Travel Days

On Friday, we decided to pack up the truck so my dad wouldn't have to pack, just drive. So... we packed and packed and packed. Andy's parents were there to help us. Several people from the community stopped in and helped for a while. Then we were all dead and it was all done. We lay down to go to sleep on the empty floor of our house. Abby, Cate and I all together and Andy out in the living room because I needed sleep and he snores and we all know how that goes... (nudge, snore, kick, snore, "GET OUT!" snore...)

Around 11 or so Abby started coughing a very strange cough. It sounded like she had a very sore throat and I was a little worried that she would be sick on our flight the next day. About 2 hours later, she woke up in a panic coughing like CRAZY! She was wheezing and freaking out. We took her to the ER around 2 AM. Not a wink of sleep did I get. I didn't go to the ER with them as Cate was sleeping and someone needed to stay with her and since I have the boobs, I get to stay. I finally slept for about 2 hours while they were at the ER. They came back with steriods and a very hyper Abby. She had croup. Therefore, she was going to be sick the whole day the next day.

4 AM was our start time for getting ready. We got it together somehow, drove to Charlotte, got through security and onto the plane just in time. Then Abby decided she needed to go potty but we were strapped in and the fasten seat belt sign was on and basically, it was impossible. She decided to scream and scream and make everyone miserable around her. Now, usually I would have a little more patience with a sick 2 year old that got very little sleep but I am also not feeling well and running on pure caffine at this point. When the fasten seat belt sign went off, I left a sleeping Cate with the lady in the seat next to me and hauled my screaming, kicking (and you all know how small those aisles are so she was kicking EVERYONE) down to the smallest bathroom in the world to deal with her soaked pull up and deal out some discapline. Let me take you in that tiny little room for a moment:

Abby: Need to go POOOTTTTTYYYYY!!
Mommy: I KNOW IT. JUST A MINUTE! We have to get your pull-up off!!!
Abby: Need to go POOOTTTTTYYYYY!!
Mommy: (chanting) I'm not going to freak out, I'm not going to freak out...
Abby: (sitting on the potty) ALL DONE!!!
Mommy: (pulling on a new pull up) We are not leaving this bathroom until you get yourself together and STOP CRYING!
Abby: (crying) ALL DONE!!!
Mommy: (repeating over and over that we are not leaving...) grumble grumble...
Abby: NEED TO POOP!

At this point, she squats on TOP OF THE SEAT and poops in the new pull up. I'm without a new pull up and I'm stuck in this bathroom trying to make a point that crying is not the answer to a sick, tired 2 year old. I look out the door. The stinking beverage cart is blocking us from getting back to our seats anyway. I leave Abby on the potty, clean her up with more than her share of the wipes in my every waning travel wipe holder, then, when the beverage cart passes, I forget the point I'm trying to make and haul her back to our seats, diaperless. I put a new pull up on her in the seat, take back my other child and continue to chant.

Abby slept for a while, screamed bloody murder on the way down for landing and we finally exited the plane. I was getting strung out. We played around a bit at the Dallas airport where I found out that my father's plane heading out to NC to join Andy to drive the truck had been delayed. I was dreading getting on another flight but we had yet one more leg to go until Albequerque.

Abby screamed the whole way into the air, of course. She claimed (the second the fasten seat belt sign came on) that she needed to pee in the potty. I successfully distracted her for part of the flight with toys but she was not having it after a while. fortunatly, we were the only people in our row because as we began our decent (and the fasten seat belt sign came back on) she decided to try and commit suicide via hanging herself by her seat belt and screaming that she needed to pee in the potty. She threw up on herself TWICE just to make her point that seat belts are not for her and Mommy is the devil. Abby's puke is not baby puke. It stinks to high heaven and a nice lady came over and held Cate while I completely changed Abby's clothes and cleaned up the best I could with the last of the travel wipes. To say the least, I was haggard when we got off that plane. My mother met me at the security check point and I burst into teats. I had about 2 hours of sleep in 48 and I was EXHAUSTED, angry and close to walking away from my babies to start a new child free life. Then, Cate smiled and me and most of it was better. I say most because we still had a 6 hour trip to my parents house for which the girls screamed most of the way.

A little information on the boys: They started driving as soon as they got back to Asheville that night. The car was being towed behind the moving van and it caught ON FIRE! I don't know the extend of the damage yet but we are hoping its not bad. We'll see. Please pray that we still have a car to drive when they get here.

Love to all who helped me and Andy get it together in Candler and all who we miss already.