Presents, Footsie PJ's and Rubber Chickens

This is Ottis showing how I feel after all the Christmas parties and ,oh yes, the food!

I know, though, you all want to know what is up with the rubber chickens. Lets just say there were too many rubber chickens at the Thurber Christmas Party (thanks to Aunt Marcia and Uncle Gary). Everyone, including the hubs, was in on stealing the rubber chickens from everyone else! The hubs even for just a few minutes stole the rubber chicken from little Lena! However, Christmas magic prevailed and little Lena still ended up with her rubber chicken and loved him to the bitter end of the party. Here is a picture of Lena minutes before the rubber chicken hiest of 2009!

Footsie PJ's......all little kids get footsie PJ's for Christmas. It's tradition! How many of you adults can say you have received footsie PJ's? I can now say that I am part of the elite few who have. The hubs thought it would be great fun to get me baby pink footsie PJ's with butt flap and all! Here is the thing though.....women who are almost eight months pregnant in head to toe baby pink look more like a baby piggie than an adult wearing fun and comfy PJ's. I promise pictures will soon follow. Slap on the curly tail and call me "Babe". "That will do pig, that will do pig."

Insomnia and Santa Claus

It is now 2:15 a.m. and I'm still not in dream land. Ottis, of course, must be chasing snowflakes in his dreams. He is running and whinning, at times almost barking. Amazingly, none of this is waking up the hubs who finished his second 14 hour day today. Hubs is working extra hard since school is out to get extra vacation for when out newest arrival, our "little man", makes his debut.

Speaking of our "little man" (I'm sure this is common for most mom's to be or mom's that are) you get a little sense of what their spirit is like. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, that my mom instincts have already kicked in, but I like to think that our "little man" is already with us, in our home, blessing our lives, and quitely telling Ottis that soon, very soon, food will be dropped on the floor everyday for everymeal. (Maybe that's what Ottis dreams about)

I believe our "little man" must be very excited to be coming here, seeing as he keeps trying to arrive early. I can feel the strain of my belly as he pushes his way around, already bored with what most undoubtly be a very redundant place to hang out. It seems that he already may have the same zest for life that his daddy has! I doubt my abilities to keep up with those two once time marches on and "little man" can move and grove outside of the safe haven of my belly.

For now, though it doesn't seem to matter how many times his daddy puts his hands on my belly and tells him to "be nice to his mother and just enjoy it in there" the little man wants out! He wants to see what everyone has told him about, wants to experience it right away! Let's face it though who can blame him? It is almost Christmas and Santa is coming........
Have you made your list and checked it twice? ;-)

Grateful

Today, as I woke up at seven to get ready for work, I glanced over at a peacefully slumbering Ottis and wished that I could trade places with my delightful English Mastiff. Who, by the way, was creating a very impressive puddle of slobber on his giant brown bed and at that moment was also snoring louder than my sweet husband.
Why? Would I possibly want to switch places with a 125 lbs. beast that sometimes can clear a room with his noxious fumes?
Well, Ottis gets to sleep in, have breakfast magically appear in his own special bowl, his dad, Dallin (also my husband) gives him bacon for sitting down pretty, he can eat eveything and still maintain his girlish figure, and most importantly he gets to take naps any time he wants. I would bet that every pregnant woman in the world would love this opportunity to take a nap at any time.
As I headed off to work this morning wishing I could be a smelly, slobbery, hairy beast just so I could sleep in it occurd to me that since becoming pregnant I am not really that far off from my 125 lbs. puppy. After all, we both drool when we smell bacon, we both enjoy laying in front of the fireplace, and we have both gotten our winter coats. In my case, however, you could call it a pregnancy coat?
Even though it is fun to complain about all the delightful and not so delightful (noxious fumes) events that happen throughout pregnancy my favorite thing of all is the opportunity that I have been given to be a mom. Being pregnant means that Dallin came home from Kuwait. We survived the deployment and we have been given the chance to create a family.
Although, times are tough, me being the size of a house, smelling occasionally like Ottis, money and time being tight due to work, school, and the new arrival coming soon we are grateful to be together at last. To sit together in front of the fireplace watching T.V. with Ottis lying next to us happily slumbering away is..........perfect.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

-President John F. Kennedy