It's almost been a whole 2 years since we found out we were pregnant with Mikenna. It has been the craziest, most amazing, fastest 2 years of my life. I will never forget the knot in my stomach when the pregnancy test came back positive. I was panicked- "We aren't married, we live in an apartment, we both have 2 door cars, what about work, and daycare?" I think 25,000 thoughts ran through my head at once. I just didn't know if we were ready. After lots of talking and lots of thinking I realized that I really do believe everything happens for a reason, and nothing would be thrown at us that we couldn't handle. That pregnancy test single handedly flipped our lives around. In these last 2 years there have been 4 very significant "news": new marriage, new baby, new house, and now... new car! Our life as we knew it is unrecognizable, and I am more than ok with that, no matter how fast it changed. I ask Ryan from time to time how different our lives would be had I not found out I was pregnant. His answer is always the same way I feel, things would have ended up the same (although it all probably would have taken a lot more time).
.Marriage.
April 2, 2009. This has actually felt like the smallest change in our lives. I have been married to Ryan in my heart for 5 years, our wedding was just a ceremony celebrating what we always knew. I know for most people this is a huge event, but for both Ryan and me it didn't seem like it. We knew from the beginning of our relationship that this was it for us. Things moved very quickly once we started dating, but it just felt like everything fell into place, it was just easy. We kind of "rushed" the wedding once we found out I was pregnant, but it all ended up better than I could have imagined. This day will always be in my mind as "perfect," and I still refuse to watch the wedding video because I don't want to ruin the perfection in my mind. :)
.Baby.
October 28, 2009. Miss Mikenna has definitely turned our lives upside down, in a good way. Everything has been completely different since that cute little face looked up at us for the first time. We are no longer focused on ourselves and things WE want, it's all about her. I think when you have children, especially young children, that's how it should be. With every decision I make I think of how it will affect her first. I now get to spend most of my time at home with her, which keeps me busier than I have ever been. I feel like she is growing so fast and there are so many opportunities to take her new places and teach her new things that sometimes other stuff gets pushed aside. (Thank you to the true friends I have that understand that, I love you to pieces.) I have definitely grown much closer to my "mommy" friends, who understand that I can't just get ready and go out at anytime... hell, it takes me an hour just to get ready to go to the store! Those friends that we have grown apart from we miss, but I have a feeling they will be back once they have kiddos of their own and understand it all ;). We have truly been blessed with an amazing little girl, I can't imagine life without our little munchkin.
July 2, 2010. We became homeowners that day. It was an amazing and almost unreal feeling to have those keys put in our hands. Part of me was excited, part of me was scared (what if something breaks?!), and part of me was sad to leave our apartment... yes, SAD to leave our apartment. That was our first "home" and that is where we had so many memories. But I got over that pretty quick! And now, oh, how I love our house. I love the space... 1542 square feet may not seem huge, but coming from a 2 bedroom apartment it is more than enough space for us at the moment. I love having a garage. I love having an upstairs (I thought I would hate it). I really only have to clean downstairs all the time since for the most part we are the only ones upstairs and it rarely gets dirty. I love having the spaces separated, Mikenna naps and sleeps so much better upstairs where it is quiet! I love that our house was brand new, and that we are the first family to make it a home. I never in my life imagined I would own any NEW house, let alone our first house. I love having tile downstairs. I even love cleaning our house 6 months later. I love living by open lots and a nature preserve, we take walks outside EVERY day the weather allows us to. No, it doesn't have the big backyard or wrap around porch, but that's why it is our FIRST house... we will move on to bigger and better things when the time is right. This house officially feels like home, and a huge piece of my heart will always be here.
.Car.
January 8, 2011. We bought a new car! Having 4 doors feels like such a luxury with a baby, let alone the room that an SUV offers! Why did we wait so long to get a new car? Number one reason is because we wanted to get a house first. We did not want to risk taking out any new loans and dinging our credit in the midst of our house search. After we bought our house we wanted to just live for a few months and make absolutely sure we could afford all of our bills plus another car payment. Probably another part of it is my attachment to my RSX, no matter how hard it may have been with a baby. (I still love that car, it has been so good to me!) Anyway here we are... with a 2011 Hyundai Tucson, which I fall more in love with everyday! It feels like it has soooo much space, it's fun to drive, Mikenna is a happy camper in it, and we got an amazing deal for what we got! Above all, it is NEW. Again, I've never had very many new things, and a brand new car just feels good... and smells amazing! (haha).
<3<3<3 We have a lot to be thankful for in these last two years. It's nice to have a moment to sit down and breathe, and be grateful for what we have. Life is good <3<3<3
