I haven't posted a "mommy story" in a while, so I thought I would share this one. All of this needs to be taken in context of the fact that I woke up at 6am on the day preceding these events and had been up for more than 36 hours with only a short nap...
We have family coming into town soon for a wedding and I've been desperately searching for cute, coordinating outfits for all the little girls in hopes we will be able to get some pictures. This has not been an easy task to accomplish (without spending a fortune) as the babies range in size from 0-3 months all the way up to 2T.
As I was post call from a night shift and don't like sleeping during the day, I took advantage of my toddler-free time to hit up Gymboree's summer clearance (LOVE this store!) after cleaning my house and working on a sewing project. After an hour of searching through clearance bins, I thought I had finally done it! Four adorable, coordinating outfits for less than $50! When I got home I was reviewing my purchases and realized one of the outfits was just a shirt; the bloomers were missing. I called the store, but they couldn't find them and had NO other outfits in that style and size. After a quick internet search, I found there was another Gymboree at a mall thirty minutes away. I was hopeful I could find the same outfit, so I decided to make the trip.
As I was strapping the bug into her car seat, I double checked that there was a diaper bag already in the car (both mine and daddy's were in the back) and we were off. For the most part, bug enjoys Gymboree as there are cute chairs and a TV on to entertain her. She was good for the first few minutes while I was shopping, but quickly got bored with the shows on the TV and decided to "hide" under the racks that I was searching through. This was fine as I could see her and look at clothes at the same time. All of a sudden, she burst out holding both hands in front of her crying "uh oh, uh oh, uuuh oooooh!" Both hands were coated with a brown/yellow sticky looking substance. My first thought was grease from the racks, but as she came closer the smell informed me otherwise.
Holding her by the elbows to prevent her from touching anything on the way out, I sought out the nearest bathroom (which was waaay too far away considering the circumstances). Using copious amounts of soap we scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed. I had left the diaper bag in the car, so after making sure there were no ominous leaks from her diaper, we made our way back to the store to purchase the clothes I had set aside. After apologizing a million times for my stinky bug, I paid and rushed out to the car.
I popped open the back of our Mazda 5, spread out the changing pad, and laid the bug down. Casually, I reached for the diaper bag and found it empty. Ok, I thought. No big deal. I'll just get a diaper from the other one. But wait, that one was empty too! Two empty diaper bags?! A very large, stinky diaper and no diapers or wipes in either bag. Really? REALLY?!
And this is where my creativity was truly put to the test. I felt like McGyver. Using half a bottle of lemon flavored water, assorted fast food napkins, and two gently used cloth bibs I was somehow able to get the bug's bottom reasonably clean and fashion a make-shift diaper.
Take home lesson: Always have extra diapers!
