8 weeks to go!

Caleb is getting less hairy as all of his baby body fuzz starts to fall off this week. I’m still pretty convinced we’re going to have a baldy. He’s about 4 pounds and 16 1/2 inches long. I’ve only seen the vegetable of the week, a jicama, at Sweet Tomatoes all cut up, so I have no clue what a real one looks like. He’s also supposed to be gaining a half pound a week now and me a pound.

Last week I was getting concerned because I hadn’t gained any weight in about three weeks and he was measuring a little small. I kept looking at my 7 month picture and thinking that I didn’t look any different. But between Friday and Sunday, we both must have had a growth spurt because I gained three pounds and my belly gained about 3 inches. As you can see, I look noticeably different today, I even got a few of those lovely “are you sure there aren’t two in there?” comments at church. Sigh.

Today I had a few 20% off coupons for Babies R Us that are about to expire and a little extra cash on me. I couldn’t pass up a fun shopping spree at my new favorite store. Of all the great and wonderful things I could have bought I ended up with…. a breast pump. Seriously, I shocked myself to be so excited about getting something that could easily be mistaken for a torture device. But it’s on my list of immediate things we need to have before the baby’s here and I think I can muster up some courage to use that thing if I get used to seeing it in the closet for a few more weeks.

As far as his breech position goes, I’m afraid this poor baby has inherited his mother’s aweful sense of direction. Last Tuesday we found out he was transverse and he stayed that way for a few days. I was disappointed on Monday to feel his head back in his favorite place right under my ribs and him happily kicking away at my bladder once more. Last night, I think he turned sideways again and maybe was head down for a while today. It’s tough to be certain; all I know is that he was flip-flopping around a bunch today in class kicking me everywhere. I guess I’ll try not to worry and let him have his fun before he gets too big to somersault around in there.

Anyone have any good movie suggestions?  Bri and I muddled around Blockbuster for about 30 minutes with absolutely no desire to see anything we could find.  We finally stumbled on “Shattered Glass” which was actually pretty good…but 30 minutes…come on.

Any good movies that you’ve seen lately?  Anything people might not know of?  Any movies you want to say are really good just so we rent them and then waste our night and hold you personally accountable?

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. - CS Lewis

I have been telling Bri that I was going to post a blog about friendship for a few weeks, but finally got around to doing it.  For some reason friendship has been at the forefront of my mind of late, really the past year or so.  As I’ve grown up and grown older, the dynamics of my friendships have changed.  Marriage, jobs, impending parenthood, etc can do that.  Ultimately the adjustment comes as priorities are altered with our “growing up” or evolution as individuals.  

Lewis once wrote “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: “What! You, too? Thought I was the only one,” and ultimately he is right.  Friendships are built most often around common passions, common interests, and common goals.  He likens the different between friends and lovers with their differing postures.  Lovers facing each other, eyes are on each others, while friends are side by side and focused on some common goal.  

It’s hard to preserve friendships as priorities change, despite how much all parties involve would love to, despite how much they wish things could stay the same forever or revert to some time when both parties prioritized things the same and the friendship was as strong as ever.  I’ve struggled with these difficulties as my own life has changed over the years.  It’s hard to adjust, to make everyone happy.  

Yet there needs to remain the Christian perspective that we must remember even though the “everyday” situations and perspectives change with marriages, moving, jobs, etc.  As believers in Christ, God has always had a purpose for our fellowship and our brotherhood that is beyond a mere friendship or common bond.  Christians are united through Jesus Christ.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer gives some perspective on our Christian brotherhood and fellowship that I found insightful, here is an excerpt from Life Together:  

“…God has put (the) Word into the mouth of others in order that it may be communicated to us.  When one person is struck by the Word, he speaks it to others.  God has willed that we should seek and find his living Word in the witness of a brother, in the mouth of a man.  Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him.  He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged….He needs his brother as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation.  He needs his brother solely because of Jesus Christ.  The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure.

And that also clarifieds the goal of all Christian community: they meet one another as bringers of the message of salvation.  As such, God permits them to meet together and gives them community.  Their fellowship is founded solely upon Jesus Christ…the community of Christians springs solely from the Biblical and Reformation message of the justification of man through grace alone; this alone is the basis of the longing of Christians for one another.”

It is through God’s mercy that we’ve learned to be merciful to each other, God’s forgiveness that we learn to forgive, God’s kindness that teaches us how to be kind, his faithfulness that guides us in our efforts to be faithful to our friends and brothers.  

Friendships change and evolve, people get new priorities or move away, but the bond of fellowship found within Jesus Christ is not reliant upon the needs of a common friendship.  

Some verses on friendship/fellowship:  1 Thess 4:9, Romans 15:7, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, John 15:12-15, Prov 17:17, Rom 12:15, Philippians 2:3

9 weeks to go! Caleb is over 3 pounds and over 16 inches long. Andy and I both agree we feel cheated out on this week’s produce of the week: four naval oranges.

We had a doctor’s appointment today and got some questions answered. I’ve been a little concerned with the baby being breech this late in the pregnancy. I could tell by how low his kicks were and how he liked to have his head on my right side just under my ribs. One night this past week I thought he turned and have felt his kicks all over the place on top and on the sides. I told my doctor about this and he felt around. Turns out that he’s lying transverse (sideways) with his head on my left side and his feet kicking my right side (which totally makes sense to me now) so he’s not quite head-down yet but he’s on his way. I guess he likes taking his time. He’s been pretty laid back as far as fetuses go so maybe that will carry over into infancy. I wouldn’t mind a calm baby.

Other than that, We did the normal doctor’s visit stuff with the heartbeat and uterus-measuring. His heartrate was in the 150’s which is a little higher than before only because he was nice and awake. He even kicked the dopplar a few times trying to get it off. I measured 28 weeks but the doc said that was pretty typical for a transverse baby.

Ever since he turned, I’ve been getting these wierd sensations when he scrapes his hand or foot across me. The only way I can describe it is like getting tickled from the inside. I’m usually a very ticklish person normally especially on my side. Since his feet are right there, everytime he moves his foot across my side it makes me jump. This seems to be one of his favorite activities right now because I’m getting “tickled” several times a day.

The nursery is a little more complete. I was able to get the crib mattress and some sheets with the money from my baby shower repeats and some gift cards. So now the crib is basically ready. Once we get the rocker we’ll be able to hang some things up and really finish the nursery. Here are some pictures of the crib. And for all you who are worried about my set up, I will not have the bear, pillow or blanket in the crib when the baby’s in there. It’s merely for my aesthetic enjoyment right now.:

Here are some pictures from my baby shower on Sunday:

The baby shower was so nice. I got to see some long lost friends and family and we all had a lot of fun. My mother-in-law and little sis-in-law did a wonderful job with the decorations and games. I got a lot of stuff including two laundry loads worth of clothes. Andy’s aunt brought a homemade cake which was delicious. I wish I brought home more but then again, am glad I didn’t willingly subject myself to voluntary gluttony.

Wow. I think we can officially start a countdown. 10 weeks to go! As the light at the end of the tunnel becomes brighter, I’m starting to get pre-baby jitters. You know, the normal “how the heck am I going to pull this whole parenting thing off” stuff. I know this is pretty common for any first timer and just that fact calms me down a little.

Caleb is now 3 pounds and some change and a little over 15 inches (a head of cabbage). From now until 37 weeks, he will gain about a half a pound a week. He’s also practicing breathing quite regularly now.

Unfortunately, Strep throat has hit the Holloway family. We’ve both been feeling a little under the weather for about a week. Andy woke up last night with a fever and feeling horrible so we went to our faithful Medimin this morning to get diagnosed for what we thought would be a simple sinus infection. Just to be thorough, the nurse tested us both for Strep. I turned out to be negative for it but Andy wasn’t as lucky. Since it’s highly contageous, I probably already have it or soon will. So now we’re both on antibiotics and a whole battalion worth of treatments. We’ll be quarantined to the house for the next 24 hours until we’re no longer a hazard to society. Here’s how Andy has set up, organized and scheduled our various treatments:

Well, off to drink tons of water and spray my nasal cavities out. I hope everyone has a wonderful (and strep-free week).

Well we just got back from a crazy but fun 24 hour trip to San Diego to see my little brother Ryan and his fiance Amanda get married on the beach.  Pictures of the ceremony are posted below! The ceremony was awesome, it was just a wonderful time for Ryan and Amanda and the family there.  We had a perfect day on the beach and a really great ceremony and we’re so happy for them. If the slideshow is messing up, just click refresh and that should fix it.

The wedding was monday night and monday morning Bri and I were basically not going to be able to come.  I had been sick the day before, and woke up not feeling so great monday, and certainly not good enough to drive 6 hours etc.  Bri had been a little under the weather too.  But at the last minute I changed my mind and decided to give it a go because heck, your brother only gets married once and I can be sick in a car as well as I can be sick at home I suppose.

So we headed out on our journey at about 8 AM monday morning after dropping little Toby off at “PetsHotel”.  I decided to take the truck, thinking to myself “the truck is less likely to blow a tire because Bri’s tires are older”

I was sadly mistaken.  About 100 miles or more after we left, Bri and I started hearing a curious and saddening sound.  Our back tire had blown…in the middle of no where (or so we figured).  I managed to pull over without any terrible crash.  Tire was shredded.  We would have grabbed a picture but we weren’t in a picture taking mood I suppose.  We both admitted we’re not photojournalistic enough to want to capture all of our hardships.  Hehe.

So the next step was to fix this tire.  I managed to get the spare off the underside, only to discover that we had no jack.  Apparently the first owner of the truck jacked the jack.  Or else we simply couldn’t find it.  Either way, we were now stuck at mile marker 72 with no jack and somehow no one seemed to want to pull over and help.  We took out our trusty iPhones and punched in a tire repair place…and AMAZINGLY there was a tire place only 2 miles from where we were!  Gave them a call and they came out in about a half hour, helped us put on the spare, and we drove back to their shop, which is a nice way of saying it.  It was much more of a tin shack in the middle of the Sahera.  They had a used tire they could put on for us, and we were back on the road.  Whole thing only cost $60.  We were praising God all the way out too because there was about 900 other places that would have been terrible to break down.  The guy said the next closest tire place after them was about 35 miles…and after that who knows.

After that we endured some crazy wild wind, and nearly ran out of gas but we made it!  The ceremony was great and I was really glad we were able to go.  Here are a few more pictures of the trip including a sign to “Dateland” which is where the tire place was.  We are now back safe and I’m in the midst of “prepping” for my procedure today…not so fun.

I apologize for the late blog. Between school, Dr.’s appointments and presidential debates, yesterday was pretty hectic.

Pretty much from here on out, this baby’s just simmering. He’s getting fat and practicing breathing for the big day. He weighs over 2 1/2 pounds (butternut squash) and is over 15 inches long.

The doctor’s appointments are now every 2 weeks. Everything looked good this time. Heartbeat was 138 and I’m measuring 27 1/2 weeks (which is still normal).

I had some concerns going in that I asked him about. The first was that in both my 18 week and 4D ultrasounds, the baby was breech. He seems to prefer this position because I can often feel his head right under my rib cage and his kicks are pretty low. I asked the doc if this was a problem and right now, it isn’t. Once we get to about 36 weeks and he’s still breech, he will try to flip the baby by maneuvering my belly around. I looked up some exercises I can do at home to try to encourage him to flip on his own so I’ll try those every now and then.

The second question I had was if he recommended the flu shot, which he strongly did. I’ve never taken one before but many people and research encourage pregnant women to get the flu vaccination because it protects not only the mother from getting the flu (of which the resulting fever can harm the fetus) but it also vaccinates the baby until he’s 5 - 6 months old. Since Caleb will be here during the height of the flu season, I saw no reason not to get this shot.

Here comes the fun story: So on our way back from the doctor, Andy and I decided to be good parents stop at the Medimin to get this flu shot. When we were filling out our paperwork, the nurse noticed the insert of the flu shot warned that pregnant women should not get this shot because it has not been tested on reproductive animals (??). She got a little concerned and asked us to find another brand of the flu vaccine that has been tested. To make a long story short, about 2 hours later and several calls and trips to local vaccination sites, we realized that every brand of the flu shot hasn’t been tested and had that warning. Just to cover my bases, I checked with my OB, a local big wig doctor in the valley and pretty much any information on pregnancy and the flu shot. I concluded that since a new flu shot comes out every year, it doesn’t have time to be tested on pregnancy so it has to be labeled with that warning. But the CDC and every other medical expert would agree that it is safe and encouraged to be taken.

The end result to all this madness: I’m vaccinated.

I have my first baby shower this weekend which will be thrown by my dear mother-in-law and sister-in-law. We have all agreed this will not be one of those take-forever baby showers. 2 1/2 hours max; which I love. They have some pretty fun games planned and I will get to see some old co-workers, family and friends I haven’t seen in a while. It kind of saddens me that all of my family lives so far away and can’t be there for these little events. But we’ve been a “long distance” family for years and we always make it work between phone calls, emails and fun vacations. If we get pictures, I will make sure to post them up here for all of you who couldn’t make it.

Couple brief comments about tonight’s debate:

• I was happy that it played out more (slightly) like an actual debate, albiet hilarious to watch them shoot back and forth, beg for more time, get denied, then sneak their rebuttal into the next question when it wasn’t even relevant
• I still have a hard time putting their responses through the “stump speach” filter…it’s not very fun to watch generic republican A battle generic democrat B but I’m trying…
• I was impressed with both candidates tonight and a little depressed with both.  McCain seemed more controlled and had some very quality responses, but had plenty of poor ones that were little more than some rhetoric and repetition.  Obama is always well spoken but seemed to lack depth and never really convinced me of his capabilities, although he had some inspiring reponses.  
• I look forward to seeing all the crazy SNL skits that shall arise from this one, as they’ve been twice as fun and nearly as informative as many of these.  
• Hopefully we can see more true “debate” filled debates as they lock up in the future.  

This past week I had the privilege of sitting down with some high schoolers and discussing the “Prosperity Gospel” in modern America and it’s contrast with scripture.  For those unfamiliar,  the “Prosperity Gospel” is a term used to refer to the preaching that focuses on God “blessing” his people with material things, health, etc.

Here is a quote from a “popular” American preacher who regularly preaches the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel.  I’m omitting names as the point of this post is not to vilify anyone but rather open eyes to what’s going on…

“It’s God’s will for you to live in prosperity instead of poverty.  It’s God’s will for you to live in health and not in sickness all the days of your life”

The message that God wants you to have material things, wealth, cars, money, and to simply “be happy” is the message being pushed all across the globe by “prosperity gospel” preachers.  People find it ever so attractive (as you might expect) as preachers exclaim over and over again God’s plan for your life, and how it involves financial prosperity and good things.  As one preacher said, “Make church relevant… I find today people are not looking for theology.”

As believers, as people searching for truth, we must first hear these things and react like the Bereans do in Acts 17:11.  We must examine God’s word and see if what’s being said and taught is true.  With these prosperity teachings becoming more and more prevelant in modern preaching, television, and literature - it’s key to examine and refute false teaching.

A quick glance at Romans 5:3-4,  James 1:2-3, and 2 Corinthians 8:1-2 give us some quick Biblical perspective that flies in the face of this modern popularity.  The biblical perspective of suffering, poverty, trial and hardship is not one where these things are to be “absent” from our lives, but rather embraced with JOY as an opportunity for persevearane, character, and hope.  The Macedonians had great affliction and poverty yet had an overwhelming joy in the midst of it.

Their joy was in God, not circumstances, and certainly not material things.  It comes down to what your treasure is.  Is it money, health, prosperity?  Or is it God?  In fact, Christ himself said in Luke 14:33 that anyone who does not renounce all he has cannot be his disciple.  Seems quite the contrast to the popular prosperity teaching.  Not to mention countless warnings about riches, including the likes of 1 Timothy 6:9 that warns us that the desire for riches is a trap and a temptation.

Across the globe there is so much more “cost” to the faith of believers.  They’re lives are filled with persecution, hardship and death.  Where is their prosperity gospel?  I wonder how America would look, how Christianity would look if there was great cost associated with faith.  If people didn’t have the luxury of simply showing up to church once every couple weeks or arbitrarily calling on and abandoning the name of Christ in American leisure.

The prosperity Gospel is dangerous because it teaches us to treasure things above Christ.  God’s word doesn’t teach that.  It teaches that we may suffer, we may be broke or lack many things the world has, and yet that is our opportunity to take joy, our opportunity to hold Christ higher than all else, to shine our light before men, and to treasure the only true Treasure that exists.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”  - Matthew 13:44-45

Here’s an audio clip from a sermon by John Piper, a pastor in Minnesota whom I greatly respect and admire. His website is www.desiringgod.org, also available in our “friends and links” section.

We got some great pictures! At first, he was face down in the placenta and the cord was in his face but after some maneuvering and jostling, we got him bothered enough to turn around. The umbilical cord is still in a lot of shots, but at least we could see most of his face. Since we got 55 pictures total, I chose a few of the best ones to show everyone. Oh, and if the slideshow seems to be messing up, just refresh the page and that should take care of the problem. Enjoy!

Andy and I still can’t decide whose nose he has; it looked different in every shot. Andy thinks he has my mouth and I think he sleeps just like his daddy. He’s still breech which concerns me slightly b/c he doesn’t have that much more time to flip and seems to prefer being heads up. Who wouldn’t when there’s a nice squishy placenta to use as a pillow.

We also got a DVD of the whole thing but we need to edit out the boring parts and then we’ll post it on here. He did some super cute things that we couldn’t catch in the pictures so we’ll try edit the video down to a more manageable portion for your viewing pleasure.