It Never Fails

I try to be a good mom, I really do. Not only a good mom to Jackson, but a good mom to Ollie. Before Jackson came along, Ollie was my fur baby, my best friend. I even asked my mom when I was pregnant, "How can I possibly love anything more than I love Ollie?" I still love Ollie more than life itself too, no doubt. Ollie is a spunky, snaggle-toothed, brindle, ball of love. Some have actually called him ugly, but I think he is the cutest, maybe because I am his mom. Ollie also is not very animal friendly, but he's definitely kid and people friendly. If you put another animal in his eyesight, he quickly loses it. This has made taking him out in public difficult. I know it doesn't sound that difficult, but Jackson isn't the most chill baby, and Ollie isn't the most chill dog. Taking them out can be intersting.

A few weeks ago, I decided to walk both Jackson and Ollie to the park by my house, and that turned out to be nothing less than a fiasco. I don't even want to relive it. Today didn't disappoint. I loaded Jackson in the stroller, Ollie on his leash, equipped myself with crackers, water, and a poop bag in case Ollie needed to lighten his load. We leave the house and head out on our journey.

It's a beautiful day outside, a perfect day for a walk. Jackson is absolutely obsessed with holding onto the leash while we walk. He's in the stroller, and Ollie's is tied to the side of the stroller. Jackson leans his right arm out of the stroller to hold onto the leash. He cracks up the whole walk because Ollie is all over the place, and Jackson thinks he's actually in control. It's especially cute when he has one hand holding the leash and the other in his snack cup getting Goldfish crackers. At one point Ollie pulled the stroller so hard that we bumped into a brick wall and my cell phone went flying out. The battery popped out and everything. No big deal. Pick up and move on.

Eventually we stop because Ollie needs to do his thing. I go to reach for my plastic baggie to pick up the goods, and I realize I must have left it at home. Great! Here I am halfway around the block with no baggie and dog poop on someone's lawn. The only receptacle I had was the baggie that the fish were in. I dumped the Goldfish in the bottom basket of the stroller and picked the goods up with the plastic bag. No big deal. Pick up and move on. We roll around a few more blocks.

Finally, it's getting hot outside, and Ollie looks like he needs some water. We head home. As we pull up to the house, I go to reach for my keys and they're not there! I remember double checking before I locked the door that I had my keys, and I did, but where are they now? Ugghh! I'm thinking, "NO WAY! I'm so not doing this again!!" I went to retrace my steps where my phone bounced out and thought my keys would be lying right there, but noooo! I'm getting really frustrated at this point when I realize that I have to retrace ALL my steps. At the last moment I decided to check the canopy that folds because I lost my phone in there once. Thankfully my keys were there and we headed back home. Can't a Jackson/Ollie experience go smoothly, EVER? It might take me a few more weeks to get over this latest adventure. In the meantime, don't feel sorry for Ollie. He'll be comfy and cozy under the duvet cover until it's time for another walk.

This is one of my absolute, all-time favorite photos ever. Jackson is 5mo. here.