Motherhood is. . .

. . . loading two unruly dogs, an infant in a car seat, and a ginormous diaper bag with said dogs' lifetime of medical records INTO a truck in an appropriate order so that:
1. the baby is not put into a hot car
2. the dogs do not step on the baby at any time
3. the dogs spend the minimal amount of time in the car to minimize the dog hair fallout
4. the 55-pound dog who hates to ride in the car actually gets INTO THE CAR instead of me chasing him around the front yard, cursing and running in front of the trash men who were picking up my trash and my neighbor's plasma tv box at the time

. . .then unloading at the vet taking care to make sure that:
1. I do not get assaulted at gun-point (the vet is next to the Target where a pregnant woman was attacked two weeks ago)
2. the baby is not left in a hot car
3. the dogs do not step on the baby in a frantic attempt to exit the car
4. my shoulder is not ripped out of socket as the dogs run in different directions to explore the parking lot

. . .next up is the actual check-in and appointment where I have to make sure that:
1. the baby is not left open to attack from any other dogs going to the vet
2. the dogs do not attack any other dogs going to the vet
3. the dogs get onto the scale individually and are weighed accurately
4. the baby is entertained the whole time
5. Blanco is reassured that he will not die before the visit is over
6. get all persons and dogs into the exam room

. . .now that Blanco is hiding behind my legs, the baby is starting to fuss, and Tex is just cool as a cucumber, we got through the exam, shots, payment, and were ready to go. All that was left was to buy dog food.

So in reverse order I loaded a baby, two dogs, and a 40 lb bag of dog food into my truck IN THE RAIN.

Anybody got a remedy for wet dog smell in your vehicle?

I can't complain--the dogs really were quite good up until the exam was over. I think at that point they realize we haven't brought them to be put to sleep or anything. They are on their best behaviour until they know for sure they are going to survive another visit with the vet. Then they are holy terrors.

Fortunately, everyone at the vet was moderately nice. Except that I refused several vaccinations that they feel are very, very important. (expensive and unnecessary) But, whatever, we survived the trip. One of the vet techs told me: "I don't know how you do it" (with a baby and two dogs). I told her I didn't know how to do it either until I loaded up the car this afternoon. . .

I guess we just figure it out as we go!