"Oh stewardess, I speak jive."

Very early Thursday morning, Ada and I take flight together for the first time. I've been preparing for our airplane trip to North Carolina since the day I bought the tickets.

Everyone has experienced screaming babies on planes. I've always felt bad for the parents on the plane with the inconsolable child. I've never felt like they weren't doing their best to calm them.

I hope I have nice people sitting next to me. Ada is generally a pretty calm customer, but when she gets overtired and overstimulated, there are only a few things (so far) that seem to help calm her down -- and those aren't guaranteed.

Who knows what I'll get? Honestly, I'm actually looking forward to the flight. There are few times during the day that I get to just sit with her and hang out peacefully -- no cell phones, work, dogs, or household chores waiting to be done. Just Ada and I camped out in our little seat wishing people wouldn't bring stinky food on planes.

The flight is from Phoenix to Charlotte and then a quick jump to Raleigh. That will give us a good chunk of time to just sit and hang out. I think it will be great. She'll get to sleep in the car ride down and though I anticipate the airport jaunts will probably be pretty cranky, once on the plane and settled, I'm guessing Ada will get bored, eat a bit, and then fall asleep to the soothing tones of the jet engines.

It's going to be an interesting trip!

Once we get to NC, Ada and my dad will finally meet in person! I'm pretty excited about that. We'll also get to see Edith and the rest of the relatives as well and a photo op is planned with Jack the Horse.

Looking forward to it! I hope my enthusiasm is enough to keep me resilient against crying babies, evil eyes, exhaustion and dirty diapers!