Many apologies for this much delayed post. About a week or so ago we made our big trip back to East Africa. We found ourselves in Atlanta for three extra days, as our flight from Cincinnatti to Atlanta was delayed by about 2 hours, meaning that we'd miss our Atlanta/Dubai flight and miss the final flight after that as well. No big deal except our last flight only goes out twice a week. Shoot. So, Delta airlines provided food vouchers and lodging for us for three days in Atlanta so we could get a flight that was closer to next available flight for our final leg. We decided to turn our time there into a mini-vacation. We enjoyed some good food, relaxed, went to the Atlanta zoo, and even got to hang out with some of Seth's relatives for an afternoon. Our flight to Dubai went smoothly as well and the woman who sat next to me was a hoot. When I write "hoot" I mean, "wow, really, I can't believe your type exists" type of "hoot." About halfway through the flight she informed (politely at least) that she couldn't sleep b/c either the light from my seat's personal tv kept her awake or I was breathing in her direction when I slept. Initial thought A) "Umm, lady, I hate to break your personal space utopia but there's about 60 people (the flight was completely full) within out 5 feet of you breathing in your direction!" Thought B) "You seriously must have been an only child because I am clearly following all rules and regulations assigned to the imaginary line of personal space dividing us." Clearly, she'd never had an imaginary line dividing her from her sibling in the backseat of any car/van/station wagon. And I know from personal experience the age-old complaint, "Mom, she's breathing on me!" never once resulted in my mom saying, "Yes, honey, you're right, -insert name of whichever of my sisters I thought was breathing on me,- I'll tell her to stop breathing immediately." I can't remember exactly how I responded, I think I mumbled a confused "sorry??" and made sure all my breaths were now aimed at my dear hubby, who was attempting to figure out how to try to fall asleep with his legs crunched up against the seat in front of him because our 22 month old daughter was peacefully sleeping in his foot space below him. The lady continued to complain to the flight attendant every time they went by with the beverage/food cart repeating words that go something like this, "This is the worst flight ever, I have the worst seat, worst food..." The 13 1/2 flight finally came to an end and I marked it as a personally successful flight b/c I for once managed to keep my big mouth shut and was able to offer Only Child Passenger in Seat 42C grace (evidence that the good Father is indeed at work in my life, b/c it certainly wasn't by my overly kindhearted self that I was able to offer this to her:). Eden only cried for the first hour of so of the flight and did wonderfully for the rest of the flight. Did I mention she'd had a terrible diaper rash (the yeast kind) and was probably in some pain and discomfort the whole flight? Poor thing. She did really well, considering the circumstances. Eden is my favorite.
We spent the night in Dubai, our plane took off early the next morning as planned and we were back in our home by later that afternoon. Eden was happy to be reunited with all her old toys and our neighbors were all happy to see us. They even came over and cleaned/dusted our house for us! We am blessed! I think we're all almost through the yucky jet lag-ness and are readjusting quite well to life here again. Baby Clarkson #2 is doing well, happily growing and kicking in the comforts of his/her mommy's womb. We're at about 29 weeks right now. Mommy is feeling large and uncomfortable. He/She is proving thus far to follow in the footsteps of his/her big sister Eden and is very very active. Feels like I've got a little squirrel attached to my abdomen that won't stop scampering around. One of the many differences between the two pregnancies is that Eden preferred to deliver drop kicks to the right side of my ribs while Baby Clarkson #2 seems to have settled on using my bladder as a punching bag. We sure are excited to meet little him/her though. Little babies are so sweet, though I'm not sure I'm ready for all those night feedings again. Well, I'm sure I have lots of other really amazing thoughts or insights to share I just can't think of them right now. Adios amigos