The Not-So-Perfect Day

Last week was rough with sickness. It was mostly on and off, but last Monday in particular was a bad day. I was in the bathroom all morning, threw up a couple times,  had a bad headache, etc. Just one of those days. But I think I got a small taste of a new dynamic of what it's like to be a mom now that Lily is around. When there's other children around you can't just lay around until you feel better. You still have to function. And try to be somewhat happy and pleasant. I just turned on TV for Lily while I laid there, but I haven't been the normal mom. I mean, when Barrett gets sick he gets to just hide out until he feels better (sorry, honey, but it's true :)) When you're a mom you don't have a day off work. You still do what needs to be done. 

Anyway, sometime in the morning I hit a breaking point. I really wanted to talk to someone, stop my worrying, and thought of several family members or friends I could call and talk about pregnancy with, but then I looked at what time it was back home. 2:00 am?? I just started crying. Not only was everyone asleep, but they would be asleep for a long time still. Luckily, God has been merciful in helping us find friends already here. I ended up texting one of my pregnant friends here, apologized for all the personal information when I don't know her very well yet, and she was very helpful. I started feeling a little better during the day and my landlady upstairs invited Lily and I up to play in the afternoon, which also helped.

Normally Barrett gets home from work by 5, but of course this day of all days, his work was holding a conference so he was gone until after we were in bed. Later that night when Lily was watching more movies while I felt sick again, I got an email from my sister. She sent me a link to a blog post she read the day before and it was perfect. She said: "Hey! So I have this favorite blog I read and each Sunday she does a "good life" post. When I read today's I totally thought of you and thought you might enjoy reading it. It's at: www.beckyhiggins.com -on her blog, Aug 31st post, written by Heidi Swapp. -Brittney" I read the post and started crying all over again for tender mercies. If you're at all interested, go read the post. It's fairly short. But it's about a lady who moved with her family of 5 to Beijing for a year and learning to have a positive perspective about the move.

Then I remembered this song I heard on the radio over the summer and have loved since because of a few lines that I knew I would need to call back on when we moved here. It's by Ingrid Michaelson called "Girls Chase Boys". I know, it doesn't sound applicable. (Sidenote: just pulled up the music video to add a link and wow it's weird. Don't look it up. I think I got a WAY different message than she was implying, ha ha ha. If you want to hear it just listen to the lyrics). Anyway... one of the main lines in the song is "All the broken hearts in the world still beat, let's not make it harder than it has to be" and the bridge is my favorite part. It says, "I've go two hands, one beating heart, and I'll be alright, I'm gonna be alright. Yeah I got two hands one beating heart, and I'll be alright. Gonna be alright." To me it emphasizes that pain/heartache is temporary and really most things are minor and you'll be alright in the end. I am extremely blessed and those small hard times aren't too hard in comparison to what they could be. One email and a song later, I felt quite a bit better mentally :)

To end this long post here are a few fun pictures of Lily and how she keeps herself entertained in our apartment.

This great idea I found on Pinterest one afternoon when I was bored and realized we have literally no craft supplies to do anything different than the usual toys.

 An empty toilet paper roll and part of a medical device Barrett brought home. I thought she looked like Hook, ha ha.

She is OBSESSED with these rain boots we bought for her. She learned how to put them on herself and they are on and off many times a day no matter what she's wearing or what the weather is like outside.

To better days!