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Friday, September 30, 2011

A new normal

There is no doubt our lives will be forever changed in the next few weeks.
Our little girl will be here!
Will I even remember what life was like without her?
We will be a house of 5.
For so many years (almost 16) it's been about me and Dan.
We could come and go as we please.
And for the past 8 years (the amount of years all 5 of us have lived together) it has been all about me, Dan, Sissy and Baby Dan.
I've gotten used to having a fairly quiet house.
We love the quiet, peaceful, boring life we lead.
To be honest, I'm a bit afraid of what's to come.
That's normal, right?
And if I'm being completely honest my heart does ache a little bit every time I think about how Baby Dan and Sissy will take a backseat to little Olive. I don't want that to happen and Dan doesn't think that will happen, but it's just the reality that Olive will be our #1 priority. That doesn't mean we will love our kids any less, that's simply impossible, but will they get their one-on-one time that they've grown accustomed to? Probably not. Probably not at first anyways. It's going to take some time to adjust our lives with two 4-legged kids to 3 kids.
And I know that our little girl will bring so much love, laughter and joy to our lives.
It will be anything but quiet, peaceful, and boring from now on.
And I love that!
It will be loud, busy and different every day.
It will continue to be filled with lots of laughter and love.
And that's what's important after all.
It will be our new normal.

2 comments:

Vanessa said...

It's so normal and healthy to be thinking about this. Your 4 legged kids will definitely have a different role but they will accept it willingly and they will have an instinct about your addition, I promise. It will be a challenging but an amazing transition!

LW said...

Just remember that it's OK to grieve your pre-baby life. It doesn't make you ungrateful for your child, and it doesn't mean you don't/won't love your new life. It's a HUGE adjustment, and you're right, it's a new normal. When Charlotte was about 10 days old, I remember sitting in the bathroom and crying so hard because nothing felt the same, not even my house (I am sure post-partum hormones played a part in that, but still).

I still look back on those pre-baby days a little wistfully because life was different, and, in some ways, more simplistic.

Let yourself feel whatever feelings you may have, and know that they are not "wrong", they are normal. Use that baby for snuggles when you need them, and use me for venting when you need it :)