After six weeks of living in Arizona, Jon's company sent him (and us) to New York for a leadership and technology training session they call BIM University. The problem: the training session was two months long.
They very kindly allowed Addie and I to join Jon out East and they generously put us up in a Hilton hotel suite/apartment for the two month duration. It was a serious cross-country move. How do you pack lightly (so you can take everything with you on the plane with minimal costs) for two months when you have a two month old baby? She would change so much and need so many things that I couldn't even anticipate...Needless to say, it was extremely stressful since I would unpack one box from our recent Arizona move only to pack it up in the New York-destined suitcases.
We arrived at the Phoenix airport on Friday, August 19th loaded with two over-stuffed suitcases, a giant Home Depot moving box filled with a baby swing (it was the only way Addie would sleep at the time), an over-sized duffel bag stuffed with the pack-n-play, a stroller, a carseat and base, two crammed backpacks, a laptop bag, and a diaper bag. I felt like we had baggage coming out of my ears.
Needless to say, we were a mess and we were late. Really late. We frantically searched for a cart machine that could help us tote our massive load inside and the only one we could find was broken. I ran inside with baby in stroller to find some help and by the time all of our stuff was loaded into the ticket line, the automated screen was telling me that I could no longer check my baggage.
Tears instantly filled my eyes. After the stress of just getting to the airport, this was more than my strained emotions could handle. We lugged our heap of luggage to the front desk to speak with someone other than the computer and they confirmed the worst details...we would not be allowed to board our 4:45 flight because we missed the baggage check-in window by 7 mins...7 FREAKING minutes. The 7 minutes we spent trying to locate a working cart machine.
They wouldn't allow any exceptions...They offered to put us on the next flight the next morning. We were supposed to be in the Salt Lake temple at that time for one of our best friend's weddings. That would not work. We were put on stand-by for the 8:45 flight and told to sit tight.
So we sat tight with our baby for over 4 hours. During this lovely waiting period, I was told multiple times that my baby was hungry by random strangers. What is it with other people telling me that my slightly fussing baby is hungry? They must have missed me nursing my baby in the middle of the airport just ten minutes ago where Addie flung open the nursing cover several times.
Finally, we found out that we could board the 8:45 flight. Hallelujah!
What started as an absolutely awful night ended so well. Addie was a miracle baby on her first flight...so perfect. We got to stop in Utah for two nights to see our families and friends, catch up, and be there for Nate and Meg's beautiful wedding! It was such a perfect trip!
Then, we were off officially to New York. This flight went without a hitch and again, another perfect flight with Addie. We finally touched down in New Jersey on a wet, rainy day and headed to the Hilton.
The updates:
Episode Three: Motherhood
Episode Two: Home Away From Home
Episode One: The Blessing
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