mid December

my husband is doing squats and sit ups in front of my bed.  I was watching him for a minute and then felt guilty for not joining him.  So instead of joining, I am blocking him with my computer screen.  I have so much to blog about, I just don't have time to exercise.

Somewhere in mid December, we were supposed to leave on our trip to Utah.  I had our bags packed.  I made sure the cards were sent and the neighbor gifts were delivered and everything was taken care of on the homefront.  On the last night before we were supposed to leave, I made a few visits to some women in my ward.  Aaron texted me and said our dog was in heat.  Sunny hasn't had a cycle in over 14 months and we all know I've waited long enough for puppies.  We were planning on leaving her with friends, but if and when we were going to breed her, it would happen in Utah because Vegas has crazy breeding laws (your dog needs to be in a national pet show to be qualified to have puppies)  It's not that she's not pretty enough to be in a national pet show, but I don't want her to worry about superficial things like crowns and titles.  I just want her to be a mama.

When I arrived home that night, I asked (begged) Aaron if we could take Sunny with us on the two week Christmas vacation that was already going to be insanely busy and exhausting.  He rolled his eyes and said we should find a stud and see if he was available over the Holidays before we bring her along.  So, instead of driving early the next morning like we had planned, I spent several hours on the phone calling all the male miniature poodles I knew.  Aaron was doing laundry and taking care of the kids while I was on the phone.  Somewhere between his second and third load of dirty clothes, our washer exploded... flooding our laundry room.  Our washer had been making weird sounds the weeks prior, but Aaron broke it for good and we couldn't come home from an exhausting two week vacation to a broken laundry room.  Before we knew it, our 5 kids were loaded in the van and we were picking up a new washing machine.  The kids were thrilled (not) about getting a new washer instead of playing in the snow with their cousins.  We made it up to them by stopping at Cafe Rio for lunch :)

While the kids happily stuffed themselves with adult-sized portions of mexican food, my husband and I talked about our crazy life... how difficult it was to get ready for the trip and how he had the day off work but was spending it loading and unloading washers from the 2nd floor of our house rather than on the ski slopes in Utah.  I understood his frustration.  I wanted to be frustrated too, but I was excited about the fact that we could possibly have little puppies in our house for our children to hold and care for and eventually sell.  After a few minutes of going back and forth about our plans, Aaron said kindly, "I just don't think we're ready for puppies."  I looked at him and busted up laughing and eventually he did too.  We aren't ready for five kids and we have them.  We had a washer in the back of our 15 passenger van and starving kids surrounding us on all sides.  But they were good kids and our dog is the sweetest pet ever and it felt like the right time.  We ended the conversation laughing (but probably for different reasons...)

So the next morning, after our new washer was running smoothly and we all had a good night's sleep, we packed up our big van with our five kids and our big Golden Retriever and we drove up to Salt Lake for two weeks of madness.  On the drive up, we talked about our hopes and dreams for our family and especially our kids and decided that they were indeed ready to take care of puppies, even if I am not the most responsible mom in the whole world.  We were able to breed her (artificially inseminate) a few days after Christmas, but we're not sure if it worked out... a few more weeks and we'll know if there are any puppies in  the oven.  Whether or not it worked out, I am so glad we went for it and took her along for the ride.  Those few weeks of traveling as a family (and making decisions together as a couple despite the madness) will be etched in my heart and mind for always.  My husband loves and supports me and he is SUCH a great sport. I love thinking back to the hilarious (but somewhat pathetic) conversation in Cafe Rio... it proves to me how much we can do in a moments notice and how flexible we are when a wrench in thrown in the plan.  I love being a wife and mother but mostly because I get to do it along such an easy-going, hard working guy.

Next essay will explain why Santa brought SNAKES for Christmas!

(workout over)