Bible Study Adventures

I decided to attend the women's bible study for the first time this morning but it was nothing less than a 3-ring circus getting the boys there! It took me the usual 30 minutes to get them out the door and loaded in the car, but that was nothing compared to getting them from the car to the church. I got there 5 minutes early and I was ultra-proud of myself because I'm never on time for anything, ever. I started unloading the stroller and bags and then suddenly I realized that all the entrances to the church are only accessible by stairs- I couldn't use the stroller which is the way I normally get anywhere by myself with the boys. So, I stand there in the church parking lot for a few minutes trying to come up with a solution that doesn't involve me leaving one of the boys alone outside in the hot car. I decide to just wait for somebody else to drive up and help me inside, hoping that that somebody wouldn't have any kids of their own to carry. Of course, the only person to arrive is a mother of toddler twins who also happens to be pregnant. I felt terrible having to ask her to lug my child inside but I didn't know if anybody else would come along, so I did. Thankfully, she was happy to help and her children were well-behaved and didn't run away while she had her hands full.

So, I'm finally inside the church, the pregnant lady graciously carries Jack up 3 flights of stairs (seriously, how nice is that?? I could barely get myself up 3 flights of stairs when I was pregnant). We get to the nursery and I look inside and there are at least 20 kids all under the age of 4 running around and only 3 women to watch them. Jack and Cullen were the only babies who couldn't at least crawl around or play by themselves. I thought about bringing a couple of bouncers over for them to sit in but felt bad because there were already way too many kids up there in the first place. So, I decided to take them downstairs and keep them with me during the bible study. They're usually quiet and happy as long as they're being held and often sit with us during Sunday church services. The only problem was getting them back down to the main floor of the church...

The pregnant lady had to take her kids to the bathroom, so she handed Jack off to one of the childcare volunteers. I then took Cullen downstairs and enlisted another woman to carrry a bouncer down to the bible study. It had already started so we tried not to disturb anybody but Cullen was not excited about being put into a bouncer (They're in the phase where they don't like to lay down at all, they think they're such big boys and only like to sit up nowadays). So the woman who had carried the bouncer down took Cullen for me so I could run and get Jack and bring him downstairs. I was seriously sweating and out of breath by the time I finally sat down for the bible study (and 15 minutes late at that point) and felt like the biggest disturbance ever, but from that point on, everything went great! The boys were quiet for the most part and just sucked on their hands or pacis. Right before it ended they fell asleep and slept the whole way home.

So, in the end, I'm glad I went but I think I'll call a friend and have her meet me in the parking lot next week!

Also, by popular demand, here are a few recent pictures:

Jack and I just hanging out on the couch. So what if it's 3 pm and I'm still in my sweats, don't judge me!

Jack eating his froggy rattle

Cullen sitting up like a big boy

He lasted for about 5 minutes before falling over, he then stayed in this position for another 5 minutes snuggling with his bear blankie and trying to eat his own feet.

They were smiling immediately before this picture. They always smile at me but as soon as I put up the camera to take a picture they stop smiling. You can read the confusion on Cullen's face, "Where'd my mom go? I see her body but what's that weird black thing covering her face?"