Friday, September 19, 2008

The Student


So, I've gotten a few inquiries as to how Blitz is doing since his return home.  Simply put, great!  No signs of pain or limping, and while there is a definite small bump on the front of his right leg, we think it might be more like scar tissue that swelling as it doesn't feel warm to the touch.  He settled right back in with us like he never left, and still loves playing with his green squeaky ball and laying in the bathroom between the wall and the toilet and being in the kitchen.  The biggest change has been his size.  When he left he looked like this:


And now he looks like this:

Sometimes it's hard for me to remember that he still does have quite a bit of puppy in him still just because he looks full grown (which he is not quite yet) when he's getting into something he's not supposed to or driving me a little nuts during his "bewitching" hour of about 8pm-9pm.  We try to walk him twice a day and that really helps him be a contented hound in the house; no crazy rampages thru the living room grabbing all the pillows off the love seat or sticking his head in the hampers to grab socks to chew on.  The weirdest thing that happened lately was that at my family birthday dinner last week, we brought him to my grandparent's where the dinner was at, and he was a prince the whole time.  Then, as the dishes were being cleared to make way for the cake and coffee Granny went out into the garage, Joe went to help her and Blitz followed right behind.  Joe heard a "crunch" and looked down and saw that Blitz was munching on a half- hidden -under -the- dryer tray of rat poison.  My Granny and Gramps felt so horrible - they didn't even remember that they had any poison down.  So after a call to poison control, trip to the emergency vet ($$$) he is just fine.  By doing that, he also managed to weasel out of the appointment that we had for him to be fixed... yes, he's a smart one!

Last Tuesday night was our first night of obedience school with him, and it was really fun.  Lots of good tips and techniques and he seems to be a pretty quick learner.  We just have to be diligent with the homework.  So, we'll just continue one day at a time with him and enjoy him to bits - which is easy to do.  He is gorgeous to look at and has personality out the wazoo!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Some Secrets Are Too Good To Keep

Well folks, no beating around the bush - save the date of March 25, 2009 because Baby K has chosen that approximate day to make his/her grand arrival into the world!! To say that Joe and I are thrilled would be a severe understatement. So far, I'm 12 weeks and feeling good. I feel very fortunate that I only had 2 little bouts with morning sickness, and the biggest symptoms I've had so far would be extreme fatigue and my skin reverting back to looking like I'm 13 again (yuck!). There are so many thoughts swirling around in my head, I don't really feel like I can write cohesively, so I think I'll just address the most asked questions list style... and just so you all know, I did want to spill the beans a while ago, but if any of our nearest and dearest found out about the baby via this blog and not us telling them, we would've been in some hot water. So, with everyone accounted for, now I can let all you in on the most exciting thing taking over our lives, and my body!

Yes, this was a planned pregnancy. You know how there are some points of time that are just seared in your memory? Well, on Thanksgiving Day '07, Joe came to me and said that he felt we were ready to start a family, and some other really touching things. So together, we threw away the circular pink pill pack, and eagerly expected in a month or two to find out that we were pregnant. But the road to pregnancy was a little longer than I thought it would be. By the fifth month, I was starting to get a little nervous and wondering what exactly was the hold-up, and by the sixth month I felt positive that something was wrong. But not Joe. He never wavered or stressed about it, and said that we would cross that bridge if and when we came to it. I tried not to focus all my thoughts and energy on it, but it felt like everyone and their mother was coming out of the woodwork to announce they were expecting. I was aware of when I would be ovulating, but I didn't use the sticks anymore to tell the exact day since that was kind of taking the fun out of it, and didn't seem to really work anyway and decided that I would try my hardest to enjoy the "now" rather than the "someday". On the night before we left for San Diego, I realized that I was supposed to get my period while we would be down there and was trying to figure out what supplies I should pack - but would I get it? Would this be the month I wouldn't? I was kind of tired of the whole hold your breath to wait and see, and then be all disappointed when it comes. I didn't want to ruin the vacation for Joe with a poor attitude, so I thought that I would take a test that night, it would be negative since it was a good 4-5 days before I would be getting it, and I could mentally "prepare" myself for it. So I grabbed the stick, peed, and before I could even lay it flat two lines instantly popped up.

Positive prego test July 14, 2008

Shocked doesn't even come closed to describing the panoply of emotions that all coursed through my body while I was staring wide-eyed at those lines. I closed the window in the bathroom so my neighbors wouldn't hear me and think something was wrong and screamed my head off. Of course, since it was night, I was home alone and seriously thought about calling Joe and shouting it to him over the phone, but at least had enough clarity to realize that probably wasn't the best way to convey to him the news that he was going to be a daddy. I had bought and tucked away a little bib for just such an occasion that had a picture of a stick figure cop with the words "my daddy is my hero" and I laid that along with the pregnancy test on top of his packed suitcase. That was a hard night because I knew I would have to do a fair amount of driving the next day, but I was so excited/pumped/shocked/moved I couldn't sleep a wink... and every so often I would flick on the light, walk over and look at the stick just to make sure the two lines were still there with a dumb grin on my face. When Joe finally did get home the next day, his reaction was everything that I could've hoped for - I wish I had the camcorder then to record his reaction. There was lots of hugging and kissing and disbelief and more hugging and kissing. I don't think there have been two happier people leaving on a long roadtrip - we floated out of the house.

Yes, we will find out what the baby's sex is. The big ultrasound is for sometime around Halloween, and hopefully baby cooperates. We've got names "fairly" settled - if you ask Joe, they're pretty much locked in, but I'm a little more hesitant to say "yes, that's the name I want my child to have for all eternity!". And Joe has proved pickier about names than I ever would've thought... especially the ones for a girl. So wish me luck.

First sonogram at 5 weeks on July 24 due to some spotting. They wanted to check to see if they could find the sack since the baby wouldn't show up yet, and they did as indicated by the two little plus signs - it's the dark rice shaped thing above them.


9 week sonogram on August 20 - the head is pointing downward, you can see a teeny arm, rounded belly and little leg. It was so amazing to see something so tiny yet so incredibly alive. The tech would poke it a little with the wand and we would watch it wiggle and squirm... watching the heart pump was awesome too.

No, I haven't really had any cravings yet. In weeks 5-7 where I did have my little bout of sickness the food that sounded the best to me were tart things like lemonade, pineapple, grapefruit and sour green grapes. Now I'm fine to eat anything, although chicken and any seafood doesn't really sound all that appetizing... I mean, I could eat it and not gag or anything like that, but I would rather have salad or cereal. I still don't really look pregnant, just a little bit of a chubby belly (which is kind of odd to see what was once flat now bloated looking - sweet flat stomach please return to me!!), but it hasn't "popped" yet, as you can see below. Please excuse the dog walking clothes, dirty mirror, and poor photography in general. I didn't have a of patience to fiddle with it tonight, but I wanted to be able to post something, so this is all I got.


12 weeks along


So from here on out, this blog is going to be saturated with baby stuff. Because I've got baby on the brain. When I think of the roles that Joe and I will be stepping into to fulfill I am filled with awe... so much of this is completely out of my control. Sure, you do the best you can with taking vitamins, eating healthy and reading up on how to do things, but for the big things, I am not in charge. The Lord has already written this little babe's birth story and life story and knows what qualities He will endow this child with. We are merely tools to accomplish those things and bring out those qualities. This is another way that the Lord is bonding Joe and I together, truly forever - there will be this perfectly created and entertwined combination of the two of us to make up one brand new person - world, are you ready?