and it lasted us for our trip.  

After our nap we were so happy.

We headed off to the Eiffel Tower.

Price : 14 euros per person to the top!

 We actually timed this perfectly.  

We got in line around 6-7 pm and were on the top when the sun set.

By far my favorite thing we did in Paris. 

After we decided to head back near the hotel and have dinner.  

Au Metro

We chose it because 

1) It was packed

2) They had outdoor seating

 I opted for the French Onion Soup with a Diet Coke and

Joe had the Lamb and Potatoes with a beer.

Total 24 euros

Very yummy!

End of Day one!

Buy Buy... Baby OH!

After many recommendations and visiting the two mega baby stores,

Joe and I decided to register at Buy Buy Baby. 

and

Amazon.com

We were happy with Buy Buy Babies customer service when we went to look at 14 weeks and were very helpful answering the couple questions that we had.  Furthermore, one of our friend did a whole lot of research when deciding where their were going to register when they were expecting. 

Stolen from her website:

 But the Main Reason- COUPONS!!!

They accept Bed Bath and Beyond non expired coupons!

Amazon seemed like a no brainer since the one thing I have heard from every mother is amazon.com is a life saver once the baby is born and you can't run out to the store to get things. 
Plus with signing up for Amazon you get a free year of Amazon Prime which is very appealing to us since we buy stuff for Clemson, Joe's text books, etc off of amazon. 

So what now to register for?

OMG.... Baby Stuff

I will be the first to state that there are many many many wonderful things about being the “last one on the block” to be pregnant because for the most part you can rely on your friends for recommendations.  Child care has already been picked out, pediatrician as well and thank you because it took all of 1 day to get both nailed down!  

Now bring on the flood of baby stuff. 

This is one thing I have anxiety about! 

I am not a stuff person. 

If you know me I hate clutter and stuff that you don’t use. 

 So when I made it to 12 weeks, I walked into Babies R Us by myself and just kind of stood there.  Felt nauseous at the sight of it and quickly exited the building. 
For the most part, I really do not care about baby stuff- it is baby stuff and in my mind you do not need all that they tell you you need.  I refused to get sucked in.   I am not the woman who has everything planned down to what pack n play I needed or what the nursery is going to look like prior to even trying to conceive. 
This is just not my thing! 
Though I will say now, I am looking forward to making the nursery because I Joe and my friends are so excited to help me =0)

So at 14 weeks when Joe and I started to look for Cribs- I got Joe to come with me to Buy Buy Baby.  Very overwhelming. 
I told him we were only spending 1 hour in the store and we are just looking and taking it all in because I am having anxiety already about this process.   It was still overwhelming but I found humor in Joe.  Particularly the fact that he really cares about what type of stroller we get- to the point that I pretty much have very little say in it- even down to the color.  LOVE IT!  One less thing I have to have an opinion on.    I was also amazed on how much of an opinion he had since I really am mentally not there yet. 

Furthermore, I am amazed at how generous my friends are being. 
So being the last kid on the block, I have friends who are getting rid of their baby stuff or just had surplus from the 1st baby.  I went to tell one of my best friends that I am pregnant and came home with a car full of baby stuff, and there is more, I just could not fit any more in the trunk.  CRAZY!!!! 
I will not need to register for a swing, a bouncer, a tub, a boppy, an ergobaby infant insert, books gallor, and much more!   Yes we have two swings but I am thinking either one for the mail level and then one for the upper level or we can take one to my parents house so when we visit one less thing to worry about. 

 When I brought all the stuff home, Joe and I just stood there and stared at it for a while.

Yeah this will be our new world! 

Then we proceeded to turn everything on and watch Clemson reaction. 

For the most part he just sniffed and then seems disinterested which we both were happy with. 

Fortunately, our parents also kept things from our childhood like all the books that Joe has ever read, his high chair, 3 of my yellow childhood handmade blankets, outfits, toys, etc. 

Then comes the obvious question of where to register and what to register for......  
Any suggestions????

Preparing for an International Trip

Now that we have returned from our Europe trip, I thought I would spend a little time explaining how to get ready for such a trip. 

Never in a million years did I think I would be preggers for this trip but I am going to be.

As I started to think about what I needed to do for Europe, my zen state really took over.

I really did not do much to prepare. 

Joe and I have been such travelers lately that I feel like I have this stuff down to a T. 

So here are some things I do prior to trips:

1) Confirm all reservations. 

This includes airlines, hotels, transportation, etc.

I made a spreadsheet of everything for easy reference. 

It includes

- Flight times, flight numbers, seat numbers (which can always change)

-Hotel information including check in date, check out date, check in/check out times, address and phone number of the hotel, confirmation number of the booking, and what was paid for. 

All of our hotels are paid in full but this reminds me whose name we put it under.  We put most things under Joe's name when it came to the hotels especially our Paris one because he speaks french so I am hoping to let him deal with it =0)

2) Print all confirmations out and organize by leg of your trip.

This is something I did for Greece which help tremendiously.

3) Keep all paperwork in a organized place. 

Fortantely for us, we have something that one of our travel agents gave us 2 years ago that works perfect. 

3) Make a list of possible activities.

For previous trips we had gone to fun relaxing places and while Europe will be relaxing, there is alot to do in ROME and PARIS. 

So a month or two before the trip I sat down and make a spreadsheet of everything we were interested in doing.  I included the hours, the price, and any discounts that were available.  For example, every first Sunday of the month a number of museums in Paris are free- so yes we will be hitting the most expensive one up to help save a little money =0)

This also helped us to see what to budget. 

4) Get those passports out. 

If you do not travel often- obviously you want to make sure they are still current. 

Thankfully, I knew this was not an issue. 

5) Make a list of anything that you need to take that is kind of out of the ordinary

A couple things on our list:

-Rome and Paris Pocket Travel Guide

-Zofran for if I get sick on the plane

-Vitamins

- Small umbrella that will fit in my purse
-Collapable water bottles

6) Plan to leave things at home

This is hard to do, primarily because we love to be connected to technology. 

But the more I think about it I will be leaving the Ipad and any major electronics at home.

Fortantely, I know all three places we are staying at along the way have hairdryers in the room so I will also be leaving that at home. 

7) Bring something to carry your stuff when you sitesee

This will be the first time we are going some place that is very touristy. 

That being said I invested in a $17 backpack for Joe at Costco to help carry stuff around the cities that we wanted to like our guides, cameras, snacks, etc. 

We will also pack 1 pair of backup clothes for the plane.

Why you might ask...

Well I was sitting at the airport waiting for our plane all ready to go on our honeymoon when my husband split Diet Coke all over my cute Bride shirt.  Thankfully I have packed an extra set of clothes so we have both gotten in the habit of doing this. 

8) Pack light

Our goal was to take one suitecase with a small carry on each- and we succeeded! 

My carry on was my purse and Joe his backpack. 

We also have fortantely saved up enought travel sized toiletries from all our other travels which is another way of packing light.  Anything that we do not have that is travel sized we either place in a smaller container or we just live without it for a week. 

9) Arrange airport transportation

Fortantely my parents took us, so this does not really entail much but finding out about parking, etc before you go to the airport is always good for budgeting. 

10) Puppy Camp

Obviously we love Clemson. 

He is someways will always be our first child, so when our friends agreed to watch him I jumped over the moon as looking for a place to kennel him gave me heartburn. 

I always like to have his stuff ready in his bag with his food, his favorite toy, his shot record and vet information and his dog bed. 

11) House Patrol

We have GREAT neighbors who keep an eye on our place when we are not there. 

Pick up the newspaper, bring in packages, etc.  It is always a good idea to let one trusted set know that your are out of town just to keep an extra set of eyes on your place. 

12) Have Joe pack first.

Joe is a terrible packer.  So I have him make his pile of everything he wants to take and I pack it.

Or if he already has packed it, I often repack it because it saves us so much room.

My stuff is also alot smaller so I find it just easier to pack Joe first and then me. 

Any thing that you do to help you get ready?