Halloween was a little different for us this year.  There was no "A-Game" Halloween party revelry from the Kurtz household this year.  However, there was plenty of dressing up the dog and small child into ridiculous costumes.  Rog and I have decided it is going to be a lot of fun to dress up the kid and photo document our adventures with the little guy.  It will definitely be more  fun than the torture we've put the dog through over the years with costumes, ridiculous dog collars, and festive seasonal holiday bows.  I can't wait to take Lincoln out trick or treating.  That is going to be so much fun.

 

Roger and his mom returned from the grocery store on Sunday afternoon with an obscene amount of Halloween candy.  I'm talking Sweet Tart/Runts/Nerds mix, M&M/Twix/Snickers mix, Milky Ways, and Kissables.  Upon inspection, I promptly claimed the Kissables bag for me and Linc.  These are the bomb! They are like Sixlets with a candy coated shell and chocolate--but instead of 'chocolate flavored candy' they are tiny Hershey's kisses.  Yum.   

 

Our neighborhood ends up being a good place for trick or treaters.  We had a steady stream of kids last year.  They started arriving later in the evening this year.  By 6:30p.m. we still had no trick or treaters and I was getting a little sad.  However, once they started arriving we had a bunch.  The baby was a little fussy due to lobster photo shoot, so Roger and I took turns giving out the candy.  I thought it was interesting to note the different candy dispensing techniques that Roger and I have.  Since we had so much candy, I would grab a small handful and put 'em in the kid's bag once they said 'trick or treat'.  Roger, however, would tell them to 'take a couple' and let them pick which candy they wanted.  At first I poo-pooed Roger's approach.  I teased that he was the 'cool guy.'  I decided to try this method once or twice and discovered it is actually a worthwhile approach if you want to casually observe the popular candies and how many candies a child interprets when told to 'take a couple.'   Most kids only take two, maybe three candies.  And it is fun to hear them 'ooh' and 'aah' about certain kinds of candy.  The Nerds were the first to go.  However, there are downsides to this approach. I was in the bedroom feeding the baby and I heard Roger yelling at one of the kids.  Apparently an older kid, not in costume, asked Roger what "a couple" meant.  Roger replied "two."  The kid grabbed a handful of about 5-6 candies.  When Roger called the kid out about the fact that the kid took so many and wasn't even in costume the kid replied, "Oh Well" and turned around and left.    I found Roger angrily muttering "Oh well" under his breath which cooking up some dinner tonight.  Who's a dad now?  All curmudgeony and shit.    Though I totally agree with him.  It is crappy when kids don't even make an effort and still want the candy.  I mean, raid your parents closet and at least try a little before going trick or treating.

Well, today is the big day. The day the Kurtz household has been waiting for.  JB's due date.  It will likely come and go without event.  The little man is pretty cozy in the womb. I wonder if that means he'll be really attached to his mommy?  I'm trying not to be disappointed that such a momentous date in our lives will pass without a babe in arms. Due dates are fairly arbitrary dates.  Babies don't live by them. A due date is merely an approximation of the baby's delivery date, established 40 weeks from the first day of your last menstral cycle.  I read somewhere that only 5% of women actually give birth on their due date.  Most first babies are late, esp. boys. A doula we interviewed told us that, on average, her clients (with first time babies) are 5 days past their due date. 

 

That said, this arbitrary date has been a milestone in our lives...something I have been looking forward to for months.  It is kind of sucky to reach the milestone and then nothing. It is like running a marathon and getting to the end of the course only to find out that the finish line isn't where it is supposed to be--it is a mile further.  I was dreading the doctor's appointment this morning.  I did not want to go in there and hear that there was no change...same ol' same ol tight/hard/closed cervix.  But the doctor checked my goodies and announced that I'm 1 cm dilated...which means some progress, if not small.  Something is starting to work down there.  I could be like this for days, so it really is no indication of when the baby will arrive, but at least I didn't leave the doctor's office in tears. I felt a little more optimistic.  Baby may come this weekend, baby may come in a few days.  For some reason, I feel like the baby will be here by Tuesday.  Guess we'll see.  Maybe Rog and I will get one last weekend of QT before the baby arrives.  We haven't had much time together this week--he has been working like a fiend and by the time he gets home from work we have maybe 2 hours together before I want to go to bed. It would be good for us both to get lots of rest this weekend. Slowly but surely I have knocked off the items on my list of things to do, so I feel pretty organized and ready for the little guy, whenever he chooses to arrive.  I gave him a stern talking to yesterday and let him know that his parents are very anxious to meet him and to get out here soon so we can snuggle.  Let's see how obedient he is.

 

I had a dream last night that I gave birth to the baby.  I was home (dream home not our real house).  I was showing roger my belly and then all of a sudden I was like "uh oh" and the baby just slipped out (if only it could be that easy).  The baby wasn't breathing when he was born, but I applied some of the infant CPR we learned in class and he started breathing just fine. Then I hugged him and squeezed him and told him how much I loved him...and the trippy thing? The baby hugged me back and told me he loved me very much too.  I woke up with a smile and told Roger--"the baby told me he loves me," which I won't hear for a long time, but was really nice to experience in the dream... also the feeling that the little guy hugs tight :)

I'm really glad I took a little bit of time off before my due date.  It is nice to just chill out and relax.  And I am basically forced to chill out, because my body won't let me be hyperproductive or overly motivated. If I do anything too vigorously for a while, I crash...and crash hard. My dr. recommended I do one thing each day for myself...something I might not have a chance to do after the baby comes. This is sound advice. I also have this list of things around the house that I have been pecking away at--things I am trying to accomplish before the baby comes. Between relaxing and some chores around the house, my days have been going by pretty quickly.

 

Here's how my day went yesterday:

I didn't nap yesterday. That was dumb.  It really makes a difference. Today I slept in until 10 a.m.  I had a rough night's sleep but was able to sleep a good long time this morning.  Today's plans include exercising poochie, having lunch with D--the gentleman of leisure we all know and love, and going to yoga.  Today will also involve a trip to the post office, perhaps some more xbox live arcade, a nap, maybe a little crafting, and some time with friends this evening to watch our stories.  The life of leisure is pretty nice. I'm trying to maximize it while I can cause I know the little guy is going to rock our world :)

 

Yesterday, after getting out of yoga I called Roger to tell him I was on the way home. He tells me, "I'm at the vet. Roo had an accident and cut herself up pretty bad. Don't be freaked out by the blood in the kitchen. She's getting checked out now, I've gotta go".  What a way to end yoga.  I joined him at the vet, which is just up the hill from the house.  I was so nervous and scared not knowing what happened to the dog.  Poor Roostie had cuts and lacerations on her legs, frayed her nails, scraped her pads, and bruised some limbs. By the time I made it to the vet,  her cuts had been shaved and she was about to get a couple of staples on one of her scrapes.  Poor little girl.  Apparently she just played too hard and took a bit of a spill.  Late in the morning, Roo was playing out in the back alley while Roger cleaned out the car.  One of the neighborhood dogs, Lucky, who seems to always be wandering the neighborhood without an owner, trotted by and Roo ran over to sniff/chase/etc.  I guess she really booked it over to Lucky and lost her footing, slid and fell down. She really did a number on herself.  The vet said that she thought Roo got in a car accident when she first saw the dog.  Nope, she was just clumsy and ran too hard and fell down.  Now she has to wear the victorian dog collar so she won't lick her wounds. She's gotta wear this thing for 10-14 days, or until it is time for the staples to come out.  She has to take anti-biotics and painkillers. She keeps running into walls, the bed, etc with the collar. She is just miserable. She doesn't want to play, eat, drink, go to the bathroom, or go outside. She can't fit through the dog dor with the collar on.   We have to apply antibiotic ointment and monitor her. She hates the collar, but as soon as we take it off, she tries to lick her wounds. The wounds seem to be healing up ok.  The timing couldn't be worse, though.  We are likely going to have to deal with the vet/staples/collar/etc with a newborn in tow.  It could be worse. At least she didn't break any limbs or sustain a more serious injury. I can't even fathom what it is going to feel like when our kid injures himself.

 

Today is my last day of work and then I am on maternity leave.  I'm finishing off strong with a trip into the Seattle office to tidy up some loose ends, and then heading east for a day's worth of work and then a public meeting tonight.  What a dumb idea to agree to the public meeting tonight...

 

Starting tomorrow I will have a little bit of personal time before the baby arrives.  I am soooo looking forward to not working tomorrow.  Work sucks when you are this pregnant.  During my personal time I will lounge around, watch some tube, go for walks with the pooch, nap, read, play some XBox, do some tidying around the house, go to yoga, nap some more, do some baking,  buy some groceries, but mostly relax. Not all of the things on the list will happen (except the napping).  I like the idea of just lounging around...where my only responsibility for the day is to exercise the dog.  Who cares if I get anything accomplished for the day.   I can't wait.  A lot of people keep telling me I need to rest up before labor and of course everyone states that this will be my last bit of 'personal time' before I become a mom.  People makes it seem so dramatic, like my life is ending or something.  It is NOT ending...just transitioning into something different ;)