B and I met through an ex-boyfriend and current friend. I was naive, flirty and not interested in long term, he was a dirty (literally always had grease and oil on him) hippy who loved old cars. We really didn't have anything in common, except that we both just got each other.
I moved in with him and his room mate pretty early on - it was the party place, full of beer cans, glowing computer monitors and empty pizza boxes. We often had someone sleeping in our living room and conveniently lived across the road from the pub.
... Then I got pregnant. After some deep soul searching (I am pro-choice after all) I decided I was going to keep the baby - I actually couldn't imagine not doing so. B said he knew my decision before I did and would support me no matter how things went. I've got to say, I'm always a little surprised we made it work - or I should say Kaeda made it work. Preparing for her arrival made us into better people.
We got our own, neat and tidy, apartment after that - corner, one bedroom on the third floor of an elevator-less apartment building. We weren't there long, but my memories of that place are cozy and sweet. It was the first place of mine that felt more like a home than a place to sleep.
Kaeda was born after 36 hours of labour - most at home thankfully. However, they gave me morphine too close to the birth and so when my little girl was born she didn't breathe for the first 3 minutes of life. The hospital's screw up is what prompted me to have a home birth the second time around. My whole world changed when I held her. The love I felt was so terrifyingly strong it was overwhelming, she made my life complete.
Shortly after we became parents we went to live with my parents; after all they had a yard, were closer to the park, my work and were home a lot for babysitting and company as B worked out of town a lot - a good idea right? Well maybe not, I love my folks and they definitely made things easier, but at the same time it was hard for us as a couple and a young family.
So, Just before Kaeda turned 2 we moved to beautiful Victoria BC - to our own house and yard. Here we have been through months and months of no dad (working out of town), struggles with a faulty court system, a multitude of ferry trips, settling in with old friends (B grew up here) and making new ones (I still don't have a lot of friends with kids), and bringing a new life into the world in the form of Kaeda's little sister Bowynn.
I recently went back to school full time (thank goodness for some online courses!) and B is returning to work after a year off. We've been struggling and muddling along in our usual way. Our life is in for some more changes and shifts as we adjust and move forward.
ps. This is the best photo I could get of B, he can't seem resist making faces when I point the camera at him!
