The Family That Snores Together

I am a very light sleeper, and one of the things I was grateful for when Blake and I first got together was that he didn't snore.  Not only do I wake easily, I happen to find snoring one of the top 5 most annoying sounds ever (right up there with alarm clocks and nails on a chalkboard).

Fast forward 3 years, and like all good relationships ours has gone through many changes.  For instance, snoring.  It began as the occasional snore when Mr. Perfect was congested from allergies, and a little rub on his arm or back was all it took to stop the snore in its tracks.  Now it's a nightly occurance, usually starting right about the time I turn off my Kindle to fall asleep.  Blake (who falls asleep before I do) has some kind of internal alarm that lets him know, "Hey!  She's putting that thing away!  Quick, start snoring NOW!"  The arm/back trick still works...for about 5 seconds.  The moment I turn over and get comfy the snoring starts again.  Luckily Blake also has this wonderful trait of being able to fall back asleep immediately (Baby Aidan, are you listening?!), so when I wake him up and ask him to turn over, he usually falls back asleep in the middle of his apology.

Then along came Callie.

You would not believe the snoring power encapsulated in this little furry bundle.  There have been nights where I actually woke up Blake, mistaking her snores for his!  And it doesn't stop at snoring.  She barks, whines, and growls in her dreams, sometimes in between snores so it sounds something like this:  "rrrrrRUFF!  Zzzzzzzzsnore.  rrrrrrRUFF!  Zzzzzzzsnore.  whinewhinewhinewhinewhineSNORE!"  This comical midnight show usually ends with Callie waking herself up and looking at us like, "Who was making all that noise?  You woke me up!"

Up to now I have remained the silent sleeper, patiently sacrificing my sleep as long as possible so my hard working husband and wee baby pup can get their much needed zzz's.  (Insert Blake rolling eyes). Then there was the third trimester.  A few nights ago I was falling gently asleep when a loud "snorrrrrrre" jerked me out of my relaxed state.  I opened my eyes and rolled over to check on my husband and puppy...and found myself alone in the bedroom.  Must have been a dream, I thought rolling back over.  Until it happened again...and this time I felt the rumble in the back of my throat and nose.  Great.  I now officially have the pregnancy snores.

So if you hear a slightly out of tune trio at about 3 in the morning, the gentle soprano "rrrrrrrr" with the robust tenor "RRRRRR" and the occasional "rrrrrrRUFF!", don't worry.  It's just our nightly family ritual, helping to bring us closer together than ever, uniting us in our mutual lack of sleep.  



The Evolution of Aidan

Today I start the third trimester-only 12 weeks until our little man arrives!!  That's more or less the blink of an eye.  Here's a basic rundown of questions and answers that I think most of you will have in mind:

Q. Are you ready?
A. Are you kidding?
Q. What I mean is, is the nursery ready?
A. By ready, do you mean painted and furnished?  Because, no.
Q. Do you have colors picked out?
A. YES!  Finally, one I know the answer to.
Q. What are you colors?
A. Khaki and Red
Q. No blue?
A. No, got a problem with that?
Q. What is your theme?
A. I don't do themes.  There will be a rock 'n' roll motif (which my husband informs me is just a fancier word for theme), but no cutesy animals, dinosaurs, or Disney themed characters.  I have a thing against cutesy.
Q. Hmmm, and how are you handling those hormonal fluctuations?
A. Just FINE, thank you.

I find the question "Are you ready?" so humorous, because really-is anyone ever really ready?  In my humble opinion, you could have a college degree in child rearing and STILL not be ready.  Not to say that Blake and I haven't done our share of homework, we just haven't gone "What To Expect When You're Expecting" crazy.  As my wise husband says, "Cavemen and teenagers have had babies for centuries, and the human race is still around.  I'm pretty sure we'll be ok."  Check back in 12 weeks and see if that philosophy is still holding.

The real question is, is my body ready?  A week ago I would have answered with great certainty, "YES!"  Then Blake and I watched a special on TV about Life Before Birth: From Conception to Birth.  It began with a description of conception, showing us how nearly impossible it is for a sperm to reach an egg and fertilize.  We already knew we were lucky and blessed beyond belief, but now it felt like we won the Lottery-the really big inter-state Powerball that's worth millions and impossible to win.  Just as we were congratulating ourselves the screen shifted to show what happens to the female body as the baby grows larger, dominating her entire torso, crushing her lungs and forcing her heart to swell in size and rotate 45 degrees.  Umm, what?  "Finally," Courtney Cox-Arquette said with a wry smile (she was hosting the program), "the baby triples in size during the last 2 months of pregnancy."

I looked at my belly.

Blake looked at my belly.

I started to cry.

I'm gonna be HUGE!  This baby is going to TRIPLE IN SIZE!!!  I'm not so worried about what my body will look like after this is all over, after all I gave up hopes of flat abs about the same time I gave up on P90X.  I'd say I'm more worried about falling over everytime I stand up, and since the odds are generally in favor of me falling when I'm not carrying around an extra human in my stomach...you get the picture.

Speaking of pictures, let's get to the point...the evolution of Aidan so far:

Week 12

Week 16

Week 20

Week 24

Week 28

I know I'm cheating wearing all black the bigger I get, but I don't care.  Only time will tell if I will be doubling as the Good Year Blimp at the 2012 Superbowl.  In the meantime, Aidan and I will be enjoying double helpings of dessert at Christmas.  After all, I should at least try to enjoy this, right?!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween has always been for me, more than anything, the holiday that ushers in the Christmas season.  Yes, I am one of those people.  You know, the kind that listens to Christmas carols on the radio before Thanksgiving and already has her Christmas card newsletter ready to go.  Not that I don't like Halloween, I love the dressing up part.  Costumes were a big part of why I wanted to have a career in the theater.  Blake, on the other hand, LIVES for Halloween.  He loves the pumpkin carving, the costumes, the decorations...for him this is the holiday.  I have to admit, his enthusiasm is contagious, especially now that we have a little one on the way.  Trick or treating is kind of "out" for people our age (which, in my opinion, is a shame, since we're the ones buying all the candy anyway), but now we will have a child to drag along in full costume to satisfy our sweet tooths...teeth...(????).  And in case you're wondering, yes, we will be that family, in themed costumes.  Sorry folks, we do nothing halfway.

So now I take this opportunity to showcase my husband and his Halloween talents.  Here is this year's pumpkin carving:

Callie helped get us started...

Aidan's pumpkin

Callie's pumpkin

How we spent Sunday after all that carving :)

Halfway

Yesterday marked the official halfway mark of my pregnancy, which is both thrilling and terrifying on so many levels.  Thrilling because I'm taking part in the miracle of life-making, something that blows my mind everyday.  It always astounds me when I see other preggos walking around and they're not just rubbing their belly in wonder.  My belly is getting a shiny spot from being rubbed so often.  I'll just sit and rub my expanding stomach for no other reason than to assure myself that yes, I really am pregnant.  I'll stare at my naked stomach in the mirror from all angles, wondering why I don't feel fat when my abdomen is so obviously protruding and getting more Santa-like by the day.  It's a surreal, out-of-body experience to watch my body change so drastically and to feel so okay with it.  In fact, I love my pregnant body.  I love the curves and the softness of it.  Mostly, though, I love not having to worry about my body (appearance wise, anyway) for what may be the first time in my life.  It's liberating, and will probably only last until I hit the third trimester and Aidan starts to kick all my organs to bits and my cute little bump turns into a blimp.  But I'm going to enjoy this stage anyway.

What terrifies me is the fact that I'm still "making room" for Aidan in his own room.  Have I painted?  Purchased a crib?  Organized a closet?  Bought a book, a piece of clothing, or anything at all for my little darling to be?  Oh, no.  I'm still UNPACKING and REORGANIZING stuff Blake and I just threw in the "nursery" which used to be Blake's "office" which was really a euphamism for "the room where we keep all the stuff we don't really want to go through and that we really don't have room for but don't really want to get rid of".  Everyone has a room like that, right?  RIGHT?!  What weirds me out the most is that not having the baby stuff doesn't bother me one little bit.  I'm totally zen about all things baby related.  After all, this baby is coming whether we're ready for him or not, whether he has a crib or not, and whether his nursery is decorated or not.  Seriously, he's not going to know if his room is perfectly appointed the day he comes home from the hospital.  As long as that mama's milk is flowing, his world will be A-OK.  Nope, what freaks me out is the thought of trying to continue taming the never ending flow of dirty dishes, laundry, and miscellaneous stuff that accumlates daily.  I can hardly do it now-what the hell am I going to do when I have baby in tow?!  I mean, even once my house is actually organized and clean, the thought of the upkeep overwhelms me from time to time.  Then I rub my tummy and remember that hell, Aidan won't care if a few (A FEW) things are out of place.  And if he does, we can always just go over to Grandma's house.  And that, folks, is called being positive.

After the Happily Ever

My last blog was sadly abandoned during the last year, due mostly to the fact that I was too busy trying to plan a wedding and not commit any major crimes during the process.  I, in my naivete and stupidity, thought that a wedding would be great fodder for my blog.  What it ended up being was a gorgeous, beautiful, memorable pain in the ass.  Then my wonderful husband and I decided to start trying for a baby right off the bat, thinking it would take at least a year to conceive.  I mean, it's not like we're right out of college and in those "whoops I didn't know I was so fertile" years.  Two months later, and exactly 3 weeks after purchasing a 3 month old Shih tzu puppy, I was peeing on my fourth pregnancy test to make sure I really was pregnant.  Now here we are, week 18 of baby incubation, month 4 of puppy training, and month 6 of marriage.  I have all new stories to tell, and I thought they deserved an all new blog.  So here we go, I hope you will happily roll along with me!