But I have promises to keep

Madeline was supposed to go to her first Valentines Day Party on Friday but the host's sons were sick so we had to postpone. :( My friend Emily and I decided that we both needed a little break from being housebound and decided to meet up for an hour at the mall. The mall! I don't remember the last time I went to the mall! Madeline and I left the house around 9:00 and were well on our way to meet our friends! She had gotten potty right before leaving the house so I was pretty sure she could make it to the mall. Now of course, I had to make 3 trips back into the house to get various items she couldn't live without...So we're chugging down I-69 and all the sudden my daughter says "Potty mama! Potty!" I asked her if she had to go potty and she said yes. AHHHHH! Luckily we were just about to pass an exit. I swerved across traffic and got off as quickly as I could yelling at the procession of Grandmas who had apparently decided to ALL go to the same place I was going. I finally get out from behind them and see Paradise Bakery. YAY! a clean place!!!! I would have settled for just about anything but a clean, well lit eatery made me especially happy. I ZOOMED into a "parking spot" (that I made up), ran around the car, grabbed her and the potty topper, and ran in - reminding her to try to "hold it." Of course being the day it was - the place was FILLED with balloons. There are few things Madeline loves more than Balloons. So she's wanting to stop and admire and talk and touch and beg and I was like " WE HAVE TO GO TO THE POTTY!!!!!" as we zoom to the back of the restaurant. So as I put her on the potty, amazed she was able to stay dry (I assumed she didn't tell me she had to go until he was just about ready to go) and she talked about balloons the entire time. I finally told her that after we finished going potty, when we got to the mall, we'd get her a balloon. So, we finished up and made our way back out to the car. She talked about getting a balloon the entire way to the mall.We met up with Emily and Gabby in VonMaur. The kiddos chatted as we did..... it was really fun and Emily and I were feeling pretty at ease with them, since they had both just gone to the potty. After a circle around the mall the kids were saying they were hungry. I had packed some sugar snap peas for Madeline which she wasn't thrilled about, but Gabby was kind enough to share her bag of trail mix with us! That made them both pretty happy- long enough for us to slip into a children's clothing store that was having a huge sale. OH my WORD were we in heaven! I now have to shop on BOTH sides of the store.....so Emily was awesomely entertaining both girls while I shopped the BLUE section..... we did minimal damage to our credit cards and realized the girls probably needed a potty stop. At that moment they voiced their need so we asked the clerk where the nearest restroom was. She said she thought it was Borders. So - we hightailed it out of there and started booking it to Borders. We found an employee who told us the restrooms were in the BACK of the store on the SECOND floor. (Of course they were! Where else would they be?) So at this point we're almost running. Which, Emily looks very cute doing at this point in her life, whereas I am more Jolly Green Giant-esque. kaBOOM kaBOOM kaBOOM. We're weaving through racks, and leaving smoke in our wake. We get onto the elevator and, 2 hours later, (or so it felt) we were up the one floor to the bathroom. We clamour into the bathroom with our two strollers and potty accouterments and BOTH girls went potty like pros! They were looking at us like "What was the rush about? We're cool...." So we get their hands washed and all situated back in their strollers.Emily and Gabby had to go so they could check on one poor sick Daddy. Madeline and I cruised up to Bath and Bodyworks since I had a giftcard, but about 10 steps in I couldn't go on - the smell was so overwhelming I needed a HAZMAT suit.... we grab some lunch at Chic Fil A. Now of course, I get behind the one woman who, after starting her order, must reconsider every single item on the menu. Meanwhile there are millions of people being served around me and I realized that my blood sugar is presently at my knees and falling fast. We wait and wait and wait. One thing pregnancy does to me is make me even less patient then I tend to be. So I am wanting to scream "OH MY WORD HOW HARD IS IT LADY!!!! I AM GOING TO DIE!!!!" I can literally feel my blood sugar fall so fast that I am starting to see stars. She finally gets her food and her 4.7 million packages so that I can order. I get a 12 piece meal and as soon as she puts it in front of me I'm digging through it and shoving chicken into my mouth. Madeline is begging to go play on the playground in the food court but I'm really skeezed out by the germ factor (and I don't skeeze out over germs!) so I tell her we are going to continue our quest for balloons. I hand her a piece of chicken and continue to literally cram the nuggets down my throat. I'm slurping my soda so loudly that I'm shocked someone in the next state doesn't ask me to quiet down.We visited every possible store in the mall that could have balloons - the card stores, the gifty stores, and finally a candy store. No luck. One woman suggested another candy store (at the ENTIRE other end of the mall) so we start off that way. I'm throwing Madeline the occasional nugget and stuffing my face with fries. We're almost to the end of the mall and I realize I am out of food and almost freak out. I am still STARVING! I don't remember the last time I was so hungry. I am miles away from the food court at this point, but there's a pretzel place nearby so I opt for a greasy mall pretzel. I pull in behind two high-school age girls who are so busy flirting with the pretzel maker they haven't even ordered yet. I feel my blood pressure SHOOT up again. "ORDER YOUR STUPID PRETZEL NOW OR GET OUT OF LINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I want to scream. Instead I think mean thoughts in my head. They finally finish their urgent - non pretzel related business and move on. I get my million dollar pretzel and continue to push toward my last hope for Madeline's balloon. I'm huffing and puffing at this point because 1) I am now trying to eat the entire pretzel in one bite and 2) I have walked the equivalent of a marathon. I am also fighting with my maternity pants and my joints are starting to ache. I finally find the candy store. I know a balloon here will probably cost me a small fortune but I don't care."Do you have any balloons?" I ask the little girl working there. BTW - why aren't these kids in school? Am I just getting so old that everyone looks super young, or am I just old and crotchety?"No! I am so sorry! But we have lots of candy!""IMAGINE THAT! CANDY IN A CANDY STORE WOWWWWWWWWWW!!!!" is what I want to say. "Oh yeah!" I say instead.I crouch down in front of Madeline and try to explain to her that in the entire expanse of the mall there is not ONE balloon for the taking. I try to explain to her that she may have a sucker instead. I don't know if she understood what I was saying, but she happily took the dumdum I offered her. I paid the six cents and started back toward the car. We make one more (successful) potty stop on the way out and are finally on our way home! We're both beat and I get her down for her nap pretty quickly. I'm so exhausted that I consider crawling into my own bed with my clothes and shoes on to relieve my aching, bloated body. But there's just so much to do . . .And Miles to go before I sleep...