One last blog before Christmas

This past weekend I was fortunate to have my best friend Chris in town from Indianapolis with his wife and son. While he was here we got some time to go out and run errands, just the two of us and catch up. Also later that day Anna and I got to go over and watch a movie with him, his brother, dad and his son. It was really nice to get to see everyone again. We are all grown ups by day now and don't have the time that we used to have to hang out. So it was really nice to get this time with everyone. We also had the opportunity to get up too early on a Saturday morning and myself, Chris and his dad and brother went out to breakfast. We sat there for probably a couple hours just catching up and telling stories. We talked and laughed as we listened to one anothers tales of life and work and going skiing. It was really great to have this time with my friends.

I'm thankful for good friends and the times we get to catch up. I'm also thankful for the times when we can get away from grown up life and laugh at each other and ourselves for some of the crazy things we've done!

Merry Christmas

Tomorrow (Wednesday) at about noon Anna and I are heading out for St. Louis for our Christmas with the Westwoods. Anna and I alternate years for Christmas since she is from St. Louis and I'm from Goshen. So one year here and one year there. When we leave tomorrow Anna will be just about exactly one month from her due date! The doctor gave us the all clear to travel that far from home that close to the due date. We are fortunate that Anna has had great health as far as her blood pressure and recently weight gain. They have both been right on track for where she should be at this point in the pregnancy, so our doctor had no problem letting us travel.

Once we get there we will have the Westwood family Christmas on Christmas Eve at Anna's mom and dad's house. Anna's dad's whole family will be there and we do the gift exchange and spend the evening with family! Then Christmas morning we get up and have Christmas with just Anna's immediate family. We read the story of Jesus' birth out of the bible as well as read a little cloth childrens book of the story of Jesus' birth. Both are family traditions. Next day Andy and his brothers and dad, as well as Joel and I are going to play paintball at Andy's dad's house. I can not wait to get the paintball guns out and run around shooting family the day after Christmas!! December 26 is also Kerry's birthday and we'll get to go out with her for her birthday and give her her presents there too.

I am really looking forward to our Christmas holiday this year it will be nice to see all the Westwood's and spend Christmas with them!

I hope all 6 of you out there that read my blog have a wonderfully merry Christmas and a fun, but safe new year!

The world through a child's eyes.

One of the things I love most about children is their outlook on the world. I love how kids always see the good in people, and the good in the world. As adults we have a different outlook on the world and the people in it. People are cynical and wait for the bad to come out of others. We expect the worst and grumble about it when it comes. Kids on the other hand see the best in people. They seek out and define people by their goodness and good deeds. Kids kind of see the world with rose colored glasses, to be cliche. They believe that their parents are flawless perfect people and want to be just like them when they grow up. They believe in Santa and the Tooth Fairy. They are innocent and the innocence of a child is a beautiful thing. They are carefree and not concerned with the National debt, the conflict in the Middle East or how we are gonig to pay the bills this month. The great thing about that is that none of those things are their concern. Their concern is playing with friends outside and what mom's going to make for lunch today. They are more concerned that the peanut butter is crunchy than where it came from or who paid for it or the long hours dad puts in to blah blah blah. Children should not be concerned with the everyday affairs of adulthood.

Unfortunatly there is going to come a time in the life of every child where a piece of that innocence in taken away from them. By someone who tells them that it's their mom and dad who put the dollar under the pillow not the tooth fairy. Or when they actually see and comprehend people hurting other people. Slowly as they grow they will lose that beautiful innocence that children posses. Some will be stripped away from them and they will chose to lose the rest. That is the truth about adulthood, as we get older our responsibilities become greater and more people depend on us. Dont get me wrong, I love adulthood and all the responsibilities that come with it. I love my wife and my life, I love everything about it. There is just something special about being a child that should be left as long as possible

So let your kids be carefree, let them run around outside all day and be responsible for nothing. Let them see the best in EVERYONE. Let them think that their dad really is a superhero and that no other dad is better than theirs. Leave your bad opinions and bad attitudes about others and the world at the door when you come home and marvel at how wonderful the life of a carefree child is.

My son...

I spend a lot of time thinking about my son. Anna and I talk all the time about what we think he'll look like, what traits he'll get from me and what he'll get from her. Is he going to have my nose and her eyes? Is he going to have her apporach toward schooling? (I really hope he has her approach towards school!) Is he going to have my work ethic? There are tons of strengths and weaknesses on both sides. I wonder what kind of child he'll be. Will he be a child like I was? I was quiet, a little shy and when I was told something that was the law and I did it. Or will he be a child like my little brother was? Steven was and still is very head strong and set in his own way of doing things. Steven was always looking to make a deal. If you asked something of him many times he would respond to you by saying "lets make a deal."

Anna and I really look forward to seeing our son for the first time next month and then seeing him grow. Every morning when I wake up at 4:00 am for work I get my clothes around and go out to the living room to get dressed. When it's time for me to leave I give myself a few extra minutes and go back into my bedroom and I pray over my wife and son as she sleeps and hes in the womb. I pray for Anna's health and safety for the day, that she has a good experience and work and that she makes it home safely to me in the afternoon. Now I dont know my son so there is so much to pray for. I pray for his health and safety also. I pray that he continues to grow and develope perfectly until the delievery and everything go off without any complications. I pray for his future, I pray that he grows big and strong and is a fearless leader in whatever endevours he chooses in this life. I pray that he grows up and plays football for The Ohio State University! I also pray for his future wife, that somewhere God is already preparing the perfect compliment for him.

Anna and I are totally thrilled with the potential that our son has and can not wait to walk the journey with him starting next month! Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers that everyone has given so far, and please continue to keep Anna and our son in your thoughts and prayers for the next six weeks or so!

What kind of parent will I be?

So it's close, Anna is going to have the baby in like six weeks (according to the due date) and I have all kinds of questions about being a father that I don't have answered yet. One that pops into my head is "what kind of father am I going to be?" Am I going to be a strong leader, am I going to be a push over that the kids always come to because they know Ill give in? Am I going to be the one who hands out the punishments? Will I be the cool parent or will my kids be embarrassed of me? I think Im going to be a fun parent, I think my kids will think Im funny and love to be around me. You know, like when my kid wants to feed the raccoon, Ill lower him down so he can hand feed it. Seems like a good idea right? Anna's a natural and I know shes going to be great, but I can be a real dork so I worry about me.

I know all of that doesnt really matter what matters is that Im there and I love them even when they are hard to love. I have tremendous examples to look up to on both sides of our family now. All of the good qualities I find in myself I can identify where they came from and how they were instilled into me. Hopefully Im just as effective at passing on traits and qualities as my own parents were. I also hope that the bad qualities I see in me stay here and I dont pass those on to my children. I also have the examples of my three best friends Chris, Josh and Travis all have sons within two years of each other and now mine will be the fourth! So I can see at each stage how my friends parent and draw from them as well. And yes you heard me correctly Chris Pestow, Josh Dull, Travis Cameron and myself will all have sons within a couple years of each other in age! Thank goodness we live in different states, I dont know if one region of the U.S. could handle those four boys together! We're going to call them the fearsome foursome and you really should keep your distance. All joking aside they are wonderful fathers and husbands who are doing a great job and I cant wait to join the group!

Anna had another doctors appointment last week and everything went great, again. She is measuring just right and looking wonderful. We have another appointment next week and then they start going weekly! We took a birthing class at the hospital this past Saturday and I am now informed and ready for the birthing process. It was very informative and helpful with answering a lot of the questions that we have had and know we will come across in the labor. So now we've done that and we've taken the infant first aid and CPR class all there is now is the acutal birth. And did I mention that it's getting close?!!? Next month and Ill be a dad!!!

Please continue to pray for Anna and our son as he grows and developes in this final stage of pregnancy.

I'm running out of time

Anna had her first baby shower this past weekend in St. Louis with her family and friends. It was an incredible reminder of how loving and generous our friends and family are. Our spare bedroom/nursery has turned into somewhat of a staging area for all the things we have acquired so far. There is normal bedroom furniture in there now, since it was our spare room. There is also baby furniture that is waiting to be set up in there, and all the presents we have been given so far. I'm in the process of finishing our basement and then the bedroom furniture can go down there and I can get working on setting up the nursery. Today Anna and I are going over her lunch break to get a quote for carpet in the basement and set up a time to have in installed! Its all happening so fast and I'm running out of time. She is less than two months from her due date now and we have a lot to do. It is such an exciting time for us. Ill be putting the crib and bassinet together soon as well as, with Anna's help, decorating the nursery.


We had another doctors appointment yesterday and everything went well. The doctor said her weight gain and belly size are right on for where they should be at this stage. His heart rate was in the 140's and strong. As he is growing lately he is spending most of his time in his mothers ribs and making mildly uncomfortable for her to stand, sit or lay down. He punches and kicks and we can even see an elbow once in a while. I'm so proud of my son, hes still two months from being introduced to the world and is working on his mixed martial arts! Seriously though Anna, our son and I have been incredibly blessed by most of all God, and our friends and family during this pregnancy. We can not thank our friends and family enough for all the support and advice that they have given us during the past months. And we cant thank our family enough for their incredible support and generosity. Please keep Anna and the baby in your prayers and Ill update everyone soon!

Just a little side note, I am listening to the Ray Charles Christmas CD right now and I just heard the song "The Spirit of Christmas" and it made me think of the scene in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation when Clark gets stuck in the attic and is watching the old projector and this song is playing... Then his family gets home and pulls the attic door open and he falls out of the attic. Im actually laughing out loud, thinking about it...

It's been a while...

I know it has been forever since I have posted anything on here and I have a totally legitimate reason for that and Ill explain it to you...


I was on holiday in South America kayaking unchartered rivers and their tributaries for two weeks when I was ambushed and taken hostage by pigmes! These were not your average South American pigmes, there were a very hostile bunch of Southern South American sprinting pigmes. They are very fast, so even though I can move at a pretty incredible pace I stood no chance when these little svages cornered me as I went ashore to clean up and grab a bite to eat. I fought with incredible tenacity but in the end there were just too many of them and they overcame me. I was hog tied and dragged back to their camp where I was caged up on display like a side of beef. It was very clear early on that I was going to be dinner for these half starved little savages. I needed to concoct a plan to get out unnoticed and get back to my kayak so that I could make a clean get away. Fortunatly for me I recognized that these particular group of Southern South American sprinting pigmes were descended from an ancient tribe of Argentinian pigmes. In my previous travels I had spent a month there one day so I was familiar with their language as well as physical set backs, mostly that they can not swim. I knew that if I was able to get to my kayak and get back on the water I was home free. After all of my captors had eaten and drank themselves to sleep I made a key for the lock to my cage out of a feather and some bat guano that were within reaching distance of my enclosure. I quietly picked the lock and let myself out. Quickly I located my trusty old kayak and made haste for the water. About two hundred yards away from the shore I heard footsteps barrelling down on me as I made my escape. It was then that I realized that I had startled a couple of them as I was taking leave from their and I was now in a foot race with these pigmes for the shore. I ran like I had never ran before and to my surprise I hit the water running a full two steps before my attackers. I quickly got situated into my seat and paddled out to the middle of the river where I was safe and sound.


That is the 100% true story of how I outran two Southern South American sprinting pigmes and saved my own life!


In all honesty Im just a terrible blogger. In the future I assure you that I will do a better job keeping everyone up to date on how Anna, myself and our future son are doing. As of now Anna is over seven months pregnant and as beautiful as ever! Everything has gone splendidly with the doctors appointments her and the baby are developing perfectly. We just got back into town from a great Thanksgiving in St. Louis with Anna's family and we are already looking forward to going back in about a month for Christmas! Please remember to keep Anna and our son in your prayers and I will write again soon!

IT'S A BOY

On Friday September 11th. Anna and I had the ultrasound doctors appointment. We got to look at our baby through the ultrasound and it was truly amazing. The doctor had her reasons for studying the ultrasound and that was to make sure everything she was looking at looked normal. She wanted to make sure that everything was proportionate as well as look for things like four chambers of the heart. She also saw the bladder and stomach and was able to tell us that the kidneys were functioning. She said that everything looked great! We also told her that if she was able to tell us we would like to know what the gender of our baby was. She was able to tell us, she is sure that we are having a BOY!

Since this is our first child we both had no expectations as far as gender. We just want a healthy child, male or female. To find out now and know that I am having a son sparks up all these fatherly feelings that I had never felt before. Now I know its a son that I can put with all these feelings that I am feeling. Now I can refer to the child as him instead of it or the child. I feel like the bonding process is starting already and we are still months away from the birth. The due date is February 5th and I have from now to then to continue my bonding with my son.

Please continue to pray for Anna and our future son as the pregnancy progresses that they both stay healthy and the baby continue to grow strong. Pray that Anna feels better every day and that this pregnancy be a tremendous blessing for both of us.

I'm a protector

The reality of being a father and all the responsibility that comes along with it has been on my mind lately. Soon I'm going to be responsible for someone who is 100% dependant on me for their survival. That is a role that I think I will thrive in, dependability is something I pride myself in. Responsibility is something I'm good at. I am a protector by nature. I have always been the protective type toward the people in my life that I care about. I have always put friends and family before myself, their well being ahead of my own.

When I was eight years old my mom and dad had my little brother, my only sibling. Other than the occasional beating he took from me, okay daily beating, I did my best to intervene on his behalf any time he found himself in trouble. I got into a handful of fights as a kid so that Steven wouldn't have to.

Now as a married man I have the responsibility of being the leader and protector of MY family. My wife and our future children are top on my list of things that I will protect now. I cant wait to raise our children and lead my family the best I can. Anna and I have been given a great template to follow based on how our parents raised us. More than that we have the example of our heavenly father. So if we can just instill those values that we've learned from our biological parents as well as the values that we follow from our heavenly father we will have done a great job.

There is going to come a time however when I wont be there to protect our children from possible dangers. I wont be there on the school bus someday when conversation goes to a place our children arent used to. I wont be there when our children are peer pressured by friends to smoke or drink. I wont be there someday when the pressure to have sex is brought up. The thought of these things could keep me awake at nights from now until the day I expire if I would let them. That is why the time we pour into our children when they are young is so important. The beliefs and morals that we hold highly will translate to them. That is why the people we surround ourselves and our children with when they are young is so important. I hope and pray that our children come to know Jesus as their personal lord and saviour at a young age. So when they do face these pressures at different times of their lives they are prepared and they know right from wrong and hopefully make the right decision.

Our pastor at Grace Community Church, Jim Brown, said in a sermon once that he wants the members of his church to be the type of people who will DEFAULT to prayer not worry when things get tough. In a time of despair we dont give up, we dont give in, we default to prayer and putting our faith in God. It's that motto that will help me sleep at night when our children are growing up.

Thank goodness

So the other day I sat down at my desk first thing in the morning and was going through my mail from the day before. I was opening a large manilla envelope that had some drawings in it that I needed to process some orders. As I was pulling the drawings out of the envelope I got a paper cut on my finger. (The above picture is not me, but it looked a lot like that) As I sat at my desk and clutched that paper cut finger with my other hand and complained, out loud, to the guy that I share my office with I thought to myself, "thank goodness I cant get pregnant." Anna tells me all the time about how I complain about the littlest things, and Ill admit Im kind of a baby when it comes to the small stuff. But I got to thinking about my wife and what she's going through right now. There was a time when Anna was about 9 weeks pregnant that she was AVERAGING throwing up 10 times a day for two weeks! Every time she ate, she threw up. Every time she woke up in the morning, she threw up. Every time she showered, she threw up. Just sitting at her desk at work, she would throw up. During all of this Anna very rarely got upset. She never got mad at her situation, she never cried. And Im sitting at my desk complaining about a paper cut. Now I must say that paper cut was very nasty and Im sure due to the sevarity of it I ran a serious risk of infection! That can lead to a loss of time accident from work and no one wants that.

Seriously though, I cant explain how proud I am of my wife for the discomfort and pain she deals with for our family. She does it with with grace and beauty and I find myself loving her more every day because of her toughness. We all know if this pregnancy were up to me to do, it would be a miserable nine months full of crying and self pitty.

Anna is over 18 weeks pregnant now, almost half way there! She is starting to show and looks radiant! Thank you so much Anna for doing this for our family. I love you and Im so proud that you are my wife!

Things are getting exciting!

We had our third appointment with our doctor yesterday! We got to hear our baby's heartbeat again and had the opportunity to ask any questions that have come up to this point. Our doctor found the heartbeat right away and it is an amazing thing to hear my child's heart beating from inside my wife. I heard it last month and was overwhelmed and again yesterday it was still just as overwhelming as the first time I heard it.

Our doctor also told us that within this next month Anna might start feeling the "fluttering" of the baby inside her. She also told us that about a month after Anna starts to feel it the baby is strong enough to be felt from the outside. Which means I'll be able to feel it! Anna and I are totally overjoyed by this blessing that has been given to us.

Also we scheduled the ultrasound for September 11th! Less than one month from being able to see our baby. At that time we have the choice of whether or not we want to find out the gender. We are still undecided but definitely leaning toward one decision. I wont put it out there yet what we are leaning towards, because I haven't asked Anna if it's okay to do that. So Ill update everyone when I ask. (I have learned how to avoid conflict). I think, just like hearing the heartbeat for the first time was overwhelming to me, actually seeing our baby in the ultrasound will be just as overwhelming.

God has truly blessed Anna and I with this baby, also with wonderful friends and family who have been more than supportive. Thank you everyone.

We heard the heartbeat!

We had another appointment with our doctor today and our hope coming into this particular appointment was that we would hear the heartbeat. At our last appointment the doctor told us that Anna was not quite far enough along to hear it. As the doctor was trying to find the heartbeat I was getting kind of emotional sitting in the chair with the thought of, "maybe we wont hear the heartbeat today." Or even the thought of hearing it was getting to me. Finally the doctor found it, and it was clear and it was strong and it was fast. About 160-170 beats per minute. It was such an emotional time for me as I sat and listened to my babies heartbeat for the first time. I cant begin to explain how overwhelmed I was at that moment. I cant wait for every new step of this journey with Anna and our baby.

Here's what I know

As we all know my wife is pregnant, if you didn't know now you do, and I am trying my best to figure out what it takes to be a good parent. I have searched countless hours on the Internet looking for "the new father handbook," I cant find one anywhere. I thought instead of worrying about all the things I do not know I would list all the things I do know about newborns and go from there. They are, in no particular order, as follows.

1. Babies do not love Buffalo Wild Wings boneless wings as much as I do.

2. Babies do not sleep for twelve consecutive hours through the night on my day off like I do. (Anna just told me about that one)

3. Babies can not get up and get the things they want on their own.

4. Once we leave the hospital for home, no one comes in and checks on me to make sure I'm doing alright.

5. The world doesn't revolve around me. (Anna just told me about this one too)

6. Because of all the times I have talked my friends kids into doing bad things, none of my friends are allowed to babysit.

7. Babies cant take showers.

8. Our baby will not think my DVD collection is as cool as I do.

And lastly

9. If the baby happens to be female, someday some boy is going to show up to my house and want to date her.

10. Due to number 9, I really need to work on my ju jitsu.

Distance

Josh

Chris

Travis

I'm not sure what got me thinking about the friends I have and how fortunate I am to be surrounded my such great people, but I thought I would take some time and talk about my friends.

In no particular order these are my three BEST friends. The first picture is Josh I met him in college and we were roommates for three years. The second picture is Chris, Chris and I have known each other for a long time but got to be very close in high school. The last picture is Travis, I have known Travis the longest he and I have been inseparable since our elementary school days. Each of these three guys have impacted my life hugely and I would not be the person I am today if it were not for the influence of each one of them.

Travis and I have been friends since what seems like birth but was probably closer to second or third grade. He lived close when we were younger, within bike riding distance that mom and dad allowed, so we were together literally every minute of every day for years. We had a summer as children where I only came home long enough for new clothes and to get some food and then I was back off on the bike to hang out. We used to go to the park and play basketball, we played football and roller skated, yes kids I was around before roller blades were the new thing. We stayed tight all the way through high school, I was there for his first love and first broken heart and he was there for me and mine. There were times when I was younger that I was my own worst enemy and Travis has always been like a guardian angel to me. He would never hesitate to tell me that I was acting like a real idiot. I have heard that from him a few times. Sometimes I fear how far I would have veered if it would not have been for Travis' friendship to me.

Chris and I have gone to school together since our middle school days. We have known each other for a very long time. We got to be good friends sometime in high school though, I don't remember exactly when. Chris has always been, especially then, a "good time" friend to me. Times when I needed someone to make me laugh, someone to bring me out the bad days I had or just to take my mind off of reality for a while. Chris was the guy. He and I share a lot of interests and opinions so there is never a shortage of things for he and I to do or get into. As we got older and went to college the boundaries of our friendship evolved along with us. He turned into a person that I looked to for advice. One thing you'll learn about Chris if you spend any short amount of time with him is that is in an overly intelligent person and is full of, to me, valuable insight. Even after college our friendship has evolved again as we get to be older. It is still the same as it ever was when we get together, we tried to kill one another with fireworks on the fourth of July this year, we can still cut lose and have a good time and put away the worries of adult life for a while and just enjoy our friendship.

Josh and I met at Saint Josephs College. I was a sophomore when he was a freshman and we met through mutual friends. It did not take long for us to realize how well we got along and how much we had in common. Josh and I have spent many late nights talking about our lives and hardships that we have faced alone and together. We realized that we don't ever have to be alone in those hardships anymore, there is a trust with us that allows us to be one hundred percent honest with what is going on with us. It allows us to get things out into the open that need to be talked about in a safe environment. Not to mention some of my craziest and most fun moments of my life have been spent with Josh. I have only known him for five years or so and have countless memories of he and I.

Now all four of us, Travis, Josh, Chris and myself are all grown up. We've all moved away. Travis lives in North Carolina, Josh lives in Dayton OH and Chris lives in Indianapolis while I'm here in Goshen. We have all gotten married, Travis to Amber, Josh to Penney and Chris to Jamie. Of course I'm married to my beautiful wife Anna. AND all of them have children now, and Anna is pregnant with our first. We have all grown up, we all live away from one another, we have all gotten married and we have all started families of our own. But now matter what's new in our lives with children and houses and moving and everything that each of us has going I know that all of those friendships are still just as strong as they ever were. I am blessed to be able to say that Travis is my best friend. I am blessed to be able to say that Chris is my best friend and I am blessed to be able to say that Josh is my best friend. I love you guys!

Boys will be boys

Last night after a long day of hanging out with a lot of friends my best friend Chris came over for a fire and fireworks in my backyard. Anna, even though she wasn't feeling well, came out and hung out with us for a while. We had a great fire going and were sitting around enjoying the weather and the fireworks going off all over the neighborhood. Our nice evening of sitting around the fire quickly turned into Chris shooting bottle rockets at me. That turned into he and I chasing each other around the yard lighting and throwing firecrackers at each other.
I know that's not very responsible and I know someone could have gotten hurt but Chris and I had so much fun chasing each other around the yard like we were kids again. I know Anna thought we were crazy and I know she doesn't understand why we act like that sometimes, but she knows that every once in a while acting like a kid again is good for me.
So thank you to Anna for letting me act like a kid once in a while. And thank you to Chris for not growing up right along side me!

Figuring it all out.

Welcome to our blog! It's our attempt to journal during this new exciting time in our lives. We found out June 8th. that Anna is pregnant with our first child! We were elated to find this out, we had been trying for quite some time to become pregnant and this was an unbelievable answer to prayer. It has been a whirlwind of emotion for Anna and I both as we have traveled on this new journey.

We had our first doctors appointment last Tuesday. The doctor did blood work, as well as sat us down for a Q and A session. It was the time for Anna and I to ask all the questions that we have been thinking about for the last few weeks. This is new for both of us so we are learning on the fly. We have been given a lot of reading material from the doctor as well as good friends of ours, so that's what I am reading now, "The Expectant Father." I'm hoping that this is some sort of owners manual for children that gives me all the answers to all the questions I have been asking. I don't know if I'll find all the answers to all the questions I am asking or even any of the answers but I know that Anna and I are really enjoying the new adventures that pregnancy is bringing us everyday.

Just please keep Anna and the baby in your prayers.