My first trip to Bentonville

Lauren and Rusty recently moved to Bentonville, Arkansas so that Rusty could take a position as associate pastor at the Nazarene church. While I'm sad they didn't move to KC or Denver, Bentonville is only 3 hours south of KC!

I'm so grateful for the chance to visit them there and see the new life they are making for themselves. I got to see their home, their church, and much of their community. (Including the Bentonville town sqaure!)

It was a short visit but we squeezed a lot into it. Perhaps most special for me was Lauren treating me to a "Yay Baby!" lunch at Sushi House. (Don't worry, everything we ordered was cooked...)

Chris and Kerry's wedding

We are in KC again...this time to be at Chris and Kerry's wedding! Chris is David's best friend from elementary school and was one of the best men in our wedding 6 1/2 years ago. Last night, David got to be the best man at Chris' wedding and it was VERY special. Chris and Kerry are a great couple and we had such a great time celebrating them. We wish them well as they begin their new life together!

Most days...but not today.

Most days I am THRILLED about being pregnant. I wake up and cannot believe that I am lucky enough to have a baby growing inside me that is making me a mom. Most days I feel warm and fuzzy toward this unborn baby and my heart feels so swollen with love for it that I worry it might burst.

Today is not one of those days.

Today I am tired. And I'm tired of being tired. I'm tired of feeling sick all the time and trying to force food down my throat. I'm so irritable that I took off my snow boot and threw it at my dog (don't worry, it missed him). Today, I'm not sure I even like this baby. I feel like telling it to hit the road and find some other sucker to grow it.

Lucky for me, a package arrived in the mail today. My friend Carrie sent me a book called, "What to Expect When You're Expected." It is from the perspective of the unborn fetus and it is hilarious.

Here are a few of my favorite excerpts:

"Why is Mommy throwing up all the time?"

Short answer: You make her sick.

Long answer: She's suffering from a condition called morning sickness. In truth, the name is a double misnomer--not only can its symptoms strike at any and all hours, but as the daily result of a voluntary condition, it is technically not a sickness but a lifestyle choice.

On Nutrition

Ordering all your meals in is convenient. But it's also risky. You're putting your diet in Mommy's hands, and good nutrition is not something Americans are known for. The old cliche that pregnant women are "eating for two" is true only insofar as every American eats for two. At least two. Five, in Alabama. Many expectant moms have even come to believe that eating healthy may endanger their unborn child. They fear it will set him up as an outcast in a society that, at some point in the nineties, deemed the burrito a worthy addition to the breakfast table.

(And perhaps my favorite one for the day...)

Parental Diagnosis

Eyes, hair color, personality: Fetalcy is a time of uncertainty when it comes to many subjects. Most of these prompt little more than fun debate. But there's one question no embryo likes to joke about, one few even want to discuss: "Are my parents idiots?'

Until recently, that question could only be answered at birth. But breakthroughs in the field of parental diagnosis mean it's now possible to find out as early as the middle of the first trimester whether your mommy and daddy have any idea what they're doing.

There are now dozens of tests used to help determine if your parents are neither all that nor a bag of chips. These include analyses of TV habits, iPod playlists, ball-scratching frequency, even voting records. (Nader '04=mandatory adoption)

***

Most days I might think this book is crude, crass, and not lovey-dovey enough...but not today. =)

(Thanks, Carrie...)

I Left My ♥ in San Francisco

Last week I got to spend some time with my sister and her kids. I LOVE being "Auntie Tiff" and really enjoy being with Jacob and Cameron. I had a great time and got to see their daily routines--running club, orthodontist appointments, homework, popcorn and movie night--I loved it all! We did take one morning to have some sister time in San Francisco, which was very special. I love my California family! =)

Our Baby News!

Most of you who read this blog already know but, just in case you didn't, we're having a baby!!!

=)

We're really excited. I didn't post much in November--partly because I was busy with finals and partly because I was trying not to spill the beans!

We got to go home for Thanksgiving and tell our families in person. It was a REALLY special time and we will enjoy telling Baby Baker how surprised his/her grandparents, aunts, and uncles were. =)

We had our first doctor's appointment last week and everything looked great. The first appointment was with a certified nurse midwife and she was awesome. She answered all our questions and made us feel very comfortable. The best part, of course, was the ultrasound. I had NO idea what was what in the picture, but I COULD see a little heart beating on the screen!

I had been feeling pretty crummy for a couple of days but am eating more and feeling better. Thanks for all your prayers and love! We will welcome Baby Baker on or around July 10, 2010...

I get by with a little help from my friends

David and I have only had one car since we moved to Denver and most of the time we are able to make it work. Either he stays late at work, I go early to class, or he rides his bike. BUT, this quarter our schedules have been SO crazy...between David's clinical out in Golden, the fact that it gets dark at 5 p.m. and there's frequently snow on the bike path, and my night class that goes until 9:30, we have found ourselves in need of help on MORE than a few occasions!

Thanks to a couple of folks at Iliff and Trinity and BIG thanks to Greta, we've gotten everywhere we needed to be. But it hasn't been easy to ask for help! It's hard. It's humbling. I worry about taking advantage of my friends. But part of me knows that they aren't lying when they tell me they really don't mind helping me...and that's just the kind of friends they are.

I know it's a little early for Thanksgiving, but I am so grateful to the friends I have and for being part of a community!

It's always happening: Grace is afoot

My mentor and pastor friend shared this with me today. It's written by "Pastor Steve" and I wanted to share it with you:

Yesterday evening a friend wrote, “20 years ago today… the walls came tumblin’ down. Happy tumblin’ down day.” Oh, yeah; I’d forgotten: twenty years ago the Berlin Wall fell.

Vranna Lynn said, “The immovable crumbled...reality laughed at impossibility.” She said, “Concrete and barbed wire surrendered to flesh and bone and spirit.” Those are profound thoughts, and, I believe, a description not just of an extraordinary event, but of reality.

But what really struck me was that yesterday Vranna Lynn was thinking about freedom and transformation and transcendence…and millions of people in Germany were celebrating a remarkable event… and I was oblivious. It’s not that they needed me. The wall came down without my help, and they celebrated just fine without me. But I wonder: how often is something powerful happening, some liberating sea change, some miraculous healing, some earth-changing event unfolding, and I think otherwise?

The Berlin Wall fell because of many complex political and social forces. One was that people met for years in houses and church basements and prayed for the wall to fall, prayed for freedom and peace, and acted in that light in their daily lives. Of course, I had not been aware of that.

We tend to think about what we can see. So we think mostly of our own lives, and our daily chores, and less about the greater human family, less about the unseen powers. But the real essence of life is invisible energy, intangible connections, and unseen Presence. God’s basic mode of operation is grace and redemption, miracle and resurrection. It’s always happening. And sometimes it’s happening in big ways, as it did in Berlin, or in South Africa, or the Philippines… Our sin is not so often wickedness as it is self-centeredness and obliviousness.

I’m not saying you ought to join in every movement or remember every little anniversary that goes by. Just be mindful. Be mindful that despite the world’s vast injustices, grace is afoot; justice is coming; miracles happen; things can change; there’s more going on than you see; people right now are working for peace and justice; and, as some graffiti on the Berlin Wall said, “Many small people, who in many small places do many small things, can change the face of the world.” Every day is a day of liberation.

Happy tumblin’ down day.