The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Friends, being pregnant is unlike anything I've ever done. Allow me to elaborate.

In some ways, being pregnant is the BEST of times.

• A fun bump keeps growing and growing.
• You get to be excited about a baby coming.
• You get to put really cute baby things in your house.
• You get to feel a miniature human being moving inside of your belly. That is beyond description.
• You get to consume extra calories for the sake of the baby's growth and well-being.
• You often get to be the one in the group who picks where you go out to eat, because people know pregnant women are weird about food.

In some ways, being pregnant is the WORST of times.

• You have KILLER heartburn all the time. I mean KILLER.
• Your feet, legs, and hands swell really bad. I officially have cankles, something I've never, ever wanted. (You know, where your ankles just sort of run into your calves and you can't tell the difference.)
• You sometimes panic when you're trying to sleep, realizing that a baby is coming and is going to change your life forever... did we make a bad decision??? Should we start contacting adoption agencies? (Don't worry, this one always passes.)
• You have to sleep on your side, which gets old and also leads to backaches.
• You endure endless poking and prodding by the hands of your doctor and nurses.
• Early on, foods you once loved make you want to throw up.
• You have to go to the bathroom every 20 minutes. Josh and I are driving to Dallas in 3 weeks for my sister's wedding... I already feel sorry for him. "Baby, can you pull over again?"

We are sooo very excited about Baby Desch's arrival, which is supposed to be 2 months from today!! Pregnancy has been fun, and I've had it easy compared to what a lot of women experience.

We had a wonderful, busy weekend!! More on that to come!!

When Child Acting Starts Too Young: "I don't get paid enough for this!"

Betsy and I burst out laughing the first time we saw the picture (above) we have put on this post. I, especially, have become very interested in this picture. The reason is because the baby in this picture is supposed to be . . . well, just that, a baby! Instead, this baby in this picture has the most fake, un-babylike, I've been acting for 20 years smile I have ever seen. The baby in this picture is advertising for a product that functions like a bookbag, except that instead of books you can hall your baby around with you. There were similar products to the one this baby was advertising for, and they all featured a baby on the front that actually looked like a baby. Anyone who has ever seen a natural baby smile knows what to look for. The baby looks genuinely happy and oblivious to the fact that anyone is taking a picture. The baby in this picture looks like he's been on the set for about 4 hours and that he's on outtake number 43, and that he is ready to collect his paycheck and go home and relax on his Lazyboy. Simply put, the baby in this photo appears to be smiling for the camera, which is just weird, because babies aren't supposed to know what's going on. Notice also that the baby has perfectly parted hair and a old man sweater on. A sweater!!! Is this a baby I'm looking at or Bob Barker from the Price is Right ?? Anyway, like I said, kids are getting into acting way to young these days. Either that, or this kid has been modified by a computer to look like a 40 year old professional actor. Either way, you've got to laugh when you look at this picture.

Also, check out our flickr

Announcement: Amazing Weekend on the Horizon

We've got an incredible weekend coming up here, Folks. For starters, my mom, Aunt Martha, and Grandma are coming into Augusta tonight!! WOOP!! Can we get a "that's going to be amazing" please??? We haven't seen them since Thanksgiving, so that will obviously be wonderful. My sister Jennie is flying into Atlanta tonight and she, my sister Marnie, and her fiance Chris are coming to Augusta tomorrow!! Then comes Sunday... Josh is preaching in church on Exodus 7, and in the afternoon we've got a couples baby shower for Baby Desch!! So pretty much this weekend is going to be amazing. We're sooo excited to see my family!

We finally got our rears in gear last night and put away the last of our stuff in our apartment. It looks wonderful! Josh took some pictures to document the orderliness of it all, since we're too realistic to think that it will stay like this for long.

I'm beginning to realize how good I had it in school in so many ways. To put it bluntly, working is just not all it's cracked up to be. I mean, think about school. Yeah you have to bust your butt studying and writing and cramming, but the schedule is great... you're not really in class for that long each day, you get these amazing breaks for Christmas and summer, etc. I'm really jealous of the youth because they're looking forward to summer break. Hello??? I need a summer break!! I've put in a solid 2 years to the work force and I'm ready for some TIME OFF. Like at least 3+ months. Now you might say, "Well, Betsy, aren't you quitting your job when Baby Desch arrives?" And to that I'd be forced to say, "Actually, yes." But that's not the point!! I wouldn't know since I've never done it, but I doubt staying home with a teensy baby is much of a summer break. I'm talking about the kind where you have nothing to do but sit on the porch, lick melting popsicles, ride your bike down the street to your friend's house, catch fireflies, play red light-green light-dynamite blue, get really sweaty running around, put on your swimsuit and run through the sprinkler, find the hose to be THE source of entertainment and refreshment, lay in bed really sticky-sweaty with a fan blowing on you to read a book, go to swimming lessons, fry your buns on really hot car seats, etc. THAT'S the kind of summer I'm ready for!! Heck, I'm re-taking my childhood by storm!! Who's with me?? That was such an amazing time of life and I didn't even know it. Why can't there be some kind of rewind thing where you could re-do all of those activities and appreciate them like you would now?

Well, Friends, have a marvelous weekend!

Violence in America: Reflections on the VT Massacre

Like everyone else, I was shocked by the massacre that happened just a few days ago a Virginia Tech. The number of people killed on wounded by one person with two handguns is simply staggering. 33 people dead; at least another 16 wounded - all with multiple gunshot wounds. On an experiental level, its hard to believe this could happen. Nonetheless, on a intellectual level - and this is the really scary part - its NOT hard to believe this could happen once one spends a little time in reflection.

After all, this is America, where a resident alien can buy two handguns and lots of ammunition just because he had a drivers license and no crimal record, even though he had been investigated for stalking and wrote extremely disturbing plays in an English class. This is America, where our movies and video games glorify violence, and you would have to live in a cave to actually be shocked by a murder you saw on a TV show. We have all become desensitived. Me and Bets' favorite show is 24, like millions and millions of other people. And even know we like this show for reasons other than the violence, its hard to have an episode go by where someone doesn't get shot. This is America, where the homicide rates is way higher than other first world and Western nations

I love America, don't get me wrong. As far as I know, its the greatest country in the world. We have a lot of freedoms and a lot of money. Still, we need to come to grips with the fact that America is a violent country. I don't know how much American culture contributed to this young man's horrible rampage, but I do know this: there will other crazies who do this in the future. In my relatively short life I have witnessed Columbine, the two Virginia/DC area snipers who terrized that area for months, and now Virginia Tech.

What's so scary about these killing sprees is that they don't have a direct or obvious motivation. By that, I mean these people were not fighting for a cause, something I believed in with all their heart. Nor were they fighting for a country, or a movement such as the abolition of slaves, like John Brown in 1856 in Kansas. (below: John Brown)


It seems that these killings were motivated by extremely distrubed individuals with a love of violence - end of story. I almost wish they were fighting for something they believe in, because the killings would make more sense in my mind, but instead were are left only with questions.

Bringing it all home. I think this tragic event has reminded us all of how much people need Jesus. God ordains all things, but from a human perspective, the only thing that definately would have stopped this guy from doing this is the power of the gospel. This guy was lost; he was confused and angry at life. Only the love of Jesus seen on the cross could ultimately have provided the answers this guy was looking for. Is our culture violent? Sure. But gun control (and we could use a little) and secular counseling on our college campuses is not going to solve the problem. People need Jesus; lets show Him to them.

Baby Desch, World Traveler

Today I had one of my first "I'm-Almost-A-Parent" moments. Josh is leading a missions trip to Canada this summer from July 14-21. There are 6 youth going, and then one other adult, who is not me since Baby Desch will have only just made his/her appearance. Seeing as Josh will be gone for a week, I'm not too keen on me and Baby Desch hanging out at our apartment alone for a week. Too lonely! So the two of us are going to fly home to Peoria while Josh is gone. I was on airtran.com today trying to buy the ticket (you only have to buy one when traveling with an infant because he/she can just sit on your lap. Hopefully I will not regret this. I have no desire to be the one that everyone hates on the flight with the screaming baby.), and I checked the box for "traveling with an infant?". The next screen asked for the baby's name, sex, and birthdate. This was problematic because I didn't know any of these. I tried to put in a fake name with the due date as the birth date, but evidently you're not allowed to travel with a baby who hasn't been born yet. I decided that I would just go ahead and age Baby Desch a bit... so by the time we take that flight he'll probably be in the books as about 4 months old. I don't think it really matters- I think they just want to be sure that the baby isn't over 2 years, or whatever the cutoff age is for when you actually have to buy the baby his or her own seat. If it does matter for some reason, then I'll look for a tired, apathetic checker-inner who probably wouldn't know a 1 year old from a newborn. But it was funny signing up my yet-unborn child for his/her first flight.

Josh left yesterday for a Presbytery meeting in Savannah, where he was supposed to officially go under care of the Presbytery. I was lonely last night but used the time to attack the mountain range of dishes in our kitchen, so that was good. I turned on the TV for some friendly noise and washed dishes during the commercials. Yet again another contestant fell prey to the greedy desire for more money on Deal or No Deal and ended up walking away with a measley amount compared to what she could have had. I shook my head in an I-told-you-you-would-pick-the-big-case- sort of way. Then 24 came on... a little Jack Bauer is good for everyone.

I'm really into sweet tea right now. I don't know if that's an official sign that I've embraced my current situation in life as a Southerner, but sweet tea is really good. I just learned how to make it on my own. Homemade sweet tea is wonderful. It's also kind of bad because you see just how much sugar establishments like Chick Fil-A must be putting in their sweet tea to make it taste like that. Trust me, you can dump tablespoon after tablespoon for a disturbingly long time, and it's still not going to taste like that.

OK, I guess that's all for now. Have a wonderful day!!

It's Monday... Sigh.

Josh and I had a wonderful weekend. Yesterday was his birthday!! WOOP!! We had such a great time! We had church and Sunday School, went to lunch at the Pizza Joint... let me pause here to say something funny. If you've ever eaten pizza with anyone from my family, you know that we all like green peppers on our pizza. It's a pretty incredible combo. So I ordered a piece of pizza with green peppers. When the pizza came out, I looked on my lunch with horror... it was covered in BANANA peppers. Not my little green friends, but some horrible, fluorescent yellow imposters. I will readily admit that I am a picky person, and banana peppers just do NOT have a place in my limited repertoire of allowable foods. So we talked to the lady serving us when she came back to see how it was going, and Josh said, "I think my wife ordered green peppers..." The lady said "They're not the spicy ones." It was really uncomfortable for a minute there. Clearly the peppers were not GREEN. They were in fact a disturbing shade of YELLOW. But we didn't want to be rude and insist that they indeed were not green peppers, so we said it was fine and let her go. I think that lady is not a pepper eater, because it seems like she only had two categories... spicy and not spicy. But it turned out OK. We also got to relax for much of the afternoon, which was wonderful. Over all Josh had an amazing birthday, I'd say. We went to our church small group, which we LOVE, and then came home only to find that one of our favorite shows was on, Deal or No Deal. Gotta love that Howie with his bald head. The lady on last night could have walked away with $170,000, but instead she kept picking cases because a $2,000,000 case was still out there... she picked the 2 million on her next turn, and the offer from the banker went down to $7,500. From $170,000 to $7,500. Did she make a bad choice or what??? She ended up with a measley $15,000. Now listen, if someone came up to me in the middle of the street and offered me $15,000, I'd be OVERJOYED. But when you had the chance to take home $170,000, it doesn't look like much. Josh and I have perfected our idea of when to walk away, and we can't wait to go on. I think that's how the Lord is going to provide for seminary. NBC is going to indirectly fund the work of God's kingdom.

We went to our OB this morning for a check up, and let me tell you, folks- this baby is starting to get kind of pushy!! He/she was kicking me sooo hard this morning! Maybe he/she knows there's only about 10 weeks to go, and he/she's getting antsy. I had a test for gestational diabetes this morning, which meant I had to fast since late last night. Josh got up and decided that he wanted to eat leftovers from Outback Steakhouse, where we met my sister Marnie and her precious fiance Chris on Saturday night for dinner. (That dinner was phenomenal- the food was delicious and the company of course delightful. We love those two sooo much!!) So Josh put a steak in the microwave to have for breakfast, and I ate nothing. That was pretty funny. By the time we got to the doctor's office, I was sooo thirsty. The nurse drew some blood and then gave me this juice to drink that was like Hawaiian Punch on speed, with lots more sugar, but it tasted amazing. I slurped it all down. Yum. Not eating or drinking for even a short time makes you so grateful for food and drinks! Baby Desch is doing fine!! The nurse had a hard time pinning him/her down to listen to the little heartbeat, but he/she finally succumbed to the examination.

So that's our report. It was a wonderful weekend and an eventful day. We posted some new pictures on flickr, so be sure to take a look!!!!

Funny Pregnancy Issue

Today Josh and I were having lunch together at the picnic tables outside of the county library, which is a beautiful, sunny spot. Today is a gorgeous day in Augusta- all remnants of the chilly weather we had last weekend and earlier this week are gone! So there we were, eating lunch peacefully- it was sooo good- and then I got the feeling that I needed to blow my nose. So I grabbed a paper towel that we had brought for a napkin, and lo and behold, the floodgates opened and my nose started bleeding like crazy. I've never had a nose bleed in my life, so I was a little bit at a loss to know what to do. It just kept coming and coming, through the two paper towels that we had, then into the huge wad of toilet paper Josh ran in and got from the bathroom. It dripped onto my shirt (which thankfully was black) and a little onto the ground. Then it miraculously quit! All of the sudden the bloody torrent stopped. Now "torrent" may be a bit melodramatic, but for someone who has never had a nosebleed, ever, this was a strange experience. I learned that nosebleeds can be very common in pregnancy because your blood vessels change in order to get blood to the baby easily, and your blood volume also increases to accomodate the extra person inside. I'll know for next time to just get some paper towels and blot away.

Josh and I recently watched a documentary on kids who go to the national spelling bee in Washington D.C. We were amazed by these kids. They all studied spelling words for several hours each day. One kid's parents hired a spelling coach who worked with him daily for 3 or 4 hours. The same kid's grandpa paid people to chant and meditate during the national spelling bee in hopes of improving his grandson's performance. He said if his grandson won, he would pay to feed 1,000 hungry people in India. How's that for pressure? The well-being of 1,000 people rests on my ability to spell ridiculous words that no normal person would ever even hear of, much less use, much less know how to spell. I've gotta say, some of these kids were crazy nerdy. Not that all people who love to spell are nerdy, but I think they got a good representation of the nerd community. The documentary is called "Spellbound" if you're ever interested. It was really good.

Josh and I don't have much planned for this weekend. It's going to be nice to relax. We're still trying to find places for some things in our apartment, so we'll see how that goes.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!!!! HAPPY TAXES!!!!! GOOD OLD UNCLE SAM!!!!!