Up up and away!!

So when we finally boarded the plane, it was nice to have some extra people willing to help me carry a carseat and our carry-ons to our seats. Little man was pretty excited to be on the airplane and would sit in alomost every seat, saying this is mine! We got to the back of the plane, and got settled into our seats. Carseats have to be installed on the window and middle seats, so I let Little Man sit at the window and Sissy was between us. I don't think he could wait much longer for the plane to take off, it was about 5:45 and he was ready to go. When we started to head over to the runway, he was glued to the window. He got even more excited when we began down the runway and picked up speed. As we lifted off the ground, his eyes were HUGE! He would give me a play by play, as we flew through the clouds and how he could see the cars below. Then he was over it. He wanted to play with his leap pad and get his crayons out. He wanted the snacks he bought at the airport. After the plane had landed, we let everyone else get off before us. As we exited the plane, the captain asked Little Man if he'd like to see the cock pit. Of course he said yes, and he got to sit up front, with Sissy as his co-pilot. He was given a pair of wings and a baseball card with the picture and info about the plane on it. He was in Heaven!!! Our first flight was only about an hour long. We had a layover in NYC, before heading to Phoenix, AZ. The second flight, Little Man and Sissy slept through for the most part, she only woke to eat twice before we landed.

First Plane Ride

Little Man packed his bag for AZ

Our Countdown Calendar

On Tuesday January 24th, 2012, I did one of the (what I thought would be) scariest things of my life. I packed up my two little ones, 3 1/2 years and a 4 1/2 month old infant, jumped on a plane and traveled from NY to AZ. I'm not scared of planes, and I am not scared of my children, but I was a little nervous about the two combined. We had been planning this trip for quite some time, but were unable to fit it into my hubby's work schedule. So, about a month ago, I asked if he would mind me taking the trip alone. He agreed that it would be a great idea, as I have family in AZ, that I wanted to introduce my children to. I don't think he had even said yes, and I had my plane tickets booked! So for a month, I packed, unpacked and repacked our stuff, I wrote lists of what I would need, what I wanted and what my children and I could live without. The lists changed almost daily. On Monday night, I went through all of our stuff one last time and asked hubby to load the van. We all tried to get to bed early, we had to be at the airport at 4am, and I am not a morning person.

Tuesday morning rolled around quick. My alarm went off at 3:30, and I crawled out of bed and got in the shower. When I got back into my room, little man had just crawled into my bed. For fear he would not wake up again in 20 minutes, I asked him if he knew what today was. He rolled over and said, ARIZONA?!?! When I told him yes, he leapt out of my bed, knocked over a glass of water on my nightstand and was roaring to go. After we cleaned up the spill, he helped me get Sissy up and in her carseat. We said goodbye to Hubby, and out the door we went.

After picking up my mama, we headed to the airport (Hubby has to leave for work at 430am). We had two bags that I had to check and get our boarding passes. Mama waited in the car with the little ones, while I took care of that. When I came back out, I unfolded my double stroller, loaded our carry-ons, followed by Little Man and Sissy. A few hugs and kisses and we were on our way to security. I was scared to death of this part, and this part alone. I truly thought it would be a nightmare. Traveling with an infant and a preschooler is no easy task. There is a ton of gear you have to bring, plus food and formula and electronics. When I got to security, I was told I could go stand in a certain aisle, and he hollered over to the TSA officer to let me in. This aisle, was a family only aisle. They take extra time to let families with little ones through. There is no rush, and they help you fold up your strollers and carseats. Oh my, it was wonderful. They told me they would have to do extra screening on my two little jars of baby food, but that was it. It was simple.

Before going to our departure gate, we stopped to get some snacks for Little Man. He chose Chex Mix of course, a favorite at his Nana's house, and a bottle of juice. Then we sat and waited for our plane.