Oakley's Birth Announcement

Three months late, but here is a birth announcement I did. Oakley Mae Brown born May 12, 2015 at 5:20 pm weighing 6 lbs 12 oz 19 inches!

Camping on the river

My cute husband Stefan is a camper... I am not.  So I braved the wilderness and we took our two month old baby camping! It's not that I don't like being outside. I LOVE the outdoors. I can even do the dirt and bugs. I really just didn't want to take little Oakley deep into the mountains (FORTY ONE MILES). But I actually enjoyed it! Oakley was a champ! It is nice to see the beautiful world without the distractions of everyday life.  We went with Stefan's twin sister Paige and her husband Morgan and their two bull mastiffs (along with our dog) which was fun because we don't get to spend a lot of time with them. Stefan's parents came up for a few hours on Sunday and Monday as well! After the what should be 5 hour trip there turned into an 8 hour drive... we made it and had a great time! Traveling with babies makes everything take longer...  We were gone for four days and it flew by! This is the family vacation that Stef's family did every year and now I can see it as a tradition in our small family as well. Also, I would tell you where we camped... But Stefan swore me to secrecy that I won't reveal his favorite camping location.

Stef is the breakfast chef around our house! He makes a big breakfast every Sunday for us so he made our breakfasts there!

Early morning walk

The mornings there were really cold, so we had her really bundled.  She reminded me of the kid on Christmas story haha she could barely move!

The first day I really tried to keep Oakley's face out of the sun... But I was unsuccessful and her face was fried.  The rest of the trip she sported this hilarious hat. But it did the job!

My dog Roxi was in heaven. 

One day Morgan and Stefan were fishing and while they were getting the hook out of the fish Roxi jumped up and hit the fish off and bit down on the hook and it went through her tongue. She ran down the river dragging the fishing pole!! It was horrible!! 

The Twinners

Us and our dogs. 

Cute Paige and Morgan

The view from our camp

Where Oakley spent a lot of her time

There was horses all over on our drive up and back! I loved it!

All the girls 

My fisherman! 

Since I was a virgin camper with a baby. I wanted to share a few things I was happy I had with me or happy that I did!

1. Baby swing-  Even though it takes up a lot of room to get it there I was so happy I had it! It gave Oakley a place to lay protected from the dogs, kept my arms free when I needed it and off the ground and not just keeping her in the trailer. . And when she got a little grumpy I would just set her in it! 

2. Pack n Play-  Oakley actually didn't sleep in it, but I set it up outside and sometimes she doesn't want to be held and she just wants to lay flat and kick! So it was perfect.

3.That hilarious baby hat pictured above- If I would have had it on her the first day she wouldn't have gotten super burnt. 

4. Essential oils- as always, I had my oils with me.  Since Oakley is still so young I didn't want to put bug spray on her little skin.  So I made a concoction of 5 drops Lavender, 5 drops lemongrass, 2 drops peppermint and 2 drops thyme, (all doterra) then put it in a small glass water bottle I have and filled the rest with water.  It worked like a charm!! I had quite a few bites when we left and she had none! And not to mention she smelled great! Also when she got her face sunburned so bad I put lavender and coconut oil on her tomato red face and the next morning it was back to normal!!

5. Split up your meals- this is something my family always does on family trips. We assign the breakfasts and dinners to different families for each meal who cooks the meal for everyone there and so then you don't have to cook every meal. This way I feel like you can enjoy your trip more so you aren't feeling like you're constantly cooking. We did lunches separately! I thought it worked out perfect. 

6. LOTS of clothes for baby and yourself- you don't have a washing machine there obviously. So plan enough meals for LOTS of outfit changes. Because they always have blow outs and puke all over you when you're at the least convenient place. 

7. Outside/campfire blanket- I brought one blanket that I used around the campfire. This way I could just unwrap her and take her inside and she didn't get so stinky and gross from the campfire. I loved that I did this because then she didn't have all of her clothes and blankets smelling like campfire and I was able to keep her cleaner. 

8. Large hand sanitizer- For obvious reasons, but I was happy I took my big massive one because we went through A LOT in our short trip!

9. Extra binkies! this is one thing I learned the hard way.  Oakley loves her binky and on the car ride down I slammed it in the car door... so it was bent in half. Luckily I could bend it back as much as I could and it was still usable, but I was regretting not bringing another. 

10. Cornstarch, cayenne pepper and old socks Luckily I didn't have to use these there, but I have many times other places. But I brought them and I had a piece of mind. If you have a dog like mine, I swear she cuts her feet, rips off a toenail, gets a stick stabbed into her foot or something that has her foot bleeding often! I figured it would happen there, so I brought my supplies and I am sure it works just the same on humans:).  Just put cornstarch on the bleeding area and cover with an old sock. Then I tape the sock on her foot but not too tight. Then put cayenne pepper on the outside so they don't bite it off. Sadly, this didn't work for my accident prone dog and her new tongue piercing. But I figure it comes in handy if you're camping with a dog because they're constantly running through the sticks! 

11.  A good husband- Seriously I couldn't have done it without him! He did all the trailer work, which I have no idea what to do. And helped so much with everything!