we made it to atlanta. with a carseat.

umm, why didn't i do this before?!  this really deserves a thorough explanation of a post but these three pictures will have to do.  since baby girl turned two, we had to pay for a ticket for her own seat.  also, i'm 25 weeks pregnant and i thought i might die if i had to lug a rolling bag, carry a duffle across my chest, hold a purse over my shoulder, and somehow keep a wiggly toddler in my arms from curbside through security all the way to my gate.

everything just seemed to add up and last night i rigged this little setup so that i could carry a duffle across my chest while rolling a bag that carried my baby buckled into her carseat.  it worked insanely well.  and it also was wonderful that i told baby girl "when the airplane goes in the air it means that we have to stay buckled like when we're in the car and we stay buckled while we're driving" and she didn't question it and stayed perfectly buckled for the entire three hours.  hallelujah!

baby bucked to carseat.  carseat buckled to rolling carryon, and purse looped on top.  so all i had on me was a duffle and baby in utero.  totally manageable.

if you're a stranger and you try to make conversation with baby girl... this is the face she'll give you.  while saying absolutely nothing.

check it out.  delta got me to pay full price for this little 23 lb bundle.  just half the weight of my typical carry on.  i'm still mildly bitter.

other noteworthies:

the only real kid movie offered was the lorax movie and i wasn't going to pay $6 for it.  luckily my kid isn't old enough to really know how movies work.  so she happily watched the lorax trailer for longer than the duration of the actual movie.  i kid you not the trailer has to be less than three minutes long and she watched it for at least half of the flight.  90 minutes divided by 2.5 equals more times than any kid should ever watch the lorax trailer.  but it worked great.  and when she wasn't using the earbud (yes, just one, the other one makes no noise) i brought, i used it to listen to my three favorite adele songs on repeat.

at the end of the flight the quiet ethnic lady sitting next to me gave me a sincere "i just wanted to tell you that you're a really really great mother." and even though i never know how to take that (are you genuinely impressed with my incredible mothering skills or do i just look so pregnant and frazzled and exhausted with a toddler in tow that you wanted to throw me a bone and give me a nice little pick me up?!), it was much appreciated.  i take compliments very well.  i really appreciate people like that woman.

right after that exchange, i tapped the shoulder of the man sitting in front of abigail to profusely apologize for his bad luck in seating assignments.  "i just wanted to thank you for being so patient this flight.  i know it wasn't easy.  i tried the best i could but my child's carseat is so big that it leaves her feet sitting directly on the back of your chair and i know she was basically kicking your seatback non-stop for three straight hours.  i wish i could have traded seats with you because i know how much it sucks to sit in front of a kid that kicks your seat but it's just physically not possible when i don't have my husband traveling with me.  so thank you for being so patient, i really do appreciate it."  to which he replied, "honestly, i was pretty irritated at first.  but then i looked back and saw it was just a little kid and i understood."  i think that translates to "it really sucked but i couldn't justify yelling at you for it" but i don't even care.  i had so many positive interactions with people  (seriously at least 20) today at DIA and hartsfield jackson and on the plane that i just couldn't help but be overwhelmed with the kind comments and smiles of strangers.  what a happy world it was today!

ps- being pregnant is awesome.  seriously, people are soooo extra nice to you when you're pregnant it's incredible.  i love it.

pps- baby girl has taken an instant and intense love for my mom and sister.  tonight when she was crying she sobbed, "i want emmy" repeatedly and then was comforted by my sister instead of me!  and then when i put her down to sleep and was telling her goodnight i promised that we could play when she woke up and she made sure that i promised she could play with emmy AND grandma when she woke up.  "and grandma. i want grandma!"  yes, sweet girl, you can play with grandma in the morning too.  adorable.

and because i'm longwinded.  i've only been here one night and i have seen my entire family (including my brand new nephew!) and my friend lisa (who so conveniently was out and about at 10 30 tonight and able to drop by!) and had the varsity, and had milkway ice cream.  talk about a successful day.