With Jason out of town hunting, I thought it would be nice to have a mother-daughter day. Today was Small Business Saturday, so I decided to plan a nice day around supporting some of our local small businesses. We set off on our adventure in the morning!
We started out our day by going to Mugwalls for breakfast tacos and coffee (obviously Aria did not partake in the coffee).
We then walked next door to Brinks & Babs, a cute children's boutique I've always wanted to check out! We came away with some cute baby leg warmers. (Aria is in the background waving.) I could tell Aria was already starting to get tired so I decided to see how our next stop went to determine whether or not we should just head home for a very early nap.
Our next stop was at Cloud 9 Baby. They had some seriously amazing deals so along with some much needed cloth diaper detergent, I got a coloring book for Aria's birthday and a very cute outfit!
Aria seemed to get a 2nd wind so we decide to head to Bryan to check out a Holiday Christmas Village display in which the proceeds this weekend are going to Brazos Valley Troupe! Had a great time catching up with M.A.!
Aria had a wonderful time at the Christmas village, but got pretty upset when I told her we needed to leave. I could tell she was tired so we hopped in the car and headed towards home. She was playing with a sticker she got at Cloud 9 Baby and stuck it to her pacifier, but then passed out with the sticker still in place. Since she fell asleep and I didn't want to move her, I went ahead and drove around for a bit and ended up parking at my parent's house to let her sleep for an hour.
I thought when Aria woke up she'd be refreshed and ready to go, but she still seemed to be struggling with being sleepy and was still acting up a bit. Nonetheless it was 2pm and we needed to eat lunch so we headed to Downtown Bryan for a quick bite with my mom and grandmother at Madden's. So delicious!
It really was a beautiful day and Aria decided she wanted to play outside for a bit. She looks pretty happy in the photos below but she was really to the point of not listening to me and running away when I told her we had to leave.
In my mind I had this grand day planned with my perfect child. Even though we had a lot of fun I was really disappointed in the fact that Aria started acting so opposite of her normal self. She was slapping things out of my hands, hitting herself, screaming, doing this spitting thing she's been doing lately, and flat out looking me in the eyes and doing exactly what I told her not to do.
I know this behavior was mainly the result of me not taking her home to have a proper nap. And it probably even goes back as far as our trip last weekend to Seattle where she got very little sleep. I just don't think she has fully recovered yet. But even though the blame should most likely be put on me, my heart still broke a little every time she was mean to me.
As a mom I really feel like I failed today. She normally listens so well, so when she didn't I really wasn't sure how to handle it. I pretty much broke down and just stopped talking to her in the car which devastated her and in turn devastated me. She cried all the way home.
When we got home I offered her dinner and she ate a little but decided she wasn't interested in eating much. She wanted to watch Rio (imagine that) but I told her no. At 5:15pm I decided to put her to bed. I was so emotionally exhausted and upset about not handling Aria's behavior well.
I think God had no intentions of our day ending so poorly because about 45 mins after I put her down Aria woke up crying for me. I went and pulled her out of her bed and let her lay down with me on the couch while we waited for the Aggie game to begin. I explained to her that she could not play or watch Rio and that if she wanted to stay with me she would have to lay down on the couch beside me or go back to her crib.
She was so sweet and I realized I needed to let go of the day's events and just cuddle my baby. She ended up falling asleep in my arms which in my opinion is the perfect way to end the day! I thank God for the chance to make things right and can only pray that tomorrow both Aria and I make better choices!
