My Favorite Boots in the Whole World

These are my favorite boots in the whole world. Josh gave them to me in celebration of our frst anniversary last month, and I LOVE them. They are so comfortable, and they're also one of two pairs of shoes that fit right now (since my feet are swollen with baby juices). I've wanted cowboy boots for YEARS, and now I'm the proud owner of a pair. I wear them all the time. I now see why cowboys wear these boots. You can have them on all day and it feels like you're wearing your favorite slippers at home. Ahh.

I just returned from my most pathetic venture to the gym ever... I am trying to walk often to encourage Baby to come out, but it's gotten really hot in Augusta the last few days. So I was thinking, "Hmm, where can I walk that's cool?" The only place I could think of was the shopping mall (which is one of the most depressing places in Augusta if you ask me, and it's also really far from our house) and the gym. I haven't gone to the gym for a while since my running shoes don't fit and I only have the above-described cowboy boots and flip-flops to choose from. But today I bit the bullet and resorted to walking on the treadmill at the Omni for an hour and twenty minutes wearing flip-flops. I figured walking on the treadmill in cowboy boots would REALLY be strange. So I wore my flip-flops and plodded along as long as I could stand, until my feet felt like they were going to fall off. There's a reason that people don't normally exercise in flip-flops, and now I've experienced that reason.

I'm updating our flickr page with some new pictures, so be sure to click on the link in the side column if you want to see them!! Have a wonderful Tuesday!

The Stage Is Set

In lieu of baby pictures (since we still don't have any), we decided to post some pictures of places in our apartment that will be the most important to Baby Desch following his/her arrival. You can see that there is still a green monkey in the pack & play and a teddy bear in the swing. Hopefully they will be replaced with the real thing in just a few short hours, or at worst, days. At least we know that "weeks" is no longer an option.

We'll keep ya'll posted!! Pray with us for a timely arrival for Baby Desch!!

In A Holding Pattern

I am closing in on a week of retirement with still no baby in sight- I went to the OB on Wednesday afternoon to hear the quasi-depressing news that it didn't seem like I was going to go into labor any time soon. Everything was the exact same as last Wednesday. News I wanted to hear? No. But we did get some good news in that Baby Desch is not breech. The doctor couldn't tell if she was feeling his/her head or butt (the baby's, not the doctor's), so she did a quick sonogram to make sure, and indeed Baby is facing head-down. Praise the Lord for that!!!

Josh and I went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Salsas, after receiving the somewhat disappointing news to drown our sorrows in tacos. They were soooo good. Josh has been praying often that our baby would come "soon"- I think it was Tuesday night when I burst into hysterical tears and told him that he needed to plead with the Lord that our baby would come NOW. Poor Josh- that outburst came out of nowhere. So being the good husband that he is, he now prays that Baby will come NOW, regardless of where we are. At Salsas on Wednesday night he prayed that my water would break even then as I was sitting at the table. Funny? Yes. I really don't care if people think I'm peeing my pants, as long as this baby gets here!!

I want to make another quick observation that my brain is returning to full functioning after a solid 2 years off. I graduated from Covenant and my brain went on a long sabbatical, exhausted by the academic weight lifting required of it in 4 years of higher learning. After graduation I discovered the joys of cable television. I lived with my sister Carrie and had my first experience with real cable TV, and for a brain-exhausted, sleep-deprived individual (stupid job starting at 5 AM every morning), cable TV was a respite from the demands of school. I began watching shows like "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?" and "How Do I Look?" on Style Network and even occasionally "Sponge Bob Square Pants" on Nickalodeon, which is actually a very clever and funny show. Josh and I unfortunately can't afford to have cable TV, so in this season of our lives we're forced to watch what is on ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX, which is usually pretty sucky, meaning that we don't watch much TV (except for 24 and Lost, of course). But an interesting thing has been happening to me... I'm finding myself returning to reading books. It wouldn't take more than about 3 fingers to list how many books I read between graduation in May 2005 and a few months ago. But now I'm finding that I can sincerely enjoy reading again as a form of entertainment. Nothing difficult, but mostly stories about people's real-life experiences and things like that. I'm rediscovering the joy of reading, which was lost after reading so many textbooks and yawn-inducing things. Don't get me wrong- I still love watching TV!! But I have discovered too that I still enjoy reading, which I seriously doubted for a long time.

So you might ask "Betsy, what have you been doing with your time as a retiree?" Well, I'm glad you asked that question. I have been enjoying my retirement, though I do miss my job. In this in-between time as I prepare to transition into a different position, I am taking advantage of the down-time and doing whatever the heck I want for the most part. I've discovered in recent months that I'm somewhat of a baking junkie, so I baked like crazy yesterday... a batch of muffins here, a batch of muffins there, a couple of loaves of bread, etc. It was baking heaven. I love getting the kitchen just crazy messy with dishes up to the ceiling, glumpy piles of watery yeast that didn't make it into the mixing bowl, spatulas caked with batter, used bread pans and muffin tins, and then attacking it, bringing order out of the chaos. I've discovered since Josh and I moved to our new apartment that I am really quite anal about cleanliness, but didn't know it before. Now that we don't have much room and definitely don't have a dishwasher, Josh and I work hard to keep clean, and that starts in the kitchen. Despite all of the mess-making that went on yesterday, there are currently only 2 bowls in the sink from breakfast this morning. Ahh. In my former life I would have left the dishes from yesterday for today when I had more energy.

Well, Friends, happy Friday. We look forward with great anticipation to the day when you will see a little baby picture posted here!! Have a wonderful weekend!

Before & After

I don't know about ya'll, but I always love before and after shots. Especially of house renovations or makeovers. How about this before and after? The first one was taken in the first trimester at the end of December, and this last one was taken on June 1st. Whoah!! Before not much of a bump, after it looks like I swallowed a whale. I will be soooo excited to get back into my normal clothes and be able to sit close to the table, actually stand next to the sink instead of really leaning over it to compensate for the huge bump, be able to get out of bed without herculean exertion, tie my shoes without all of the fluid migrating to my ankles/cankles and making them look like you could pop them like a balloon, etc. You get the point.

Let me give you an update on the music we've been obsessing over as of late. Seeing as we're getting ready for the birth of our child, we've been preparing some "labor mix-y-poos" to enliven the hospital room. We want our labor nurses and doctor to have a blast in our room, which is destined to be the party room if we have anything to say about it. Yeah, labor is a really tough thing, so if you can make it a party, why not do it? So to that end we've compiled a few CDs to keep the party (and the contractions) moving. Our latest acquisitions from i-tunes include the following 80s classics: Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and "Rock With You," Madonna's "Vogue" and "Holiday," and Janet Jackson's "Escapade." And of course we included our old favorites, such as "I've Had the Time of My Life," Cher's "Loving on a Rooftop" and "Still In Love With You," Lionel Ritchie's "All Night Long," (no playlist is complete without this classic) Jamiroquai's "Canned Heat," and many others. So if you've got nothing better to do and you're looking for a party, come on down to Augusta, GA, and come to the hospital with us. We're hoping to model our labor and birth experience after Personal Boogie Time (those of you who are Covenant College grads know exactly what I'm talking about here).

I'm currently enjoying a nice hot cup of Paul Newman's Almond Biscotti Coffee, and it is phenomenal. We haven't gotten this kind of coffee since sometime last summer, and I remember thinking that it should have tasted better with a name like that, but since then I've fallen more and more in love with coffee, and now it tastes like a piece of a heavenly cookie. It's just the right temperature- hot, but not scalding. Yum.

Well, speaking as a person two days into her retirement, let me tell you that retirement is a strange but good thing. I really miss my co-workers and I keep thinking about what I would be doing were I at my job right now. But this brief holiday is just a transition into a different type of work. Less faxing, more laundry. Fewer phone calls, more diaper changing. Less payment taking, more baby feeding. Hopefully this holiday will be VERY brief... Josh and I are both praying every day and every night that Baby Desch will make his/her decision to enter the world!!

"Click Fraud" and Free Books

Some of you have perhaps noticed there is a new link on our blog. If you look to your right, you will see a link to Westminster Theological Seminary's online bookstore. For every 50 clicks from our blog to the online bookstore, I get a $10 free dollars to spend on books. First - and this just goes to show you how sinful people are, including myself - Westminster seminary has said they will be monitoring "click fraud." Yes, I did just write that: "click fraud." Click fraud is where someone repeatedly clicks on the link over and over again just to earn free book money. The fact that they even have to monitor click fraud is just sad. I mean, this is not Barnes and Noble we are talking about, its the bookstore of a reformed seminary! Probably the only people who are particpating in this program are people like me, future pastors or current pastors. I mean, who else wants to earn $10 free dollars to use toward items like Herman Bavink's Reformed Dogmatics? That being said, did I think about commiting "click fraud" for a few minutes after I first read about this program. Yes I did. Sinning to get reformed books, is there anything more sad than that? Anyway, that temptation passed without me giving in and I am now fully past it. I would love it if you would click on the link, but please do so because you are genuinly curious, and not just to help me get free books. If I might make a quick plug. In my opinion, this is the best online reformed bookstore out there. I believe it is worth a look. But that's up to you. Have a great day, and remember, no "click fraud"!

Sigh... Still Waiting

Well, we went to the OB yesterday afternoon and found that Baby Desch still doesn't seem to be in a hurry to get out... no signs of impending labor or anything encouraging like that. Oh well. I don't want Baby to feel rushed. After all, he/she did sign a lease that's good until June 24th, but probably soon thereafter he/she will be evicted from his/her womb-home. I think that he/she has grown a little too comfortable in there. I don't know how that's possible- you'd think you'd be so uncomfortable from being squished into a little ball with not much room to move at all!! I'd be sooo clausterphobic!! But I guess when you're still unborn you don't know that you have the ability to stretch. Birth is a big deal! Just think- seeing light and faces for the first time, feeling cold and hot for the first time, being touched for the first time, hearing loud noises for the first time- I'm sure that's hard for a little baby to deal with all at once! So while I sympathize with our baby in some sense, I am ready for him/her to come out. I will help him/her make the adjustment to life outside of the womb as fast as possible.

Josh and I are going through a major popsicle phase. We currently have banana, orange, grape, and cherry popsicles, those frozen pops in the plastic skinny tubes, 3 kinds of frozen yogurt, and I just finished a box of ice cream sandwiches last night. We are obsessed. I looooooooove popsicles. My mom and dad fed them to us for dessert like crazy when we were little- I've now figured out that they are the cheapest kind of sweet thing, so I now understand their logic. But popsicles are firmly engrained in my tastebuds as an excellent dessert. And frozen yogurt is just plain good, period.

I'm happy to report that we now have healthy strawberries in our apartment, sitting pretty in our refrigerator. Josh is such a wonderful husband. He brought them home from youth group last night, along with a bouquet of beautiful flowers. Did I deserve such nice treatment after my strawberry meltdown? No. Did I appreciate it? YES!!!!!!

Have a great Thursday!

Poor LeBron

Are any of you watching the NBA finals? Game 3 was last night, and it was a real heartbreaker for the Cavaliers. I gave them several moments of silence after the game was over. Granted, the Cavs shouldn't have gotten themselves into the position where they had the ball down 3 with 5.5 seconds left, but I think LeBron was robbed on that last play. He was fouled shooting a 3 pointer which rimmed out , but it went un-called. Poor LeBron. Although LeBron makes more money than any human being should make, especially one playing basketball for a living, and he signed a $90 million endorsement deal with Nike, I still managed to feel sorry for him and rail against the injustice of it all.

Why did I feel sorry for some seriously overpaid, questionably-employed person? I mean, making a grossly excessive living playing a game? When there are people slaving away at the most grueling jobs in other places for pennies each day? But somehow I still found some sorrow in my heart for LeBron. I think most of the sadness stemmed from the fact that Tony Parker on the Spurs is in my sports Axis of Evil, as I said the other day. He honestly infuriates me. I realize that it's wasting energy to dislike someone so much who I will never have any contact with, but I DO NOT want the Spurs to win primarily because of him. All of those little sports commentators on ABC were singing his praises and offering their sacrifices to him like he's some sort of demi-god, and it made me want to throw the TV out the window. Why do I feel this strongly about him? Not sure. But those are the facts, folks. So join me in cheering for the downfall of the Spurs in this series. Sure, they're up 3-0 and only need to win one more game to take the championship, but there's always hope. As Journey so geniously sang in their '80s hit, "Don't Stop Believing." I'm with you, Journey. I'm not going to stop believing.

Let me tell you a story from this morning. As I've said before, I'm somewhat obsessed with strawberries. I LOVE eating them in the morning with cereal or waffles or whatever. We had gotten some strawberries a couple of days ago, and I ended up having to toss most of them because they were MOLDY and disgusting. Gross. So we took them back to Kroger and asked for some different ones since those were bad. We came home last night with 2 new boxes of strawberries, very excited. They looked so nice and red, and of course smelled divine. I woke up this morning excited about strawberries. I went into our kitchen to cut some for both of us and discovered that they were inadvertently left out last night instead of put in the fridge, and to my great dismay, they too were MOLDY!!!! WHAT??? After I was soooo excited about strawberries for breakfast???? Poor Josh. Josh puts up with a lot from me, and this morning was nooooo exception. I blamed him entirely for leaving them out, and of course he felt horrible. Here I was, looking pathetically pregnant, nasty morning hair, sooo upset about some moldy strawberries... poor, poor Josh. But once we moved past my meltdown, we decided that they must have been sick before they left Kroger to grow that furry carpet so fast, so we're going to take them back. Kroger must be peddling some old strawberries right now. That seems a little shady that we've gotten 4 moldy boxes in the last few days. Kroger, get some new produce. Yeesh. Anyway, that story illustrates the point that I am a bit on edge about this baby's arrival, and the littlest thing this morning set me off. I'm sure Josh will be glad when this baby is BORN!! I'm sorry, Darling.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

We Are Officially Baby-fied

We spent a good part of Saturday continuing to get ready for our baby... tying the bumper pad on the crib rails, putting together the pack and play, washing some last little onesies, putting together a swing, and then finding places for all of this, which is no small feat when you live in a little studio apartment. But it looks wonderful.

I have learned that you can't be an idiot and hope to put together baby furniture. Putting together Baby Desch's crib was misleading... that was our first piece of baby furniture, and we were convinced a monkey could have put that together. I began to wonder why people thought putting baby stuff together was time-consuming. Then came the mobile to hang over the crib. That was much more difficult. You'd think that a big piece of furniture to sleep in would be more challenging than some cute little animals that spin around, but you'd be wrong with that assumption. I sat at our kitchen table for a good 30 or 40 minutes one day when Josh was taking a nap, trying to put that mobile together, and I still didn't have it together when he woke up. But this task was nothing compared to the herculean effort required to put together the pack & play and the swing.

The pack & play that we picked out is made by this European company named Chicco. Let me tell you, Chicco needs to employ a department of people dedicated solely to improving their instructions. They were terrible. The actual instructions were so-so, but then the pictures that they gave you were horrible. They didn't really illustrate what the instructions said, so I was left trying to figure out how the heck the diaper changing pad went together for about 40 minutes... surely someone with average intelligence can figure this out. I never did. I still don't know how it's supposed to work. Either Europeans are a lot smarter (which I doubt), or they are used to working out of instruction books that make no sense. So that's the story of the pack & play.

Then came the swing. This was by far the lowest point of the whole day. We were crusing right along, looking at instructions made by Graco, who uses better pictures. Snap this in to that, twist this over. Ah yes, directions I recognize. Then came the time to screw on some feet things to the bottom of the swing to give it a base. At this point, the assembly machine broke down. Here were two people with recent college degrees, completely and utterly defeated by the construction of a baby swing. Josh nearly threw in the towel. But we persevered, and eventually figured out how the stupid things were supposed to fit on, and the rest is history. Suffice it to say there is a functional swing sitting in our kitchen right now, with a blue teddy bear strapped in as a place holder.

Another step in our baby-fication happened on Saturday night, when we went to Target for batteries. Specifically D batteries to run the swing. Who buys D batteries unless you're a parent? Nothing runs on D batteries except for kid toys that make really annoying noises and stuff. I felt like such a parent when I went through the line with those in the cart.

So we are ready. Baby Desch, you can go on and begin to make your appearance at any time, preferably NOW. OK, nothing happened. How about NOW? Hmm, still nothing. You can see that the waiting is getting more and more difficult, and Baby's due date isn't technically until the 24th. This is an exercise in patience and trusting the Lord's timing. Any day now is fine with us.

Axis of Evil, Sports Edition

Have ya'll seen Will Ferrell's impression of George W. Bush in the "Axis of Evil" Saturday Night Live skit? That is soooo funny. This skit came to mind last night when Josh and I were watching Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Spurs and the Cavaliers. I'm going to list popular sports figures who we placed into the Axis of Evil last night.

1. TONY PARKER. There are more reasons that I can list why this guy got thrown into the Axis of Evil. First of all, don't think I'm a France basher, but the last thing you expect to hear when a huge NBA player opens his mouth to speak is a French accent. French accents are nice in the proper context, like in a mushy movie or on a cooking reality show. But on the basketball court? Strange at best. Second, ABC did one of those little interviews with Tony Parker they always do to show during time-outs or half-time- you know, the ones where the players are a little shadowy and sitting in front of some kind of curtain- and this was more or less a quote from the lips of Mr. Parker. "Sometimes I feel that I don't get enough credit playing for San Antonio." Are you kidding me? Can you please sound a little more egotistical? Third, Tony Parker is engaged to Eva Longoria of "Desperate Housewives" fame. I am NOT an Eva Longoria fan. In fact, she is almost in Fergie's company in my estimation, and if you ever read our blog, you know that's not a good thing. Back in my days of personal training I used to get magazines like Oxygen, Women's Health, Self, and Fitness. These magazines are fond of interviewing celebrities who are skinny, but not really athletic, to see what their fitness plans are. Eva was one such person. Skinny, but not really athletic, and thereby not deserving of an interview in a fitness magazine in my opinion. Just because you're skinny doesn't mean you're healthy or that people should emulate your approach to fitness. Anyway, most of the interviews I read with her were just disgustingly egotistical. She must have taken a page out of her fiance's book when doing them. She went on and on about how hard she works to keep her body looking like that, and I just wanted to give her a cold, hard dose of reality. Eva, you have no idea what most people's lives are like, and you don't deserve to be held up as a fitness icon because you probably work out for 5 hours a day with a trainer getting paid upwards of $300 each hour- not really a realistic fitness program for most people. All of these things combined DEFINITELY land Tony Parker smack in the middle of the Sports Axis of Evil.
2. BILL BELICHEK. This man was put into the Axis of Evil for very obvious reasons, namely, he is the coach of the New England Patriots, and because of that fact we believe that he worships Satan. And he wears that really weird sweatshirt with the cut-off sleeves. What is that about? A sweatshirt is about warmth, so why cut the sleeves off? If you want to be cooler, don't wear a sweatshirt.
3. TOM BRADY. Tom Brady is also a no-brainer in the Axis of Evil, seeing as he's the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots. Take your pretty face somewhere else, Tom. It's not welcome in the NFL.
4. MICHAEL VICK. Michael Vick is in the Axis of Evil because he's not a finisher. He will have a great few minutes, but right when it matters most, he crumbles. That's why the Falcons got crushed by the worst teams in the NFL last season. Because you, Michael Vick, are in the Axis of Evil. He also just has a shady personal life. He's a serious liability to the Falcons, and if they knew anything they would have traded him faster than you could say "you're horrible."
5. SATAN. Satan is not a sports figure, but for painfully obvious reasons he is in the Axis of Evil.

I know there are others that need to be thrown in... feel free to make some suggestions.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Diet Coke, I Have Defeated You

I know I've mentioned this on our blog before, but I have officially delivered Diet Coke the knock-out punch in my life.

Ok, I just wanted to give you a second to absorb that statement. That is a BIG DEAL, especially if you know how much Diet Coke I ingested in college. I would like to give a brief history of my Diet Coke addiction, dating back to my freshman year at Covenant. DC was once my crutch, but I have thrown it under the bus.

My addiction started with my freshman roommate Brigit. She came drinking Diet Coke. At first I thought that was pretty gross... how can you drink that stuff that has such a nasty aftertaste? But somehow I was lured in by the whole this-drink-has-no-calories, even though I should have figured out that you can't get something for nothing. I started thinking that Diet Coke was really good. Yumm, this stuff is not as bad as I thought diet drinks were. Hmm, this tastes almost like the real thing. Yumm, this stuff is amazing. WOW, this is BETTER than the real thing... you get the point. Slowly Diet Coke went from something I didn't care about to a real love affair.

That was only my freshman year. As the years at Covenant passed, I found fellowship with fellow DC drinkers. It was wonderful to drive down the mountain to Winn-Dixie, grab the 12 packs on sale, and pack them into the mini college fridges. We were like old-fashioned neighbors, borrowing Diet Cokes from each other instead of eggs or a cup of sugar. As my academic journey continued and matured, I began to lean on DC more and more heavily to fuel my late-night academic pursuits. Big test tomorrow? Get out the DC. Roommates sleeping but you need another can? Sneak in and get one REAL quiet. It worked like a charm.

Then I graduated from Covenant and joined the work force. My first job was a personal training position at a health club which is all well and good, apart from the fact that I had to be there at 5 AM every morning. With Josh at Covenant and me in Peoria, you can imagine that we spent a lot of time on the phone... to the tune of about 2 or sometimes 3 hours every night, lasting into the wee hours of the morning. The alarm went off at a brutal 4:15 am, and I dragged my sorry self out of bed, bemoaning my employment at such a ridiculous hour. A cup of coffee would suffice for the first part of my shift, but then I usually needed a Diet Coke to get through the second part. And not just any Diet Coke- not a can from the fridge, oh no. I needed a POLAR POP. If you live in Peoria you may know that Polar Pops are sold at Circle K gas stations. They are very cheap and very huge. Put just a smidge of ice in the bottom, fill to the brim with the drink of your choice, and drink to your heart's content for a mere 64 cents. Can that deal be beaten???

I kept up this routine until I decided I needed to quit for 2 reasons. First, I needed to preserve the integrity of my teeth. I've always had chalky, cavity-prone teeth, and I'm sure the constant onslaught of carbonation was not doing any good for them. Second, I was uneasy about the barrage of aspartame (the sweetener in Diet Coke) on my organs. Yes, the FDA says it's safe, but for someone who drank as much as I did, I think there needed to be further studies. I vowed to myself that as soon as I married Josh, I would quit drinking Diet Coke once and for all.

Now I can't say that I've quit completely... I occasionally still have a drink or two. But it's the change of heart that's encouraging to me. I am now a diversified carbonated beveridge drinker. I drink the spectrum, from real Coke to Cherry Coke to Dr. Pepper to root beer. I think getting pregnant was my biggest impetus in kicking my DC habit, since I wasn't so sure about a sweet developing baby being inundated with lots of aspartame. So folks, I'm done for the most part, and I'm not looking back. Life past Diet Coke is good.

Happy Tuesday!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Martha!!

I would like to give a shout out to my Aunt Martha, whose birthday is TODAY!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT MARTHA!! My aunt is like my second mother. I have two cousins who are really close in age to me and my sisters, John and Adam. Adam is only 6 months older than I am, and the two of them have been like my brothers for as long as I can remember. If they weren't at our house during the summer, we were at their house. And if neither one of those things was happening, I was majorly, majorly bummed out. We were always together putting on silly plays, playing with other's Big Wheels, eating at our favorite pizza place Monicals, having slumber parties, having birthday parties, hanging out, and in more recent years, meeting Saturday mornings at Starbucks!

Anyway, Aunt Martha has been like my second mom for as long as I've been alive! It was so very special to grow up around my family. I love her and Uncle Glenn and my cousins soooo much. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT MARTHA!!! I wish I could be there with you!!

Baby Desch is going to be in good company in my family with a June birthday- Aunt Martha's is the 4th, Adam's is the 18th, John's is the 29th, and then my sisters Carrie and Emily have birthdays in early July, so this is a popular time of year to be born in my family. Lots of Trefzgers cakes eaten this time of year. Trefzgers is a legendary bakery in Peoria- I have consumed soooo much butter and sugar in the form of Trefzgers goodies over my lifetime, and every bite has been absolutely lucious. Next time any of you are in Peoria, make sure that we stop by Trefzgers, or Treffy's as we call it in my family.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Baby Desch Scare

Happy Friday one and all!! I am soooo glad it's Friday. Even though it's been a short week with Memorial Day off, it's still nice to have the weekend! Josh is taking the youth camping tonight, which will be a blast, but me and Baby are staying home. It's hard enough to get comfortable in a bed, much less on the ground. But I'm sure they'll have a great time.

Yesterday we got a scare from our baby... he/she has up to this point been very active and moved lots and lots, putting my mind at ease as to his/her well-being. But ever since Monday afternoon he/she has been different- those movements have seemed much more lethargic. I'm not getting kicked in the ribs and seeing my belly take on different shapes and strangely moving blobs. By yesterday I was getting concerned, since I was used to all of those antics going on at pretty regular intervals. I had felt him/her move a little in the morning, and then I didn't remember anything all afternoon. Finally I called the doctor and asked to talk to the phone nurse, thinking that she would say that the movements are just different now since the baby is getting bigger and bigger in a space that isn't growing, and he/she just doesn't have room to move as much. But she said the baby should be moving, and asked if she could talk to the doctor and call me back. She called back about 5 minutes later and said that Dr. Speese wanted me to come down there immediately and get hooked up to the fetal moniter. So I had to leave work and go down to her office, all the while praying that nothing was wrong. I had felt like maybe something was wrong since Monday night, so I thought it was a good idea to go.

I got there and was ushered back to this little room with a leather recliner and a boxy machine, which was the fetal moniter. The nurse put these big straps around my belly to catch and moniter Baby Desch's heart rate, and put the recliner back so I could get comfortable. It was so wonderfully reassuring to hear that swishy little beat again and know that even if Baby wasn't moving, his/her little heart was still beating. The nurse brought me some sweet tea (YUM!!) in hopes that a little sugar and caffeine would get the baby moving. She gave me this little button and told me to push it every time I felt the baby move. I sat there in that chair for at least a half-hour while the machine recorded the baby's heart rate and I marked whenever I felt a movement. The doctor looked at the print-out from the machine and said that Baby Desch seemed to be doing fine. I asked her if maybe his/her size is keeping him/her from moving as much, and she said maybe just expect more swishy movements instead of big huge kicks, since there isn't as much room.

I am so grateful to the Lord that everything seems to be OK!! Being pregnant has been such a sanctifying experience for me. I love this little person inside of me so much, but have absolutely no control over his or her well-being (apart from the very obvious things like not doing drugs while pregnant). The only thing I really can do when I'm concerned about him/her is take my concern to the Lord and pray, and then trust that He cares about us and our little baby and has good plans for us. Yesterday was definitely one of those days! I guess we're already learning a big lesson about parenting- that the only way you can parent is to do the best that you can do to take care of that child and love him or her with your whole heart, and then pray that God will shape him/her into the little person that He wants them to be.

Have a wonderful Friday!