Thursday, August 19, 2010

She's an idiot, but she's a loveable idiot

We are often asked why we got a Great Dane. Considering they are giant, unintelligent, drooling oafs, I admit it is a little perplexing. But look at this:


How could you not fall in love with that face? Plus, it is a nice perk that I don't really have to bend over much to give a hug like this, because at 7 months pregnant, I can't bend very far.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Approaching Baby-moon

BJ and I haven't taken a vacation for just the two of us since our honeymoon over four years ago. You might say we've been too busy moving all over the place to even think about vacationing. With just nine weeks left until two becomes three, we've decided that we should take a short vacation. On Monday morning, we are taking the Amrak to Chicago from Alton. The plan is to do a bunch of nerdy stuff, like leisurly stroll around all the great museums Chicago has to offer, and eat at some fun restaurants for three days. Then we'll head back to Alton and hit the road with BJ's parents to go to Indiana for a baby shower. It's going to be a busy but fun week. We are really looking forward to everything, and I'm just hoping I can keep up with our tentative plans considering I'm currently a seven-month pregnant, waddling blimp. We'll take pictures.

On a completely different subject, a few of the teens from our church youth group informed me that they would appreciate me mentioning them in some way on my blog, so here it goes. In no particular order, to Mark, Kate, Preston, Hannah, Sarah, Kristen, Kelsy, Morgan, Jordan, Tessa, and all the others who frequently come to our events and classes, you make Western Kentucky a more interesting place. Much love and thanks.

Monday, August 09, 2010

Good, Old-Fashioned Pierce Logic

About two months ago, my dad started complaining about a pain on his side. My mom, brother, and I all said, "You should go get that checked. It could be a hernia." My dad, being the beacon of logic and reason that he is, replied to each of us, "I don't want to go to the doctor. They might find something." So he didn't go to the doctor. After two months, we had all basically forgotten about this.

Last Tuesday evening, I got a call from my mother. Apparently, my dad was in excruciating pain, and they were thinking about going to the emergency room. They thought he might have appendicitis. Since I happen to be an expert at diagnosing via the Internet, I looked up his symptoms, decided that, yes, it could in fact be appendicitis, and told them to get on the road. This is how my family makes decisions. I know. We need therapy.

While they were on the hour-long drive to the emergency room, I set at home worrying. BJ was busy with church stuff that night, so I was left alone with my neurotic brain to contemplate all the horrible things besides appendicitis that it could be. After 20 anxiety filled minutes, I decided it was time to Google. I looked up every type of cancer or horrible disease that might effect that area. In a moment of frantic anxiety, I even clicked on a link for symptoms of cervical cancer before I remembered that Dad doesn't have one of those.

Finally, they arrived, saw a doctor, and found out that it was what we had told dad he might have two months ago: he had a hernia. The doctor sent him home with pain medication, orders to take it easy, and an appointment for a week later to prepare for surgery.

Flash forward to Friday. Dad seemed to be doing okay the whole day until about 5:00 when another rash of horrific pain started. My brother happened to be home, so he started questioning Dad on the details of his day. Slowly, tidbits of information about Dad's work day started flowing out, like how Dad had lifted three 5-gallon containers of laundry detergent. And five extremely heavy boxes of diapers. And a recliner. Mom and Bro thought it might be time to go to the emergency room again. Dad thought he just needed to "work it out." That's right. He needed to "work out" a hernia. Eventually, saner heads prevailed, and they went to the emergency room.

To make a long story short, it turned out he had a very serious hernia, one that had been allowed to exist for far too long, and so they did surgery Saturday evening. Recovery from this sort of surgery is excruciating, so Dad is in a lot of pain right now. Thankfully, the pain is keeping him from doing anything crazy, like lifting recliners. But I hate thinking about him being in pain. Despite his total lack of rationality, he is really quite lovable.

In all seriousness, do please say a prayer for his recovery. He is (obviously) not a man used to laying on his back, so this is difficult for him on multiple levels.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Texas pictures (finally)

As promised, and better late than never (right?), here are some pictures from my week in Texas.

When I arrived at my parent's house Saturday, the first thing I wanted to see was the baby quilt my mom had been slaving over the previous six weeks. It did not disappoint. In fact, it exceeded my expectations. I knew we had cute fabrics, but Mom did a truly beautiful job piecing them together and hand quilting them. It is a perfect quilt for a little boy. Here are some pictures.




Menard has had a lot of rain this summer, so my parent's yard looked gorgeous. I took a few pictures to show off my mom's caladiums, but this is only a small presentation. And just so you know, there is a purpose for all the scare crows. They are literally the only way Mom and Dad have found to keep the deer from eating the caladiums.

(front of house)

(east porch)

My brother drove me from DFW to Menard, so he was with us a couple of days. I made him take a picture with me. He whined.


Here is a really good picture of my parents. Seriously, don't I have cute parents?


The night before the baby shower, Mom and I frantically baked applesauce bread for some hostess gifts.

(Mom frantically baking.)

Since we were frantically baking, we didn't have time to do the pile of dishes we had created. So we made Dad do them.


Thursday was the baby shower. It honestly was one of the nicest showers I've ever been to. Everything was gorgeous, the food was delicious, and it was so nice seeing people I hadn't see in what seems like forever. Here is a picture of me with the hostesses from the shower.


My Fat Tuesday friend, Erin (left), got to come to the shower from San Antonio, and I had so much fun catching up with her. Theresa (right) was in town the whole week, so we had a great time seeing each other. Between her being an army wife and me being a preacher's wife, we never know when our paths will cross, so it is always a blessing when they do.


Finally, this is me with the plethora of baby stuff I got at the shower. Look at all those cute little blue things! Now, if I can only figure out a way to fit them all into my house.


I wish I had more pictures from the shower, but I was too busy opening presents to do much picture taking. I don't have any pictures of my aunts and cousins who came, so hopefully my mom will post some pictures on her blog soon (hint, hint). I also just realized that I don't have a picture of the beautiful rocking chair my parent's got me, but that will come soon. Hopefully, in the not too distant future, I'll be posting the baby's room/area. It is coming together so cutely!

P.S. Forgive me for saying the word "cute" too much, but being pregnant has turned me into a giant mush bag. It is embarrassing.

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Just so everyone knows, I have not forgotten about the pictures from Texas. I've just been having some complications with the camera. I will try to get them up tonight or tomorrow morning. I hate complications.