Pix and Flix

Howie reading in one of his favorite chairs. There are few things that he likes more than to cozy up with a good book.

Somewhere along the way Howie learned how to signal a touchdown. Don't know how, but it's really funny!! We're already raising a football fan!

Josh is still in the throes of final exams, unfortunately. One exam stands between him and complete freedom for 3 weeks or something. It will be so glorious to get back to bossing him around whenever I want instead of having to let him study. HA! We will both breathe the biggest sigh of relief when this semester is finally over!

Howie is fighting the return of his ear infection from several weeks ago. He hasn't been sleeping well for quite some time now, but Josh and I couldn't figure out why. First we thought maybe it was his paci falling out that was waking him up, but that wasn't it. Then we thought maybe he was thirsty and not getting enough to drink during the day. That didn't seem very likely since I offered him his cup all the time. Next we thought he might be too hot, so we turned the space heater off in his room. Nope. Then we thought maybe he was uncomfortable seeing as I put so many layers of jammies on him that he looked like the abominable snow beast (Rudolph the Red- Nosed Reindeer- watch it, people). We took some layers off to see if he would be more comfortable and sleep, but no. Kept waking up over and over. We had gotten to the point where we didn't know what else to do to help him when it dawned on me... the return of the runny nose, Howie crying when we laid him down in bed and wanting to sit up, waking up so many times each night... it all finally made sense. I'm going to take him to the pediatrician tomorrow. I'm sure Howie was thinking, "What part of this don't you GET????" We're a little slow to put things together sometimes. Sorry, Howie.

These pics (though a bit blurry due to camera issues) are from our neighborhood women's Christmas party!! It was a total blast, complete with a gift exchange that involved stealing drama, plenty of treats, and lots of fun. It's nice to live with other families doing seminary- then while the husbands are studying we can goof around!!!

This is what we do for fun around here...

Peyton Is Rolling

Josh and I have been watching just as much football as usual this fall and enjoying it as much as ever, but this season has a decidedly different feel from the last one. That fact is in large part due to the absence of Tom Brady after his season-ending injury in Game 1. Last season was as much about seeing the success of the Colts as the demise of the Patriots, as you know if you read our blog back then. As the season stretched on, I became more and more fed up with the Tom Brady worship, especially by the talking heads on CBS, FOX, and ESPN. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick could do no wrong (apart from a mild chastising for spy gate). I watched many Patriots games last year, wanting them to lose so bad with my fingernails dug into the couch and about to have a heart attack. There were a couple of close games that the Patriots just barely won, and I was so mad after those games that I think I forbade Josh to talk to me for a while. Obviously it goes without saying that there was much rejoicing in our home when the Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Anyway, all that to say that it has been so nice to watch football this season without the added stress of domination by Bill Belichick and his minions. The Colts had a pretty rough start, but now it seems that they're rolling, winning some real nail-biter games, and hopefully that will continue straight on into the playoffs.

P.S.- I'm sorry if I've offended any Patriots fans out there... it's nothing personal.

Surprise Party, Saving Species, Tom Ashbrook, and the Travails of Motherhood

Well, Josh threw me a surprise party for my 26th birthday, which was on the 19th. It was such a blast!! I don't think I've ever had a surprise party, and I don't know if another one could ever top this one. It was pretty amazing! Josh isn't that great at surprises usually- I think I've known about every other one he's ever tried to do. I remember a time before we were married that he was going to come up to Peoria for a surprise visit. Being the intuitive person I am, I quickly figured out that he seemed to be hiding something during our phone conversations. Then I turned on my expert manipulation abilities, which have been carefully honed, and I told him that I was probably going to have to work on the weekend that I was suspecting he was going to come. Then I carefully evaluated his response. The panic in his voice let me know that my suspicions were indeed correct. Thus when I walked into my apartment on that weekend to see him sitting on my couch, my reaction was nothing short of skillful. This time around Josh must have learned a thing or two, because I was genuinely surprised! My friends Elissa and April did their part to keep me guessing, and everything was wonderful. Josh decided to throw a cooking party since I love to cook, and all of our friends brought food to share. Everything was really tasty! I'm so grateful for the friends that God has blessed us with here! It was so much fun.

If you knew Josh in college, you knew that he had a tendency to power-trip. That whole vice-president of the student body was a handy outlet for power-tripping. (I too was a member of student government- this was before we were actually dating- and there were many meetings full of I-like-you tension.) Anyway, this party saw a resurrection of Josh's power-tripping past in his borrowing of a megaphone for ordering our guests around. He also inducted Howie into the ways of talking into a megaphone, which is below for your viewing enjoyment.

Yesterday Howie and I took a trip to the Galleria in search of some winter shoes for me, which we didn't end up finding, but we had a good time anyway. I started out pushing him in his stroller, and after a while he wanted to walk so I turned him loose. We walked around, ate a pretzel (which he loves), and then stumbled upon Build a Bear Workshop. I am personally not fond of this store, but when Howie saw it, he stopped in his tracks, almost getting plowed over by 2 business men who weren't looking down to see if any toddlers were in the way, and crossed traffic with reckless abandon to get into that store. He stopped in wonder in front of a huge display of already built teddy bears and other stuffed animals. Then he started doing this happy feet dance he does when he's really excited- stepping back and forth. He looked over all of the animals (pronouncing them all "dogs" since he can say that word) and then turned around to find a display of smaller stuffed animals. There were these little dogs that he really seemed to like, and he kept picking a few up at a time. This was OK but then I realized how close he was standing to the door. Sure enough, in his toddler mind he thought those toys were there for him to take, and he made a break for the doorway with a dog in hand. I was so glad that there weren't those things that buzz when you walk through with something you haven't paid for, because Howie would have been caught red-handed. He quite reluctantly put the dog back, and we went on our way.

I love Tom Ashbrook's show On Point on NPR. I was recently on the show's website for some reason and saw a picture of Tom- he definitely didn't look like what I thought he would from what he sounds like. Anyway, I love his show because he always brings up interesting topics. The other week he had Stuart Pimm on his show, a professor from Duke who is a specialist in bringing species of animals back from the brink of extinction. His organization is called Saving Species and their website is www.savingspecies.org. Every time Howie and I go to the zoo I am amazed at how many of the animals are endangered, at least at some level. But it makes sense as you think about what how much the face of our planet has changed over the last several hundred years with all sorts of development and building... animals just don't have as much room to roam anymore with so many changes. It was fascinating to hear how this organization tries to buy up land and rebuild animal habitats. As I was thinking about the huge diversity of animal life, I was amazed again at God's creativity in creating such a beautiful world that we live in. I am reminded of that from time to time as Howie pulls out his animal books (and calls most things dogs)- it's fun to see something like an ostrich and think about how it displays God's creativity as a creator. I think that's why I was happy to hear that this dude is working to preserve diversity in the animal world, because animals give us a rich reminder of how God has made a beautiful world for us to live in.

I put Howie in his crib for a nap before starting this post and he's still horsing around, so I better go see what he needs. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Howie, the Halloween Horse

Howie eating a cupcake for breakfast, left over from a neighborhood birthday party that my precious neighbors threw the night before! What a wonderful way to start the day for Howie!

Howie's office these days... he loves playing with anything and everything in the fridge.

Howie enjoyed his first Halloween. He actually did let me put the horse costume on him, much to my surprise. In fact, he seemed to like it as time went on. He had a trick or treating learning curve... at the first house we rang the doorbell, and the man came outside holding a bowl of candy. He bent down to bring the bowl to Howie's eye level and prompted him to pick something, at which point Howie surveyed the candy, decisively turned around, and walked the other way without picking anything. It was sooo funny!! I guess he didn't realize that candy is the point of Halloween, but by the second house he was already wising up. This time he actually reached in the bowl for something. All in all, it was a smashing success. Howie got to prance around my parents' neighborhood in a horse costume, and I ate his candy. What's not to like???

Though we were all still entrenched in disease over the weekend, I think we've turned the corner. Even though Howie is not great at sharing things, he's willingly shared his sickness with me first, and then Josh. Then we were all hacking. I think it's next to impossible to avoid getting sick when everyone is in such close proximity and Howie usually uses my clothing for kleenex. I have washed more snotty clothes in the last week than the previous several months combined. Yuck.

There is much more to say but not enough time so say it, so I will let this and the pictures do the talking for now and catch up in the next couple of days!

Howie & His Ear Infection

A hug for Dad

Searching for a tomato somewhere in the jungle of vines
A man with his dog, or the neighbor's dog, which is almost as good

This has been a rough last few days for Howie, who has fallen prey to an ear infection. He felt pretty feverish Monday afternoon, but seemed to feel better by bedtime. Later on I heard him moaning in his crib and went to check on him- he was acting kind of weird and breathing funny, so I picked him up and he promptly threw up on me. Oh, one of the greatest joys of motherhood. I took him into the bathroom and the poor little boy threw up some more. I felt so bad for him- he was just sobbing and clearly feeling terrible. Of course this would happen when Josh was at an evening class, so I was flying solo. I had to change his clothes, change my clothes, take his temperature, give him some medicine, gather the laundry, etc. It was pretty bad. Then obviously the clean-up, but we won't go there. Suffice it to say that I had a flash-back to our rotavirus runaround last May, which was horribly, horribly ugly.

Since then, he's doing a little bit better, but definitely hasn't been himself this week. I'm hoping that today he'll turn the corner. The last couple of days have been beautiful in St Louis- wouldn't you know it would be the 2 days out of the year that we're trapped in the house. One bright spot from yesterday was that Howie got to see Tommy, our neighbor Aaron's dog. Howie loves Tommy so much. In fact, I think that "dog" was one of his first words, largely due to Tommy's influence in his life. Howie's just begun to pet Tommy, which is always funny to see.

Hopefully next time I post our house will be infection free!

The Winterization of Howie

We are already teaching our child to do chores. It's a beautiful thing. Honestly Howie is probably more diligent about vacuuming than either of us are. I was talking to my precious friend Kelly this afternoon, and Howie insisted on vacuuming during that conversation as well. I guess he thought I should have been multi-tasking.

It's officially gotten cold in St Louis- the low tonight is 32 degrees. Even though I grew up in Illinois and thought freezing winters were old hat, somehow spending 2 years in Augusta has significantly thinned my blood, to the point where I am freezing at temperatures I previously would have scoffed at. Josh and I went for a walk yesterday, and there was a stiff breeze. I proceeded to put a decently heavy coat on top of my sweatshirt, and was still cold on our walk. I think my system is shocked by temperatures that would have been balmy before. Thanks to Augusta I am now a weather wimp. I will be huddling inside this winter. (But come to think about it, it's pretty cold in here too, since we don't want to run up the gas bill.)
In an effort to winterize Howie, the two of us went to the store the other day to get him a hat and mittens. He already has a coat that aunt Jennie gave him last Christmas that still fits for now, but needed a new hat and mittens. I put a few on him- I was surprised that he didn't put up more of a fight since he HATES hats. This is a side note, but let me tell you that putting his halloween costume on him is akin to making him eat sardines or something. He has a super cute horse costume that my wonderful friend Judy Ryan sent him a while ago, and I'm so excited for him to wear it, but it has a little hat with a mane and stuff that makes him look uber-horsey, and he HATES the hat. He screams bloody murder when I come near him with that hat. So I'm not sure how halloween will go down- "hey Howie, why don't you put this costume on that you hate and we'll go door to door in the cold to get candy that I won't let you eat so you'll have to give it all to me????" Don't think he'll go for that. Anyway, getting back to the hat shopping story, I picked out a fuzzy blue one with a funny pompom thing and put it on him, fully expecting the hat-drama-meltdown, but he was surprisingly mellow about this hat, and wonder of wonders, actually got upset when I took it off to pay for it. There's something about this hat that he really likes- he's since objected a few times when I've taken it off. Maybe somehow I can put the fun hat on and then slide the horse hat on top of it.

We wish you a warm and cozy evening from here in chilly St Louis- warm up with some hot chocolate or something.

This pic is from earlier today- Howie found this rod that goes in bottom of the sliding door and was carrying it around like the staff of Moses, and occasionally tapping the floor for effect. It was pretty funny!

Visit with Nana D., Haircut, etc... Plus Pumpkin Pie for Breakfast

Howie and Nana D, chilling outside
Howie sporting his new haircut- it's hard to get him to sit still for a pic anymore
Marching around the park, trucks in hand

Howie had a wonderful visit with Nana Desch over the weekend. We had such a good time! Some highlights were taking Howie to Target for a new pair of shoes which he's obsessed with, seeing the penguins at the zoo, eating Lamar's donuts, many rounds of truck playing, a haircut, and enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Forest Park. Come back soon, Nana!!

This is Howie eating pumpkin pie for breakfast this morning. An example of what happens when you don't go to the grocery store for a few days.

P.S.- I still have a perfect record going for keeping the dishes clean. What is this, 3 weeks now??

Who's Been In The Cookie Jar??

Photos To Go Along With the Long-Overdue Update Below

I'm horrible at blogger formatting, so I'm doing a separate post with pics and saving myself a headache!! Look below for the rest of this post.Howie sitting on his mama, with a pile of trucks for amusement

The New Howie: constantly on-the-go. Not even taking time to sit down for a drink.
Howie has commandeered one of the shelves on his level for his very own. He feels free to rearrange books when needed, leave his dice, trucks, and minibooks, and do whatever else he deems necessary.
Family pic from a recent trip to the zoo with Em, Rob, and cousin John!
The two babies having a ball at the zoo

Howie and Mama
Howie in the pumpkin patch! He loved visiting Tanner's Apple Orchard near my parents' house when we were there for a visit a few weeks ago.
Howie wanted badly to check out the pumpkins and would not stop for a pic with Mama, Grandma, and Cousin John.
A Man With His Toys... Howie, dice, trucks, and bowling pins. Those things make him a happy.

Long-Overdue Update

Well, this post is long-overdue. I've been wanting to post and intending to for a few weeks, but it seems like any free time I've had has been spent doing dishes, folding laundry, straightening up, or just being exhausted. Things in the Desch household are fine.

Here is video evidence of how quickly Howie is growing.
1. He now eats chips and salsa.

2. He dances on command, especially to the music played by this little basketball hoop owned by his cousin, John. As many of you know, it's important for Howie to develop the skill of dancing if he wants to be a fully integrated part of this family. And we don't consider style- just quantity. Howie's dancing looks more like he's performing a squat at the gym, but as long as he does much of it with pride, we don't care.

Things are busy, as usual, but there are some important updates which I will present below in a numbered list for your convenience.

1. Howie now calls ME (Betsy) "Dada" along with Josh. We have discovered in the last few weeks that "dada" now refers to a generic parent. From time to time, Josh will hold Howie, point to me, and ask Howie who I am. He always says "dada." I've never heard him say mama. It's pretty funny.

2. I have a perfect streak of one week going on not letting dishes pile up. If you have read this blog before, you've probably seen me wax eloquent on my struggles with keeping the kitchen clean. Josh and I finally got it spotless last Friday night and made a vow to each other to not go to bed without the dishes being done every night, without exception. I am proud to say that I've kept the dream alive, and we've been perfectly dish-less for one week and counting. I consider this to be one of the major accomplishments of our marriage (that and Howie). I have fought fatigue and apathy and have won every night thus far. I'll keep you posted.

3. Josh is in the throes of homework. Piles and piles of it.

4. I am enjoying watching my garden grow, although I would think that frost will be coming before too long. It's so satisfying to put seeds and little plants into the ground and watch something sprout up that is edible and/or beautiful! It's especially fun to cut some flowers for us to enjoy inside.

5. Howie is going through a serious truck phase. You would not believe it. He has added that word to his vocabulary (more like guck), and he points them out wherever he sees them... in books, on the road, in his toybox... it's funny! He's also really into cars, some cloth bowling pins that belong to his cousin John, any sort of book, magnets, etc. He's still loving carrying around spice and herb jars. The other day I handed him the jar of cinnamon to play with while I was cooking something, and he disappeared with it. When he returned, somehow the lid had fallen off and he had brown cinnamon stains all over his hands. I looked around the corner, and there was a huge pile of cinnamon on the floor. It was pretty funny, and spicy too.

Random Updates

Lots of updates, Friends! Let's get started.

Howie observes the fury of Hurricane Ike from the safety of his crib. Ike visited St Louis with a vengeance Sunday morning. I woke up at 6:00, and it was raining torrentially, and continued to do so for a few hours. I was amazed at the strength of the wind and how forcefully the rain was coming down! I can't even imagine what it was like when it came on land in Texas. Josh and I put Howie in his crib for a nap early Sunday morning- when I came in later to check on him, I found him standing up and looking out the window. No surprise when it's raining and howling that loud.
Poor Howie had some bad falls! He's had many falls since he's started walking, but this one was definitely the worst. There's nothing that makes you get that horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach like hearing your sweet baby's head go thunk right into the concrete outside. I no sooner picked him up and brushed him off than he fell again and hit in the same spot. Poor Howie. I watched him pretty closely for the next couple of hours, and he seemed OK. It's starting to look a little better now.
This is my most common view of Howie these days... clinging to my legs... he is seriously a mama's boy right now...

Howie getting ready to forage in the cabinets for some pots and pans to play with. The kitchen is one of his favorite places to play right now. Unfortunately for my ears, we have stainless steel pots and pans, which make quite a clatter when Howie throws his blocks or the refrigerator magnets in. But what the heck... if he's happy, I don't care.

My little nephew John just celebrated his first birthday this past weekend! It was a wonderful party! My sister Emily and brother-in-law Rob have just moved to the St Louis area this summer, so Howie and John (who are exactly 11 weeks apart) have been able to hang out a lot!! Their favorite things to do are chase each other, put fingers in each other's eyes, mouths, cheeks, etc., and take toys from each other. They're getting to be good friends!! Josh and I are so glad that Em and Rob are nearby.

Mom and the Birthday Boy
Below: the boys sporting their matching sweater vests!

Grandma allows Howie to pillage John's cake before the cutting... questionable, Grandma...
The frosting bandit
Dad, Birthday Boy, and Uncle Glenn, getting ready for the big candle blow-out
This would have been a great pic if Howie had been looking, but alas, the siren call of frosting was drowning out the voice of the photographer. Don't worry- Howie got his fair share of birthday cake and enjoyed every crumb.

Things have been pretty busy around here... Josh got sick, I got sick, Howie mysteriously remains unsick despite the prevalent sharing of everything in our household... gotta love that baby immunity!

This video is to prove that Howie's paci love is still alive and well.

Howie has always had a love for picking up random things and carrying them around. Even before he was walking, he loved to hold onto particular things... sometimes very weird things. When he was younger, he loved holding onto keys (predictable- what baby doesn't like keys?). Now he's moved onto bigger and better things, and keys hold no allure. You give him keys, and he will immediately throw them, as if to say, "While this used to be cool and interesting, I am waaay past it now." Just for fun, the other day I compiled a list of things I saw him pick up and carry around with him for a significant period of time. Those things include:

1. A small can of tomato paste.
   
2. A 2-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper, which, mind you, is half his size.


3. A small jar of medium-grind black pepper, as pictured below:



4. A jar of fennel seeds.


5. A jar of grill seasoning.


6. Some stuffed bowling pins in the shape of animals- in particular, the pig pin.


7. DICE-these are Howie's all-time favorite toy. Don't worry, all you moms out there- while they may be the ultimate choking hazard, I never let him put them in his mouth. Howie now knows on which shelf we store his dice, and he routinely stands under that shelf and whines until one of us grabs the pile for him.


8. Random books- his favorite one day was The Strong Willed Child, by James Dobson. Maybe that's a sign for me.


9. My shoes. He loves my Crocs and running shoes.


10. Fridge magnets. He was most taken with one that was heart-shaped, and one that resembled a horse.


11. A full-size basketball. As you can imagine, for someone his size to carry a normal basketball is like an adult carrying a horse. Talk about heavy!!
    

Howie's developing these funny little idiosyncrasies that make us laugh so much!! It's fun to see him growing and changing.

We've recently gotten a home phone for a couple of reasons: a. we are unimpressed with cell phones and wary of their long-term effects, and b. I hate holding them up to my head for any length of time, and I find speakerphone annoying. Anyway, I called AT&T to get everything set up a couple of months ago, and somehow my name was recorded as Betsy Besch. Funny, but wrong. Lo and behold, a few days after our phone was hooked up, we started receiving random phone calls for Betsy Besch. Obviously I could tell instantly that they were telemarketers since any real friend knows my last name, so I was able to bring most of those conversations to a close pretty quickly. My favorites were when telemarketers claimed that they had been given my name by a friend, but still called me Betsy Besch... I'm happy to say that we have now been placed on the Do Not Call Registry.

These are some pictures from our trip to Branson, MO, a couple of weekends ago with my parents, my sister Carrie, and my sister Emily and little John.

We had some big rain in the middle of the day, but it turned out to be pretty nice after all. The little boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

There you go- a snapshot of what's been going on here lately!! Have a great day!