Once upon a time...

Okay, I promised I would tell you this story in my last post, so here I go...

It was mid-December of 2006, and for some reason I was at the mall in the big town north of us. I honestly don't remember why I was there, I must have still been a bit brain dead from the whole non-sleeping newborn thing.

Seriously, I was at the mall with a 4 1/2 year old, a 2 year old, and a 3 month old baby.

In mid-December.

Smart.

Anyway, I must have had a smidge of sense, because my mother was with me at least. I remember that we ate at the food court, and then decided to check out what Sears had. I remember fighting with Ellie over who knows what, Annie starting to cry and realizing that we were short on time. So in a rush, I laid Austin down in the back seat of our gigantic double stroller.

And didn't buckle him in.

Remember that.

I mean, he wasn't even quite 3 months yet, he couldn't go anywhere, right?

We started towards sears, Austin was crying, poor baby. He hadn't nursed well with all the commotion of the mall, and I knew he was ready to be fed well, and go to sleep. So I walked quickly to Sears, hoping that maybe the motion of the stroller would put him to sleep. He continued to cry, and I continued to walk, dragging Ellie behind me, and leaving my mom to fend for herself with Annie.

He cried louder.

I walked faster.

I never checked on him, I just assumed that he was mad because he was hungry.

Poor, poor baby.

We finally made it to the toy section of Sears.

Again, I have no idea why we were there.

Why, Why, Why?

Anyway, so we're at the toy section, and I have two girls both grabbing toys off the shelves and begging for various items, and Austin is still screaming. Fending off the girls, I go to pick up Austin, and he's not there.

He's not there?

Wha???

My heart about jumped out of my chest, WHERE WAS MY BABY???

Then my brain kicked in.

I can HEAR him, but where IS he?

Then I saw him, in the storage basket under the stroller.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!

He was kinda stuck, and was in an awkward position. I think I yelled for my mom to help me, as I tried to gently extract him from under the stroller. I was MORTIFIED, and completely shook up as we managed to get him out. He calmed down quickly, and after I thoroughly examined him, I realized he was okay.

This is my life people, this is my life.

As I said in my last post, I should have known then that he'd be hard to keep up with. My best guess is that as I walked and as he cried, that he just wiggled enough to slide down into the basket. Needless to say, we're big fans of the whole "strapping the baby in" thing now. Except now he can usually get out anyway.

Oh, and while my mom and I were distracted with rescuing my son, Annie went missing for a few moments. Talk about heart stopping. She had wandered a few isles over, looking at toys. We located her quickly, but it was enough to scare me out of the mall for awhile.

So, lesson learned. Don't go to the mall with a 4 1/2 year old, a 2 year old, and a newborn nursing baby at Christmas time, even if your mother is with you.

Janelle, Jen, are you reading this? Tara?

I hope my mistakes will help others learn what not to do!

Goodness.

Mercy.

Only me.