So stylish

I don't typically think of myself as a very stylish person, especially these days as I face the weird reality that my regular clothes don't fit yet but my maternity clothes don't exactly fit either.  Basically, I wear a lot of yoga pants.

However, one of my mom's very kind and lovely friends gave me a Kate Spade gift card when Hannah was born - I guess she figured purses fit no matter what size you wear :)  So last week on a trip to the outlets, I stopped in to look around.  Alex stayed outside with Hannah in the stroller, but I carried the diaper bag into the store.

As I was glancing at all of the beautiful bags, a Kate Spade employee stopped me.  She says:
"I love your bag! Where did you get it?"
"Umm it's a diaper bag.  I got it at Target...I think it's made by Carters."
"Seriously?  It is so cute!  Did you get it recently?  I could use that around campus."

So although I walked out of the store without making a purchase, I still felt super stylish toting my diaper bag :)

Returning to the world

I have spent the vast majority of the past 6 weeks in our house, and most of that time with my behind on the couch holding the baby or feeding the baby or watching the baby sleep.  I do get outside every day to walk the dog, but I hadn't ventured anywhere in a car by myself until last weekend.  After those successful trips, I felt like we were on a roll, so to keep up the momentum this week, Hannah and I ventured to the grocery store, the doctor's office, AND Target!

All three trips went well - Hannah slept most of the time and only cried a little bit in the line at the grocery and in the car.  Success!

The interesting part of these trips for me though was how...disorienting it was to be out in the world again.  It felt like sensory overload - so much to look at, so many people.  I might as well have been in Times Square.

I was trying to move through the stores really quickly, which I'm sure contributed to this feeling, but I wasn't expecting to feel so...out of sorts after just six weeks.  I actually commented to Alex afterwards that the lights in Target seemed brighter than usual.  Eek.

So this is a sign.  The time has come to start figuring out our new "normal" and it cannot be limited to the walls of my house.  The weather is getting nice, the baby is getting big, and I am losing my social skills.  We have to get out more :)

Our first adventure

As I posted on our family blog, this weekend was full of adventures for Miss Hannah and me - our first track meet and our first trip to church for Easter.

What I didn't post was some of the dramatics that went on behind the scenes.

Saturday morning everything was going really well - the dog was walked, the car was loaded, the diaper bag was packed with extra outfits, lots of changing supplies, hand sanitizer...you get the idea.  I was prepared.

I got Hannah all strapped in to her car seat, jumped in the front seat and we headed out.  She was doing great, staying calm...until we hit a stoplight.  Then the wailing began.

There was no way I was going to make the 35 minutes drive to the meet with her wailing like that and completely unable to comfort her.  So, I found a parking lot, we pulled over, and I jumped in the back seat to come to her rescue.  I changed her, rocked her, got her out in the fresh air, and she fell asleep.

Until I put her back in her car seat.

This time, I wised up.  Instead of pulling her out, I pulled the whole car seat out and swung her like a (really heavy) swing next to the car.  After a few minutes of that, success!  She went to sleep and stayed asleep for the whole drive.  The whole adventure took an extra 30 minutes or so, but we made it!