{ Adventures Before Halloween }

Happy FALL!! I hope everyone is enjoying this season as much as I am. I love all things fall but have especially been thinking about fall holidays, specifically, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, because it's one of my favorite holidays and my side of the family is visiting us! I cannot wait! Halloween because it happens to be tomorrow and it is also Ellie's first Halloween! I think I just really love holidays! They are so fun. But anyways...

As September flew by I could not help but try to think about what the perfect outfit would be for Ellie to wear on Halloween. I saw many awesome candidates! Carter's had adorable baby animal costumes. Babies R Us had an adorable ghost. Then, of course, there was always the generic "My first Halloween" tutu from Etsy. If you took a guess at which one I chose, yes, it was the tutu! So I found my top two, that I absolutely loved, and sent the pictures to my hubby. Usually our system of 'narrow the options and hope we choose the same one' works. But it didn't work so well this time. We both liked different ones. By this time it was the early days of October and if you have ever ordered from Etsy you know to order as far in advance as possible! The pressure was on! I pondered on the tutus and tried to find a third option that we both loved more, but, my search and thoughts turned up nothing. I had decided it would be better to go with the one Joey preferred instead of trying to convince (...ok. manipulate) him to choose the one I liked. I contacted the seller and she quoted me a price...$50. Call me cheap but she's going to wear it once, not going to remember it, she's not old enough to even tell me if she likes it, she is tiny, and I saw how to make it on Pinterest. $50?! Not happening. So yes. I decided to make her costume myself. This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me at all!

I scanned Pinterest to find that pin I had saved so long ago (does anyone else feel like they need to clean out old boards??). I miraculously found it and headed up to Hobby Lobby. I had no idea what theme I was going for and no idea if this would even work. I pretty much thought I would look for candy corn type stuff, or purple, orange, and green typical Halloween colors. The item that sealed the deal was the baby leggings! They only had one pair that looked at all Halloween. They made the decision easy and the theme was born!

I spent the next thirty minutes running back and forth trying to think through all the pieces I would need to make this thing work. Somehow I got everything in the first trip! Not only that, Halloween items, 40% off! Fall items, 20% off! And 40% off a regular priced item! I made it out of Hobby Lobby spending a grand total of $30-ish dollars! I was a little concerned that I had forgot something and that number would continue to rise but, was happy to find that was all I would need!

I made it home and could not wait to get started! The same night I made the tutu. It took me maybe an hour. It was so easy that I watched Harry Potter with my husband while I worked. Score 1 for multi-tasking!

Of course she had to try it on right away...prepare for a sneak peek! We barely go this picture before she realized she was wearing something that was very fun to play with! After she noticed that we could hardly get her attention at all!

The rest of the outfit was procrastinated until the day of the "Trunk-or-Treat". Not a fact I'm proud of but...life happens. In the end, I finished before we had to leave so I consider that a win. On the day of the "Trunk-or-Treat" I had to iron on the letters for her onesie and make her bow. The leggings were done when I bought them. I had to put zero effort into them. The onesie was a rough one. At some point, my instructions for how to apply the letters were thrown away so I resorted to using the trial and error method. The result? Error. I do not think I took a picture of the disaster but I'm not proud of how I thought the letters should be applied. Not my brightest moment!

I did what any other stay-at-home mom would do during naptime...I woke Ellie, forced her into the carseat, drove all the way to the store so I could find another set of the same letters and read the back of the package. Not! I was not about to disturb naptime! I called Hobby Lobby and asked them to read me the directions. Were they thrilled by my request? Not in the least! But did they do it for me? Yes, yes they did. Let me explain my thought process here...when my husband and I built a fire pit for my Dad, Joey had me call and ask the nice man at Lowes for clarification on directions. The man was very happy to help. He even remembered helping Joey pick the stones. So why should the same direction clarification not apply to craft stores? By the way, I readily admit that Joey did pretty much all of the work for the firepit. I had every intention to help more, but he seemed to need me to supervise more than he needed me to dig, lay filler rocks, level, etc. Anyways, major bunny trail! The lady helped, I removed my poorly attached letters, and correctly reattached the letters. I am not totally happy with the way the word 'Halloween' looks but, the end result was still ADORABLE! Shirt finished, I moved on to her bow. 

 I decided it would be too much work to get the sewing machine out for the bow and so I found the tiny emergency sewing kit and got started. In hindsight, it would have been worth setting up the sewing machine! The bow took 10x longer than it should have and I broke the plastic thimble that came in the sewing kit. FYI, there's a reason thimbles aren't made of plastic. The back of a needle to the nail bed...not fun! Not at all! I finished the bow with time to spare and could not wait to show the whole look off to Joey! 

When he returned home from work we ate a super fast dinner and then prepared to go to the "Trunk-or-Treat". Neither of us had ever been "Trunk-or-Treating" so we had no idea what to expect. I imagined ten to twenty cars parked in a lot with us sitting behind ours and a few kids running around collecting candy. I couldn't have been more wrong! We pulled up to a HUGE bonfire (courtesy of the fire department), an area for dancing complete with a DJ and a projector screen, games inside the building, and thirty-or-so cars completely decked out! I forgot to mention the hundreds of people!! It was so much fun! Plus, Ellie looked adorable...if I do say so myself.

To wrap things up her costume turned out adorable! She got tons of compliments on it. She loved playing with the tutu. I saved $30. It was super easy and tons of fun to make! And I have enough tulle for another tutu if I so desired! Halloween costume #1...Success!!

Unexpectedly Blessed

I'm taking a break from my series of "In the Rear View" posts to share something that happened today. This is also my first post involving Ellie...and yes there are pictures! *May contain graphic images of poop explosion* You have been warned. But it's not that bad, doesn't smell, and was much worse in person.

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Today started out as a normal day. Eliana (my baby child) woke up around her normal time, we played, she ate and then we got ready to go run some errands. We are staying in a cottage near Ft. Sam Houston, which is a blessing I will have to write about in a different day. We drove on base and almost made it to the PX (post exchange- it's like target on base. Except it's not as big, sells designer brands and is part of a small “mall”. There are other souvenir type shops, a barber shop, and a food court in the mall.). The PX was supposed to be our first stop, only I forgot my credit card aka no money. You see 5/3 keeps canceling my card and sending me new ones because of "security breaches". Since January I have had four, now five, different cards. So, I forgot the new card at home. We drove all the way back, for the card, and returned to the PX. There wasn't too much I could do without any money. We sat in the food court while I activated the card and then did our shopping. I have had the card about two weeks now and still had not activated it. That means it had been that long since I bought anything! Be impressed.

But back to the story... we finished at the PX, like any other normal day and went to the post office. Only problem, I forgot one of the addresses I needed. That was unfortunate. (I'm beginning to sound like I still have pregnancy brain.) By the time we finished mailing my other packages it was 4:30. We had some time to kill before picking up Joey and I was hungry. Having talked to my dad the other day about a Burger King feud that has long existed in our family, BK sounded good. This is where the real story begins. Yes, everything before was necessary to the story, in case you're wondering. Other than the two major things I forgot already it had been a pretty normal, uneventful, pain-free day. Then, we drove into the Burger King parking lot. I was walking in, super excited to get some food in my tummy and the drive-thru guy came outside and asked me if I was the one waiting for food. My face must have been priceless. I was literally walking across the parking lot. Why would he think I was waiting for food? Bad sign #1. I continued to be excited about food and walked in the restaurant. What was the first thing I saw when I walked in the door? A man in the classic "I've been waiting here forever and I'm starting to get ticked" pose. Arms crossed, leaning on the line divider bar, staring at each employee who appears to be doing nothing. Admit it. You at least know exactly what I'm talking about if you haven’t been guilty of assuming this pose at least once in your life. Bad sign #2. I decided to stay anyway. I was practically starving. I was also beginning to regret trying to run errands today. I ordered, received my cup, and started dispensing my drink. The coke overflowed all over the counter because I got distracted by Ellie playing with Olaf in her car seat. Who wouldn't?

 

Olaf is the newest addition to our family. Daddy couldn't help it. We went to the Disney store this week. I can't help that I chose a husband who has stellar taste in Disney movies! So, sticky with coke, I found a table, situated myself and went to pick up my food. On attempting to eat my rather long awaited lunch/4:30 snack, I sadly realized my fries were cold. Not lukewarm (can non-liquids be called lukewarm?) straight up, cold. I requested new ones and was happily surprised when they were entirely too hot to eat! Believe it or not this trip became more positive. However, you have to fully understand how rough it was in order to appreciate the unexpected. It's worth it, trust me. 

I finally settled, and began eating my lunch. This is when I noticed the table directly across from me, seated at the table was a family of four. The two kids, who were probably in their twenties, both had disabilities. I kept accidentally making eye contact with the girl and smiling but she didn't smile back and didn't seem to be uncomfortable with the fact that we had made eye contact like 20 times in five minutes (I was at a restaurant alone after all. Ellie didn’t count in this situation because she was too distracted with Olaf to notice Mommy. Who can blame her? I was not having a conversation with anyone and there wasn’t much to look at in Burger King). It bothered me, but more to come on that later. So I was attempting to eat and then I realized it had been three hours since Ellie ate. Surely I could feed her at the same time I ate. And I did! Quite successfully actually, considering I was trying to use the cover. Feeding Ellie was going just fine until I heard the unmistakable sound of Ellie pooping. No problem, this happens all the time right? Wrong! Two words: poop explosion! Only it took a minute or two for me to realize that. I was still eating and then noticed my hand that's holding her feels wet. I looked at my hand and the unfortunate was confirmed. I stood up to go grab a napkin and held Ellie away from me and toward the only other table with people sitting at it, the aforementioned family. Consequently flashing them with her lovely explosion. It just happened to be on Mommy's favorite outfit for Ellie. Sad. (I'm really hoping It comes out when I wash it!)

I wiped my hand while walking as fast as possible to my table to grab the diaper bag. The mom however decided now was a good time to notice the baby in the room. Ordinarily I love showing Ellie off and talking with others about her, but now I was trying to handle a situation. So I smiled, responded to her remark about how small Ellie is, and tried to keep moving. She then informed me the girl I've been making eye contact with was only two pounds when she was born. I was shocked! But still distracted by the much larger than I thought explosion I was faced with. We finally made it to the bathroom only to find no changing table and the bathroom was quite disgusting! Perfect. Mentally to myself: "Poop explosions are bound to happen. Yes Shelby, in public too. We've done this before. Calm down. This is no reason to panic or even be embarrassed." After resuming normal breathing patterns, I decided to utilize the sink counter and the changing mat I luckily added to the diaper bag and got down to business. 

I was thankful I had plenty of wipes and Ellie was in a good mood. Not so much as a whimper! I was so impressed with how smoothly clean-up was going and then my arm touched something wet on my shirt. Yes, people...It was on me too! You didn't think it could get any better did you? I dove into the diaper bag looking for the shirt I hoped I put in there, and in perfect consistency with the rest of today, no shirt. But, by God's grace, I wore and undershirt today! Not that it fit, or is something I would ever wear out of the house, but there's was no bright yellow mess on it. At least I had something to wrap Ellie's clothes in so they didn't contaminate the whole diaper bag. This, my friends, is the second use for my lovely shirt.

Ok. So, diaper changed, both of us dressed with pretty much new outfits on, changing mat soaked (was there water on the counter when we started? Eww. Just eww.), stink bomb-mess in the trash can, we gathered ourselves and headed back to the table. 

After all the excitement that had come about, I realized, there really was no point in me asking for hot fries. Now none of my food was hot. Then I heard the words I never would have expected, and hadn't been asked yet, by a stranger, since Ellie was born, "Can I hold your baby?" This came from the mom with the disabled children. *Deep breath* To my surprise, I smiled and "yes" escaped my mouth. In my head: "Am I ever going to eat again? This is impossible. Be nice." I was glad I said yes though, because this was the turning point of my day.

I handed Eliana to the woman and decided it would not be socially acceptable for me to go back to my table and eat while she held my baby girl, even though my table (and FOOD) was, a mere, five feet away. The mom asked me her name and I told them. They told me what a pretty name they thought she had and then father asked me why we chose that name. I don't think anyone had asked me this either, and I was so excited to share! I told them that her name means "God has answered" in Hebrew and the conversation was off and running. The son who was in a wheelchair asked if she was a preemie (a question I get a lot), told me how he wants to have kids one day but needs to find a girlfriend first, and told me how beautiful she is. Then the moment that hit me the hardest, the girl who I was so confused by earlier, asked what Ellie looked like and what color her hair was. She was blind. The girl's family described Ellie to her and then I told the girl she could touch Ellie's hair to feel how much hair she had. 

In the middle of my day, at a time I regretted greatly my decision to go to Burger King, and all I could think about was my food, this family blessed me and gave me more of a reality check than they may ever know. Both of this woman's children were two pounds when they were born. The girl who is blind was born at twenty-three weeks! She told me that, unlike Ellie, she had no hair when she was born. The guy had such a great sense of humor, outgoing personality, and bright outlook on the future! He was cracking jokes the whole time! The girl asked my name and told me how pretty it was and that she had never heard it before. Her name was beautiful too. Heidi. She was so cheerful and sweet. The mom surprised me again by asking how old I was. At first I felt the judgment of her thinking I was too young. However that's not at all what she thought. She encouraged me and told me that she thought it was a good thing to have children early on in your marriage and life. I was totally wrong in thinking she was judging me. Unfortunately, we couldn't talk all day. I had to pick up Joey and still had to eat at some point. 

In the middle of what I thought was a terrible day and a horrible idea to go to Burger King, I was unexpectedly blessed! This family had been through so much. Two kids with disabilities. Two children born only two pounds. These parents had to watch their children fight for life the second they met each other. You could tell how much it meant to this woman to hold a baby in her arms again. Ellie gave her so much joy! My problems were nothing!

I am so blessed to be this healthy little girl's mommy! I'm blessed to get distracted by her cuteness and spill things. Blessed to have her be able to poop on me. Blessed to have money (even if I do forget to bring it) to run errands. This family probably will never know how much their small interaction meant to me. My day was totally turned around with a reality check that I very clearly needed. As I left and walked to my car, I was moved by all the many blessings that I take for granted every day. God has been so unbelievably good to me and my new little family. If I see this beautiful family again I intend to tell them how much they blessed me. I hope to run into them here on post again. But even if I don't their story will stick with me and continue to remind me thank God for His blessings everyday. After all, not only did He give me the family I met today to remind me, He also gave me these two to remind me everyday.