Erin Akin Carroll

I think we all pray for the day when our kids will sleep through the night. And that first night that they finally do feels like a major victory. And once we reach that point, why would we ever want to go back?

I had church activities last night and Todd was at a Carolina baseball game. My mom got the boys to bed for me. When I got home, I checked on Hudson and he was asleep. I settled in on the couch and was in a hazy state while watching Joshua Ledet slay the competition. (Just my two cents.)

All of a sudden, I heard a sob. And then I heard screaming, “I want my mommy!” So I jumped up and rushed to Hudson’s room. I tucked him back in, kissed him, and returned to my spot.

About thirty minutes later, it happened again. So I asked him if he wanted to come snuggle up with me on the couch for a few minutes.

Those moments between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. before I go to bed are my only true moments of completely relaxed “me time” during the day. I can respond to emails, watch whatever I want on TV, catch up with my husband, or just fall asleep on the couch. All things I like to do.

But when my three-year-old is calling for his mommy, it all changes.

There is nothing sweeter than the feeling of a still, snuggly toddler boy breathing deeply while his heavy eyelids blink closed against your cheek. There is nothing that breaks my heart more than looking at his soft little hand holding mine while my other arm is supporting his solid little body in the little nook where my arm meets my body.

I held Hudson while we listened to the American Idol contestants finish their performances. We giggled a few times, but mostly just laid there in silence.

I absolutely love that my kids like to sleep. But when I got the opportunity to hold my biggest baby without any distraction last night, I was overwhelmed with excitement. Truly.

I imagine this is how the Father feels about me. I come to Him daily when it’s easy and I have time. But when life gets hectic, I push my time with Him to the back of my list. So I go on about my way, asserting my independence and just taking care of myself.

But when I can’t go on like that anymore, and I finally open my eyes and realize that I need Him, He’s ready for me. With open arms and more comfort than I could ever imagine. When I pray and ask for this comfort, I imagine myself in that same little nook where I had Hudson last night.

On Monday night, Todd and I had the most fun night out. Our friend, Susie, gave us tickets to the City Roots Farm harvest dinner. The City Roots Farm is an in-town sustainable farm in the middle of Columbia, about a mile from our house.

At the harvest dinner, guests are served a three course meal plus dessert. The courses are prepared from fresh vegetables harvested that day from the farm. They partner with other local farms for the meat and fish.

We had a great family-style meal and were pleasantly surprised to sit with some of our friends. I also saw a friend that I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. It was such a fun evening!

The table setting was so simple, but so cute. I loved the little sunflowers and mason jars.

We got to tour the farm before the dinner began. We saw chickens and lots of fresh produce. It really is the neatest thing that this is in the middle of town.

There was a cocktail hour before dinner was served.

Each course was paired with wine and beer for us to taste. This was quite possibly the best salad I’ve ever tasted. We also had mahi mahi with jalapeño remoulade and fresh collards. Then our final course was bison skewers and orzo. There were a lot of “tatonka” jokes at our table.

Last night my mom and I went to see The Lucky One when Todd got home from work. We got the boys fed and Todd put them to bed so we could go out. I loved The Lucky One book, so I was excited to see the movie. I enjoyed it. Zac Efron has really grown up. Hee hee.

After the movie, we drove over to Cafe Caturra for some appetizers and prosecco. It was a gorgeous night and we just liked sitting outside and getting to spend some time together.

Hudson and Hayes have been playing together more and more lately. Hudson is really good about giving Hayes certain toys to play with– the ones that he’s allowed to chew on.

We’ve been working on getting Hudson to stop being so defiant. We told him that any time he shouted “no” at me he would go to time out. So every single time he has shouted “no” at me, he goes to time out. And it is so funny. It has definitely worked. And today, I asked him to sit in his chair to eat his supper and he said “no” then went to time out. He came back and I told him to get in his seat for supper. And he just shook his head “no” but never actually said it. We were trying so hard not to laugh at him. Smart stinker!

Hudson has “water day” at school this morning, so he was pretty excited. He won’t be going swimming, but he kept talking about going to “the peach” when we were putting his swimsuit on him this morning. I’m getting excited for summer!

1. My mom is still here and we’re loving having her here! It’s just nice to have some adult company during the day. And someone to entertain Hudson when he’s bored with me.

2. I took Hayes to the ENT today for a tubes follow up appointment. His ears look great and he passed his hearing test with flying colors. Yay!

3. I wore my Cora earrings from Bridier Baubles today. I love these so much! They are the perfect pop of color. I have a few other orders from them coming. I can’t get enough! (And I totally took this picture while sitting in the parking lot at the ENT’s office)

4. Have you tried the chocolate chip cookies from Chick-fil-A? Oh my goodness. They’re heaven in a little brown bag. It is incredibly dangerous to have such delicious chocolate chip cookies via a drive through window. Chick-fil-A, I love you, but my hips don’t.

5. We had an amazing dining experience last night and I will blog about it tomorrow. And my mom and I are going to see The Lucky One tonight.

6. My good friend Anna and I have a nice little system going. She tells her daughter that “Miss Erin said to do something” and I totally used her today and got Hudson to hold her hand to walk to the car after preschool. Since he refuses to hold my hand. Hey, whatever keeps him from getting hit by a car.

7. I’m taking full advantage of having my mom in town and trying to take care of any appointments that are difficult with children. My hair appointment is tomorrow. Hello, summer blonde! I’ve missed you!

8. My dogs are out of control. Just hyper and barking like crazy. Maybe they’re allergic to toddlers.

9. I have mentally moved in to a house that we love. Please, St. Joe, help our house get sold.

10. Hudson’s legs look like a game of “connect the dots” without all the connecting. His little legs are so bruised up. But he is constantly running into things and falling down.

11. Mother’s Day is this weekend. I actually get to spend Mother’s Day with my mom for the first time in about six years. I’m really looking forward to it.

12. I got sunburned this weekend at Hayes’s party. I hate getting sunburned, but it’s amazing how quickly my face is so clear after getting a little sun!

13. And because it’s so dang cute to me, you have to see these two pictures of my baby boys.

I feel like there needs to be a packing list that comes inside every diaper bag. When babies are teeny tiny, they need so much stuff. It’s all little-bitty stuff, but it’s still needed. And good grief, if you forget just one little thing, you have a tiny time bomb that could go off and change the course of your whole outing!

Hayes is completely unpredictable on even the smallest outing. He could go through as many as 5 diapers on a two-hour trip. Not even joking.

Hudson and Hayes both need a spare change of clothes. I have started putting a spare set for Hudson in a large plastic bag and leaving it in the car. His most common accident is spilled milk. And it’s not that uncommon for us to use Hayes’s spare clothes. I put his change of clothes in the diaper bag and usually need a new set of clothes packed in there every few days.

I pack a bottle because you just never know when you’ll need it. I also have a small formula dispenser that I keep in the bag, and I’ll just put however many servings of formula I need in the dispenser.

When Hayes was born, we received a really cute wipes container. It is covered in adorable car fabric, and I just refill it every few days or so. It doesn’t take up much space in the bag.

I try to have the diaper bag all ready to go at all times. If we’re just running errands, I’ll throw my wallet into the diaper bag with a couple of my little pouches that hold lipstick, a makeup compact, pens, etc. If we’re going to church and I need to leave the diaper bag with Hayes, I have a different plan: I pack the diaper bag for Hayes and leave it in his nursery room. I always have things for Hudson in my diaper bag, too, but when I’m dropping them off somewhere, I pack Hudson’s small little backpack with a cup and a couple of diapers and wipes to take to his nursery room. And then I pack my purse for me.

Even if we’re going on a very short outing, I just know I can’t leave the house without a diaper or two. We’ve had plenty of scenarios when I’ve either forgotten to refill the wipes container or forgotten the bottle but packed the formula. Time bomb goes off.

So what’s your strategy? Do you leave all of the essentials in the car so you know you have plenty, no matter what? What lessons in diaper bag packing have you learned? Do you pack up the entire nursery or just dash out of the house with one diaper

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