Kids

Lately it seems that a lot of girls I knew from high school are getting pregnant and having their first (or third) babies.

Is it making my biological clock itch?  Not so much itch, no.  But it does kind of make me pause and realize that Sam and I will (probably) be parents sooner rather than later.  And this whole wedding planning thing is definitely making us think and plan for the future.

On Friday, Hunter was being particularly needy and Sam made the observation that it's going to be really tough for Hunter when he has to share my attention with a baby.  I think life for Hunter is going to get tough long before a baby arrives, he loves to sit on my lap and sprawl across my belly when we go to bed at night so his adjustments will start when my tummy gets bigger.

I suppose there is a bit of a morbid fascination with these ladies who are pregnant because I am so curious about what they are going through, what lies in our future.

And I am acutely aware that life as we know it will completely change with kids.  Completely.

Until we do have our own kids, Hunter is a pretty good practice baby and Sam does such a wonderful job with him that I'm sure our human kids will be in great hands.

Waiting for me to bring out our bagel breakfasts

Parenting Styles

Recently we've been having some trouble with Hunter's nocturnal binge eating.  Mostly, the problem is that he's eating the buttons and zippers off Sam's clothes which is pretty much destroying them.

Sam is not happy about this situation.

We've tried to walk him more, make his chew toys available to him while he's in bed, and pretty much every other thing imaginable to no avail.  

It strikes without warning too... he will be fine for a few months and then he goes on these rampages where he's just absolutely unable to control himself.  

Sam wants to punish him, he says that Hunter sleeping in bed with us is a privilege that he is not deserving lately... he thinks Hunter should be relegated to the crate at night this week.  

I can't say I disagree with Sam, but I really enjoy my time with Hunter snuggling.  I am more used to having him in bed than I am Sam after 2nd year!  I also think Sam is being a little drastic.  I think Sam should focus on picking up his clothes so they are not such a target for Hunter in the first place.  

This has really made me realize that Sam and I have very different styles of parenting.  Not that I don't think that Hunter (or kids) should be held accountable for their actions, but I think some of the responsibility lies with the adult who let the pet or child get into that situation in the first place.

As soon as I saw what Hunter was doing last night, I immediately stopped him and put him in his crate.  He whined and was upset, sure.  Sam wanted him to shut up and was half asleep telling me he couldn't put up with much more of the crying, but I stayed firm.  I would not reinforce the idea that crying would get Hunter out of the crate on my life.   And sure enough, he eventually quieted down and I drifted off to sleep.  After a few hours, I woke up, let him out, and brought him back up into bed. 

Playing For Keeps

Yesterday Sam and I spent most of the day cleaning the house: Spring Cleaning 2013 is completed.  I finished the vacuuming and cleaned the kitchen on Friday night, and when Sam got home he took care of the dusting while I organized the stuff on the table.  Unfortunately Sam and Hunter decided to take a nap right about the time I took on the bathroom, but that is pretty standard.  At least I didn't have a complete cleaning breakdown like I did a few months ago.  That was NOT pretty.

We celebrated with a trip down to San Diego and hit up the Stone Brewing Co for dinner since Sam was feeling up to the trip.  I tried to be as good as possible RE: the cleanse, but it was not easy!  Somehow I feel like the next couple of weeks are going to be tough... might be a good time to start surrounding myself with my health-conscious friends.

I spent today running errands- mailing the Fictitious Business Name documents to the Contra Costa Clerk, exchanging the propane for our BBQ, planning the first 7 days of meals for Making the Cut and grocery shopping to pick up all the ingredients.  It all starts tomorrow.  Oh boy.

The good news?  All the meals look really good.

The bad news?  It is going to be a lot of work.

So how am I spending my last night before the epic weight loss boot camp begins?  I am on the couch, blogging, updating my LinkedIn profile (I have neglected it horribly since starting my job), snuggling with Hunter and watching Playing For Keeps.

Gerrard Butler plays the main character, George, a former pro-soccer player who gets wrangled into coaching his son's team.  I can't lie, it's pretty cute.  I mean, there's a whole romantic storyline that's going on, but I just love how great George is as coach and mentor to the kids on the team.  And honestly, I can't help wondering what kind of coach Sam would be... will be.

Soccer is really not my sport.  So it's not likely that I can pick up the coaching slack there.  And frankly, I don't know how great I would be at baseball either.  But as I get older it really makes me appreciate how special it was to have my Dad so involved with all my little league stuff.  I mean he coached me from T-ball to 8th grade in softball and came to almost all my games when I played in high school.  Then, after softball was over, he did such a great job following water polo- even though it was a whole new thing for him.  I mean he didn't miss a single game my senior season, and his friends even came to watch me a couple of times too.  I really hope that I can give my kids that kind of support and those experiences some day.