"Did you find everything tonight?"

That question never meant so much, and I pray fervently it never does again.

It's late and I'm hoping to be off to sleep soon, but I had to write first, while Bekah nurses to sleep.

We went to Kohl's to find a nice shirt for me. I wanted something to wear when we go see Nutcracker (Josh's big present to me), and since we're not taking the girls, it doesn't have to be a nursing top. So we went and found two cute shirts. But while Josh was getting me a different color, he thought Jasmine was staying with me in the dressing room and I saw her follow after him.

I think you can guess what happened.

I got dressed, talked to a clerk, and heard "code yellow" over the loud speaker. A couple of them, including security, came over to get a description of what she was wearing. I tried hard not to freak out.

Wandered around, looking, calling for her.

It was probably "only" 5-10 minutes before a woman came to me, with two of her own children and one of mine. But it felt like a lifetime.

She didn't have her coat; she had dropped that off when she found the family. But I did find that, too. (thankfully we were in a clothing store, so worst-case scenario we could have gotten her a new one)

I'm still trying to calm down from the whole thing. She has some strong guardian angels keeping her safe, and God guided her to just the right person. One of my online friends told me that they teach their children to "find a woman with a stroller" if they're ever separated. Jasmine isn't old enough to have that kind of thing soak in yet, but she knows "instinctively" who she can and can't trust. (she will occasionally surprise us by opening right up to people we don't know, but they have kids her age. She can see that they're used to talking to kids her age) She found kids her size, with their mom, and the mom found me.

I'm praying that I don't dream about this tonight. I'd like some nice, easy, calm dreams tonight. She seemed a bit more snuggly than usual, so either she realized at the time, or she picked up on our reaction afterwards, that something was very wrong. I am so grateful that she was fine and that it didn't take any longer to find her.

Those backpack leashes are starting to look much better...she's a good girl and usually doesn't wander far (and we'll be more careful to be sure of that) but it might be good for my peace of mind :)