It's Been Awhile!!!

I guess I just consumed myself nesting and getting the nursery all set up. Now I've been forced to slow down because of a cold that just won't go away!  So, lets see... where to begin on the updates?  Oh, I know!  I can start with one of the main reasons I was so obsessed with getting the nursery done (other than just the usual pregnancy hormone induced nesting)...

Doug has been patiently waiting for a K-9 position to open up at his job.  It finally did, and he got the job!  Yay!  Great news for Doug!  Everything is just falling into place in our careers and home life.  Sounds great right?  Well it is great, except for the fact that they have a mandatory K-9 school he has to attend (regardless of his extensive experience and training in K-9).  So, he'll be leaving in 4 weeks for K-9 school.  It is from January 9 - March 16th, and I'm due March 23rd.

His last school was in Georgia, but luckily this one is only about an hour from our house. It is a 7 day a week school though, so even if he does come home on the weekends, he'll have to make the long trip in everyday. Of course it's not the end of the world, and he's close enough that if Mason decides to make an early arrival chances are he'll be there for the big event, but that doesn't make me less crazy about the situation. It just adds more worry to an already stressful situation, and I'm already a worrier as it is! So, one of the ways to alleviate the stress of him going away was to get the nursery ready to go, and I've focused all my attention on that.  Then the realization that Christmas was right around the corner followed by the never ending cold put all nursery progress to a screeching halt.

We have a big dry erase calendar in our room.  It was time to update it to the next 5 weeks.  Seeing his school departure date only 4 weeks out is making me freak out a little again. It isn't enough to hear, "Don't worry, he's only an hour away, he's going to make it for the delivery".  It's everything else he'll miss.  He's pretty much missing the entire 3rd trimester when you can actually see the baby moving in my belly.  Doug has only felt Mason kick once. He's been to pretty much every single doctor's appointment with me, and he'll miss out on all of those.  If Mason does come early, I'll probably be driving myself to the hospital, and I kind of wanted to have that moment of mixed excitement and panic when I tell Doug it's time and he's getting me into the car and rushing to the hospital. Instead I'll be alone, panicking, and desperately trying to get Doug on the phone.  I know in the big scheme of things these are all small things, but I think I'm allowed to have a little pity party!  I am incredibly grateful that Doug gets to work with dogs again, that he's an hour away and not deployed to a war zone, and that my pregnancy is going well and all is well with Mason.

Not that I don't love and appreciate all the friends and family I have nearby, but a girl who is pregnant for the very first time sure does miss her own family. They always say it's when you have children of your own that you really truly appreciate your family and all they did for you through the years.  I was the baby in the house, so I think somehow that makes it worse.  There are so many days I want my mommy, daddy, and sister.  The holidays have been especially rough this year.  Doug and I have been alternating holidays for years now, so it's not like it's my first time being away from my family for the holidays, but this year has been especially tough.  They'll make it out once Mason is born though, so until then I'll just have to stay tough!

Oh and speaking of tough... how could I forget?  Doug's new job comes with a take home dog.  So, not only will we have a new baby, we'll also have a new, hyper, working lab puppy to juggle. It should be an interesting, hectic, and absolutely wonderful time in our lives filled with memories to last a lifetime :)

Thanks for listening to my little pity party!  I know everything will work out just fine, and I'm VERY anxious to meet baby Mason, but I use this blog to work through the insanity in my head!  I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!