Now that we’ve officially announced to the world, I can add it here: We’re having a baby! AHHHHH. WHAT?!

Alex and  I knew we wanted to have kids for sure for a few years now. Though, I’d say we knew we “eventually” wanted to have kids. Or we knew we wanted a bigger than us family. And once we knew Alex’s job would plant us in one place for at least 5 years we figured, it was a good time to start trying. We realized there would never be a perfect time to have kids. Is it ideal that we’ll be raising one or two kids in small apartments on a residents salary for five years? Hardly. Is it great that even if I wanted to work that 99% of my salary would go to child care here in Silicon Valley? Nope. But in general we have a lot going for us, and really those are all just small excuses in the grand scheme. People raise children well which much less. And this is important to us. And so we jumped! And here we are.

I’m 21 weeks along. I feel like I shouldn’t admit to the internet world just how easy this has all been. I’m not showing yet and my clothes are just starting to get tight. So I’m assured the fun bits are yet to come. But I’ve had a really easy pregnancy. No sickness, aversions, or many negative symptoms. The worst thing is this new chest that makes running mildly less comfortable. But, I’ve been able to run half marathons, and even PRed my 10k (on accident) at 18-weeks. I do feel different, but not much yet. And I know  I’m lucky. So I’m just enjoying this text-book situation and hoping it continues! And we’re just thrilled everything is healthy and normal! The baby is starting to kick, and that’s really what makes it feel real. There really is a tiny human in there.

We have yet to panic. We know our lives are about to change, but we love change. The best parts of our lives came from leaps of faith and I’ll wager this won’t be any different. Challenging? Yes, absolutely. But worth it. It helps we have friends here with young children and they are just so happy. Our fears about parenthood have definitely gone down. Sure, they complain about the usual things. But there’s just this joy they have around their kids. And they all said when I told them a version of “oh my gosh, congratulations, I’m so happy for you. Being parents is the best thing in the world.” And they were sincere. Of course, they also really, really wanted their children. As we do too. They also have managed to maintain their own identities. No one is the stereotypical frazzled parent. They have interests outside of their children. Their kids are not the center of their world, but a just another integral part of it. It’s so great to be around. Plus I love that we have people to ask all the questions!

We’re also looking ahead, to all the adventures we’ll get to have. Both near and far. We can’t wait to raise wild kids, and instill a love of nature. My sincerest hope is that they’ll take their first steps on a camping trip. We can’t wait to show them this incredible world. We already plan to take him/her to Ireland at 6-months. Start them young, and get them used to travel as soon as possible. We’d love to go on sabbatical one day with them. There’s so much to look forward to! We’re just so excited. Excited for the joys and challenges, the mundane and thrilling. We can’t wait to watch this little person grown up.

But before all that we’ve got one last international journey as a duo. In a couple of weeks we head to Chile: Santiago and the Atacama Desert. A babymoon as they say. It’ll be great to enjoy the simplicity of travel as two adults, alone. I can’t wait to eat all the food and explore!

So here’s to new adventures!