You Gotta Do The Best You Can

Chris and I have a nightly ritual where we sit on the couch and use our laptops. I was looking at something about the pattern for their lives members of our church (LDS) are supposed to learn from the temple. We got to discussing the concept of what it means when people tell us "you don't have to be perfect, you just have to do the best you can and Christ will make up the rest."

What? Tonight, not for the first time, but stronger than ever, this idea struck me as ridiculous. I think the best people can honestly say if they want to believe that lots of people will get to heaven is "give life an honest effort, and Christ will make up the rest."

"Ridiculous, Kevin!" I hear many of you saying. Let me explain. My thoughts on this are really not too complicated.

I never do the best I can any day. Even the days where I decide to make a better effort. I mean NEVER. There's always something at the end of the day that if I had really been trying my best I wouldn't have done, or done differently. For instance, today I was sarcastic when talking to Chris about something in the car, even though I've resolved to try to get rid of my sarcastic humor. And honesty compels me to admit that I'll slip up on it again given my track record, unless I get hit by a bus before I get the chance. If I were really doing my best and were on guard all the time, I could do it.

People just don't perform at their best though.



Here is some Homestar humor about doing your best. Be inspired. http://www.homestarrunner.com/puppets.html

28 Week Ultrasound

Today was the day of reckoning.  At our appointment today, the doctor was going to determine if Samantha was back on track growth-wise, or if we would have to plan for an early delivery.

The prognosis was excellent!  Samantha has moved from the 18th percentile to the mid 40s.  At the 20 week ultrasound, she was in the 30s.  So after a serious dip, she caught back up!  Go baby!

Here are some of the measurement comparisons.

 

24 and 28 week abdomen.  The abdomen measurement was never a problem.

24 and 28 week femur.  It was almost 5 days off before.

24 and 28 week head circumference.  This measurement was the most concerning as it was 12 days off.  The diameter was only 7 days off.  The new measurements are only a couple of days off.

So cheers to high protein, baby aspirin and folic acid supplements!

Unlike her previous appointments, baby felt like posing.  Here’s one of the 3-D ultrasounds that Chris and I liked.  Baby is curled up with both legs crossed in front of her face and feet above her head.  Were we all this flexible?

Is ice cream fun when it's a job?

When I was a kid, I loved corndogs. Then I went to college and got boxes of them from Costco to put in the freezer because they were cheap and fast. After college, it was a long time before I could appreciate corndogs again. I've had a few cycles of that. The point? Corndogs were great when I didn't HAVE to eat them.

A few weeks back, Chris's maternal fetal medicine doctor (a specialist, not the same as an OB) put Chris on a high-protein diet because baby Samantha (that's here name right now) wasn't growing like she should. From the 20th to 24th week, she went from the 30 something percentile to the 18th percentile of growth. Because of this, the doctor put Chris on a high protein diet... that meant eggs for breakfast, peanut butter for lunch, meat for dinner and an ice cream shake with a scoop of protein at night. I told Chris she might not like ice cream so much now that it was a job.

So how have things shaped up in the last 3 weeks? It's definitely a job, but her love for ice cream has not backfired as I predicted. Maybe it's because I've become so good at making a shake! See, the secret is adding about 1/4 the milk you think you should and blending it a long time. That way it is thick and smooth when done, instead of thin and smooth like most homemade shakes, or thin and milky with the blended ice cream floating at the top that's impossible to drink.

Friday we find out if these shakes are permanent for these last 3 months. I still hold out that if they are, Chris will be hating ice cream by the time this is over.

My New Blog

I decided to ditch the baggage of my old blog and start anew here. Some things that you will and won't find here:

Will

• Random musings
• Pictures
• Videos
• My views minus politics
• How cool it is to be me

Won't

• Politics. I have learned to detest all things politics and (nearly) all politicians. I am still pro voting.