I'm Leavin' On a Jet Plane...

Jessica and I left yesterday for Memphis to visit family. My mom has not been feeling 100% and could not travel to see us, so we traveled to see them instead. We had quite the adventure! Jessica had never flown before, and it had been several years since the last time I had flown (without a child). I had it all set up...Jessica was on my back in an Ergo carrier (which is awesome by the way), I had a rolling carry-on with all of our clothes that had the car seat bungee corded to the top, and finally I had a carry-on bag on my shoulder with things to keep Jessica busy! I packed only the bare essentials!

We made it through security without any trouble, and everyone was very nice to us. Then we got all situated on the plane only to find out that the windshield had just busted! Then we had to go past security down to the ticket counter where (after an hour of standing in line) they gave us a flight that night with a layover in Atlanta...so much for our non-stop flight!! They also gave us meal vouchers. Jessica and I went back through security which took much longer as they were busier now. Then we went and picked up some not so yummy food. By the time we made it to our gate most everyone had already loaded....and we were on row 37!!! We made it back there only to discover that we weren't supposed to leave the rolling bag at the front of this type of airplane, so another mom watched Jessica while I went to retrieve our bag. Finally, we sat down and ate dinner while the plane took off. Jessica did not each much and then started playing with the things I had brought for her (art supplies). I realized by the end of the flight that I should never bring her lots of things to do when traveling. All I need to bring is a big tablet of stickers!!

Jessica playing in the terminal before boarding our first flight (the one with the busted windshield)!

We finally arrived in Atlanta, and everyone was very nice to me! I really looked quite pitiful!! I'll get a picture of us before we leave to go home. I looked very obviously pregnant with a toddler on my back and lots of luggage! Amazingly it worked quite well. Once we unloaded in Atlanta I had less than an hour to get where we were going. Amazingly, I managed to find the escalator to take us to the train, board the train, get off at the right terminal, walk all the way to the end of the terminal (with Jessica still on my back and all of our luggage) to the right gate! We made it with almost 20 minutes to spare!! I got Jessica's diaper changed and let her wear the monkey backpack so she could move around. I am glad I wasn't depending on that to move about the terminal.....that would have never worked!! She got so distracted by all the things there were to look at that she never would have gotten where we needed to go! Finally we boarded the flight for Memphis. I am not entirely certain the man next to me was drunk, but he definitely smelled of alcohol and ordered two shots on the plane! On the bright side he was a happy drunk and chatted with me the entire flight! Jessica was tired but played with stickers until the last 5 minutes.

Jessica still reasonably happy about 10 minutes before we landed!

Our flight was the last flight coming into Memphis. My brother was supposed to meet our flight but couldn't meet us that late so Mom came to get us. We were the last ones out and made quite a picture coming down the terminal. Overall, we still had a good trip, despite it not going as I had so carefully planned! Jessica is an amazing kid! She goes with the flow so easily! And I will say the Ergo carrier is awesome!!! It was the perfect way for a very pregnant me to transport a very busy toddler all over the Southeast! Hope you enjoyed the pictures and retelling of our adventure (My husband says my family knows how to tell a yarn...). Hopefully I'll have more pictures up soon....including one of us as we are leaving Memphis with all of our gear!