8 Years

Today Mike and I celebrate 8 years of marriage!! Crazy when you think about it, but at the same time it has gone by so fast and I couldn't imagine being with anyone else.

In 8 years M has seen the best of me and the worst of me. We have struggled, we have conquered, we have mourned, we have cried, we have fell hard, we have loved deep, we have picked each other up, we have travelled, we have laughed endlessly, and most importantly we have been blessed in the most beautiful way. 

In 8 years, with 4 of those being the longest we will ever experience while struggling with infertility, during that time we supported one another, respected our grief after losing 3 known embryos after undergoing 2.5 rounds of IVF. This time was soo hard, but we held each other close, mourned together, and prayed together. This will always be one of the biggest accomplishments in our life - seeing infertility through. Becoming pregnant, with such a small chance on our side, never losing hope, holding on to every bit of positivity we could feed into one another. Infertility tends to break up a lot of marriages, because of the financial, emotional, and physical stresses it can put on a marriage. To not become one of those statistics is an accomplishment. In fact it had the opposite effect on us and made us stronger as couple.

Two years ago, we found out we were expecting, knowing that I was finally able to make our dreams come true with a body that was constantly failing us was in incredible high. Each and every day of that pregnancy I was grateful whether I felt good or not! There is something about watching the man you married turn into a father, something I still treasure to this day! My easy pregnancy took a turn towards the end, and as scared as we were, we were ready for whatever came next. 

I often say our life is perfect, even when it isn't, because it is all in the way you look at it. Could things be better sometimes? Yes! But we have a roof over our heads, a job that supports us, but most
importantly we have each other and with that we can see through anything. Now we have a sweet little boy who continues to amaze us since the day we found out he was coming. 

Last year we welcomed Noah into our lives and as stressful as parenting can be, we do it together and we do it well. When one of us is needing a break the other one is there to step in. We often tell each other we can't believe how "easy" life has become. We count our blessings every day! We can't believe we have son and find ourselves stealing extra snuggles, rocking him a little longer and just enjoying the pure joy effect he has had on our lives. 

8 years later, we still walk hand in hand and I wouldn't change it. He is my side kick, who has my back, who takes care of me. I look forward to growing old with Mike! I look forward to the future adventures to come! You never know what life has in store for you, but knowing I have him by my side, it doesn't scare me.

Tonight we are going out for dinner for the first time on our actual anniversary! Usually we make dinner at home, but we decided it would be nice to have a little date night! Noah is going to have dinner with his grandparents! 

Happy anniversary Mike! I look forward to celebrating many more with you!!