If you read my post 3 Tips for When Your Plans Capsize, you know that big changes have been on their way for a while here in the Hyatt home.

World, meet Christianna Philomena Hyatt, our little babe who was born the morning of Friday June 28th with a full head of hair and a working set of lungs.

This past week with her here has been a HUGE lesson is change: immediate, total, overwhelming, turn-your-life-upside down change. Whereas before I could pretty much do what I wanted, when I wanted, my life now revolves around a 2 hour feeding schedule for a little one who does nothing but sleep, make faces, and go to the bathroom.

This won’t always be my life, but in this new season, I’m readjusting my priorities and my expectations so as to be most effective and fully present in this moment.

Maybe you’re also facing a season of change. Summer has a way of doing that, even if just for a couple of months.

How do we gracefully embrace the changes so that we can fully enjoy the new season?

Here are three questions I’m using to guide me:

1. What is your Priority this season?

Are you wanting or needing to focus on friends, work projects, traveling? Maybe it’s learning a new hobby or getting through your book list. Rather than try to take on everything, pick one or two items that you’ll focus on and let the rest go.

2. What are your Expectations?

As you look at this next season, whether it’s going to be a couple of weeks or a few months, what are you wanting to get out of this? When it’s finished, what do you hope to have accomplished or experienced? Where in life do you want to be?

It may be as simple as having read four book, or perhaps master the basics of a foreign language. Maybe it’s to have formed deeper relationships by being intentional or to take some well needed rest.

3. What do you need to let go of?

This is probably the hardest for me. I want to be able to have everything I had before AND the new changes. But sometimes that’s just not possible. By clarifying my priorities for this season and managing my expectations, I can better let go of certain aspects, even if just for a season. It doesn’t mean those things won’t come back into my life, but for now, I can let go knowing that isn’t where my focus needs to be.

With these questions in mind, I’m going to be taking a break from blogging until August. My priority is being present for and taking care of my little girl, expecting only to figure out what this new normal look like and how to balance raising a child with life as a wife, a friend, a daughter, a speaker and a writer.

With the broken sleep, it will be better for all of us anyway if I don’t try to string together coherent sentences on on sex and relationships. Or anything. It could get messy.

I hope to see you all back here in August where we’ll continue the discussion on all these glorious topics. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to post a comment or find me over on Facebook or Twitter. I’m not completely disappearing.

What changes in priorities and expectations do you need to make for this next season? What might you need to let go of in order to make more room in your life?