Leaving on a Jet Plane...

--There's a new post below this post as well! --

More updating...

The flight home:

Our flight was a mid-morning flight...which probably wasn't the best time to fly with two young children...since it's their "waking" hours. But the Army booked it and so we had to take it. Thankfully my dad was with us. I'm not sure I could have done it all without him - he was a lifesaver!

Because it was an International flight, we had to be at the airport three hours early. Which meant our shuttle arrived at the hotel at 5:30AMish. Dad was up at 3:30am to get ready and I got up around 4:00am. We waited as long as possible to get the boys up. The shuttle service was great - it took about 2 hours to get there - but we didn't have to do any of the driving and that's all that counts! =)

Once there, we got stuck behind a large family who were trying to check more luggage than the alloted amount...but didn't want to pay the extra baggage fees. We stood there Fooooorrrreeeevvvveeeeerrrr. Thankfully we had arrived early! We finally made it through security and got to our gate...only to find out that the flight was delayed. Yay.

Luke probably doesn't remember the first time he was on a plane - since he was only 13 months old. This time he could see the planes up close and personal - and know what they were. He loved standing at the window and looking out at all the planes and airport vehicles. I don't think he actually realized he was boarding the plane - since he didn't walk up the plane stairs or anything - but I reassured him many times that he was indeed on the plane.

The first of our two plane trips was....interesting. Luke only slept about 30 minutes of the entire trip. He was not a happy camper for most of the 9 hour flight. He cried and whined and screamed and yelled...and then did it all over again. Will slept here and there - but not very well - and mostly wanted to be held. Leg room was non-existent. Thankfully my dad was in the seat ahead of us and could hold Luke or Will when I needed to take one for a diaper change.

Unfortunately, a very grouchy man sat right in front of my seat. He was right next to my dad in the row ahead of us. Mr. Grouchy Man was none too happy to be sitting close to two unhappy screaming children. He let us know about it too. He had his seat back the entire flight (even before take-off!) - leaving me no space at all...especially since I was holding Will for most of the flight! And then he snapped at me and curtly asked me to keep my kids from kicking his seat. I unenthusiastically apologized and than secretly wished Luke would scream really loud for the rest of the flight...just to spite him. I guess that's mean, uh? Oh well! =) I really wanted to tell him that if he wanted to have his seat in my face for the entire flight, there wasn't anything I could do about my 7 month old son bumping his seat when he moved. I didn't want to create a scene...well, more of one than I was already creating with two cranky children - so I opted for the unfelt apology instead. I really did feel bad for everyone sitting around us - but there was nothing I could do. Everyone but Mr. Grouchy Man tried respectfully hard not to glare at us for the most part though. Needless to say I had a splitting headache by the time we landed.

Because our flight was delayed out of Frankfurt, we landed in Chicago behind schedule. By the time we got through customs and security my dad had to sprint (if you've ever been in O'Hare you know how MASSIVE the airport is!) to reach his flight to St. Louis. He made it just as they were boarding. This would be the second time my dad has had to run through the airport on account of one of my flights! =) You're the best, dad!!

The boys and I had about an hour before our second flight departed. Just enough time to change diapers, nurse Will, grab a cup of coffee for me and a snack for Luke and walk around for a few minutes. This flight was a dream compared to the International flight. The flight attendants were awesome and the people on the flight were really friendly and even helped me get the boys to our seats. Even though we were in Economy seating - we had plenty of leg room. Short of an extremely frustrating spitting episode from Luke before we got off the ground - the boys were AMAZING. They both slept great once we got in the air. The 2 hour flight was pretty much my only down time of the day. I just took the time to breathe deeply and regroup from the incredibly stressful and long trip.

I was the last off the plane. By this time, Luke had woken up - and was none too happy to have to walk. Thus a meltdown occurs. Not that I could blame him. We were going on 24 hours of little sleep (none for me) by this time. I couldn't carry him because I had our carry-on and the car seat with Will (and for some reason, my stroller didn't make it back up to the plane...it was down in the baggage claim.) Thankfully 4 flight attendants had mercy and helped me get to the baggage claim and into the hands of MeMe, Guka and Jamie. It was a fantastic and exciting reunion!

Thankfully Luke had calmed down at this point. We got the baggage and headed for the van. The boys slept the whole 2 hour drive home - and I slept about an hour. We got home and I got to love on my much missed dog Riley! She was super excited to see me...the jury is still out on how "excited" she was to see that I brought two children home with me! =)

After Luke checked out his new room, we all headed for bed. It was great to lay my head down and sleep. I'm not sure I've ever been more tired in my life! =)

Alrighty - that's all I have time for right now - more later!