Life is Good -- Dramatic But Good.

This week has been one filled with ups and downs. Mostly the downs have been turned upside down and today was no exception.

First of all, my weekend started out very nicely. Alberto and I went to my dad's condo on Miami Beach. Of course, now that I am a fully prepared mom, I had the packed diaperbag and what nots. Granted, my trips to the beach generally require multiple trips to the car or a second person just to carry all the bags. But now that I am ultra prepared with all the gadgets, my diaper bag was extra heavy.

We hung out with my dad on Saturday for a few hours just lounging in his pool. Of course we had sunscreen on. I could have sworn I had a hat in that darn bag. My dad put one of his baseball caps on Alberto. Sorry no pictures of that. Even though he was in an inflatable raft, he also had his lifevest on as well. My dad was thoroughly convinced it was overkill and wanted to know when the poor child was going to learn to be a man. Of course, spoken like a man.

In the picture below, my dad wanted Alberto to get some sun. So he made his little car a convertible. Alberto preferred the convertible as well and kept trying to pull the "roof" down whenever he got a chance.

Afterwards we went upstairs and hung out again. It was a lazy day. Ah, the men in my life..

It was a nice day to end a nice week. Sure, I'd had my cloudy days. Sure, I had my moments but all in all, I was blessed and life was good.

We went to lunch at a little Cuban restaurant on the Beach. Remember the diaper bag? To fully appreciate the moment of my unpacking my diaperbag with the table topper, seat cover, tupperware and sippy cup, you have to know my dad. My dad is Mr. No Nonsense. It was a Kodak moment if I ever had one. Unfortunately, my camera was not turned on and somehow having him pose would rob the picture of it's integrity. It was truly one of those priceless moments.

Actually, I think the most priceless moment was when I actually learned that those table toppers have these little stickies on the back. You peel off the plastic and they stick. Light bulb moment. I wondered last week what the real point was to them as the silly thing was all over the table. But now that I've learned, I really like them! It was a cool toy, for me.

All in all, life was good.

At around 1am, Alberto decided that he needed to wake up. Not sure what was wrong with him. He's been a little constipated so that might of been it. For the life of me, I can't explain how a child who eats yogurt every day, eats veggies, has black beans a few times a week, drinks tons of liquids can be constipated. But, he his plumming just wasn't as smooth and flowing as usual. I think that the beans were in action last night and things were just starting to move. So he was a little uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, this meant that I wasn't going to get much sleep. Oh yeah, sleep deprivation. We all know how well I do with that. Boy do I become such a cranky and complaining person. I can't even stand myself when I get like that.

But this is the thing... Every other Sunday, I volunteer at my church's children's ministry with the pre-schoolers. It's me and 20 little kids who are on summer vacation (as though kids that age know it's summer). A couple weeks ago, I was certain this was not for me. Granted, I was sleep deprived and had my son's stomach issues in the forefront of my mind. I just wasn't sure what on earth I was doing serving in this ministry. I've been frustrated. It's a new church that does things differently than how I am used to. I am used to a lot of structure and organization (down to having everything timed). And here, there is a lot of freedom but little support. And I was just not sure if I could do. But then I decided to stop trying to fight it and just accept that it "is what it is". And just do whatever I think everyone else does. Show up, do your thing and leave. (It's the perception of a sleep deprived mom).

This Sunday was no different. Alberto's schedule was just completely out of whack. He didn't want to nap; he didn't want to eat even though he was tired and hungry. Then, he finally ate something and fell asleep in his highchair. One minute he was chewing and the next minute he is sleeping. And I had to leave in the next few minutes to go to church to take care of someone elses kids.

Notice decline in good attitude... and it was decling at lightning speed.

Then, I started wondering as I was rushing to get everything together, dress a child that was alseep and wondered, why on earth was I sacrificing my son for these people? I mean, really, do they even appreciate what I am doing. I hope that at least one kid gets something out of all of this. And then I had that little reminder of God sacrificing His son for me. But I quickly reminded God that He is God and I am not; good thing. Cause can you imagine me as God with that rotten attitude?

Okay, but He did have a point. Maybe, I would have a slight attitude adjustment. It was a minor one. And I had the resolve to go and just do what I have to do and not a single solitary thing more. And then, I could hear a friend of mine, Luz, saying... "Ana, my dear, you are a leader. And you are not doing this for the kids or for the church; you are doing this as unto the Lord." Was that Luz in my head or was that Bible truth coming back at me. Okay so it's not about the kids. It's about God. Okay. Attitude slightly improving, but not too much.

By the way, Alberto is fine at this point. He was up. At first a little grumpy but as soon as we left the driveway, he was fast asleep, and he had the time of his life while in the nursery. He loves to play and could have stayed there all day. Maybe, he's ready for daycare....

When I get to my class with a all this stuff going on in my head about I'm serving God not anyone else and that my melodrama about sacrificing my son was put in check by the reality of what God did and the truth that my son was perfectly fine, mixed with my friend's little voice mixed with a laugh that I am a leader... My attitude went from horrible to just bad.

And then it happened... I was introduced to my new helper; and she's an adult who is going to be there every time I am there and she actually wants to help!!! AND, the kids were fabulous today.

This was another one of those God moments where my cloudy day -- oh, I didn't mention it was literally and figuratively a cloudy, rainy day! -- has a ray of sunshine and a rainbow of promise mixed in.

Lessons learned: When going out to eat with my dad and Alberto, make sure to have the camera ready for those Kodak moments. Seriously, enjoy more lazy days just hanging out and spending time with those you love. Most importantly, I have learned that God does things tangibly in our lives. Sometimes we think that God only works in the supernatural and spiritual. But this week, I have been blessed with witnessing God turn discouragement into encouragement and used people around me. It's humbling and impressive when I step back from my whining, complaining and melodrama and can see the hand of God at work. Cool Stuff!