Dusting off the old blog.....5 years later

This time of year I always get a little sentimental.

It is really surreal to think that I started this blog nearly 5 years ago already.  I loved to write and I was going through something and needed an outlet, so a blog seemed like the perfect way to capture and document it all. And it was; until I got so busy with life and 4 kids that a quick photo or FaceBook update were much more manageable. But this might be the year that changes...

5 years ago today, I was busy readying 2 big kids for school, tending to a 1 year old, helping care for my sister and niece and looking at house plans.  But I was also getting ready for "the big ultrasound" next week where I could finally find out if I would be buying more blue or (finally) some more pink.  After a very rough go through my first several pregnancies (a missed miscarriage, a 32 week preemie and another miscarriage), I had a much easier time with with the boys thanks to a little bit of bedrest and progesterone shots to help stave off preterm labor.  I was so excited to find of the sex of baby #4 and it was getting so close.

But, like most things in life, that day did not go according to plan. I wrote about that appointment and the rest of the pregnancy afterwards.  Although I didn't share the blog widely for quite a while, it brought me much comfort and I love to now go back and reread all the raw emotion of the experience.

Moments have a way of making their mark...
I can still hear the words from the doctor.
I can still feel the lump in my throat as I left the office.
I can still remember the many tears in the car.
I will never forget the words I spoke to my husband and those he told me as he comforted me so.

And as painful that day seemed at the time and as I sit today, even on those days that adulting is hard,  I am grateful for those moments that together became a day when I knew my path had shifted.

Today my life is something that I never imagined, but somehow could not picture any differently now.  I wrote a freaking book! I am the Executive Director of an organization that didn't exist 5 years ago and now serves over 4000 families. I have a busy, amazing, wonderful family life - including backyard chickens. I have developed friendships around the world. But I really can't imagine it any other way.