no shoes, no shirt, no service

Thanksgiving, day 1

With sheer optimism and a strong will/denial that things would be fabulous, we headed out Tuesday morning (November 25th) on our first travel adventure as a family of three. Before Emery joined us, Nate complained that I brought too many pairs of shoes wherever we went. It was NOTHING compared to the amount of onesies and diapers we hauled across two states on our Thanksgiving trek to Washington.

We had to wake up at 4:30am to catch an early morning flight, which meant Emery arose way too early. Check in was a breeze and with a new family security line, we had a pleasant experience-- a wonderful surprise. Emery was happy and content along the way.



Checking only two bags and carrying on four more, not to mention the stroller and car seat, we headed for the gate. Again, smooth sailing. A happy camper...



Turns out there was plenty of extra seats on the plane, so his car seat was able to stay with us the entire journey. He was all smiles, happy to ride with his monkey and stare at his mom.





Emery handled the additional 45 minutes taxiing on the runway and fell asleep with a little coaxing and a nice bottle of white grape juice (his new favorite!) once we were in the air. I was happy to capture a pic of his hands in their very regularly placed pious position.



He woke up with a smile on his face about an hour into the flight. With another 50 minutes until we landed in Seattle, I thought we had fared pretty well. Apparently, I still needed to learn not to count my chickens before they hatched.

I started to smell something.

At first, I was hoping it was just a waif of something unpleasant coming from the gentleman sitting in front of us. Although it had that baby smell, I still prayed it wasn't coming from my little one... could it possibly be the 2 year old at the front of the plane?!?

After another three minutes, I couldn't deny it any longer. Nathan volunteered to take him into the bathroom and change him, but I realized there was no way for that to happen gracefully. The bathroom near us in the back of the plane was being used and the smell at that point was getting out of hand. We decided to both go to the front and try and use the restroom there. Luckily, after passing through nearly the entire length of the plane with a stinky but adorable baby, the stewardess let me spread out on the floor in front of the drink carts and cockpit. Upon examination, I discovered poop EVERYWHERE. I'm not sure how his shoulders could have been covered, but I can attest it happened. The best news was that the bag with all his clothing that we had not checked (in case of an accident!), had still been left at the door of the plane because there wasn't enough room for it on the small aircraft. I had but two blankets (only one of which had survived the poop) and a clean pair of pants, as his onesie had not made it through the accident.

We double bagged all the dirty unmentionables and put his pants back on. No top, though-- just the one clean blanket. Nate carried him back to our seats and said later he had received many compliments on what a cute baby we have, shirt or no shirt.



And after purchasing 10 new toys with hopes of entertaining him on the flight, it turns out sitting in daddy's lap and staring at his hands was the best thing.



We landed uneventfully and got him changed as soon as we were reunited with our bags and the stroller upon exiting the plane. Given the holiday week, we thought it would be a busy day. We didn't have to wait for our checked luggage but a minute and we were on the road in no time, driving in style in a PT Cruiser. Yikes.

I dropped Nate off at his corporate headquarters in Bellevue and then Emery and I spent the day with one of my favorite people, Meghan and her cutie Daniel.



I was in heaven at the Nordstrom in Bellevue Square-- almost one whole floor of shoes!



We had a yummy meal at the cafe (fresh salmon on a caesar salad-- heaven).



I even spent a half hour in the family bathroom, getting Emery all cleaned up (3rd clothing change of the day). I love Nordstrom.



Emery took a long snooze as I meandered.



Afterwards, I picked up Nate and we headed to his parents for the night. It makes me tired just thinking of all we did that day. Needless to say, we were all beat by the time we arrived at grandpa and grandma's, especially after the 2 hours of traffic to get there. With Emery crying nonstop for nearly 45 minutes, I fell apart at one point and poor Nate wasn't sure who to console. Dinner was waiting for us and a lovely time was had.