Long (and maybe boring) by Sarah :)

It's been an absolutely gorgeous fall day here in Iowa and Tim's classes are FINALLY winding down. These past 8 weeks of non-stop homework and stress combined with normal everyday life stress have been definitely a challenge for my hubby, but he's makin' it through with flying colors and I'm so proud of him and love him soooo much! We're going on a date tomorrow night that I was going to surprise him with, but finally told him about last night as he has one last paper to write which is due tomorrow night (I thought it'd be good to let him have a chance to write it so he can turn it in on time before our date). Last night Tim was in the middle of a paper rewrite when I let one of the dogs out. I really didn't want to bother or stress him out at all anymore than the paper was already doing, so I took the opportunity to go outside when I realized Rosie just didn't want to come in. You have to understand, Rosie is NOT an outside dog. She hates it when it's cold (which it was), and just loves to be around her people, so the fact that she didn't try to come back in the house after a few minutes shocked me. I went outside to figure out what was up. I lured her up the deck stairs (I didn't want to get in the mud with just socks on), only to realize that she had found a bird and was carrying the carcass in her mouth. Being pregnant and just plain ole grossed out, I hollered for Tim, which made her drop the bird right at the entrance to the back door (what a great dog, not wanting to bring it in the house). THEN, we had to get her inside without letting her drag a dead bird in as well...ugh! It was just not fun and the poor innocent little bird...we think Rosie may have caught it earlier in the day and left it outside when we fed her...or something? Whatever the case, it was AWFUL, and sad, and I know it's the circle of life, but I was so grossed out! :) AND, Tim rescued me from having to see a dead bird anymore and he took care of disposing of the poor creature. Which reminds me...a few weeks ago when we were heading back home from Dubuque and our lil fam vay-cay, Tim was driving, I was dozing when he slammed on the brakes and began honking the horn. I woke up to see the semi truck right behind us who saw what was happening ahead of us and changed lanes, cutting off the car behind him, then slammed on his brakes and whaled on his horn as well! Two dogs were in the middle of the 55 mph road arguing over who got the freshly caught, plump, brown feathered chicken they had just raided a farm to catch. When two vehicles came upon them they quickly broke up the fight, but I thought for sure that the dogs would be goners. BUT, I'm happy to say, they both made it through that little escapade, and unless a farmer has caught them by now, are probably still happy dogs having been living off the biggest chicken I've ever seen a dog catch (and only chicken I've ever seen one with). Onto Asher news...maybe all this is too boring, so I'm spicing up the blog with our latest discussions with Asher. SO, his teachers at school told me that he's been talking a whole lot about beer at lunch, singing songs like, "Rockin' the Beer Gut" and "OH, I like chicken fried, cold beer on a Friday night, a pair of jeans that fits just right, and the radio oooooooonnnnnnnnn". Also, along with this, he's been telling me how he likes Budweiser and asked me if "drinkability" was any good. Well, we've been listening to a lot of country radio in the car, combined with watching a lot of Saturday football, and all this has now come to a head with our son. I had to talk to him about how some adults do drink beer, and if they drink not too much of it it can be okay, but it's for adults, NOT for Asher's or kids 3 years old and that he shouldn't be talking about how great beer is with his friends as he had never had it and he will not be allowed to have it until he's old, but root beer is good and you CAN talk about that. Then I decided I need to try more to listen to other radio stations when he's in the car, as well as maybe mute commercials for awhile. When I changed the station when Asher got in the car the other day he started crying because "mommy, I love cowboy songs so much and want to listen to them now". Funny the things you have to discuss with your child who has become a good listener to the radio and TV, but is becoming a selective listener with his parents. I'm feeling absolutely huge and pregnant and must say that the second pregnancy, although it's fun to have a living alien in your belly, I will be so happy to have this baby out! :) I never really, truly felt that with Asher, but this pregnancy has really been a challenge for me, and I'm already so uncomfortable at just 34 weeks, that I know I'm going to be ready to give birth! Tim came with me for a tour of our hospital the other day, and now we know where to go when it's time! :) The nurse told us that because of H1N1, the hospital may not allow Asher to visit, or anyone else in 6 weeks (when we're due), but for now visiting stuff is normal...I hope he doesn't have to wait until the baby is home...he's so excited about being a big bro. Today we went to a pumpkin patch, picked some winners, and then headed to Ledges State Park--we went there last year to see the fall colors and this year didn't disappoint us...it was beautiful, and a beautiful day for walking in the leaves and we all just had a blast! I need to head upstairs to help out with bedtime! Have a super evening...and we'll get pics on here soon from today!