Hello! I hope everyone has great plans for the weekend. I think I may have ladies' night plans Saturday. Someone, be ready to cart me home after my first martini.

On a completely unrelated topic: Diaper bags. I kept thinking there was some clever title lurking in my brain about the things, but alas. No. Which is fitting, as there are few accessories so readily able to transform someone from woman to mom in such a clunky, ugly, spit-up-upon fashion. With Lou, I transitioned fairly quickly from a real diaper bag to a backpack - much easier to cart about whilst "wearing" the baby, though not even a smidge more sophisticated - and I probably wouldn't have thought much about a diaper bag for the new guy, had I not stumbled upon this one.

The diaper bag is a Petunia Pickle Bottom, like this, which I found at Marshall's for $40. They retail for close to $200, and I am UNABLE to turn down a bargain like that, plus it had all sorts of lovely pockets and even one of those fancy small diaper wipe holders. In the haze of pregnancy, and one in which we had to buy almost nothing for the new babe, this diaper bag had to come home with me. When, a few days later, I saw the same bags at Marshall's re-ticketed for $80, I knew I had really, really scored. Anyway, this is my heavy duty/long trek diaper bag. I don't think you always have to travel "heavy" with kids, and I'll do a lighter travel post sometime soon. But in the early days, and/or when you're venturing far from home, it's nice to bring along items for any contingency that may arise. Because the contingencies, they do arise. The first time I left the house with both kiddos by myself, Wesley peed on both of us before we'd even left the block. Luckily, my sis was able to bring reinforcement outfits - because I hadn't brought any. I blame Louisa: It's been so long since she's peed through both of our clothes that I had forgotten we'd need the backup. I hear regression starts when the new baby is 4-5 months old, so I'll prepare myself for a revisit.

In any event, Wes quickly gave me a crash course on the Items One Might Wish For While Out. Then I quickly gave myself a crash course in Items One is Likely to Forget to Pack as One is Herding Emotional Toddlers and Screaming Newborns Out.

And then, I developed a system. It's very, very simple. Ready? I pack the diaper bag at night, at the same time as I'm packing Lou's lunch. I even put it on my Daily To Do list on the experimental (and not going suuuuuuper well) cleaning chart. This way, when I'm leaving, I only have to grab one or two things - my phone, maybe a fresh snack - and fill my water bottle. And even the snack and water bottle aren't that crucial, because I leave some non-perishable snacks in the bag and clean and replace the water bottle at night, so it can be filled while we're out if the need arises.

So then it's a question of what, exactly, we pack. It's all pretty obvious, but for new parents or voyeurs out there, here we go:

1. Swaddle blankets - like this muslin one from the ubiquitous Aden + Anais - are so useful. They're big, lightweight and come in really handy for everything from spreading on the grass, covering babe's stroller to protect against the sun, swaddling babe for a nap or swaddling babe because you've burned through all your spare clothes.

2. Burp cloth - here, mine happens to match my swaddle (do you see how together I am?) - but I also bought a bunch of dedicated dish towels to use as burp cloths. My kids - they like to revisit their lunch a time or two. I spent months covered in the cloying smell of baby vom from Lou, and I had crossed my fingers that maybe Wes would keep things down a bit better. Nope. It's cool. We'll just call him Spitter.

3. Wallet - for when you need to buy more of anything that is or should have been in your bag.

4. Pacifier - if you use one, you won't want to leave home without it. This little external pappy (that's what Lou called it) pouch, a gift when Lou was born, is such a lifesaver. It clips onto the bag and keeps the pacifier readily accessible and comparatively clean.

5. Snacks - for me, mostly, but sometimes I share with Lou if she asks nicely. I'm actually pleasantly surprised that I've only had a couple I'm Starving moments courtesy of nursing; for the most part I've been way less hungry than I was when I was pregnant. Still, I like to have something to up the blood sugar in a hurry, so I carry some snacks, like graham crackers, sea weed, and - don't judge me - Pop Tarts. I also try to throw in something else - fruit or homemade granola bars - but if I don't remember, I still have the indestructible ones packed and ready to go.

6. Clean Clothes - for Wes, mostly, though I should consider backups for both Lou and me. Includes a bib and socks.

7. Nursing cover - or cape, as I like to call it. If you're nursing and you use a cover, you'll obviously bring one of these. But like the swaddle blanket, I find these are really useful even outside of nursing. They can provide a little shade for the babe when walking or sleeping, and it's hands free shade - you can just drape over your neck and over baby. And the bigger ones double as a swaddle and do all that a swaddle does.

8. Diapers and wipes. What you may not see here is the cute little travel wipes container that came with the bag. That's because it holds, like, four wipes. And I go through close to a whole pack on some outings. So a whole pack lives in here, and a bunch of diapers. One is never enough. Unless you pack nine, in which case you'll only need one.

9. Hand sanitizer - Pick your poison.

10. Wet bag and diaper bags - The wet bag, made by these guys, is awesome. I put the wet/soiled clothes (and later, cloth diapers) in here and zip up - no smell, no fuss, no muss. It's great. I use the larger version for cloth diapers in Wes' room. The plastic bags are for bagging dirty disposable diapers before throwing them in someone's trash. Your friends will thank you. I think these are marketed for babies, but using the little rolls that dog owners use works just as well, as does a wad of plastic shopping bags. If it's an option, you can rinse your dirty diapers before throwing away.

11. Water bottle - Baby, it's hot outside.

12. Sun stuff - See above. A hat for all of us. I also carry sunscreen, which did not make it into this shot.

13. Busy pouch - like this one. 

That's the when and what. There's also a super simple "how." All the stuff fits, somewhat neatly, into the bag itself. For those things that don't have obvious pockets, I use clear plastic bags because then I can see what I'm reaching for - often when you're reaching into a diaper bag, you have max one hand and one eye to devote to the cause. Ziploc works fine, but I really like to reuse the plastic bags that clothes and sheets and such come in. They're a bit sturdier, and it's reusing, so that's for the win.

The clothes and snack bags once held little undies, and the swaddle and nursing cover are in the bag the swaddles came in. Final tip on the "how to pack" front: Label your plastic bags, and possibly your internal pockets. Not because I'm super anal, which I obviously am, but because doing so lets you see at a glance what you need to pack. If the spare clothes bag comes back empty, I know I need to repack it, and, presumably, empty the wet bag.

So that's the diaper bag. It's all great in theory, and in practice, when I stick to it, it works really well. As I say, there's a time for a LOT less kid stuff, and I'll share my thoughts on that as well...some day. In the meantime, have an awesome weekend!