2012 was both such a blessing and such a difficulty for me. We moved half way across the country just before Christmas in 2011, so 2012 was a year of adjusting to a new town, a new school for our oldest and making friends. I also had to come to terms with not being able to work while we are stationed here because there just aren't opportunities for my field locally.
The biggest blessing and biggest challenge was finally bringing home our second son. Both our children are adopted from South Korea, and while our first came home at 8 months (4 years ago!), a combination of circumstances led us to waiting over a year from the referral for our second son to come home. At that point he was just 2 months shy of 3 years old...so so so different from our first homecoming. He came home right before school ended for the summer and we had to adjust to being a family of four, with two boys 17 months apart, with no set schedule and temperatures rising over 100 more days than not.
Summer was a blur and occasionally a nightmare. By fall, both boys started preschool/mother's day out (at different schools, but 2 drop-offs and pick-ups is better than none), I tried to take an online class to stay involved in the library world and we all started settling into a rhythm.
I cooked this summer, but not like I used to. One of my favorite things to do each week was plan the menu, and that wasn't fun anymore. I couldn't focus in the kitchen, and didn't know how to teach a 3 year old who didn't speak English and seemed intent on injuring himself to stay away from the stove. Fall found all of these struggles easing, and I started baking again, and enjoying my time in the kitchen. It's still a huge challenge to cook dinner when the boys are inevitably starting to fight in that witching hour when everyone is hungry and tired, but I've figured out some new strategies that are helping. We see more smiles than tears from Ben, and he gives the fiercest, sweetest hugs that make the whole world a better place.
The class didn't give me the outlet I needed, and I decided that the blog I was always talking about starting was something that I really wanted to do. No more waiting until it was perfect, or until my photography skills were better, or until I had more time. Because really none of those things are going to happen when I want them to, and it will never be the perfect time. I keep stumbling on the CS Lewis quote above, and it just kept reminding me that I can change course and try something different for a while. This is my excuse to take some time for myself every day, and write, something I used to do all the time before we had kids. So thank you to anyone reading this. I hope you'll stick around, and see where this journey takes us.
Here's to a 2013 full of joy and promise!
No comments:
Post a Comment