I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

So here I sit in a hotel in LA listening to Delanah play and talk to herself with the noise from the airport in the background. I should be sleeping...I am going to be sitting for the next 14+ hours on a plane...why am I not sleeping? Because Delanah doesn't want to. Dave is lying on the bed with her, asleep, and all is fine. I get anywhere close to her on the bed and suddenly it's a nursing party, only I forgot to get the invitation and I am on the serving and clean-up crew...sigh..... She is supposed to get a bath in about 20min and then pajama time and then I am going to clean up the messes from the first leg of our trip and get us ready for the long haul.
This morning was interesting. I didn't get into bed until about 2am this morning and was up for a nursing at 6am and then up for good at 7:20am. Dave was up later than expected and we spent A LOT of time running around making sure everything was set and packed. Thank goodness for my awesome neighbor Stephanie...she is taking care of Piper for us and watching the house these next three weeks. I know Piper enjoys her time with them and I know Pipe gets spoiled. Last night we dropped Bailey off at my parents and I know she will be well taken care of there.
So at 9:15am we are all dressed, packed up and in the car. We get to the 2nd stoplight and I ask Dave if her remembered to pack her birth certificate (the one item for her he was responsible for)...so one U-turn and rush in and out of the house later, we are well and truly on our way to the airport. It's funny how Dave and I trade stressing out times. I stress out the day before we leave, more specifically the night before we leave, and he is the morning of :) It works out well this way as we have at least one level head in the group at all times! Delanah also stays calm and happy this way...which works out best for all involved!
We made it in plenty of time, got all checked in, with no sweating things once Dave remembered he could get 2 bags on (car seat doesn't count as one of the 2) for free with his status. We scraped by with my bag at 49.5lbs and his at 48.5lbs, our limit was 50lbs! Security was actually fun! We had a really nice woman, who was in great humor, who actually helped us with things! That was different! It was crowded today, with it being a holiday weekend, but not too bad. Dave had some issues getting lunch paid for, apparently the cashier took a break without telling anyone and no one volunteered to take her place, and I was starting to panic about getting her diaper changed before we got on board, but no worries!
Buckled in, Delanah fed and happy, safety video watched...ummmm...why aren't we moving? Alas, a light was on and they needed to reset it...wait, they needed to test it again...oh, wait again, we need a new part! All in all we were on the plane on the ground for 90 minutes! Delanah was awesome!!!! After it was discovered that a new part was needed, the captain came on stating that if you wanted to see the cockpit to come on up. Dave and I looked at each other...no one else was moving, were we the only ones who heard or the only ones who cared? Whatever! Up I went and it was great! They just cooed and oohed and ahhed over Delanah :) The pilot asked where my camera was and one hand gesture to Dave and he was there with it :) The Pilot got up and told me to sit with Delanah in his seat for a picture...how cool is that?! We got a great pic and the crew decided that Delanah was going to be a pilot :) I replied that her uncle was one, so it wasn't out of the question! She even graced them with one of her smiles after some belly tickling from the pilot. Soon after we were on our way! She got overtired after the three of us initially falling asleep together, and was fussy, but she and Dave walked the aisles and hung out near the doors and charmed some more people. As Delanah and I were walking down the jet way (Dave was waiting for the stroller), a couple behind me were talking about how cute she was and proclaimed she looked like the Gerber baby, but with hair!
I know I am biased, as every mom should be, but lately Delanah has been getting more and more comments about how beautiful she is. Got me thinking...I wonder if I should look into some baby modeling for her? Just a thought.....
Okay, looks like it's time to get the ball rolling again for leg number two of this journey to the land down under. I am exhausted and would love nothing more than a nice, oh, 12 hour nap, but alas, when you are a mom, your time is no longer your own. Things to do, diapers to prep, baby to wash, jeans to clean (3 spit ups in 3 hours...guess who got covered in it? Hint, it wasn't Dave or Delanah), toys to clean..... at least we took the time after we checked in to take a nice walk outside. I think it did us all some good to stretch our legs and get some "fresh" air (seriously, how fresh can the air in LA be?) Next stop....Sydney!!!!! I'll know I'm there when I'm the one with the accent :)