Thursday, May 3, 2007

Crazy Day

Okay, so I'm still somewhat chicken when it comes to taking both girls out together by myself. I have to weigh whether the effort to get them out of the house, to work around Kaitlyn's nursing schedule and to publicly deal with Hannah's more frequent melt downs, is worth actually DOING whatever we'd be going out to do. I am proud to say that we have made it once to the library for story time and to Wendy's after a visit to the chiropractor..... and that's about it, until this past Wednesday.

My friend Saundra called Wed. morning to invite us to join them at the zoo. I was a little nervous about that, but had already been thinking how great it would be to spend some time outside since we'd been having some great weather here in Nashville. Saundra has 2 great kids, Ethan (3) and Naomi (2) - 2 of Hannah's favorite friends. She would definitely understand if things went crazy with the girls. So, I decided this venture would be worth the effort.

Let me break my story by saying if Hannah could live life completely in her PJ's she'd be one happy little lady. So, changing out of them can be quite challenging. Of course I entered that struggle in trying to get us out the door for the zoo. What finally got her compliant (after saying that we'd be at the zoo.... we'd be with Ethan and Naomi.... we'd have a picnic... ) was reminding her we'd get to see the monkeys. Go monkeys! If only there were monkeys at mothers-day-out and church - real ones I mean. :)

Okay, so we get to the zoo and have to park way out in the field due to the fact that half the schools in Nashville have decided to take field trips to the zoo on the same day! By the time we get to the gate, I'm worn out and feeling down about how out of shape I am. But, we made it. And later, after visiting some animals and eating lunch, I was quite pleased about how enjoyable our day had been. Then we made a final stop at the toddler play area to let the kids run & jump off the last bit of energy they had, which makes for some good napping! This is where my sweet little Hannah transformed into the playground bully. I watched with horror as she toppled over a not-so-sturdy baby sitting by her mother. Then, apparently a little boy almost twice her size (which didn't seem to matter to Hannah) came into "her house" so she pushed him while yelling "Get out!" That was our cue to leave. We were all hot and exhausted anyway!

The kids racing after lunch.


























It's so much work going to the zoo!"
This was Kaitlyn almost the entire time.



By the time I arrive home both girls are out - no surprise with Kaitlyn - and I envision quietly
laying them down and then laying myself down too. However, as I entered the house I was greeted by a strong odor. At this point, the new bathroom project I have mentioned has been underway for a few days. So, after successfully laying the girls down I asked our contractor about the smell. His response: "Oh, just a little glue." I'm thinking, "He doesn't seem to think this is a big deal, but something tells me it's not safe to breathe this stuff, especially for 7-week old lungs." I noticed there were no windows open in the house either, so all those fumes were just hanging around. I wasn't sure what to do - we're all so tired at this point, but I felt uneasy. So, I called Saundra hoping she and H.G. could either put me at ease, or confirm what I already felt, since they have done a ton of major home renovations. As we were talking I found the can of "glue" and read the label. Among other discouraging things, it said, "could cause skin & eye irritation and respiratory problems". I then noticed my nose was tingling. Saundra told me to go with my gut, and that quickly led me to her house. Once I opened windows and turned on fans, we were out of there, which meant not much of a nap for Hannah and none for me. But, she and Ethan took a bath together, since they were both covered in dry sweat, and I figure that could prove to be great blackmail material for both of them later in life!

A couple of hours later we were at church. At this point I felt very tired and kind of gross, not having thought to bring a change of clothes for myself or having had much time to freshen up. My fragrance was a mixture of spit-up and sweat - nice huh! It happened to be my week to work in the nursery, so I just prayed that if there were any visitors I wouldn't scare them off.

I'm thankful for my crazy day. I don't necessarily want another one like it tomorrow, but life would be boring without a little craziness from time to time! And if you take away the crazy, you might have to take away a lot of things for which I'm thankful - 2 great, healthy kids and the ability to spend a lot of time with them right now... a house... a friend who reminds me that I have a God-given instinct about what's best for my children... a good church... and a host of other things I could go on listing.

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