A few weeks ago, I needed to fly out to Texas last minute. Since I stay at home with our son, Bradley, I knew he would need to come along. And, as you know, last minute flights are not cheap so Jeremy and I figured I'd have to do this alone.
Now, you should know that leading up to this trip, I had been extremely sick with a case of baby in my belly. There had been many days where I didn't leave my bed. I was throwing up every few hours, nauseous constantly, and eating so little that I was not consuming enough calories to meet my needs much less a baby's. I had barely walked more than 300 feet in a little over 2 months. Yet, when Jeremy said he doubted we could make it work out so that he could go, I was positive and upbeat about the situation. I said something like, "That's fine. People fly alone with toddlers all the time. I can do this. I know I can."
You have no idea how happy I am to tell you that we found super cheap flights the next day that actually allowed Jeremy to come with Bradley and I. There is no way on this planet that I would have been able to do that trip alone. I would have ended up selling Bradley at some point to the highest bidder and then jumping out of the plane myself. Although, I don't think we would have even made it to the flight. We more than likely would not have even made it much further than security. And in this scenario, Bradley would have still been sold and I would have jumped in front of the train under the airport.
Our flight was scheduled to take off at 7:30 p.m. We chose this time so that Jeremy could work a full day and we were hoping that since B goes to bed around 8, he'd naturally sleep during most of the flight. He is a very good sleeper and he's usually the one to tell us when it is time for a nap or bed! Ha! Was I ever wrong!
We arrived at the airport around 5:00 p.m. We decided to do the park and ride thing. So we grab our extra large suitcase, our hanging bag, diaper bag, Bradley's teddy bear and blanket, the GoCrib, and B's carseat. Picture us?? Yeah, we were a hot mess of stuff and toddler.
Then, we wait for a bus. As we are waiting, Bradley notices the planes flying overhead. I tell him that they are planes and they fly in the sky. "Prains!" "Sky!" he starts to exclaim.
About 10 minutes later and about 100 "prains" later, the bus arrives. We go check our huge suitcase. We decided to check the carseat at the gate to protect it as much as possible and we were taking the hanging up bag, diaper bag, and GoCrib as carry on. So here we are walking through the airport: Jeremy carrying the carseat and GoCrib and me carrying Bradley, the diaper bag, and Bradley's accessories. Thankfully, Megan joined us for the flight out so she had our hanging up bag. Can you picture us?? We were still a hot mess of stuff and toddler.
Now, also picture with me Bradley saying "prains" e.v.e.r.y.t.i.m.e. he sees one...which is about every 5 seconds. Then, imagine with me my sweet husband asking me how I am doing every 5 feet...
literally every 5 feet. They were both so annoying that I really didn't know if either of them was going to make it to our flight.
And then there was me. I was busy praying to Jesus the whole time that our flight was right around the corner because I didn't know if I could walk a step further without passing out. The walk to our terminal alone seemed to take an eternity. And we were in Terminal A... as in the first one!
We finally made it to our terminal, grabbed dinner, and sat at our gate waiting. We flew Delta and so I knew we'd be able to board the flight very first since we had B. I was looking forward to that moment of calmness before everyone else boarded. Mainly because I needed to calm myself before this flight. I was nervous about having complications with my pregnancy because of the altitude and pressure. (I had called the doctor to get cleared for the flight and they told me that it was fine unless I had any issues. To which I thought, who doesn't have issues with their pregnancy??) And also because I just wanted to get the whole thing over with.
Well, Jeremy decided to run him and B to the bathroom before the flight. Not 2 minutes after they left, we were called to board.... 15 minutes later, Jeremy shows up with B. Yup, we were the last ones to board. We get on the flight to discover that the flight is completely full and we are on the VERY last row. As in, no window and right beside the bathroom.
Bradley was completely in awe of everything going on. He wanted to read all the safety brochures, press all the buttons, meet all our neighbors, and absolutely
not sit in our lap. We were able to distract him for a little with the iPhone, and then again with a magazine. Then, I went to the restroom allowing him to take my seat which he liked. However, then, he decided to scream out in joy a couple of times as he attempted to tickle us causing the entire flight to turn and look at us with that disgusting look of "Can't you control your child??". I wanted to slap every last one of them and then hand them Bradley and say good luck while I took a nap.
Unfortunately, in none of this time would he go to sleep. We tried everything. I set him up a little bed. I sang. I read. He was just too fascinated by the "prain."
The flight was only an hour and a half, but it felt like a six hour flight. A six hour flight spent wrestling a bull. I was fully exhausted at the end and so thankfully that it was Jeremy sitting beside me and not some random person. Seriously, can you imagine if I had to do it alone??
Once we arrived in Texas, we had to walk through another airport and then distract Bradley while we waited on our luggage. The luggage decided to take its precious time and arrived to us an hour after we landed.
Luggage in hand, we got to my grandparents' car and proceeded to put the carseat in adding another 30 minutes to the trip. And as we drove to their house, all completely exhausted and tired, Bradley, wide awake, reminded us constantly that we had just rode on a "prain" in the "sky."
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