It's more than grocery shopping.

I was all set to tell everyone about Christian's new chair and how perfect it is for him. And I will share all of my wordy thoughts and feelings later but today something else happened and I was moved to get my blog on.

When my kids were tiny, I loved to take them to the grocery store. Some people hate it. I loved it. It was like mommy and baby time. I'd make funny faces with them, talk to them, steal kisses on their baby fat cheeks as I reached for the Cheeze-Its. It's one of my favorite baby memories of all three of my children - going grocery shopping with my Gabe, my Christian, and my Lola.

Now, my boys were awesome at this mommy and baby time. Lola, on the other hand, grew into the beautiful handful that she is today, which is really only suitable for very short and uninvolved trips, if that. But my boys? They were good and patient grocery store companions.

After Christian's accident, grocery trips made me sad. I wondered would I ever get to bring him to the grocery store again? I watched little kids at the store swing their legs in the front part of the cart and smile at the Momma's and my heart was broken.

This may sound sappy and sad and I'm sure there are plenty of you out there that think this is all just crazy talk. But it was just a thing for me.

Since the accident, I haven't taken Christian on a grocery trip. He's been to Walmart. He's been to Target (oh, he's definitely been to Target), but never grocery shopping. To be honest, it's been two things - the thought alone of the logistics of pushing him and a cart was enough to make me wait until someone was available to watch the kids. The other thing is that in the past he hasn't really tolerated long trips to any store. He gets tired and uncomfortable quickly and whines.

That has changed, I'm happy to announce. His new wheelchair is perfect for him. And with the right support, he has become more tolerant of his surroundings. He's more comfortable. Basically, what I'm saying is that he can hang.

So with this new found world for Christian, not having sitters available to watch him, and a desperate need to get some grocery shopping done in daylight hours...

...what I'm getting at is...

We went grocery shopping! Christian and Mommy! We did it! And it wasn't scary! And he did great! And somewhere in between the cookie isle and the produce section I realized this was a first for us.

It looked a little different for us, but we were back.

When we decided to go, I had to make sure we went early so we could avoid large crowds. Following suggestions of other pros at this, I was going to have to push Christian while simultaneously pulling the cart.

Are we seriously going grocery shopping, Mom?

Are we seriously about to go grocery shopping, Christian?

Yes, we are! And I think I got this.

My friend, Jenny, told me to take a lot of pictures. But I felt like a dork pulling out my camera in the middle of the store and my phone isn't that great with pictures. So I just caught one of our shopping experience. As you can see his is very tired but he still did great!

The only contesting Christian did was in the frozen food section because Christian does not get down with cold. But every time a little kid was around, his whole body brightened up and his head turned. It was like he got excited that there were other little people there. The other part Christian really didn't like was the cash register. All the beeping really pissed him off.

Everybody was very polite and the store employees offered to help a few times and did help us out to the car. Thank you, Fry's (Kroger), for remodeling. All that extra space made things way more manageable.

This was taken after the shopping trip in the parking lot. I had Christian hold the bananas.

And don't laugh at him. He hates the sun and I couldn't find his sunglasses so he got to wear mine.

When we left, one store clerk offered him a sticker and put it on his wheelchair belt. Another ruffled his blond hair. We were there for over two hours and I am still in disbelief that he tolerated a store trip for that long, and already tired and in need of a nap, at that!

So we went grocery shopping! And maybe he talked me into getting my favorite glazed pumpkin cake donuts I love. Okay, maybe he didn't, but whatev.

Tonight I'm grateful for a good wheelchair.

I'm grateful for glazed pumpkin cake donuts.

I'm grateful for my healthy little boy.

And I'm grateful for trips to the grocery store.