And A Happy New Year
Moving was a bit stressful, but so rewarding. Josh and I are settled into our new home. We are loving our house and the neighborhood. I think that my favorite part about our new house is the large window that is high above our entryway. I like to watch the stars through that window at night. I also love that it is outlined with icicles.
Adriaan is 18 months old. He loves all of the extra space that we have now. His favorite game to play is basketball. His favorite word is basketball. He is obsessed with balls. We know when Adriaan is awake in his crib, because from across the house we can hear, "baaasketbaaalll" repeated over and over. Ahhhh...such a boy, but this mama couldn't be more proud. Adriaan is also currently obsessed with my dad's homemade yogurt. He approaches the fridge about 3 times a day yelling the word 'papa' until I feed him some of grandpa's yogurt. Adriaan only has to visit the CF Clinic at Primary Children's Hospital every 3 months now. The checkups are routine and he has been really healthy. His doctor and dietician are satisfied with his weight gain. His most recent chest x-ray did show some scarring and decreased lung aeration. There are a lot of things about his condition that I don't understand, but I am grateful for his medical team that is navigating us through this.
Josh had a really busy Fall Semester at the U and he accepted a full-time job in September. He finished up his coursework for his masters degree last week!!! I am really proud of his hard work and accomplishments. Josh found time to hang out with us even though he was super busy with school, work, buying a house and moving. He is a fantastic dad. Josh loves to tease Adriaan A LOT and he loves to teach him new things. While I was getting ready this morning, I could hear them in the kitchen. Josh taught Adriaan the words yellow and red. Adriaan repeated those two words over and over. He learned two words during breakfast!!! I was slightly jealous when I overheard them. Josh can do or say anything, and Adriaan will think that it's the coolest thing. I am grateful that Adriaan looks up to Josh so much, because he is such a great role model.
Social media is distorted and paints an uneven picture of people's lives. Vacations, outings, weddings, births, new jobs and some of life's greatest moments are recorded through these social outlets. The hard times of stress, sadness and loneliness seem to be skipped over. As if the good times define our character and the hard times just never existed. I am going to be completely honest. I have missed teaching soooooo much. I love the fact that I get to stay at home with Adriaan, but I have had a hard time with the transition from working to staying at home. I have really struggled with how much slower paced life is now compared to planning, preparing, teaching and meeting the needs of 24 children. I have always felt very accomplished. I graduated from college, married my best friend in the temple and I had my dream job. But now I feel like I'm trying to find myself all over again. What am I going to do with myself tomorrow and the next day and the next? What am I going to accomplish? What goals am I going to achieve...or even set for that matter? Adriaan is more independent now and I want to feel more needed. Have any of you other new moms experienced this difficult transition?
Josh and I have been married for 4 years! Our anniversary is on January 15th. It is crazy how fast time has flown by. One of the most important things that I have learned about having a successful marriage is communication. Communication is key. Seriously people, get with the program. I am grateful for my eternal companion and our eternal family. We are excited to welcome a new member into our family in April. We are expecting a baby boy. We are so thrilled and we feel so SO blessed!
Adriaan is 18 months old. He loves all of the extra space that we have now. His favorite game to play is basketball. His favorite word is basketball. He is obsessed with balls. We know when Adriaan is awake in his crib, because from across the house we can hear, "baaasketbaaalll" repeated over and over. Ahhhh...such a boy, but this mama couldn't be more proud. Adriaan is also currently obsessed with my dad's homemade yogurt. He approaches the fridge about 3 times a day yelling the word 'papa' until I feed him some of grandpa's yogurt. Adriaan only has to visit the CF Clinic at Primary Children's Hospital every 3 months now. The checkups are routine and he has been really healthy. His doctor and dietician are satisfied with his weight gain. His most recent chest x-ray did show some scarring and decreased lung aeration. There are a lot of things about his condition that I don't understand, but I am grateful for his medical team that is navigating us through this.
Josh had a really busy Fall Semester at the U and he accepted a full-time job in September. He finished up his coursework for his masters degree last week!!! I am really proud of his hard work and accomplishments. Josh found time to hang out with us even though he was super busy with school, work, buying a house and moving. He is a fantastic dad. Josh loves to tease Adriaan A LOT and he loves to teach him new things. While I was getting ready this morning, I could hear them in the kitchen. Josh taught Adriaan the words yellow and red. Adriaan repeated those two words over and over. He learned two words during breakfast!!! I was slightly jealous when I overheard them. Josh can do or say anything, and Adriaan will think that it's the coolest thing. I am grateful that Adriaan looks up to Josh so much, because he is such a great role model.
Social media is distorted and paints an uneven picture of people's lives. Vacations, outings, weddings, births, new jobs and some of life's greatest moments are recorded through these social outlets. The hard times of stress, sadness and loneliness seem to be skipped over. As if the good times define our character and the hard times just never existed. I am going to be completely honest. I have missed teaching soooooo much. I love the fact that I get to stay at home with Adriaan, but I have had a hard time with the transition from working to staying at home. I have really struggled with how much slower paced life is now compared to planning, preparing, teaching and meeting the needs of 24 children. I have always felt very accomplished. I graduated from college, married my best friend in the temple and I had my dream job. But now I feel like I'm trying to find myself all over again. What am I going to do with myself tomorrow and the next day and the next? What am I going to accomplish? What goals am I going to achieve...or even set for that matter? Adriaan is more independent now and I want to feel more needed. Have any of you other new moms experienced this difficult transition?
Josh and I have been married for 4 years! Our anniversary is on January 15th. It is crazy how fast time has flown by. One of the most important things that I have learned about having a successful marriage is communication. Communication is key. Seriously people, get with the program. I am grateful for my eternal companion and our eternal family. We are excited to welcome a new member into our family in April. We are expecting a baby boy. We are so thrilled and we feel so SO blessed!
U r an amazing person...so glad i met u. Congratulations on the house and having another boy
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, i'm so impressed with you guys! I love how you both are so Driven! You guys are our type of couple :) haha! I love how hard working your hubby is too & love how it seems he's been so hard working from early on :)
ReplyDeleteSo.....i feel like I can relate to you b/c ive experienced the graduating from college, having the dream job thing....It was devastating to move from Saint George back up North and to voluntarily leave my dream job...the job that I always wanted. It's for sure hard to transition to being at home all the time and to wake up each day and to ask yourself...okay...what now...for me, it was pretty easy to catch on to being busy b/c at that point Bradyn (my second) was 5 months...so just with having two boys.....(ah! two boys...we are even more alike! lol) but it just got easy to be busy b/c of the two kid thing...I think just setting new goals, finding new hobbies, workout groups in your ward, play dates...indoor swimming areas (colder mos).. I think in time, you'll feel yourself becoming more busier and finding your "New Groove" :) But yes, totally get the feeling of like...Okay....i don't feel so important anymore...people relied on me, i helped others...to now all the focus is on my kids...What was even more hard I felt like is by having my dream job and graduating I had felt it made me a better mom when I was at home b/c I felt so purposeful and motivated by other stumuli...does that make sense?:) Anywho, Congrats on the pregnancy! Two boys is SO FUN! You'll love it!
Congratulations! I had no idea you were expecting! That is so fantastic. I had a really hard time transitioning to motherhood verses just work or school. Honestly the thing that helped the most was to have a 2nd baby. I am so much busier now with 2 that my days just seem more full.. more smiles, laughs, work, etc was doubled in an instant. I also spend almost no time on social media and that has seemed to help me the most. I miss knowing what is going on with everyone (like new babies) but I am also so much happier not comparing myself to skewed social media views. You will find a balance. I'm going on year 3 of being a stay at home mommy and still haven't fully figured it out. It must just takes time and patience. :/ Oh I love the quote that Amber put in her comment. Along with that quote I remind myself that JOY consists of Jesus Others and then Yourself. Again Congrats on baby!
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