It Happens

I post about what happens in my life... thus the title, "Life as I Know It." Original, creative, I know. (Slight sarcasm there...) However, I have to admit, that what I post has a positive spin on it! Because I have found that it makes life more enjoyable to look at things in a more positive light. (Derduh!) And so, when deciding how to write about what happened today, I thought and thought... and decided to just face it. Today was ROUGH. Whew.

The Emeister only got 7 hours of sleep last night. Now, for the average person, that isn't too shabby. In fact, during the school year that's a very decent night. For a 13 month old who came from the womb with the nickname beginning with the word "Angry" because of how fussy he can get when he's tired... 7 hours is not near enough. He fussed at breakfast. He screamed and yelled when I tried to sing him to sleep. He was a happy boy at gymnastics, after he got over the shyness and decided to walk around a little... but then he tripped and bumped his lip. Mreh. We got home, and started lunch for the little guy. He fussed at lunch. He didn't like the food, he wouldn't eat his vegetables. He got the hiccups for the 2nd time in one day. He was so tired, so I went to sing him to sleep.

He screamed. And he spit his milk out everywhere. Delicious.

And I, as talented as I am, was able to rock and sing myself to sleep while he sat in my lap and got over his grumps and calmed down. Yes, I woke up a few times while I rocked with him. But though I was successful in putting myself down to sleep in all of about 3 seconds, it did not work on him until 30 minutes later.

He slept restlessly. He woke up 40 minutes later (not nearly long enough for this guy, especially for how tired he was).

And, let's all take a guess at his mood when he woke up! Stinky!!! He was not a happy boy. And then he bonked his head, tripped, and screamed at every little thing. About 3:30 came around and I felt a tug on my capris, and looked down to the little guy's big brown eyes looking sad and exhausted. So, we tried for a third nap. He did not protest, but he also didn't fall asleep.

After 45 minutes of rocking and singing, singing and rocking, I finally just set him in his crib and left.

He HOWLED!!!

20 minutes later, he was in my arms, and we went for a walk. This guy was a happy guy on the walk, but his eyes were bloodshot and he was tired, and he had the hiccups again. By dinner time, he was upset at every little thing. Normally he is a pretty happy guy- not today, folks. Like I said, it was rough. I fed him, and his Dad walked in to a very frazzled and exhausted nanny and his boy with bloodshot eyes and a tired grumpster attitude. So I bathed the baby boy early, and put him straight to sleep.

No screaming this time... but boy, he's already woken up like 3 times.

Worried? Possibly. I surely hope that the new diet of more solid foods and whole milk isn't bugging him. But even more I hope that he leaves this grumpster attitude and sad exhaustion in the dust, because it tires me out and I have a hard time seeing him in such an awful state. It wears on you, being with a grumpy guy for 12.5 hours a day.

Needless to say, I have been needing some love and attention myself the past couple of days after dealing with this. And the Lord hasn't let me down- yesterday I got a letter written over a month ago in a small place in Mexico from one of my best friends growing up. And he cited a scripture that was exactly what I needed to hear. Yes, I cried. Because now that I hang out with a baby, I have become one. Today, I got a letter written 2 weeks ago from an equally incredible young man who is residing in the city of my dreams, Barcelona, Spain, and his was of the same theme. Exactly what I needed, too. Interesting that they were written across the globe from each other, 2 weeks apart from each other, from young men who grew up with each other but have had completely different experiences their whole lives, and who are now honorably serving missions and very close to the Spirit of the Lord, and neither of which know the deepest part of my emotions right now or what I struggling with (or absolutely loving either), yet they both were able to say the exact thing I needed to hear, and testify of the same thing, that trials come but the Lord has given them to us for a reason, and He will help us through them and they will make us better if we lean on Him.

I can testify that the Lord knows me. And He knows you too. Look for His hand in your life- it is there. It is everywhere. When I was having a really hard time in high school, I would always look to the sunset and see there that everything would be okay, because no matter what the Lord let me know He loved me by painting the most beautiful of pictures at the end of every day. Even if the day was awful, there was always one piece of optimism, the sunset. The Lord knows when we need hard things to make us stronger, and when we need help to buoy us up. I had a rough day, besides the fact that the Emeister was struggling too and that made it even harder. But the Lord did not let me forget that He is with me, and it will be okay, and this all, all of this hard stuff, is for my good. He reminded me that an Eternal Perspective changes the view we have of our lives- and makes everything look brighter, more hopeful, more meaningful, and make more sense.

We are not alone. We are never alone. Look for the Lord in your life. When you find Him, you will be amazed to find that He has been intricately involved with you from the beginning. He loves you. He is pleading for you to come unto Him- so do it, and find peace, joy, happiness, and hope. That is where I find mine. Be strong. You can do it! I love you, and so does the Lord. Stay strong. Be good. Talk to you soon <3