Bellies and Babies Expo

Yesterday, Claire and I attended the Bellies and Babies Expo http://www.belliesandbabiesexpo.com/ in downtown Indy. It was a blast of course. We got a ton of free pens and paper! Let me tell you, I am set for the next year! In addition, I got more free usuable cloth bags, a sippy cup, junky little toys that Claire can play with until they break like a little wallet thing, 3 hardcover books (Super-nice!), toothbrushes, toothpaste, cleaning products samples, wipes samples, tons of booklets/handouts, etc, etc... They had classes/seminars you could go to, a free daycare area, a Gymboree play area, and, and .... booths galore! They were doing belly painting too! Think "face painting" but instead the canvas is a big prego belly! They all looked super cute! There were a lot of Colts-themed bellies! The ladies would roll their shirts up and walk around with a painted belly! Very brave! We were also one of the first 1,500 people there so we got a free Fisher-Price toy (valued at $10). Of course there was a catch...you had to visit 3 certain booths to get a stamp, go to one session, and vote on your favorite nursery from the 4 displayed that were designed by decorators. So I did all that and let Claire pick the toy. She picked an Ernie plush doll which we don't have any Ernies so she was very excited. Plus, most of the booths had candy, so she was sucking on a sucker most of the day. :) They did have "Free Daycare" by KinderCare. I thought Claire would be fine staying in there while I went to one sessions on "Taking Charge of your Birth" or something titled like that...well...she wasn't...she was a complete sobbing red-faced wreck 50 minutes later when they called me. Great. So they had tried to text me. I have texting blocked. I.Hate.TEXTING. It's the former teacher in me. Texting is so freaking highschool in my mind. Either send me a real email or call me. NO TEXTING. Anyways...it's the only time I've ever regretted not have texting...they said sometimes texting will work when the phone signal is poor. Well...there is no phone signal in this concrete encrusted building. Argh. So they had tried calling me. Then they tried to come in the room but it was dark, and they didn't want to bother the group. They were doing some mediation exercise. And I swear I thought I heard Claire crying, but I thought I was being paranoid. I was going to go see if it was someone about her, but I had already left the room once when I thought someone was waving at me...ha...they weren't...so anyways, when I had left the room, then my phone was able to ring in the hallway. Argh...so then of course she refused for me to leave her in the church nursery this morning after having been fine in there for months. Oh well...hopefully it's a phase!?! They were like, "She wasn't like this the whole time...just off and on..." That's not much of a consolation. Now I feel terrible for leaving her in a completely strange place with a bunch of complete strangers. Oh, and she didn't want them to hold her...she wanted to sit in her stroller crying "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, I want my Mommy." I'm glad she had least had her stroller...something familiar.