Who knew?

When I entered adulthood I expected my life to go so much more differently than it has. I expected to move to somewhere warm (Florida, California, South Texas), get a job at Sea World working with dolphins and whales (no longer a dream of mine, see the documentaries “Blackfish” and “The Cove”), take some photography and art classes at a local community college, and maybe have a dog. I wasn’t in a hurry to get married or settle down.

Then I met my husband. I remember us talking one night after we had been dating for about a month and him saying, “I’m not looking to get married. I’m not one to settle down.” And I remember thinking, “You and me both buddy!”

After dating for almost two years, we got engaged, and six months later we got married. I guess we were more ready to settle down than we thought. Shortly after we got married he started talking about wanting kids. I KNEW I wasn’t ready for that just yet. I was still getting accustomed to being a wife! I was hardly 22 years old and wasn’t in a hurry. He, however, was almost 28 when we got married. Do men have biological clocks (haha)?

A couple of years after we got married, we started spending time with friends that had kids. One friend was pregnant when her husband was tragically killed in a one-car accident. I was in the hospital waiting room when her son was born, and my husband and I were at her house at least one night a week spending time with her and her beautiful children. I fell in love with her sweet little family, and I learned so much about kids and caring for babies. Spending so much time with her and her beautiful children really softened me to the idea of having our own children.

Twenty days after our fourth anniversary, I gave birth to our first daughter, Zoey, in May of 2011. My whole world changed in the moment they handed me my beautiful baby girl! I saw things differently, worried about everything more, and enjoyed just being still and loving on this tiny little creature that God had blessed us with! How was it that I had thought I wasn’t cut out to be a mother? This is what I was made for! She is two and a half now and is also a big sister to Isabelle, our one-year-old.

I find myself laughing at silly dance moves, negotiating clean dinner plates for a cookie or cupcake, and handing out stickers when we have potty success! This is so not the life I had planned. It is BETTER! Sure, there are days where both girls are wild, cutting teeth, refusing to eat anything I give them, and just wearing me out! That is normal. They are kids!

A few things that have changed since we had kids:

• We’ve traded in spontaneous outings to the lake after work in the summer for painting at the kitchen table and playing with toys.
• We’ve traded sleeping late on the weekends for waking up early with kids crawling all over us.
• Our Netflix history has changed a lot and the suggestions have changed from action, adventure, and SciFi to My Little Pony, super hero cartoons, and Curious George.
• I use to be a fast food fan and now I try to eat (and feed my family) a healthy, balanced diet.

All of these trades have been so worth it in my life! I can’t imagine my life without my husband and our sweet, beautiful, wild, silly girls! I am blessed beyond belief!