Five years ago, on August 4th, 2007, Mike and I got married. Aren’t we so cute and naive in the picture above?
Those two people had never once stepped foot in the playground located a block away from their apartment. They had never gone out to dinner earlier than 8pm. They stayed out late on the weekends because they could sleep in until noon. They lingered over brunch with nowhere else to be. There wasn’t one big movie they didn’t make sure to see in the theater. They planned their next vacation on the plane home from their vacation. They skipped breakfast. They watched the morning news. They went to the gym before work.
Those two people had no idea Calliou or Wonder Pets or The Fresh Beat Band even existed.
Before Mike and I were married, we didn’t know the words to ‘Goodnight Moon’ by heart. We listened to adult music in the car. We slept on the plane. We each had one carry-on we kept in the overhead.
Before Mike and I were married, we had a meticulously kept apartment. Our carpet wasn’t cluttered with blocks and crayons and fake kitchen utensils. We had never pretended to eat a wooden cheese sandwich or put a diaper on a teddy bear or drawn a horrible rendering of Big Bird on demand.
Before Mike and I were married, we used an alarm clock to wake us up in the morning. We picked restaurants based on food and atmosphere and didn’t consider whether you could fit a stroller through the front door. We sung ‘Happy Birthday’ only when it was actually somebody’s birthday. We had never left the house with Dora the Explorer stickers unknowingly stuck to our backs or had to explain to a screaming child that it was just not possible to microwave milk in a car.
Before Mike and I were married, we never knew that happiness would one day hinge on the existence of a tattered purple rag. That making sure that rag was clean and accounted for before our daughter’s bedtime would take precedence over everything. That almost losing that purple rag would be the closest we would ever come to splitting up.
Before Mike and I were married, we would never have purchased a $10 Elmo balloon at a performance of Sesame Street Live. In fact, we would never have been at Sesame Street Live to begin with. We also had no way of knowing that mylar balloons have the life expectancy of a tree. And that one night, we would find ourselves waiting until our daughter had gone to bed before “accidentally” stabbing Elmo’s smiling face with a scissor.
Before Mike and I were married, we had never sung a lullaby together. Or built pillow tents in our bed. Or witnessed a two-year-old’s excitement when presented with ice cream. We had never changed a diaper in tandem or thrown a bubble bath tea party or walked down the street swinging our daughter between us on every tenth step.
Before Mike and I were married, we had tons of fun.
But we didn’t have Mazzy.
There is not one day that passes that I don’t thank my husband for the existence of our daughter. At least in my head.
Thank you, Mike. For creating a family with me. Even if it means we never get to sleep in.
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How lovely is that. And how gorgeous you all are. Makes me think I shouldn’t have walked my photographer around my parents’ farm to discuss the best photo backgrounds….AFTER my hair was done and DURING a windstorm. Oh well, my husband still married me and my * frazzled * hair makes me laugh 12 years later.
And cringe. But only a little bit.
Lovely post!
Happy 5th Anniversary!
And *sniff*. This post is just perfect.
Well, weren’t you the cutest bride?
Love those photos. Love this post.
Happy Anniversary! This kids do weird and amazingly beautiful shit to us, don’t they. xo
Lovely. Yes, it’s hard. But it’s so, so worth it.
Happy anniversary!
Great post. Happy Anniversary!
Great, now I’m crying at work. Again.
The beginning was making me want to reconsider having kids…but the end made me sniffle. Happy Anniversary!
We just celebrated our 10th anniversary and were reminded of some of these same things of before…..and then I realized I couldn’t wait to get back home to my 2 kids – which I still believe are the best things we ever did.
Happy Anniversary
You made me cry at work! Congratulations on your anniversary, wonderful family, and amazing ability to paint emotions with words.
This made me cry, too. Love all the photos, love the sentiments. Happy anniversary. 🙂
Happy anniversary – congrats on 5 years together! My husband and I just celebrated our 6th anniversary on the 5th :O)
Now you’ve gone and made me cry. Just beautiful. I wish you many more anniversaries and exponentially more happy memories.
I’m 7 years and two kids ahead of you. So, here’s a message from your future: Having more kids means less time together, so make “couple time” a priority and make it count. Show your daughters that you adore their Daddy and they will, in turn, look for husbands one day who give them that kind of happiness. Make time for yourself – Your family will thank you. As they say, “if mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” Keep that spark alive in your marriage – keep your eyes on your daughters but don’t forget to look at each other. The good news is this – if you do these things, you’re going to be all kinds of happy.
I resemble this post. A lot.
Happy 5th Anniversary!
well gosh…did you have to make me tear up.. 🙂 that was really great and all so true…I loved it so much…I might just read it again
Happy anniversary. You forgot one though – before you were married you used to look forward to the weekends. Now you look forward to going to work for some quiet time.
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What cute wedding photos. Love the barn reception. You look gorgeous, as you do now. Everything you said about before and after are absolutely true.
Gorgeous. Happy Anniversary!
Love it!
We also committed Elmo-icide after he went to bed one night. That thing would not die!
This was wonderful. Thanks for the pre-lunch sniffly-cry.
Happy Anniversary! We just experienced the mylar balloon phenomenon ourselves – a month after her second birthday, they disappeared mysteriously one night…
Happy anniversary!
Gorgeous photos! Loved your dress!
And, it was just what I needed to hear today. I’ve been wanting a baby for what seems like forever, but I get scared of the changes it’ll bring.
happy anniversary! your wedding looks beautiful. everything is so much more intense pk (postkids). this week my husband was trying to teach our son to fist bump (he always pulls the fist directly into his face). i sometimes wish i could vacation as my prekid self for just a day, but toddler face bumps… you can’t order ’em on a menu.
Your photos are beautiful! With my wedding anniversary today, this post has helped me reminisce on my own parenting path…and Thomas the Train and SuperWhy too. Thanks for reminding me that parenting IS good, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
You’re both incredibly gorgeous, it’s no wonder Mazzy is a gem! Can’t wait to see how cute the next kiddo is.
As for that ‘pre-parenthood’ life? It’s been so long I’ve totally forgotten.
I’m a day or two late, but Happy Anniversary anyways! Great post!
You = BEAUTIFUL bride! Your daughter = BEAUTIFUL. This post made me teary. My Hubs and I had a similar conversation about our lives before our 17 month old. Congrats on raising such an amazing daughter, on having baby #2, and on finding your perfect mate. Happy anniversary!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!!!
What a lovely post! Beautiful pictures!
My Hubs and I had our 9th anniversary on 8/9. We went out to dinner for the first time in months and reminisced for a little while about how cool our lives were before kids.
But then we ended up talking for a long time about how damn cute our kids are and how they’re growing too quickly … and then we rushed home because we wanted to smooch them before they fell asleep.
So yeah, times have changed. But for the better. (Mostly – I do miss going out to dinner more often!)
This is the sweetest thing ever. And as a nanny, i happen to do/know a LOT of those pre-marriage things already. whoops! 🙂
Love this.
I totally relate. I miss sleeping to 10am, but I am thankful for my crazy kids every single day. I could live without the Fresh Beat Band, however.
PS – Uou got married on my birthday! High five!
*You. Dammit.
I love this post so much. 🙂
Beautiful post.
Good LORD, you are all gorgeous!!
Mike and Ilana sitting in a tree…. then comes Harlowe- dang she’s gorgeous!!! Amazing post and Happy Anniversary.
Happy anniversary!
Ours is sort of the opposite of yours (story, that is). We met, kind of embarrassingly immediately got pregnant and THERE WE WERE! We only knew each other for 2 weeks without being pregnant or anything.
(*blush*)
So there got to be that point in which I’d say to Mikey, NO THIS IS NOT ME! because he just didn’t know what kind of person I really am, without being pregnant or with babies hanging off of me.
xoxo.
You only have one kid??? Puleeeeze! You’re practically still on your honeymoon! 🙂
Happy Anniversary! And damn you for making me tear up.
Happy anniversary! I am also thankful to your husband (and you too of course!) for starting your family because i am completely infatuated with your blog! Beautiful wedding by the way.
Wow. Your words and photographs are beautiful! Congratulations!
Just found your blog and love it! So funny and so right on the money. I especially loved this one about your marriage before and after kids. So beautiful.
HAHA! I thought my husband was the only covert balloon popper!!
This lady needs to get a freaking grip, she only has one kid!!! That’s like a vacation, try 3 or 4 than blog about it.
Having only one kid (for the record, I now have two) does not make your experiences as a parent any less valid. This isn’t even a post where I am complaining about it being hard. Just talking about the changes in my life. I believe it is you that needs to find something more worth getting worked up about.
This is the best post ever! Strangely, I was thinking a few days ago about writing about the very same thing on my own blog, I was thinking of all of the things that have changed in our marriage from dating to marriage to kiddos and its so true, its not easy but it is SO worth it. Thanks for sharing!
Nate, it doesn’t really matter how many kids you have, the fundamental changes to a person’s life are the same it is just a different dynamic and a bit amplified with more than one, in my opinion. The quantity of children you have doesn’t make you more or less of a parent.
Love seeing these pictures!
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