Today was just one of those days. Since the weather was freezing cold we stayed in most of the day and after nap time decided to get out of the house for a bit. We headed to Willow Bend Mall to walk around and let Madison play in the play area. When we walked up the play area was closed because it was being cleaned, ok that's fine we'll come back in a bit. We run in a couple stores and Emma starts getting fussy so I get out the bottle to feed her while we are walking around. Steering a double stroller while trying to hold a bottle in your baby's mouth is hard to do. So we stop so as not to run over anyone and I leave Chase in charge so I can run in Gymboree. When I come out they are gone and I find them in the re-opened play area where Chase is giving me the get over here as fast as you can look. He's trying to burp Emma and Madison is crying. Since it's a freezing cold Saturday night there are lots of rowdy kids in the play area and I guess Madison was trying to go down one of the slides and got trapped between two bigger boys and got scared. Chase "moved" one of the boys to free Madison from the small crawl space so she could go down the slide. Because there are so many kids running and screaming she wants one of us to go with her to play, fine with me so she doesn't get trampled. Chase and I take turns, one holding Emma and the other playing with Madison and this 65ish year old grandpa has the gall to come up to me and say, "Excuse me, this is probably none of my business but you really shouldn't follow so close behind her. Just let her play on her own because one day she's gonna turn around and you won't be there." Excuse me??? Mind your own old man! First of all, I'm not the only parent walking around with my kid and second of all why is he watching us? It made me want to stay even closer to her. Weirdo! Then we walk by this little girl who has a hacking cough and I'm sure her dad saw me make a face so he says, "watch out, she'll get you sick." Really? Then take her home! Both girls just had a horrible hacking cough and we sure don't want it again. We leave the play area and cruise through H&M. They actually have some really cute kids clothes. Of course Madison says she needs to go potty so I ask the clerk for the nearest restroom. She said to go out of the store, take a right around the corner, and it should be by the exit. So I rush around the corner, to the exit, but of course there's no restroom. So we come back to the storefront and I see a restroom sign across the way so we make it and then Madison says she "doesn't have any". Ok, at least we tried. Then we run in another store and she tells us she needs to go potty again. I told Chase it was his turn because I really didn't think she needed to go and sure enough, she "didn't have any." We decide we've had enough mall fun so we go to the food court to grab a bite. As soon as we get our food Emma wakes up and starts crying. Chase and I take turns holding the paci in so the other can eat and of course Madison is being a pokey eater. Then Emma starts screaming, she's been eating a lot this weekend so I think she's going through a growth spurt. I took her out of the car seat and she continues to scream so I grab the keys and her and I start walking to the car so I can feed her. I leave Chase and Madison to finish eating. Of course the food court was the farthest point in the mall from where we parked so it was a long walk back to the car all while carrying a crying baby. I left the double stroller behind with Chase and Madison so it was fun watching him maneuver it out the two sets of double doors of the mall all on his own. For the amount of stollers in malls you'd think they would have sensored doors that just open when you come up to them, half the time the handicap button doesn't work so you sure can't rely on those. Anyway, after Emma eats she proceeds to spit up and then has a big poopie. Awesome. Madison has unfortunately inherited Chase's gag reflex when it comes to smells so she starts gagging when she gets in the car. I yell at Chase to give her some juice, keep the door open, and then start handing me wipes while I change Emma's diaper in my lap. It was 37 degrees oustside so I figured it was better to do it in my lap then to expose her legs and hiney to that cold air. Of course it was quite a doozie and then Chase starts gagging too. Great, I have two gagging peeps in the car and a poopie baby. After Emma is all clean I go to put her in her car seat and she pukes all over me, I could feel it running down my chest. Gross! We were all in great moods on the way home. Then we walk in the door and if you didn't live here you might think we had been robbed because our house is that messy! Oh the joys of having small children and not enough time or energy to constantly have a clean house.
Chase is always telling me on days that we don't have any activities that we should JUST go to the mall and walk around on our own. Tonight was a perfect example of why we don't. There's no JUST about it, it's certainly a process and sometimes it's just easier to stay in....
