The Baby's Not Even Here and Already Our Marriage is Changing

I can't even begin to fathom all the ways God has blessed my life, but one of His blessings I am most grateful for is the relationship He has given Taylor and me. And if there's one thing we have heard many times since becoming pregnant (and even before), it's that children will change your life.
I can't wait to experience these changes, but one change Taylor and I don't want to make is to neglect our relationship. We know that we can only be good parents if our marriage is strong and we approach parenting as an unshakeable team.

But I never would have guessed that even before the baby arrived, our relationship would already be changing.

Taylor buys cattle for the feedyard so two or three days a week he is driving to sales, and once in a while he will have to travel farther and stay overnight. Recently Taylor went down to Oklahoma City and planned to stay for the first part of the week to go to a few different sales. It's a trip Taylor has made many times during the four years we've been married, but it's the first time since we've been pregnant.

Until that moment, I hadn't been aware of our relationship changing. But as he got ready to leave, we both found the idea of being separated harder to deal with than usual.
I think just the knowledge that we are going to be parents together has already made our marriage grow in new ways and become even stronger.

The week ended well, though, because Taylor and I traveled to a bull sale in South Dakota as a kind of mini-vacation, and we got to spend a lot of quality time together.  We took an extra day to visit Mount Rushmore and drive through Custer National Park.

We spent several hours driving through the park hoping to spot some buffalo. As we got ready to leave the park, this guy was standing right beside the road.

Pregnancy Update: We are now 26 weeks along. And my new favorite outfit is my overalls. :) I signed up for Stitch Fix the other day because I don't like shopping, but my wardrobe is getting very limited. Now once a month I'll just have maternity clothes sent to me instead.

By the end of the day it's already becoming a chore to bend over and pick things up. Getting out of the shower last night, I experienced a moment of disappointment because I was able to see that I'd missed getting an article of clothing into the hamper and I'd have to go pick it up off the floor… And I know this struggle will become a lot more real over the next few months.

As I think to the coming summer months I feel like there's a real possibility I may start wearing cowboy boots with my shorts simply because I can pull them on without having to bend over and tie any shoe laces. ;) I'll try to abstain, but just in case you see me making such an awesome fashion statement, I'll ask for leniency in judgement.

Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God. 1 Corinthians 6:19

The lesson that went with this Scripture tells us that when we accept Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in us. We will fight Spiritual battles all our lives, but we won't fight them alone. God will help us and give us the strength to do what we cannot in our own power.

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week!

Lyndee