Traveling with Baby...

So we have finally arrived at the much anticipated First Family Trip.  This Friday daddy, baby, au pair, and I are packing up and heading to New Orleans for the weekend for a wedding in the French Quarter.

Long before Charm City Baby was born, we decided we wanted to bring her with us on this trip, so I've had baby-traveling-anxiety pretty much ever since.  Ahh!

Here are the thoughts that have been racing through my mind since we booked our tickets 3 months ago...

Should we bring the car seat?Will we need the stroller or the baby bjorn carrier in the airport? If I bring the stroller should I bring the bassinet or the car seat? Can I keep the baby strapped to me in at the security checkpoint? Do strollers go on the belt for the x-ray scanner? What if baby cries in first class? How can I prevent it? How will I make it stop? Will people hate us? Where do you change baby diapers on planes? If we take a towncar/cab/shuttle from the airport will they require us to have our car seat? If we go out to breakfast, lunch, or dinner in NOLA and we have no carseat what will we put our baby in?

We've resolved some of these issues (like we're not bringing our carseat--car service will arrived equipped), but not all of them . I'm sure we'll figure it all out. I guess we just have to go through it once to figure out what will work for us. The problem is, Charm City Daddy isn't the smoothest expert traveler, and by that I mean he has no real "system" routine to move efficiently and quickly without forgetting or losing something. I find this silly because he travels all of the time! Go figure.

The good news is, since the trip is just for 2 nights--I'm thinking we can skip checking bags. Also as much as we like to travel and intend to bring the baby with us, I decided to invest in this highly recommended umbrella stroller (in lime green), so I can take the stroller all the way up to gate check. There is nothing wrong with our main stroller, but it doesn't fold as straightforward as an umbrella and the fact that it required its own travel bag sends off red flags to me. I'd die if a wheel axle or something got bent. Plus I don't think it wise to leave it to airport folk who often damage luggage on-the-regular to fold and throw around what was a significant investment that had BETTER last through the rest of my child producing years. Okay!?

Other than all of that silliness, I'm really looking forward to my first visit to NOLA and devouring some beignets! YEAH!