One Year has come and gone

       So, it's official as of last week our little Reed is 1.  He is such a joy to have around and is constantly on the go. I try to imagine how my life without him would be filled, and it goes something like this....bike rides in the mountains, running along the river, hiking through the woods, skiing down the slopes or just taking a minute to contemplate life and what I'm doing...But instead it's filled with little boy giggles, big two-teeth smiles, blissful bath-times, soundless naps, morning wake-ups with Daddy, ball throwing with Rio at the park and last but not least jogging time in the Chariot stroller.  And you see, I wouldn't have it any other way.

      My life without my family was just that, WITHOUT!  The time I had before I got married is very valuable to me and I look back on it now with fondness and partiality.  It's the same way I look back on my mission, it was really hard at times and I didn't really like it sometimes, but  it was necessary to do in order for me to become ME. I didn't know it at the time, but the Lord did and he made sure it happened. I know I feel like I don't fit in with other families that much, I mean come on the women my age stopped having kids years ago and are dealing with Junior High issues, and the girls (I say girls NOT women)  who have kids near Reed's age are so young I feel as if I'm the aunt that goes around giving advice in our conversations that no one is ever going to listen to 'cause she's out of touch with how things 'really' are today.  I'm stuck in the middle, so I think back to my days 'WITHOUT' and turn my feelings of confusion and uneasiness into gratitude and appreciation for my life now and all that I have.
     Life WITH Reed and Andrew are so much better than they were WITHOUT, so I'll take the smiles and giggles over the bike rides in the mountains and the morning wake ups with Dad instead of the morning skiing in the fresh powder.   This past year was definitely a trade off, the value of which can never be known until you experience it for yourself, but was indeed a trade off of great significance in my life as well as in Andrew's.