Nightmares in Parenting

I was originally going to call this post "Adventures in Parenting"...but then I thought, "Who am I kidding??  These are nightmares, not adventures!!"

I have been a parent for almost 3.5 years now and I can easily recall the 3 worst experiences I have had as a parent, without missing a detail.....

The first was a pretty crappy deal!  Rylee was just 3 months old and we were tagging along with James on a work trip to the eastern part of the state.  We had just dropped him off for a meeting and then went to Target to kill time until he was done (because who can't spend 2 hours in Target?!?!?!).  Shortly after we got there I needed to use the restroom.  It didn't occur to me to bring Rylee in in her infant seat and just set it on the floor....instead, I just brought her into the bathroom with me and wondered how in the world I was going to make this work with a baby in one arm.  But...I made it work and was so proud to have accomplished something that seemed impossible 3 minutes prior!!  I was on cloud nine and wanted to shout to the entire store that I just successfully made it through my first hurdle as a parent!!  Little did I know that was just the warm-up to what would happen next.....

While we were walking the isles, Rylee had that face....the "I'm pooping" face.  I waited a little bit to make sure she was finished and then we headed back to the bathroom for a diaper change.  I parked my cart outside of the restroom and unbuckled Rylee from her car seat.  As I lifted her out of it I saw that she had left 2lbs of poop in her seat!!!  HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!?!?!?!  OH MY GOSH!!!  What am I going to do???  I'm in a public place!!!  AHHHHHH!!!!  I decided to deal with her first and grabbed the diaper bag and headed into the bathroom.  I laid some paper towels down on the changing table and put Rylee on top of them.  While trying to get her poop soaked outfit off, I of course managed to get more poop on her than she already had.  I needed more than just wipes and paper towels...I needed some really wet paper towels.  How the heck was I going to get the paper towels wet while holding my baby on the changing table (it didn't have any straps or I just didn't trust them...or want to get poop on them...I can't remember which)???  I'm holding Rylee with one hand and reaching as far as I can with the other to get the paper towel wet...I'm sure I looked quite comical.  While I'm cleaning her I can't stop thinking about the car seat full of smelly poop right outside the door.  I'm so embarrassed!!  A girl in her late teens/early twenties came out of a stall and asked if she could help me (okay, I'm not doing a good job of hiding my stress....actually, I'm practically in tears).  I asked her to please get my car seat....and as I realized I wouldn't be able to put Rylee back into it while I clean it, I asked her to just bring the whole cart in....even though I have unpaid merchandise in it.  She kindly wheeled it into the bathroom for me.

I get Rylee as clean as I can (she still just needs a bath) and dressed in a clean outfit.  I have the car seat to clean next, but before I can even deal with that I'm faced with "where do I set Rylee while I clean it?!?!"  I have a major internal meltdown (as in I only cried on the inside and hadn't shed a tear yet).  I first try to clean the seat with one hand, but all I'm doing is smearing the poop and making it worse.  Oh, did I mention I almost have the bathroom out of paper towels at this point too?!?!?!?  I stop cleaning for a second and contemplate just throwing the seat away and buying a new one.  It seems like the best idea at first, but then I realize that I will still be faced with "what do I do with her" while I take the seat out of the packaging and do any required assembly.  Ugh!!  I decide to just lay her in the cart and quickly get this mess taken care of.  She, of course, cries the whole time because laying on the metal cart is terribly uncomfortable (it's summer so I don't have a blanket with me).  I get the car seat as clean as I can (it needs a major hose down), get her back in it, go to the snack bar area to feed her and eat lunch, then we head out to pick up James.  Luckily, we were headed to his brother's house after that so I was able to bathe Rylee and hose off the car seat, which had plenty of time to dry in the hot sun before we needed to use it again. 

What a terrible mess this all was.  I will never forget it, nor the great stress and embarrassment I felt.  Whenever I hear a new parent talking about their baby's "blow out", I have zero sympathy unless they were in a public place and had no help! 

My second nightmare parenting experience was potty training.  No explanation needed.  And by the way, Wyatt is going to kindergarten in diapers!  ;)

The third experience just happened this past weekend.  And before I complain about it, I should mention that my husband did ALL the clean up! 

We were staying the night with James' brother's family after my nephew's baptism on Saturday.  Since it was a celebration with lots of people, there was food....and plenty of it, and as most parties go, the food was sitting on tables for anyone to take at their leisure.....which includes, of course...little hands that can reach it.  I was busy visiting with everyone and not really paying much attention to Rylee as she was running all over the place, inside and out, playing with all the kids there.  My 5 year old niece kept telling me things like "Rylee just took 3 cookies."  and "Rylee is eating MORE cookies!"  I just ignored it because I didn't feel like chasing Rylee around watching what she was eating.  I also saw her take multiple handfuls of chips, which I did eventually pull her away from. 

Early into the evening Rylee asked to go to bed.  She was exhausted!!  She played much harder that day than she does at home.  I put her to bed, in her cousin's sleeping bag that we were borrowing (because this mom didn't even think about where Rylee would be sleeping at their house when I was packing).  Wyatt was already in bed as well, but he was coming down with a nasty cough and snotty nose so he was having trouble falling asleep.  I took him back upstairs with me, got him some Tylenol and let him snuggle with Daddy for a bit, while I went to bed as well.  You see, not only was I very tired, but I had this strange feeling that it was going to be a long night.  My instinct was spot on...

Wyatt needed to be upright in order to sleep, so James held him on the couch and they slept there...for a couple of hours until I woke to the sound of Rylee vomiting at 1am.  I reached over to wake James up and realized he wasn't there (I was asleep before I knew he and Wyatt were sleeping on the couch).  I quickly turned on the light and ran over to Rylee and held her hair back and rubbed her back and told her it was okay and to let it all come out.  When I thought she was done, I wanted to get her to the bathroom to get cleaned up (it was all over her of course), but I didn't want her vomiting on the carpet on the way to the bathroom, so I grabbed a little trash can that was in our room and told her, "We are going to walk to the bathroom to clean you up but if you feel sick again, throw up in this trash can."  Her 3 year old brain was working much better than mine and she said, "Mom, you need to clean this off of me first."  Oh yeah.  Duh.  The carpet won't be staying clean if she is walking on it with vomit covered feet.  I told her to stay there while I ran to the bathroom to get towels. 

Let me mention here that there are 14 other people sleeping in the house right now and I have to walk past a bunch of sleeping kids to get to the bathroom.  I tiptoe-run to the bathroom and when I get in there I realize I don't want to use any of my sister-in-law's towels to clean vomit.  I panic and decide to run upstairs and find James to help.  He tells me to just stay up there with Wyatt so we don't wake him up.  I have James grab the roll of paper towels on his way back down to the basement so we don't have to use their towels.  As I'm holding Wyatt, who is restless and coughing something fierce, all I can think about is that I should be downstairs helping James.  So I decide to take Wyatt downstairs with me and lay him on the floor outside of the bathroom in hopes that he will stay asleep long enough for me to help and that he won't cry and wake up all the kids laying on the floor by him. 

I peek in the bathroom and see that James has Rylee all cleaned up.  She runs up to me for a hug...she feels really bad (sad and embarrassed) when she throws up.  James took her back into the room to get some clothes on her while I rummage through someone else's house to find blankets for her to lay on.  While I'm doing this, Wyatt is rolling around on the floor, slowly waking up.  I grab a sheet and blanket and get it set up in our room for Rylee and then James comes in holding Wyatt, who had fully woken up.  We get Rylee settled back down and still have this poor sleeping bag drenched in vomit to clean.  James says he will take care of it while I take Wyatt back upstairs to sleep. 

Luckily Rylee was fine after that, never got sick again, and was back to wrestling with her cousin in the morning.  But, I got all of 20 minutes of sleep from 1 am until Wyatt woke up for the day around 6:30...sleeping upright is just not something I can do.  I didn't have my phone with me to keep entertained for 5 hours, so I kept occupied by "writing" blog posts in my head :) 

All 3 of my worst parenting nightmares have one thing in common...body fluids!  I have always wanted to pursue a medical career, but I just can't be around body fluids....yuck!  With my own kids though, I can handle the pee and poop...it's the vomit that I want to call in a hazmat crew to clean up!  Thank you so much to my wonderful husband for always taking the lead on that one (except for the time that he wasn't here...at least it smelled like strawberries) <---- was that too much??  I can't wait for the day one of them has a bloody open wound that requires stitches....I will probably have to call the ambulance because I will be too grossed out to drive without passing out.  Oh, the joys of parenting :) 

Too Many Interests, Not Enough Time

I know we are all trying to find more hours in a day, but seriously, if anyone finds them....let me know!  I have way too many interests right now and not enough time to participate in them all.  Ugh! 

For starters...oh I hate to say this....I haven't been to line dance class in 4 months.  Yeah, I know...how am I surviving, right?!?!  I miss it.  But it just never seems to fit into our schedule and I don't feel like it should take priority over some other things.  Someday I will be able to get back into it. 

Speaking of dance, I have always wanted to take adult dance lessons (not that kind)....and wouldn't you know it...Rylee's dance center has adult ballet and modern lessons!  Woohoo!!!  I finally get to take formal dance lessons!!  Been wanting to do this for years!!  But wait, it cuts into time with my husband one of the nights (which I don't get much of), and the other day it cuts into time that my husband needs to get items checked off the "honey do" list.  Grr....someday.  Someday, I will get to those dance lessons.

Fitness.  I love a good work-out.  I have a favorite right now....called PiYo...a blend of pilates and yoga.  I look forward to my work-out almost every day.  But, sometimes I can't fit it into my day because I have higher priorities.  Someday, I will get to work-out every single day if I want to. 

Reading.  Oh I love reading.  I love it so much, I just bought a new "reading chair"....off limits to anyone not holding a book ;)  I haven't been able to do much of the type of reading I most enjoy (fiction and memoirs) because I've been reading so many reference type books that relate to all of the things I've been interested in lately.  And even then I don't read near as much as I would like to, because reading takes away time from my kids....and I mean all of my time from my kids....I forget about them when I'm deep in a book...and will find them finger painting on the walls!  Okay, that never happened...but it could, so I just decided to put the good books down for awhile.  Someday.  Someday, I will get back to reading more. 

Photography as you all know is my newest, and most time-sucking interest.  I have been reading a lot of articles, blogs and books on photography and taking my camera out for practice whenever I can.  I have found it most efficient if I just bring my camera with me everywhere I go (like a good photographer should, right?) and take pictures anytime the mood strikes me.  This has made my drives a lot longer than they should be....there are lots and lots of photographic moments when you are driving the back country roads!  Even though I really want to take advantage of every learning opportunity I can, I have already had to say "no" to a couple of classes because they just don't fit into our schedule.  I also usually have to miss the prime lighting times (sunrise and sunset) because I'm tending to kiddos.  Someday, I will have more time to attend classes and take pictures when I want to.

My kiddos.  Of course, they are my number one priority when planning my time.  And there are so many things I want to take my kids to do, but half of them we usually have to pass up because there just isn't time for them, or not the best time for us. 

Date nights.  Hubby and I know that date nights are super important and we would love to have more of them, but planning a sitter and finding energy to have fun after a long day/week is sometimes more work than it's worth.  Someday.  Someday, we will go on dates regularly.

Friends.  I have so many friends that I need to catch up with.  There is nothing like good, uninterrupted time with friends.  Unfortunately, I often put friends at the bottom of my list.  Sad really.  But someday, I will get to seeing my friends regularly. 

Oh, someday.  When is someday??  I hate to wish away time so that "someday" will arrive.  I also understand that we shouldn't wait for "someday" to get here, because we aren't guaranteed another day of life.  It's really important to take time for ourselves...we can't take care of others if we don't take care of ourselves, right?  But, when you have a family they are just as important and sometimes we don't get to do everything we want to do because we put them before ourselves.  But....when I figure out how to add more hours in a day....I will be able to do it all :)  So far this week, I have found a new hour in the morning....it's before the kids get up.  I get my work-out and shower in before I have to take care of priority #1. 

Oh, did I mention my blogging....I would love to have more time to type more blog posts....but.....priorities.  Speaking of priorities, THANK YOU for reading my blog instead of cooking supper for your family, or whatever else you should be doing right now :)

Happy Friday, Friends! 

The "photography bug" is hitting this house hard

 

Photography Progress

I bought my first DSLR camera in February of this year and had planned to just take pictures of my own kids with it, figuring it would pay for itself in just a couple of years (pictures are expensive!).  After a couple of "photo shoots" with my kids, two of my super crazy friends asked me within the same week to take pictures of their families.  EEK!  I almost said "no", but after thinking about it for a little bit I decided to give it a shot.  I realized it would be great practice, and the best outcome would be that I actually enjoyed it....which I did!!! 

The first family photo shoot  I did was on a very sunny Sunday morning out at our house.  Sunny days are not great for photography....shadows and squinty eyes!  I was pretty nervous to start with, and then adding the bright sun made it worse.  We got some good pictures though. 

 

The cute boys are 2 and 4 and actually smiled quite well!  Photographing kids is tough, since sitting still isn't something they are good at...let alone getting them to look at the camera and give you a real smile.  These two did great! (a little ice cream bribery may have helped)

 

 

One thing I'm learning is that the photographer always has to be ready to shoot...candid photos show real emotions...like this cute mother-son playfulness.

 

 

Thank you so much to this wonderful family for trusting me to take your precious photos!!  :)

 

Family photo shoot #2 included this super adorable little gal!!

 

 

We did this shoot at a park in Winterset (probably one of the most photographed places in Madison County, if I had to guess).  It was a sunny day as well, but we found plenty of shady spots.  I was equally as nervous for this one as I was with the first family, but I eventually relaxed and had a lot of fun.  They are such a cute little family and we had some neat backgrounds.

 

 

Thank you to this Beautiful family as well for asking me to take your pictures!!

 

After I completed both of these photo shoots and received compliments on the finished products, I evaluated how much I really enjoyed taking other people's pictures.  For myself, I loved the challenge it gave me.  Other than juggling all of my rug rats' demands on a daily basis, I don't do very many challenging things right now and photography is a fun challenge for me.  I also found that I really loved trying to capture some great shots for the families to be proud to display in their homes. 

 

After realizing how much I really enjoyed taking photos of my friends' families, I decided I wanted to try some photos that don't include children so I could focus more on technical things, rather than spending time trying to get a child to look at me and smile.  Some friends of ours recently got  engaged and I approached them about taking their engagement photos.  Luckily for me, they said "yes" :)  They also happen to be the cutest couple I know, and who wouldn't want to photograph these beautiful faces?!?!?

 

 

We took the pictures at a rickety little park in a teeny tiny podunk rural town.  I'm sure they thought I was crazy when they first pulled in and saw the place.  There really were quite a few great spots for pictures here though.  Unfortunately, it was another super sunny day and we all had to do some maneuvering to keep shadows and squinting at bay as much as possible. 

 

 

He made me get in the water to shoot this one ...thanks J, for that challenge :) 

 

They like to kiss ---- A LOT ;) 

 

I had SO MUCH fun with this shoot.  They made it so easy, as they are very photogenic and both had some great ideas...and it helped that they are so crazy in love :)   

 

 

Thank you two SO VERY MUCH for being "guinea pigs"!!!!

 

I realize I have a long way to go to perfect my photography, but I'm super excited for that journey.  There is so much to learn!!!  I'm finding that the photography world is so willing to help and there is an abundance of resources.  I have found a camera club to join, as well as online blogs and forums, and am watching for classes in my area all the time.  I'm super excited for a photography event at Living History Farms this weekend where I will be able to take 5 different classes and then get outside to practice!  Hopefully the forecasted rain holds off! 

 

Thank you again to all 3 of the families who helped me discover how much fun photography can be! 

 

Have a great day, and don't forget to SMILE :)

 

 

 

 

Sleep Like A Baby

For some reason my husband and I rarely checked on our first born after we put her to bed each night.  I seriously cannot remember a single time that I ever went in and checked on her in her room before I went to bed at night.  It makes me sad that I didn't, because my favorite part of every day in the past 14 months has been going in to check on Wyatt to see what kind of crazy sleeping position he is in.  I don't so much check on him to make sure he's okay...it's more just for one more laugh at my silly little guy before I end my day :) 

Sometimes James and I will try to guess Wyatt's sleeping position before we go in....those are usually the nights that he is in the most random/awkward positions that make us giggle.  I just don't get how babies can sleep in so many different places and in so many different positions...but as long as they are sleeping, that's all that matters most of the time, right?? 

I also find it so heart melting to watch him sleeping so peacefully...which also makes me sad that I never watched Rylee sleep (I do now, but she sleeps with her eyes half open and it's super creepy).  Every night I think to myself, "I need to get a picture of this moment"....and then I decide that it's one of those special things that's better kept as a picture in my mind only.  However, the funnier ones do get an occasional real picture :)

 

And when James is gone for work, I send him pictures of what he's missing.

 

 

It really is such a beautiful thing to watch your child sleep.  I wonder what they are dreaming about and what their body is preparing them to do the next day.

 

In addition to sleeping, my second favorite time of day is seeing their cheery faces when they wake up in the mornings.  Rylee is usually a ball of energy and already has so many plans for the day...and usually asks me the most random questions right away, instead of saying "Good Morning" like normal people.  The other reason I love first thing in the morning is because they haven't frustrated me yet or caused me any stress :)  And....they look so dang adorable with their "just woke up" faces :)

 

I am so blessed to get to see my children's beautiful faces all day, every day and watch every move they make.....but there is just something so much more special about watching them sleep and wake up.  What is your favorite time of day with your children??

I Like Your Shoes!

Yesterday I was at Jack Trice Stadium (the only place to be on a Saturday in September, right?!) using the restroom before the game started.  As I approached the sinks, I noticed that a girl washing her hands had very cute yellow Nike athletic shoes on.  As I got closer to her, I debated whether or not to tell her that I liked her shoes.  "Ah, what the heck", I decided.  I tell her and she smiles big and replies with a "Thank you."  I felt good that I said something.

Then, as I am washing my hands, a girl walks up to the sink next to me and tells me she likes my sweatshirt.  This was the 2nd compliment I had gotten on my shirt that day, which made getting it 60% off even more awesome!  I smile back at the girl (who had the brightest smile ever) and tell her "Thank you" in the most sincerely cheerful voice I have.

I walked out of the bathroom thinking two things:  1) That was the happiest public bathroom experience I've had and 2) Compliments are so uplifting, whether giving or receiving them!

In a world of "not good enough" and so much judgment towards each other, I think we can all benefit from handing out more compliments.  I mean, who doesn't like to receive a compliment??  You never know when your nice comment to someone will brighten an otherwise dreary day they may be having.  Maybe your compliment is just the boost the person needed in some way.  Or perhaps, your comment will initiate a conversation that turns out great in so many other ways. 

My daughter gets told what pretty hair she has nearly every time we go somewhere.  She doesn't like the attention and I know that someday she will complain about her hair (because most of us do), and I so wish that I could bottle up all of the compliments she gets and replay them all back to her when she tells me she wishes she had curly hair instead.  Speaking of daughters...paying compliments to others in front of your children can only teach them something positive too.  I can't quite put in words what that would be...but I'm sure it's good ;)

The next time you find yourself thinking, "I like that person's ____"...go ahead and tell them!  If nothing else, it will make you feel good :) 

P is for Preschool

I am so loving all of the "first day of school" pictures on Facebook this week!!!  They are so much better than all of the "ice bucket challenge" videos -- which I totally don't get...just donate some money and keep yourself dry.  Today would have been Rylee's first day of preschool had we not decided to keep her home one more year.

This past winter was tough...having a baby and weather that was not enjoyable to be out in...we rarely left the house and poor Rylee, who was at a great learning time in her life, was bored.  We had decided to sign her up for half-day pre-k for this fall.  Registration was in March and we had to wait until the end of July to find out if she would be accepted (they only take so many 3 year olds, based on state funding).  At the end of July I called the school and found out she had been accepted AND was going to be in the same class as one of her good friends!!  I was so excited and started dreaming about back-to-school shopping!! 

After a few days of being a little too excited, I started to realize that she would be learning the same things 2 years in a row, since the 3 year olds are in the same class as the 4 year olds.  I also had a couple of moms tell me about the current pre-k curriculum their kids are enrolled in, and it wasn't anything Rylee doesn't already know.  Since the tuition for 3 year olds is more than double 4 year old pre-k, I didn't think it made much sense financially to send her this year.  And regarding her need for social time with peers that was much needed during the winter, we have met so many other families in the area since winter and have several play dates per week.

We discussed the pros and cons of sending her to pre-k this fall with a couple of teachers.  One, a friend of mine who taught kindergarten and 2nd grade, and the other was my first grade teacher --- how fun it was to talk to her on the phone and hear her voice again!!!  Both of their personal and professional opinions were the same -- don't send her until next year -- let her be a kid one more year before she has to enter formal education for the next 14 years of her life. 

So, we un-enrolled her for this year and felt good about our decision.  I did some research on home preschool and got some good resources from a teacher friend and had a blast shopping for preschool books, lessons, crafts, etc.  I am so proud of how much stuff I got for about $100 (which is about half of what one month's tuition would have been).  The Dollar Tree and Target's $1 bin had SO MUCH stuff!!!  I really loved all the "wipe off" books I found, so that they can be re-used over and over!  Of course I bought beautifully colored dry erase markers too- duh!  I even found chalk boards and colored chalk at the dollar store too! 

I don't know who is more excited about learning....me or Rylee...everyday she asks to "do preschool" :)  We go down to the basement, to our little designated preschool spot, while Wyatt is napping, so we don't have any distractions.  It has been a little challenging trying to figure out exactly how to teach certain things, but I have decided that it's more about exposure at this point (she learns so quickly and has demonstrated her ability to retain information just from short exposure).  My teacher friend also advised me to let Rylee choose what she wants to learn, so that she will be more interested. Today she chose to learn the letter 'G'.  She knows all of the uppercase letters by recognition, but doesn't know their sounds or lowercase versions.  So, we traced the upper and lower case letters, colored a goat with a green crayon, talked about Grandma, and read a book about Grover.  We will be having green grapes with our lunch as well.  She has been asking me "what else starts with G?"...so, I guess she enjoyed the lesson :) 

To brag a little, I have been very impressed not only with her willingness and excitement to learn, but also by the things she does know!  The workbooks I bought will ask her questions that I assume I'm going to have to help her out with and instead she tells me the answer....and with complete confidence!  She is very observant, soaks things in, and never forgets! 

My plan is to have a preschool lesson 3-4 times each week for the next year (they only last about 10-15 minutes right now), along with 1-2 play dates, library story time and dance class each week.  My teacher friend who is also doing home pre-k and I will try to do some "learning field trips" as much as possible too.  We are both pretty excited about this!!  I think maybe I should have been a preschool teacher :) 

(yes, she is still in jammies -- we don't have a dress code at our "school")

 

 

Happy 1st day/week to all my teacher friends!!!

Emily S, Private Investigator

Man!  It's eerie to me how many times "everything happens for a reason" has struck in my life!  Today's story of this is still blowing my mind......

Yesterday my husband noticed that our car trailer had been stolen from our property.  Not only were we upset by the loss, it was very uncomforting to know someone invaded our private property.  We called the sheriff's office and a deputy came right over and filed the report.  We figured we would never see the trailer again...

This morning I had a play date planned...we were either going to meet at a park in town or they were going to come to our house.  I didn't really feel like going anywhere this morning, so I was going to invite them over.   And then as I went to feed the kids breakfast, I realized I really needed to get to the store and could do that while in town for the play date.  I decided to leave it up to Rylee and asked her if she wanted to play with her friends at the park or at home....she chose the park.

As we were leaving our property, I saw where our trailer used to be and thought to myself, "I'm sure that thing is in Missouri by now, but I might as well keep an eye out for it as I drive the back roads to town." 

We went to our playdate at the park and got groceries.  I decided to fill up my tank quick too before heading home.  As I'm headed towards the gas station exit that would put me on the main road, I remembered there was construction on that main road and decided to exit the back part of the station and drive down a side road instead. 

A couple blocks down the side road, I notice that there is a large vehicle parked on one side and a trailer parked right across from it, making this 2 lane road into a 1 lane.  There is a vehicle coming toward me and I wait to see if it will stop behind the trailer and wait for me to pass or not....it doesn't, so I stop and wait for it to pass.  As I squeeze my way between the two parked items, I notice the trailer is parked weird...half on the grass and half on the road.  I get passed it and start thinking about the trailer some more.  For whatever reason, I decide to go around the block again.  This time I really look at the trailer and think "that looks like our stolen trailer"..... I go around the block again..... 

I notice that the home has several trailers and decide that maybe this guy works on cars or something and I just drive past.  Then it hits me that it's pretty strange for there to have been so many trailers...and this one was parked weird....and it looked like ours......  "Man, I better go back and take a picture...just in case...I would feel horrible if it was ours and I didn't do anything about it."  So I drive by again and snap a quick picture.  I text it to my husband with the caption, "Doubt this is it...."

My phone rings 2 minutes later and Hubs says, "Where are you? That's my trailer."  So, long story short (okay it was already long)....the police went and checked it out and confirmed it was in fact our trailer :)   I still can't believe it........

So many factors today led me to find our stolen trailer....just crazy!!  I love how things work sometimes!!! 

P.S. I hope my reward is big, shiny and diamond shaped ;) 


Update since first writing this....my reward wasn't big shiny and diamond shaped...but much appreciated just the same :)