Snips, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails

Four years ago, around this time, I was getting ready for a vacation to Hawaii with some family and friends. Life was pretty good. I had a job I loved, friends I cherished and the only thing missing was a man. I was fairly convinced at the time that I wasn't interested in ever having kids, but I so badly wanted to find Mr. Right that I was looking for him everywhere (on the interwebs, in bars, at work, on vacation, whatever). Little did I know he was right there all the time, disguised as my youngest sister’s sweet friend.

Three years ago, I was wrapped up in a somewhat whirlwind relationship with the man I knew I would eventually marry. One day, it was like a light bulb went on and we went from kind of knowing each other to practically living together in a matter of weeks. I was the happiest I had ever been, even though our relationship was putting serious kinks in my previously free-as-a-bird lifestyle. Oddly, this perfect man of mine’s desire to be a father was starting to change my long held views on the subject of parenthood.

Two years ago, I was newly engaged. We had set a wedding date a year and half in the future and I couldn’t have been more excited to plan my wedding. Also, we were anxiously awaiting the birth of my sister’s baby at the end of the summer. Life was changing so quickly, I think I must have been dizzy. By this time, I knew we would have children one day, but one day still felt pretty far away.

One year ago, I was entering the second trimester of my very unexpected pregnancy. It’s always been said that the women in my family are hyper-fertile, but I never believed it. My husband likes to think it was actually his super sperm, but whatever the case, we were thrilled to be expecting. Our wedding day was rapidly approaching and the enthusiasm I once had for wedding planning had long since worn off. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted nothing more than to be married, it was the wedding I could have done without. I was too busy thinking up names for the baby girl I was convinced we were destined to have.

And that brings us to today. Our little surprise is now a babbling, rolling, teething, 6-month-old little man. Because I grew up in a house full of girls, baby boys are not a species I am extra familiar with. I had no idea that everything in his path is to be kicked, poked, pulled or prodded. I didn’t realize that a man's indescribable need to disassemble things is innate (as is the tendency to throw a fit when they are unable to put them back together exactly right). And most importantly, I never knew that baby boys could be sooooooooooo much fun.