It’s official. Today marks day one of the cycle we start “trying.” We sort of got a jump start on things by accident last month, and for a while I thought I might actually be pregnant. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world (and actually would have been exhilarating to be successful so fast!), but today I finally got my period and I must say, the relief of just knowing grossly overshadows any disappointment. Plus, with me being such a huge planner, I’m relishing in this opportunity to catch my breath, check some things off my list and really get ready for taking on the biggest change of our lives. So what’s on the agenda this month?
- Get healthy. Yes, part of this is motivated by my desire to use up my hot yoga Groupons while I can, but I also want to establish a habit of exercising regularly now, to make it easier to continue throughout pregnancy. In addition to cramming in as many hot yoga sessions as I can, while I can, I’m also vowing to eat better. Since the weather is still nice but it’s not too hot, it’s the perfect time of year for grilling chicken and veggies – delicious, easy and healthy. I’m also planning to cut out alcohol except for special occasions, and I’ve weaned myself to just one cup of coffee each morning. Once I’m pregnant I’ll obviously cut out alcohol altogether and will probably reduce my caffeine intake even further – maybe go half caf. or attempt quitting coffee altogether? Now there’s a frightening thought!
- Spend more time with D. Obviously, this is sort of a necessary step, technically speaking! But besides the obvious, I just really want to make sure we’re connected and in a good place going into all this. Our crazy summer schedules mean we’ve been spending a lot of time apart lately, and the time we do spend together is usually spent zoning out in front of the TV after an exhausting day. We have a limited time left of just being the two of us – not to mention the “trying” process can start to get stressful if things don’t happen right away. I want to make sure our relationship stays strong as we go through this, as we’ll need each other.
- Step up the dog training. This is something that admittedly, we have not been as diligent about as we should. I love our dogs, but I will be the first to admit, they are not the most well-mannered creatures in the world, especially when it comes to people at the door. They usually settle down after our guests have been in the house for a few minutes, but they just get so excited when people come over, and they and jump all over them. It’s very obnoxious and something we’ve attempted to fix, but haven’t been very successful to date. To be fair, we’ve trained them not to jump on us, but we’ve had a hard time teaching them that those same rules apply to guests (dogs don’t generalize well). Lately we’ve just resorted to putting them outside when people come over and then letting them in after they’ve had a chance to calm down, but that’s not a good permanent solution and doesn’t really teach them anything. Ideally I’d like to train them to sit and wait and not rush the door when people come over, but I think the only way to do that will be to talk a friend into being a guinnea pig for us and coming over to practice. This is something I want to get under control before I’m as big as a house, and definitely before there are little ones in the picture. I also want to get them better about walking on a leash and not pulling (and helping Stewie to not be so reactive to other dogs) so I can one day walk dogs and baby together.
- Check some stuff off our house projects list. Starting this weekend, we’ll be getting new hardwoods in the entryway, back bedroom, stairs and upstairs hallway. Those stairs will be pretty slippery when done, though, so we’ll want to get a runner down soon for those midnight bathroom trips. In early October, we’ll add a bathroom upstairs, therefore eliminating midnight trips up and down the stairs altogether. In the meantime, another project includes repairing the ceiling in our kitchen. A few months ago, we (well, I) ripped down some ugly ceiling tiles only to find the condition of the ceiling underneath to be even worse than the tiles (probably why the tiles were there…). I’m also in the process of turning our downstairs bedroom (that we use for an office) into a combination office/guest room, since the guest room upstairs will have to become the nursery eventually. Plus, with the new floors going in this weekend, now was as good of a time as any to get rid of the big corner desk and convert our closet into a more space-efficient office nook. The other big project I want to take care of before winter is repaving our driveway, as it’s in pretty poor shape – a sprained ankle waiting to happen.
It should be a pretty busy month, but as busy as it is, I am hoping to stop and and savor this time in our lives and not take anything for granted. Things are about to change forever, and while I’m very much looking forward to this next step, I am so glad we took the time to be just us two (well, plus the dogs) for 7 and a half years. At least no one can accuse us of rushing things!
Keeping up with the Hoffmans 