Today is mine and Paul’s 8th Wedding Anniversary!
There is so much that I could write about that has happened over the last years. Memories that flood my thoughts as I look back. Facebook did a lovely job of putting together a video with photos of our last 8 years.
The photos are wonderful, but they show the highest times. The easiest, happiest times of our marriage. They don’t show the tears and the heartache, they don’t show the hospital visits and tough conversations. Marriage is a series of highs and lows. It is OK to admit that, in fact healthy for you and those around you. It can’t be perfection all the time.
2 people joining together is difficult enough. Combining lives and ways of doing things, learning how to navigate living together and holiday celebrations. Well, when you start that out with 5 children as well, that can add a whole other level of chaos. Getting everyone on the same page and understanding how life will work under our roof, led to many discussions and rocky roads.
Then just 6 short weeks after we got married, we found out that we were pregnant! Adding one more to this crazy bunch. The glue that keeps us all together. This bond that we all could see that we had from nearly the very beginning of our life together as a family.
Blended family live is exactly what you make of it. As I see it, you have 2 choices. You can choose to be inclusive or exclusive. From the beginning I knew that exclusive would never work. I wanted all the kids to be treated the same. Face the same consequences, receive the same amount of Christmas gifts, hear I love you and have a space that would be theirs in our home.
This also included coming together and working together with the parents that lived outside of our home as well. That circle has grown over the last 8 years. All the other parents have now gotten married. That is 4 sets of parents (there is the number 8 again) in 4 different houses, 2 different states that all work together for the sake of this giant happy family of 8.
Paul and I couldn’t do what we do if it weren’t for the help and understanding of those around us. People have been cheering us on from the sidelines from the very beginning. Whether it be actively or just silently. We have families who love us. Not just the 2 of us, but all 8 of us for exactly what we are and how we got there.
Happy 8th Anniversary babe! Life is exactly how I always imagined that it could be.
Making Time For Me 