All over the airport and through 'The Wood', to Grandmother's house we go

I am writing this post in the comfort of my parent's home, looking out the window at the snow covered lawn, drinking hot tea, listening to eruptions of laughter from friends and family playing games in the basement, all sorts of delicious smells coming from the kitchen... ah, this is Christmas. Things seem as though we fell out of a Christmas story book. However, we have gone through quite the ordeal to get to this point, let me tell you!

Our flight was scheduled to leave from LAX at 9:52 am, Sunday morning (Dec. 20). We arrived at the airport more than 1 1/2 hours before our departure time, had all of our luggage in tow, and even managed to score a Starbucks -to tie us over. :) Our flight was on US Airways - terminal 1. We were the first to be dropped off (off the shuttle) and got in line to check in. It was a long line but moved fairly well so we weren't too discouraged at this point. However, this feeling of excitement and enthusiasm for traveling would soon be a fleeting memory. When we got up to the kiosk to check in we were informed the we needed to check in at United Airlines, not US Air (apparently the flight was operated by United or something... I'm still a little fuzzy on those details). So we had to go downstairs to baggage claim, go outside, across the street, catch the 'A' bus to take us to terminal 7 where we would then go back upstairs and check in at United. (Mind you, we had 3 suitcases, 6 carry on/personal baggage, a stroller and a baby to tote around). We made it to United's terminal about 9:10 and raced to the kiosk to check in. Well, we weren't able to check our bags because it was less than 40 minutes before the flight was to take off. We were told we needed an agent to check us in but no agent was available so we were told to wait in the 'full service' line. And in line we waited.... for 2 hours. Obviously, we missed our flight. When we were finally able to talk to an agent we were told the only thing they could do for us was put us on 'standby' on a United flight. If we wanted to change our flight we would have to trek back to US Airways (terminal 1) and wait in line there to see if there was anything they could do. The agent was hopeful so we checked our bags and proceeded to security. We made it to the gate and Matt talked to another agent to see what our odds were to get on that flight... she practically laughed in his face. Not a good sign. We were numbers 36,37, 38 on the standby list and the agent had been able to get 2 people to fly standby to Chicago all day (out of over 60). Not good. So we waited. We waited with an 8 month old baby, 3 diapers and one bottle left. Not good at all. We watched three more flights take off for Chicago and watched our names go from the 36, 37, 38 to 45, 46, 47 (apparently they give priority to people who pay more for their tickets, so since we scored a good deal on our tickets, we kept getting pushed to the back of the list). We were NEVER going to get out of there. Finally, Matt made the executive decision to move our little party back to terminal 1 and try our luck with US Airways. So, again, down to baggage claim, outside to catch the 'A' bus, back to terminal 1 to wait in line for another 2 hours so see if there was anything they could do. The best option was to catch a flight to Chicago (with a 3 hour lay over in Vegas) the next day. My parents graciously put us up in a hotel that night so we didn't have to drive 90 miles back to Beaumont only to come back to LAX the next morning. Our hotel was in Inglewood - also referred to as 'The Wood' (hence this post's creative title)- and is pretty much the ghetto. By the time we got to the hotel, I had 2 diapers left, desperately needed to nurse Luke, was hungry, tired and extremely discouraged. Matt literally had to run through 'The Wood' looking for a place to buy some diapers and food.

AH! We laugh now as we somehow managed to survive this misadventure. But if I never have to go through that again, I'll be happy.

The diapers Matt managed to buy at the corner market store looked as though they'd been there for 10 years. No pampers or huggies here! At least they did the trick.

Waiting in the hotel -MUCH more comfortable than waiting in the airport!

The hotel didn't have a portable crib or anything for Luke (the best they could do was give us some toothbrushes since ours were packed and on their way to Chicago). We tried to have him sleep between us in the bed but that didn't work so well. He ended up sleeping on my shoulder the majority of the night. On top of everything else, Luke ended up getting sick! I didn't have the thermometer but I know he had a fever and was just miserable... which meant I was pretty miserable as well. Luckily, I had the baby tylenol in my purse so Matt didn't need to make a midnight run through the ghetto looking for meds!

Trying to nap

Finally sleeping, but not for long

Waiting in the airport Monday morning.

We finally made it to Chicago about 10:30 Monday night. We were all exhausted and hungry but happy to finally be here. Luke was still a pretty miserable little guy. He ran a fever all night and was fairly clingy and lethargic all Tuesday - NOT at all like the 'normal' Luke. My mom and I ended up taking him in to the health clinic to find that he has ear infections in both ears and what looks to be a pretty sore throat. Poor baby! The doctor prescribed Azithrmycin. (I am allergic to Amoxycillin so we thought we'd avoid that drug, just in case). Well, last night as I was getting Luke ready for bed, I discovered a rash all over his chest, stomach, neck and around his hairline! We called the clinic and were told that it is most likely a reaction to the medication. Honestly. On top of it all, Matt is just now feeling better and I am now coming down with a cold myself. Ugh. Merry Christmas to the DeBoer family.

We're praying that things start to turn around for us this trip. So far, not so good. But again, we are thankful to be with family to celebrate the birth of our Savior. After all, He is the real reason for the season.

We hope that all of you out there have a wonderful (and healthy) Christmas!