A New Direction

Ok, it's not really that new of a direction, but I am jumping out of my comfort zone and attempting a few things this year that I normally would avoid at all cost.

First up: The Big Climb

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

69 flights of stairs

1,311 steps

788 feet of vertical elevation

The Big Climb is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Washington/Alaska Chapter's largest fundraiser. All proceeds go towards LLS' mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families. They're looking for 6,000 people who are up for the challenge! If you're interested, click here.

I'm joining a team of a few friends to take on the monstrous challenge. To prepare, I've been walking up and down our stairs, at home, with Ryan. It's been a long time since walking that many stairs and after Ryan had long passed out, my legs were a bit wobbly.

This is a fundraiser. If you're interested in joining us in LLS' mission, stay tuned. I'll have donating information up soon.

Next: Ragnar Relay - Northwest Passage

PICTURE THIS: Running a relay race through the Seattle area, starting near the border of Canada and winding south, all the way down to Whidbey Island. This running event will push you and 11 pals, day and night, through 187 miles of stunning Washington scenery. Starting in the seaside town of Blaine, your team will head south through farm country and along the coast, ultimately crossing over Deception Pass. (copied for the website)

This is, by far, the largest and scariest endeavor that I have signed up for. Especially considering that I hate, no, I loathe running. I'm not very good at it, and it's just not fun. I mean, who, in their right mind, run for any other reason than being chased?? Well, apparently, I am going to join the crazies and run my tail off.

Each member will run three legs of this relay. I have the 5th leg. First run is 5.9 miles, second is 3.4 miles, and the final leg, that I run, will be 6.5 miles. There was the option to pick an easier route, but I am really looking to push myself. I started training for this about a month and a half ago, but have taken a month off when by baby boy arrived. Today will actually mark getting back on that horse and letting it rip.

Unlike the Big Climb, the Ragnar race is set up just for fun. It's not designed as a fundraiser. However, our team will be running in conjunction with Team World Vision. World Vision works with communities in desperate need to help provide things like clean water, nutritious food, education, medical care, and economic opportunities in Africa. I have a personal page set up here for you to read more about what it means to donate to World Vision.

If you have questions about donating to either of these causes, please feel free to give me a call or leave a comment.

Jesse

You Might Have Guessed...

This is super old news by now, but we had a baby!! Yep, that's right. His name is Ryan Joel and he's gorgeous. He was born January 3, 2011 at 1:03. I'm having a hard time posting any pictures right now, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Imagine the cutest thing you've ever seen. Now imagine that there's something just a little bit cuter than what you know. That's how cute my son is.

So, there you have it.

He's awesome.

Now that I'm back at work, hopefully I'll be able to update this more. And hopefully I'll get this picture thing figured out. Cause really, if you haven't already seen him, you are missing out.

Oh, and happy 1 month my son. Daddy loves you!

Jesse

Indecisive/Contemplative Nesting & Meet Phillip

Indecisive/Contemplative Nesting:

Yesterday I may have been nesting. Or, I was just being woman. :) While starting to pack our hospital bag and get our car seat set up I washed majority of Ryan's newborn clothes and a few of his receiving blankets. I couldn't decide on which ones to pack as his 'coming home outfits' so I instead placed them neatly in a basket while maintaining a smile on my face. I wonder if the hospital will let me bring the whole basket in addition to our hospital bag.

Last night I also ended up vacuuming, washing all the dishes and cleaning the stainless steal. Doesn't sound like much, but this is after totally having a crying my eyes blow out from the worst sciatic nerve pain experienced so far and Jesse asking me if I feel like I'm in control. Jesse was making sure I'm feeling enough healthy control while still maintaining the "teamwork" & good communication in our relationship. I started to unintentionally planning 'our' time without checking in with Jesse. I had also been thinking out loud about a lot of protective ideas I have been contemplating (moving to obsessing over) lately. i.e. Can sick people hold my newborn?, How much space will I be able to have with our baby when he is born?, How do I communicate/know boundaries with visitors that we want Ryan to see/meet? Will the puppy barking really disturb baby Ryan? Because that won't go over well with me.) It's easy for me to let my mind take me away. I am so thankful I have a husband who also has a grounded foundation in Christ. As a woman it is essential for me to hear loving correction and know the difference between healthy reality and runaway train thoughts. The feelings and thoughts are real and are how I am feeling, but are they true, right and healthy? Over all, are the thoughts/feelings reassuring who I am in Christ or feeding into an unhealthy 'old Liz' or who 'Liz thinks she needs to be'? I'm thankful for these occasional check ins.

The last one being rather humorous when I was yet again having another emotional night (happening more often through out the pregnancy) where hubby could be gentle for only so long. He eventually lovingly told me to stop the 'Woe is me' insecure Liz because I will one day drive our kids insane. I'll tell you! That's exactly what I needed! Unhealthy thoughts killed instantly.

Now on a lighter note....

Meet Phillip:

Jesse fell in love with a stuffed animal that plays music at Target the other day. We bought it and Jesse named him Phillip. I think he is perfect. Phillip is super soft. Ryan will fall asleep to Phillip many nights. Phillip brings out a very soft and melty side of both me and Jesse. We like Phillip. Hopefully Ryan will too.

Week 35

Well! It has been some time since we have blogged! Life has been really busy and challenging but has been super sweet. Jesse and I are constantly growing closer and closer as well as growing more as our own persons! I'm finishing up my 35th week of pregnancy and I'm ready for this kid!

Ryan has a ton of clothes, toys, books, blankets and hygiene products thanks to the few baby showers and various gifts we have received. I'm having a hard time picking what to use as his "coming home" outfit. Thank you to everyone for everything. Hopefully, we will be able to focus and get Thank You cards out...which would be an accomplishment because we are TERRIBLE at getting them done and actually in the mail.

We were in Target the other day and Jesse nearly teared up when he saw a super soft stuffed giraffe that played a soft lullaby. Jesse then held it up to my belly for Ryan to hear and told Ryan he was going to fall asleep to it a lot. My heart felt lots of happy fuzzy feelings as I watched my husband bond with the baby in my belly. When it comes to labor, I think I'm most excited to see Jesse hold Ryan Joel for the first time. I'm of course excited to hold him in my arms, but I have been holding and bonding with his every move for some time. Jesse hasn't. I'll probably cry.

Sometimes I swear baby Ryan thinks he is a ninja. One of his favorite things to do is to push on my ribs as hard as he can until his feet pop off over and over. It hurts, but I think I've gotten used to it...Or I just am a push over and let him do it because he loves it so much.

Jesse has been painting and working on Ryan's room quite a bit (as well as the rest of the house). It's almost all painted. Jesse has to fix a leak in the roof and put the floors down. Once that is done we can purchase his bedroom set!

A few things I have learned after 35 weeks of pregnancy:

*Parts of my body will never look the same. Thankfully, I'm now a mom with a loving husband so I don't really have a need to show this body off...He already loves it.
*Having a painful pelvis is pretty much the norm. (At least during pregnancy)
*Getting a flu shot does not protect you from the flu. I happened to get a strain that the shot didn't cover.
*Pain experienced after getting a foot stomped on while playing competitive soccer in the middle of winter in the snow DOES NOT compare to the pain after spending too much time on my feet while pregnant.
*I can do a lot more than I thought I could when feeling so sick during the morning sickness phase.
*Sciatic nerve pain keeps life interesting.
*Getting over gas phobias after getting married is solved by pregnancy. You kind of have to get over it.
*Even after all the aches and pains, cooking a little boy is an experience so cool words can not explain it.

I'll be trying to post more pictures and details about all the different things happening more often now that I am a professional stay at home pregnant chick. I have lots of time on my hands and little ability to do a lot. :)

Ryan Joel Duckett

This morning was a great morning!

Liz had her 20 week doctor's appointment. This is the visit where the technician comes in and measures all of the baby's organs and bones and things. It was a longer than usual appointment, but totally worth it.

They had two monitors set up. One for the technician to work from, and then a larger screen next to the bed so that Liz could have an up close view of the child that she is carrying. It was quite amazing. Watching our child squirm away from the tech was simply great. To see something that contains part of your own genetic code, swimming around in there was almost enough to bring out a tear.

Then we came to this view:

The tech asked us if we had any guesses to the gender of the baby. We had no clue, besides some old wives tales that we'd heard. I must have looked away for a moment, because I had no idea what part of the body he had stopped on. I also had no idea he was zoomed in that close. (honestly, it's amazing what these techs can see. I saw clouds and some stuff that looked like cream of mushroom soup) He pointed out the bladder (the small black circle in the middle) and then, sure as day, there it was. Just to the left of the small black circle, looking like a party hat, was the defining characteristic of his gender!!

IT'S A BOY!!!

A while back we had decided on a names for both a boy and a girl. We are proud to say that you have just seen a picture of our son, Ryan Joel Duckett. Ryan comes from my middle name and Joel is the name of our brother.

What an exciting time!! Of course, now Liz will be surrounded by testosterone. But she will be what makes our existence at home smelling sweet, tasting terrific, and 37 tons better, just because she's the woman that she is. We're all a lucky bunch of guys over at the Duckett Camp.

Jesse