In early January, my husband and I welcomed another baby into our family – our second child and our second adoption.
As anyone who’s walked the newborn trenches knows, it’s exhausting yet incredibly special. A highlight for me has been watching my daughter step into her role as a big sister. She lights up when he smiles at her and can’t help but smother him with kisses. We laugh because he truly has two mothers at home (if you know, you know).
Adoption is unique in how it can suddenly change your everyday life – you can go from your normal routines to caring for a child overnight. While we had a few months to prepare, adoption is never guaranteed, and you can’t truly be ready until it happens. That abrupt shift tested me in ways I didn’t expect.
Reflecting on the past few months, now with a bit more sleep, I can look back with pride at who I’ve become and who I’m still becoming. Like a muscle gradually lifting heavier weights, I grew a little stronger and more capable each day. At the time, I didn’t feel the change, but with some distance I can see how much I’ve grown.
This baby has been very different from our first. He cries more, sleeps less and had thrush multiple times. I thought I’d have time to keep up with everyday tasks, but laundry, dishes and other chores piled up, and those random projects I hoped to finish between naps? Yeah … they didn’t even get touched.
There’s a saying: Most people overestimate what they can do in a day and underestimate what they can accomplish in a year. Farming and ranching are much the same. The work never really ends. There are delays, sick days, unexpected storms (or, in this year’s case, none at all) and market disruptions. But if you look back over a year, you realize how much you truly accomplished.
Benjamin Hardy, a renowned business author, says, “Success isn’t that difficult; it merely involves taking 20 steps in a singular direction. Most people take one step in 20 directions.”
Small, consistent steps day after day create real progress. Whether on the farm, the ranch or at home, it’s the steady work – not the perfect day – that makes a difference. I’ve never met a farmer or rancher without a mountain of to-dos, yet somehow the important work always gets done.
