happy baby: adding a car to our train...

hank and i have had a lot of people tell us that they are amazed how we have continued to live our lives after lillian was born. we meet friends for drinks, go on dates and take road trips. everytime i am out and about most peoples reaction is wow, you are out and about early! as there is no rule book with parenthood, i guess i didn't even think about what was normal, or acceptable, i just trusted my instinct.

after getting this kind of comment over and over, hank and i had a conversation and i came up with a metaphor that rings true for us. we decided to have children last year, not to pack up our house in east nashville and move to the suburbs, and definitely not to trade in my compact honda fit for a minivan. hank and i had children to add another car to our already amazing train rolling down the train tracks we had created for ourselves. we are still on our same track, still pursuing our goals, listening to the things we need as individuals, as a married couple and now, as parents. sure, our track bends here and there, i am definitely not trying to say nothing has changed because of lillian, but these bends are welcome bends. we embrace them, learn from them and grow closer together in the process. when i come home from drinks with my girlfriends to my husband and my baby, i am so grateful for the bends. i am grateful for an amazing husband who hopped this train track with me and wants to ride it to the very end. seeing him with lillian makes everything worth it. it is going to be a beautiful ride, and yes, there will be more cars added, and with each one, more bends. i recognize things will be bumpy, we might get derailed, but all in all, it is going to be an amazing journey.

so, advice i have for new parents to be, or anyone thinking of adding a child to their life, it is having your cake and eating it too. it is just a choice, and its work, but you can have it all. i feel like i do, and i couldn't be more grateful.

this is our lillybug in atlanta this past weekend, smiling at me :) she is smiling all the time now and nothing lights up my heart more. she turns her head to look at hank and i when she hears our voices in the room, smiles at us when she wakes up and sees us. it is amazing. pure joy.

we road tripped to atlanta this past weekend to see hank's family. his brother, denny, drove down to meet us and we had so much fun. it was great weather and lillian was a gem. she slept in the car and through the nights when we were there! it was amazing. she has regressed since being home to waking up once or twice...but i am hopeful we will get back there!

here are some photos from our weekend...

lillian and hank, so much resemblance!