Childfree to Parents

My husband, Dan, and I have been together 15 years. We started dating in 2001, we got engaged in 2002, married in 2006, first kid in 2012. It's amazing to look back at who we used to be and who we are now. The most interesting part is that neither of us wanted kids.



Circa 2005

An example of how we both changed:

In 2001, Dan he said he would only run if someone was chasing him. In 2010, he completed the Leadville 100. A 100 mile race that takes about 30 hours to complete.

In 2001, I was only 20 years old and had never lived anywhere other than my hometown of Flushing, MI. Now I have lived in 3 states, 8 cities, and moved across the country twice.


The real game changer...

When we moved to Colorado in 2008, things really started to change for me. The pace was slower. I was no longer working 60 hours a week and literally my blood pressure was back to a normal level. (When I was 25 I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, and as time would prove... it was due to stress.) I started thinking about a family.

In 2010, I finally spilled the beans. I knew I was changing the game, so if he said "no way", then that was that. I wanted to be with Dan, more than have kids. I remember our conversation exactly. We were in the Orlando airport coming home from a dental convention. For the sake of simplicity, here is the short version...
     He said. "We are actually in a position to have kids, if that's what we wanted." 
     It's now or never...
     So I said. "Yeah, so we should give it a try."

Wedding Pic

     "Uh, what?" He said.
     Then I came out with it. "I think I want to have a kid."
     Silence.

It was scary sitting there, people watching, waiting for him to answer. My nervous half-smirk sitting on my face. He finally turned to me and said.  "I don't want you to regret anything so if that's what you want, then ok."

We did a lot of talking first and I did a lot of research. I wanted to make sure this was really what I wanted and not just what I thought I should be doing. It all came down to no regrets. I didn't want to miss out on this monumental life changing experience.

So we gave it a try, in the only way I know how to try anything: Very calculated and planned. If we were going to do this I was going to be in control of it. Charts, temperatures, the whole 9 yards. I am not one to let fate make my decisions. Either this was going to work within my time frame, and if it didn't, then we would know. I could move on with life and we would be the childfree couple that travels and has nice things.



1 week before Kenzie
was born

Obviously we have traded in the dream of travel and nice things, for couches with milk stains, carpets with mashed fruit snacks, and travel to neighborhood parks. We wouldn't change it for anything.
Who we were before Kenzie  and Ketcher, and who we are now, are fundamentally different, although no one would probably be able to tell. An example would be this St. Patty's Day. St. Patty's is the day Dan got out of the army 17 years ago, it's also the day that set us up to start dating. It has always been an epic celebration for us. 8am green beers, Guinness, Irish whiskey, live music and all the corned beef and cabbage you can handle. This year Dan took the day off and we spent it hanging out with the kids. Singing Irish songs and playing Irish music. We went out to lunch and stayed in for dinner. He had 1 beer... and it wasn't even green. 

Halloween 2015