By the end of our summer break we had been on 5 flights, used 2 rental cars, did a six hour road trip and been to 4 different states, all with baby Josiah in tow. Four states down and forty six more to go for Josiah! A convenient number to be at headed into football season since 46 is Alfred's number!
There was a time when all road trips meant to me was my favorite gas station food, endless naps, newly downloaded music and long conversations. Road trips with a baby means pumping a couple days before the trip to make sure we have enough milk so we didn't have to rush to find an exit so I could feed him. It means needing to buy a styrofoam cooler to keep the milk good for the trip. It means every gas stop has turned into a nursing Josiah in the car party. Needless to say road trips are a little different but always exciting! I also remember when flying meant TSA lines and then my biggest worry was filling up my water bottle and getting food before my flight. Now I'm worried about feeding Josiah, and getting him latched before he gets so hungry that he wants to scream, but then I don't want to over feed him to the point where he won't want to nurse on the way up. There is also a constant fear of blow outs, and needing to get him changed before the flight... And did I mention how scary breast feeding is in public?!!! That's what a 5 week summer break looks like and yet somehow it was substantially better than all the prior road trips and flights. It was much more selfless, that's for sure!
I used to get very stressed living out of suitcases and find it so hard to pack light enough to fit everything in one bag... And it's a BIG bag! Packing for a whole month in one suitcase for just myself was already challenging enough and now we add to the mix packing for Josiah. His carry on represents the loss of my own personal carry on which means less clothes for me... Booooo! For Josiah we pack clothes that fit him plus clothes that are one size up and the breast pump and a few other baby things. In one month Josiah has literally grown into the next size clothes. SO CRAZY!
When we left Virginia Josiah was 7 weeks old and when we returned he was over 2.5 months old! This also means that we had to arrange for his 2 month check up in whatever town we would be in at the point. I have to carry all of his documents and records to try to make new doctors visits go as smooth as possible and yet I still find myself on the phone getting things faxed that I didn't know the new doctor might need! It's a lot of work but obviously completely necessary!
Motherhood is humbling. My Jo man has me constantly calling upon God for help. I need His supernatural strength, energy, patience, love and so much more. Motherhood will also make you call upon your mom. It's funny how life works. I graduated and got married and thought, "oh I'm good and grown now." HA! I need my mom to be on call 24/7 all over again! I have to be able to text/call her frantically when Josiah has been screaming for half an hour from his 2 month shots. I need her to explain to Alfred what medicine to get because I have NO clue. I need my mom. Parenting a little baby is a crazy beautiful ride. I am at this child's beckon call 24/7 (just like my mom is still at mine) and I seriously soak up every minute. Hopefully my mom currently is too, fingers crossed!
Although it must sound so stressful having a baby with our lifestyle, Josiah represents another level of adventure that we would never accomplish on our own. Josiah adds just a little more meaning to every road trip, flight and visit with friends or family. All of these trips are now memories of three.
I have had many people ask me if I felt like I maybe missed out on time with my husband by getting pregnant a couple months into our marriage and the answer for us is a quick and honest no. We both want a big family and wanted to get started sooner rather than later. We are so excited and happy to have a baby in tow to make these memories with. We aren't stuck in the house, and we haven't stopped living. Does it change life? Absolutely!!! But it changes life for the better and we are loving this new life, new challenges and our little growing family.
You see, I had one dream consistently growing up. I dreamed of being a wife and a mother. I needed a husband to really make my childhood dreams a reality. And then I met Alfred. I had never hit a point in life where I thought "this is it, I could pause here forever and be happy". And although a pause right now would be terribly unfair to Josiah and ultimately to the Lord's plans for our life, I wouldn't mind just freezing some moments. Freeze the days that make the most beautiful memories. This life is sweet and it seemed to just drag on until I became a wife and a mama. It's like suddenly there aren't enough hours or naps in the day and always more than enough laundry. From this point forward we are living in fast forward. So occasionally I spend too much time staring at Alfred and our baby while they sleep. But it's worth the lost sleep and it's not a waste of time, because these are the memories that I'll cherish for the rest of our lives. How can a girl be so blessed? I love my boys.
