I hate to bore you by going through the events of my day. But, it has been one of those days filled with moments that were so awful I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time and then some that gave me goosebumps. So I must write about it.
I thought it was going to be a good day. Look at that happy baby this morning!
I even managed to get us all out of the house and to Coen's photo session on time. But of course they were running late. There were two people working, and when it was our turn we of course get the young, inexperienced one. Coen had been fine and sleeping the whole time we were waiting, but then he started fussing. The photographer was clueless and I was basically telling her what I wanted, but she wasn't really even doing that. Then Sierra started acting up and wouldn't listen or move out of the way. I can usually tell within minutes if we are going to get any good pictures or not - and I knew within seconds this was not going to go well. Finally I gave up and said we were done, because I saw people waiting and felt rushed. I was so frustrated I wanted to cry.
The photographer was going through our pictures and I asked her if she had experience photographing young kids because it didn't seem like she knew what to do. I wasn't trying to be rude, but it was a very BAD experience. She just seemed like a deer in headlights. Finally she said that there were no more appointments once they finished the one after ours, so we could try again if we wanted to. Why didn't she just mention that when he was fussing during the shoot? She just kind of sat there and said nothing!
I knew Coen was tired and/or hungry and if I could just get him to fall asleep, he would do fine. The JC Penney by our house only has a potrait studio for the holidays because there isn't enough room. So it is crammed. I found a few chairs and sat there and decided to try to feed Coen. I sat there and nursed him with a blanket over it for privacy (ha, yeah right). A worker kept walking past us to go in this door that my stroller was almost blocking. I felt bad but I wasn't getting up to move it when Coen was finally content and eating.
About 10 minutes later, Sierra says "Mommy, I have to pee." At this moment I wonder why I wanted her to be potty trained so badly. So I asked her if she could hold it, of course she said no. I forced Coen to be done eating and ran to the bathroom. Wouldn't you know that it was closed for cleaning. Really?! I asked a worker where another bathroom was before Sierra had an accident and she took us up the very slow elevator to the third floor. Sierra made it without an accident.
Then I finished nursing Coen back on the chairs by the portrait studio. Sierra was whining that she was hungry - I was too - and of course I left in such a rush that I didn't pack snacks. But we were there and I didn't want to come back - plus the coupon I had expired today - so we were trying again if it killed me. I bribed Sierra to behave with a trip to McDonald's.
Things went better with the other photographer and Sierra even behaved. I got what I wanted - pictures similar to the newborn ones of Sierra, although I think hers are better. I will post when I get them back, because the whole picture thing needs an entire post dedicated to it anyway.
Sierra wouldn't let me forget McDonald's, so off we went in the rain. Probably the highlight of my day at this point was seeing that the toy in the happy meal was Hello Kitty - for those of you who don't know, I have a slight obsession with Hello Kitty. And so does Sierra - my brainwashing worked :)
There is a bank right across from the McDonald's, so even though it was pouring I was determined to do the last errand I had planned - open a savings account for Coen. I had his social security number with me and everything, so I was doing it today.
As we sat down, I noticed a picture of a double rainbow on the lady's desk. I always notice rainbows now, so I commented on it. She started telling me the story behind the picture. Her brother passed away and was an organ donor. They had a memorial serivce for all the people who donated organs, and during it there was a completely round, circle rainbow. And then a double rainbow. In the picture, it looked like there was an opening in the sky above the rainbow, like a stairway to heaven. It was an amazing picture. Then she started telling me how ever since that day, they notice rainbows all the time and think of her brother when they see them. She said when her niece got married there was a huge rainbow that looked like it was going into the ocean, and then another one in front of her brother's old house.
I was getting goosebumps - here I am, opening an account for our little rainbow baby, and the woman doing it is telling me stories about rainbows. So of course I had to tell her the story. I started by saying on the day Coen was born, my cousin had come in to take pictures of Sierra meeting him. On her way home, she saw a rainbow in the sky - and it was a beautiful, sunny day - no rain. Here's the picture:
So then I decided to just explain why rainbows mean so much to us - I gave her the short story. I said that babies born after couples have lost a baby are referred to as "rainbow babies" because they represent the beauty after the storm. I just said that we had a baby who passed away in between our other kids and so Coen was our rainbow baby. Usually when I say that, people look at me with pity. Not her - she was so moved by it, she was teary eyed. It was one of those strange moments when you feel so connected to a person you don't even know.
And so, what a day it was! Our night wasn't much better - but it's almost time for bed and I look forward to sleep every night. Even if I only get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep!
