How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else. ~Buckminster Fuller~
Our lives have been turned upside down and redirected in the last year...beginning as two young loves moving to the ocean-side for school and in 11 months becoming a family of three living in the mountains (well close to them). Unknowingly, our greatest adventure was not moving out West, but having a child out West. The last 12 months have been a whirl-wind of new people & experiences, of adjustment & trial, and of clarity of God's perfect plan for our lives. Here is a quick recap of our journey out here so far:
- August: Moved from Ajax Ontario to Surrey BC without jobs or a place to live
- September: Andrew started school, Melissa got a job with Scott Construction, A&M found an apartment & a new church (Gracepoint), A&M celebrated 1 year of marriage & began exploring the Vancouver area
- October: M became a counselor for GEMS, A became an intern with the Young Adults ministry, A&M began volunteering for the senior high youth group, A&M got pregnant;)
- November: A&M found out they were pregnant, A got a part-time job at Staples
- December: A finished off his 1st semester, A&M celebrated their first Christmas alone
- January: M started to show, A&M told everyone they were pregnant, A got a full-time job with Shaw Cable
- February: A&M attended the lighting of the Olympic flame ceremony & went for a weekend on Keat's Island,
- March: M visited Ontario for Bennett's birthday,
- April: A&M went to a Whitecaps game & visited Darrell in Victoria for Easter
- May: A took M up Mount Baker in Washington for Mother's Day
- June: M turned 25 & A took her out on the town to see the musical Wicked, Grammee Dee came & took A&M up the Grouse Mountain gondola, M stopped working
- July: Theo was born, The Meems' came for a visit, A&M's friend held a shower for T
- August: M's friends & A's family came for a visit, T started smiling
- September: A,M&T went on our first family vacation to the States & went to the PNE in Vancouver for the day, T rolled over, A&M celebrate 2 years of marriage
And here we are today, a whole new "us", starting off the next chapter of our lives. If you had told me a year ago that I would be a mother by now, I would have laughed and said "No, no, no we want to wait a couple years." People say that once you have a baby, you can't imagine your life without them...but I can. I can imagine myself getting up early every morning with Andrew, driving to the skytrain station and taking that train all the way downtown. I can see myself fighting to get off the train and straining my neck on the bus just to get one ounce of fresh cold air. I can see myself arriving on site, talking to my PM and then start working away...on the work I love. Instead, I get up at noon after a long night of feeding, burping & changing, put Theo in the swing, and turn on the TV to watch some overplayed episode of Criminal Minds while I munch on crackers & cheese. I then feed him while checking out facebook & babysteals to feed my new found addiction for cute baby things. I check the clock and discover Andrew will be home in an hour, so I change out of my pj's, pick up the clothes off the floor and throw a load of laundry in the wash.
Now don't get me wrong, I love Theo from the bottom of my heart, but I'm just taking some time to adjust to this new kind of "normal." And I know that in time we will create a healthier routine. Theo is an amazing child who knows what he wants and makes sure to let us know. He only cries when he is hungry or can't poop, and the rest of the time he is smiling or talking. He sleeps well at night & is a great travel baby. Theo loves music and noise...in fact he sleeps better when music is playing (or when daddy's snoring). Theodore is a true gift and I am honoured that God chose me to have the great privilege and responsibility to be his mommy. So please pray for us as we adjust to this chapter in our lives & decide on where to go from here.
