It's been one of those days

Today has been one of those days; those days that could have been really awful. Instead, it was one of those blessed, glorious days when I felt the presence of God with me from the very start of the day.

That start of the day happened to occur at 5:15 am. Ross was gone super early so baby and dog duty were on mama. I expected Mary Kate to go back to sleep but no can do. The dog was walking around, making noise, wanting to go out. I held firm and refused to attend to either of those fools until 6 am. I layed in bed, knowing I was flying solo today, and knowing how most days that start at 5:15 am pan out. But today, I tried something different. Instead of pulling my pillow over my head and cussing, I prayed. I prayed for an inordinant amount of patience. I prayed for joy to be in my heart today. I prayed not to resent my husband for the fun he'd have while I was working in the zoo starting at 5. I prayed that having a good attitude would change the expected trajectory of the day.

I let the dog out and went in to a royally pissed off little girl who continued to throw a fit for another 20 minutes. Finally she realized she needed to stop screaming in order to be fed and she calmed down. During said screaming, I remained uncharacteristically calm, feeling my favorite teammate next to me. I began to devise a much needed plan for our long day ahead. I texted a friend and told her that the pizza she ate last night was settling in her thighs. (there is an inside joke here. I'm not that big of a jerk.) She took my bait and met me at the gym. Mary Kate got to play for an hour and my friend and I took a very bad aerobics class. One of my favorite mops moms also walked into that very bad aerobics class. This helped calm my nerves about MK in the daycare, knowing my mops mom's kids were in there with her. After, she and I both realized we were single moms for the day and agreed to eat away any lingering husband resentment at chick-fil-a. MK took a catnap in the car, making her a surprisingly (more) pleasant lunch date. I actually think I can tell you a few of the thoughts Amber finished.

Throughout the morning, I was so struck by how God honored my request to have this be a joyous day. I could not believe how at peace I felt. The afternoon, however, threatened to destroy that peace. MK's little catnap killed much chance for any real afternoon nap and she cried for an hour. I kept reminding myself that God was still with me, helping me through this day, regardless of whether MK was happy or sad. When I finally got her up, she was in a FOUL mood. I came very close to cancelling our plans to go over to our neighbors to watch football but MK loves them and their dogs and I thought the change of scenery might be the attitude adjustment we both needed. And I am so glad I did.

Because, ladies and gentleman, at the ripe old age of 16 months and 3 days, THIS GIRL

FINALLY WALKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, after all the appropriate texts and phone calls to say that we may avoid the planned trip to the physical therapist, I stopped for a minute. I thanked God for answering the prayer I had prayed the night before and the one my sister-in-law, unknown to me, was praying after Communion, probably around that same time.

After a few little steps, she full fledged walked to me in Zach and Karen's kitchen. She was so proud of herself and was a total ham, acting like she hadn't spent the previous two hours making me bang my head against a wall.

I came home and rocked that moody little creature in our chair, saying our guardian angel prayer and thanking God for a day that could have been so rough. And while it wasn't perfect, it was one of those special days where I felt Him with me, walking through all the joys and all the stresses of parenting. It was one of those days where you feel, as we used to say in bible study, the spiritual warm fuzzies. God is there, every single day, warm fuzzies or no fuzzies. But oh how great it felt to really feel Him here today, especially when the other man in my life was off galavanting :)