Shopping Adventures

I spent the afternoon shopping with my sister-in-law and Ella yesterday.  My sister-in-law is 32 weeks pregnant, and so she and my brother are trying to get everything in order.  We started by checking out a baby consignment shop.  Since Ella was sleeping peacefully when we arrived and I wasn't going to buy too much, I opted to just pick her up out of the carseat and hold her and let her snuggle up.  We weren't in the store for even five minutes when I heard the unmistakable poop sound.  I waited just a bit longer to see if she had any more in her, and then brought her out to the car to change.  Perhaps I waited too long, or perhaps it was because she was cuddled up against me, or perhaps it's because she was wearing a cheap diaper (the only Size 1 package we could find in my whole little town), but by the time we got out to the car, she had leaked.  No biggie--I had a change of clothes.  So I got her cleaned up and into the new outfit and rejoined my sister-in-law as she was finishing up her purchases.

Then it was on to Babies-R-Us to update my sister-in-law's registry and return the carrier that I had gotten her (she had registered for it and then received a hand-me-down from a friend).  As I picked up Ella, I was a little surprised to realize that she smelled like poop again (I had just changed her about a half-hour ago).  But not to worry--I figured that they would have a "Mommy Room" which would make it easy to change her, and I figured that I would feed her as well.  Sure enough, Ella had a little more poop, so I changed that diaper...and started to worry that I only had one more clean diaper left.  I started calculating the amount of time that we had left shopping and trying to figure out if I could make it home with just that one remaining diaper.  Well, apparently I was thinking too much about future diapers and not focusing on the diaper at hand...because the next thing I know, Ella is peeing all over the changing table and soaking her onesie--yes, the change of clothes that I had used from the last change.  Well goodness.  I figured I might as well feed her while we were in the Mommy's Room, and then buy her a new outfit.  So there I am, carrying my nearly naked baby around Babies-R-Us in the middle of winter.  I grab an outfit as quickly as possible, pay for it, and ask the cashier to cut the tags so that she can wear it right away (I'm a bad mother for not washing it first).

So we continue with our shopping, meet up with my husband and dad and brothers for dinner, and then head back to my brother and sister-in-law's home for cheesecake.  As I was slicing the cheesecake, my husband brought Ella over to me and asked to borrow my nose (he's still queasy about poopy diapers).  Sure enough...another dirty one...and another little mess.  She had somehow managed to get poop on the outer pants, but hardly any on the onesie (I guess the knock-off diaper "helped" this time by letting it trickle out the leg instead of out the back or front).  So much for the new outfit!  Luckily, I had been able to rescue the pants from the change in Babies-R-Us before her pee made its way across the changing table (though I lost a burp cloth in the process of cleaning it all up).  So in one day, she dirtied two onesies and two pairs of pants within a four-hour shopping adventure.  I thought I was a smart mom for bringing a change of clothes...but now I'm thinking that I might need to pack two--if not three!

Aside from the diaper and wardrobe changes, it was such a blessing to spend some time with my sister-in-law.  I really enjoy her company, and I am so excited for her to have this baby and for Ella to have a cousin soon.  They will be 20 weeks apart, and I hope that they can be good friends despite the distance.