Life Transitions

This post just so happens to be coming out on Mother’s Day so before I dive into our own life updates let me just say Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s out there! Being a mom isn’t an easy job but it’s a rewarding job where we get to watch these little  people grow every single day. Give your kids and yourself some extra love today. I am thankful for the mother role models in my own life who are such a big part of our own child’s journey.

It’s been so long since I’ve written on the parenting blog. I am preparing to give birth to our second child very soon (May 15 due date) and I felt a strong pull to get some current thoughts down before another big life change comes our way. This is a season of life where I have felt like there is very little control because everything is in the “waiting” phase. 

We are in the middle of many life transitions. Job changes, a new baby on the way, and in the search for a home. If you’ve followed Hiking Thru Life’s journey you know that last spring we sold our home of 4 years to live in a van for the summer with our 1-year-old son and dog. We don’t regret a single thing about that decision. We had a summer of memories that we will never forget, and the family bonding time that came along with the van life is something that gave our family intimate time together in a small space. The end of summer brought time for deciding what would be next in the journey.

During the van life, we dreamed about what our next home would look like. We had a plan to buy a townhome when we got back in the fall before I started teaching again for the year. The market was still high so we decided to wait. We are grateful to be able to live with Andy’s mom for what has now been an entire school year. As fall settled in, we started playing with the idea of opening up a hostel….a dream we have had in our minds for a couple of years. We started writing a business plan, talking to a mentor, and reading all about hostel ownership. Our energy was in full swing for hostel ownership plans during the months of September and October. At the end of October we learned I was pregnant (yes pregnant and didn’t realize it for nearly the first trimester)….surprise! This brought a turning point to the hostel idea. I thought there was no way we were going to run a hostel with 2 very young children. The hostel idea went on hold as we got into the winter months. We settled in for the winter, I continued to teach at the outdoor pre-k, and Andy (and grandma) were on Rory duty. It was nice for daddy daycare to be able to share the duties of caring for Rory while I was at work. As the school year went on, I began to really just go through the motions it felt. While dad and grandma were there to help, I still felt I wanted to do mommy duty and spend time with Rory when I got home from work. The exhaustion was real.  There were plenty of days when I was struggling to find joy in teaching. There were days I struggled to even want to spend time with Rory because I was so exhausted from teaching. Between the pregnancy, caring for a 1-year-old, and working with 4-5-year-olds the exhaustion was in full swing. Being pregnant the second time around was much different. There was less anxiety, less unknown, and overall less time to think about the pregnancy itself. I’ve been so busy with a 1 year old and work that there’s been no time or energy to sit and reflect on things like a pregnancy diary. This is for sure a piece of advice to anyone pregnant for your first time especially….it’s cool to read back on all the changes and emotions your body goes through because you will forgot about so much of it!

In thinking about what our next step would be with 2 children, we decided to make some job transitions. Andy will go back to work and I will stay home with the kids. I am looking forward to this change. It will open the door for opportunity out there, in connecting with my own children more, and being able to put full energy into the never ending job of parenting. Working full time and parenting is hard. I only did it for 1.5 years since Rory has been born. I give so much credit to all the working parents out there. I also give so much credit to all the stay-at-home parents out there. This isn’t easy either. I’ve been home for 1 week now with Rory and the adjustment to being home full time has had challenges too. Getting into a new routine, and keeping in mind that routine will soon change with a new baby coming. It’s very much a flow by the day season I feel I am in until the baby arrives. We all know the huge schedule and routine change that comes with a new baby.

There’s our current life in a nutshell. The year (by year I mean school year) has been full of twists, turns, changes, transitions, anticipation, waiting, and so many unknowns. 

Whatever stage of life you are in, I hope you are finding a balance to get through it. I hope you are able to find joy in the days in the midst of all of the anticipation.

Here’s to life transitions and the ever-evolving journey that is life.