Back From AZ With a Lot To Say

OK, let me start out by saying that this is going to be long, so please buckle your seat belts. With that said, I begin.

We just returned from our trip to Arizona this past Friday, and it was such a wonderful trip. We did so many things that I don't think I can describe them all- I'll have to settle for the highlight reel. I really enjoyed meeting Josh's grandparents for the first time. It was so fun to spend time with them and watch them all interact. One of the most memorable times we shared was getting stuck in the elevator at their apartment building. 8 people, I repeat- 8 people plus Howie's stroller- were stuck in a very small elevator for about 35 minutes!! We were on the way to the dining room for Thanksgiving dinner, stepped on the elevator unknowingly, thinking that we were in for a simple lift up 3 floors, only to remain trapped in the elevator for 35 minutes. It was quite dramatic. 911 was called, maintenance people were paged and summoned to the elevator, and eventually we were freed right when the 911 people were walking up the stairs to the 3rd floor where we were trapped. Lesson learned- when riding on an elevator, don't assume that your ride will necessarily be short. Bring food and water, and possibly a clean diaper for the baby since Howie's diaper began leaking on my arm part way through our entrapment (I realize that's gross, but it's true).

We also really enjoyed seeing the Grand Canyon!! You could definitely spend several days there and not see everything, but having Howie along afforded us only a few hours, so we took the accelerated tour. We drove along the South Rim and stopped at the scenic views. I was amazed by the sheer dropoffs and huge distances- it was just incredible. Neither Josh nor I are big heights people, so those dropoffs gave me the creeps, but they were still fascinating in a siren-call kind of way. At one of the outlooks there was a waist-high fence, which was plenty for keeping you safe. I saw a dad pick up his child for a picture and hold the toddler on his hip. So the toddler was above the railing, and would have fallen over the edge really quickly had he leaned back just a little. I was so stressed out that I had to turn around and look the other way. Judging from the fact that I didn't hear any commotion later, everything must have turned out OK. If we take Howie or future Baby Desches to the Grand Canyon at some point down the road, I will shamelessly be one of those moms who puts their children on leashes. We definitely want to go back. I was so impressed with all of the cacti in Arizona. They are such bizarre looking plants- just these random things sticking out of the ground?? Very interesting!! We had such a wonderful time in Arizona and we can't wait to return.

We are happy to report that we just bought our first Christmas tree last night, a lovely Douglas fir. Now please remember that we have a two-door Honda Civic. How does one get a 6-7 foot Christmas tree home from the store that's 20 minutes away with a pathetic little car? The first step is to go very, very slow. Josh threw some ropes over top of the tree and threaded them through the windows so he could hold on. I was in the sorry excuse for a back seat with Howie, looking at the stump to ensure that the tree wasn't coming off the car. So here we were, driving 30 mph down Washington Road where the speed limit is 45 mph, making friends behind us all the way. We pulled over at one point when it seemed like the tree was jumping ship, re-secured it, and slowly made our way home. It is so beautiful. We decided to christen our tree "Peyton," for obvious reasons. Peyton Manning is tall, Peyton Desch is tall. Peyton Desch smells good, Peyton Manning probably smells good. We love looking at Peyton Desch, we love looking at Peyton Manning. I could carry the analogy for much longer, but you get the point. We put our tree up last night after Howie was in bed, so when we got him out of his crib this morning we plugged in the lights for Howie. He and Peyton became fast friends. He kept twisting to see the tree when I was trying to feed him this morning. I can see that this is going to be a struggle throughout the Christmas season, but I can't blame him for wanting to look. I ended up going in the bathroom and turning the lights out to finish his feeding. Nothing to look at that way.

Much to our dismay, the Patriots won again last night. They are STILL undefeated, but defeat was sooooo close last night to crashing down on their arrogant little heads that their victory was even worse. I couldn't speak for a while after the game ended. The Eagles were soooo close to finally putting the Patriots in their place, and everyone knew it. Tom Brady got off the hook. Josh told me that the Patriots are owned by Robert Kraft, as in Kraft foods. Please join us in a complete boycott of anything with the label KRAFT on it. Yes, that includes macaroni & cheese, marshmallows, cheese, cream cheese... anything made by KRAFT. We're going to stick it to this man for owning such a wretched team and we're asking all of you out there in blog land to join us in bringing about his downfall. One way or another Tom Brady is going to meet defeat, either in the regular season or postseason. We're banking on it.

Well, I guess that's about all for now. We're heading out to go Christmas shopping. It's nice that Howie is so little, because at least for now we can get away with putting Desitin in his stocking while having him think we're still the coolest!!!

Happy Almost-Thanksgiving

Well, what is going on at the Desch home? Things are pretty much business as usual, in every part of our home. Let's start with the kitchen. As usual, dishes are piled up to the heavens. My sister Marnie was over at our apartment yesterday, and she walked in the kitchen and said, "Wow, you've got a mess in here." That's the truth. With dishes we take 2 steps forward... go on a cleaning binge, get all of the stuff in the sink clean and then only have to face the stuff on the counter, but then we make dinner and get a whole new round of dishes in the sink, plus what was already on the counter... it's getting ugly. Let's move to the front room. A combination bedroom/living room/TV room/playroom/office. As you can imagine, that room stays in a perpetual state of quasi-disaster. Rattles, diapers, books, random articles of clothing (some big and some small), dishes taken out of the kitchen since Howie is sometimes napping during lunchtime and you've got to eat sometime, bills and other random paperwork, etc. Try as I may, I have still not managed to find a system for keeping that room clean and tidy. Oh, well. Can't win them all.

As you can see from the pictures, Howie is starting slowly to take rice cereal a little bit better. Sure, I think he thinks it tastes like garbage, but I guess he's figured out that he can't only drink milk the rest of his life. Allow me to tell you about these photos:
1. Rice cereal from Aunt Marnie tastes just a little bit better. Yum! By the bottom of the bowl, his neck was resting in a puddle of spit out cereal sludge. No one ever said feeding a baby was a tidy affair.
2. If I had all of that food coming out of my mouth it would just be disgusting, but somehow Howie can pull off the letting-stuff-slide-out-of-my-mouth look.
3. Don't you wish you were this flexible? Howie's newest game is trying to suck on his toes. 20 years of yoga can't teach you that. His feet are still pristine, so sucking on his toe is still a nice thing to do.
4. Play time with Papa.
5. Howie's growing up fast... already reading books to himself.
6. Howie sporting his sherpa boots from his Aunt Jennie... talk about looking good. Josh says he's ready to lead an expedition up Mt. Everest in those boots.
7. "What are we supposed to do here? What are you doing, Papa? Should I smile or try to look cool?"

Well, we are heading to the great state of Arizona this weekend to spend Thanksgiving with Josh's grandparents. We're going to stop by the Grand Canyon while we're in town. I've never been, so I'm looking forward to that... it will be a great trip.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you from us!!

The Meeting of the Cousins

The Desch family had quite a weekend... complete with a visit from my sister Jennie, my grandma, my sister Marnie and brother-in-law Chris, and MUCH to my surprise, my sister Carrie and my sister Emily and her precious baby BOY John Gabriel!! John was born on Sept. 14th and I had not yet met him, and was definitely not expecting to meet him until Christmas, but he showed up at our doorstep with his mama and aunt Carrie in tow!! We knew that Jennie, Grandma, Marnie, and Chris were coming and we were already beside ourselves with excitement, but I was absolutely shocked when Emily, Carrie, and John walked in. So the cousins have now met. I think that Howie enjoyed meeting his cousin, who is only 11 weeks younger than he is. Howie was proud to show him the tricks of the trade for when you're four months old. It was so fun to see them together and know that they'll be great buddies as they get older. Howie already has a soft spot for John... at one point in the evening John was crying, and Howie, in an attempt to provide some comfort and communicate that he was empathizing along with him, placed his hand on John's hand and shoulder. When that gesture of caring didn't do the trick to get John to stop crying, Howie started crying too. He truly understands the meaning of rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. We had a wonderful time together.

As you can see from the photo, I have officially tried to give Howie some solid food. And as you can see from the picture, he wasn't jumping for joy at the opportunity to try it. Although he did swallow some, much of it ended up on his bib. I think he is telling me, "Thanks, Mama- that was fun, but I think I'll stick with milk for now." Maybe in a couple of weeks he'll be more eager to try again.

We're doing just fine down here and enjoying the cooler weather... I'm also happy to report that the paci situation has resolved itself for the most part, and Howie is sleeping very well without it. So are we.

Have a wonderful day!