We’re still alive here, despite Gabriel’s best efforts. Turns out that taking care of a baby is HARD work. We naively thought that our weeks of maternity/paternity leave together would be a lovely little vacation, some nice family bonding time for the three of us. Ha!
Now we know what all those cryptic, “Your life will never be the same,” comments were about. We reacted with annoyance and denial at the time, but perhaps it was unwarranted.
On the green front, we switched over to cloth diapers about four days after we got home, which was when the disposables from the hospital ran out. I’m very glad I took all the disposable diapers that were in our hospital room, despite the nagging green voice in my head saying, “Oh, just leave them for the next person, you have all those cloth diapers at home.” Anyway, more about the diapers in another post.
The continuing heat wave means A/C 24/7 (not green), and I’m so thankful we have it, not gonna lie. We’re keeping it set right around 80° F, which means our little guy is pretty happy just in a diaper, or a diaper with a light swaddle for sleeping. I’m a bit scared to see our electric bill, since we normally benefit from cranking the thermostat up to 90° F or so when we’re at work during the day.
Matthew’s been getting in some garden time, and we continue to eat extraordinarily well (though sometimes finding the TIME to eat is tricky). I’ll try to post more regularly, but that’s definitely not taking precedence right now. They say it gets easier . . . .
Her Green Life 
When I met my Ex he had an 18 month old from his previous marriage… she was 2 when we moved in together. We only had her on the weekends and much of the “hardest part” was over by then, but still, it very nearly did me in. I was just out of college at the time… WAY too young to be doing the insta-mom thing, and I learned really quickly that having a kid was a mammoth commitment. As I got older, one by one my friends would get married and start planning families. Every single one said something like “We’re gonna have kids, but it won’t change our life much.” I just smiled and nodded. It’s true, your life will never be the same, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be better than ever!
Hang in there!
I definitely totally respect (and at the moment, at least, am rather jealous of) people who choose not to have kids. I also really appreciate, and am beginning to understand, what my parents (and parents in general) have gone through to raise children. I’m sure we’ll adjust as things go on, but life definitely DOES change!
Welcome to parenthood! Just hold on tight for the ride of your life. I think if we really understood all it entailed few of us would do it. But just as impossible to grasp the scope of challenges parenthood brings, it is just as difficult to imagine the rewards and joys. Just hang in there!