Dustin DeFoe

A Year of Life Lessons as a Father

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:49:00 +0000

My daughter is almost a year old and thus means I have been a father for almost a full year now. Here are some of the life lessons I have learned over the last year as a father (in no particular order):

I pray regularly for my child that she would grow to be a Godly woman.
When I get frustrated with something I notice that my kid will detect that and is more easily irritated and frustrated and thus more likely to cry.
I need to always be prepared with plenty of wipes and diapers as I never know when I will need them (or how many I will need).
Have the food ready before I sit her down to eat. She doesn't like waiting for her food.
Don't put the bowl of food within her reach when trying to feed her. This can have disasterous results.
I need to be careful which funny noises I make with my mouth as she may just pick up on it and imitate me...which can seem rude to others (who don't know that she learned it from her father).
Baby socks don't stay on her feet no matter how good the elastic. The same seems to go for shoes.
It is important for me to randomly take pictures of my daughter and send them to my wife. It will put an instant smile on her face.
If my daughter is sleeping then I should let her sleep if at all possible. If I wake her she will likely be up for some time and may not be in a good mood.
Baby clothe sizes are very odd and can be confusing. Some say newborn when they fit a one year old and some one year olds are too small for a 6 month old. Obviously this depends on how big the baby is.
God likes to test our patience and my daughter is one medium in which God does this.
It is important for me to get ready for where I am going a bit earlier than I used to so that I can still be on time. My daughter should not be an excuse for me to be late.
I should not leave my daughter's food (or my own) sitting at the edge of the coffee table. Otherwise it will likely be even longer before she gets to eat as I will be cleaning up a big stain on the floor!
If I put my daughter in some sort of Twins attire for her first Twins game and take a picture...I may just win a prize! :)
I need to always check the diaper bag before leaving the house for the essentials I may need.
I need to cherish every minute I have with my daughter. She is changing so quickly.
I want to always be open to allowing others to hold my daughter (and even encourage it) so she is used to going to others and doesn't always cling to me or my wife.
It is okay for me to not feel guilty about enjoying a break from watching my child.
It is very important for me to have some great friends who are willing to baby sit as it is always nice to be able to go on a date with my wife and without my daughter.

I'm sure the life lessons I learn this next year will look quite different from this list, but I am looking forward to learning and growing as a father.

Being an Elder - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:30:00 +0000

In my previous post I talked about what our leadership team looks like at Grace Church Roseville as well as a glance at our our meetings. This post will discuss my experiences of being an elder at the church.

What is it like being an elder?
If you have known many individuals who have been elders at their church, many don't have much good to say about it. They have had bad experiences and many may even vow to never be on an elder board again. Some just get burnt out. I have even heard some of these experiences from people who have been on our board. That has not been my experience so far. I know I have only been a part of the board for a year, and even in this last year there have been some big changes to how we do things, but my experience has been anything but negative. I love how we meet with the staff during the leadership meetings since they are a key part of the church. It only makes sense that we are meeting and partnering with them in their ministry. I love how our elder only meeting is designed to allow us to grow closer to each other on a relational level as well as a spiritual level.

Having Fun in What We Do
Being an elder is fun. Some may read that statement and think that I am crazy. Many have had very bad experiences being an elder. I'm not saying that there aren't hard times and even sad times. Part of this statement probably comes from the fact that one of our values at our church is to have fun. There has been a lot of laughter in our leadership meetings. Does that make them bad? Does that mean we aren't doing God's will? Does that mean we don't take things seriously? No, No, and No. Our team works very well together and have gotten to know each other much better. Since we started having an elder only meeting once a month it has drawn the elders closer together as leaders, as friends, and on a spiritual level. I love serving with the team of leaders at Grace Church Roseville. They are a group that loves God, loves our church, and loves people. They are very attuned to our vision and mission and have a great desire to move forward. It is my honor to stand with them and serve at Grace. The leaders in this group are willing to have fun with each other and are not afraid to bring some laughter to the group.

Being People In Process and Participating in Authentic Community
This past year I have gotten to participate in numerous worship stations at our church. Worship stations are areas where we setup in the sanctuary where people can go to worship during a specified time during the service. Here are a couple examples.

In one station we individuals come to the station and grab a glass of murky water representing the sin in our lives. They were then supposed to reflect on the sin in their lives and repent. They would then pour their water out into a bin and go up to one of the Elders who would fill their glass with clean water as a symbol of living without sin in their lives. We then prayed with each person that came up to us. It is such a joy to be able to pray with people and encourage people who are taking a step.

Another more recent example was a Chain Cutting station. Each chair had a piece of chain on it when people sat down. That chain represented the chains in our lives of things that hold us down and burden us. The goal is to cut those chains and turn them over to Christ and live a life without the chains. During the worship time each person could go up to one of the leaders who were equipped with chain cutters. We would then cut their chain in two. They would then drop half the chain in a bucket (which created a great sound throughout the sanctuary) and keep the other half as a reminder of the chains that have been cut.

The last example I will share, while not necessarily a worship station during a service, was when people took the step of baptism. These individuals were publicly making a profession of their faith. We went down to a local lake and baptized around 35 individuals. I was able to participate in this service and got to baptize 6 individuals. It was awesome to see so many individuals taking that step of faith, to hear their stories, and to talk with some of them. God is at work in their lives and they were willing to take that next step in their relationship with Christ.

The Joys
Being an elder has many joys. Many of these consist of coming alongside people as they take next steps such as participating in a baptismal service, praying with people who want to get rid of the dirt in their lives, and symbolically cutting peoples chains that weigh them down. Planning for the future and trying to see the bigger picture can also be a joy. As a leader you probably hear about many stories of how God is at work in peoples lives in our church and that is always great to hear.

The Hardships
Unfortunately, yet expected, being an elder can also come with a level of hardship and sadness. It is hard to hear that people think we as leaders are lying, being deceitful, and that we can't be trusted. These statements are hurtful and are hard to hear. Having to deal with church discipline for those in sin is not an easy task. Dealing with personnel issues is not always fun. These things are not always easy or fun, but that is part of being a leader.

While the hardships are not fun, there are plenty of areas to rejoice in. We know that God is at work and we anticipate that he is going to show up (one of our values). God is at work in our church and I am so excited to be a part of His work. The leaders are amazing individuals who have a heart for God and a heart for others. If you know any of the leaders, this should be evident in their lives and their ministries.

Being an Elder - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:30:00 +0000

I have been an Elder at Grace Church Roseville for a little over a year now. You may wonder what it is like to be an elder at a church and what it consists of. Let me say that my experience is limited as I have only been an elder for one year. Also, my experiences as an elder may be quite different from others as every church board is run differently. For obvious reasons I will not be talking about specifics regarding any issues we may have had at the church.

This post is going to talk primarily about what our Elder and Leadership boards look like at Grace Church Roseville.

Our Values
At Grace, we have 7 values that we try to live by. I am starting this blog post with these values as all 7 of these values are seen in our leadership team at Grace. I talk about some of these specifically in these posts.

Anticipating God's movement
Being people in process
Being others focused
Participating in authentic community
Serving as a team
Engaging culture with the truth
Having fun in what we do

Serving as a Team
At our church we have an Elder board that consists of the Elders in the church (including the Lead Pastor). We also have a leadership team which consists of the Elders as well as the main staff in the church. The Leadership team meets once a month and the Elders meet again as just the Elder board resulting in 2 meetings a month. We currently have 7 Elders (this includes the senior pastor). We have about 8 staff members that join us for the leadership meetings. This results in about 15 of us in our leadership team meetings when everyone is present.

Elder/Staff Pairings
Each elder is paired with one or two other ministry leaders (main staff members) to create an Elder/Staff pair. These pairs stay up to date with what is going on in that staff members ministry. It also gives members of the church 2 people that they can bring issues to or ask questions to rather than just the staff member. Each staff member can also know that they have an Elder that will support them and have their back. I am paired with our Children's ministry director. I attend some of their leadership meetings and try to get regular updates on things that are happening in the Children's ministry.

Leadership Team Meetings
The leadership team meeting is once a month. People can arrive early and bring their own dinner if they want to eat with others. After that we start our meeting out by praying for the prayer requests that have been submitted to the church in the prior weeks. We spend about 25 minutes in prayer for the congregation. We then begin the meeting with some general discussion points. We often have a ministry update during these meetings where one of the ministries shares about how things are going and what they are doing. This is usually presented by the ministry leader along with the elder pair. We will usually then proceed to discuss a couple chapters of the book we are reading through together, watch a leadership video clip, or discuss an article we have all read. Our lead pastor then provides a "Pastor's Corner" where he shares some leadership nuggets and encourages us as leaders. On occasion the Elders will have an elder only meeting after this meeting to discuss any confidential matters.

Elder Only Meetings
The elder only meeting is also once a month. We meet at one of our houses and have been starting out with dinner if people wish to eat first. We first spend some time sharing what is going on in our individual lives and then spend some time praying for each other. We then transition into various discussions about items going on at the church as well as planning for the future of the church. These discussions obviously vary much more from week to week.

That is a summary of what our team looks like as well as what the meetings themselves look like. The next post will talk about my experiences and reflections of being on the board in the past year.

10 Months and Counting

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:07:00 +0000

Emma is now 10 months old. It is amazing how quick these 10 months have gone. I have not posted on here much about her (or anything for that matter) but I am trying to improve in this area. Note that this may be a bit of a long post.

Let me recap the last 10 months a bit. Note that there may be a bit of bragging on my baby girl put into here, but what can I say, I love her so much!

0-3 Months
These months were so precious and I loved watching her grow up and learn new things. A couple weeks after she was born we took her to a Christmas party at our church where we ended up holding her for about 15 minutes. The rest of the time she was being passed around to everyone else. Wanda was home most of this time on maternity leave and thus she was able to give her breast milk the majority of the time. We fed her out of a bottle the majority of the time and thus I got to participate in the feedings. After only a month or so she was sleeping through the night most nights (except for when we had to feed her earlier on). Ever since she was born we have been handing her off to people to hold and she never minded.

At 2 months she was 10 pounds 8 ounces and 22 inches long

3-6 Months
At this point Wanda was back at work full-time and thus we were feeding Emma breast milk at home and formula when she was at daycare. We also started her on some baby foods (rice cereal at first) from the store. She is such a good eater. The only problem we typically had was getting her the food quick enough.

Around April 10th, she rolled over for the first time and by the end of the month she was rolling over a lot more often. Despite having a bouncy and enjoying her time in it, she still was not putting much pressure on her legs when you tried to stand her up.

At 4 months she was 12 pounds 13 ounces and 23 inches long
At 6 months she was 14 pounds 7 ounces and 24 3/4 inches long

6 Month Photos taken by Ella Jean Photography

6-9 Months
At 6 months we moved her off of the breast milk and onto Formula exclusively along with her normal baby foods.

At about 7 months she started crawling around and applying more pressure to her legs when you tried to stand her up. It was at this point that we bought a divider area where she can play in. I call it her cage :). We knew it wouldn't be too much longer till she started standing up.

On July 18th, we figured we should take Emma for her first swim. We went with a couple friends who happened to have a tube designed for babies. She didn't mind the water though she mainly just sat there and never got too excited either. The second time we went she seemed to have more fun.

On July 24th, we took her to her first Minnesota Twins game at Target Field. We borrowed a Baby Bjorn and it worked very well for her. I thought she would fall asleep pretty quickly, but it was so hot and noisy that she stayed awake the whole time. The best part is that we took a picture of her and sent it in for the fan pictures and her picture was chosen as the Twins Pic of the Game. This means she won us a HD video camera. Not too bad for her first game there.

At 9 months she was 17 pounds 0 ounces and 26 inches long

9-10 Months
We spent Labor day with my parents and my brother's family. It was during this time that we saw Emma pull herself up for the first time. She did really good with this and would even stand in one spot for a couple minutes. Emma still isn't walking along the edge of the couch/table but it won't be long till she does this.

Her first 2 teeth have just started to poke through but surprisingly there hasn't been too much extra fussing or even fevers. She has been very good through it all.

Emma has been a very easy baby to care for up to this point. She does not get very fussy. She is not very loud. She eats well. She goes to anyone. She is always happy. We love her so much. We are in the works of planning her 1 year birthday party. She has hardly gotten sick (a double ear infection and cough that lasted a couple weeks was the extent of it). Even during the sickness she was pretty happy.

Emma continues to be such a blessing in our lives.

Bailey's Story

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Earlier this Summer, Wanda and I made a tough decision to get rid of Bailey. This was not an easy decision. Here's the story of how it progressed, how we came to the decision, and how we are coping.

First off, we got Bailey as a 7 week old puppy from Wanda's brother, Rick, who has since passed away. This just added to how much Bailey meant to us. It was great seeing her grow up to 80 pounds from when I could just hold her in my hand.

It was fun having Bailey around and having someone to greet us at the door, though we would have preferred to have bought fewer comforters for our bed! At the same time, a dog requires time and energy. A dog like Bailey, a Lab, needs attention and needs to be able to use some of her energy. Our house just didn't provide for that as we are not keen on going on a lot of walks. We went into this with great intentions, but never really lived up to those intentions very well. We do not have a yard that we can let Bailey out in and only in the last year have we had a gated area between our garage and house (not very big and all cement). Thus, the only exercise she had was in the house and if we took her for a walk. She deserved better.

After we had Emma, we watched Bailey to see how she would respond and treat her. Bailey had no issues with going up to Emma and giving her attention, but she did not like when Emma tried to give her attention. There was never a point where we were scared that Bailey would hurt her in any way other than knocking her over (or stepping on her) but we did sense some resistance on Bailey's end to let Emma play with her.

On top of this, we were looking for some ways to save money and as you can imagine, dogs aren't exactly cheap. When you add in the shots, the food, the new comforters, shelters, etc. it adds up fairly quickly.

All that being said, we started looking for a new home for Bailey. As I mentioned, there was quite a bit of sentiment behind Bailey and thus it would be hard to get rid of her to just anyone, especially hard for Wanda. Ultimately, we ended up asking Wanda's sister-in-law, Rick's wife, if she was interested and she said yes. She happens to have a lot of acreage that Bailey can run and play on. This environment was going to be much better and more enjoyable for a Lab.

Wanda had a rough time with getting rid of her, but we know who she was with and we got lots of Facebook updates and pictures to help with the transition. It has been a nice break from having to constantly let the dog outside/inside, having to come home sooner just to let her out, and having to drop her off at a kennel while we went out of town. We do still miss having her around, but we know she is in good hands. Maybe someday we will consider getting another dog, but not for a while...

New Job Experiences

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:27:00 +0000

I have now been at my new job a little over a week. Here's a recap of how I found the job and what the first week was like.

Finding the Job
I was not looking for a new job, but instead was interested in lunch at Khans with an old co-worker (my previous boss). In the process he asked me if I was interested in a new job and told me all about it. I usually said no to job offers as I don't particularly enjoy switching jobs. I prayed about it, did some research, and considered my current job situation and figured it was time for a switch. Note that I never filled a job application or even came in for a formal interview. The job was mine if I wanted it and we could agree on a salary. I accepted shortly there after and started on September 19th.

Driving/Traffic
I'm pretty satisfied with the route I have been taking to work. It takes about 35-45 minutes depending on traffic. Due to construction it has taken closer to 45 minutes most days so far. Also, 3 days in a row I saw an accident in the exact same spot. What are the chances of that happening? Anyways, the drive to work has been better then I expected.

The drive home I have been taking a different route due to construction on one of the roads. Today I am going to be trying the same route that I take to get to work and see how it is. Either way, the drive hasn't been horrible.

First week on the job
I got to work on Monday in time for our weekly team meeting. When I went into the meeting I already knew everyone in the room. A rather odd situation for a new job setting, but rather pleasant at the same time. Everyone in our IT department worked at our previous employer, Liberty, which I left 6.5 years ago. It's nice to be able to start a job and be able to know all your main co-workers by name right away.

I got my new laptop right away on Monday which is a very nice computer compared to the one I have at home and even compared to the one I had at my previous job. This thing is fast and I like that. I spend the first couple days learning some of their ordering systems and getting my computer setup and configured.

On Wednesday I had to fill out a job application for the job I already had. Rather odd, but it is a formality and they needed an application on file. At least they didn't make me sit down for a formal interview after I was already hired :).

I have been upgrading some of the web User Interfaces (UI) to be a cleaner look and to work across all browsers rather than just in IE (seriously...who uses IE nowadays anyways). They haven't really had a web developer here so the sites needed an overhaul in regards to the UI. I created a simple website as well as a Chrome Extension (more for myself than anything). I also upgraded and enhanced another existing application. On top of all that I am working on learning their current systems and understanding how everything flows and works.

It has been a good week and I'm looking forward to the work to come. It should be a great job and it helps to already have a good reputation with the people you will be working with.

No job as of September 16th

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:40:00 +0000

As of September 16th I will be without a job. I handed in my notice on Monday. It came as a shock to my co-workers but it was time. The good news is that I will be starting a new job on the 19th. I will actually be working with about 7 of my old coworkers though it is at a different company than we worked at previously.

The new job is at White House Custom Colour in Eagan, MN. I am looking forward to the change. The drive is only a few miles more than my current job but I should be able to work from home one day a week which will be nice.

3 and 33

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 01:24:00 +0000

3 Months

Yesterday was Emma's 3 month birthday. She is growing up to be a wonderful kid who we are madly in love with. One of our friends, Lindsey, gave her the nickname of "Monkey" and it has kinda stuck.

Last week was Wanda's first week back to work and thus Emma's first week at daycare. Wanda had a tough few days but has since been doing much better. Emma is doing great at daycare and starting to get used to the schedule. She is having a rough time takes her two naps (or at least the full nap) but she does at least eat all her food. Emma is sleeping through the night (8-10 hours usually) which is a big blessing for us.

Last Friday we dropped her off at Zach and Lindsey's house to stay over night while we had a full day on Saturday. We then went and picked her up on Saturday night. She did great and had no issues being apart from us. We, on the other hand, had a hard time being away from her for that long. There were quite a few text messages that went back and forth between Wanda and Lindsey during the day on Saturday.

33 Years

Yesterday also happened to be my birthday. On Tuesday we went to Tony Roma's at the Mall of America to celebrate and Zach, Lindsey, Abe, and Ali joined us. Thanks to all who wished me a happy birthday. You are such great friensds. I think I received about 40+ different messages on Facebook alone. I may take a lot of grief from my friends about getting "old" but I can handle it and to prove it, here are a couple of links to some fun Jib Jab videos (for St. Patrick's day) that I got put into along with my podcasting friends from 3 Day Respawn.

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/2YRypuLY2eAnKd2B

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/2DIbe5Sf3Zph8Cjx

Hijacked by Emma

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:48:00 +0000

Emma has hacked into Dad's blog to post what the family has been up to.

The things mom and dad have learned in 6 weeks. First they can not thank God enough or pray enough. They have learned that they can look at me all day and night. They learned that getting up in the middle of the night to care for me was okay. Sleep interruption is okay with mom but dad can handle going to bed late and getting up early. Snuggle time seems to be something they cherish especially when it is snuggling on the chest or in their arms. They seem to work hard but seem to have fun while doing it. They found out that I don't have a schedule yet so they have to work to adjust their schedule around me. They have also learned that eating cold food is just fine while the other takes care of me. I have my own personality and I can't wait to show them more of it. They seem to enjoy sharing me with others as I tend to get passed around wherever we go. Also Mom and Dad are adjusting to me just fine even though I haven't really made a huge fuss yet. Just wait for a few more months when I start teething or start getting an attitude.

Emma

Baby Emma's Story

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 05:51:00 +0000

Here is a bit of the story around Emma's birth. I put it in a timeline as it seemed to make more sense. If you want photos they can be found on my Picasa Web Album.

November 30th

9:45am - Wanda thought her water had broke and thus she began her Maternity leave a day and a half early. She went home and cleaned up before her Dr's appointment later that afternoon.
1:30pm - Wanda went in for her 3 appointments
3:15pm - Her doctor sent her to the Labor/Delivery area due to high blood-pressure. They wanted to check her and make sure for symptoms of preeclampsia. Come to find out, her water had not broken though she was dilated to 2cm.
5:30pm - They put Wanda on bed rest and sent us home for the evening.

December 1st

7:00am - Dustin worked from home to assist Wanda as she is on bed rest.
1:00pm - Wanda's mom shows up to assist with the bed rest for the next couple days.
6:45pm - Dustin goes to Cell Group and has some "Death by chocolate"....mmmmm...thanks Lori!
7:10pm - Wanda calls and says her Water broke. She calls the hospital and they want her to come in. She called me back and told me to come home.
7:45pm - We left for the hospital. We got checked in to our room at around 8pm. They confirmed that Wanda's water had broke but that the baby was still pretty high up.
10:25pm - They put Wanda on petocin to help induce her.
10:45pm - Dustin goes home to let Bailey out and grab some last minute items
11:15pm - Dustin returns to the hospital.

December 2nd

1:15am - Baby was still rather high so they increased the level of petrocin to try and get her to move down.
6:30am - Wanda is dilated to 3.5 cm
7:25am - A low dose of Fentanel was given to her to help take the edge off the pain. Sitting in the rocking chair was the most comfortable and managable for her.
8:25am - Wanda is dilated to 4 cm
8:45am - Wanda asked for an Epidural and they had the procedure done by 9:00.
9:00am - Dustin goes home to let Bailey out and made plans for her to be let out in the afternoon.
10:00am to 4:00pm - Multiple checks were done but no progress was made. They did take Wanda off the insulin drip.
4:00pm - We made the decision to do a C-section based on a number of factors with the biggest one being that there was no progress.
4:15pm - Everyone is prepped and getting final preparations ready
4:25pm - Dustin is called in to the Operating room
4:30pm - Emma Jade is born. Dustin took all sorts of photos in the operating room.
4:45pm - Dustin and 2 grandmas walked the baby to the nursery. Wanda was being stitched up and being prepped for recovery. Her glucose level was a bit low so they monitored this quite a bit
4:55pm - Dustin fed Emma her first bottle which she consumed within 4 minutes...you go girl.
5:00pm - Grandma's go visit Wanda in recovery.
5:10pm - Dustin and Emma go visit mom in recovery.
6:15pm - Dustin and Emma return to Nursery for another blood sugar test.
6:30pm - Wanda was moved to the post partum rooms
6:35 - The result of the blood sugar test was still too low so they sent Emma to the Special Care Nursery to be put on an IV of sugar water.
8:00pm - Dustin went to feed Emma in the nursery
8:45pm - Dustin took grandmas back to the house and then returned to the hospital.
9:15pm - Wanda was able to take a short walk to the nursery to see the baby (was unable to hold her at this point).
11:00pm - Dustin and Wanda went to feed Emma. Breast feeding was successful and we enjoyed the bonding time.
12:00pm - Time to sleep for the night

December 3rd

We had about 7 individuals come visit throughout the day and we just enjoyed spending time with each other and with Emma. Emma was still in the Special Care nursery with an IV all day and thus it wasn't as easy to see and hold her. They were weening her off the IV throughout the day.

December 4th

Emma was taken off the IV at 2:00am. After the 8:00am feeding they moved her to the Level 1 nursery which allows us to take her back to our room. We had been looking forward to this time so much. We had about 6 friends come visit and enjoyed ooohing and ahhing over Emma as well as the great social time...not to mention the food :).

December 5th

We got to bring Emma home at around noon. We had a couple videos we needed to watch and then pack things up to go home. Our car seats appeared to be missing some parts so we had to go buy a new one in order to take her home.
We got home to find our neighbors had put some balloons and food in the house along with welcome home signs outside. It was a nice surprise.
Emma is home and we are doing well as we adjust to the new schedules.

December 6th

I went to work today and will also go on Tue and Wed. I will then be taking a week of Paternity leave from Thu to next Wed. It is hard being away from her all day but I definitely have something to look forward to when I go home!

Baby Update

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:44:00 +0000

I haven't posted in a while so I figured I should post a new baby update. First off, Wanda has been doing extremely good with her Diabetes. So much so that they want to take her off of Insulin after the baby is born. This is great to hear.

Wanda has been going to the doctor every week for a non-stress test, an ultrasound, and a meeting with her doctor. These meetings have gone very well and we have had no issues aside from the baby being breach week after week. Last night Wanda had a rather painful moment while sitting on the couch as the baby was moving. She actually had to stand up and breath. Come to find out at her appointment today, the baby turned into the proper position so she is no longer breach! Hopefully she will stay in this position instead of turning back. She has been pretty active.

We are at 36 weeks and 5 days and the baby is measuring in at 36 weeks and 2 days...pretty much right on target. We can't be more happy at the moment for our healthy baby and we are very much looking forward to meeting her. God is good!

Extra Life Summary

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:19:00 +0000

I made the decision on Friday that I would go home after work, sleep till about 9:30pm, and then start the 24 hour marathon at 10pm. I went home at 4pm and went straight to bed to try and get about 5 hours of sleep. I laid in bed for about 3.5 hours but could not actually fall asleep. I probably got a bit refreshed but definitely no actual sleep. I got up around 7:30 and ate dinner with Wanda and decided to start the event early at 8:30pm. I had rented one game to play during the event and started with that game.

The hardest part for me was probably the overnight hours as it was darker outside and I had no friends online to play with. However, the game I rented helped keep me occupied. Late Friday night I had plenty of friends from 3 Day Respawn online to play with so that helped a lot. During the day on Saturday I played a lot with Brian (aka OgdenPD) and also with Dan (aka Jenos). I was a bit fatigued at the end, but I was even willing to keep playing at the 24 hour mark as I was having fun, but I decided against it. Instead, I went to bed and slept extremely well until the next morning.

Thank you all for your donations, prayers, and support. My goal was to raise $192 and you all helped me surpass that goal for a total of $389! All donations went straight to the Children's Miracle Network hospital here in St. Paul - Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare. My team, 3 Day Respawn, had a total of 12 members and we reached 82% of our goal. Our goal was $4276 and we managed to raise $3515.11. This was quite impressive as we were one of the top teams in regards to amount raised. So far this year, the Extra Life 2010 event has raised $443,999 for the Children Miracle Network hospitals around the world.

It is not too late to donate! Donations are accepted till November 15th, 2010. If you want to donate, go to https://www.hospitalshelpingkids.org/ExtraLife/m.aspx?i=17854B2C92568F95A and click on the Donate Now link on the left side.

Thanks again!

Extra Life 2010 Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:28:00 +0000

Tomorrow is the official day of the Extra Life 2010 marathon. Due to being out of town tomorrow, I will be participating on their makeup weekend (10/23/2010). I am very excited about this marathon and am anxious to see how hard it truly is to play games for 24 hours straight. I got over double the amount of supporters than I was expecting/hoping to get. My goal was to raise a total of $192 but ended up raising $389! Thank you all for your support. All donations goes to my local Children's Miracle Network hospital here in St. Paul MN, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare.

My plan (which may change) for the marathon is to come home from work on Friday, have an early dinner, and then go to sleep for about 5 hours. I will then plan on playing from around 10pm on Friday to 10pm on Saturday. As for what I will play, I haven't finalized those plans. The main video game source that I have is the Xbox 360 though I do have a few games on my phone and on my computer that I may play as well. I will likely play a lot of Xbox 360 games (COD:WaW, Borderlands, Halo Reach, [Redacted], and probably a few others). If Wanda is around I may even play some Harry Potter with her as well.

It will be fun. It will be challenging. It will be worth it. I'll post an update on Friday before I start and then after I am done with how it all went.

Extra Life 2010 - Play Games. Heal Kids.

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 20:19:00 +0000

As you all know, I like to play video games (no surprise there). However, this time it is for a good cause! I am going to be playing in a 24-hour gaming marathon on October 16th called "Extra Life 2010"! Before you think I am totally crazy, please read on as I need your help and support!

All donations for this event will go to the Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare here in St. Paul, MN. Please visit the link below for more details on the event and how you can help!

https://www.hospitalshelpingkids.org/ExtraLife/m.aspx?i=17854B2C92568F95A

Our little girls' first foot print

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:51:00 +0000

While we didn't get any real good ultrasound pictures, we did manage get a great foot print. What do you think? Tall like her Dad or shorter like her Mom? Probably a little too early to tell :)

A day of Celebration

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:44:00 +0000

Yesterday was a fun day filled with Celebration for us. Here are some of the reasons we had to celebrate.

1) Wanda and I both got off work at 12:30 to go to our 20 week Dr's Appointment. Short days at work are always worth celebrating.

2) The ultrasound went well and the baby is in great condition with everything being average and not seeing any issues. With this considered a high risk pregnancy, this was so wonderful for us to hear. Praise God for the good health of our little one.

3) We are having a baby GIRL!

4) I received 4 free tickets to the Twins game yesterday morning and my parents were able to come down and go to the game with us last night. We had a great time at the game, seeing Target Field, and spending time with each other. (FYI - Losing was not part of the celebration) Here are some photos of the twins game.

It's a God thing! We are expecting!

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:54:00 +0000

As you all know, we had plans of adopting and had begun the process. Apparently God had other plans. You did read the title correctly. Wanda and I are expecting and the baby is due on December 9, 2010. Read on for more details on our story.

April 10th - Wanda took a home pregnancy test and there was a VERY faint second line. We assumed it didn't mean anything. We were hesitant to think it was anything else as we hadn't been able to get pregnant for the last 10 years.

April 12th - Some friends tried to force us to go to a clinic and get a test. Due to not being able to find a close clinic to where we were we decided to do it a little later.

April 14th - Wanda went to a minute clinic where it was confirmed that she was indeed pregnant. She came home with a gift for me and also gave me the results of the test that they did.

April 15th - Wanda went to the actual doctor's clinic to do more official tests. I had taken off work early due to an Adoption Meeting we had at 1:30pm. We officially put the adoption process on hold and instead went to get an ultrasound done to determine how far along we had been. I was blessed to be able to go with to the Ultrasound. It was amazing to see the little baby that looked like a peanut on the screen. Even more amazing was to watch the flickering on the screen that was the Baby's heartbeat! This was absolutely amazing! They determined that we were exactly 6 weeks along.

May 24th - Wanda and I went in for a checkup with her new doctor. It was during this meeting that we got to hear the "whoosing" of our baby's heartbeat. When we first heard it we both almost cried and had huge smiles on our faces.

May 27th - We are officially 12 weeks along!

June 21st - Next doctor's appointment to do some tests to make sure the spinal cord is developing properly and do some early tests for Down-syndrome.

Please Pray - This pregnancy is considered a high risk pregnancy due to a couple items. Wanda has had a couple miscarriages in the past 10 years in which the baby never made it past a few weeks. Her diabetes also adds to the increased risk of the pregnancy. Pray for good health for both Wanda and the baby.

We are not sure why God has waited so long for us to get pregnant. We were fully prepared to just go with the adoption process and were not expecting to get pregnant. God obviously had other plans. We give Him the glory and praise!

Fishing Opener 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:04:00 +0000

View Photos of our trip

Dan, Matt, and I planned an early season fishing trip this year. We planned on going a couple weeks from now but due to conflicts we ended up going on the fishing opener. I prefer to avoid that weekend due to the busyness of the lakes but it worked out pretty well for us. We went up to my parent's house and were going to fish the local lakes in the area (near Alexandria).

Friday night we drove up there and decided to go fishing. The opener wasn't technically till Saturday so all we could fish for were crappies and bluegill. The only problem we had was we forgot the leaches at the house. We didn't end up catching anything but we had fun going out on the lake. When we returned to the house we grilled ourselves some dinner and decided to try something different the next morning and thus we had to get the paddleboat and canoe ready.

My dad joined us for our trips on Saturday putting 2 in the paddleboat and 2 in the canoe. We dropped into Little Oscar lake where there is no public boat access (but public road side access where you can drop in a canoe/paddleboat). We had the lake to ourselves all day. Dan and I were in the canoe and Matt and my dad were in the padddleboat. That morning we brought home 4 nice northerns and 1 nice walleye. We also caught numerous bass (3-4 pounds each) as well but had to throw them back since the season is not open yet. Dan caught a 5 pound walleye and I caught a 10 pound northern.

We returned home, cleaned the fish, had lunch and then ventured out with the guns for some pigeon shooting. Note that these were not the clay variations but instead the real thing. I was ashamed of my shooting since I did so horrible but Matt and Dan cleaned up pretty well. This is a lot of fun and is a major part of the "fishing" trips we take.

Saturday evening we returned to the same lake in hopes of catching some more northern and walleye. We returned with 8 more northerns and another walleye, putting us at our limit of northern for the day. My dad caught a 5 pound walleye and a 10 pound northern. We cleaned the fish that night and then fried some of the fish from that morning up and had some great tasting fish at 10:30 at night.

Sunday we decided to change it up a bit and Matt, Dan, and I went out to a close lake to do some crappie/bluegill fishing. The motor didn't work for some reason so we just trolled around a small part of the lake. We returned with 11 Crappies and 3 Bluegill. We returned home, cleaned them, and then ate about half of them for lunch before packing up and returning to the cities.

We had a blast and brought home plenty of fish for all of us. Thanks to my parents for letting us crash their place and have a blast catching some fish. I think my dad should be thanking us as he wouldn't have caught his walleye had it not been for us being there :).

Total # of fish caught:

15 Northerns (2 of them were 31 inches long - approximately 10 pounds each)

2 Walleye (24 inches each - approximately 5 pounds each)

15 Bass (all 3-4 pounds each)

11 Crappies

3 Bluegills

1 Perch

Other Misc/Fun Facts:

# of lures lost - 1

# of trees snagged - lost count

# of Pigeons downed - 12

# of fish that jumped out of the boat/bucket/cooler - 0

View Photos of our trip

Adoption Update

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:22:00 +0000

We received new information on our Adoption status tonight while attending an Infant Care Seminar. View our Adoption Website for more details.

New Flooring is complete

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:19:00 +0000

The materials for the new flooring in our upstairs was purchased about a month ago. My parents came down to the cities on Friday evening to help us get it installed. I did most of the prep work (removing the carpet, padding, staples, and tack strips, moving furniture, taking doors off of the closets, etc) ahead of time so that it was mostly ready for when they arrived. Wanda and I had also already painted the Baby's room.

Saturday morning we got up at 7 and started working on the house. We worked all day with a few breaks mixed in. We managed to get the Baby's room, Extra Bedroom, the long portion of the hall and a portion of the Master Bedroom all completed on Saturday.

Sunday morning we headed to church and heard an awesome sermon on being Sold Out to Christ. After church we went home and continued work on the house. We decided to put the Baby's Room and the Extra Bedroom back together (baseboards and closets) and then watch a little bit of the Superbowl (we watched maybe 30 minutes of it total). We got all of that completed, cleaned, and set back up so all we had left was the rest of the Master Bedroom and the rest of the Hallway.

Monday we got up early and started breaking down the Master Bedroom and started laying down the tiles. Dan and Chase showed up for an hour or so and helped out a bit as well. By 7pm we had the entire house finished and were able to start cleaning up all the tools and managed to watch 24 before retiring for the evening.

Due to the snow, my parents chose to stay an extra night so the roads could get cleared out a bit more before leaving. It was a good long weekend but we got it all done. We had just enough laminate and pad so it worked out very well. We love the look of the new floor. Bailey still has her doubts.

View all the Photos

Video Games cause Obesity? Really?

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:32:00 +0000

This may seem like an odd post to my blog, but I heard something on TV the other night that bothered me. It said that one of the leading causes of obesity is Video Games. TV is high on the list as well. I don't agree with this.

A cause of obesity is something like the lack of exercise, eating too much, constant snacking, etc. TV and Video Games are things that may cause the lack of exercise. But to say that the cause of obesity is something like a Video Game just doesn't make sense. Even if this was the case, it can't be said of every game. Look at items like Wii Fit. They might take a bit of offense at hearing that their game causes obesity.

Let's take a different scenario. Is it valid to say that the cause of you driving into a ditch was because you have a lot of friends or is it because you were texting a friend while driving? I would hope the answer is the latter or else I may be in trouble. Having a lot of friends may lead to distractions while driving (phone calls, texts, etc) which may cause you to go into the ditch. But having a lot of friends is not what caused you to go into the ditch.

Video Games and TV don't cause obesity. Playing too much or watching too much may result in a lack of exercise which may lead to obesity. If we are going to state it properly, you should say that the main cause of Obesity is the lack of exercise which is often the result of playing video games too much or watching TV too much. That statement I could agree with.

Just my $0.02.

Adoption Update

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:55:00 +0000

Some of you may not know this, but Wanda and I are in the process of adopting. In an effort to make it easy for people to know the plan, see the status, donate money, etc, we have created a simple website for people to use. I will update the website as our status changes or as I find information to add that people may want to know. I won't go into more details as that is what the website is for.

Baby DeFoe Adoption Process (http://adoption.dustindefoe.com)

Lack of Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:49:00 +0000

I just realized it has been a month since I last posted. I apologize for that. I have been updating my facebook/twitter statuses more frequently but haven't felt I had too much to say in a more "lengthy" posting.

We had a great Christmas with the family the week before Christmas. We enjoyed the time with everyone and I especially enjoyed playing with my nieces. We returned to work the week of Christmas which worked out well in regards to missing the big snow storm. I was hoping for more snow (I'm a fan of having it snow a LOT when it does snow...not just an inch here and an inch there). We had very minimal travel plans during the Christmas break so that was nice.

Last night I enjoyed learning how to play "Killer Bunnies" with the Gallops and Yzermans and am very thankful that my wife was willing to learn aside of me. We then proceeded to play "Pass the Pigs" in which I failed miserably (but had fun doing it). It has been a good past month and things are going well in the Defoe household.

Vacation, Black Friday, and Bacon

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:06:00 +0000

Lately, I have been taking lots of vacation. The last full week of work I had was the first week of November. I have had at least 2 days off every week since (sometimes 3 due to being sick). This week, I have 3 :). I am taking tomorrow off and then we get Friday off as well due to Thanksgiving. I enjoy my work, but time off is always enjoyable too.

We will be visiting family on Wed/Thur and then will be back in town for the weekend. I may have to do some Black Friday shopping on Friday, something I have never done. So many deals but I don't know if I want to get up at 3am (then again I could just stay up till 3 which I am used to doing).

Finally, for the bacon lovers out there (aka Allison), you may want to add this to your Holiday Wish List :) http://www.jdfoods.net/products/mmmvelopes.php

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Driving in Silence

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin DeFoe) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:24:00 +0000

While you may think this post has something to do with me talking less when Wanda is trying to read in the car, that is not what it is about :). However, in those situations I am sure she would love for me to just drive in silence. I love you honey!

For the last month or two my truck has gotten noisier and noisier while driving. This was particularly noticeable when driving at higher speeds (90+ mph). I finally took my truck to the mechanic and they told me a wheel bearing was bad (almost to a very dangerous level). They fixed it for me and now my truck is quite quite while driving which is kinda nice. I didn't think too much of it at first, but it did seem to be getting worse (which it was) so I am thankful that I got it changed and did not have any incident before getting it fixed.

PS - If you don't know me well enough, I was joking about the 90+ :). It got noticabley louder when you got anywhere over 30+ miles an hour. Driving 65 mph got to be quite noisy. At 90+ the tire probably would have fallen off.