Gotta Give Props

So, I have to give a shout out to Allen. We all know he busted his butt all year long on the exterior of the house. This left me exclusively to the kid raising and household duties. We had agreed to this plan and it ended up working out ok.

As we came to a close on the landscaping work, I was getting pretty far along in the pregnancy. I could definitely feel myself getting more and more tired and really wanting some extra help at the end of a long day. When Allen was in full throttle, that wasn't possible. There either wasn't an end to the day until we passed out in bed, or he was so dang tired from working, I didn't ask for much when he did join us again. I just pushed through the pain or fatigue.

After about 2 months of warning Allen about my increasing needs, they reared their ugly heads in a big way. I thought I had done a nice job of casually mentioning what I needed before it became a problem so we could avoid the whole anger-resentment issue. I have to admit, it still took a minor throw down for the message to make it to the receiver, but make it, it did. Since that fateful night - you all know the kind - the sobbing wife who's voice escalates to the point that only marine life can hear her while the husband looks on with total and complete fear -things have been great.

Allen has made a real effort to pick up where I can't anymore. He quotes me all of the time, "Allen, sometimes we have to do things, even when we're tired. Even when we don't want to." It's sad but true. So, he's engaged with Lexi tons more when he's home, he gets up with her when he is home so I can sleep in, he takes her outside or to the park, he gets her lunch when he's home, he calls in or emails to check on us during the day, he even took the day off of work last week when I was sick and had slept terribly. He's been cleaning the house like the Merry Maids, feeding all of the animals, doing all of the dishes if I cook, and all of the extra things that need to get done that I don't get to. Not to mention, he's finished all of the work in Lexi's room and the nursery and continued to plow through the last bits of work in the backyard.

This is not normal Allen, here, people. He never misses a day of work. It really isn't sustainable for long as he does have a regular schedule to honor at work and chores that take him away from the family. We know that, too. He did, however, work lots of extra hours and Sundays to try and save up time so that if he needed to or wanted to take extra time off to help me, he could. He has made a choice to put my comfort and happiness before many things, when reasonable, until the baby comes.

It's made a world of difference in my little world. As I get more and more slow, less and less patient, more and more uncomfortable all while becoming less tolerant, it sure has been nice to know that Allen will pick up where I'm letting off - and is doing a great job. I just want to say thanks for hearing and listening to me and trying so hard to make my life just a little easier. Thanks, Allen!