Where do I start?

Fall update

2010-11-01T13:39:00.003-05:00

Oh my! Where do I start? It's been forever since I have blogged, and if my boss knew I was blogging right now, I may get fired. On second thought, he's my husband....he can't fire me!
Life has been absolutely insane lately! Amongst a million other things, including my mom having major arm surgery, Ed's dad having an emergency appendectomy and cancerous tumor removed, Mary Addison starting preschool, and Jeremy & Kelly starting to foster parent... Ed quit his job. He has had his own business up and running for awhile now, but things really started to take off in July. By August, we were starting to feel worn out. By September we were overwhelmed with work. By October, we were in complete survival mode. Ed's last day was in the middle of October and he is now working full time for himself. I, too, am working as his shipping/office manager. My hours often end up being from 8pm until 1am, due to the fact that my primary job as MOMMY, doesn't allow for much free time. We have been blessed with more business than we can even handle and a great office space that we are currently renting, not even 1 mile from the house! I have no lofty expectations of blogging more often, but I thought I would give an update, with pictures, since it's been so long!

We hope life is well for all of you and that you are enjoying this amazing Fall weather!

More eggs, please!

2010-07-15T19:38:00.002-05:00

Exciting times at our house! We found out last week that Mary Addison is no longer allergic to eggs! Yippee! Right when we found out, I asked her if she wanted to thank God for taking away her allergy. She grabbed my hands and said, "Dear God, thank you for not letting me be allergic anymore!". Then she said, "Mommy, can we go to Chick-fil-A for lunch?". We let her celebrate by picking out a cake at the grocery store. The next morning she asked if we could have fish and eggs for breakfast!

Tonight, I let the girls help me make brownies. They were so cute dressed in my old aprons. It's funny how many "little" things we have been enjoying lately, just due to the fact that she can have eggs. I never saw the allergy as much of an imposition, but now that it is gone, I realize a few of the fun things we have been missing out on! She still has a nut allergy and we are praying that it will disappear as well. But as for now, we are enjoying an egg-filled life!

Is God holding out on us?

2010-06-11T14:49:00.002-05:00

Is God holding out on us? Even typing that statement seems rather absurd, yet, isn't that how we live. In the book, Captivating, the authors state that when Eve trusted Satan's promise that, "You won't die. You will become just like God.", that Eve believed God was holding out on her. "Convinced that she could not trust His heart toward her. Convinced that in order to have the best possible life, she must take matters into her own hands. And so she did. We too, having forfeited our own confidence in God, we believe that in order to have the life we want, we have to take matters into our own hands."

Maybe that's not the case for you, but in my life....OH HOW TRUE! I think back to years of anorexia and obsessive exercising...I believed that God somehow messed up when He chose this body for me...He was holding out...and I had to do whatever it took to get the body I "should" have been given.

How many times have I grieved over the fact that I really stink at math, that I can't understand half of the words that come out of my husband's mouth, or that I lose my keys about 20 times a day. How often I ask myself, "Is a stay-at-home mom enough? Should I be doing more?".

What about you? Is there an area of life that you aren't happy with...that God "must" have messed up and you are doing everything in your power to correct?
Why do we act as if God is holding out on us? How foolish and humbled I am to realize just how often my actions reveal this distrust in my Father.

"But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:4

"But in fact, God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
1 Corinthians 18-20

Eleuthera Update

2010-06-11T14:12:00.002-05:00

Ok, so it's been a long time coming, but I am finally going to fill you in on our Eleuthera trip. It took a solid week for my body to recover, but it finally did and the work we did was so rewarding. Everyone keeps asking, "Did you have fun on your trip?". "Fun" is not exactly the word I would use to describe 7 days of HARD labor, but thanks to an incredible team, we were able to make each other laugh tears on quite a few occasions. Our team was made up of 11 people, all of who were ready to tackle any and every project that presented itself.

Here are the highlights of the trip:

* Work accomplished: 10,000 gallon cistern built from the ground up(complete with hand-mixed cement), unloaded the Fazetski's belongings and moved the in, painted the den/kitchen in the Fazetski's apartment and did a thorough cleaning, primed one house, painted the exterior and trim of another house, put up paneling on the walls and ceilings in two rooms and floors in another, installed a gutter system and two doors, "engineered" and installed a porch rail, repaired a broken moped for the interns at CMA, and repaired a broken jack hammer.

* Bugs- I managed to acquire at least 150 bug bites(chigger-like). Ed's legs were pretty torn up as well, along with one other team memeber. The joke was, you get out fo the shower to coat down in olive oil, bug spray, and sunscreen. Teh olive oil was supposed to keep the bugs from biting..didn't quite work.

* Free Time- WHAT'S THAT???? There were a few hours that we were able to sneak in some beach time and when we did...oh my! Amazing! Because the island is only 1 mile wide, you could be on the Atlantic or Caribbean in a matter of minutes.

*Planes- SCCCCAAARRRYYYY! The island hopper from Nassau to Eleuthera was tiny and in horrible condition. I did a lot of praying! The guys on the team filled the 20 minute ride by pointing out all of the lose bolts on the wings of the plane and taking note of how the pilot was paying NO attention to what he was doing; real encouraging group of guys!

We had a great time. Skype made being apart from the girls bearable. Raylie tried to crawl into the computer every time she saw us. The both blew lots of kisses, which we loved! THanks to wonderful family for taking care of the girls while we were gone and allowing us the opportunity to serve!

Bored? What's that?

2010-06-02T19:20:00.004-05:00

I recently read a statement in a Parenting magazine that blew my mind. A woman had stated,"I'm a stay at home mom and stay bored all the time. Any suggestions on what I can do for fun?".
Ok, first of all, I don't know when this lady finds time to be bored. She must be one of those stay at home moms that has a live in nanny and house cleaner. And does she teach her kids ANYTHING? Beyond those apparent "activities" that keep you slammed, we at the Edwards house find LOTS of entertaining things to do. The past few days have been filled with fun adventures. To some, these so called "adventures" may seem mundane, but the laughter that fills the air and the smiles that radiate from my daughters' faces speak volumes as to the joy that these little outings produce.

We spent Saturday in Hendersonville with Gammie, Calahan, & Harper. We went to the Carl Sandburg home and played with the baby goats. The kids had a blast; the goats were probably glad to see us leave. Raylie kept trying to "ride" the poor babies.

On Sunday, we had torrential downpours. We promised the girls that they could play outside in the puddles after naps. Unfortunatley, all of the puddles had evaporated. Our neighbor,however, came to the rescue and pointed us toward a HUGE puddle. They spent at least an hour playing in the back of "Mr. Wobutt's" (Robert) truck, which held about 1 1/2 inches of water.

Yesterday, Adri came over for a pancake breakfast play date and then Raylie played dress up with items she discovered in her diaper bag.

And today, after a hike, I mean a walk, in our neighborhood, the girls "helped me" wash the car. Mary Addison LOVED it; Raylie kept getting soap in her eyes, so she wasn't a big fan. We finished up the day with an intense game of hide and seek. The winning hiding places go to:

1st place--Mary Addison- the bottom shelf of the linen closet, covered with blankets (which she did on her own)
2nd place-Ed & Raylie- on TOP of the computer armoire (this is a TALL piece of furniture, but Raylie kept laughing and gave them away)
3rd place--Me- INSIDE the computer armoire

Those are just a FEW of the things that fill our days. There are books to read, lessons to learn, outside play time, verses to memorize, DISCIPLINE, crafts to create, etc, etc, etc. How can ANYONE that has kids find time to be bored?

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T15:05:00.002-05:00

This morning Mary Addison rushed into the Den and exclaimed, "Happy Celebration Birthday Mother's Mommy Day!". I couldn't help but smile from head to toe!For a while, Mother's Day was bitter sweet around our house. There was a time in Ed's life when it was hard for him to even get out of bed on Mother's Day; the loss of his mother was just too close to heart. Then came our struggle with infertility. Three years without a baby made it tough for ME to get out of bed.

It's amazing how God can turn such a difficult day into such a blessed one. It's just another reminder of how God turns our sorrow into joy! Our girls are such a blessing and gentle reminder that God is continually at work in our lives!

ELEUTHERA? WE'RE GOING WHERE?

2010-03-31T21:17:00.001-05:00

In 2006, Julie and I were given the opportunity to participate in a mission trip to Peru. At this point in our lives, we were struggling with infertility, and the opportunity to serve in an orphanage changed our lives in ways unimaginable. When we returned home, we decided that we should commit to serving through short-term missions trips every other year in lieu of a vacation. God, however, had other plans, blessing us with the girls and allowing our time and energy to be focused on them during the past four years.
As 2010 arrived, we both knew that it was time to consider serving on another mission trip. We had been praying for direction as to “when” and “where” we should journey, when I was approached about serving in Eleuthera. This small island in the Bahamas is just over 1 mile wide and 110 miles long. It is inhabited by the native Bahamians along with Haitians that have immigrated to the island. Ju and I both knew that God was calling us to that particular place. We will be serving on a construction team; we will be working on a cistern for drinking water, septic lines, and housing needs for the locals and missionaries with whom we will be working. We leave May 15th and will return on the 22nd.
We are extremely excited to be able to serve on this trip, but the cost is $2400. Though some of the team members are sending support letters to family and friends, we didn’t feel led in that direction. We decided to post this blog, letting you know of our journey and allowing you the opportunity to support this financially. Many of you already donate to “missions”; this would be a chance for you to know exactly what cause those donations are supporting. (If you would like to offer financial support, there is information below as to how to do so.)
We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we leave on this mission. Below are some specific prayer requests:
*Travel safety as we leave the girls for a week and journey to another country
*That the interaction we have while working alongside the Bohemians and Haitians will reveal God and His glory.
*That we will be used to diffuse some of the hostility amongst the Bahamians and Haitians.
*That there will be no accidents as we work and that our construction will be productive and efficient.
Thank you again for your prayers and support. We will be updating the blog with pictures and stories of God’s work in Eleuthera. You can read more on Grace missions here.

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Donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE and can be anonymous, if you like.
There are several avenues for giving:

Checks payable to Grace Church: Please place “Edwards Eleuthera” in the memo line of the check to ensure that the donation is credited appropriately. Checks can be mailed to:
Grace Church
2801 Pelham Road
Greenville, SC 29615

Credit/Debit card (Paypal): Donate to Grace Missions icon here: http://www.gracechurchsc.org/bahamas-mission-trip/
Please enter “Edwards Eleuthera” in the Description field of the first page after you click on the “Donate to Grace Missions” icon.

Bedtime Prayers

2009-09-23T19:25:00.003-05:00

Ed and I have always bragged about how well Mary Addison goes to bed. Be it naps or bedtime, we simply put her in the bed, turn off the lights, turn on the sound machine, and close the door. On Friday of last week, however, something snapped. She was petrified to go to bed, didn't want the lights out, didn't want us to leave, etc. She has been having really bad dreams for about 6 months, but she has always just gone right back to sleep. We don't know if that is what is causing her to be fearful, or what. The past two nights she has slept with a lamp (a very bright lamp)on. Tonight, I started the bedtime process at 7:30. At 8:15 she was still awake. I had left the room with her in tears and waited for about 15 minutes while she cried a river. I went back in and read her some books, leaving the room again with her crying. I shut the door and started down the stairs when I just felt the need to pray for her to calm down and find peace and comfort in her room. I had not been praying for 15 seconds when the crying stopped. I continued to pray for about 5 minutes, never again hearing a whimper. It's been 15 minutes and I have yet to hear a sound. Thank you, Lord, for answering prayers so quickly, and in such a tangible way. If only we would ask more often and expect Him to answer!

Faith Like a Child

2009-09-05T06:27:00.003-05:00

My kids are sick...again. As we sat at the supper table and asked God to bless our food, I also asked for God to help make Mary Addison feel better. When we said, "Amen", Mary Addison voiced her confusion, "I still sick Mommy!" She expected God to heal her immediately. Oh that we would have that kind of faith. I realize more and more lately how much I put God in a box; I don't expect Him to do things as miraculously as He can. God is challenging me to have faith like a child...and He's doing it through my 2 year old.

I loved you before I knew you

2009-07-16T06:18:00.003-05:00

I was looking at pictures of the twins that my brother and sister-in-law have been trying to adopt for 3 years this morning...and my heart ached. How ironic that my heart can ache for two little boys that I have only spent a few hours with. It's pretty cool that God can place in our hearts a love so strong for people we don't even know. I loved both of my girls long before they were born. I can't wait to get my hands on all of the babies that are soon to be born in our playgroup. I long for guidance and direction from my mother-in-law, though she died long before Ed and I even knew one another. I can't wait to meet my aunt, who died when she was a mere 8 months old. It just serves as a reminder that people and relationships matter...and that is where we need to spend our time and energy.

Out of the mouths of babes...

2009-07-09T05:52:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Mary Addison was playing with a coaster she had made for her Daddy for Father's Day. This hodge podge of colors is one of her proudest momentos at this point in her life. Yesterday, she presented it to me and said, "Look Mommy, it's like the Aurora Borealis!". She had learned about this phenomenon on Little Einsteins, but the fact that she made such a connection "WOWED" me! It was a proud moment!

Our 4th of July Adventures

2009-07-06T05:52:00.004-05:00

Based off Ed's work schedule, our summer vacations are usually around the 4th of July, which has put us celebrating the holiday in some pretty neat places. Some of our adventures have included: Lake Wylie (on a boat filled with friends), a ballfield in New Hampshire, a missionary "compound" in Peru, and San Diego Harbor. That being the case, I have it in my head that we have to travel for this holiday. When this 4th was growing closer and we had no plans, Ed and I started contemplating a good trip that wasn't miserably far nor miserably expensive.

We ended up traveling to Cleveland, Tennessee, where Ed's cousin lives. Though the drive was a lot longer than anticipated (4 1/2 hours while potty training a 2 year old turns into a 6 hour trip), we finally arrived Friday around 2. We had a great weekend eating out, hanging out at the pool, and catching up. On Saturday morning, Ed and I left the girls with his cousin and went on a whitewater rafting adventure down the Ocoee River. We had a blast; I love dates that don't involve dinner and a movie! We headed to Chattanooga that evening, where we ate grilled oysters (yummy) and watched an incredible fireworks show over the Tennessee River. Both Raylie and Mary Addison did great with the fireworks. I kept trying to cover Raylie's ears while she tried to pull away; Mary Addison wouldn't watch them UNLESS her ears were covered. Oh the irony!

We arrived home last night around 6, and though we are all pooped from all the driving, we had a fun weekend. I can't wait to see where we find ourselves on our future 4th of July adventures.

Raylie Roo Roo

2009-06-11T18:33:00.002-05:00

I've always heard that you can't spend as much time with your second child as you did your first; I am finding that this is true. I do, however, make an attempt to spend as much one-on-one with Raylie as possible..and take as many solo pictures as I can make time for. Today was one of those days. While Mary Addison took naps, we set up photo shop; I was pretty pleased with the results.

Raylie Roo Roo or Raylie Beth, as we have deemed her, is a joy. The first 6 weeks...not so much, but she has turned into an easy going, laid back baby. Her grins and giggles bring us such delight. I walked by her today and she gave me this precious smile from her bouncy seat. I couldn't help but pick up my little munchkin and love on her, regardless of the fact that she was content where she was. God has blessed us beyond belief. I look forward to all of the precious moments He has in store for our little girl.

Blesssings

2009-04-12T17:11:00.003-05:00

Where does a month go? Let me think...between diapers, sleepless nights, and trying to "protect" Raylie from her big sister, blogging has been the last thing on my mind. Things at our house are great! I am totally enamored with my girls and more in love with my husband than ever. I keep waiting for the post-delivery hormones to kick in, but so far we are in the clear; Ed is beyond grateful! Mary Addison is infatuated with Raylie, to a fault. She thinks that Raylie is her "baby doll" and tries to pick her up, pull her off the couch, etc. We have come to an agreement that it is in the best interest of Raylie if we do not leave her ANYWHERE in reach of Mary Addison; a 23 month old does not quite understand the word "gentle". Raylie turns 6 weeks old this Wednesday and Mary Addison will be 2 next Sunday; my how time flys! Through all of the chaos and adjustment of the past five weeks, I have been reminded over and over again at how blessed I truly am, and how gracious Our Father is. To think back of where I was 10 years ago, and where He has brought me today, I am humbled and grateful! "What is man that you are mindful of him?"

Raylie is here!

2009-03-06T08:22:00.000-05:00

Raylie Elizabeth Edwards made her grand appearance at 3:18pm on Wednesday, March 04. I went to the doctor to get my blood levels checked,and they told me I was 6 cm dialated. They sent me to labor and delivery and we waited on Ed to arrive. At 2:05 they broke my water. At 3:18 she arrived after one push (God is good!). The video tape is quite entertaining; it lasts an entire 4 minutes. Raylie weighed 6lbs 3oz and is 19.75 inches long. She has dark hair and blue eyes. Mary Addison laughed all over herself when she met her little sister! We are currently waiting to be discharged from the hosptial. Thank you for your prayers.

February Update

2009-02-21T11:52:00.002-05:00

February has been super busy and seems to have flown by. Ed's hand is healing well, though he still gets frustrated with his inability to move it and the pain that is associated with having a screw put in your wrist. Valentine's was fun! Mary Addison and I took doughnuts to her Daddy at work, complete with heart "decorations" that she had made during craft time with Mommy. Ed and I went to an incredible "adult only" party that evening and had a great night out. We are trying to get everything ready for the new baby, who seems to be coming a lot earlier than her due date. Mary Addison has enjoyed helping with the remodeling. I was moving clothes from the nursery to Mary Addison's "big-girl" room the other day, while Mary Addison decided to play dress-up with her clothes. Bedroom slippers, a tobogan, and sunglasses...the next fashion diva!

Boo-Boo update

2009-02-04T14:43:00.002-05:00

Just a little update on Ed. He is slowly on the mend...thank God for pain killers. He is back at work but by the time he gets home, he is DONE! The doctor took Ed's cast off today, but the stitches have to stay in for a few more days. We are looking at about 9 more weeks before a full recovery. Meanwhile, he has been acting like the pregnant one around the house. He woke up at 3 am the other morning asking for a milkshake; that seems to be his "feel good fix" lately. The picture above is him sharing a milkshake with Mary Addison one afternoon. This was a HUGE treat for her; I think she might dig her Daddy's "boo-boo" and the perks that come along with it!

Celebrations and Disappointments

2009-01-27T07:24:00.003-05:00

We had a great weekend at Winterplace celebrating our birthdays! The boys had a blast snowboarding and all the pregnant girls enjoyed two days of doing nothing. We talked, played games, and talked some more! On Saturday, Ed took a fall and came in early. His wrist was hurting pretty bad, but we thought it was just a sprain. By Monday morning, we knew we had to go to an orthopedist. It turns out that his scaffoid bone in his right wrist is broken. There are two options for fixing this problem:

1) He can wear a full arm cast (past the elbow) for over a month and then a shorter cast for 2 more months. There would still be a possiblity that he would have to have surgery after the 3 months in a cast.

2) He can have surgery (on Thursday) and be in a splint for 3 to 5 weeks.

Though Ed is "anti-surgery", we weighed our options and decided on surgery. He decided against the cast when he realized that he wouldn't be able to pick up the new baby once she gets here; that just isn't an option for Super Dad! He also knew that interaction with Mary Addison would be extremely limited if he were in a cast for 3 months. Please keep us in your prayers. I have realized in the past 48 hours just how much I depend on him around the house. And with me being so far along in the pregnancy, there are some things that are getting hard to do (like give Mary Addison a bath) that he is not going to be able to help with. Also pray for a quick, precise, and thorough surgery as well as a quick and complete recovery!

Do you feel older?

2009-01-23T06:45:00.002-05:00

Today I am 30 years old...and the age old question is sure to be, "Do you feel any older?". I was awakened this morning with severe indigestion. I waddled to the bathroom to find that I can't see my toes over my belly, my right leg is completley purple in vericose veins, my hips ache, and I have an incompetent bladder...then I remembered that those symptoms came with pregnancy, not turning 30!

I actually woke up this morning feeling very blessed, not old. The past 10 years have brought trials and heartaches, but they have also brought the most precious blessings....my husband and my two beautiful girls (the baby is beautiful in her ultrasounds)! I have learned more about life in the past 10 years than I have in all 30 years combined and I find myself realizing that life just gets sweeter as it goes! Thank you for being a part of that life and those memories!

The Perfect Woman

2009-01-20T14:04:00.003-05:00

It was a crazy week at our house and by Sunday, I really started to feel sorry for myself. I was sick of cleaning up throw-up, poop, holding Mary Addison 24/7, disinfecting the house, and washing every article of clothing/linen in my house (at least once). My selfishness, coupled with my raging hormones and lack of sleep, led to a not so healthy "disagreement" between Ed and I as we headed to church on Sunday morning. We dropped Ed off for practice and ran some errands before heading back for service. As I was about to get out of the car, I took a moment to pray for God to touch my hard and selfish heart; I had no idea what I was praying. The sermon this week was about women and their role as a godly wife. The things preached in the sermon were things that I have never heard preached before, and something that every woman needs to hear. Women, if you get some time, listen to this sermon. Click on the link http://www.gracechurchsc.org/resources/teaching/and go to the sermon called, "The Perfect Woman".

On a side note, we got to see the baby in 3D today. She weighs 3.4 pounds and seems to be healthy! 9 weeks to go! If only we could decide on a name!

Mary Addison and her sister!

2009-01-13T15:55:00.005-05:00

Mary Addison is fascinated with my belly. We were taking shots to compare how big I am with this little girl vs. Mary Addison when Ed took these shots. I thought they were too cute not to share!

Hubby/Daddy of the Year

2009-01-12T06:55:00.002-05:00

Ed brought in his birthday in a way like none other this year. From 5pm last night until he left for work at 6:15 this morning, he was cleaning up throw-up and diarrhea. Mary Addison is so sick, and since Ed knew I would be taking care of her all day today and wanted to expose me(and the baby) as little as possible, he slept on the couch with Mary Addison and cleaned up about 10 rounds of throw up and about 20 atrocious diapers. I was downstairs off and on throughout the night and at 4 am, muttered, "Happy Birthday, Honey!". Needless to say our plans for surprising him for lunch and taking him out for supper will be postponed. Thankfully we celebrate "Birthday Week" at our house, so we will have a few days to recover from this "yuck" and honor him in a worthy manner!

Praising God

2009-01-07T14:14:00.006-05:00

Praise God for a roof over our heads--I am not sure what the weather is like where you live, but here, the wind is howling like a tornado! At 4am, when we were awakened by the wind for the third time, Ed said, "Praise God for a roof over our heads!" His comment made me stop and think of all of those that are homeless..and it made me truly grateful for my home.

Praise God for the miracle of babies-- My friend Sara just gave birth to a beautiful little girl, Ella Elizabeth Altizer. She and her husband Greg suffered the loss of their son two years ago, when he was born at 6 months gestation. The same complications started occuring in this pregnancy, putting Sara on bedrest from 12 weeks on. Ella is now here and both Mommy and baby are doing well! Thank you for those of you who have been praying for their family.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-27T19:35:00.001-05:00

Christmas is over and I feel more exhausted now than before. Why is that?And exhausting as it may be, we have had a great time. Ed's last day at work before a week long vacation started on Friday afternoon. We spent the weekend in Dillon with Ed's family, Tuesday and Wednesday at my parent's house, Christmas Eve at home, Christmas morning with some new friends, Christmas afternoon at home, and Christmas night at my Nanny's with my mom's side of the family.
Mary Addison has been fun to watch with the presents, though overwhelmed by the amount of gifts she received. She had about 15 gifts in front of her at Mom and Dad's, but after opening the first gift, she was content to play with the first toy; we had to beg her to open the rest. Ed and I spent last night discussing how commercialized Christmas is. Though my entire extended family has cut down dramatically (drawing names, only buying for the kids, etc), we still feel as if we dropped the ball as parents this year in terms of teaching our child that Christmas is NOT about presents. I think next year we are going to stick to the idea of, "If 3 gifts were enough for Jesus, then 3 gifts is enough for you." We discussed all of the incredible truths that are NOT being taught based off the number of presents we are allowing her to receive. And if Christmas is supposed to be about giving, what are we teaching her to give...and to who? Who really needs gifts anyway?
Our conversation led me once more to the truth that Christian parenting is extremely overwhelming. I find myself praying for daily direction,strength, and wisdom as I journey through this phase in my life called parenting. I am humbled that God would choose me to complete such an overwhelming and immensely important task.
(We didn't send out many Christmas cards this year, but the above picture served as our card.)

Christmas with the Keevers

2008-12-15T15:20:00.004-05:00

We had an incredible weekend with the Keever side of the family in Atlanta. We went down on Friday night and stayed with my cousins, Grant and Tori. Their girls, Lilly and Maggie are 2 and 4 mths, so Mary Addison had a great time playing with them. We spent Saturday with the entire Keever family. The house was FULL of kids; it was great to be in a house flooded with laughter. They all played really well together and were even good about sharing their toys. We spent Saturday night and then headed back yesterday afternoon; Mary Addison was very excited to see her crib.

On a side note, Mary Addison's new bedroom has been put on hold until after Christmas, due to the fact that the seamstress (my grandmother)doesn't have time to start on it until then. Ed was thrilled to have someone else telling me that, rather than hearing it only from him.

No Doubt

2008-12-12T03:07:00.002-05:00

No doubt I am pregnant; one apparent sign being that it is 3am and I am up writing a blog. I am somehow already in that "sleepless" stage. I wake up at least 3 times every night to go to the bathroom and once to get up and eat. Let's just pray this little one sleeps through the night earlier than her sister did (Mary Addison was 11 months old)! Of course, if this baby is as easy as Mae has been, I can deal with 11 months of no sleep.

I am also showing...quite a bit. The belly is protruding and the vericose veins make my leg look like a 90 year old. My niece and nephew have both commented on how gross my leg looks, and Harper asked why my leg was "brown" the other day; purple would have been the more appropriate choice. Other than the vericose veins and the pain of blood thinner shots each day, this pregnancy is going really well. Baby Girl moves ALL the time. Ed can sit on the couch across the room and watch my belly move. She had the hiccups for the first time last night, and it was such a sweet memory of being pregnant with Mary Addison.

Mary Addison is starting to show some interest in the pregnancy, not that I think she gets it. She is obsessed with my belly button and wants to rub my belly. She will say, "Hey,Sissy!" but she doesn't have a clue what that means. Yesterday she walked up to me and layed her head on my belly and started rubbing it. I don't know if she understood what she was doing, but it was too sweet.

The nursery is basically done, only because this new little girl will be moving into her big sister's current bedroom. Mary Addison is getting a big girl room, but it lacks a LOT of work. The painting is basically done, but other but other than that, the room looks like a volcano. All of the guest bedroom furniture is moved to the middle of the room and there are boxes of stuff packed up outside the door. The initial idea was to have it finished by Christmas, but it isn't looking too promising. I am trying not to let my OCD take over, but it's hard. Several times I have found myself wandering how hard it would be to move solid oak furniture downstairs by myself, but have decided that it would probably not be in the best interest of the baby, my walls, or the furniture! I know it will eventually get done, but patience has never been my strong suit. I only have about a million things on Ed's "Honey-Do List".

December Adventures

2008-12-10T22:37:00.001-05:00

Wow! Only 10 days into December and it has already flown by! We seem to be busier than ever this month…why is that? I guess there are just too many fun things going on and we don’t want to miss out on any of them. It really started Thanksgiving weekend. We spent the first part of the week in Dillon; Ed hunted, we visited with family, and Mary Addison entertained. The food was incredible; maybe because I have been craving a Thanksgiving meal since I found out I was pregnant. I had the best sweet potato casserole and pecan pie I have ever put in my mouth! It’s awesome being pregnant over the holidays.

After going to Dillon, we headed to Hendersonville where we celebrated with Mom, Dad, Kelly, and Harper Charis. Jeremy and Calahan bailed on us this year, due to the fact that they got free tickets to a UNC vs. Duke game. We had a great time getting the Christmas tree and Mary Addison loved following her favorite cousin, “Barper” around.
On Sunday night we put both the real and artificial tree up; so began the long process of decorating (there are still 3 ornaments waiting to go on the tree).

On Tuesday, we went to a Dickens of a Christmas in downtown Spartanburg. The whole town reverts to an old-time Christmas and everyone stands around to see the tree being lit. It’s pretty incredible! Bob, Amanda, and Ansley met us for dinner and then we headed downtown. We missed the lighting of the tree by minutes, but it was way too cold to stay outside for longer than 30 minutes. We still enjoyed the tree, just after it was lit!

This past Friday night, we took Calahan, Harper Charis, and Mary Addison to “Christmas Town USA”…aka McAdenville. It was so much fun! The kids were up way past their bedtime, which already had them wired, but seeing all the lights and seeing all of the people just pumped them up even more. We let the kids out of their carseats (we were driving about 4 miles per hour) and rolled down the windows so they could hear the music. They quickly joined in the tradition of yelling, “Merry Christmas” to people on the street, and Harper Charis decided to make up Christmas Carols to sing to them. Mary Addison yelled every time her big cousins did, and I could almost understand her pronunciation of “Merry Christmas!” We finally found a parking place and let them walk around downtown. They were precious! It was so fun to be captivated by their childlike wonder! We finished the night with free hot chocolate and cookies served by a local church. It was 10:45 before we got home, but the kids had a great time!

We have many more Christmas adventures planned, so I’ll try to do better at keeping things updated! I hope your holiday season is as fun-filled as ours!

Plumbers are underpaid

2008-12-03T07:23:00.000-05:00

If you have hired a plumber recently, you are probably in shock at the title of my blog. Last night, however, affirmed that plumbers do not get paid enough. There is no money in the world that could make me do what a plumber does day in and day out. After a wonderful night of enjoying food and Christmas lights with friends, Ed and I arrived home to a clogged toilet. We thought it would be a simple fix with a plunger, but were not so lucky. Due to the fact that my husband is an engineer and doesn't believe in hiring people to do things (which saves us tons of money in the long run,but is somewhat annoying at the time being), he decided he would fix the problem himself. With his array of tools in hand, he got to work. As he worked, the smell grew atrocious, which was more than this pregnant nose could handle. After about one hour, I retired downstairs and fell asleep. When Ed came to wake me up (3 hours later),I was shocked at what he had found. One of the main culprits of the monstrous clog was my hair (surprise, surprise). But there were in my shower, remnants of toilet paper, excrement, hair, and all of life's nastiness you can think of. The only semi-comforting thought through all of this was that it was "our" waste. Can you imagine having to dig that stuff out at a total stranger? After finally breaking through the "clog", Ed got to work cleaning up. In a matter of moments, the house went from reeking of waste to Clorox; I've never before been so grateful for the smell of bleach! Ed hooked up fans, aired out the room, and cleaned everything like crazy. After a 45 minute shower, he finally made it to bed about 1 am. I slept downstairs on the couch, deciding it would be better for my nose and I (not to mention the baby) to not sleep in a room filled with bleach. This morning, all was back to normal. I woke up beyond grateful to a husband who can fix just about anything and is more than willing to work hard and DIRTY to take care of his plumbers. And I woke up grateful to plumbers, who do that kind of thing for total strangers. And if by chance I should ever be home alone or Ed can't fix a plumbing issue, I will be more than happy to fork over the much deserved money that all plumbers deserve!

Little Tiger

2008-11-17T09:50:00.004-05:00

On Saturday, we got up and headed to Clemson for homecoming. Mary Addison was "sporting" her new jeans that Aunt Tammy bought, and I must say, she looked adorable. While we were waiting to find a parking place, we got rear-ended by a patrol car; his car was the only one damaged. We arrived at CU just in time to tailgate with some friends, walk onto Bowman (which was beyond muddy) to see the floats, and then head to the game. A friend had given us tickets, so we took Mary Addison in for the first half. It was freezing. The area where we were sitting was in the shade and the wind was howling. Mary Addison seemed content though, and loved to "pump her fist" with everyone else when they cheered, "C-L-E-M-S-O-N T-I-G-E-R-S"! We had a great time just enjoying one another's company!

Pity

2008-11-10T20:31:00.002-05:00

"Pity" is a phrase that I picked up some years ago from my dear friend, Greta. It is used only to describe something that is extremely pitiful, and is usually used in reference to children. Well, "PITY" is the perfect description for my daughter today. I noticed yesterday that she wasn't eating anything, but thought it was due to the crazy schedule that Sunday's throw our way. What I didn't realize until last night, was that she had blisters covering her tongue, gums, and throat. Throughout today, it has moved to her hands and a little on her feet (Yes! She has Hand,Foot, and Mouth Virus). She doesn't want to eat, she doesn't want to sleep, she doesn't want to be put down. She is currently asleep on her Daddy's chest while we watch Dancing with the Stars; it's the first time she has slept today and the closest she has been to being out of our arms. Please pray for a quick recovery! She is truly PITY!

Making her debut...

2008-11-06T14:11:00.005-05:00

Ok! So I have been promising to post pictures of our new Baby Girl; sorry it has taken so long. She has started moving like crazy and Ed got to feel her kick for the first time this morning. It's amazing that something that weighs only 10oz. can actually kick! Wow! We are so blessed and praising God for this little miracle! I included the picture of her "beautiful" toes..we know she got at least one of her mom's traits (and Mary Addison's as well). Poor girls!

Family Weekend

2008-11-02T18:37:00.004-05:00

This weekend was great! After a fun filled Halloween, we slept in on Saturday and then headed out for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The leaves were incredible and the weather was perfect. Mary Addison was great in the car, and didn't fuss at all about our mini-stops of getting her in and out of the carseat to look at different sights. It had snowed earlier in the week, and we managed to find a shaded area where some snow remained. Mary Addison loved holding the snow; she loved her Daddy throwing snow balls on her even more. I've never seen a kid laugh so hard at getting snow balls thrown at her. I need to teach her how to "fight" back! We also let her play with some enormous icicles; she was more impressed with putting them in her mouth than anything. The best part of the day was when Ed was trying to pull an icicle off the side of the mountain for Mary Addison; he totally wound up standing on his head in ice, trying to keep from completely busting his butt. It was hilarious; if only I had been holding the camera when he fell! After our gorgeous drive, we dropped Mary Addison at Gammie and Gramps's house and went out to dinner...alone. We had some incredible Cajun food, then headed back to my parents to spend the night. Today was another relaxing day. Ed was able to take a long nap after church, while Mary Addison and I cleaned the car and enjoyed some outside playtime. We are now catching up on some computer time and hoping to get in the bed early! I love weekends like this!

Halloween Bash

2008-11-01T02:34:00.006-05:00

It’s 2:32 am and I am up. I could blame it on the glasses of Sundrop I had tonight, knowing that I have been trying to stay away from a lot of caffeine while pregnant. I might also attribute this owl like state to the fact that I am overtired from getting up at 6 with Mary Addison, being at the grocery store by 7, getting her back in the bed for naps, running her to Ed’s work to show off her Halloween costume and have a picnic, getting her back for naps, cleaning the house, cooking, and having a Halloween party with 12 adults and 6 kids that started at 5:30..it was a busy day. Then of course there is the idea that the excitement of Halloween has just worn off on me. We had great time at our Halloween Bash, complete with Jack-o-Burgers, Sautéed Maggots, Witch’s Fingers, and Ghoulish Ghoul. Amanda provided Crusty Brains for dessert...scrumptious. All of our kids were dressed as animals: a chicken(Adri), a cow(Emily), a rabbit(Ansley), a dog (Harrison), a cat(Emma), and a ladybug(Mary Addison). After appetizers of Salty Bones and Pureed Frog Legs, we went on a great hayride around the neighborhood, with Ed pulling us on his trailer. We returned to the house for more food and fellowship. Our kids did great, despite the fact that they were completely off schedule and stayed up until 10ish. The girls had some great fellowship, and though I am not positive of what the boys’ conversation entailed, they sounded like they were having a great time. It was so much fun to take a tradition that started when I was tiny and share it with friends. I am amazed at the community of friends with which God has surrounded me. There are more pictures on our Picasa Web Album from tonight if you want to check them out! (For those of you who have been on me about posting, there is another post below this one; two in one night...whoo hoo!)

Doing the Best We Can

2008-11-01T02:31:00.004-05:00

It is now 1:43 am, and perhaps I am still awake because I can't seem to get these thoughts out of my mind. Tonight (Halloween night), as we enjoyed the laughter of children, fought over who was going to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters, and relished in each other’s company, God really laid something on my heart. When you are in a crowd, there is always someone who is just getting by, just doing the best they can. There are usually two faces in a crowd: one who is hurting and one who is rejoicing, usually over the same thing. While one group of girls giggle in excitement as they share in the joys of pregnancy and picking out names, another group will be aching over infertility, miscarriages, or the loss of children. As stories are shared about mothers who are overbearing, another person is filled with the heartache of a mother who has passed away. While one person shares their frustrations about a spouse who is driving them crazy, another person in the crowd aches for companionship, while loneliness closes in. As a frustrated voice shares his frustrations about work, another sits by longing for a job, having just been laid off.

Let me be the first to say that I don’t really know how to handle these situations. You try to be sensitive, watch your words, not bring the situation to light. But do you stop rejoicing with others over the blessings of life? I don’t think so, but I am not sure. I think we all just have to keep “doing the best we can”…as the one suffering and the one rejoicing. The sad truth is that we can’t take the pain away. We can’t make the loss any less. We must continue to rejoice in life, for when we don’t, we loose hope, and those around us who are suffering, loose hope as well. This revelation brings me no peace, but it does offer a little encouragement. I have been the joyless person in the crowd, the one hurting, the one aching…and I know I will be there again when life takes that downward roller-coaster of a hill. I just pray that I will remember to keep on “doing the best I can”. If that means tears in a crowd, being alone for a few days, or getting furious at the situation and screaming at the world …we just have to keep fighting. For when we fail to fight, we lose. Here’s to all those who are fighting right now to find that joy…we love you and want to remind you that there is joy on the other side! Just keep doing the best you can!

2 Princesses in the Castle!

2008-10-30T19:06:00.002-05:00

We just found out today that we are having another girl! We are so excited! She seems to be a wakeboarder already, doing all kind of tricks, flips, manuevers to hide from the ultrsound tech. Everything looked great and she even did a little move with her hand that looked like she was blowing us a kiss. The only bad news....she has toes like her mommy's and big sister's (if you know me well, you know what kind of monkey toes I have). Mary Addison can already say "Sissy", though she has no clue what that means. We will post the ultrasound pictures later this week.

Slack Blogger

2008-10-25T10:56:00.002-05:00

I woke up this morning to a “friendly” phone call and an email letting me know what a slacker I had been about keeping up with the blog lately. I must admit that my past few weeks on the computer have been spent looking for material for Mary Addison’s new bedroom. I also feel very “uninspired” to write. I read previous posts and am “wowed” by my ability to portray my thoughts. Where have those thoughts gone? I think they retired when I stopped working and entered “Mommyhood”. Now my thoughts are consumed with, “Who are we playing with today? What are we having for lunch? How many times have you fallen today? Where did that diaper rash come from?”. I am not convinced that everyone wants to read those awe-inspiring thoughts, so I haven’t been sharing.

Due to the urging of my friends and family, however, I am sharing some of our exciting adventures of the week: On Wednesday, we went to the park with playgroup. The slides were soaked, and so I ran to the car to get a towel, leaving my daughter under the supervision of the other playgroup moms. In the meantime, my daredevil daughter decided to climb up the playground by herself, fell off backwards, and bit her tongue. Blood was everywhere and I am convinced stitches would have been necessary had it been any worse. The only highlight was that she was hurt under someone else’s supervision; I was beginning to feel like she only got hurt with me.

On Thursday we went to pick out a pumpkin. The most exciting event of the “pumpkin picking” was when her Daddy met us there. You can see by the pictures that she is Daddy’s girl! I was so glad to finally “catch” her excitement on camera! Later that night, Ed decided that we needed to introduce her to Oreos (actually, only a ½ of one). She loved it, no doubt, and wanted to show me what a special treat she had in her mouth (as can be seen in the picture).

We have been surrounded by little babies during the past few weeks, and it has been exciting to see Mary Addison’s reaction. She has seen a newborn, a 2 month old, and 4 month old, all of which she wanted to hold, feed, touch, etc. She does not, however, like it when they cry. She gets this concerned look on her face, then wants to be held, then starts to cry. It will be interesting to see how she handles her new brother or sister….we find out on Thursday which it will be!

Fall Fun!

2008-10-02T18:03:00.008-05:00

The past few weeks have been fun filled and exhausting, though Mary Addison seems to be no worse for the wear. Two weeks ago we took her to the Clemson vs. SC State game. We scored some free tickets, so we actually took her into the game. She did really well for about the first half, so we decided to go ahead and go back to the tailgate before naptime hit. We were also on the upper deck, which means that my red-haired, fair skinned child was getting baked! We spent the rest of the afternoon in the shade, tailgating with friends. Mary Addison was no doubt, the life of the party!

Last week we went to visit a friend in Charlotte who is on bedrest. Mary Addison couldn't have been better! I was able to chat with Sara for the entire day while Mary Addison entertained herself with toys. When it was time for naps, she slept for 3 hours on my lap (yes, I know how blessed I am!). Later in the week our play group met at Niven's Apple Farm, complete with hayride, apple trees, pumpkin patches, etc. The best part of the day was when Mary Addison and her buddy, Adri, grabbed hands and went running through the field; the pictures were priceless!

On Sunday, the three of us went to Lake Keowee for the day. The weather was great, but it made for an interesting trip since I had to drive the boat and hold Mary Addison while Ed was on the wakeboard. Ed convinced me to let him wakeboard while holding Mary Addison. Unfortunatley, we didn't get any pictures (I couldn't drive the boat and take pictures), but I was able to get a very bad video while holding Ed's Blackberry over my head and trying to record. Mary Addison did fine; she didn't fuss, but nor was she laughing in enthusiasm! Who knows, maybe she was just trying to savor her first wakeboarding experience. We may have a future pro on our hands!

Out of Control

2008-09-17T19:31:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure how everyone else feel, but between the economic status of our country combined with the presidential candidates, I have been feeling pretty anxious about the state of our country. I am not in a "freaked out" state yet, but I find myself watching the news a lot more and wondering what country I would move to if our's took a turn for the worse. Tonight, while spending some time in the Word, I was reminded of a very important truth:

"-The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes." Daniel 4:32

Sometimes I let my mind wander and forget that God is still in control of this crazy, mixed-up world! I am thankful that I can put my trust in Him alone!

Inquiring minds want to know!

2008-09-12T19:41:00.003-05:00

If there is one word I would use to describe Mary Addison at this stage, it would be "inquisitive". She wants to know how everything works (like her Daddy), what everyone is doing, and what is inside every nook and cranny in the house. She loves to look in the trash can and has started sucking on the edge of it when she peers inside. She is quickly learning the taste of antibacterial gel as chapstick!

She is so much fun at this stage! Her first and only sentence is, "That's a basketball!," which she says every time we see a basketball goal. She has also started repeating lots of random words that we say, my favorite being "amen!". She is obsessed with keys, closing doors, Ed's drums,and wearing shoes on her hands.

Mary Addison has also started singing a lot and she loves to dance. When we were outside today, a teenager went by the house with his stereo blaring; Mary Addison stood in the middle of the yard and "danced" until she could no longer hear the music. She loves being outside, and begs to go outside when she sees the big kids outside!

It's so much fun to watch her changing, growing, developing a personality, etc. With that growth, however, comes boundless energy that I just can't seem to stay on top of. Today alone, she managed to flip two drums on top of her, get her arm stuck in a toy, and get her foot stuck in the closet door. The best part of today, however, occurred when Mary Addison was "helping" Mommy clean. I had cleaned the guest bathroom and was starting on the sinks in our bathroom, when I realized she was messing in our toilet (which had not been cleaned). In a matter of 2 seconds, she stuck her toothbrush in the toilet and then IN HER MOUTH! UGH!It was all I could do not to throw up! After regaining composure I managed to pour SCOPE in her mouth and covered her lips with antibacterial gel. She is learning all kind of new ways to test my germaphobia! I really do watch my child...I promise! It just seems like every time I do turn my head, she is into something else!

Mary Addison's Wildlife Adventures

2008-09-07T15:40:00.002-05:00

What a week!

2008-09-04T12:38:00.003-05:00

1) We found out that we have been paying double what we needed to for my blood thinner. The stuff costs $5000 a month and insurance only covers 80%...you do the math. We also found out that last year we paid over $500 for alcohol wipes. You can imagine how well that sat with Ed.

2) My hematologist and insurance companies had miscommunication which resulted in me missing my blood thinner for 3 days.

3) The above issues resulted in Ed and I spending a collective 6 hours on the phone with the insurance company or doctor's office.

4) I finally got my blood thinner, but had already developed a clot in my leg. The doctor's office refused to call us back on the weekend, so we ended up in the ER, where they told us that the only thing they could do was keep doing what we were doing. They also told us that if our doctor had called us back, they could have saved us a trip.

5) I was on bed-rest for 3 days. We went to the hematologist when they opened on Tuesday and they assured me that I had some type of clot, they just didn't know how serious it was.

6) We were immediately sent to the hospital to have a Doppler ultrasound done of my leg. On the 1 mile drive over, we prayed for God's healing. The ultrasound tech did over 20 minutes of scanning and had another tech look at the x-rays as well----they could find nothing. Ed and I, of course, chalk this up to God. They also said that there were no signs of the previous clot that I had while pregnant with Mary Addison!

On a good note! We had a great time on the lake with Matt and Lindsey! I test drove a mini-van (which my husband is still trying to convince me on), and we got to hang out with my cousin who is in town from DC. The best part of the week was hearing the baby's heartbeat yesterday. I am right at 11 weeks and more than ready for this first trimester to be over!

It's Finally Friday!

2008-08-22T08:55:00.002-05:00

It's finally Friday, and I couldn't be more excited! This has been an interesting week for the Edwards household, to say the least. This is a brief run-down of our adventurous week:

Saturday- Ed and Mary Addison went out on the lake with some friends. On the way home, she started throwing up. She threw up 7 times in 3 hours.

Sunday- Took care of Mary Addison, cleaned up a throw-up carseat, and packed Ed's stuff for San Diego

Sunday night- Ed arrives in San Diego and starts throwing up. On the other side of the country, I am at home in bed...and start throwing up.

Monday- Ed is left at an apartment in San Diego (still throwing up and having diarrhea) by himself with no Gatorade/ginger ale/etc, and no car. I am at home laying on the couch, trying to take care of Mary Addison, throwing up, and trying to find a way to get Ed medicine and fluid so he doesn't have to call a taxi and go to the hospital. One of Justin's colleagues randomly dropped by the apartment and came to Ed's rescue. My dad came down about 2pm and took care of Mary Addison for the rest of the afternoon.

Tuesday- I decide to go to Hendersonville so my parents can help take care of Mary Addison and I when they get off work. When I pull in their driveway, Mary Addison has hives all over legs and they quickly spread to the rest of her body. We rush her to urgent care; we finally figured out it was just the end sign of her virus.

Wednesday- My mom backs into my car and does $2600 worth of damage.

Yesterday proved uneventful. Ed and Mary Addison feel 100% better! I am slowly getting there; I am still pretty weak and tired, but I think it's because of the pregnancy! Ed comes home tonight around 11pm and I cannot wait! Let's hope this next week proves to be a little more relaxed!

On a different note, we never found the source of our smell (from my last post), but it did finally disappear! That is something to celebrate!

Something Stinks!

2008-08-14T06:32:00.004-05:00

At some point in your life, you usually get asked the question, "If you had to lose one of your senses, which would it be?". No doubt, I would gladly give up the sense of smell this week. Let me start by saying that I have been blessed with a hyper-sensitive "sniffer" my entire life. Now that I am pregnant, it is just plain annoying. Take these two facts coupled with the horrific odor that has invaded our house in the past week, and I am about to go insane. I have cleaned everything, looked under furniture, in closets, etc. Ed is going to check the attic for something dead tonight. Please pray that we find the culprit. Between the nauseating smell of food, Mary Addison's dirty diapers, and this "unkown" odor, I am about to be done with smelling!

Beach Bums

2008-08-09T19:45:00.003-05:00

We just returned from an incredibly relaxing vacation at Kiawah Island. Ed, Mary Addison and I accompanied Gammie, Gramps, Kelly, Harper Charis, and Calahan. We left last Saturday and arrived shortly after lunch. The weather was beautiful, the water perfect, and the sand..sandy! We spent the days riding bikes, going to the pool, playing on the beach/in the ocean, reading, and taking naps. Mary Addison loved the beach! She is starting to become way too independent, and wanted to venture the waves without us! She took several face-plants into the water as she walked from one tidepool to the next. Calahan and Harper were tons of fun and entertained Mary Addison for most of the trip. Harper was constantly playing the "mother" to Mary Addison while Calahan would do just about anything to make her laugh.

The night before Daddy and Ed had to go home, Ed, Kelly, and I decided to go on a long bike ride. We wanted to wait until the kids were in bed to leave, so we got a late start. Our ride down the beach was great, but the return trip, on the road and in the complete dark, was an adventure to say the least. We about plowed into 4 or 5 other idiot bikers without lights. Kelly and I ended up just getting off the bikes and walking, while screaming at Ed to wait up. Not only was it pitch black, but we were on a trail in the woods...beyond scary. And for those of you who know me...I don't do scary! Kelly, however, was making me laugh so hard yelling, "Bikers! Pregnant woman on a bike! Please don't hit us!", that I forgot some of my fear. We finally made it back alive and in one piece. That was my last time on the bike for the week!

Daddy and Ed left Tuesday night and our trip continued to be one of relaxation and fun! Kelly and I had our noses in books for most of the weekend, which was nice since I didn't have much energy to do anything else during nap times. On Thursday afternoon, while enjoying some quiet time with my book, I heard a scream, and looked down to see a 12 year old boy with a compound fracture in his arm. He had run into a tree on his bike. "Tired Pregnant Mama" was able to do some pretty impressive sprinting as I sent Nurse Cheryl (my mom) down to the scene and I became the nurses assistant, calling EMS, getting cold rags, etc. Kelly was assisting from the deck, getting in touch with his parents, throwing down supplies, etc. EMS finally arrived, along with his parents, and they headed to MUSC for surgery! He was a trooper for sure!

Other than that, the trip went great. We took Calahan and Harper to a carnival one night, where they had rock-climibing walls, jump houses, face painting, etc. They had a blast. Kelly and I got to go to lunch without the kids one afternoon, which was a real treat.

One thing I learned...the beach is a great place to be a pregnant bum and not feel bad about it; where else can you sit around all day without being expected to do anything else?

Mary Addison Update

2008-07-31T12:20:00.003-05:00

I've been pretty slack about keeping up with the blog lately. Every time Mary Addison goes to sleep, I want to go to sleep too; guess it comes with the pregnant territory. One of my friends (Greta) has been bugging me about not posting more often and not keeping her up-to-date on Mary Addison's latest adventures. So, let me see if I can update you on the world of a 15 month old.
Mae finally started walking about 3 weeks ago; she was taking steps before we left for California, but was really getting around when we came home. She talks a lot, but usually in a language we refer to as "Addisonese". She does say "Dada, Mama, Baby, Bath, Bird, Pu Pu(Puppy), Dee(Down), Dah(That), Uh-Oh, No, Mik(Milk), Do Do Do (Go! Go! Go!)." I am sure she has other words that I can't think of right now. She makes lots of animal sounds, can point to lots of body parts, etc. She loves playing "ah- booh" (peek-a-boo), chase, swimming, and pushing her baby around in the stroller. Mary Addison also has a fascination of taking things out and putting them back in; this includes the dishes in my cabinet, the mixing utensils in the drawer, and the contents of her diaper bag and my purse. I have made it a point to start washing everything I use to cook with before I use it now! The other day I found a plastic ball in the toilet; who knows where the mixing spoons have been?

Mary Addison loves spending time with other kids. I kept Greta's kids, Judson and Joyner, this weekend while they were out of town. Mary Addison had a ball! Today, her best friend, Adri, came over to play. I was able to catch quite a few shots of them "hugging" each other; they wound up on the floor after each hug. Neither of the girls have quite mastered the term "gentle".

Read all about it!

2008-07-20T10:41:00.002-05:00

Mary Addison had some news she wanted to share!

California

2008-07-07T10:12:00.002-05:00

Ed and I are now on the 6th day of our "Tour California" trip. We arrived in San Diego last Wednesday night and have been touring the town for the past 5 days. If you've never been to San Diego, you must make a trip; it's incredible. Ed's best friend lives there now, so we were able to spend time with him and he took us to some pretty incredible restaurants; I will never refer to East Coast Mexican as "good Mexican" again! The views are incredible, the towns look like they are out of movies, and the people are incredibly friendly. We spent the 4th of July on Coronado Island, where the whole island was in one constant celebratory state. Ed and I rode bikes around Coronado for most of the day, then walked in and out of the festivities, and hung out at the historic Hotel Del Coronado. We ended the evening by watching fireworks over the San Diego Bay. They were awesome; you could actually see two other identical shows occurring simultaneously at various points in and around the Bay area.

Yesterday we rented a convertible and are now driving the Pacific Coast Highway to San Fransisco. We are probably going to miss Big Sur, the most scenic part of the drive, due to the wild fires, but we have lots of other places we want to visit along the way. We will end up in San Fransisco on Wednesday and fly out on Thursday. We are having an incredible time.

On a different note, I am quite homesick for my daughter. I have missed her the whole time we have been gone, but it really hit hard yesterday. I know that she is having a great time with Gammie and Gramps, but I can't wait to put my arms around her and give her kisses. Ed and I are going to be fighting to see who can get to her first when we get home on Thursday. I am, however, glad that we decided to come, as Ed and I are having a ball and getting some much needed "us" time...I just have to keep myself busy, which we have been doing quite well! Speaking of, we are about to hit the road again, so I need to cut this short!

Summer Adventures

2008-06-30T13:43:00.003-05:00

Summer has been great thus far! Mary Addison is experiencing lots of "firsts", including a first haircut and first time out on the boat this year. She is also starting to walk, though a little wobbly at the moment. It's been fun watching her change from day to day. She is starting to talk more as well, though we refer to her language as "Addsionese" due to the fact that most of her words can only be understood by her. We are starting to experiment with her feeding herself, which you can see can be somewhat disastorous, depending on the menu.

Two weekends ago we went to Charlotte to stay with Jeremy and Greta and had a great time on the lake. Joyner (age 2) was so much fun,wanting to get in the water every time we stopped the boat. Judson and Mary Addison (age 1) both got in the tube with their Daddies. Mary Addison loved it, but Judson was just as content sitting on the boat playing with all of the water bottles he could find. Joyner and Mary Addison were so comfortable on the boat, that they found time to take siestas. We had all been a little nervous as to how three kids under the age of 3 would handle a day on the lake, but they did great. We ended up staying out for 5 hours and never once had a crying child! I call that a success! Jeremy and Greta were great hosts and it was a good weekend to chill out, catch up, and enjoy good company.

This past weekend we were in Dillon for a wedding. Mary Addison loved spending time with her Grandaddy, JJ, Aunt Tammy, Uncle Jamie, and Jamison. We also introduced her to some new cousins for the first time. The picture of her in the bed was when Uncle Jamie was trying to get her to take a morning nap. It worked well until Jamison came in to play with his cousin; so much for naps. The wedding was beautiful, the reception was great, and Ed did a great job playing his saxophone. I never cease to be amazed at how talented my husband is!

P.E.

2008-06-11T14:18:00.002-05:00

No, I am not referring to "physical education". The "P.E." we are celebrating in our family today stands for "Professional Engineer". Ed just found out today that he passed his professional engineering exam. To those of you who know nothing about engineering this is a VERY difficult exam to which a minimum of 300 hours worth of studying is suggested. A large amount of people do not pass it on the first go round, but Ed did (not that I am surprised). I am so proud of my husband! Let's pray our children get his brains!

On another note, Mary Addison seems to be rounding a corner. She has been a very sick little girl for a solid week, with a 103 temperature every day. She is finally feeling better and seems to be almost back to her normal, happy-go lucky self!

We are super excited about Father's Day weekend! We will be spending some time with friends on the lake, eating, and playing with the babies! Can it get any better?

Summer has arrived!

2008-05-27T17:35:00.006-05:00

For Ed and I, summer officially starts during Memorial Day Weekend! For the past few years we have headed down to Calaway Gardens,GA for a wake-boarding and ski tournament(just to observe, not to participate!). We broke up the trip with a stop in Gainesville, where we were able to visit with my cousins and their little girl. Lilly and Mary Addison had so much fun playing that they both decided to stay up until 10:30 (much to our dismay). We woke up the next morning and headed the rest of the way to the tournament. We had a great time! The weather was wonderful, the skiing/wake-bording phenomenal, and the company incomparable! We stayed at a hotel in La Grange on Saturday night and went back to the tournament to watch the wakeboarding finals before heading home. Our trip had been just about perfect. Mary Addison was having a ball, despite the fact that she had been in a car most of the weekend, outside the rest of the weekend, and completely off her schedule. We should have known that the trip home was bound to have some hiccups. We made it right outside the SC line when we had two blow-outs, one on the car and one in Mary Addison's diaper. Ed went to work on the tire, while I attempted to change my daughter with no wipes (I had used the last one just an hour before). When Ed got the spare out, he realized that it was flat and also realized that while he had the blinkers on, the car battery died. Thankfully, "Mr. Prepared" had a power-pack which we used to pump up the tire and jump start the car (I strongly recommend everyone getting one). Mary Addison had two more blow-outs on the way home. She was quite furious when I soaked her down in the sink at the rest area. Thankfully, God gave us a sense of humor about the whole situation and we managed to laugh our way home. We spent yesterday recuperating and took our first visit to the neighborhood pool. We are so excited about the lake, pool, and beach visits this summer. It's so much fun to watch Mary Addison enjoying these experiences.

Mary Addison is ONE!

2008-04-28T12:17:00.004-05:00

My baby turned one on Saturday; it's hard to believe! Mary Addison's birthday did not start out quite like we had planned. I decided that each year her room would be filled with balloons when she woke up; little did I know my child was terrified of balloons. The closer we got her to them, the harder she squeezed tight to my arm. She was also rather fussy for about the first 3 hours of the day due to the four teeth that are popping through.

After a short nap with "Dada," however, all was well. She woke up happy and ready to roll for her party. We kept it small, just inviting immediate family and the babies from her play group. They had a ball. A friend of the family made the cake, and not only did it look great, but tasted incredible as well. Mary Addison loved the cake as well...her first experience with sugar! Everyone had a great time and at the end of the day, Mary Addison was "partied" out!

Ed and I both spent the day sharing memories from the past year. It seems like yesterday that I was trying to convince Ed that I was in labor; he was certain I was just being anxious! This year has been filled with incredible memories as we have watched Mary Addison grow,change, and develop her precious little personality. She is a joy! We have been blessed with a happy, sweet, funny child. She is up for any adventure and always on the go, but will also snuggle up in your arms and let you love on her. She has her daddy's "daredevil" spirit, which is sure to result in some gray hairs along with trips to the emergency room for stitches and broken bones. She doesn't meet a stranger and the bigger the crowd the better. We thank God for our precious little angel and are ever grateful for the miracle He has shared with us!

FAVORITE TOY

2008-04-21T20:47:00.001-05:00

Julie shot this video earlier today. I think you'll see a little bit of me in my little girl with this video.

Get Over It!

2008-04-07T19:59:00.002-05:00

Get Over It---that's the "theme" of the Cooper River Bridge Run...and believe me, I kept reminding myself that as I ran up the incline of that bridge. Actually, Ed and I both ran the Bridge Run. For those of you who know Ed, that is quite comical. Ed does NOT run. In fact, he did not train at all. I, on the other hand, have been running 4 1/2 to 5 miles about 4 times a week for months. Yet in the end, Ed still finished about 2 minutes ahead of me. It drove him crazy that I wasn't interested in "beating" him. He told me that I had to have a goal, and I reminded him that my goal was to run the entire time without walking. Since I wouldn't play his "time race" game, he looked up his best friend's finish time from 2006 and made sure he beat that time. Both of us met our goals and enjoyed a great weekend in Charleston. Thanks to Ashley for letting us crash at her place. We were glad to get home to see Mary Addison, who had a great time with Aunt Kelly and Gammie, but was thrilled to see Mama and Dada as well.

Ed has now crossed a 10k off his list and swears he will never go running again. I, on the other hand, can't wait to take Mary Addison for our daily run tomorrow!

Rain

2008-04-02T19:24:00.002-05:00

It's raining outside; actually, it's a downpour. Some couples we know are experiencing a downpour in their lives right now. One couple have a daughter that they just adopted from Guatemala a little over a year ago. She was diagnosed today with a very rare disease and has been given a few years, at best, to live. Another couple we know of have a newborn that was diagnosed with spinal muscular dystrophy today; she has been given a year, at best, to live. And the question "WHY GOD" resounds.
Yet God spoke truth to me tonight through these words in Numbers 11:23, "Is the Lord's arm too short?". Is it? It sounds ridiculous to even ask. I have seen my God reach out and heal more times than I can begin to count. I have seen Him perform countless miracles and intervene in innumerable ways. The Lord's arm is NOT too short. He is still in control, even when the rain is falling all around us. I don't know when the rain will stop, but I know it will. And I know who controls the rain; He is the same God who knows my name and has declared, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future."

A Little Perspective

2008-03-25T06:16:00.001-05:00

So, today was a tough day. Mary Addison and I spent a total of 4 hours at the doctor’s office getting her tested for allergies and having blood work drawn. Mae Belle was a champ through the allergy testing, but when it came time to get her blood drawn, she was pitiful. The nurse and I had to hold her down so she wouldn’t move; it was almost more than I could bear to watch big alligator tears spill to the ground and hear her cries of pain. She was poked and prodded, missed her afternoon nap, and past due for a bottle by the time we got home.

Mary Addison tested positive to egg and peanut allergies, but on the drive home, all I felt was thankfulness. I looked in the back seat, watching my precious girl sleep, and was overwhelmed by God’s mercy. I am not “happy” that my daughter has food allergies and has to carry an Epi-pen around now, but I am so thankful that it wasn’t anything worse. Ed came home and prayed over Mary Addison, thanking God that this was the first time in almost a year that Mary Addison has had to have blood drawn. We have a healthy child, and for that, I am extremely grateful. We have spent the past few months watching several friends deal with terminally ill babies, children with undiagnosed diseases, miscarriages, etc. Watching these little ones and their parents suffer has broken my heart and given me a little perspective. If allergies is all we have had to deal with, then praise God for allergies!

Great Week!

2008-03-25T05:19:00.003-05:00

This past week was busy, but great. Tuesday we got to keep Adri, and she and Mary Addison had a ball playing together, as usual. Wednesday we went to story hour at the library; it was so much fun to see all the kids hopping around the library sporting thier paper plate "bunny ears". Thursday was play group, which is always an adventure in and of itself. Adri proved to be the main source of entertainment this week, stuffing 5 whoppers in her mouth (unannounced to us) and then gagging as Natalie and I tried to fish them out of her mouth. Harrison decided that Adri was getting too much attention,so he flipped over the table with the whoppers, spilling candy and glass picture frames all over the place. Oh the entertainment that play group affords! Ed had Friday off, so we spent the afternoon at Clemson just walking around, playing on Bowman, and laughing at some college memories. Mary Addison was not as impressed with laying on the grass on Bowman as we were; in fact, she hated the way it felt on her legs.

Saturday we drove to Columbia for a wedding reception, and got to see some people we hadn't seen in a long time. Mary Addison proved to be the entertainment and they all fought over who was going to get to hold her "next"; that gave Ed and I a little time to chat and catch up with old friends. Sunday we went to an incredible Easter service and then had the family over to our house for Easter lunch. Harper Charis and Calahan embarked on an Easter egg hunt and had as much fun counting up the candy as they did searching for the eggs. The weather was gorgeous all weekend; it was a nice relaxing time spent remembering what our Savior has done for us and spending time with family and friends.

Tough Night

2008-03-16T20:42:00.003-05:00

No, I do not dress my child like this. This picture speaks a thousand words and clues you in to what Mary Addison's night was like. Now, before I tell this story and incriminate myself, let me remind my dear readers that my daughter is almost 11 months old and STILL wakes up once in the middle of the night to get a bottle; I blame this incidence on being sleep deprived.
At 2 am Mary Addison woke up quite hungry and with a very wet diaper. I got the bottle, filled it with water, put the cap on, shook it up and headed to her bedroom. Ed and I have mastered keeping her semi-asleep by giving her the bottle while we are changing her diaper. This night was no different.
I put her on her changing table, took off the cap and proceeded to pour over half of a bottle ALL over my daughter's face; I had forgotten to put the nipple in the top of the bottle. My poor child was just staring at me like I had lost my mind, and I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. Needless to say, we had to get towels, wash down, change clothes, etc. This resulted in one VERY awake little girl, who after two hours of playing ended up in the bed with Mama and Dada (this rarely happens).
At 5 am, I put her in her bed. When I went to get her at 7:30, this is what I found. I thought her look was all too appropriate for the night she had.

MARY ADDISON LEARNING TO CHILL

2008-03-08T23:34:00.003-05:00

Julie is what we term a "busy body" in the South. She has to be doing something productive all the time. 5 hours of sleep is all she ever needs, and the word "nap" is not even in her vocabulary. Her idea of relaxation is running 5 miles, and mine is more in-line with the picture above. Well, my little girl loves kicking back with Daddy. This picture was taken by Gramps after a hike in the mountains last weekend. Now of course, Mary Addison rode on my back in a backpack carrier the whole time, but she was worn out and ready to kick back with me after the hike.

Keeping up with a crawler

2008-03-06T19:45:00.009-05:00

I have been accused of not posting enough lately, so I'll try to do better. Things have been great around here...just trying to keep up with my daughter. Mary Addison is all over the place. We just put up gates to keep her off the stairs, but she still manages to find ways to scare the daylights out of me. I came in the playroom the other day and she was standing up, backwards, in her little rocking chair; I can't imagine what it is going to be like when she starts walking. She has discovered her voice...and we have discovered that it is quite loud. She makes all kinds of noises, but not many words. She can say "Mama and Dada", an occasional "baby" and "quack, quack, quack"...but she is only going to say it when she wants to..which is not very often.
She is so much fun and has about 18 million expressions. She has mastered poking her lip out when she is mad or sad. She understands, all too well, the word "No" and works the lip when Mama or Dada has to tell her that. She is still the happiest baby I have ever been around and giggles out loud from her head to her toes. We are loving parenthood!
Ed has been super busy with work and I have been training for the Cooper River Bridge Run in April. Ed is running it with me, but is not going to train at all; he will more than likely still beat me to the finish line. Other than that, we have just been doing life. We are continually amazed at how God blesses us on a daily basis!

Praising God

2008-03-06T07:09:00.004-05:00

Hundreds of people have spent the past 20 weeks begging, pleading, and interceding on behalf of an unborn baby named Cohen. Cohen was born last night and God has answered so many of our prayers already. I just wanted to give God the praise and glory that He deserves. Our God is very near and hears our cries for help....

Psalm 18:6 In my distress I called to the LORD;I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice;my cry came before him, into his ears.

New and Improved Paper Shredder

2008-02-18T07:44:00.003-05:00

Right before Mary Addison was born, our paper shredder died. Little did we know that God would provide one through our child. I am convinced that Mary Addison has some type of fiber deficiency and instinctively knows that eating paper will somehow help meet her dietary needs. All the experts, however, attribute this to teething; I suppose they have a valid point.

Even still, we have started referring to my daughter as "Our Little Billy Goat". Here are a few items that my child has ingested or at least chewed on in the past few weeks: wrapping paper (her favorite), the bottom of various shoes, cardboard diaper boxes, an empty Sweet and Low package, a warning sticker from her excersaucer, a piece of torn cloth, our dining room table, our kitchen table, the edge of the window seal...etc, etc, etc. All that said, if you are thinking of purchasing a paper shredder for identity protection, I would recommend a child instead; they are a lot more entertaining.

Living My Dream

2008-02-08T22:55:00.000-05:00

I recently found out that I guy I used to sing with in high school is now "living it up" in New York City. He is singing in various opera houses across the world. I sent him a message in which I stated, "Looks like you are living your dream!". As I wrote those words, I was struck by a simple truth...I am living my dream as well. It might not come in the form of a successful career, new cars, or fancy clothes, but I am definitely living my greatest dream, my lifelong wish....and this is how my
dream-life plays itself out....

I wake up every morning in a warm bed, nestled closely beside the man of my dreams.

A warm cup of coffee is the start of each day, and I never have to worry about whether or not we can afford to buy that cup of coffee.

Each day I am entertained by the most beautiful composition of music ever heard by man..a child's laughter.

I experience new sights and adventures every day--they come through watching my daughter as she learns and discovers the world around her.

I drive around in a luxury car---it has all the luxuries I need...a car seat, some scattered Cheerios in the floorboard, a leftover Zaxby's cup from last night's supper..all remnants of the extravagant life I live and share with my family.

My voice-mail is maxed out with paramount messages from individuals of great affluence....my parents are coming to dinner on Thursday, my nephew won his basketball game, my neighbor received a good report from the doctor, and my girlfriend can make "movie night" on Saturday.

After a day of grocery shopping, scrubbing poop off clothes, fixing breakfast/snack/lunch/snack/supper/snack (and doing all the dishes that go with that) giving baths, reading bedtime stories, and getting everyone tucked into bed,I look at my family and realize that I got a lot accomplished that day...I cared for my family.

With all of that said, I hope you find yourself living your dream as well.

BABY DEDICATION

2008-01-29T23:11:00.001-05:00

Our church has grown to such a size that church-wide baby dedications no longer hold that special, symbolic message that they were once designed to represent. With 70 babies born in 2007, there are just too many new babies to keep it personal and real. That being said, we organized our own, small and intimate baby dedication ceremony. Myself, along with the three other moms in my playgroup decided upon a date, January 12th, and asked Jeremy (my brother) to lead the ceremony. Ed put together an amazing slide show of the babies and Emily (one of the moms) printed out gorgeous programs. The ceremony was surreal. With a room filled with our closest friends and family, we felt the love and support of people who have committed to helping us raise our children according to God's truth. I was humbled as God spoke these truths to me....

Mary Addison, though legally mine, is not really my child; God is just loaning her to me. I have no idea how long I will be blessed to hold my precious child, but this I do know. God has entrusted me with the greatest gift that could ever be given...a life. He has called me to raise this child as He would raise her. It is Ed and I's job to show her what a marriage focused on God looks like, what parenting looks like, what love looks like, what friendship looks like, but most importantly, what following hard after God looks like. Because I know I cannot live up to those standards, I will continuously give my child over to God, for it is only by his strength, wisdom, love, and grace that I can even call myself a parent.

Joining Forces

2008-01-26T23:14:00.000-05:00

So I was pretty excited about the idea of Ed and I joining our blogs…until we started the actual process. The only thing we have agreed upon thus far was the picture of the three of us.We can’t even decide on an address. There isn’t a more common last name than “Edwards”, so every address we came up with seems to be taken (edwardsamily, edwardsclan, edwardscrew). Not only that, but we can’t seem to come up with a title that we both agree upon either; we are keeping Ed’s former title while we conjure up something more profound.

That being said, we would love your suggestions…

DUCK HUNTING

2007-12-15T20:04:00.000-05:00

My buddy Rob called midweek and said that he had a connection to go duck hunting this morning at the Clinton House Plantation and wanted to know if I was interested. I usually jump on any opportunity for duck hunting, so I immediately accepted his invitation.
This morning, the rest of the guys with whom I was sharing a blind were running a little late, so I walked on down to the water and sat in the blind to wait on them. Julie was already awake (as always), so I called her just a few minutes before sunrise to chat. About 15 minutes later, I called her back to let her know that I had already shot the daily limit of 4 mallard ducks, and I would be coming home soon. She obviously thought that I was kidding, but I was serious. The ducks were flying like nothing I have ever seen before. Within 25 minutes, we had 12 ducks in our blind between the 4 of us. Good times.
On another note, I had a hot date last night with my incredible wife. Mary Addison spent the night with Gammie and Gramps, so we had a nice dinner at High Cotton in Greenville. By the way, I had the roasted duck.

A LITTLE "VIDEO" FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT

2007-11-25T20:59:00.000-05:00

Mary Addison's dance

JULIE LEARNED HOW TO MAKE BOWS TODAY

2007-11-14T20:47:00.002-05:00

I'm so sorry, Mary Addison.

KIDS WEEK ON JEOPARDY

2007-10-10T18:36:00.000-05:00

This week is kids week on Jeopardy. I'm only watching it because it makes me feel really smart.

MARY ADDISON WANTS YOU TO VOTE FOR HER

2007-09-24T19:37:00.000-05:00

Okay, I know it's kinda cheesy, but I submitted a photo of Mary Addison for a local photo contest. The winner gets a $230 photo package, and it would be just in time for her 6 month pictures. The winner is chosen strictly on the number of votes, so please take a few seconds and vote for her here.

NO FAN ZONE

2007-08-15T19:41:00.000-05:00

We had a great time vacationing last week. The bugs were out in full force, but we managed to have a great time anyway. I kayaked everyday and we got to see a lot of cool things from the water. Julie's dad and I actually got to watch a dolphin and it's baby strand feed for about 30 minutes one morning from about 25 feet away. Strand feeding is where the dolphins chase smaller fish up on to sand bars and then beach themselves to grab a few of them. It was awesome.

The worst part about coming home from vacation was that it felt like my first day back at work after Mary Addison was born. I was used to hanging out with her and Julie all day long, and I missed them like crazy all day. I mean, almost more than I miss Justin when he's in Houston.

When we got home, our refrigerator was on the fritz again. I'm sure it was bad karma since I bragged in my last post about repairing it so cheaply, but it was the evaporator fan that was shot this time (insert prideful comment here --> It was a totally different issue for those of you that thought I just didn't fix it right the first time). But, what makes this a little weird was that I had to replace the fan on my heat pump just before we left. I thought that this must just be a month for fans to die. So I get home today, and Julie tells me that the computer keeps shutting down. I open it up to find that it's overheating from guess what... a burned out CPU fan. That's 3 fan motors in a month. I expect my ceiling fan to fall on me tonight while I'm sleeping.

Okay, enough boredom. Do you see why I don't blog as much now? Would you rather read about "poopsies" and "tinkle" diapers?

WAKEBOARDS, REFRIGERATORS, HEAT PUMPS

2007-07-30T21:00:00.000-05:00

Byron, Mandi, and their two sons came to visit this weekend, and the usual good times were had by all. Despite the dreary weather Saturday morning, Byron and I were able to shoot over to Hartwell and meet Justin for a few sets of wakeboarding and wakeskating. Justin hopped on the wakeskate for the first time and showed off like he had been riding one for years. The water was super calm, and all of us seemed to ride pretty well.

This has been a month of appliance repair. First, our refrigerator caught the bug, and it spread to our heat pump. Luckily, I was able to fix both, and the fridge was repaired with an $8 part; the heat pump set us back $32. Something deep inside of me loves for things to break whenever I am able to fix them so cheaply. It's almost like beating the system when you know that it would have cost over $150 to have the fridge repaired and twice that for the heat pump. When it comes down to it, I still had to spend time and money on things that were broken.... nevermind, it's just complicated.

Next week is our vacation! I'm ready to get Mary Addison down to the beach. We'll be in Edisto riding bikes, kayaking, and kicking back all week.

I still want to get up to Jocassee for a weekend before Summer is over. It's a lot harder to do that with a 3 month old, so if any of you have a camper, I'll meet you there with the boat. Really.

Keep checking my web album and Julie's for more pictures!

FATHER'S DAY

2007-06-19T09:05:00.000-05:00

I had a great first Father's Day. We went down to Falls Park in Greenville and had a picnic along the Reedy River with Jeremy, Kelly, Calahan, and Harper. Then we went back to Jeremy's house and grilled out for dinner with Julie's parents.Gammie kept Mary Addison on Saturday, and we spent the day on the lake with Melanie and Brian. The weather was perfect, and we had a great time. We finished the day with dinner in Clemson. This was Julie's first time out on the water this year, and it really made me realize how much more fun it is to have her there on the boat (no offense Justin). She's a little bummed out because the doctors will not allow her to wakeboard this year due to the blood clot in her leg, but each time the boat stopped we couldn't keep her out of the water. I'm ready for a weekend at Jocassee!

MARY ADDISON'S POOL DEBUT

2007-06-11T15:48:00.001-05:00

PICTURES OF MY DAUGHTER!

2007-04-30T22:14:00.000-05:00

I just uploaded some pictures to our web album. Click here to see it.
Keep checking it for updates too.

THERE'S A REASON I HAVEN'T POSTED MORE PICS

2007-04-30T20:13:00.000-05:00

This post comes to you from the "comfort" of a hospital room too. I expected to be posting pictures from my high speed connection at home, but we aren't there yet. Julie and Mary Addison were discharged from the hospital Saturday afternoon, and we were all still on an adrenaline high. After an incredibly fast delivery with hardly no complications, we had a beautiful baby girl and were finally home as a family. Mary Addison took a nap in her new crib, Julie took a warm bath, and all seemed well. 4 hours after arriving at home, Julie was in extreme pain with extreme swelling to the point that she could not even use the bathroom. A quick call to the doctor yielded a response that they "were afraid this would happen," and Julie and her mom were on the way back to the hospital. Mary Addison and I stayed back to pack some bags in case this was another extended stay (which it turned out to be), and 20 minutes later we were on our way to join Mommy.

Saturday night was very tough for all of us. Julie was in the worst pain that I have EVER seen her in. She was in much worse pain than the delivery itself. The worst part of watching her in this pain was that there was no end for it in sight either. They immediately inserted a catheter and an IV with some pretty hefty drugs. At least during delivery, you know that it will all be over when the baby's out, but this was lots of pressure that wasn't subsiding. They gave her 2 bags of plasma to thicken the blood for surgery to take place the next morning. Julie started becoming very emotional about not being able to breastfeed Mary Addison (because of all the drugs she was being given), but the baby didn't hesitate to take the formula. I left out to feed her in another room each time I fed her that night so that mommy didn't have to see her with the bottle.

So, some of you are probably confused right now about what all this swelling and pressure was from. During the delivery, Julie "ripped." As most of you know, this is very common. The doctor sewed Julie back up, expected a little bit of swelling from the trauma, and it was a done deal... supposedly. What actually happened was that Julie's blood was too thin from the thinner that she has been on for the last several weeks, and her blood did not clot well enough in the wounded area. She simply bled way too long internally after she was sewn up, and after going home, climbing the stairs, taking a bath, and just being mobile, it was obvious that she was not healing internally.

Fast forward to Sunday morning... Julie had a very good attitude about the whole situation although she had an emotional breakdown the night before. As they were taking her into the OR, she looked up at me and said, "This is much better than them having to take my baby to the OR." The surgery consisted of the doctor opening Julie through a fresh incision and evacuating the wound of all clots, and "yuck." She came out without a hitch, and is doing much better now. In fact, her catheter was removed a few hours ago, and we expect to go home on Wednesday (hopefully Tuesday). She's been breastfeeding again since midnight last night, and Mary Addison hasn't had the first objection to it.

Saturday night was rock bottom for both of us. I'm not pretending that I was in just as much pain as Julie, but it's never fun to watch your wife get two bags of blood while you're playing mommy and daddy all night. Since Mary Addison had been discharged from the hospital earlier that day, the nurses legally could not take care of her. I was lucky enough to have the help of Julie's parents all night, but stubborn enough not to use it. I wanted to take care of my daughter by myself! Even though Julie was HEAVILY drugged all night, she was still coherent enough to be miserable because she wasn't getting to love on her daughter and feed and change her diapers.

Good news though. We're out of the woods. We back on the upswing. I have over 400 pictures of Mary Addison that I promise to be posting soon, but my connection to the internet is through my cell phone, and it simply can't handle too many pics. Maybe I'll at least upload a few tonight though. Keep checking back for a link.

Thanks for all of your prayers!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARY ADDISON!

2007-04-26T21:56:00.000-05:00

Scratch the last post about Friday being the big day, because Mary Addison decided that today was the big day. We got to the hospital around 1:30PM, and Julie delivered a 6lb, 15oz, 20 inch long beautiful baby girl an hour and a half later. It was an incredible delivery. Julie did it without any drugs simply because it progressed so quickly there was no time to give her anything. Thank you all for your prayers. I'll post plenty of pictures once we get home from the hospital.

FRIDAY IS THE BIG DAY

2007-04-25T09:17:00.000-05:00

Julie is being induced Friday morning at 6:00AM. That's less than 48 hours! She's being weaned off of the blood thinner over the next 24 hours to get ready for the delivery. I'm finding it hard to sleep, and that says a lot about my level of excitement because I can sleep anytime, anywhere.

In other news, I bought a Bobcat last week. Not an animal, but a piece of heavy machinery. I'm not real sure where I'm going to find the time to use it, but if you need any grading, land clearing, demolition, concrete removal, or if you're tired of that old pool in your backyard and you're ready to fill it in, I'm your man.

I'll have pictures of Mary Addison posted soon!

WOW, IT'S BEEN A WHILE

2007-03-14T19:52:00.000-05:00

Do I really have to explain why I haven't posted in months? Since my last post, I have managed to refinish two pieces of furniture for Mary Addison's room, install shelves in her closet, hang a porch swing (to swing her), tile our kitchen and pantry floor (Ju just talked me into that in the middle of everything else), research all the cool things that she will need ( like baby monitors), and so on. Today I realized that it is 80 degrees outside, and I have yet to START on servicing my boat that I planned to do over the Winter. Hmmmm... something's coming before my boat?

I'm in love with a little girl that I haven't even seen yet! But, enough about her.

Tomorrow is our 4th anniversary. We are going to Atlanta for the weekend to celebrate our last childless anniversary. We're both taking a much needed day off of work, and making a long, fun weekend of Atlanta. We can't get much further away right now. I looked back at my blog posts for the last 2 anniversaries, and it's funny how quickly things change sometimes. My post in 2005 stated that one of our goals for the year was to have a baby, then last year's said that we would be celebrating our anniversary in Virgina with a visit to the fertility doctor. God is good.

Julie has continued to do very well with her pregnancy. She's felt much better than expected although she does stay very tired. For the first time in our relationship, I actually get out of bed before her now. For those of you that know Julie very well, you understand how big of a deal that is.

We had a baby shower two weeks ago, and it was a blast. I loved seeing everyone, and we got a ton of great gifts. We just had fun!

IT'S A GIRL!

2006-12-08T20:13:00.000-05:00

We found out yesterday that it's a girl! Just before the ultrasound, the doctor asked me if I had a preference, and I told her that I really wanted a girl. 15 minutes later she said, "Congratulations! You've got yourself a girl!"

I'm too sick to type anymore right now though. Please continue praying for Mary Addison.

2ND AND 27

2006-10-26T10:59:00.000-05:00

That's second trimester and 27 weeks to go. Julie's at the end of the first trimester. Some say that the sickness begins to fade and the grumpiness escalates now... I'll just have to keep you posted on that. In just 5 weeks we will find out the sex of the baby!

We kept our niece and nephew last weekend and it was a huge reminder of how the pace of life will change in 27 weeks. Can a brother just get 10 minutes to chill?

Ever have those times where God speaks to you by making your heart follow a path that you know your own desires would have never led you down? That's been the theme of my most recent weeks. God is good.

I'm pretty bummed that I'm not going on the church youth retreat this year. I posted about the retreat last year, and I know that it will be even better this year (except for the music of course). I think that I'll just call Ashley and let her know that she really should change her wedding date.

COOLING OFF

2006-09-26T10:32:00.000-05:00

I love this time of year with the exception of one thing; lake days are just about over. In fact, with the way that the coming weekends are filling up, there may not be another outing this year. I did get a chance to do some good riding last weekend with Julie's cousin, Grant, on Lake Lanier. He and his wife are expecting their first baby next month, so Ju got to talk babies all weekend, and Grant and I got to wakeboard all weekend... good times. We love hanging out with them.
Each year when the weather starts cooling off, I start getting somewhat of a backpacking itch in the place of my lake itch. I've lost my usual backpacking partner this year, and she's finally got a good excuse not to go.

JULIE GIVES UP WAKEBOARDING FOR THE REST OF THE SUMMER

2006-09-01T06:42:00.000-05:00

Why? Because she's pregnant! We're having a baby!
When I came home from work on Tuesday, I found her wakeboard propped against the house door with a kid's life jacket on it and a sign posted at the top. I couldn't even open the door because I was so shocked. We have been trying diligently for over 2 years to have a child. There have been many tears shed and many sleepless nights during that time, but our God is still in the miracle making business! We are sharing this with everyone rather early for a few reasons:
1. Many of you have been praying for us to get pregnant, and we want you to know that your prayers have been answered.
2. We ask for your continued prayers because the chance of miscarriage increases about 50% for women with PCOS.
Here are a couple of important dates:
September 19th - We'll hear the heartbeat for the first time. This will be when we find out if there is only one baby, or if there is a litter.
Early May - Come meet Baby Edwards!

ABOUT ME

2006-08-28T09:27:00.000-05:00

I stole this idea from Lee.

I couldn’t live without God
I love my wife
I love technology
I am a better person because of my wife
I am a jack of all trades, master of none
I can eat whatever I want and not gain an ounce
I love music
I am not a good teacher
I enjoy discussing personal finance
I still love technology
I am usually very content
I love hip hop music
I often experience analysis paralysis
I love the lake
I wish that I would have discovered the lake earlier
I am a problem solver
I do not love swimming
I am an entrepreneur
I do not follow sports
I am a deal finder
I love wakeboarding
I still love technology
I will if you say I can’t
I love to travel
I want to get my pilot’s license
I take very good care of my things
I am great at sharing some things, and horrible at sharing others
I am an initiator
I am a strict budgeter
I do not worry a lot
I prefer the mountains to the beach
I like hiking and backpacking
I used to love motorcycles, but I don’t desire to ride them much anymore
I think that I can read people well
I still love technology
I do not shy away from productive confrontation
I am continuously learning how to control my temper
I love my boat
I walk very fast
I suffer from tunnel vision
I love my wife’s cooking
I do not like to read
I am usually over-prepared
I love driving in the snow
I like pulling cars from ditches with my truck when it snows
I am competitive
I get emotional at baptismal services
I am much more empathetic than sympathetic
I am not creative
I can build it, but only if you draw it
I still love technology
I want five kids
I want to adopt at least one child
I am firm with my nephews, but melt with my niece.
I like animals
I like guns
I feel the need to explain decisions too much
I sang a song to my wife when I proposed
I recorded the proposal song and played it during our first dance
I am highly motivated by the approval of my wife
I have been to 29 states
I have been to 3 continents
I still love technology
I like thunderstorms
I have a lot of tools
I need more vacation time
I wish that my job were more flexible

WASP CONDO

2006-08-04T07:16:00.000-05:00

I noticed a couple of wasps hovering around my mailbox last night, so I decided to look for a nest nearby. Imagine my surprise when I bent down and looked into the back of the paperbox underneath.

PERU DEBRIEF

2006-07-12T08:30:00.000-05:00

I’ve been postponing this post because I don’t know where to begin. Let me start with some random thoughts about the trip.

The students were awesome. There was minimal conflict, and any conflict that did surface was handled in a mature fashion. You just don’t put 29 people in less than desirable living conditions with each other for 9 days and not have conflict.

I know even more (if that’s even possible) that Ju and I are called to be adoptive parents. Now the prayer is simply “when?” You all can help us with that prayer.

Americans (stereotype!) waste a lot. We leave food on our plates, have hotter water in our water heaters than we will use, and drive vehicles that use way too much gas just to name a few things. This wasn’t my first time in a non-US culture, but this time I realized that we stress out way too much to maintain a lifestyle of wastefulness. In other words, the Peruvians (stereotype again!) have a better grasp on the concept of want vs. need.

James challenges believers with concepts that are black and white. Not much room for interpretation there. I highly recommend reading this book soon if you are serious about getting your act together. We are all rich in the eyes of James, so thank God for this blessing, but make sure that your joy doesn’t lie in your possessions.

My wife is great at taking care of people. She administered her first shot to one of the students who became VERY ill Saturday night before arriving at the airport. It was weird walking into a pharmacy without a prescription and telling the pharmacist what you wanted, but we got the right stuff, and Julie bravely gave the student a shot to calm her sickness.

The bottom line is that I can't wait to go on another trip like this. I need a job with more vacation time!

HOME

2006-07-09T16:47:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, I'm home. What an AMAZING trip! I've got too much to share, and other things to do since I just got back, but I wanted to let you know that I just posted my photos to the web. We took over 2000 photos as a group, so as soon as I get the DVD with everyone else's, I will add some more, but for now check these out.

HOLA!

2006-07-04T18:15:00.000-05:00

Ju and I arrived safely in Peru. We spent Sunday and Monday playing with children at the orphanage and doing some construction as well. The construction involves digging a foundation in VERY rocky soil and I also practiced my brick laying with some of the Peruvian workers. The people here really know how to have a good time. I had such a fun time working with the locals despite the language barrier, and the language barrier wasn´t as bad as I thought it would be either. Each time we would use a tool, I would ask the Peruvians how to say it in Spanish, and then teach them how to say it in English. Our deal was that they had to use the English words each time they asked me to hand them something, and I could only use the Spanish words.
It is very dry here. I doesn´t rain at all... seriously. They get a mist that rolls in periodically, but no rain. The mountains look like pure sand.
We are studying the book of James this week. Lots of good stuff there. Pray that the students will digest it all and that God will speak to us through this awesome book!
Things are VERY cheap here too. For instance, I paid 30 cents USD to get 30 minutes of internet time in an internet cafe. Glass bottled Cokes are 30 cents too. Good stuff. That brings me to how I am posting this blog. Since it is the 4th of July, the locals threw a fiesta for us, and fiestas last all day long. They did not want us to work on our holiday, and I think they just wanted a good excuse to party as well. Part of our group has been here for the past 5 weeks on a 6 week mission, so this was especially nice for them. Those of us that just arrived still wanted to go play with the children at the ophanage, so a small group still went to see them. There is a small market with internet access about a mile from where we are staying, so I walked down to see what is going on there. Looks like North Korea went ahead with the missle launch...
The place that we are staying is much nicer than I anticipated. We can´t flush toilet tissue (must throw it in the trash can beside the toilet), drink the water, or eat a lot of the foods, but I was prepared for much worse lodging conditions.
I am not sure if we will be granted internet access again this week, but if so I will post another update. Thanks for the prayers for us while we are gone!

WEB ALBUM

2006-06-30T10:24:00.000-05:00

Okay, forget yesterday's comment about joining the Flickr cult. I've found that I like Google's version much better. You can view photos here.

PERU BOUND

2006-06-29T07:27:00.001-05:00

Ju and I are leaving Saturday morning for Peru. We will be working at an orphanage there with about 40 children that is at maximum capacity. The trip will involve construction (to create additional capacity) and (hopefully) lots of play time with the kids. I promise to post pictures as soon as we return.
Since the orphanage is at maximum capacity, why don't they just let us have one or two kids? Hmmmm, I'll see if I can work some magic.

Oh yeah, we've joined the Flickr cult. Here's a link to our pictures.

ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS

2006-06-12T12:57:00.000-05:00

Not only my wife, but also the weather at Lake Jocassee this weekend. We camped at the lake Friday and Saturday night along with Ju's parents, and the weather and water were perfect. Okay, the water could have been a little warmer, but with 90 degree air temperatures, I can deal with slightly cool water. While we were boarding on Saturday, a boat approached us with a photographer that was contracted by the state park. They asked if they could follow us around and catch some different shots for the recreational boating section of the website. They photographed Ju's mom slalom sking and me wakeboarding. It was pretty cool, but it's also weird to have a stranger so close to you in another boat taking pictures of you as you ride. Ju and her parents left Sunday morning, but I stayed and Justin came up to do a little wakeboarding. We stayed out on the water for about 5 hours, but somehow we only rode two sets. We just had fun hanging out in the boat (plus Justin had a wittle tummy ache). A thunderstorm popped up in the distance, so we headed back to the boat landing only to find it closed off with a couple of ambulances and the rescue squad there. After asking a couple of questions as to why all of the boat ramps were closed, I found out that someone had fallen off of the top of the big waterfall. If you've ever seen Laurel Fork Falls, you can imagine that whoever fell had to have been hurt pretty badly. It's about a 50-70 foot waterfall. The storm caught up to us, and we waited at the boat landing for about an hour while the rescue squad did its duty. I'm not sure what condition the guy is in that fell, but I hope for the best.

CANOE THE NEW

2006-05-08T14:00:00.000-05:00

I and five other guys paddled 24 miles on the New River just above Jefferson, NC this weekend. We had a blast. Despite the rain and 42 degree weather that dampened our fun on Sunday morning, we still had a great trip overall. Paddling the last 8 miles in such conditions further proved the manhood that we posess in case anyone doubted it. The canoe camping trip is something that I strongly recommend.

Congrats to Jerri for becoming an attorney and Jason for becoming a doctor. Jerri has got to be the hottest lawyer that I'll ever know. Jason, you're pretty cute too.

I'm on a break from contractor classes right now for a couple of weeks. It's amazing how an extra 10 hours per week can be life changing.

What is up with gas prices? I mean, really. Donations to the Edwards' Boat Gas Foundation can be mailed directly to my home address.

GAS PRICES

2006-04-21T21:06:00.000-05:00

There's an email going around about boycotting gas from Exxon and Mobil in an attempt to lower gas prices. It drives me nutty because this is how gas prices are actually set.

YES, I'M ALIVE

2006-03-17T08:53:00.000-05:00

Okay, no post in a month, so here's what's been going on:

Julie's grandmother passed away last weekend. Before you get all sentimental on me, let me make sure that you understand that this was a happy event. Not because she was a wicked old lady, but because she has been suffering through the last stages of Alzheimer's for so long. Each time we've seen her in the last few years, we couldn't help but question why God allowed her to continue living. It was great to attend a funeral service where a lady was honored so well by her family and friends. It was also great to dust off my saxophone case and play a song for her.

We celebrated our 3rd anniversary on Wednesday. Not a big celebration, but we are going to have a long weekend in Virginia/DC in two weeks. We plan to do some horseback riding and visit some friends.

I passed my Unlimited General Contractor state exam. What does that mean? Well, the license allows a person to build anything from a room addition on a house to skyscrapers. What am I going to do with the license? Good question. I want to get into commercial building and industrial contracting eventually, but until then I will be doing things on a smaller level (on the side) to get my feet wet.

Julie and I are going to Peru the first week of July. Please keep us in your prayers. We will be working in an orphanage and doing some construction. I am more excited about this than I have been about anything else for a long time.

I'm currently in first place in the Renfrow Nation NCAA bracket. I'm just stoked about beating out some of the biggest sports fanatics that I know. I hope that I hold onto the lead. If Moody had entered my bracket correctly in the SC Fellas group, I'd be busting ya'll up as well.

Justin has a girlfriend. That's gotta be worth posting.

WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND

2006-01-30T17:13:00.000-05:00

You know those weekends that you wrap up with a smile on your face feeling refreshed for work on Monday morning? If you’re like me, you have to think long and hard to relate with weekends like that, but I just had one. The funny thing is that I didn’t do anything “fun.” There was no ski resort, no beach house, no hunting club, not even a boat show involved. In fact, I didn’t even leave my house all day on Saturday. Don’t let me mislead you into thinking that this was just a crash and burn weekend of relaxation though, because it was far from that. I simply feel refreshed this morning because I was able to cross a few things off of my personal “to do list” that have been hanging over my head for a while. Saturday, I worked in my garage from about 9:30AM to 10:00PM installing a new stereo system in my boat. It doesn’t sound like too much fun, but I was like a kid at Christmas when I finished things up Saturday night. Thanks to a lot of help from Julie throughout the day, the whole project turned out GREAT! Sunday involved hanging a couple of curtains and reading (yes, reading) to prepare for a theology class at Grace. I finished up my reading with a short nap (no offense, but reading theology always prepares you for a good nap). After our church service last night, I don’t think Ju or myself had the typical feeling of “Where has the weekend gone?” or “Do we really have to go back to work tomorrow morning?” It wasn’t a typical 400 mile weekend for the Edwards (although that was the plan before we cancelled our trip to Dillon at the last minute on Friday), but it was a much needed “productive” weekend. Although I think that my wife may argue that installing a stereo in a boat isn’t very productive.

I FAIL TO FIND THE HUMOR IN THIS

2005-12-29T07:39:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I got my hair cut. I was a week or two overdue for a haircut, but I noticed that the lady cutting my hair wasn't cutting very much off. I kindly told her that she could take a little more off, and she hesitated as if she was trying to think of what to say. After a second or two, she responded by saying, "I'll go a little shorter on the sides." Now this lady has been cutting my hair for over a year now, and I could tell that something more was on her mind. After a few more seconds, she said, "It's just getting pretty thin on top, so I don't want to take too much off."
I apologize to all of my thinning and bald friends for making fun of them in the past.

AND THE WHEELS ON THE CAR GO...

2005-12-13T07:23:00.000-05:00

We're leaving at lunch today to head back to UVA. Julie will be undergoing another series of tests tomorrow beginning at 8:00AM and lasting roughly a half day. I'm not looking forward to spending 16 of our next 36 hours driving, but I could also think of hundreds of things that would be worse. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to work with doctors to find answers.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

2005-12-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

It's a sad day at work today because Andy (the child for whom I dressed up as Spiderman)passed away yesterday afternoon. The local newspaper had just printed an article about him on the same day. My company has really rallied around this family. My heart breaks for the parents.

Next thought. Some of my friends cannot commit to the simplest things. Whether it's poker night, a graduation party for Julie, a baby shower, or a ski trip, you'll never know if they are coming until the day of the event. Then it's time to scramble for more food, drinks, poker chips, chairs, tables or better yet throw a truckload of food away because nobody was there to eat it. Yes... this applies to many of you reading this. You have "opportunities for improvement" in this area.

Next thought. Maybe my project management mentality makes me much more anal about the last thought than I should be. I still love my friends.

Next thought. Daniel Bass got locked up this week. His bail was posted at $2500, and he needs help getting out. Before you get too excited, he was locked up for a fund raising event for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. You can help by clicking here.

Next thought. I really should be working right now. This short post gave me a nice break from yield strength calculations, but it's time to get back to what they pay me to do.

BABY GOT BOOK

2005-11-21T09:16:00.000-05:00

The youth retreat was a blast this weekend. I picked this video up from the retreat, and I hope it helps get your SHORT WEEK (yey!) going this morning. I have a busy morning, so I'll give an update later.

NOT MY GOODIES

2005-11-17T09:27:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving from a turkey's perspective.

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

2005-11-04T07:09:00.000-05:00

It's Friday, 7:10AM, and I've had a really productive week. Not only productive in my job, but also outside of work. I received approval for the funds for 3 projects this week that have been going through the approval process for a few months, so busy times are just ahead. I had a test Wednesday night in my residential builder's class, and I feel like I did very well. Last night, I bowled with the guys in my small group from church, and I proudly say that I bowled a 184. Not bad for the first game in well over a year.
This afternoon I plan on sneaking into the woods after work to hunt. I haven't had a chance to go deer hunting this year yet, so I'm going to see if I can get to a stand in time after work today. Tomorrow morning, Ju and I will be going backpacking at Caesar's Head, and returning on Sunday. It looks like it will be perfect weather for a weekend spent outdoors. We were torn between going to the Clemson game or doing this, and I can't really justify not going to the homecoming game, but we are just going to get away for the weekend.