when today came together perfectly

today was awesome.  yesterday wasn't because i was lazy and baby girl and i both stayed in our pj's until something disgusting like 5pm when i finally had to clean up our act and go to church for young womens.  i keep doing that more and more recently.  where i wake up and think "i'm too tired for us to go out... we can just have a lazy morning at home" and it just puts me in a bad mood and makes baby girl whiny and needy.  so that's why i knew today had to be better.  sunday sucked so i made monday scheduled and it was much better.  tuesday kinda sucked so i made wednesday productive and awesome.  but don't worry, i learned my lesson better this time and have already made sure that tomorrow and friday won't suck.

so today i made sure to get dressed and ready head to toe before getting baby girl out of bed.  even if that means letting her cry for five or ten minutes (i don't shower in the morning so getting ready is REALLY quick) so that i have time to put in my contacts and brush my hair, it's one million percent worth it.  that five minutes before i get baby out of her crib is the most crucial five minutes of my day.  it determines EVERYTHING.  if i'm in pj's when i get her up... i'll probably still be in pj's five hours later.

so then i got baby girl up and dressed before we went downstairs.  and we ate eggs of course and cleaned up and were about to head out to walmart when i realized it was only 10:40 and we could totally make the 11 o clock story time.  so i called jodi to see if she and elle wanted to join us.  sadly, they couldn't.  but i talked to jodi on the phone for the next 15 minutes and it made me grateful for cell phones.  what did people used to do?!  end their conversation early or be late to story time?!  i was glad not to have to do either.  

story time went great and baby girl paid attention during the entire thing.  we even saw michaela there with her grandma (since kirstyn just had a baby two weeks ago) and abigail thought that was so cool and ran over to give her a hug.  i think it confused the grandma a bit at first... she later came over to ask if we lived in the same apartment complex.  nope... just friends from church!

and then after some fun with puzzles and hanging out with other library kids, we were off to walmart.  i parked in that same spot again, right next to the handicap space.  since i'd been on the phone with jodi when i left the house, i'd forgotten to grab my shopping list but found a receipt in the car and wrote down everything i could remember (checking it later i actually remembered every single item except for ricotta cheese!  thank goodness for a photographic memory... it's all i have) and a sippy for baby girl... but we managed okay without that since the weather was a cool and fabulous 82.  you know it's been hot when you roll down your windows to enjoy the cool air and then pass by a bank marquee that tells you it's actually 82 degrees outside.  anyways... we grabbed way more than what was on our list but it was all stuff we needed to grab anyways to keep our pantry (that's a lie... we don't have a pantry... just kitchen cabinets) stocked up with the basics (spaghetti sauce, taco seasoning, y'know...) and ended up with a super high grocery bill (granted it's been a full two weeks since our last trip) that was thankfully still only double digits.  and even with the insanely slow checkout line (seriously thankful this almost never happens), we were out of there in an hour flat.  

when we got home i gave baby girl her lunch and to say she ate it leisurely doesn't even begin to describe the slower than molasses speed going on.  so i threw some sweet potatoes in the oven for my own lunch, set the timer for an hour, and then chopped up veggies so that tomorrow morning i could just throw everything in the crock pot to make this creamy chicken wild rice soup.  well, once i got them all chopped i was like "i should just go ahead and make this now!" so i did. and instead of setting it to low like i normally do, i set it to high.  i thought it was just for kicks but later realized it was divine inspiration.

i'm no speed chopper in the kitchen but this bag was FULL of carrots, celery, and onion and it's just one of the many things i did while baby girl munched on her lunch.

add water and chicken

add veggies

add the rice a roni (and chicken broth not pictured) and you have yourself some soup!  almost...

and i put away our giant haul of groceries and honestly, i know i've said it before but there is nothing more beautiful than a fresh, full basket of produce!  

 

then baby girl got a quick bath (because she asked for one and i was in a good mood and felt like being a nice mom) and was in bed by 2:30.  during nap, my friend ashley texted and asked if i'd be around tomorrow morning so she could drop off some stuff for me.  i told her that we wouldn't but that since chris is out of town, my night is free and i could swing by her house and pick it up.  so she said she was going to take her kids to chick fil a since her husband is also out of town and asked if we wanted to join.  "well actually i have this huge crock pot full of soup... how bout i bring that over with a loaf of french bread and we can all eat dinner together like one big happy husbandless family?!"  she was on board so at 6 15 i showed up with a crock pot of soup, a loaf of french bread, and baby girl.  we hung out, we ate, the kids played... in the back yard, the kitchen, the living room, the office... and then we were smart enough to move the party to the playroom.  and there we played for a long time.  and then when it was getting to be about 9 or so we decided we should probably get the kids to clean up the toys because it was past everyone's bedtime.  and then i started to experience really severe stomach pains.  probably comparable to that story i shared a few posts ago where the girl was "writhing in pain."  avert your eyes if you are hesitant to tmi (although let's be honest that everything i write is way too much information) but honestly what i felt was bloat and gas escalated to the level that it felt like full blown labor contractions and i'm not even exaggerating one single bit.  i have never experienced anything like this in my entire life.  pregnancy is a glorious, glamorous thing, that's for sure.  anyways, i thought i was going to die, and ashley was sure she was going to have to take me [and our three kids] to the hospital but luckily neither of those things happened and i made it happily home around 10 o clock to a slightly lit house with honey's car in the garage.  happy day, back from wisconsin, i have a husband again!

so the already amazing day ended well too.  after three days of asking "where's daddy?!", baby girl had the man himself snuggle her goodnight and i don't have to sleep in an empty bed.  several months ago i could honestly say that every day was incredible.  but now pregnancy is such a roller coaster that things are much more unpredictable.  so i'm all the more appreciative of great days like today and even more eager to "bottle them up" so i can save them for any future days when i need a bit of sunshine and sparkle.

life is good.