This is our baby

This fuzzy, fluffy, curly dog is pretty much our baby.  Husband likes to remind me that the dog is a perpetual two-year-old. He will never outgrow this stage of being sweet and lovable, and also terribly needy and whiny at times.  I never thought I'd love a dog this much. Somehow though Charlie stole my heart so much so that sometimes I don't even care that he's a little Poodle lapdog.

Yesterday I mentioned that we talked about three big topics on Husband's birthday.

1.  Retirement Savings Plan:  We have this covered actually, and didn't talk about it last night. We did briefly talk about something related to it though -and I'm pretty sure you'll think I'm crazy for bring this up, but I was crying and so I did bring it up, but then there was laughing so it was okay (holy run-on!).  Because of how it fit into our conversation about #3, I told Husband about how sometimes I think about what I would do if I lost him. Yes, it's definitely scary and sad, but given his line of work, I feel the need to be real about this. I'm not going to dwell on it for sure -nothing good comes from that- but a certain amount of preparation that gives us peace of mind is actually helpful. And this isn't the first time we've discussed this, but I have thought about it some recently so I told him that if I did lose him, I would move to northern Michigan and drive his car around!   (We have an '07 Shelby GT stored there near his parents' house.)  He loved this of course!  We both did. 

2.  Refinance Your House:  So, we don't actually own a house.  In fact, we have been apartment-dwellers for years. We know for sure, however, that we want to own a cottage on a lake in northern Michigan one day.  Husband's parents own a place up there, and it is our favorite place to be.  Some of the neighbors/family friends may be selling their cottage soon, and if they are then they'd like to offer it to us -possibly for a deal- before putting it on the market.  This may be a real long shot, but it is also a dream so we have been crunching numbers to see how much house we might be able to afford.  If nothing else, this is at least getting us to get serious about our cottage fund.    

3.  Finally Start Having Kids:  I am an amazing conversationalist so of course -on Husband's birthday- I said, "If I tell you something, will you make fun of me?"  He made fun of me for asking the question and then said, "No, I won't.  I really want to know."  Reluctantly, I confessed, "I almost bought prenatal vitamins at the store today.  I looked at the labels though and they were almost the same as the regular vitamins, so I didn't."  He was stuck on the word "prenatal".  I added that some advice says women should take prenatal vitamins even before they're considering getting pregnant (as in, no, not trying yet, don't read too much into this, Family) to further protect against neural tube defects, etc.  Now he's stuck on "neural tube".  Husband is a really smart man, but I'm the one with a Human Development degree, not him.

I also confessed that I have been thinking about things like:  if you're going to have a baby during month X, then you need to get pregnant during month Y, and if you only want to be X months pregnant on your flight back to the States after a tour in Korea, then you need to become pregnant in month Y in order to actually give birth during month Z.  I'm pretty certain he's going to think I'm crazy.  Quite to the contrary, Husband says he's glad I'm thinking about these things because he isn't.  (Read:  "Thoughts about babies, their development, and when to have them don't come to his mind often," not, "I don't care at all about babies".)  

We know for sure our preference is not to have a baby in Korea.  Doing so would require me staying in Seoul for several weeks before the baby would be born, and hoping Matt is not flying -as to get to Seoul in time- the day said baby decides to be born.  Not to mention being by myself in a hotel room for weeks before delivery...I'm sure that would make me emotionally healthy to bring a new person into the world!  Dual citizenship has its perks though:)  Also, we want to travel, enjoy the nightlife, and fully participate in this great new squadron here in Korea.  Obviously these things can be done with a baby, but it would definitely be easier to do so while we're still a family of two.  We're a family of three if you count the Pup, and travel arrangements for him can be hard enough for now!    

All that said, we really have no set timing.  How can you, right?  I do hope to be expecting before we are moving again, but there are a lot of assumptions and unknowns wrapped into that equation.  (Man, if only you knew how squeamish I am to discuss these things!)

We want so much to trust God.  His good and perfect plan will prevail, and in Him we will trust.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."  Proverbs 16:9