A day of threes...

Today, July 25th, marks three months until Baby Graber is due to arrive. Today also happens to be our third wedding anniversary.

I hope you'll all forgive me (especially M!), but I'm going to try to be reflective on what the last three years has brought without being overly mushy. My uncle told me before our wedding that the top three stressful events in marriages are buying/selling real estate, changing jobs, and having children. So here are a few thoughts on those stressful and not so stressful times from the last three years.

• Within three months of our wedding, M and I had sold my house, moved into his grandmother's house (our current house) and began renting from her until we could buy her house (we purchased the house within six months of our wedding). I am so grateful for the extra space we have here for entertaining and to grow into our house. This was definitely a stressful process, but we were just starting out and I think we handled this potentially stressful situation quite well!
• In the last three years, I have changed jobs three times and held four different positions. For 10 months, I worked part time at two different jobs. M has changed jobs only once, but that one change has felt pretty major for both of us this summer. Job changes are never easy, but we've managed this one quite well, too.
• Of the last three years, I have spent nearly one full year pregnant. Officially the count is up to forty-eight weeks. With that in mind, I'm certain the next thirteen weeks until my due date will disappear quite quickly. Our journey to becoming parents has been by far the most stressful experience we've had to work through in the three years we've been married.

So, what have I learned about marriage, or at least my marriage, in the last three years?

• Patience is absolutely essential for the success of our marriage! It has especially been important during the many weeks I've spent pregnant. M has been infinitely patient with me through all the ups and downs of morning sickness, heartburn, mood swings, and just general discomfort. I, however, have lost most of my ability to be patient when M decides it's time to tease me or give me a hard time. I very much hope that comes back once this baby arrives because it will make our marriage a happier place for us both.
• Absolutely nothing is worth risking the health of my marriage. I am a happier, better, much more confident and settled person as a married person than I was as a single person. This likely isn't the case for everyone, but it's true for me. Becoming a family with M has made me a better version of me and I wouldn't trade that for anything!
• My marriage is about love, but it's also about so much more. There is nothing else like the support, friendship, laughter, and even shared tears, and I can't imagine my life without M. If I was going to experience the loss of a child no matter who I married, I'm so grateful I married M. While I would easily give up the experience of shared grief, there's no one else with whom I can ever imaging traveling the journey.

M asked me last night if I was still glad I married him, and my answer is, of course! No matter how bad the day, coming home to M makes it all better even if it doesn't fix everything. Spending an evening on the couch together watching Netflix is one of my favorite ways to end a day, and while it might not seem particularly romantic, simply spending time together makes it feel that way! So, while you may want to know how we spent our third wedding anniversary, I'd probably tell you, it doesn't matter! We spent the day together. No matter what we did, it was romantic and perfect, and ten years from now I probably won't remember what we did, but I will remember being extremely happy and enjoying the day immensely!

As for Baby Graber, he's doing quite well. He wakes me up in the middle of the night making his presence known. He doesn't have a name yet (and even if he did, I don't think we'd share it! Some things should be a surprise when he gets here.), and the process of choosing a name for him has been stressful all by itself! He does have quite the wardrobe already, and his crib has been ordered. We are making progress on getting ready for his arrival, and we are counting on our fourth year of marriage to bring great things including a beautiful son in October!