Dog-gone Craziness

This week our youngest pup Roxie has decided to test our patience and our window screens. Now when we picked out this little pup we knew she would be full of energy and stubbornness. Being a bull terrier it is in her breeding. What we didn't know is just how addictive her personality was going to be. When she gets an idea into her head, there is no stopping her until she has completed her mission. This week's mission, Skittles. She loves to taste the rainbow. Now I was having a perfectly normal evening, when I realized that Roxie had been too quiet for too long. As I snuck up stairs to catch her in the act of what ever it was she was into, I was none too surprised to find her in my office with her head stuck in a 3lb bag of Skittles. (The reason for the 3lb bag of skittles, let's just blame that on one of my addictions. LOL) As I wrestled the bag off her head, I wanted to punish her, to be angry with her for stealing a pregnant woman's favorite guilty pleasure, but the sight of her white face covered in a rainbow of colors from the sugary treat made me laugh and love her more.

Now, you may be wondering, "What does this have to do with window screens?" As I mentioned before, once she gets an idea in her head, there is no stopping it until she sees it through. I was upstairs enjoying a quiet evening of recorded Dancing With the Stars (another guilty pleasure) and chatting on the phone with Stacey, when I heard a knock at the door. Matt, answered it, and I didn't think anything else of it, until about 45 minutes later when Matt appeared at my office door, looking slightly out of breath and really pissed off. When I asked what was up, he not so calmly asked how it was possible I didn't hear him yelling and peeling out of the drive in my car. Again, I go back to Dancing and an entertaining conversation with one of my best friends. As it turns out, it was our neighbor at the door with a bit of troubling news.

It seems that our little Roxie, not interested in being calm and watching movies with Matt, had decided to look for adventure in the great outdoors. As we were not opening the door for her, she took the liberty of jumping out our front window. Screen be damned, she was getting out of this house. When our neighbor reported said escape (and thank goodness someone saw her, because we never heard the escape) Matt sprang into action, jumping in the car to go track her down. As he drove the neighborhood yelling her name anther friendly home owner, stopped Matt and reported that our pup was now in her backyard. Luckily they recognized Matt and Roxie as belonging together after seeing them out on one of their many afternoon walks.

As Matt stealthfully entered the yard trying to catch her off guard so he could capture our convict before she bolted again, we learned why she had picked this particular yard. In a community of over 300 homes, Roxie had found the one house in the neighborhood where the children of the home had spilled Skittles all over the backyard. My single minded puppy was on a mission to eat every last one before Matt captured her and secured her in the car to bring her home once again. As he told me this story of escape and return, he was clearly upset, but I couldn't help but want to smile a little. I still had the image of her trapped in a Skittles bag fresh in my mind from earlier in the day. While she may not be the worlds best behaved pup, she certainly does entertain and keep us on our toes.

While adding a baby to the mix a few short months, may still scare the Skittles out of us, at least we know that we are prepared for just about anything life throws our way. If living with Roxie for the past two years has taught me anything it is, that being adorable really does go a long way in mommy being able to laugh at the most ridiculous and infuriating situations with out actually following through on the death threats I want to make daily. I think this little one of ours teamed with this crazy young pup is going to be fodder for all sorts of stories we will be telling for years to come, that is if I survive them. LOL

My Hubby is a Saint

I have to give a lot of credit to my husband. It is easy for the world to see how challenging pregnancy can be for a woman, but I want to give some credit to the unsung hero in this pregnancy, my hubby. While my body is going through some major hormonal and physical changes, he has to hear about them. All the time . . . Though we have been together for almost 4 years now, we have really only been married a few short months. We were just settling into married life and making plans for home improvement projects we wanted to accomplish this summer, when we found out this new addition to our family was going to throw all of our plans out the window.

Now for the rest of the world, this may seem like normal changes in life. You roll with the punches and take things as they come. But, I am not normal. I do not do change well, and I always have a plan. Even my plans have back up plans. My hubby, has come accustomed to lists all over the house, me checking things off, and then making new lists to organize the lists I already have. Yes, I am insane, but at least I recognize it and am working on releasing the vice grip I have on controlling everything in my life. In a funny way, I think he even has come to appreciate my psychosis.

Adding a child into my already hyper structured existence has really thrown me for a loop. The lists have gone out the window, my plans have fallen to the wayside, and my brain is evidently turning to mush. I lectured my hubby for at least a half an hour the other night on why it is important to follow the organization pattern in the fridge and pantry, only to realize that I had put the milk in the glasses cupboard. I was far from perfect before I became pregnant, now I may be certifiably insane, but somehow, some way, Matt loves me more. I don't know how he does it and why he continues to assert that he should be doing more, when I feel like his just not divorcing my insane self is the best gift in the world.

I apologize to all of my family and friends now. I have control issues, it is not personal, and I am sure once the little one gets here, that all of my planning and lists for how to raise this little one will go out the window too. But until then, holding onto some sense of control is stopping me from losing it completely. Take a page from my hero hubby's book. Just smile, and nod, then come up with every excuse possible not to be near me during certain times of meltdown. He says he got a second job to help pay down the credit cards and build a little nest egg for the little one. I can't help but think the extra time away may be for his sanity as well. Either way, he is my hero. He puts up with mood swings, way to detailed updates on my changing physical condition and ailments, and still looks forward to tucking me into bed every night when he gets home.

So to all my friends who are pregnant or married to a pregnant woman now , or have gone through this experience before. I salute you. Ladies, you work, take care of a family and undergo some of the most uncomfortable physical changes a person will ever endure. Gentlemen, you still come home every night. I may be insane, but I am the luckiest crazy person in the world.

The Secret is Out!

So, we invited my parents, Matt's mom and my brothers down for Easter dinner. Little did they know we had a surprise for them. We debated for a while on just how to share this little secret we had been keeping for the past three months, but we knew we wanted to do it in person.

Mom of course had made Matt and I a traditional Easter basket (I don't care how old you are, you are never too grown up to enjoy a basket full of your favorite candies and treats), so we thought what better time to give them the card that I had found for them. I insisted that mom and dad open the card together, and that Matt's mom open hers at the same time. This sort of tipped them off that something was up. Still, they played along. As the cards emerged from their envelopes, the words "Grandparents are Special" peeked out. As soon as those words were seen, the screaming and tears started. I don't think they even made it to read the inside of the card. Just knowing that they would be grandparents was exciting enough for them.

Now, many of you who know us well, are saying, but you two said you were never going to have kids. That babies were just not in your future. Well, as my mom likes to point out often, I always seem to end up with exactly the opposite of what I say I want and I always am happier because of it. So, Matt and I are going to be parents. We are excited, scared to death, but mostly excited. Our families are so supportive and excited for us, it takes away some of the fear, knowing we are not on our own on this journey, but have a whole caravan of love behind us.

Now we wait and look forward to the arrival of our little one. If s/he comes on his/her due date, Matt and I are going to have one hell of a first anniversary and the baby will have one cool birthday, 10-10-2010. No matter when our little peanut gets here, I am sure it will be a day that changes our lives forever and we wouldn't want it any other way.

My First Blog

So, I am new to this whole blogging thing, but I thought I would give it a try. Matt and I have a crazy life and it is about to get crazier. We don't get to see our family and friends often because many of them live so far away, but I thought this may be a good way of keeping everyone up to date on what was happening in our lives. As I mentioned, life is about to get even crazier around here. I will be posting more on that in the upcoming weeks. Until then, know that I just finished my Master's degree so that bit of craziness is finally over. Now I am excited to help in planning my best friend Stacey's bridal shower. This means lots of e-mails, and even a few trips back home to Louisville. While the two hour drive is a pain, the time I get to spend with my family and friends is more than worth it.

Poor Matt unfortunately is left at home to puppy sit our three crazy dogs. I just hope when I get home, all four of them are still here. You never know what will happen when those four are left to their own devices. I can see it now, I walk in the door, Peeka is locked in his room up stairs, Maverick is sleeping on the chair, and Roxie is sleeping on top of Matt. All four of them have survived on pizza, Chinese take-out and Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper all weekend. With a little luck, they have left some for me.

Life may be crazy around here, but we wouldn't have it any other way.