2 cm and Counting...

Preggosaurus was sidelined yesterday by a severe bout of the preggo cramps, forcing yours truly to not only tackle the usual 10-page grad school paper, but also clean up the house and bathe a toddler (and all before the 9 p.m. slot for Modern Family, no less). You see, Kris had a doc's appointment with 'Dr. Skinny Fingers,' as I like to call him, and it turns out that she dilated an extra inch over the course of the last few days.

*cue the ominous, foreboding music*

Well, this put the Hough household into scramble mode, and, upon taking stock of where we currently are in terms of preparation, we've come to the realization that we are, in fact, rather behind where we should be.

Kris somehow misplaced all of our premature size clothes - don't ask me how - as well as the little mitten-things that you put over babies' hands so they don't gum their fingers off (or whatever those are for, I don't know). She also hasn't packed her hospital bag yet, which bugs the bejesus out of me, but in order to keep my scalp I avoid pestering a pregnant woman too much about any one issue at this point in the scheme of things.

Our scheduled 'D-Day' was May 28th. There's no way in the fiery pits of Hades we are making it another two weeks. It ain't happenin'. Regardless, we'd like to have somewhat of a head's up this time around so that we can adequately see the Cannonball passed off for the night (the Voigts are once again stepping in and taking a bullet for us, there). As such, we've scheduled an Inducing with Dr. Skinny Fingers for May 21st.

Even with the earlier date, though, this guy doesn't think we're going to make it.

Kris went home from work early today because she couldn't stand the pain any longer, and has been couch-ridden all afternoon. The Voigts are picking up Alayna from Primrose and bringing her back to the house for us (I won't be home until 7:30pn or so, due to a Student/Parent Open House-thingy at my school).

Call me crazy, but I got a bad, bad feeling this kid is coming soon. Cross your fingers, folks...

- Brian

'The Clock Ticketh,' or 'Wuddabout Dad?'

My kid's Due Date is starting to seem like some sort of fanciful mirage. And its starting to seriously piss me off.

The ol' day-to-day in La Casa de Hougho seems to be grinding down to a point where, if it were my car, I'd take it in to get something fixed muy pronto-like. Kris is getting worn out earlier and more frequently (she's about 8 months along now, so that shouldn't come to too much of a surprise, I guess), and that means that this guy's getting more stressed out because he's picking up more of the slack due to her inability to take care of as much around the house.

Before I have every, last female across cyberspace rise up to smite me, allow me to continue.

Yes, I totally realize pregnancies are difficult things for women to endure, and I'm not discounting that in the slightest. Nobody's stupid, here - we all know she's got it way worse off than I do. That's a no-brainer, folks. All I'm saying is that this isn't necessarily a stroll through the ol' park for yours truly, either. Dad's suffer through pregnancies - hate to break it to you, ladies, but its true - and I think its high time that women learn to appreciate this. With grad school, work, my writing program, and a toddler at home, I have next to zero decompress time for myself, with day after day of minimal decompress time adding up continuously over a prolonged increment of time, it begins to take a toll on one's stress level and sanity.

My gray hairs have multiplied this year ten-fold - I'm not even kidding! - and I attribute this more to the stressful act of balancing work, school, writing, and parenthood more than I do the fact that I'm currently racing down the final stretch of my 20's and approaching the dreaded 30.

F*** 30.

- Brian

One Beat's Enough

kris went to the doc today, and, according to the heart monitor-thingy, it looks like we're having one child. this is really, really welcome news, as yours truly didn't have the heart to pay for the whole 'buy one, get one free' deal. one's a lot easier for the wallet to deal with. besides the financial side of things, kris is happy she doesn't have to deal with giving birth to two kids at the same time (or however that works).

that's all for today, folks. looks like we dodged the twin bullet yet again.

relieved,

- brian

Trouble Brewing...

Well, looks like next summer is pretty much shot.

Turns out the Cannonball's getting some competition come late May/early June - a little on the unexpected side, but good news, I suppose. Sure, we have no idea how we're going to pull an extra $800 plus a month of our collective asses yet, but we've wiggled out of tougher scrapes before without a problem - its just a matter of juggling numbers and selling a kidney or two.

This is what I would like all of you out there in CyberSpace to do for me right now: if you would, please do me the courtesy of praying to the God of Babies and imploring him to give me a boy this time around. Nothing against my daughter, of course, but one's enough.

(I'm thinking ahead thirteen years to what this family would be like with two teenage girls running about, slamming doors and making out with douchebag boyfriends... and I honestly don't think my liver can take the abuse I'd be giving it)

Also, while you're praying to this random god, would you also ask him to just give us one baby this time around? Seriously. That's good enough for us, God of Babies, we really don't need two. I know Kris is in line for twins and all, and - speaking from a strictly statistical view of things - I know that we're getting really, really close to ending up with the hot potato this time around, but we're fine and dandy with just the one. Thanks.

If you could pass that on as well, folks, I'd really appreciate it.

Time for a drink.

- Brian

Here We Go Again...

well kids, we're going to try this again, here.

*begin fanfare*

hi. how you doin'? we're the houghs. you may have heard of us. today we're relaunching an online site to keep people back home and spread out around the world updated with current events, pictures, and the like. much like last time, except this time way better. seriously. we promise this time.

here's a quick prologue for ya:

a couple months after getting hitched in october 2006, we moved from clare, MI. to orlando, FL. with a herculean moving truck, a loud parrot, and no job prospects in sight. this didn't seem to matter, though, as michigan was ranked 50th in the nation for its job market and economy (i mean, being unemployed in one state is just as good as being unemployed in another, right?). of course it is. besides, florida has palm trees and theme parks. what's michigan have... snow and construction? with this in mind, we slung on our hobo packs and sallied forth.

we got a cheap - but safe - place in southeast orlando for that first year. not the nicest place, but we weren't being shot at either, so we couldn't complain too much at the time. taking up multiple part-time jobs in order to meet the many ends, we whored out resumes and cover letters and desperately sought out professional careers to pay off our gargantuan student loans. after a few months, kristina took a job with kindercare as an infant teacher, and brian was hired as a 7th grade social studies teacher at a public intermediate school. and so, after much trial and tribulation, the cross-country carpetbagging and the months of fruitless searching paid off. *more fanfare* the houghs were established.

yes, all things were going well for brian and kristina when suddenly, out of nowhere, came the impending rumble of foreboding peril...

yes, friends, kristina was knocked up. three pregnancy tests in rapid-fire succession sure didn't lie... its nigh on 9 months later and kristina - or, as she's commonly referred to now, "preggosaurus rex" - is still, indeed, very pregnant (we'll get to that ol' tale later, though).

anyway, in april of 2008 we moved into a bigger place, closer to kissimmee, in order to make room for the baby without having to sacrifice the man-den (the room that houses brian's many swords, records, video games, and our parrot, fezzig). kristina switched to a different kindercare center, serving the white-collar big-shots at disney in celebration (that's a town), in order to avoid paying an arm and a leg in tolls and gas to commute to her old center. brian's first year of teaching in florida public schools went so well that he was asked to renew his contract with the school, despite state budget cuts and other economic woes of the like (we'll get to that whole fiasco later, too). and fezzig, who is beginning to sense that something's amiss in the hough household, is now entering sexual maturity. awesome.

...and so there you are. there's the prologue. you're welcome. now that everybody's up to speed with the grand hough back story, we'll be sure to keep you all informed from now on with updates, pictures, antidotes, etc. from our end (seriously).

stay outta trouble...

- the houghs