Plane tickets make reality sink in...

We didn't like the flight attendants on our flight last summer to Ireland with Ted's dad. They were simply just not very bright. We really wanted to like them since they were Irish and all, but really: not much going on upstairs. One in particular, though she was a pretty girl, kept making the face Ted and I are making in this photo to your left whenever we asked her a question. This was also the go-to face she'd use as a response to any of our jokes or attempts at friendly banter.

What does this have to do with anything? Well, besides putting aside any pride to show you how we entertain ourselves on airplanes, this trip to Ireland has played a decent role in getting our baby home. On our way back to the U.S. at the end of our trip, the flight was overbooked and we volunteered to give up our seats, thus getting hefty vouchers to use in the future. We got a free meal out of the deal too and ended up back at home only two hours later than planned.

We've been saving these vouchers since then and were able to use them towards our trip to Ethiopia. One caveat: Ted and I had to drive out to LAX tonight to use the vouchers at the ticket counter. As we were driving up, parking, and walking into the airport amidst seas of people at 8:30 pm on a Wednesday night, I told Ted that I feel a little bad that this is the first thing Abe is going to experience of the U.S. Poor thing: he's going to be uprooted from all that's familiar and comfortable to him to be taken care of by the likes of us.

While at the ticket counter, we were given this, which made me cry:
There was something so surreal about seeing his name on something as official as a plane ticket. The "Rooney" part got me all choked up and made my heart stop for a moment. This is for real.

The ladies at the ticket counter were happy to ooh and aaah over the photo I have of Abe in my wallet, though I had to correct one lady when she said that all babies are cute. I told her that I'm not so sure any baby Ted and I produced biologically could ever be as cute as this kid whose picture they were parading around. Before you try to leave any kind-hearted, reassuring comments, I offer the photograph at the top of this post as proof.

So yes, we've got our tickets booked, thanks to Ted, who could have a second career as a travel agent. He figured it all out himself, with hours and hours of work going into all of it. We're leaving Monday night from LAX around 8pm and arriving to Addis Ababa Wednesday night at around 10pm. Long trip on the way there, but the way back should be simpler. We'll get back to Los Angeles on the 26th in the afternoon and hang out here a few days before heading back up to Portland, our other beloved land of green and lucky rainbows.

Look who I got to meet today!Dani drove all the out to my favorite coffee place to meet up and give me the biggest bottle of bubbly I've seen in my life. How fun! We've invited our neighbors over to share it with us tomorrow night.

And check out her amazing little man:
They've been home all of two weeks, and already Judah is sleeping 11 hours a night and is a complete delight. He is so much fun to make giggle. I think I could have spent hours making my "bing!" and "bong!" noises to get that laugh out of him. What an amazing boy. We're looking forward to letting Abe and Judah giggle and play when we get back, maybe while us grown-ups enjoy another monster bottle of bubbly...and then we'll all be sharing in the giggles.