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

Remodel - Kitchen

When Liz and I decided to buy this home, we were able to see it, not with actual eyes set in reality, but with remodel goggles on. We saw the home for what we want it to look like one day.

People always say how much work goes into buying a house. Up until recently, I hadn't really felt the same way. Sure there were a lot of papers to sign, but it wasn't that bad.

Then we moved in.

If we left everything the way we found it, we would be able to survive pretty well. It would have been a little smelly and quite outdated.

Well, I decided that I would rip everything out of the kitchen and get it ready to put in new cabinets and things. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. What I failed to realize is that everything I take out of the kitchen, needs to go somewhere. So, while I'm ripping things off the walls and moving appliances, I realize that they have to go somewhere. Now, our fridge and stove are hanging out in the living room and all of the broken cupboards (broken because it was just more fun) are in the dining room.

Time for some visuals. Kitchen as it was before we moved in.

And the kitchen as of Saturday.

Along with finding only what I hope is a greasy film on everything, I found a few things that are cause for concern.

Water damage.

I believe this looks like a fire hazard. This is what the oven hood was wired in to.


Needless to say, this isn't turning out to be as lemon squeezy as I thought. It's definitely going to be a slow process, but the results should be worth it. I just hope I don't burn the place down in the process.

Jesse

Puppy Update

Quick update on the puppy.

First: We have decided that his name shall be Duke. Duke Michael Duckett. Thanks Sarah Paul for the suggestion. You win. :)

Second: Duke got really sick last week. He had contracted Parvo. Parvo is a super serious disease that affects puppies before they've received all of their vaccinations. Parvo is transmitted through fecal matter. we believe he contracted it from the "common pet area" at the condo. There are a lot of owners who were not picking up after their dogs. I've written a very stern note for these owners. However, it would not be very Jesus of me. Puppies that are diagnosed with Parvo are given a 50% chance of survival if it is caught soon enough. Essentially Parvo causes the dogs to die from dehydration. Duke was taken into the vet last Thursday morning and ended up staying the next two nights. It was a pretty tough time for us. As if we needed anymore things to land in our lap at one time. It's amazing how quickly something can grab a hold of your heart strings.

Third: Duke is doing great!! We got to bring him home Saturday evening. He's back to his normal hyper self and eating his food as though there are still 9 other puppies trying to steal it from him.

I don't have a picture of him from before his vet stay, but here is one the day before we took him in.

Oh, he's the brown lump in the shopping cart.

Jesse

The New Member

Friends and family, we'd like to introduce the newest member of our quickly growing family.

I'd tell you his name, but honestly, we haven't come up with anything we really love. So right now we just call him Puppy. Sometimes Liz calls him Baby but then I get really confused when I'm trying to figure out which baby just bit her or which baby is kicking. Seems easy, but I can be easily confused.

So if you have any suggestions for names, we'd love to hear them.

Here are some pretty adorable pics:



We really debated on when we should get him. We wanted to get him asap because, i mean, look how completely adorable he is, but we also wanted to wait until we finished moving. But we decided on the impulsive approach and picked him up from my parents house Saturday evening.

We figure that having the puppy will help Porter adjust to having something small around the house before the human baby comes. And, considering that Porter is going to lose a fair amount of attention, now he'll have someone to play with and talk behind our backs with. As much as we would have liked to say that getting the puppy was for Porter's benefit, Liz and I have sure learned a valuable lesson about whining and crying (sometimes screaming banshee style) in the middle of the night. Turns out that having this puppy now, is great practice for these to-be parents.

We had this great little rotation going on Sunday night where I would get up with the puppy, then Liz would. Then I would. Then Liz would. It worked out pretty perfectly, minus the not sleeping part. It's like we had this sixth sense about who's turn it was. Perfection. Turns out, it was not as smooth of a process as I realized. I guess Liz got up twice as many times as I did and I slept straight through the majority of the crying. I think Liz is more prepared for parenthood than I am.

Maybe we can just call him iPuppy, then upgrade him to iDog.

Even if sleeping has been better. This little guy sure is adorable. We're very happy.

Jesse

Fun With Pets

Here are a few cool pictures we took of our hairy children.

Samson really like to drink out of anything with water in it. Especially the fish bowl. So we fille dup this mug and he is constantly drinking out of it. I think he uses this mug more than the water bowl that is next to his food. Sam hearts NY.

I think this is just a right time, right place kind of picture. Liz was holding out the mound of hair that she had just brushed out of Porter and it look slike he really feels bad about it.

Jesse

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!

That's right boys and girls. Liz and I are homeowners!! We closed on a house in Pacific last Thursday the 12th.

Here is a picture of our new casa:

There is a lot of work to be done, but we believe that this is the house that is most perfect for us. Perfect size, perfect for the dog and cat. Perfect for us to raise a child/children.

We are very excited about all the years of memories that we get to start in this home.

Jesse

Fun With Urinals

I'm not sure why I notice these things or why, when I notice these things, I chuckle to myself, try to figure out why the builders decided to do this, and then snap a picture.

Below are two pictures that I took while inside public restrooms. The first is one that I took in a movie theater. You may not find these as strange or amusing as me, but that's why these will be listed under RANDOM musings. :)

Theater:

Restaurant:

Again, I'm not exactly sure why I find pictures of super low urinals so amusing/perplexing, I just do.

Jesse

Adios Appendix

First of all, I would like to say thank you to all of you who were praying for me during my surgery and for the outcome of the results.

For those of you new to this, I had a colonoscopy done a while back and the doctors found a mass that was growing out of my appendix. Lucky for me that appendixes... appendi... appendixys... the plural for appendix, are overrated and no longer neccessary for daily function. So, thoe doctors decided to take it out.

Unfortunately, they wanted to take it out the day before our youth group was to leave on a two week mission trip to Mexico. Fortunately they said I could postpone the surgery until after I got back, crossing my fingers that it didn't explode on some random dirt road in the middle of nowhere. In case, you were wondering, it didn't. I made it home safe and sound and then found out that two days after my return, I was scheduled to have it taken out. I spent two weeks at home recovering from the surgery. I don't think I got out of the bed for the first three. Quite an ordeal. Getting stabbed three time in the belly sure takes a toll.

Two weeks after the surgery, I went in for a follow-up and was told that everything looks like it's healing fine and that the results that came back from my appendix were negative for anything bad. Oh Happy Day!!

So, now with a clean bill of health and my stomach almost back to normal (minus my belly button looking a bit deforemed), I am ready to get back to reality. We have a house to move in to, a house to repair, a baby to prepare for, and I have a wife to look after. Oh yeah, and there's work and school too.

Prayer for the remainder of my recovery to speed up so that I can get back to taking care of my love and my duties would be much appreciated.

Jesse

7 Weeks Worth of Being Preggo Updates

The last time we updated this blog with preggo stuff, we were in the eleventh week and the baby was the size of a fig. It was just starting to move it's arms and legs around.

We are now at week 18 and there has been a lot of change. First a comparision picture for you. Here is Liz when she was at week 7.

Now we have a current picture of Liz at week 18.

Quite a difference and still just as cute as ever. And it's only going to keep going. Before I get into some of the fun things that we (mostly she) has been experiencing (enduring), let's take a quick trip down Development Lane and see all the different comparrisons our baby has gone through and how big it is now.

Week 12 - Lime

Week 13 - Medium Shrimp

Week 14 - Lemon

Week 15 - Apple

Week 16 - Avocado

Week 17 - Turnip (I appreciate the LOST reference, even though I'm sure it wasn't on purpose)

Week 18 - Bell Pepper

Now, I could make a joke about how this picture obviously represents what the gender of our baby will be, but I won't go there :)

We actually don't know what the sex of our child is yet. We assumed we were going to find out at our last doctor's appointment, but only ended up hearing the heartbeat. Which, don't get me wrong, is still pretty awesome. Here is a picture.

Probably one of the coolest things that has happened since the beginning of the pregnancy (excluding just how awesome and amazing our God is to construct an entire human being is such an itty bitty space) is that the animals seem to know. Samson does much more cuddling and the other day, Porter climbed right up on Liz's lap and cuddled with her belly. It was quite adorable.

He sat there for a while too. Just hanging out and watching TV. Other great things thta have happened is that Liz has been able to feel the baby moving around inside of her for a few weeks. Over the last week, I have actually begun to be able to feel some of the larger movements. It is definitely a wild experience for me, and even more wild and crazy for Liz. I'll never know what that feels like. Not that I'm advocating for some way to know. Liz is stronger than I am. This has been proven over the course of this prgnancy. I KNOW that I would not be able to do this. Especially considering the heartburn, sleepless nights, exhaustion, mood swings, and the stretching of all those muscles and ligaments. I'd be in constant tears. Liz is an amazingly strong woman. Our child is very lucky.

She bought me a book yesterday so that, while there's not much I can do now, I'll know what to do when the baby arrives.

I'm going to be one prepared daddy.

Prayer Request: We have our next doctor's appointment on the 31st of August. This will be where they examine all of the baby's organs and bones and just give the baby a throurough once over. (as long as the baby isn't being modest, we should also be able to find out the gender!!) Please join us in prayer that everything will go smoothly. And hopefully we'll have some great gender news for you.

Thanks.

Jesse

More Apologies

Yes, I owe more apologies. I'm not entirely sure how many people frequent this blog of ours, but I'm sure that the two of you have wondered what the heck happened. We were doing great with updates and all that jazz, then hit a little bit of writers block, then came back with a huge update and then dissappeared for a month or so.

The biggest deterant from blogging was the two weeks we spent in Mexico and then returning and having surgery and being out of it for two more weeks.

So, I'm sorry we've been lacking in the update department, but we are looking to rectify this and put together an update with the major things that are going on.

Such things will be; the prgnancy (currently in progress), our trip to Mexico to be a part of SERVE 2010, and my surgery.

OH!! And we bought a house!!!

Jesse

Porter - A Collection

is is going to be a post dedicated to my dog, Porter. He is awesome. There's really not much more to say. I'll just have to show you.

Here is something new that he picked up. Since I haven't figured out out to embed my iPhone videos straight to the blog, I have snapshots that I'll be able to give you a play by play.

He sits next to me and I show him his favorite toy (the tennis ball). Then, I politely ask him to stay.

I chuck his ball to the opposite side of the play area. He stays.

He watches the ball fly away.

Then I wait for Porter to ask me if he can go get it. He has a way of speaking with his eyes.

After we stare at each other for a little bit. I release him to get the ball. And he wasts no time.


And he finds it and is on his way back.

Now he's ready for more.

What a cool dog.

Here are some other pictures that I've taken that continue in this theme of awesomeness.

Sticking with the idea that the tennis ball is his favorite toy ever, here are some shots of him just staring at it. Trying to will it into his mouth.



Liz bought him a tire. This is possibly the best dog toy ever.

These are just some other cool pictures I managed to catch.




I love this dog.

Jesse