How to Keep Sane on a Bad Day

August is here! And thankfully it brought the sun with it! We’ve been having a really off summer here in the Seattle area, so any day it is sunny I’m filled with joy! Kayley and I just got back from a lovely walk in the sun. She was really enjoying looking around at all the plants and houses that we passed, and even focused on a butterfly. And then she fell asleep and is currently taking a nap in her crib. Today has been going pretty good so far, but our week did not start off this easy.

Sunday started at 4:30am for Kayley and I. The poor girl had some gas and was working on getting it out and wasn’t feeling great in the process. So I brought her into bed with us and had her lying on top of me while I rubbed her tummy. This helped a bit, but for two hours we girls were going in and out of sleep as Kayley would pull her legs up and squirm around to try and make herself feel better. She eventually had success and I got up to change her diaper and feed her at 6:30, a mere hour before the alarm was going to go off to get ready for church (and diaper changing and feeding takes about 40mins total).

Well, that’s how our morning started off, and it was packed with getting to church early and working in the nursery (for our first time ^_^), followed by a baby shower, and then home. Kayley was great during the whole day! She seemed to enjoy being in the nursery with us and enjoyed being with all the ladies at the baby shower. But this took a lot out of her too. So when we got home around three in the afternoon we had a very cranky tired baby who just didn’t know what she wanted and was fighting sleep. Who would blame her too? She started her day at 4:30am, had a packed day and was exhausted from it. I was tired too, along with Andrew who had to do some work from the time we got home to about 8:30 at night. Basically we were all really close to the end of our rope and Kayley’s intense continuous crying wasn’t helping any.

So, what did I do to help keep myself as calm as possibly during her crying fits (she only paused from crying to eat and take two short naps) while Andrew was busy doing work? I tried to turn every negative thought I was having into a positive one.

“Why do you have to be so loud?” turned into “I am so thankful you have strong lungs and that you are developing your voice.”

“Of my gosh your cry can sure carry” turned into “I hope one day you can use your strong voice to shout from the mountain tops that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is both fully man and fully God, and that believing in Him is the path to salvation.”

“Would you please stop squiring and kicking as I try to calm and sooth you?” turned into “I am so happy you are working on developing your muscles so that one day you can walk, run, dance, swim, skip, and do so many other things.”

“Can’t you take a break from crying?” turned into “I hope when you’re faced with adversity you will not give up and that you will continue to be persistent.”

I also started to thank God for other things relating to Kayley and our little family. I thanked God that He blessed Andrew and me with her, and that He would choose us as the best parents for her. I thanked God that He brought Andrew and me together as husband and wife. For all that God provides for us; Andrew’s job, our home, our family, our friends, our food, our clothing, even our cat. And so many other things.

I did my best to put my focus on God so that I would be at peace as Kayley cried away. I don’t think I could have gotten through the rest of the day without doing this. I’m not saying doing this made the rest of the day perfect; it was hard! But turning my focus on God instead of focusing on the negative helped to calm my soul and really be there to help support my tired baby girl.

Sunday served as a little reminder that God is always there with us, and focusing on Him can help you get through anything because He’s going through it with you.

All dressed up for church and the baby shower

So cute!

Kayley is wearing the cardigan sweater I wore when I was little