The year of major changes.

As we journey along in our fifth year of marriage, we have experienced quite a few changes. We've lived together in three different places, but are now settled in nicely to the home we bought three years ago. We adopted a wonderful little shelter dog who has changed my world tremendously (she deserves more in another post, someday), acquired and lost other pets, started jobs, lost jobs, lost family members, and spent more money than I'd prefer on various unavoidable home improvements. All in all, I feel like we've done well in our time so far, and I feel like the path we're on is a good one.

Despite all the obstacles we've faced, the joys we've experienced, and losses we've suffered, we've honestly been relatively lucky that nothing has shaken our world too mightily. But that will all be changing here shortly. Roughly 13 weeks from now we'll be welcoming a tiny little baby into our lives. Being so thrilled and equally terrified at the same time is a new sensation for me, but we feel about as ready as is possible for two first-time parents who can only guess at what's in store for us. I think this is the cue for seasoned parents to snigger and roll their eyes at the idea that new parents could ever be "ready".

Seriously, how can a person have this many emotions at once? Excitement, panic, happiness, sadness, elation, fear, confidence, insecurity, joy, anxiety. My mind is constantly reeling. I can't wait for this little baby to get here. But wait, there's so many things we still needed to do! When will we ever get to them now? When will we be able to afford new gutters? What about new siding? When will we watch all those TV series we wanted to watch on Netflix? Will I get to have more pet rats someday? Will I ever learn to play guitar? What about having a house with a garage?

Okay, so we're far from ready. But at the same time, we're ready. Is there any way that makes sense? I think so. We're ready in the sense that we both want this, with every fiber of our being. We both want to be parents. We want to expand our family. We know babies bring things like sleepless nights, extra laundry, and endless dirty diapers. We also know babies bring incredible joy and meaning to your life. And we're ready for that. Well, as ready as we'll ever be. We've come out for the better from all the changes in our life so far, and I'm confident this change will be just as beneficial.