Changes

Happy week 11 to me! Let me tell you, this pregnancy business is very different than I thought it would be. I thought I would be throwing up and sick every day, but much to my surprise, I’m not. I am way more tired than I thought I would be too, but thankfully I can make it through the work day just in time to poop out on my poor husband. Thus, my house is way messier than I thought it would be as I use up all my energy making the messes and don't have the energy to clean up after the messes. This is Art's most common complaint. That, and the fact that all I want to eat is Mexican food. I am probably the most mess-makin'-stressed out-pooped out-nauseated-whining-complaining-happy-sad-grumpy-excited person you will come across for miles. It's simply amazing.

Art hasn't quite decided how to act around me and Bunny seems to have taken a toll for the worse. He has been the most ornery BAD bunny lately. The moment he gets out of his cage, he heads straight for trouble and ends up back in his cage within 5 minutes of his release. He doesn't go quietly either, he growls and fights all the way there. My confidence in his ability to share possession of the living room floor is dwindling.

We are actively looking for a 2 bedroom apartment and still trying to figure out how we're going to make it without my full income. This is a very exciting and stressful time in our lives and I know that we have only begun experiencing the first changes of many to come. With God's assistance, hopefully we can all learn to adapt to our ever changing life.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Heart

Today I saw my baby for the first time and although it was not much more than a bean shaped blob, it was my bean shaped blob, and it was love at first sight. And right in the middle you could see the little heart beating, twinkling black and white.

At this point there are not many physical indications of the tiny life inside of me, besides my sore boobs and exhaustion, so it was fun to see that there is in fact a little being in there. The doctor measured the baby at 6 weeks and 4 days, although by the calendar I am 8 weeks today. It's possible that the baby is just "small for it's age", but my estimated due date is October 24th.

On Valentine's Day, I stayed home from work because I was sick with a cold. I had been trying to get pregnant for the past 10 months and had taken many pregnancy tests in my haste, all of which were negative. I wanted to know if it was safe for me to take cold medicine so I went to Rite Aid and bought a pregnancy test to take the next morning. That night I was awake until some time around 4:00 in the morning because I was too sick to sleep and I was fed up so I went in the bathroom to take the pregnancy test, expecting it to be negative, so that I could take some medicine and go back to bed. Much to my surprise, it was positive! No doubt about it, two dark pink lines immediately materialized in the display window, and I was home alone will no one to share the news with! Art wouldn't get home from work for another few hours and can't answer his phone at work. I texted my mom and told her the good news. She called me and we talked for a while.

I was so excited I couldn't go back to bed and since I had some time to kill before Art got home I devised a clever way to tell him I'm pregnant. Neither of us had exchanged gifts on Valentine's Day since we were sick so I decided to give him a "late Valentine's present" and wrote him a card. It said "Happy Valentine's Day. I'm pregnant!" When he got home I told him I wrote him a card since I didn't buy him anything and he read the card with a puzzled look on his face. He looked at me and said, "You're pregnant???" I said, "YES! I'm PREGNANT!" and the excitement sank in for both of us.

I still can't picture myself changing diapers every day along with everything else that goes along with motherhood. In fact it is quite overwhelming to think about it, but I still have plenty of time to get used to the idea. For now I am concentrating on finding us a 2 bedroom apartment, devising a plan for me to be able to stay home with the baby, breaking the news to Bunny that he will have to co-inhabit the living room floor, and talking Art out of naming our daughter Juliet.

It is an exciting and stressful time, but I feel better every time I think of that little twinkling heart. I am so grateful God knows that the best gifts come in tiny packages and that He was kind enough to send one to me.

Creatures of Habit

I recently bought a computer armoire so that I could move my computer from the bedroom into the living room thus enabling me to go on my computer while Art is sleeping during the day. This meant that some re-arranging was in order to make it fit in our already well-furnished living room. After over an hour of debating, we decided the best course of action would be to move The Bunny's cage across the living room over by the sliding glass door and put the new desk where his cage used to be.

It might not seem like his cage was moved very far to you or me, but in bunny distance it equals about a mile away. Rabbits are vigilant creatures and nothing gets past our Bunny without a thorough examination so Bunny immediately began the assessment of where his cage used to be, where his cage is now, and how on earth it got there. He ran back and forth across the room to both locations and would stand up on his hind legs for a better look, zig-zag around the vacant premises, and then run back to his new address.

Bunny has always been a stickler about tending to business first and playing later, so he makes sure he gets his banana chip before he runs off to play. The Bunny values banana chips so as soon as he snatches one from me, he backs his little furry behind into the corner of his open cage door so he can eat his treat without anyone being able to sneak up and take it from him while he is enjoying it.

The next day, I came home from work and let Bunny out to play. I opened his cage and he ran across the room to where his banana chips used to be. I had to call him back over to where the banana chips are now. Then I gave him his treat and he ran half way over to where his cage door used to be and realized it wasn't there any more. In a fit of confusion he accepted defeat and stopped to eat his treat in the middle of the room.

Poor guy just can't seem to make sense of his cage re-location. I guess we are all creatures of habit- even rabbits. I'm sure Bunny will eventually get everything figured out, but in the meantime I am just glad that he doesn't think his litter box is where it used to be and that he has been using it just fine where it is now.

The Bunny's Cage Where it Used to Be

Bunny vs. The Christmas Tree

This year is The Bunny's first Christmas. Now, if you know anything about rabbits, you know that nothing gets past their ever vigilant sight. Every new item in The Bunny's path and within his little bunny reach is examined thoroughly, and relocated if it's location is not acceptable to him.

This year we had nowhere to put our Christmas tree except The Bunny's play corner. We moved all his boxes and chew toys and put up the tree in their place. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that The Christmas Tree and it's location have not received his bunny stamp of approval. He made this well known by stomping his back foot in annoyance, nudging me all over with his nose, and pushing around the tree branches. Unfortunately for him, his protests did not stop The Christmas Tree from occupying his corner.

After I finished decorating The Christmas Tree, I pushed it back into The Bunny's corner and put the tree skirt around it. Then came The Bunny to further inspect The Christmas Tree. He hopped all over the tree skirt, nibbled it a bit, zoomed in circles around the tree, then body-slammed it! Try as he may, Bunny can't seem to re-claim his corner. Illustrated below is one possible outcome for the battle between The Bunny and The Christmas Tree...

Unless The Bunny has some tricks up his sleeve, I think The Christmas Tree is going to win this one.

The Happy Horn

Several times I have been stuck behind a car sitting at a green light who isn't paying attention and, being that I have no interest in waiting until the next green light, I kindly honk my horn as a friendly reminder to them to GO. As you can well imagine, for I am sure we have all had this experience, my kind gesture is always followed by an un-kind gesture. For heaven's sake! THEY were the ones camping out at the green light!

One time I was driving and straight in front of me was a man riding his bike directly toward me in my lane. I had nowhere to go to dodge him, so I honked my horn as if to say, "I'm gonna hit you if you don't move!" And what does he do? Flips me off! HE was the idiot coming at me in MY lane like he never heard of a sidewalk! I could have run him over, yet somehow he felt I was deserving of a glimpse of his raised middle finger. I have never understood the source of these inappropriate gestures until now.

As most of you know, our Jetta gave up the ghost last week and left us with a mountain of debt. We traded it in for a nearly-new, base model Mazda 3. I knew I would miss our power mirrors, cruise control, heated seats, power locks, and even air conditioning, but keeping in mind that we had to roll over our debt from our deceased Jetta on to our new loan, we had to start small. For a sticker price of only ten thousand dollars, those features were a sacrifice we were willing to make. Besides, the car is black inside and out. How could we say no?

The day after we got our "new" Mazda 3, we witnessed a lady back into the bumper of our car and take off! I was angry. Later that day, I found myself stuck behind a car sitting at a green light as usual. I had not yet tested out my new car's horn, so I thought it was an appropriate time to do so. TOOT! My car let out a peculiarly quiet, particularly high-pitched, one-tone toot. It sounded much more like something you would hear coming from an ice cream truck rather than a honk from a car. I was expecting the typical rude response, only to behold a friendly wave as they drove across the intersection! I smiled with contentment and my anger from my car getting hit earlier was greatly diminished; I had found the answer to my driving frustrations:

Loud, piercing, obnoxious horn installed in most cars and trucks + test subject = angry response from test subject such as middle finger in the air and/or dispense of vulgar phrases.

Mazda 3 horn + test subject = the spread of happiness throughout the world.

I smile and laugh every time I toot my horn and try to find as many opportunities as possible to do so. Unfortunately, Art doesn't share my adoration of our new horn and I guess I can't entirely blame him. In the instance that you wanted to angrily honk at someone who had cut you off, the tiny toot of our horn wouldn't quite get the message across. Perhaps in the future cars will come equipped with 2 horns- a happy horn, and an angry horn. Then we'll be prepared for whatever driving obstacles come our way, but in the meantime… I am quite content with my happy horn.

Bunny vs. The Broom

The Bunny's first birthday is nearly upon us and I think I have finally begun to have an understanding of our Bunny and what goes on in his furry head. When Bunny first began exploring our house, he came to the conclusion that he was the boss and that I was his lady. He made this very clear by growling at Art and running circles around my feet every time I entered the room. Over time Bunny developed a little more respect for Art, but not much more for me (probably has something to do with the male domination attitude). So although Bunny has come to understand that he is second in command to Art, he walks all over me!

For example, let's say The Bunny is munching the baseboard (as he often does) and I yell "NO!" and clap my hands at him- he will glare at me then turn back around and resume the munching. This cycle will continue until I physically scoot him from his trouble making area. If Art so much as snaps his fingers at The Bunny, he instantly appears in his cage!

Let's say The Bunny is under the couch digging the carpet- I can yell and yell at him and hit the couch and he just ignores me. So then I have to go get the broom and scoot his little butt out of there, then he will run to his cage, but then he realizes it's only me holding the broom and not Art so five minutes later he is back under the couch. Most of the time Art can tell The Bunny to get out from under the couch and he will, if not all he has to do is TOUCH the broom and The Bunny runs to his cage!

Thus you see that it is obvious that there are only 2 people in my house that The Bunny has any respect for... Art and The Broom. He just uses me for a good petting as he sees fit.

Well this morning, after being scooted out from under the couch three times, Bunny decided he was fed up with The Broom who had dominion over him this past year. The Broom foiled every adventure beneath the couch and bed and there was only one way to re-claim his freedom... to FIGHT.

It is not a well known fact that rabbits have formidable ninja skills, but I assure you they do. The Bunny let out a deep growl and lunged at the broom with every bit of momentum he could muster with his tiny two-pound body. The Broom struck back only to be met with fiercly flailing claws and sharp teeth! Growling all the while, Bunny fought The Broom and refused to give in. Unfortunately, The Broom managed to corner Bunny in his cage with no chance to espace and his angry growls could not keep The Broom from closing the gate on him.

Perhaps The Broom got the best of him this time, but I'm sure this will not be The Bunny's last fight for freedom.

Conception Complexities

When Baby Cakes and I decided it was out time to multiply and replenish the earth, I thought getting pregnant was going to be a piece of cake. Now I realize this conception business is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be!

Being the natural planner that I am, I immediately began my online research of everything I needed to know about getting knocked up and I couldn't understand anything I was reading- it's all in code! TTC- trying to conceive, AF- Aunt Flow (period), HPT- home pregnancy test, BFP- big fat positive (on your HPT), DPO- days past ovulation, CM- cervical mucus. The list goes on! Not only do you need to know the code, but evidently you need lots of "baby dust". Where on earth can you buy baby dust???

I felt a little better after I got a fair handle on the new language until I realized how many factors and circumstances you have to coordinate to make this magical conception happen... alignment of the planets, moon phase, ocean tides, weather conditions, bad hair days, good hair days, the stock market, interest rates, UFO sightings, and ovulation.

Then there are the side effects of stopping birth control, allergy medicine, and anti-inflammatory drugs. I am pimple faced and moody, sneezing my head off, covered in hives, and can't open my mouth. No wonder I'm not turning up pregnant- Baby Cakes doesn't want to come within 20 feet of me!

And what is is about pregnancy tests that makes you start your period? If word got out about that, Trojan would be out of business!

It's a wonder how any baby can be an "accident" with all of the odds against you. It's kinda like winning the lottery! I've been buying my tickets for 6 months and counting, but I guess God gives some of us a test of patience while we are waiting for our number to be drawn!