Mother Of the Year

We had a lot of excitement today! First, we got up early and met David at work for a really cool family event:

After that, we headed straight to story time. We stayed afterward for a half hour while the kids played together and my sister and I chatted. Then Ayden and I were off to my parents' house for a visit for my mom's birthday. We gave her the gift I've been working on for a couple days:

Inspired by this pin.

And had an awesome visit. My mom is sewing some costume props for an upcoming competition and did not have enough fabric. I am going back to their house tomorrow to get a quick sewing lesson for a home made baby gift for our future nephew (due in late January). Since I was already planning on going to the fabric store to pick up supplies for that, my mom asked me to pick up more fabric for her as well.

Here is what I came away with for the gift.  Any guesses?

While we were in the store, Ayden was getting bored/fussy so I gave him my wallet to play with. It kept him occupied while I finished up my shopping and then I checked out and loaded up the car.  I always put Ayden in the car first because I don't like leaving him in the stroller or shopping cart in a parking lot while I am distracted with loading up the car.  So after I put Ayden in, I loaded up the back, closed the back door then reached into my pocket for my keys.  As soon as I found my pocket empty, I remembered that I had looped my keys onto the handle of my wristlet, which Ayden still had with him in his car seat.  Just as I reached out my hand to open his door I heard the click of the doors locking and then the horn beep that confirmed that the car was, in fact, locked up tight...

I stood there for a few seconds letting the situation sink in.  That horn that I heard came from my car.  My baby has my keys and has locked himself in.  Awesome.  I officially get the Mother Of the Year award.  I looked through the window to see Ayden happily chewing away on the keys he always wishes he can get his mouth on but is never allowed and my heart sank because I knew that he would soon catch onto the fact that I wasn't getting into the car with him.  My first instinct was to call David to see if he could get home to deliver the spare in a timely manner but he was at CrossFit and his phone went to voicemail.  I considered calling the gym but then decided that maybe a locksmith would be better.  Luckily my phone was in my pocket so I googled the number and called, only to discover they would take at least a half an hour.  By this time Ayden was beginning to fuss and I knew that it would only escalate.  Thirty plus minutes would just not do.  The lady I spoke with for the locksmith suggested that I call 911 so that is just what I did.  I have never called 911 before and hope that I never have to for a life-threatening emergency.  Though a young child being locked in a car is what I would consider an emergency, I still felt guilty using such an extreme resource when I knew we were all "okay."  Just the same, I needed to get my now crying baby out of the car as soon as possible and knew that 911 would do just that.  I called, told them what happened and where we were and in about 10 minutes I heard sirens.  Lots of them.  Surely they weren't for us, right? First I see a fire truck pull into the shopping center, then an ambulance, followed by a police car.  I'm pretty sure the look on my face was hilarious because I was expecting one measly cop car, not an entire rescue squad.  There were 8 or 9 men total that came to my baby boy's rescue, though it only took 3 or 4 to actually get the car open.  Within a few minutes Ayden was in my arms and all the guys in his rescue squad were getting a kick out of the fact that he had locked himself in.  Hahaha, so funny...  I am so grateful that we have people to call on when we need help and they were so kind to me, reassuring me that it actually happens a lot and half-jokingly suggesting that I get a hide-a-key for next time.  Which is actually not such a bad idea...  It was interesting how though I felt horrible while it was all happening,  I was able to stay calm and collected. As soon as Ayden was out of the car, though, tears of relief were welling up in my eyes as I thanked every single man who came to our rescue.

Needless to say, Ayden was not happy about getting back into the car seat when it was time to go home but we made it and the rest of our evening was great.

Back home!
(and still playing with said wallet with tear-swollen eyes)

David played with Ayden after dinner while I did a short workout DVD and then it was bath and bed time for the tired little man. Between screaming his little head off (which it quickly escalated to while all of the strangers were working so hard to pry the car door open) and playing so hard that he was in constant giggle fits with daddy, he fell asleep quickly and easily.

It was a very eventful day but I can't say that I am glad that, as promised, I had more exciting things to share!  Be careful what you wish for, right??

Lesson learned today: NEVER give your baby your keyless entry remote while they are in the car without you.  Seems like a no brainer but I suppose even obvious lessons are learned the hard way sometimes.

~Sarah