All about shopping carts

Dani is 4 weeks old today and I haven't really written much so I thought I'd take a minute. Ben told me once that I wrote too much in my blogs, and that people just want to see pictures. So I stopped writing too much, but I have too much to say I can't hold it in anymore!!

I had to go to the grocery store today. Little did I know it would be such an adventure. I have graduated to the HUMONGOUS carts with the double steering wheels for the kids to play with. Jenna was sure having a great time, but I was struggling trying to control that beast of a cart. I almost ran into about 5 senior citizens and came within half an inch of a rack of Chardonnay! It was crazy and the looks in people's eyes just topped it all off. Some felt sorry for me, others couldn't believe I was trying to grocery shop with 2 kids, and the rest wondered if I'd ever heard of birth control. Oh well. And I only forgot a few things. I guess we can go back tomorrow...

Yesterday Kristen and I ventured to IKEA. We piled our 5 kids in her mini van and drove the hour fifteen minutes to almost Fort Lauderdale. I had this feeling in my gut all morning that I probably shouldn't go, since we were going in the afternoon right during Jenna's nap. But I decided that I wasn't going to keep living my life around nap time. So we went. She could just play in the playland with Bryn and Cody, right? WRONG...She was too short. Hmmm....wish I would have known that before we went. I tried to whine to the lady, but she was completely not interested in listening to me. I'm sure I sounded like an idiot anyway. Oh wait, I forgot to mention that when we first got there we went to the little snack bar to get ice cream cones for the kids while we fed the babies. And when I asked for a cup of warm water to make a bottle, the lady told me that they are not allowed to give out warm or hot water. I offered to buy it from her, but she refused. Are you kidding me? There was a sink right behind her. She could have turned it on and given me 4 ounces of warm water with no effort at all. Luckily Kristen had brought 2 bottles of warm water for her baby, so I was able to use one of them. Okay, this is getting long. But why does a store claim to be familiy friendly when they're really not. Other highlights of the day:
1. Being told that I can't take my cart (with my 2 kids in it) to the 2nd level. After a look of despair, she told me she'd let it slide this time, but next time I need to bring my own stroller.
2. Seeing a sign on the 2nd level that says they are family friendly and if you need a bottle warmed, just ask!
3. And finally, as we are walking out the door, being told we can not go out the entrance (where our car is parked in the first spot), but that we have to walk, with 5 kids and 2 of them crying (mine, of course!), all the way to the other end of the building to exit, and then walk all the way back to our car.
All in all, it was a fun day with Kristen and her kids. All the kids actually behaved rather well so it could have been a lot worse. But let's just say I was a little annoyed with IKEA by the time we left that place.

So let me just say that having 2 kids is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, I am loving every minute of it. After we got thru that first week, Jenna returned to her normal happy, energetic self. And Dani doesn't say much at all unless she's hungry. So it's not much different than it was before, except that I have this beautiful little baby to carry around with me. These 2 little girls are the light of my life and I just enjoy being with them all day. Of course, I feel a little overwhelmed when it comes to keeping the house clean and getting all the mundane day to day stuff taken care of, but who cares. So those of you preparing for number 2, let me just tell you it's not that bad. And those of you preparing for number 1, just enjoy every minute you can holding that little one. And just relax....I was too uptight with Jenna. And now with Dani, I wish I would have just enjoyed the time with Jenna because she was all I had to worry about. I don't rock Dani to sleep like I did Jenna. Or spend as much time cuddling with her, because I have to focus more attention on Jenna. So just enjoy that first one because it will never be like that again.