Woah, that title explanation turned out to be a lot longer than I had anticipated and a whole lot less interesting. Apologies.
As James and I prepare for parenthood (which you can read about in my baby blog), our general attitude is changing. We view time together more reverently, we gently adjust the boundaries in other relationships, and sometimes we sleep-in rather than going for our scheduled run. Our priorities are shifting as well, though, considering we're hunting for a new home, awaiting James' training start date and preparing for the addition of a baby, this shift is inevitable. Its a strange thing to grow from a couple to a family and to have our plans come together all at the same time. It's brought out the qualities in each other that we love and those we don't love quite as much!
With all the joys and excitement we are experiencing, we are accepting that there will be areas in our life that will require sacrifice. Neither James nor I feel begrudged in any way, but we are aware that these sacrifices affect others. We've had to decline on a wedding invitation in the UK for next Spring and we spend less time investing in some relationships than before. We have accepted that the phrases inconvenient and unreasonable are going to be temporarily stricken from our vocabulary as having a first child, being separated for 3 months while James is training, sharing one vehicle and purchasing and moving into a house (all to be completed within a 5 month span) are simply not convenient nor reasonable life changes.
Contrary to the expectation, this acceptance has left us feeling much more calm about the approaching months. It will be manic, and I'll probably get a few spots from the stress, and there will be a few tiffs, but we're feeling ready. And truthfully, we're a bit relieved that the time of settling in to life in Canada is nearing its end. We're ready to start living. Growing pains be damned!
