It's become a bit of a tradition for me to have the Saturday before Mother's Day all to myself to go shopping and unwind. This year, Handyman asked if I'd be willing to go to Madison, Wisconsin, to get him some stuff from Staples for him to resell.
(There is an Anthropologie in Madison, so of course I said yes.)
Since I had to take Baby Ella along anyway, I decided to take Miss Boo as well, and we could have a girls day out. Miss Boo loves shopping, and she's generally wonderful to have along.
On the drive, which takes us about an hour and a half, we stopped at a wonderful Swiss Bakery to "refuel".
The desserts and pastries there are amazing.
(Pastries always taste better when they're attached to un-pronounceable names.)
Ella was her typical beatific self and slept nearly the entire time. Nursing her has gotten MUCH easier, and we're finally starting to hit our groove together. She's finally regained her birth weight after three weeks, and the last time I weighed her, she had gained another half pound.
After my scare with her nursing troubles, chubby cheeks of any sort are especially dear.
The girls and I did our shopping in Madison with limited success (score on the clothes, nix on the Staples items) and had just begun to head home after a long day when I got in a three-care accident.
Unfortunately, it was entirely my own fault. I wasn't talking on the phone or texting, but I was unfamiliar with the area and was trying to find the right road and at the same time Ella had just started to cry when I ran through a stop sign. I thought that I had the right of way at the intersection and didn't notice the stop sign until it was too late. I slammed on the brakes, but I wasn't able to stop in time to avoid the minivan heading across the intersection. I careened into their passenger side, and then our two vehicles skidded to the right and hit another car that was stopped.
I think I was going around 40 mph at the time, and the result was that I most likely totaled our van and the van I hit first. The third car had a fender-bender.
Thankfully both the girls were perfectly fine with no bruising. Ella was a little scared and very much ticked off that I wasn't nursing her RIGHT NOW, and Miss Boo was having the time of her life with all the dramatic attention.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Miss Boo: (with Broadway caliber tears and moans) "Oh yes, I have tons and TONS of bruises. (Pulling up pant leg) See all my injuries? I got this bruise from Peter, and this bruise from Gabe, and this bruise from kicking the neighbor boy . . . " and so forth.
Rather Stunned Paramedic: "Miss, I mean, do you have any bruising from the accident? May I check to see if you have bruises on your chest from the seat belt?"
Miss Boo: (word for word quote) "Excuse me sir, but I must first ask my mother if you can see me naked."
Meanwhile her exasperated mother was sitting in the front seat nursing Baby Ella and wondering what sort of child this girl would be.
All joking aside, I am beyond thankful for the lack of serious injuries for all involved. One of the people in the first car I hit had a dislocated shoulder and needed to go to the hospital, but everyone else was okay except for bruises and muscle pains.
I am more sore now than I was after giving birth, ironically. Today I was so blessed to have not one but TWO Haleys (a college-age friend from church and my niece) come over for the day to help me around the house. With enough ibuprofen in me I'm able to manage, except that I can't pick up Ella or get off the couch if I'm holding her, so the extra help was wonderful.
Definitely, this is one mother's day tradition I hope NOT to repeat!
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