When I was a kid I was a bit of a hypochondriac (well ok so I still am). Whenever I heard of a new illness or ailment of course I thought I had it!  I remember lying in bed praying asking God to please let me live long enough to fall in love.  I wanted to know what they were talking about in all those love songs I would play over and over again on cassette tapes lol.  Time passed and I dated a few people in high school but I know I was never truly in love, so I kept praying every night that God would send me someone who understood me (I am a pretty complicated girl!)  When I was a senior in College I went to a party and there was a freshman football player working the keg (I know glamorous right!) I went over to fill my cup and we started talking.  He was so easy to talk to and he had the cutest smile I had ever seen!  I spent the whole night standing by the keg talking to him.  He came over my place and we watched a movie and talked until we fell asleep. The next day we stayed in bed all morning just talking. I remember he skipped all of his classes that day.  From those first moments things were just different with him.  It had never been so easy to be with someone.  I remember when he would hug me with his big football player arms a felt so tiny and safe. He had a way of making me feel like I was the only person in the world in crowd full of people. You know how people say they just know, well I just knew he was the one, and that we would grow old and gray together with a houseful of kids and grandkids. I got a job teaching near the college while Aaron finished school.  He proposed to me the summer before his senior year.  We were married the fall after he graduated. God had answered my prayers, I had found true love.

Now onto the babies!  I remember thanking God for letting me find love.  It was the most amazing thing I had experienced in my young life.  We both wanted kids and lots of them.  I always said at least three and Aaron was convinced five was a good number.  The exact number didn’t matter, we thought life would just happen and that detail would play itself out.  I remember not really trying but not using anything to stop a baby from coming either.  I began to worry because 6 months had passed and nothing had happened.  We then began to “try” to have a baby.  Another 6 months went by and still nothing.  I remember sitting in church praying that God would give me a baby.  I remember thinking you let me find my soul mate, now please let us have a baby together.  Another four months passed, it had been over a year now. I was late so I got a test.  I had taken at least a dozen in the past year and they were always negative to I thought nothing of it.  I remember sitting in the bathroom looking at the stick as it read PREGNANT!!!  I was full of joyous emotions, laughing and crying all at the same time.  I pulled myself together and ran down stairs to tell Aaron.  He was like a little boy filled with excitement and hugged me so tight.

Our first baby was a beautiful little boy.  We named him Henry.  We could not have been more proud of our little man.  It was so hard to get pregnant with Henry that we figured with breastfeeding we really didn’t need to use protection.  Well we were wrong!  When Henry was just five months old I was pregnant again.  We were nervous having them so close in age but were overjoyed that we were able to have yet another baby.  Little Sophie came fourteen months to the day of Henry’s birth.  We were a happy little family we had a boy and now a girl! Aaron had a good job that allowed me to stay home with the kids and I was loving my time with them.

Sophie was eight months old when Aaron lost his job due to downsizing. It took him a little over a year to find a comparable job. It was a very scary time, it was a very trying time, and it was one of the best times because Aaron got to spend a year at home with his kids at such a precious stage in their lives.  He got to experience a lot of firsts.  Had the stress of money and fear of not making it day to day not been present it would have been pure joy.  We definitely had some of the happiest moments during that year, but the stress especially on Aaron played a toll.  They say money does not buy happiness, and I believe this, but I also think the lack of it can make you pretty stressed and unhappy.  I started Bowinhairos during this time to bring in extra money. During those first few months that I opened my Etsy shop I would check my site every half hour to see if I had sold anything. Every sale counted, it was diaper money! It turned out to be something I was extremely passionate about.  I think it was an endeavor I was meant to take on.  It’s funny how God works that way.

Aaron now has a good job at a local college. It is a very low stress job in comparison to the one he lost.  He comes home happier than before.  Like I said, funny how God works that way. He has good benefits and things are slowly getting back to normal. Henry is now three and Sophie is two.  I am a little sad that if we have another baby there will be a few years span between them. Looking at Henry and Sophie today, I don’t know what they would do without each other.  They are truly each others best friend.  They wake up in the morning and call out the other ones name to start their day of toddler adventures. I know that Sophie was meant to be born exactly when she was.  We would have never tried to have a baby while Aaron was unemployed and Henry would be lost in this world without her. Again, it’s funny how God works that way. Although our life is not playing out exactly how we imagined it, we do not forget for a moment that we are blessed.  We are blessed to have found each other in the world.  Aaron is, and will always be my best everything.  We are blessed to have these two amazing healthy little people that we created.  I look at them every day in complete amazement.  Our family’s journey has just begun.  Now the only question is who is yet to join us.  We now are ready to start trying for number three.  If it happens we know that it was meant to be.  If not we also know that everything happens for a reason.  Sometimes it’s okay if things don’t go exactly as planned.  Sometimes the long road leads to the best destination.

About Jenn:

Jenn is one of five children who loves the idea of a large family. She is a former elementary school teacher who now stays at home with her two children ages two and three.  She loves creating different and unique hair accessories for her Etsy shop.  She and her husband  love spending time outdoors with their kids.  They love campfires, grilling and just enjoying the fresh air.  She believes in living in the now and enjoying today because life has a funny way of passing us by while we are busy making plans for the future! You can follow Jenn on Twitter by clicking here.

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