extremes - from wife to mom.

this post has been rolling around in my head for a few days. like i walk around the house and am thinking about how much my life has changed in the last two and a half years...

remember when i used to only have to clean my house like twice a month,
when i didn't know what it meant to load or unload the dishwasher more than once a week,
when i did laundry in two loads,
or when i could clean my house without being interrupted.

remember when all that lined my picture frames were wedding photos,
and my wedding rings were still shiny and not covered in baby food,
or when we used to sleep in on saturday mornings,
or how we used to get to think about what WE wanted to do.

remember when I used to go out without having to pay a babysitter,
or when every night we were out was a date night.
when coffee was a hot drink and not a necessity.
and when 'my biggest job' was outside the home.

but all the sudden one night at two thirty a.m. my life changed.
it was called labor and it lasted only five short hours.
out came carter jude.
and our life was never the same.

sleep was a commodity rather than a pleasure.
time together was spent thinking about, laughing about, and dreaming about our little man.
my dishwasher {and washer, for that matter} was loaded up and hasn't stopped since.
my floors have needed more sweeping, more vaccumming, more swiffering than ever before.
my rings are shiny once i come out of the shower but not for long. but the wear and tear on them show the sacrifice and wear of life on them...
our love is no longer based on feeling alone but on selfless love because it's not just us anymore.

our frames now hold more than just a day's memories but years of smiles, laughs, smirks from two kids who've shown us that life is more than just about ourselves.
when i fold laundry i think of the funny things that they say or do when they were wearing the clothes and sad when i have to pack them up because they're growing UP.
thinking some days i wish they would do 'this or that' and then sad when they are finally doing 'this and that' because it means they are growing up.

these thoughts have been swirling and don't even seem all that clear.
but, i know this, our life holds these dear sweet children that the Lord has blessed us with. they have certainly changed our life.

my oh my have they changed our life.

and although sleeping in seems quite nice, i wouldn't give up or give away the changes they've brought in me:
they've humbled me,
made me pray more,
and made me recognize that sacrifice is called sacrifice because it is costly.

all of this seems like extremes because they kind of are.
and that's ok.
because i know going from a wife to a mom has brought out all extremes in me.

the journey of life marches on...
thankful for it,
changed by it.
and thankful that I have Jesus Christ to go before me
& carry me through,

oh motherhood, let's keep on trekking,
kg:)