When I was first pregnant with Stella, I had the same thought probably most moms do: there goes date nights, sleep, time alone, girls night out, our checking account, my body. As much as I knew I would gain with having a child in my life, there was also that overlying fear of losing myself and closing a chapter of my life.
Before babies, we had fun. We spent our weekends going to karaoke and laying by the pool. Since the first part of our relationship was long distance, we spent a lot of time on planes traveling to new places to meet up with one another.
We bought a house and had all these great plans for fixing it up and making it a place to have friends over for pool parties and Thanksgiving dinners.
Then....I got pregnant.
Now granted, we were somewhat trying...as in, let's put it out there and see if God bites. He did. Immediately. We knew we wanted a family and now had the house for it.
But dang, we didn't expect it so quickly.
Insert life change here.
My days spent searching for the perfect ceiling fan and kitchen counters were replaced by the search for the perfect crib and nursery colors. My girls nights out with heels, dancing and champagne were replaced by flip flops, 8pm bedtime and gallons of water.
And once Stella came, our evenings were spent trying to put a crying newborn to sleep and envying the Facebook posts of our friends out having fun.
Don't get me wrong...we absolutely love our quiet nights at home and there is no greater joy than knowing your child is sound asleep down the hall after a full day.
It was just a different fun. A new fun. And that's the point of this section of my blog...the whole blog, actually.
I now like looking at life as seasons rather than as chapters of a book, as we tend to do. "Closing a chapter" just seems so final...like, well that was fun, but it's over. Seasons are drastically different from each other but they overlap, cycling over and over again.
When I came home with Graham and had the chance to spend a month with my stepmom, I remember one day she commented on my attitude and how she was amazed at how I was mentally and emotionally handling myself. Thankfully I never suffered from post-partum depression as I know some moms do, but I sure had the hormone-induced tears and would sob some mornings from exhaustion. My feet were so swollen from my c-section, I could hardly walk, much less wear anything other than a wide flip flop.
But overall, I knew this was just my season. I knew that one day there would be date nights, I would have fun girls nights, I would eventually get back to the gym, I would have my own quiet time, style my hair, and I would one day wear heels again.
And I can tell you, almost 4 months in to having two kids, I've officially done all of the above.
But for now, though, that's all just secondary to raising my babies and taking care of my husband and our home. I'm in my new season of fun.
This blog is for us to celebrate each other's seasons, help each other through the rough patches, and remind each other that sunny days are always ahead.
And a fabulous pair of heels.
