I am a bit embarassed to write this post because I realize it sounds like I am bragging a lot. However, since part of the purpose of this blog is as a journal for me to keep up with our time here, I want to have this documented somewhere (and I know I will lose it if it is just on a random piece of paper).
Friends warned me that once I started telling people I was pregnant others would say, "Oh, enjoy your free time now. Life will never be the same. Your life as you know it will end the day that baby is born. Kiss your freedom goodbye. I hope you are done with anything else you had ever wanted to do in life." and other such positive/encouraging things like that. Luckily it hasn't happened with quite as much severity as I had anticipated, but we have definitely heard our fair share of "Enjoy it now" comments. While I fully understand people's intentions with those comments, I can't quite grasp exactly what they mean. To me, it is the equivalent of me saying, "Enjoy being able to breathe through your nose (since I just spent a week not being able to and can tell you how miserable it is.)" I don't think you can fully appreciate something until it has been taken away from you. A nap will never seem as sweet to a well rested person as it will to a sleep deprived one (as I know I will soon find out).
So in preparation for all those comments, I decided to sit down and write a list of everywhere we have traveled in our time together. During each of these trips we have gotten to eat at great restaurants, see new places, spend quality time together, learn new things and basically just really enjoy life. I am thinking that I should print out this list and on those sleepless nights when the baby is up crying for hours, rather than feel like my life is over, I can look at this list and remember just how much we lived life to the fullest before the next chapter began.
So here it is (a list of all the places we have seen together since Feb. 2, 2001)...
Australia
Belgium – Gent, Brugge, Liege, Leuven, Bouillon, Lier, Binche, Aalst
Bosnia
Croatia
Denmark -- Copenhagen
England – London, Bath
Estonia -- Tallin
Egypt -- Cairo
Finland -- Helsinki
France – Paris, Normandy, Champagne, Loire Valley, Chantilly, Provence, Nice, Strasbourg
Greece – Athens, Olympia, Crete, Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos
Germany – Cologne, Aachen, Rothenberg, Berlin, Trier
Ireland – Dublin
Italy – Bologna, Sestri Levante, Venice, Rome
Luxembourg – Luxembourg City, Vianden
Montenegro
Monaco
Norway -- Oslo
Netherlands – Delft, Alsmeer, Amsterdam
New Zealand
Poland – Krakow, Gdansk
Prague
Puerto Rico – Vieques, Fajardo, San Juan
Russia – St. Petersburg
Spain – Madrid, Granada, Sevilla, Barcelona, Salobrena
Sweden -- Stockholm
Tunisia
Turkey – Ephesus, Istanbul
Boston, MA
Charleston, SC
Crystal River, FL
Dallas, TX
Dayton, OH
Highlands, NC
Jacksonville, FL
New York, NY
New Hampshire
St. Louis, MO
Winston Salem, NC
8 comments:
that's perfect!
hi emily, i love reading your blog. I heard those exact comments whn i was pregnant (with my now 3 year old) and although there are TONS of things I had to give up when Noah was born, my life actually started the day he was born and it has been a million times better!! I would trade staying out til 2am partying for 2am feedings any day of the week!! What I would say to enjoy now is quick easy trips to the store...after a baby is born it is no easy task to just run in for a gallon of milk....but totally worth it!
Wow, that's a lot of travel. You'll have lots of memories to look back on when the days seem less adventurous. It's all about living in the moment. And I happen to believe kids can travel with you anywhere (within reason, of course). Life doesn't stop when they're born; it just changes--dramatically. But it's always an adventure.
How did Atlanta, GA and Dalton, GA fail to make the list?
Love and kisses from Atlanta
daayyyyuuuuummmmmm! :)
Hi Emily! Congratulations--I know I'm very late with that, but just found out!
I also found that people said very interesting things to us when we were expecting our first and I have tried very, very hard not to duplicate any of those statements.
Most of our comments were related to me going back to work after our son was born. We got, "You can try". "You won't want to". Well, regardless of how much I didn't want to, I had to do more than try. I had to work to pay for things! It was all the more painful when those making flippant remarks made it seem like we were making a bad choice for our unborn child.
The comments didn't stop after he was born, or after the next one was born, or the next one...I guess having children is an open invitation for unsolicited comments/advice.
As parents, we have gotten a lot of advice and it was hard not to be overwhelmed at first, but we realized that only we can really know what works for our family and it made it so much easier to take what worked and leave the rest.
So glad you are feeling better! It is so hard to be sick when you're a mom and an amazing husband is just what every mom needs! Congratulations again and I hope your remaining month is illness free!
Girl, you left our Tobaccoville!
Dang, girl! Impressive!
KMP
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