A {Thankful} Month

November has become, or always has been, the month of giving thanks. My news feed on facebook has daily updates of what everybody is thankful for. I honestly really enjoy seeing what blessings people have in their lives. Getting into the routine of being thankful & grateful every day is a good habit to be in and November is the perfect month to remind myself to take a second each day and really think about all the amazing things in my life.

Its so easy to get caught up in the everyday hustle and bustle. Having Evelyn and watching her grow and change so fast has really taught me how important it is to cherish the little things and always be grateful for everything.

so. Here goes my month of thankful-ness..

Nov. 1st: COFFEE. up at 3 am to catch a flight. coffee is amazing.
Nov. 2nd: My little sister Katie and her husband Rob. Thankful to have the chance to visit them
Nov. 3rd: Delta non-rev. So great that we can fly stand-by and see the world!
Nov. 4th: My husband. My rock. My soul mate
Nov. 5th: My sweet, happy, healthy baby girl
Nov. 6th: Days off. Days to hang out with my family
Nov. 7th: My job in an amazing unit, working with the most precious of humans.
Nov. 8th: Healthcare. Many people don't have the access we do. Grateful for great doctors.
Nov. 9th: My side-job/hobby of photography and the fact that people choose ME to do their photography work!
Nov. 10th: The Bridge. A great church home for our family. Just feels good in that place of worship.
Nov. 11th: Our veterans. Our military. The brave ones who protect us.
Nov. 12th: Our baby-sitter Kaitlyn.
Nov. 13th: The Bronson Athletic Club. A great place to stay healthy.
Nov. 14th. My health. So many people aren't in good health. So, so lucky to be healthy.
Nov. 15th: My "old" friends. The ones who have been there through so much with me. Love you.
Nov. 16th: My mom. The one I can always go to. She's THE best!
Nov. 17th: My little sister Michelle. She is beautiful & funny, kinda like her big sister (haha!)
Nov. 18th: My "new" friends. Love meeting people that I instantly click with that I know will be lifelong friends
Nov. 19th: My body's ability to make breastmilk for my baby girl. Its amazing how that works.
Nov. 20th: Our home. We've made this first house our own and I love it!
Nov. 21st: Our grandparents. We have all 8 living. Its amazing.
Nov. 22nd: Date nights. Whether impromtu or planned. love them.
Nov. 23rd: Thankful for doctors & co-workers that have my back when the going gets tough.
Nov. 24th: Coats. Gloves. Boots. Wools socks. Holy moly it gets cold here.
Nov. 25th: My daddy. I'm a daddy's girl. Always have, always will.
Nov. 26th: Our family pets. Love they are apart of this crazy house!
Nov. 27th: Antibiotics. Tylenol. Same day appointments for sick babies.
Nov. 28th. Thankful for family get togethers {even though they are big, crazy & loud!}
Nov. 29th: The means to be able to give gifts the holiday season
Nov. 30th: Jordan's family. The best in-laws & "in-extended" family a girl could ask for.

whew! What a ton of blessings. and there are so, so many more.

Baby, Come Fly with Me

It was bound to happen. Evelyn flying that is. 

Infant in arms.....

It was the perfect set up. My parents were going down to Tennessee to visit my little sister Katie. I had the weekend off, while Jordan had to work at the base. I decided it would be really fun for Evelyn and I to go visit too! Jordan would be able to stay at home with the animals, my parents could take the majority of our luggage and Ev and I would go fly. 

I hoped to fly out of our local, smaller airport but the flights weren't working in our favor. So off to Detroit we went. At 4 am. Ugh. 

Getting through security was fun! 

But we made it. I parked in the ramp adjacent to the terminal. Super expensive, but lets be real. 6 am, with a baby, first time doing this flying thing with her. I wasn't messing around. We fly for free so why not park close and make things easier on myself? 

Getting through security was easier than I thought. Everybody was really gracious about being behind a lady with a baby. By herself. I don't think I was too slow, but getting 2 of us through security with a stroller and car seat isn't the fastest way to get through security. And for my first time with a baby, I pretty much thought I was a rockstar! Whether others thought I was quick is a different story, buy I won't let them burst my bubble! 

After getting through security and putting ourselves back together I found the first bathroom that  I came across. Momma got an empty bladder and baby got a new diaper and we were ready to get to our gate! It was almost time to board, my blood pressure was slowly increasing hoping and praying that Evelyn wouldn't be THAT baby that cries the whole time and makes everybody have a miserable flight. 

I was nervous about packing everything up and getting onto the plane by myself with a baby. Thankfully there were some very nice ladies who offered to help me out. They made is SO much easier for me. I seriously wouldn't be able to do it without them. I wish I knew their names because they really made our experience so much better. 

Evelyn and I got to our seat and settled in. The plane wasn't super full so we had a row to ourselves! We were waiting for everybody else to board and every person that went by gave us a look. You know that look that says, "Ugh, seriously a baby on the plane?!" I felt super judged, but whatever, they were going to deal. Evelyn became fussy and was hungry, so she went under the "cloak of secrecy" as I like to call it, aka the nursing cover. 

We had a long taxi to the runway and Evelyn went into a deep sleep just before we were about to take off. My worst nightmare. Did I mention she had a cold? All I could think about was her waking up SCREAMING as we climbed. I had read having the baby sucking while the plane was climbing would help them not cry. And she was passed out. She wasn't going to suck on anything no matter how hard I tried! 

So the plane took off. I waited. Nervously waited. Waited for her to wake up, look me in the eyes and scream, like "Mom, seriously this sucks, how could you?!" But I kept waiting. And NOTHING!  She was staying asleep. She kept sleeping! She was perfect! I was beyond relieved. My baby was actually cooperating. 

Our only hiccup was when I had to pee. Like bad. Like there was no way I could make it the whole flight. But she was sleeping. She was passed out. But I had no choice. We, as plane passengers, were going to have to deal with whatever came our way after I emptied my bladder! We got back to our seat and she again, was better than I expected. She fussed for just a few minutes, went back under the cloak and passed back out. Seriously. Was this real life? 

The rest of our ride was quick, only about 1 hour total, and uneventful. We landed in Nashville and were super excited to see my sister! We got off the plane and I had to laugh at the audible announcements throughout the airport. "Hi, this is George Strait, welcome to Nashville International Airport, we hope you enjoy your stay in Music City USA" in his thick, thick southern accent. What a nice welcome. 

Our way back to Michigan went just as smooth. Evelyn may or may not be a super flier. That makes me very happy and hopeful that we can take fun family vacations all over the country. I can't wait for our next outing, hopefully with Jordan and hopefully to somewhere fun! 

Airports

Oh how I love airports....

I actually really do enjoy them.

I am sitting here waiting for the next flight to Detroit. The powers that be at Delta changed the times on some flights today and the flight I was originally going to be on was suddenly full. So now I wait for the next flight out. With a baby. Thankfully she is sleeping like a dream! Lets hope she stays asleep when we get on the plane, because lets face it, thats when it really matters.

But back to why I love airports. It is the best place to people watch.
Seriously.
Have you ever sat in an airport and looked around at all the people? There are people from all walks of life and many are quite entertaining.

Right across from me is a lady so hung-over that she looks like death. She fell asleep on the *super comfy* chairs, her friends left her with all their bags while they go walk around and she just woke up very, very confused.

There are people trying to act all fancy, like they are better than everybody else. Walking around looking down on everybody else. They are probably sitting in coach, in the back by the toilets. (Yes, I like to guess whether people are first class or not).

There are a couple fancy lookin guys in suits...isn't is Sunday? Why are they in suits? They must be very, very, VERY important.

Across the terminal from me is a restaurant. I know that some people have long lay-overs and such, but they never seem full or hardly have any customers, who eats there really?

I'm sure there are people judging me for being a lady traveling alone with an infant and wishing and hoping that I am not on their plane.

Overall, the airport is a fun place for me. I don't mind waiting. Even with a baby. I can walk around and see all sorts of people. The over-priced food and connivence stores crack me up, but I like going through and laughing to myself about the prices.

Its kind of like a fun challenge for me. Looking at what flights are available and which ones I can make. And then actually getting to the airport and seeing what I flights I get on. Some people really don't like this guessing game, but I for some reason love it. Maybe some day when my kids are older and we are traveling as a bigger family, I might like airports a little less. But, for now I'm going to roll with it and hopefully keep being spontaneous with trips and vacations. Life's too short to not live a little on the edge.