Year 3: Overjoyed

At the very end of our second year of marriage,

we came back to the US to prepare for the birth of our first child,

I had planned to have the baby overseas,

but some medical complications changed our plans.

We went out to dinner to celebrate our 2nd anniversary.

I was only 3 days away from my due date,

and I still remember laughing that my protruding belly barely fit

between the bench and the table in the restaurant booth. :-)

And then, our lives changed forever, and our sweet little girl was born.

Our third year of marriage was filled with the overwhelming joy of being parents!

Watching Ada grow, and seeing each other delight in her was such an amazing experience.

We retruned to our tiny apartment overseas,
but having our baby transformed it into a home.
-
There was still plenty of stress,
but there was so much joy now too!

We laughed so much together that year.
And we celebrated each little milestone.

Ada was such a happy & smiley baby!

She made friends with strangers!
We suddenly found that everywhere we went we were met with welcoming smiles!

We celebrated our first Christmas as a trio.

Grandma & Super Papak came for a visit.

We made so many new local friends that year,

it was amazing all the doors that were open to us

now that we had a baby.

We were able to connect with other families which was a huge blessing!

We also found that our new home

had more fun activities than we had realized!

We explored all the city parks together!

And we enjoyed our cozy evenings at home together too.

Our apartment was still not an easy place to live in some ways,

but it came to feel more like a home because we made so many memories there.

I learned an important lesson that year ...

tremendous stress is tolerable when we have tremendous joy!

Next week ... Year 4: A Home of Our Own!