Reasons I love my husband

As we were sitting in church last Sunday wrangling our toddler in between us and out of the floor, I realized some little things that make me love Dusty so much.

Gus had just thrown his cereal bucket into the air and after a rain shower of honeycomb landed, we both started picking up all the little hexagons. I was swiftly putting mine back into the bucket and trying to keep eyes straight forward on the preacher. I noticed Dusty putting his into the bucket as well, only, not all of them. He would reserve a few for himself. I saw him lean over like he just couldn't quite make it into the bucket so he might as well eat it:)

So I started thinking deeper about all the little things he does that endears me to him. Take directions for example. He couldn't tell you where he was in the world at any given point in time. He'll point to Brevard and tell you it's Rosman. During our short stint of living in Waynesville, he actually turned the wrong way out of our driveway-to the dead end. I have tried to help give directions, which he calls backseat driving. So I decided I wouldn't do it anymore. After about 10 miles in the wrong direction on the interstate once, he said, "I went the wrong way huh". Yup, exit 49 was ours. He doesn't mind my "backseat driving" so much now.

I love how clumsy he is. At any point in time, you will find a scratch on his head. He hasn't yet realized how tall he is I guess. He will hit his head on the open hatch of his truck, nick it while shaving, hit it on the medicine cabinet, or hit it on the freezer door. If he's walking through the house, he will inevitably hit some part of his body on a wall, stair railing, stump his toe, or step on a toy. He has fallen out of bed and backwards in chairs more times than I can count. And it's true- the bigger they are, the harder they fall...and the harder I laugh.

I tend to take advantage of him in his most vulnerable state-sleep. I've never laughed as hard or had as much fun. I really should be scared just given his size, but I'm not. He's completely harmless:) I'll scream, pull his arm out from under his head, hit him with pillows, give him a love tap, or laugh really loud. He'll sit straight up like the world is ending and look around the room for the culprit. I just smile and ask if he's still awake. I'll throw cold water over the curtain while he's taking a hot shower. And my favorite is to just hide and scare him. I don't even have to hide well. Sometimes, he forgets I live there, so I can just round a corner and terrify him.

I also love how much he loves me and takes care of me. He makes sure to give me ample foot massages and grabs anything that I can't quite reach on the top shelf. He'd do anything in the world that I asked of him. He is, as Gus says "our hero"

Most of all, I love the wonderful man he is and how he wants better for our family at all times. He is such a loving and wonderful husband and father, and I can't imagine having anyone else to share my life with. We laugh until we cry, we talk(mostly I talk) until he cries, and we have real fun together. We cook together, clean together, raise Gus together, and live life together. He's my very best friend and I will love him for all my life. Happy Anniversary Dusty!!! I love you!!

"The Day"

Back in "the day" I used to go to Wal-mart and just lolly-gag around looking at all they had to offer. Finding good deals on end caps that were in low travel areas, and just taking my time. Now, I wait till I'm out of everything I could possibly need from Wal-mart before attempting to go with a 3 year old. Here's a little scenario of what a trip is like now.
I tell him to stay close to Mommie or ride in the buggy. I'll stay close he tells me. Liar. So he's running in and out of the clothes racks, out in front of people who then make black marks on the floor with their shoes trying to "hit their brakes" and not my kid. So I'm apologizing to them and giving him the evil eye and a speech about "watch where you're going son" which promptly goes in one ear and out the other. Then he picks up things...not things you want him to pick up. Pantyhose in the little clear plastic containers. The same containers they sell toys in out in their foyer. Put those down....no I want them. Whatever, I obviously can't catch you so just carry them around. Then I find a pair of Buzz Lightyear water shoes/flip flop combo set. This is great, now I can put down the flip flops I got at the front that I didn't really like to begin with. But, what size water shoe? Ok, sit up here on these boxes of sodas while I try these shoes on you. So he's screaming telling me one size is too small, so I go to the next size up- way to big. Just bear with me son and get this shoe on your foot. Why am I sweating and where is my breath??
So then, I'm looking for travel size items for our upcomming vacation and he's telling me he wants to go look at the lawnmowers. But not once...he's telling me over and over and over. I go to wipe my eye and feel my contact lens go up into my lid. Lawnmowers mommie, let me just find my eye, lawnmowers mommie, people are staring of course. Find my contact and extract it, lawnmowers, get the contact straightened out, lawnmowers mommie, and back into my eye. On to view the fantastic lawnmowers...
Moving on down the aisles. I get to the dreaded toy section, which I just had to pass and what is loaded up on the 2ft tall shelf? Everything Toy Story could possibly market. He grabs the giant Rex which is on sale for $19.99. Son, you have to put that back, Mommie can't afford that. NOOOOO!! I WANT IT!!! And then takes off running. Well after a long day and some severe pelvic arthropathy going on, I can only walk bent over the shopping cart, so chasing him isn't happening. He'll come back. So I tell him goodbye and he comes running. I explain calmly that Mommie can't afford that dinosaur right now and maybe Daddy will bring him back and buy it for him(thus placing all of the blame and guilt onto Dusty) So we put it back on the shelf. BUZZ- IT'S BIIIIG BUZZ. Now he's found a $39.99 Buzz Lightyear, and I begin to pray.

Food wars

I was so upset at the news last night. Diane Sawyer was seriously reporting on the lawsuit against McDonalds saying that the toys in Happy Meals make kids fat. I'm pretty sure it's the food in the happy meals that the PARENTS buy that tend to make kids overweight. Along with an unhealthy diet and low to no exercise. People just want to place the blame on anyone else besides themselves. Accountability has been lost in the court system. What a shame. I'm not against McDonald's or their Happy Meals. Gus loves them, and enjoys the toys. I usually force him to eat his entire sugary, high calorie meal before he can even have the toy. We've been blessed with an over active B O Y, so we can pretty much let him eat what he wants. If things were different, he wouldn't have the happy meal as an option-especially on a regular basis. Our kids are what we feed them. Just ask Dusty, he grew up on debbie cakes and king size snacks. He'll tell you what his childhood was like.
Now there are those people that can eat whatever they want and stay thin. I wish I were one of these people. Having PCOS (insulin resistence) my body likes to store fat. It pretends like it's in starvation mode and stores the fat incase it doesn't get enough at the next meal and gets hungry late at night. I joke slightly, but this is true. So, I do have to watch what I eat, portions I eat and sugar intake. It's easy to judge people and think they are lazy and fat, but you might be missing the real reason/story. Of course, I was in the best shape of my life at my goal weight when I met Dusty....then Gus was created. Things haven't really been the same since then. Probably from all the Happy Meals:)

Borrowed troubles

As I was sitting at the music center watching graduation last week, I found myself becomming overly emotional. I figure people were looking at me like I was some crazy lady sitting alone crying on the back row. I sat there because it was close to the bathroom and I didn't actually let a tear roll down my cheek- that was probably sweat. I couldn't help but to feel for those parents sitting there watching their babies walk across the stage and into their new lives. I wasn't thinking about that when I graduated. Never crossed my mind that my parents might be sad. But now that I'm a mother, I realize how hard it is to watch your kids grow up.
On our drive to lunch (Dusty text me from the stage while sitting next to DR McDaris that he was hungry and wanted to go eat afterwards-always with the next meal plan) I started sharing my feelings about Gus' graduation with Dusty. I wondered how we should have his name listed in the program since he goes by his nickname, if he would have enough asterisks by his name, enough cords around his neck, if he would be valedictorian and give a speech, and what he would do with his life. My biggest concern however, was the after graduation party. "What are you gonna tell him" I asked Dusty. "Well, I'll tell him not to drink and drive, or get in the car with anyone else who has" "WHAT?? That's not good enough. He needs to be told to NOT drink at all, and who says he's allowed in a car with another teenager anyway, they are terrible drivers" "Oh Lord Emily, he's gonna be a teen driver" "Not if we forbid him from getting his license till he's 18" "Emily- this is ridiculous, you're borrowing troubles. He's going to grow up and move on and I'm excited to see who he's going to become and what he's going to choose to be" And cue the tears....grow up....I don't want him to grow up, or move on, much less move out.
I'll be the mom at the kitchen island yelling at Gus and Wells about something that matters to me and ALL these boys will be laughing at me and not taking me seriously. Oh bother.

Weird habits and rituals

I know I'm different, but sometimes when I start thinking about all my quirks, I find I really am weird. Things like eating ice. See, when I'm not pregnant, I order my drinks with no ice. The ice hurts my sensitive teeth and plus you get more drink without the ice in it. I brush my teeth with hot water because they're so sensitive. But when I'm pregnant, I CRAVE ice. I have to have a cup of ice with me at all times. Sometimes when I answer the phone at work my tongue doesn't work correctly because it's frozen. Sonic sells ice by the bag for $1.71 (tax included) in case anyone was wondering. I also have miniature ice trays at home that I am constantly harvesting. Dusty will round the corner and say "addiction is such an ugly thing"

Another weird thing is my hand washing. I have to wash them twice. I guess I feel like the first time is washing off the outer germs, the second time really gets the dirty dirt off. If I'm in a terribly disgusting bathroom, I won't even wash- I have antibacterial gel in my purse. I also must use 2 paper towels. I hate these new "auto-motion" towel dispensers. I'm responsible enough to pull out as many paper towels as I want. Back to washing. I have to rub my right hand over my left 11 times and left over right 11 times for an even 22. Which brings me to my next quirk...

Even numbers. Love even numbers. Was devastated when Gus was born on 5/29/07. Not one even number in the bunch. One of the weirdest "parts" of my even number obsession is the car radio. I have to hit the buttons an even number of times. Sometimes it all gets screwed up and I just have to hit the scan button. Once you say? Nope, you have to hit it again to make it stop so there's 2.

The funny thing is, is that I know all of this stuff and have every ability to change it, but it doesn't hurt anyone. The ice chomping might annoy people, but I don't really care to annoy people. Someone has to be annoying right?

What got me to thinking of all these things about myself? Dusty and I had been to dinner and decided to stop by Cold Stone Creamery (aka best ice cream ever on the face of the earth and not only when your pregnant and craving chocolate and anything cold) So anyway, we decided to sit on one of the park benches and people watch. In the first minute we sat down this boy came up to us "cold stone creamery huh, they got good ice cream, my mom said we can't go there, my mom's eating dinner, i like ice cream" then started circling us...I was wondering if he was like a vulture waiting on some ice cream to drop-which wasn't in the realm of possibilities. Then he left and another kid came up and started talking about something we couldn't understand. We looked around and saw 3 kids just randomly walking around unattended. I told Dusty-how do you keep your kid from being weird? He said, "well if you're not weird, he won't be weird" RUH ROH!!

What not to do...an education.

The first time I was pregnant, with Gus, I read all of the books on pregnancy. And I do mean ALL of them. Dusty read the majority of them towards the end of my pregnancy when I was too tired to roll over, much less READ. He loves reading anyway so I looked at it as helping him expand his bookshelf. So when something would twitch or twinge I would ask him what was going on and he usually had the answer for me. "Round ligament pain" or "braxton hicks contractions" Thanks, I'm going back to bed.
In these books were dozens of things "not to do" while pregnant. I followed these with Gus so very well. Until people started bringing cakes and cupcakes (I had gestational diabetes with Gus) My advice is to not bring sweets to someone who hasn't had them for 5 months K? No P90x lovin husband of mine can pry a cupcake out of my hands when I'm 9 months pregnant and have been completely off sugars for 5 months. Luckily, I don't have that this time!! Anyway, the first time- no deli meats, the second time-well not everyday. The first time- no soft cheeses, the second time-feta is hard after it's been in the fridge for a while. The first time-no honey mustard from McDonalds- there's anchovies, second time- but its soooo good. The first time- no soda, second time- it's the only thing that didn't make me puke the first 2 months. The first time- no sweets, the second- after 10pm. The first time-lift nothing over 10 pounds, second time- Gus weighs 30, and I hold him anytime he asks.
Now onto what other people shouldn't do or say. I get asked the question "So, when are you due sweetie" Here are some responses after I tell them the first week of Sept. "OH MY! Looks like someone is having a BIG baby" "It must be a girl, cause you carry all over with girls" "Oh, it's gonna be hot this summer, when I was pregnant with my son, it was during the hot summer and I would just pour sweat all the time- you're gonna sweat all summer" "Wow, you've got a long way to go to be so big already" "Is it twins?" "He's gonna be like his Daddy, a big ole boy"
Now......I know how big my belly is- it's mine. I know how much hotter it's going to be, I'm already sweating. Yeah, maybe he will be a big boy, it would kinda make sense given his daddy's size.
People are just down right mean to pregnant women. Now Dusty of course tells me how beautiful and radiant (that's the sweat) I am, but any mother knows how you feel about yourself when your pregnant. Your skin is stretching to the max, you start to waddle (mainly for the comfort level of your pelvis) You can't see your toes, you have a hard time walking short distances with any breath left when a few short months ago you could have ran. It's just uncomfortable and we don't need people telling us the things we already feel. I have worked so hard this time to not gain as much as I did with Gus (27) and so far I'm doing great. Up 10 pounds at almost 27weeks. It may look like more-trust me, it sure does feel like more. I'm pretty sure I've lost a few pounds by burning holes through people.

Stressed about what?

After a nice text conversation with my friend Amanda tonight, I realized that I must blog about it. I was explaining to her that I was getting stressed about the new baby coming our way. "stressed about what?" she asks.
I always thought that the 2nd one would be less stressful, since you knew what to expect and all of the things that happen. Well, first of all, pregnancy amnesia is real. You forget about how horrible the first trimester of vomiting and fatigue is. The horrible all day sickness that lingers through all of the ginger ale and saltines. How can you forget that, but you remember what you had eaten that time you had the flu in 3rd grade? Then, there's all the preparation for the new baby. What things do I have and not have? What clothes will be in season and out of season for this one? Will he be in preemie clothes like Gus, or will he be what everyone expects out of Dusty and I- a big ole boy. Ok, so just get out everything that is preemie up to 6 months. Now, where are the screws for the crib? We have to have them to put the crib together right? Can't duct tape that.
Then you have the boatload of other things that babies NEED. Seriously learned my lesson on that the first time around. Babies do NOT need wipe warmers. You can warm wipes in your hand for free, and in the mean time, not set the bottom 20 wipes on fire to dry up and be useless. Sleep positioner's with incline? We had to have it for Gus..had to have it. That child would be at the other end of the crib the next morning and there was the sleep positioner, exactly where we left it, laying there, childless, useless. Then I started flipping out about which bottles I'm going to use this time. Nah, I'll just breastfeed for the first year. Bottles need washing, I'll have time for shower every 3rd day. So that's settled.
All of these "things" need to get done, need to be arranged and rearranged before I have this baby. I'm down to 13 weeks and that means 13 weekends, BUT, 9 of those weekends are filled up, so that means I have 4 weekends left. GASP!!! I guess we'll just throw the baby in the bed with us (since we still can't find those screws)and line our pillows up beside him as his "positioner" and put his head on a tiny pillow as his incline. Be easier to feed him if I don't have to get up anyway.
Now my biggest fear is the second C-section. Why? You know everything that's going to happen. Exactly I say! I know that they are going to stick a very large needle into my back and try to keep me calm. They are going to tie my hands out by my side and put up a curtain that I can't see over. Then they're going to try to talk sweet to me to keep my mind off of the fact that they are cutting a live human out of my torso that there could possibly be some problem with- but I can't see him, so I wouldn't know. Everyone keeps their happy faces. Then they tell you that there will be a little pressure. HA, more a tidal wave of pushing from your lungs to your toes to launch the baby out and into he hands of the Dr. All the while, you lose 4 pints of blood and immediately go cold and nauseous. You want to puke your guts out, but too bad they're laying on the table beside you. So you're baby is here and you get to touch him with your face since your hands are still tied, unable to dry your happy/terrified tears. Then they whisk him away to another part of the hospital and your husband leaves you there, guts out, to go and be with your new son that you spent 10 months harboring. Ok guys, I'll see ya in a bit? The nurse says, honey, they're already gone.
Yeah- what am I so stressed about? This is gonna be a breeze compared to last time....right? I got this.