Third kid parenting: relaxed, confident, ... and still unprepared

Today Caroline had an physical therapy appointment. Nothing major. At her two month check-up, her pediatrician mentioned that her neck was a little stiff and she had a little flat spot on one side of her head. It's all pretty minor, but she wanted us to see the physical therapist to work out the kinks before it had the chance to be something major. Jackson was at school and my mother-in-law had offered to watch Belle and so it was just Caroline and me.

The appointment went well and I was so pleasantly surprised to see a lady from my Bible Study group would be our physical therapist! I know we are in good hands. Caroline didn't hate the therapy too much, but she was definitely worn out and fell asleep at the end of the appointment. It was lunch time and so I decided to stop at Panera for some lunch. It was frigidly cold today and I've been sick for a few days. I knew the soup would warm me up and feel so good on the my throat.

As I'm driving to Panera, I'm thinking how it will be a nice relaxing, enjoyable afternoon. I only have one kiddo and we are just chill out until we pick up Jackson from school and Isabelle from Grandma's. I distinctly remember thinking how funny it is that spending an afternoon with an infant at a restaurant followed by shopping is considered relaxing with my third kid, yet if it was my first, I'd never consider it so! I kid you not-- I even thought, I should blog about how things have been different with my third. I'm relaxed. I'm confident.

And as you'll find out... clearly, I'm delirious.

Lunch went well. As I had hoped, the soup was tasty and it felt so good on my throat. I ventured into Barnes & Noble afterwards. My confident little self picked a few books to browse while I nursed her in the cafe (which I would have avoided with my first-- I always tried to be home to nurse!).

Things go downhill from here.

There's a blowout. A major one. I have pictures, but I will keep them to myself (and the half dozen people I texted). It was bad, you get the idea. I gather our collection of stuff and head to the bathroom across the store.

Things get worse.

I search the diaper bag. There are no wipes. There is no extra outfit. Oh. My. Gosh. I can picture the wipes on our dining room table and I now remember using the extra outfit earlier in the week. HOW COULD I LET THIS HAPPEN?!? I literally let out a chuckle as I realized how ridiculous I was for my aforementioned confidence as a third-time mom.

Knowing I'd have to improvise, I was so relieved to find that there are paper towels in the bathroom. You know, some places only have the dryer things. So, in a delicate attempt to get paper towels, manage the baby and not spread the mess. I get Caroline in a clean-enough state and then I call Derek...

"Hey Babe. Did you get my picture? Okay, so you know what I'm dealing with. Can you google the closed kid clothing store? Okay, so I go out the front door, and it's just three stores down? Perfect. Thanks!"

On a non-subzero windchill day, I would have continued home with her having no clothes. However, it was 9° with a negative windchill. So, we head to a "speciality retail store of children's clothing" to find some clothes to keep my disgusting precious baby warm. This pains me. My mother is the best garage sale shopper that you'll ever find and she acquires a whole season of clothes for my kids for the cost of one outfit at this store. I scour the clearance section to find things that will not only keep her warm until we get home, but she can get more use out of this year and next. 

As I was paying, I interrupted the cashier in her attempt to fold and put the clothes in a bag. "Actually, can you just cut the tags? We need to wear those now." She seemed pretty confused, but she obliged and confusingly watched as I unwrapped Caroline from her swaddles and got her dressed. I briefly mentioned that I had forgotten a backup outfit but it still didn't seem to click as why I was out with a baby with no clothes. I spared her the story. It was clear she's never been in a diaper-explosion emergency nor understands the grossness that comes from such cute little creatures. Maybe she'll understand someday.

Here's Caroline in part of her new clothing. I stuck a long sleeve onesie underneath the little summer outfit and it totally works for winter! I bought her a Christmas top to wear next year to cover up those arms while we were out. She sure is a cutie!

I decided that I couldn't NOT blog about the whole ordeal, especially since merely an hour before I was all set to share how smoothly things have been with the transition to having a third baby. Conclusion: A third baby makes you lose your mind. Not in a psychotic, angry, stressed-out way. But in a forgetting-the-basics, how-can-I-be-responsible-for-the-tiny-humans, I-clearly-have-no-idea-what-I'm-doing kind of way. Which is pretty much exactly how it was with the first, so not much has changed. 

Fortunately, we've got the basics down and our kids are fed, bathed, and clothed a majority of the time so we'll consider it a win. Besides, Caroline probably just wanted to deal with this terrible weather with retail therapy. A new outfit makes everyone happy, right?