Braving the Public with Two

Even though I gave birth to a second child two months ago, I feel like I've only recently become a "true" mom of two. Chris was home for a month on paternity leave (what a blessing from his company!!) and I've only just recently stopped receiving meals from so many sweet friends.

But the true test of my "mom-hood"? Taking them both on an adventure!

It was a beautiful day in Houston so I loaded up the Hill boys and we headed over to the train. I bribed encouraged Bradley to be good with the promise of ice cream after our train ride (if he met my expectations- to hold my hand and walk like a big boy).

I got nervous when I saw the train pull away as we walked up. This meant about a half hour until it came back and we could board. But with the constant reminder of our post-train ice cream, Bradley was a model citizen.

Still, I was happy when we finally got on the train!

Bradley was pretty happy too:

And I'm pretty sure that if Brenham had been awake, he also would have enjoyed the train!

And did he earn his ice cream?

He did!

However...

After the ice cream we had to walk back to the car. Bradley thought it would be more fun to walk a few steps into the parking lot, then sit on the ground. Each time he did this (all THREE times), I would pick him up and take him back to the sidewalk where we had a time out before trying it again. Naturally, Bradley screamed loudly in protest. Which woke up Brenham... who then also screamed loudly in protest. On the sidewalk... where all of the happy families were traipsing to and from the train station. I got a few strange looks... as well as some nods of solidarity from fellow moms. And on his fourth try, Bradley held my hand and walked like a big boy all the way back to the car. Whew!

I survived my first of many adventures with the Hill Boys!