James is the BEST

My husband is the best ever. 

One night a couple of weeks ago, we heard some strange noises coming from the laundry room.  It sounded like an animal had been trapped in there.  I did what every good pregnant lady would do, retreated to the couch, with my legs pulled up (cause that would for sure protect me!) and told James not to let "it" get out of the laundry room. 

James armed himself with the swiffer and a rubber mallet, and headed into the laundry room.  He found nothing.  But he did hear some little scratching noises coming from the dryer vent.  We are rebels, and don't have a cover on the vent.  We assumed that a bird had flown into the vent and was stuck.  James ran the dryer for a bit, while I did all kinds of silly google searches on how to get birds out of dryer vents, etc.  We didn't hear any more noises, and assumed that the heat from the dryer encouraged the bird to fly up, up, and away. 

The next morning the dryer wouldn't start.  James banged on it a few times, and then it worked.  It's very important for our dryer to work since it's how we "iron" clothes these days.  It's also how we dry clothes.  That's maybe a little bit more important than our method of ironing. 

That night when James came home he took apart the dryer, to take a good look inside to see if somehow this bird had become lodged in the dryer.  (Thank you YouTube for the how-to video!)  He found nothing.  So we figured that this bird had made it's escape and the dryer not turning on that morning was just a random fluke. 

We were wrong.  On many accounts. 

The next day, I put a load of wet clothes in the dryer.  I was greeted by the smell of death.  I then did the logical thing, and texted James, informing him of the stank coming from the dryer. 

That night, James once again disassembled the dryer.  This time he also removed the drum (which really is a 2 person job....and more challenging than necessary when the second person is close to 100 months pregnant). 

And then he found it.  It, being a dead mouse (most likely a pack rat).  EWWWWW.  One pair of kitchen tongs (which were disposed of, EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!) and a whole lot of bleach later, the stank was gone as was the offending creature. 

James is my hero. 

After the clean up was complete and the dryer was back in one piece, we moved on to our next freak out session.  Hanta Virus.  Thankfully I'm a master at google searches.  Heat kills the virus, and dryers get plenty hot.  Bleach also kills it.  And that was used.  And, there haven't been any cases of hanta virus in Pima county that this google master could find.  And, if it was indeed a pack rat, I don't believe they are typically carriers of the virus. 

We believe this rat may have been a distant relative to one that Walter terrorized a few months back.  Over the summer there was a rat or mouse that had some sort of injury stuck in our backyard.  Walter did what every good beagle would do.  He howled at it.  He howled at it so much he could not howl properly without his poor tired voice cracking for days.  Our "hunting" dog lost his voice because he howled at a rat for hours on end.  Thankfully he's not much of a hunter, and therefore left this mouse alone (kinda....I suppose he did howl at it forever).  He's just a loudmouth.  Maybe as payback for the sheer terror that hours of howling caused (while we were gone....sorry neighbors!!) his rat friend decided to lodge himself in the dryer.  Unfortunately for him, it didn't turn out well.

Beds are Overrated

Back in August, we bought Zack a twin bed.  I even made him a quilt to go on this new bed.  He has yet to actually use this quilt as it's intended to be used.  He mostly freaks out if we try and cover him with it.  So, he sleeps on top of it.  But, as of late, he hasn't been using his bed for it's intended purposes either. 

Some nights, we will peek in at him and find him sprawled out in the middle of his rug, cuddling with a blanket.  Sometimes he will take all the stuffed animals off his bed and create himself a nest in the middle of the floor.

Then, there are times when he goes for the really uncomfortable position.  Such as halfway out of his room, with his head on the hard tile floor.  Though he did manage to take a 3 hour nap that way. 

Just a few days ago I found him sound asleep in his little armchair.  His legs were hanging off it, and his face was smashed into an airplane toy.  Ouch. 

I'm guessing (and hoping!) that someday he will realize that beds are more comfortable than the floor/chair/hallway.  Until then, I suppose it will just sit there and look nice, and get used on a few rare occasions. 

Genesis-According to Two Year Olds

We are studying Genesis in BSF this year. The past couple of weeks have been all about creation.  Creation is such a fun, and easy topic to discuss with a two year old. Zack makes it easy for us, as he's constantly pointing out flowers, the moon, the mountains etc.  Now, when we ask him who made the pretty purple flowers he answers us with a simple "God did," like it's the most obvious thing in the world.  However, when I ask him who made the baby in my belly he tells me the name of my doctor....hmmmm....maybe the "Who made [insert object of God's creation here]" game is getting old. 

He did, however, surprise me the other day.  Out of the blue he told me, "mommy, God turned lights on."  Completely unprompted by me.  I think he's getting it, at least as much as a 2 year old can comprehend creation. 

Zack also has a very thankful heart.  Just this past Monday we were driving home from the leader's meetings.  On Mondays, all of the leaders children get a special treat, a lollipop.  Zack was happily sucking on his lollipop, talking to me about all the dump trucks, mail trucks and other vehicles he was seeing.  Then, out of the blue he says, "Dear God.  Thank you, lollipops.  Amen." 

Planning My Comeback

I'm officially planning my comeback. 

It all started last week when James forwarded me an email about a price increase for the Oro Valley half marathon (well, really the Arizona Distance Classic, but I prefer to call it the OV half).  The price would be increasing on September 30th. 

James simply wrote "This is all you" which I take to mean as "I'll watch the kids, run wifey run!"  But really, my sweet wonderful husband knows how much I've missed being able to run, and how much I love to compete. 

So, I registered for the quarter marathon race yesterday.  It's at the end of March.  I'm hoping this will be enough time to get my body ready to run 6.5ish miles.  It will at least give me a reason to get out and run (other than for my own sanity).  I decided on the quarter marathon for a couple of reasons.  One being that it's a distance I've never ran before, therefore no matter what time I get it will be my best time ever for a quarter marathon.  Another being I know that a half marathon will be too far for me to run well at that point, and I don't want to be ticked off at myself for a week because I ran the slowest half marathon of my life.  A logical person might say, "but this will be less than 6 months after having a baby."  I'm too competitive with myself to be logical like that.

I'm thinking that I will be getting back into running in January, this should be after my 6 weeks of taking it easy post childbirth.  And let me tell you, I plan to take it easy.  At least as easy as a mom of a newborn and a 2 year old can take it. 

I think the month of January will be dedicated to being able to run a full mile without stopping.  Oh, it's going to be slow.  And it will hurt.  Then I'll use February and March to work on ramping up my mileage to a full 7 or maybe even 8 miles. 

And I'm sure every single step of the way I'll be thinking to myself, "why did I think this was a good idea????"

Woah!

I feel as though I'm growing rather rapidly these days.  In fact, I was afraid to go to my last doctors appointment, simply because I was sure the scale would record a 5 pound weight gain in 2 weeks, and that suddenly my belly would be measuring ahead of schedule.  I also skipped taking a picture of my belly at 32 weeks cause I just didn't want to see it.  Thankfully the scale was gracious to me, recording a 1 pound weight gain, and my belly somehow managed to still be measuring where it's supposed to be. 

But, when I look at the pictures of my "progress", all I can say is WOAH! No wonder I've been so tired...

Grow, baby, grow!

Getting Older, and More Practical

The older I get, the more practical I seem to become. 

When I turned 30, I bought myself a "sensible" wallet.  It just seemed like the right thing to do. 

Last week I turned 31 (which seemed so much older than 30!  But, now that I've been 31 for nearly a week, I'm realizing it's no different).  I spent my actual birthday cooking up a pancake extravaganza for my 2 year old pancake fanatic.  Then we went to open gym together, where he played and played and had so much fun. 

Then I decided to be practical and go to Costco and get a few things that we needed. Back in my 20s I would have never even considered being responsible on my birthday, that's what the other 364 days of the year were for.  But, we were out of decaf coffee.  And I wanted coffee.  So, to Costco Zack and I went.  While I was there, I treated myself to a birthday present (even though my wonderful James got me a Teavana tea maker thingy and some yummy, YUMMY tea the week before). 

I bought myself memory foam slippers. They were $10.  And they are amazing. Why have I never discovered such things before?!?! 

I'm already considering a 2nd pair. 

My birthday wasn't all about being practical, however. James and I did go out for dinner (to Tavalino, a new place for us.  It was delish!).  And after dinner we treated ourselves to dessert from AJ's.  YUM.  And all of this was sans child.  Except for the one in my belly.  That one goes with me everywhere. 

If 30 means a sensible wallet, and 31 means memory foam slippers, I can't even begin to imagine what 32 will bring! 

I Miss Running

I miss running.  I really do.  Last weekend James ran on the treadmill while I napped.  When he was finished (he busted off one mile in 7:20!) I told him that I was jealous that he has the energy to run.  I have the energy to nap.  And make lists of things for James to do around the house.  And cook.  And take care of a 2 year old. And keep the house somewhat clean.  And grow another human being. 

In 9ish weeks this baby will [hopefully] be in my arms, and no longer in my belly.  Then around 6 weeks after that I will start up [slowly, and painfully] running once again, and documenting my return.  I can hardly wait.  Until then I suppose I will document the hilarious/sweet/peculiar things my sweetie pie Zacky does, along with any progress we make towards getting ready for the arrival of the wee one. 

Here are some of the things Zack has done this past week:

On Tuesday, I had my first BSF leaders meeting for the 2012-2013 year.  I talked to Zack about it all Monday, and the whole drive over on Tuesday.  By the time we got there he was quite excited to play on the playground at bible study.  That day, before Zack's nap, we went to pray.  Apparently I was taking too long getting started with the prayer, so Zack himself started praying.  It went like this. 

Zack:  Dear God
[long pause]
Me:  What do you want to thank God for??
[more pausing, and thinking]
Zack:  Sank soou, bubble study (translation, thank you bible study).

He melted my heart right there. 

He has also decided that while we are trying to get him ready for bed it's great fun to go hide in his closet.  He will then poke his sweet little face out and say, "James, Karen!"  Seriously!?  I want to be called mommy for as long as possible, none of this "Karen!" business. 

Sure do love that boy!