Tripp's First Airplane Ride

I was more nervous about Tripp's first plane ride than he was. For a few weeks before our departure date, we talked about the plane ride a lot. We didn't want Tripp to be afraid. We even made sure he had a little toy airplane in case he was scared of how big the real plane was. Our flight to Salt Lake was very fast. Tripp was awesome, especially for a two year old. He picked his seat, he did not want the window. Our only mishap on that flight was mommy's fault. I dumped my entire fresh hot cup of coffee all over Tripp's lap. Lucky for us the flight attendant was able to get a change of cloths from Tripp's bag. I on the other hand had to walk around with coffee stained pants. I let him out of his seat to sit on my lap and look out the window, that was a mistake. As the plane was landing and he had to stay buckled he started to scream. He wanted out of his seat to keep looking out the window.
A week later I flew back to Salt Lake to pick Tripp up and bring him home to Albuquerque. This time he picked a window seat, and seemed to be a lot more excited. He was so awesome. He looked out the window and pointed out the clouds and the moon to me. He ate his snacks and even ordered his own apple juice. No fuss at all and I even kept my coffee in my cup this time. As we were landing he put his head in my lap and said, "Mommy, my tummy is full." I stood up and got his bag from the overhead compartment, he climbed from his seat and stood next to me in the aisle as we waited to get off the plane. I turned my head for a half a second, when I looked back my little man was emptying his tummy all over the aisle. Yes, Tripp puked all over. I couldn't grab a barf bag because we were between seats in the aisle. I felt bad for holding up the line. Tripp looked at me and said, "Mommy, I wasn't bad. It was the apple juice."

Proud of D.

Derek has made it past the first year with the FAA. We spent several nights awake studying his jet routes and call signs over the last year. For a moment there I was so confused who was studying him or I. I have to say I would stay awake studying with him anytime. D would get frustrated and I would be so tired all I could do was giggle uncontrollably. The kids and I are so proud of him. All the stressful tests and training he had to go through really made me realize why I love him so much. He is the most amazing man I know, even when he makes me stay up late to help him study. It is all worth it when I get those text messages in the middle of the day saying, "This job is so amazing!".

The kids and I wanted to do something special to commemorate his first year. I grabbed the camera and snapped shots of the kids playing "airplanes". Two things that I know really make Derek happy, airplanes and our children. I took the pictures of our little airplanes and made a collage of the kids as airplanes all mixed in with pictures of several types of aircraft. D really loved it. I'm glad he did, it was our way of telling him how very very proud we are.

Spring Soccer

At times the weather in New Mexico is too good to be true. But, it seems when soccer on early Saturday mornings comes around the wind rears it's ugly head. I'm thinking that the constant sore throat I have is due to cold weekend mornings in the bone chilling wind. However, yesterday we got a case of slight sunburn. You could say soccer in the spring fills our lives with variety. Good thing our little Koda is so tiny, her shorts cover all of her legs and the shirts short sleeves cover her arms in full as well.

Tripp needed a four sandwich today. Took me a while to figure cut it into four pieces!

Easter pics coming soon. Even better...pics of tripp's first plane ride!