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I am happy and relieved to report that we successfully navigated a 6 hour flight with a 3 month old! Our first trip as a family though started out with a mountain of stress and frustration with our ‘frenemy’ United Airlines.

Here’s how it played out. Our flight was supposed to leave Newark at 8:30 am on Sunday morning. All night long we were receiving text updates that our flight was delayed until 9 am, 10 am, 11 am and 7:30pm at one point due to the 5 fresh inches of snow we were getting. At 6:30 am we received an update saying our flight was now departing at 11:00 am. So like any traveler with a small child, we stayed home as long as possible to avoid waiting in the airport for multiple hours. So at 7:30 am we were in our pajamas, making coffee, eating french toast, enjoying a Sunday morning when all of a sudden we received yet another update from United. ‘Your flight has been rescheduled to depart at 9:00 am,’ aka 90 minutes from that point in time. Andy and I each yelled multiple expletives that can’t be shared on a family blog, cursed the airlines and all people who work there. The baby started crying and sheer chaos set in. How could we possibly make a flight that takes off in 90 minutes when we live 30 minutes from the airport and are still in our pajamas? We rushed around like crazy people, throwing on clothes, packing bags, throwing bottles of breast milk into a cooler, changing diapers at a feverish pace and so on. Somehow we managed to get all of us out of the house in 15 minutes. Thank God we had packed most of our stuff the night before.

Andy drove like a bat out of hell down the interstate breaking almost all speeding laws. We roared into Newark at 8:20 am for our 9am flight. I hopped out and threw the baby in the front carrier to check our bags while Andy parked the car. We were so those people running threw the airport with kids, their personal belongings hanging everywhere, hair disheveled with a look a pure panic on their faces. By the grace of God we made our flight. We walked right onto the plane. And then it was everyone’s else turn to have the panic look. ‘Please don’t let those people with the baby sit next to me.’ Sorry 12C, you lose. The Phillips’ are in 12A and 12B today.

All in all Andrew did great! He slept, ate and was pretty content for the 6 hour flight. Only a few minor tantrums but heck, at the end of a long flight I’m fidgety and want to get off a plane too. He did find everything super exciting. He was wide eyed the whole time just trying to take everything in. Stimulation overload to say the least.

Feels like we’ve been on this plane for hours. Oh God. We’re only over Chicago.

So happy for our dear friends and their engagement!

Exciting Friday night at the Phillips household.

He loves his vest. Like father, like son.

Flannel shirt, John Deere socks and that hat….

Andrew William is 3 months today! It’s hard to believe how fast he is growing and changing. Andrew’s little fun-loving personality seems to be emerging more and more with each passing day. So here are the highlights from the last 30 days: Andrew is wearing 3-6 mos clothes (mostly 6!) and still gaining weight like a champ. Unfortunately the hair loss continues, but what can you do? He is also finally starting to sleep for 6+ hour stretches at night. Wahoo! We’ve established our nightly routine that includes bath time with daddy, evening ‘bottle’ and bedtime story. He wakes up around 6-6:30 each morning with a huge smile on his face. He still loves playing on his jungle mat and will forever adore his swing. He’s also discovered his hands, aka one of his new favorite toys. Andrew also seems to really take an interest in music. And the sounds….Andrew has found his voice! Andrew is often squawking, cooing, squealing and talking. He seems to just have so much to say. This morning Andy and I woke to the sweet sounds of Andrew lying in his crib just chatting with himself. And the biggest change- daycare! Our little man is now in ‘school’ full time. His teachers love him (who wouldn’t?!) and he seems to like his new environment. Let’s hope that continues.

All in all another successful month with our little buddy (our nickname for Andrew). Can’t wait to see what fun month 4 will bring!

Just for fun. Month 2:

And 1:

A few more pics from our quick weekend visit with Grandma and Grandpa J!

Andrew’s chattering has really increased in the last few weeks. It sounds a bit like a high pitched pterodactyl but cute nonetheless. You can’t keep this kid quiet if you tried. But who’s particularly surprised by that? Andy and I have been known to talk a little here and there.

Andrew mid-squawk:

Baby’s first Mexican. Mommy’s first margarita since before baby. And all is right with the world once again.