We'll take "Flying with Babies" for $800, Alex

Because I used up all of my paid time off during my maternity leave and because my HR screwed up my hours and I returned to work with a negative vacation balance, that's left traveling with Baby B not much of an option lately. And of course that's complicated by the fact that I do not have consecutive days off, getting Saturdays and Mondays away from the office, and requesting Sundays off is a difficult task because that's the day our magazine goes to press.

Now that I'm barely--just technically--above a zero vacation balance and will start earning time again soon, we started to look ahead at times we might be able to travel to New England (east-central Connecticut, specifically) to visit The Husband's family, many of whom cannot make the trip down here to meet Baby B. Driving that far (from Kentucky to Connecticut), while possible, isn't realistic since it would take at least two days of driving; we did it in one day each way a few Thanksgivings ago, but it was exhausting for just the two of us, and that was without Baby B in the picture. So, we decided we'd have to fly, though recent searches of flights were not very encouraging, especially since we'd prefer to purchase a seat for Baby B instead of holding her in our laps even though both options are available. Call me cheap if you want, but I refuse to pay $800 per seat on a flight that keeps me in the same hemisphere, but that's what flight prices were looking like (at least for the times that would possibly work for us) until recently.

Because of my work issues, bumping up a trip against a holiday makes the most sense, because that would give me an extra free day to work with. Labor Day weekend wasn't possible because The In-Laws weren't going to be in town (and we already have plans that weekend, though we could've canceled if that were the only weekend that might've worked). I tried to get flights for Thanksgiving weekend, as we've spent a few Thanksgivings up there with them before, but I still can't get those prices and/or flight times to work out at all. I don't really want to go up there for Christmas because that would mean flying back on Christmas Dayt this year since I have to work on the 26th.

Looking at New Year's weekend, however, it seemed like it might be a viable option, so I searched a little further and found a GREAT deal flying out of our own city, as opposed to driving an hour and a half to one of the two bigger airports, and into the city that's closest to The In-Laws. I should mention that flying out of our city is always, always, always much more expenseive than driving to one of the other major airports, so to find this deal was huge. The next step was to make sure The In-Laws were going to be in town and up for visitors (check) and that I could get someone to cover for me on Sunday, December 30 (check).

So, we've got tickets purchased to fly up there on Friday, December 28 and return on Tuesday, January 1, giving us three full days of visiting time. I'm pretty excited, as I love to travel but we haven't been able to do it much lately because we haven't had the flexibility to do so, both because of my work stuff and because The Husband doesn't have a ton of vacation time available since he's still relatively new at his job. It's hard to believe what a different person Baby B will be by then...she'll have just turned 11 months old when we go up there, so it's quite possible that she'll be learning to walk and maybe saying a few words. She'll be twice the age she is now! How in the world is that possible?

I have to admit, though, that I'm a little nervous at the idea of traveling with an infant. I just don't want to be that parent with a kid that screams for the duration of the flight without the hint of calming down. But, you know, if it happens, it happens. I'm sure things will go much better than I think, though, and obviously it's not enough of a fear to make me hesitate making the trip, but it's just one of those things that makes me a bit anxious. I'm so excited go, though, and I just wish it weren't six months away!