It's about time

Lily told me that all she wanted for Christmas was for me to write a post on our family blog.  Well, she is certainly going to get more than that for Christmas, but I think it is about time I contributed to the Darais family blog. 

First I just want to say how much I love being married to Lily.  I am a firm believer that God puts people together for a reason. On a near daily basis I find myself reflecting on how perfect she is for me and I praise God constantly for the joy she is in my life. One of my favorite things about her is that although she is constantly striving to do well and be a good person, she doesn't seem to get caught up in being overly serious about it all in the way that I do.  With her I find myself having a deeply spiritual conversation in one moment, and then laughing so hard I almost cry in the next.  She has been a breath of fresh air to a life that can at times be a little tense.

 We have been married over six months now and for me it has been a giant joy ride.  We had a beautiful wedding in Utah, weekend trips to Michigan, a backpacking trip in Utah, and honestly just lots and lots of fun time together.  One of my favorite memories from the backpacking trip was when my brothers and I told her that what appeared to be snake holes were actually tunnels to the world of the care bears.  HAHA!  Well, she didn't quite bite on that, but it was worth a shot.  She was such a good trooper!  I truly love my time with Lily. I feel I could spend all day every day with her, and there certainly are days when I do!

And now we have Lydia on the way!  What a joy that will be.  We just went to IKEA on Tuesday to get some baby furniture.  It was so much fun to go shopping with Lily and pick out things for our newest family member!

I will admit that my reaction to knowing a child is on the way has slowly moved from shock, nervous excitement and anxiety to pure joyful anticipation.  Don't get me wrong, Lily and I planned to start a family right away, and I've always wanted to be a dad, but there is a giant difference between "let's start a family" and "honey, I'm pregnant."  It took a long time for me to actually wrap my head around the idea that we are having a baby.  So many concerns about wanting to be a good father, finances and wanting to provide well, wondering if I'm ready, wondering if I'll ever feel rested again for the rest of my life, wondering if Lily and I will have as much time together etc. etc. etc.  But it's interesting; As time has passed and I've processed what is coming... as we've read children's books to Lydia and prepared the room for her......as we've talked about her and to her......I just start to feel pure joyful anticipation about expanding our family.  I've realized that I already feel a great deal of love for Lydia.  I don't necessarily feel ready, but I do feel happy!  I'm really going to try to be a great dad!

Well, I guess that's all I have for today.  I didn't have anything tremendously witty or profound to say, but I do love my wife tremendously and I wish the best to all those who have taken time out of their day to read about our family.