The flight here was GREAT. The kids did so well. Ezra was a cranky little man when we first sat down and he saw me sitting with Olivia across the aisle, so I traded with mom and held him for a while and that seems to be just what he wanted. He has truly become a momma's boy overnight. I first noticed it this past week, but I'm sure it was more noticeable since I was so busy running around and packing while he was left to play with his sister and Tia Claudia or Uncle Marty. He'd be relatively content, and then he'd see me coming or going and start screaming. It's pretty cute, even if it does make things a bit more challenging while getting ready to move. He was even worse when he'd see Joe. Normally Joe plays with them from the time he gets home until they go to bed... so all the evenings spent packing and preparing this week and over last weekend sent Ezra into a furious fit when he saw his daddy come or go. Livi is much the same, just less dramatic and insistent.
When we arrived at DIA we did quick diaper changes on the kiddos and then zoomed to baggage claim. My bag was already waiting on the carousel and we grabbed it and started for the car.... and then my mom reminded me about our car seats. We had checked our nearly brand new (used only 2 times so far I think) Britax Marathon car seats. Yikes! I ran back to the over sized baggage area to try and find them. No go. I waited and watched a while, but still nothing. I asked a baggage employee and he began looking into it. Long story short, they were missing. Ugh. We filed a claim and I was ushered to a back room to select suitable loaner seats. Uh huh. A bit of a challenge when the only car seats they have are infant car seats (which the kids outgrew a good month ago) or forward facing car seats (which they aren't big enough or old enough for yet).
I tried explaining the dilemma to the woman at the baggage counter, but she kept arguing that they could go in the infant seats. I explained the reasons they couldn't be put in those, but she persisted. We had to talk to a couple of supervisors before we made any progress. In the meantime the original guy we spoke to about our missing car seats asked if he could buy us lunch since he felt so badly about it all. The kids were totally zoned out, strapped to my mom and I in the Ergo's. I thanked him, but declined since we needed to get the kids home and get THEM fed... and trying to find some sort of table food they could manage to eat at the airport was something I hoped to avoid.
About two hours after our plane landed, a woman with the airline took me over to the Delta baggage area. She said she wanted me to see if they had what we needed before she went to buy the convertible car seats we needed. You know what? They DID! At least 5 or 6 of them! I snagged two, thanked the Delta guy, and we rushed out to the car. After some fiddling, we got the car seats in the car, babies loaded, and were on our way home. I sat in the back seat, feeding Ezi & Livi a late lunch and wishing away a migraine that had moved in and made itself comfortable in my brain during the whole snaffu. Thankfully, they were hungry and ate like champs so I was able to move to the front seat and recover from the car sickness, take some medicine and even get most of the migraine eased away. By the time we hit home, I was feeling MUCH better.
Ezi and Livi are having a blast here and loving all the space. They are so smily and cute. We haven't been outside much since I packed so lightly for the plane and the weather's a bit cold for the clothes I have (for myself... I have layers for the kiddos ;-). Shorts and flip flops just doesn't do it for me on 50 degree days anymore... I truly have lost my hardened Colorado blood! Nothin' but a wimpy So Cal transplant for the moment. Mom even had to turn on the furnace for me! :-D
I'd better run. We're off to a consignment sale this morning (baby/kid stuff galore) to look for a playhouse for the kids, amongst other goodies. Then, we are loading up on fun stuff to send my brother for his birthday next month! You have to plan in advance when mail takes so long reach the recipient! I imagine it'll be getting pretty cold in Afghanistan by then... so I'll pack a nice, snuggly blanket with the kids picture on it or something saying "We love you Uncle Captain Z!" Oh yeah, he'd love that! ;-)
We are soooo looking forward to seeing Michael and Julia (and maybe meeting Brad this time?) again soon, and getting to know others from the Colorado Ethiopian adoption group. We already miss our SoCal Ethiopia Adopt and OCEAN friends... stay in touch! We will visit when we can! Feel free to come to Colorado and see us anytime! :-D
