Weight a minute.

It's funny how having children can change your entire outlook on life.

Before Wyatt I could come and go as I pleased, no schedule to work around, no naps to plan for.

If I wanted to pop out of town, I could jump in the car and head in whatever direction my heart desired. When I wanted to go for a run, I could simply put my shoes on and hit the pavement for as many miles as my feet could take me.

Now when I want to go somewhere, the hour long prep usually causes me to take a detour back into the house and wait for another day. Or I have to wait until someone is sleepy enough that I know the trip out of town will be a peaceful one, without a wild banshee screaming in the backseat. My running trips have become shorter, quicker and not nearly as often as they once were. Having to lug the jogging stroller in and out of the truck uses the majority of whatever energy I have left at the end of the day and the fight to get Wyatt strapped in uses any remaining amount. Half way around the lake, I find myself carrying Wyatt and pushing the stroller, stopping to pick up toys and sippy cups thrown along the way... probably getting a better workout then I ever got before, lugging around an extra 25 pounds and bending and snapping my way around the loop.

All in all, its worth it. Finally having reached my pre-wedding/pre-baby/pre-marital bliss, life is great so eat whatever you want weight I feel a sense of pride, but also have found that this has only caused my brain to start whispering sweet coo's about baby #2 in my head... "Your ready... your ready." Whether or not we are 'ready' only God really knows but yes, my body is ready and back where we started last time. I can't help but want to hold off a little longer, enjoy the spoils of my hard work before jumping back in to the pool of baby weight (though hopefully not as much) that lies ahead. The whopping 52 pounds I gained with Wyatt were well worth every ounce of cuteness they helped create... though next time around I am hoping my body can ease into things a little slower.

I am realizing that my life is not mine alone anymore, its ours. My life revolves around him... and his around me. It's almost as if he is still in my belly... completely dependent on my every move. But then I see him open the door (a new, very unexpected trick which now requires us to lock the doors at all times of the day) to go outside, climb down the steps and tromp across the lawn and I realize that day by day he is becoming more and more his own little person, less dependent... and more independent than ever before. Maybe it is just me that wants to keep that little baby propped on my belly, imagining how perfectly he fit inside before. Wyatt will awkwardly squirm away when I try and prop him there now, or become obsessed with finding my belly button and squandering the precious (though still pretty cute) moment I was trying to share.

My baby will be 15 months old in less then 3 weeks. Watching him every day has been the most rewarding part of my life thus far and it only gets better with time. The more he discovers, the more I can show him, the more confirmation I am given that I am doing something right.

And so now I sit here, writing this while he is sleeping peacefully in his crib... the one place he can go that he still looks like my little baby. I might sneak in and get a peak... relish in the quiet moment with him curled in a ball at the bottom of his crib. Life is good.