BUSTED!

Well, it appears Miss Laney is turning to a life of crime at an early age! It's a long story, so bear with me...

Last Friday, I took the afternoon off because it had been a very stressful week at work, and I had a bunch of errands to run. Mostly, I needed to go shopping for the Voluntary Action Center families that the church adopted. They were due on Sunday, and I was picking up a few last things. So I left work around noon, grabbed Laney, and we headed to Target. First on my list was a "true meaning of Christmas" book for each of the families (hey, we are a church, we're all about spreading the true meaning of Christmas), so I looked at Target, didn't see any, and headed to Barnes and Noble. Now, one thing I love, love, love about our mall is the family restroom area. As I was headed that way, I look down, and Miss Laney (who is riding happily in the stroller), ONLY HAS ON ONE SHOE! Are you kidding me? What did you do with your shoe?? You know how you always see those random shoes on the side of the road and you think "Seriously, who loses a shoe?!" Now I know...

Anyway, as it has been time for a new pair of shoes anyway, I wasn't too worried about it. Laney just went shoeless until we got back to Target (though I kept a lookout for the missing shoe... never saw it). I wandered around Target getting everything I needed, which included several big things. So I had to switch from the stroller to a cart, which was kind of a pain because I had the big stroller, and those don't exactly fit in the cart, so I had to fold it up and stick it on the rack at the bottom, but it stuck off about six inches on each side, and CONSTANTLY caught on everything. So, you can imagine my mood after wrestling the baby into the cart and the stroller onto the bottom of the cart after a long week at work and one trip around the mall already! But I was sticking with it...

So, I picked up the two comforters, box of glasses, and toys that I needed for the VAC families, and headed to the shoe department. Yeah, NO BABY TENNIS SHOES! Lots of dress shoes, NO TENNIS SHOES. Soooo not happy, because it's not like I can unload all the stuff I've already put in my cart. And who doesn't have tennis shoes, seriously?! But, not much I could do besides head out to the parking lot with my stuff, unload the cart, and head BACK inside with the baby in the stroller.

We headed to Payless, and found several cute pairs of tennis shoes, so I put them on her and let her walk in them a little, found a cute pair, and bought a pair of black dress shoes, too (hey, buy one, get one half off). Not a bad deal... however, after 2 trips around the mall and through Target, wrestling a one year old the whole time, and now getting a one year old to try on shoes (harder than you'd think, and it's not like she could tell me how the shoes felt), I was more than a little ready to go home and enjoy what was left of my afternoon off!

So back to the van we went! I unloaded the payless shoes, tossed my purse in the van, and reached for the diaper bag. As I pulled the diaper bag out of the bottom of the stroller, something caught my eye... A hot pink, glittery, Disney Princess ballet flat THAT I DID NOT BUY! Yes, my dear, sweet, Elena found a shoe she wanted and just decided to take it with her! So, BACK into the stroller she went, and BACK into the mall we went, BACK to Payless to return the shoe, then BACK to the van to unload everything again.

Definitely NOT my favorite shopping trip ever!! Ahh, the joys of a one year old! I told Josh I was never taking her shopping again... but I'm planning to take her tomorrow, so I guess I'll never learn! At least Laney and I have already covered that buy one get one half off does NOT mean a half of a pair of shoes!! :)