VNB

So here's another mush alert for you...

Today is my "Very Nice Beloved's" 28th birthday. What nice things can I say about him? Well...lots... :)

I don't even know how to describe all the ways I just _enjoy_ him. He makes me laugh, he takes care of me, he is a great daddy to our little man, he loves me, he misses me every time we're apart (and tells me so). When AJ and I were so sick a few weeks ago, he surprised us by coming home early the day that I felt the worst and sent me to bed. And on the way home, he called all of my siblings and parents to ask what my comfort foods were so that he could make sure I had whatever would make me feel the best.

He makes me feel so safe! When I was single, I felt like no one had my back - like I was completely on my own. I mean, I have a great family, but they were far away, and I've got a great church, but I tended to fall through the cracks when I needed help. And I was single and on my own so long that I guess feeling that way began to seem normal. So now, every time he puts his arm around me or just lies next to me...I know there will always be someone there with me. And each time that happens, I am reminded of how grateful I am for him.

Like the day when AJ was being turned (in utero). I just remember being so scared and in such pain...but I looked up at him and could just relax.

I could go on and on...

The road hasn't always been smooth, but he's always been there with me as we bumped along...and we're slowly learning how to help each other avoid at least the worst of the bumps.

What can I say? I love the guy. And he's hot too. :)

(so if you haven't figured it out yet, today, I'm thankful for my sweet hubby.)

9 Months On, 9 Months Off (well, almost)

So nine months ago today, AJ made his grand debut into the world. As of now, he's officially been alive on the outside longer than he was alive on the inside. In that time, he's:

• drooled a lot
• eaten "solid" foods made by various companies, but also (actual) bananas, grapes, cantaloupe, honeydew, "Perky-Os," gluten-free teething biscuits, carrots, broccoli, green beans, and he's tried watermelon,but hated it so much that when it was offered to him a month later, he refused to even touch it, much less put it in his mouth like everything else
• fallen down
• pulled up
• sat down from a standing position (_VERY_ important as it cuts down on the number of times he _falls_ down and then screams)
• fallen off the bed three times (all while in my care - "world's best mom," that's me!)
• walked (more like ran) while holding both hands of a trusted adult
• taken a step or four while holding _one_ hand of a trusted adult
• said "Dada," "Mama," "Kee-kee" (kitty-kitty), and fish (I kid you not, clear as a bell, shocked the heck out of him and me both)
• discovered the joy that is the knobs on his Dada's stereo (which, incidentally, also now controls the TV, DVD/VCR, CD changer, cable box - changing the inputs is like Christmas morning to AJ...and the volume knob? No comparison)
• learned to fall asleep on his own (after crying for a while)
• learned to sleep in his crib
• cut two teeth (with more on the way, yay for more no sleep!)
• cried a lot
• screamed a lot less than he's cried
• been happy (and/or asleep) a whole lot more than he's cried
• giggled and laughed a lot
• laughed and smiled in his sleep
• smiled at everyone who'd catch his eye
• messed up LOTS of clothes
• flown on an airplane five times!
• driven to Nashville once, and to and from NC multiple times
• zrbeted his Mama's leg twice
• tickled his Mama once
• been tickled _by_ his Mama (and Dada) as often as we can manage it
• played in the bath
• swam in a lake
• camped while it hailed, in the freezing cold, and in the sweltering heat, all in one weekend
• been to a NASCAR race
• been to the Udvar-Hazy National Air & Space Museum (by Dulles)
• been to the Statue of Liberty
• been to Ground Zero
• participated in many technical discussions concerning the life support systems on the Crew Exploration Vehicle
• brought worker productivity to a standstill on numerous occasions at both his Mama and his Daddy's offices
• made it so I have to change the station or skip the song when Mark Schultz's "He's My Son" or Michael W. Smith's "Hello, Goodbye" come on
• been told that he should be a model on numerous occasions
• been called the cutest/handsomest baby ever by lots of people other than his Mama (but called that by his Mama the most)
• become my constant companion
• made it so I relish my "freedom" when his Dada or someone else is watching him, but also so that I relish coming home to him and his Dada even more than I ever thought possible (and I _REALLY_ like his Dada)
• brought more joy into our lives than VNB and I ever imagined

While he was inside me, I managed to gain 50 lbs (recommended max? 35. I rocked the pound gainage...that's something we're supposed to be proud of, right?). My midwives (and others) repeated often the mantra "9 months on, 9 months off" referring to how quickly I should expect to lose the baby weight. Well, I'm proud to say that on most occasions (meaning, the last couple of weeks except for five minutes ago when I weighed myself), I am back to within my "normal" weight range. That still means that I'm up to 10 lbs heavier than I was when his knitting together first began...and I can definitely still see it in my gut, hips/butt, and thighs...but I feel almost back to my old self again. That's very satisfying. It'll be much _more_ satisfying when my gut is gone, my hips/butt are back to their normal (not-quite-so-gargantuan) size, and my thighs no longer act like jello, but it's nice to know that I'm back within spitting range.

And AJ is still the cutest, handsomest little man ever. Just ask me! I'll tell you all about him! :) Yes, I am in deep smit with my son. Good thing that the only (here on Earth in corporeal form) person with whom I am more smitten is his handsome Dada. :)

A Very Nice Boy

** Mush Alert **

Once upon a time, there was a Very Nice Boy. He grew up in North Carolina, but moved to Maryland for his job, post-college. He started going to a church in Maryland where no one said hello to him. Then I went overseas and he left that church, then came back and made some friends there. Then I came back when he was about to leave again, but he stayed.

My pastors were the first to tell me about him, but I thought he was too young. But he was refreshingly forward and cute, so when we started talking, it was pretty much all downhill from there for both of us.

In an amazingly sweet and thoughtful way, he proposed and became my Very Nice Betrothed. With minimal angst, we prepared for marriage and eventually had a perfect day when he became my Very Nice Beloved.

Since then, it's been about as blissful as expected (which is to say, not always bliss), even with unexpected things like it taking months for me to find a job and then discovering Baby before I started that job. Just the existence of Baby, added to my extreme sickness those first few months made life difficult, but he took good care of me through it all, which hopefully I repaid in kind when I could during that time, in addition to afterwards when his arm was broken, and especially now that I'm feeling better and his work has been so hard.

For all that neither of us was prepared for Baby to come so soon, he's been incredibly supportive of my desires for natural childbirth with midwife support. And when I felt like he wasn't really "into" the baby, he proved me wrong by painting and decorating the nursery, then by setting up the crib (as a surprise) one day during his third 60+-hour work week in a row (with several more expected). That same week, he fixed our broken garbage disposal AND got me a new dishwasher (ours put more dirt _on_ the dishes than it took off...which, when combined with a backed up sink, made for a pretty messy kitchen).

Fixed garbage disposals and new dishwashers may seem commonplace when talking about proposals, weddings, and babies (and surprise cribs, including bedding sets which had to be sent in secret from Grandma and Grandpa (his in-laws) in TN), but when everyone's stressed about the messy house and your VNB is working himself ragged, those kinds of commonplace things...and especially the time and energy they took to arrange, get, and install...are really some of the sweetest and most romantic guestures someone can make.

But sweetest of all, really, was the fact that my VNB, who at first had a really hard time sleeping with someone else in the bed, and with whom there have been many discussions over the appropriate amount of blanket and bed space to consume, discovered last night that he couldn't get to sleep without me there too.

Yeah...I'm a little crazy about him. He's even enjoying the childbirth classes we're going to! And still finds me sexy, even with my ginormous (well, to me anyway) baby belly.

Am I glad I waited all those years? Yeah. He's definitely been worth it. But mostly I'm amazed at how perfectly He brought us together, and at how good He is to me by giving me VNB. My baby's gonna have a great daddy. :)

** End Mushiness **