Good Trip Bad Trip

I am still exhausted from my trip to Chicago this past weekend. It was full of activity - the zoo, the aquarium, the park, the city - and toting around Evan and Isabel was a great indication of what's in store for Robert and myself in a just a few months. Strollers, baby gear and patience galore. Getting out will be a whole new adventure.

Evan and Isabel really enjoyed one another.  Isabel innocently pulled hair and stole Evan's cars. I was surprised how well he handled it.  He simply stuck out his finger and said, "no, no!"  He hasn't quite grasped the concept of sharing yet, so that's definitely something we need to work on.  But other than his bossiness, Evan was extremely sweet and gentle with the baby.  Every time Isabel came into the room Evan would say, "Hi, Izzie."  He loved pointing out all her body parts, including her "wee wee."  (We're gonna have to do something about that before he starts school - I'm not sure the other moms would appreciate a young boy pointing to their daughters' "wee wees.")  He also showered her with kisses along with everyone else.

                   

Our next trip to Chicago will go from two kids to four kids - three under the age of 13 months!  I have a feeling we won't get as much activity in as we did this trip, but that might be a good thing.  And I definitely will not be traveling alone EVER AGAIN!

Evan's sweet, angelic face you see above morphed into a monster on our plane ride home yesterday.  Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like dying would be a better alternative?  If I haven't before, I definitely have now. 

After a two hour wait in the aiport due to an hour delay, Evan and I were both extremely tired and so ready to get home.  I already had to deal with one tantrum after I wouldn't allow Evan to roll his cars into the airport trash can.  It took at least 20 minutes to get him calm enough to approach our gate so we could board the plane.  We finally get in our seat and get situated - I pull out all my back-ups - DVD player. check.  Candy.  check.  Books.  check.  Cars.  check.  George.  check.  And we calmly wait to take off ...15 minutes later - still waiting...30 minutes later - still waiting...ONE HOUR LATER - STILL WAITING.  I could already sense what was sure to be a disaster.

We were in the air for a little over an hour - after finally getting off the ground - when my living nightmare began.  Evan was antsy the entire trip and nothing seemed to be satisfying him up to this point.  I was pulling out all the stops and doing anything in my power to entertain.  I am very aware of how delicate these situations are because when exhaustion sets in it only takes one little thing to completely set him off.  And guess what?  I managed to trigger that one thing.  He wanted to continue to pull the window shade up and down, meanwhile blinding the gentleman beside us with the setting sun.  I said that evil, horrible word (NO!) and Evan's whole universe turned upside down - My world completely exploded!

Evan screamed, kicked and cried for 20 - 30 minutes.  Mama also cried for at least 15 of those minutes.  The exhaustion got the best of me too.  Every one stared.  People stood to see who had the screaming child.  Special trips were made to the bathroom to pass by our aisle.  I just held him tight, looked out the window and cried.  At one point I thought to myself, "if the plane started going down right now at least the attention would be taken off me."  I was desperate.

Finally, he tired himself out and fell asleep on my chest.  We had 25 mintes left in the air so I was certain we would at least make it back with out any other issues.  Like I have that kind of luck?  The plane landed, jolted Evan right out of my lap out of a deep sleep and the screaming and crying ensued once again.  You'd think that once we got to our gate the flight attendants would've made a point to get us off the plane first, but no.  They let us sit there for the 15 minutes it took for everyone else to get off the plane.  We were the last ones to get off as I hoisted my screaming child over my shoulder, threw my backpack on and wheeled my luggage off the plane.  Not once did someone offer to assist me.  Thank you American Airlines for your stellar service!

As soon as I saw Robert at backage claim I completely broke down to a sobbing mess.  He was expecting a hug and a kiss and instead got tears and snot.  As much as I do on my own, I bow down to all the single mothers out there who have no choice but to travel alone.  Never again, I say.  NEVER AGAIN!