Mommyhood... so far...

Fashionistas! I am thrilled to introduce you to my new mini (male) fashion plate… Gavin Patrick! The punctual little man arrived on his due date (9-11-13) – the very best day the husband and I have ever had - and has been entertaining us ever since. We love everything about him, and of course, I especially love dressing the little peanut. Styling the tiniest of outfits is a daily joy! Just as we do, babies can really dress for occasions. Also, as we do, they may wear multiple outfits in a day.

Actually, I don’t know why people say that babies don’t need that many clothes. I heard over and over “Oh, he’ll never wear that” and “They really don’t need that much when they are little.” This is a lie. Don’t listen! And I’m not just saying that because I love changing his clothes and making new looks; he’s like a real doll! (Selecting the outfits for his newborn photo shoot brought me back to my glory days of personal styling at Nordstrom - this was just for a very tiny customer! Note the teensy white collared shirt below... can't even stand it) I’m telling you the truth, because unless you want to do six loads of laundry per day, your baby needs a lot of clothes. I don’t have time to be the maid and the mommy, so I would rather the babe has a complete wardrobe than spend my very limited free time (drinking champagne) in the laundry room.

Though he is just a month old, we have had several important outings. Most, obviously, are retail destinations. They are warm, dry, flat, lovely places to walk that have great eye candy as well. We have frequented Nordstrom (multiple locations), Target and other favorites. I loved shopping before, but I have to admit, it is a whole new high to shop with a fabulous stroller and a darling baby inside. Plus, there is great storage for your purchases!

However, the stroller situation does add an extra challenge to the regular shopping trip, and even an experienced shopper like me has a steep learning curve with this apparatus. This is no new handbag that one can easily toss your wallet in and move on – it is a whole endeavor with pieces, parts, clicks and manual labor!

My first time out with the Bugaboo (details featured here – it really is a great stroller), I patted myself on the back after I unloaded it from the back of the Prius, assembled the 2 parts together, and loaded in the baby. We rolled into Nordstrom where we enjoyed a luxurious afternoon – I had been away for 2 weeks and it felt oh so good to be back. I should have known the whole thing was too good to be true. Back to the parking lot, and all hell broke loose. As the wind nearly blew me over, I could not get the top part off the stroller base. After a frantic call to the husband where he basically told me to push the button in (genius, I know), the stroller was back in 2 pieces. Success! Again, I spoke to soon. Now, I cannot get the base to fold down. I call the husband again, and this time he says “I don’t really know how to explain it.” NOT the right answer. So, I threw the whole thing standing straight up in the car and raced home, instructing him to meet me in the driveway for a serious tutorial.

Two weeks later, I am capable of locking and loading the stroller. This is still not a smooth process, but at least I can see out my rearview mirror because the thing folds down. Anyways, I asked the husband (see the rare sighting of him above in our first formal family photo - he looks so sweet but wait 'til you see what he does next) to please put the stroller in the car for me one morning. While I appreciated him completing this task, I did not appreciate when he came back inside and sheepishly said, “Um, I can fix it for you later, but I think that maybe when you went on your walk yesterday you might have rolled the stroller through some dog poop” (all while avoiding eye contact). “What!” I shrieked. “You think I’m suppose to go meet my girlfriends at Nordstrom for lunch with dog poop all over the wheel?” Not to worry – he assured me that it was dry. And he would hose it off. Later. As in like the next day. Unacceptable! I let him know I would take care of it myself. And I think I added in one of those sweet phrases like, “since I have to do everything around here.” You know, one of those signature ones that really reflects what a nice person I am. 

As I prepared for this disgusting duty, I remembered that I don’t know how to use the hose. I know this because this summer I drenched my pregnant self while attempting to water the husband’s pepper garden (which never actually yielded a pepper I got to taste, so clearly that was time well spent of mine). So, knowing that I don’t have the time or patience to learn to use the hose properly, I decided to use something I’m more familiar with – bottled water. I took a bottle of water out to the car, opened the trunk and gingerly set the aforementioned poop wheel out the edge of the back. Then, I proceeded to dump a whole bottle of water on it. Realizing I needed a little more “umph,” I grabbed a wad of paper towels and another bottle of water. It was nearly clean, except for some remnants in the grooves. Not wanting to leave the job incomplete, I resourcefully located a twig in the yard and finished the job. And, I still had half of the second water bottle. Not too shabby! Another opportunity for this new mommy to pat herself on the back.

These are the adventures in mommyhood so far… I really do like the stroller (how cute does it look here? this was from our dog-poop-free walk today in the fabulous fall weather), but I do recommend that people practice before going out in public. Luckily, Gavin just enjoys the ride (in his cute outfits), and doesn’t notice the obstacles his mother endures. But, as us fashionistas know, it pains to be beautiful. And in this case, this beast of a stroller can just be a pain. But, this sweet face in this sweet set of wheels is worth it! Happy strolling, fashionistas.