8 Hours in a Plane

My birthday and Mother's Day gift FINALLY arrived. We are in MAUI!!!! Sutton and I made it safe and sound, yesterday!!! It was a LONG day to say the least. It was our/my first experience traveling by plane with a baby. My conclusion.....WAY easier without kids....but it's not like I expected anything else!!! My day started early...5:15am, when I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep because I was so excited and nervous about everything the day would bring. Plus it was a little annoying because Sutton was still asleep...so I was wasting precious sleep time!!! Chris stayed home from work and helped out with everything and we were ready to head to DFW around 9am. Of course, traffic was a breeze and we were there in plenty of time. I was so glad we did have plenty of time, because I didn't feel rushed at all. Once we got there and were checking in, we had everything including the car seat out of the car and they told us our terminal had changed. They also told us that Chris couldn't get a guest pass to help me get everything back to the gate, so we had to load back up in the car and drive to terminal C!!! At our correct terminal, we decided to ask again about getting Chris a guest pass, and we found someone willing to bend the rules. YEAH, it was SO wonderful to spend the extra time with him and to have the extra hands. By the time we made it back to the gate, it was only 30-45 minutes til boarding.

We're going to miss you, Daddy!

After saying goodbye to Daddy (boo hoo, we WISH he could have come with us) you should have seen me lugging it all on the plane, Sutton in a back pack carrier, 2 carry on's, purse and car seat. The staff on American were AWESOME, they took all the bags from me and the car seat and got us to the seat. They put the car seat in for me and we were ready to go.

Then the fun began.....I use that term loosely!!! Sutton's car seat didn't fit very well and had to sit much more upright than usual, so I don't think he was very comfortable, and then he just got overtired, and couldn't sleep soundly. The little man that everyone says is so laid back and some believe NEVER cries (which is not true) SCREAMED and cried. Not fun, to say the least!!! He finally feel asleep until a fight attendant came around telling everyone to put their seat belts on. He didn't have his one because I was letting him sleep in a more comfortable position, and he woke up....and sleep was over after about a hour to hour and a half of total sleep time..with quite a bit of crying in that time period!!!

Mom, I'm too busy playing to look at the camera! You can see we used the carseat that way it is intended to be used!!!!!


Ok, Mom, maybe the plane isn't so bad!

He finally cheered up and I let him just play, sit and stand in the car seat. There were two young men from Argentina behind us...and they were my angels on the plane. Sutton kept standing up and playing with them. They spent a lot of the next 5 hours making faces at him, playing and talking to him. Sutton loved them and so did I!!!! He was in a GREAT mood the rest of the trip. When we landed...I was really surprised at how fast the 8 hours went by...it was totally worth it. Aunt Kristen, James, Ethan and Faith were all waiting for us!!! It is SO awesome to see them and spend time with them. Then to top off the great day, on the drive to their house from the airport, Kristen got a text from her husband, David....he just found out, he made Lt. Colonel with the Air Force. There was MORE celebrating. YEAH DAVID!!! We are so grateful to be here!WOW this post was a lot longer than I thought it would be!!More information from Hawaii to come soon!!!!