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!