Nearly seven years ago, a little black and tan dachshund entered our lives.  Astro and I were as close as any dog and his human could be.  Don’t believe me?  Read this: You’ve got a friend in me – Part I.  He was a fighter.  He was strong-willed.  Even after a back accident that left him paralyzed two years ago (Read Part II), he was truly the best companion I could have.  

I didn’t sleep at all Monday night.  I somehow managed to make it to work the next morning in attempt to maintain some normalcy.  I called the vet’s office as soon as they opened and waited nervously until the doctor called me back.  Her mood was upbeat; she was confident the tail surgery would be successful.  I used the last bit of strength I could find and gave her our decision.  We would later go to the office to meet a very excited but drowsy Astro.  We spent our time telling him goodbye.  He licked away our tears and snuggled into us and fell asleep.

This dog was a tough.  He was always stubborn and always strong.  This was true up to his last moments of life.  It took the vet team two and a half doses of the initial sedative to get him to sleep.  After holding him a while longer and shedding more tears, we said our final goodbyes.  We then started to find something we hadn’t seen before.  We started finding some peace.  He was in peace now, and we knew it.  Our lives would start getting a little easier.  It was easier on us and much easier on him.  Within just a couple days we were adjusting to life without Astro.  There were tough times, but we knew he is ready to cross the rainbow bridge and was in a better place.

Christopher still asks about him from time to time.  Luna is sometimes a nervous wreck around the house.  Sara and I will start up a conversation about him from seemingly out of nowhere, just reminiscing the good times and the fun memories.  We're all adjusting to life without Astro.  We are fortunate that our families have been nothing but supportive through this, so we owe them all some thanks.  We have some awesome friends who have not only been comforting but have even taken extra steps to help us through the difficult time.

And now I’m glad I didn’t know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go 
Our lives are better left to chance 
I could have missed the pain 
But I’d of had to miss the dance

“What’s in a name?  That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” – William Shakespeare

“Romeo and Juliet” is by far one of my favorite plays by William Shakespeare.  So what does this have to do with anything?  Well, we have finally decided on a name for Peanut #2.  It was a very tough decision and a very long process.  Once we learned it was a boy, I threw out my favorite name, Jonathan, since we didn’t use it last time.  I even thought about a middle name, David – David is Stephen’s dad’s name and Stephen’s middle name.  A very logical choice.  But Stephen had other ideas.

Christopher’s middle name is Allen – my paternal grandmother’s maiden name.  Stephen suggested we use his paternal grandmother’s maiden name, Craft.  It sounded great to me.  But since we are going with Craft, which starts with a C…  Why not pick an “A” name and switch Christopher’s initials – CAZ to ACZ?  This is when the discussion got good.  I had not thought of an “A” name.  I was so determined to name our second son “Jonathan,” I didn’t care what other names were out there. 

There was only one thing to do, rely on the Internet for some help.  As I sat there reading “A” names out to Stephen, it seemed he only had one response “No.”  That was until we came upon the name “Apollo.”  Yes, “Apollo,” as in the third US manned spaceflight program.  So not a good idea with a space nut of a husband.  He seemed to really love the idea of Apollo Craft ;-) Can you just imagine the poor nicknames for our son?  At this point, I could tell Stephen didn’t really want to discuss names if he was wanting to name our son “Apollo.”

For the next few weeks, one of my friends and I had nicknamed #2 “Spacey AC” since Stephen was so set on “Apollo.”  After enough people started asking if we had a name, Stephen decided to post on Facebook that we were naming our child Apollo.  Once I finally saw it and posted this wasn’t true, it was funny to see the amount of people that actually believed him!  There was some truth to his post though, we had finally agreed on a name.  Andrew Craft Zenter will be here in late March!

Christopher can say the name, “Andrew,” so cutely.  Christopher knows Baby Andrew is in my belly too, and he will sweetly give kisses.  He clearly doesn’t grasp the concept of what is happening , but we are trying to get him used to the idea of a baby with his new cousin, Emily, and our friends’ baby, Lorelai.

Christopher is doing great!  Here are the latest details of our sprouting 20-month old:

·         He is getting even more teeth and getting even taller.  He is now well over half my height (I know, not saying much).

·         He is doing better at being able to stay out later, whici is more convenient for Mom and Dad.

·         We are definitely hitting the “Terrible Twos.”  He is wanting to show and prove he is independent.  The most trouble we have is at restaurants dealing with him not wanting to sit still – nothing you wouldn’t expect out of a 20-month old!

·         He’s a talker and a singer.  For a while he refused to put two words together, but now he is trying to speak in full sentences.  “Astro pooped,” is one favorite of his favorite phrases, and the he loves to tell us about the, “Opecus” that lives in the ocean.  His singing habits come honestly from his father.

·         And then there’s Elmo.  Whenever he sees Elmo in a book or on TV, he flips.  “Elmo.  Elmo.  Elmo.  ELMO!”

Back in late October we went in for our anatomy ultrasound.  Our original appointment wasn’t until Nov 6^th, but we were able to get it moved up a week.  Keeping the change quiet allowed us to surpise the family a little later.

Stephen ended up getting food poisoning (or some kind of a stomach bug) that day.  Along with that, we kept Christopher home due to a fever from teething.  So there I was stuck at home with a sick husband and a child that is running around like crazy, supposedly “sick.”  When the time to leave for the appointment rolled around,  Stephen decided he could handle going (not like he really had a choice), so I piled everyone in the car and headed to drop Christopher off at day care.  We got to the doctor’s office, and Stephen waited in the car until I was called back.  After almost an hour and a half of waiting and close to no battery left on my phone, time came to see if Peanut #2 is a boy or girl!

Well, we are happy to announce that we are having another  little boy! 

(Yes I know, I am way behind on blog posts since this news hit Facebook in early November.