A Great Day!

I have felt very discouraged about staying home with JAC. It seemed like every day was filled with screaming and JAC rarely seemed to smile or be happy. My good friend Leigh who has a nearly two year old kept telling me, "Hang in there when you get to five months you'll suddenly have a good day and it will all be worth it." Today I got extra lucky and didn't have to wait 3 more months for a good day. I woke up groggy and feeling kind of depressed. We had gray skies again and I hate Mondays because Jess is back to work. I was grateful that JAC slept in and I could enjoy my coffee and struggle through my Bible study. When JAC started crying about an hour later I felt an overwhelming sense of dread. I did not want to do another day with a screaming baby and a dirty house. I waited until he was pretty worked up and then went and got him. I put him on his changing table ready to change his diaper and then a I got a great surprise - JAC looked up and smiled. Encouraged, I started trying different things to keep him happy. I danced around, sang funny songs, and made every funny noise I could think of. He loved it. He smiled and made squawking noises in reply. We played for almost an hour. I had thought he was crying earlier because he was hungry but actually he was just lonely and it turned out that jumping around singing silly songs to a baby was a great way to improve my mood too. I felt much better and JAC was really good all day. He went down for a short nap and I did a quick work out video using cans of vegetables as hand weights since I don't own dumb bails. He woke up, ate and didn't mind happily playing on his own while I rushed around prepping for dinner and cleaning our very dirty house.

Later I put JAC in the stroller and and we went for a run and I felt great. In my rush to get out the door I left Roxy behind in the yard and she barked in dismay. After running 2.5 miles I swung back around and picked her up. She was jubilant and took off in a dead sprint! I ran as fast as I could and she pulled us for half a mile. It was fun to run fast and I felt joyful watching Roxy enjoying the run. JAC slept through most of the run so I decided we would keep walking around the neighborhood. During our walk we met another really nice mom walking her dog and it was great to talk to someone else. Finally we made our way home and I pulled JAC out of the stroller and left it parked in the front yard. Roxy stayed outside and after a few minutes I looked outside and noticed she was guarding her stoller. She was sitting right next to it and wouldn't even leave her post to bark at the birds eating at our feeder - one of her favorite pastimes. She stayed right with the stroller until I came and brought it in a couple of hours later. I wonder if somehow she relates the stroller with fun times running.

After church on Sunday JAC was still sleeping and Jess suggested we keep driving and enjoy the quiet time together. We went through the Popeye's Chicken drive through and just kept driving. Jess and I have always liked driving around trying to find really nice neighborhoods and on Sunday our efforts were rewarded with a true gem. We were stuck in traffic so we decided to make a quick left and get off the main road. The houses lining the main road were mainly dumpy but they were only the shabby curtain hiding a great neighborhood within. We found the Lake Barcroft community. It was a picturesque community surrounding a perfect lake to kayak on. Jess and I instantly fell in love and were disappointed that the lake was only open to people in the neighborhood. JAC starting murmuring and we made our way home but both Jess and I were entranced and agreed that owning a house near that lake was worth dreaming about. I have decided that one of the things I love best about my husband is that he is a great person to dream with. It is so comforting to spend time with someone who shares your hopes for the future.