Saturday, May 31, 2008

Not Enough Words

Bizzare
Crazy
Surreal
Insane
Bewildered
Puzzled
Sad
Sorry
Questioning
Uncomfortable
Awkward
Painful
Dumb
Mockery
Disrespectful
Annoyed
Irritated
Unbelievable
Pathetic
Difficult
Temporary
Twilight Zone

I know this list probably means very little to the majority of you reading this blog. But there are a certain few that have a clue why I wrote all of these words. Forgive me for being vague, but I don't feel it would be appropriate to explain everything on this very public forum. Just know that I mean every single one of them.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

As Promised

Here's the video from the other day when mom and I took the boys to the park. Turn up the volume!!


Scattergories

Once again, here’s an email forward I got. If you decide to play along, just leave me a comment with a link to your blog!


SCATTERGORIES...it's harder than it looks! Erase my answers, enter yours and
send it on to 10 people including the one that sent this to you. (post on your own blog). Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things, nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same first initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME? Diana
4 LETTER WORD: Dork
VEHICLE: Dodge
TV SHOW: Dragnet
NAME A CITY: Duluth
BOY NAME: Daniel
GIRL NAME: Dori
OCCUPATION: Dominos delivery driver (extra points!!!)
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Denim
REASON FOR BEING LATE: Drank too much
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Darn it!
DINOSAUR: Deinocheirus (I looked it up on Google)

Monday, May 26, 2008

Moments

Awww...so sweet. If only it had lasted more than 15 seconds!

I think General Mills needs to pay us for this adorable advertisement.


Secretly Ed enjoys the paci & blanket as much as Edwin


Grandma had her hands full


My adventurous little boy had no problems in the tunnel


Edwin: "Okay, I think I have this thing figured out"


Edwin: "Darn! How do I always end up backwards?"

Since I haven't been very faithful with my posts, I thought I would include several pictures from the past week. On Friday after work, (we got out early!) Mom and I took the boys to the park. Anthony and Edwin had a blast running around and playing on the swings. I have a great video of Anthony pushing a hysterical-laughing Edwin. Remind me to post it for you tomorrow. On Saturday, Ed had to work, so my little man and I enjoyed a day at home together. Yesterday (Sunday) was great. I went to church in the morning and then spent the afternoon cleaning my bedroom. Now I know some of you are thinking the Carolina sun has fried my brain because cleaning couldn't possibly be great. Oh, but it can. You see, I've been staring at a closet full of too-small clothes for almost two years now. Yes, for 9 or 10 months of that time, I was pregnant. And then I kept telling myself that "as soon as I lose the baby weight, I'll be able to wear all of this." But I've realized two things:

1. I don't want to torture myself any longer. Yes, I still have some weight to lose and it's not all due to pregnancy (um..can anyone say Coca-cola??). But I want to feel good about myself NOW. Not in some unseen amount of time.

2. When I do lose the weight, I plan to go shopping for new stuff!!

So there you have it. It felt sooooo great to rid myself of excess clothing (and most likely some mental baggage as well). My trunk is full of stuff to bring to Goodwill tomorrow. It's all in good condition, so somebody might as well get some use out of it.

Today Edwin & I joined the others at Anthony's swim lessons. We watched in amazement as he jumped from the super high diving board!!! I was so impressed and realized that I'm a total chicken. There's no way I would have done that. We had an afternoon barbeque and then headed home to spend a quiet evening. Yeah right. Edwin was so full of energy!! It's really funny to watch the process of him getting tired though. You can tell he's almost ready for bed because he gets really giggly, and starts stumbling over his own two feet. It's as if he's learning to walk all over again. Oh great. I think I just described my 21st birthday! Haha.

Anyway, Edwin is currently in his crib dreaming sweet baby dreams. And Ed is passed out in our bed. He's been getting up at 3:30 AM for work lately. Yes, I did say AM. CRAZY!!!! I'm enjoying a few quiet moments of winding down before I too will hit the sack. Tomorrow will get here very quickly. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend :)

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Invitation

I got this email forward today...and while I thought the idea of it was great, I didn't really care for the part at the end. You know, the part that essentially says you don't love Jesus if you don't pass it on. Well guess what? I do love Jesus. That doesn't mean I feel the need to pass on every forward that comes my way. So this is my way of passing on the message. Feel free to just read it, and that's it. Don't feel obligated to send it to anyone else, or feel guilty if you mentally "delete" it. God wants a relationship with you....He's much more concerned about the state of your heart than the state of your email account. Enjoy :)

COME TO MY PARTY!!!!
NO INVITATION REQUIRED
ALL FREE
FREE FOOD
FREE DRINKS
FREE ENTRY
ALL AGES
BE A PART OF THE KRAZIEST PARTY EVER!!!
Come Kick it at The Biggest Party Ever.
Special Guest: Jesus Christ, God The Father, Featuring DJ Holy Spirit.
When: When you enter the Gates of Heaven
Where: Kingdom of Heaven
How: Just Ask
Why: Because God Loves You!
....Come As You Are!!! Bring Nothing but Your Heart and Soul.
98% WON'T STAND UP FOR GOD...RESEND THIS IF YOU'RE ONE OF THE 2% WHO WILL.
Jesus said, 'If you deny me in front of your friends, I will deny you in front of my Father.'Resend this as, come to my party - to at least 10 people!

Friday, May 16, 2008

More Video Fun

I admit, I've been a blog slacker this week. Even the previous video was posted by Ed...not me. So to make up for it, I've created a nice little movie for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!! (leave comments if you like it)





Thursday, May 15, 2008

Friday, May 9, 2008

Testing, Testing, 1...2...3

For Ed's birthday/Father's day (yes, I'm a little early) I got him something he's been wanting for a long time. A camcorder!! Now we can take some real videos of Edwin for those of you who don't have the pleasure of hanging out with him on a daily basis. We also discovered that we have some video editing software on our computer, so tonight we gave it a shot. This is a VERY brief test...you can expect plenty of videos in the future. Enjoy!


Happy Mother's Day (a little early)

I've gotten this email forward about 15 times in the past week. But for the two people out there who haven't seen it yet, here you go.... (and yes, I'll admit, I'm cheating. I don't feel like being creative right now, but I haven't posted in awhile)

MOTHERS and MOMS

This is for the mothers who have sat up
all night with sick toddlers in their arms,
wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer
wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying,
'It's okay honey, Mommy's here.'
Who have sat in rocking chairs for hours on end
soothing crying babies who can't be comforted.
This is for all the mothers who show up at
work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains
on their blouses and diapers in their purses.
For all the mothers who run carpools and
make cookies and sew Halloween costumes.
And all the mothers who DON'T.
This is for the mothers who gave birth to
babies they'll never see. And the mothers
who took those babies and gave them homes.
This is for the mothers whose priceless art
collections are hanging on their refrigerator doors.
And for all the mothers who froze their buns
on metal leachers at football or soccer games
instead of watching from the warmth of their cars.
And that when their kids asked, 'Did you see me, Mom?'
they would say, 'Of course, I wouldn't
have missed it for the world,' and mean it.
This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids
in the grocery store and swat them in despair
when they stomp their feet and scream for ice cream before dinner.
And for all the mothers who count to ten instead,
but realize how child abuse happens.
This is for all the mothers who sat down with
their children and explained all about making
babies.And for all the (grand)mothers who
wanted to, but just couldn't find the words.
This is for all the mothers who go
hungry,so their children can eat.
For all the mothers who read 'Goodnight,
Moon 'twice a night for a year. And then
read it again, 'Just one more time.'
This is for all the mothers who taught
their children to tie their shoelaces before
they started school. And for all the mothers
who opted for Velcro instead.
This is for all the mothers who teach their sons
to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.
This is for every mother whose head turns
automatically when a little voice calls 'Mom?'
in a crowd, even though they know their
own offspring are at home or even away
at college or have their own families.
This is for all the mothers who sent their kids
to school with stomach aches, assuring them
they'd be just FINE once they got there, only
to get calls from the school nurse an hour later
asking them to please pick them up. 'Right away!'
This is for mothers whose children have gone
astray,who can't find the words to reach them.
For all the mothers who bite their lips until they
bleed when their 14 year olds dye their hair green.
For all the mothers of the victims of
recent school shootings, and the mothers
of those who did the shooting.
For the mothers of the survivors,
and the mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror,
hugging their child who just came home from school, safely.
This is for all the mothers who taught their
children to be peaceful, and now pray
they come home safely from a war.
What makes a good mother anyway?
Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and
sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time?
Or is it in her heart? Is it the ache she feels when she
watches her son or daughter disappear
down the street, walking to school alone
for the very first time?
The jolt that takes her from sleep to
dread,from bed to crib, at 2 A.M. to put
her hand on the back of a sleeping baby?
The panic, years later, that comes again
at 2A.M. when she just wants to hear
their key in the door and know they
are safe again in her home?
Or the need to flee from wherever she is
and hug her child when she hears news
of a fire, a car accident, a child dying?
The emotions of motherhood are
universal and so our thoughts are for
young mothers stumbling through diaper
changes and sleep deprivation...
And for mature mothers learning to let go.
For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers;
single mothers and married mothers;
mothers with money, mothers without.
This is for you all. For all of us...
Hang in there. In the end we can
only do the best we can. Tell our children
everyday that we love them. And pray
and never stop being a mother...

Monday, May 5, 2008

Daycare Sucks Sometimes

Today was Edwin’s first day in the Big Boy room at daycare. The age group is 12 months-24 months. Now to me, that seems like a giant difference in development. But we didn’t have much choice in the matter…..that’s just the way things are. So this morning when we arrived, it was very uncomfortable for both of us. His regular “teacher” wasn’t there, just someone from the 2yr old class who was helping out. I have never met her before. All of the other kids looked like giants compared to my little boy, and the room itself was just a little bit intimidating. There are no cribs-they expect a 13 month old to just go to sleep on a little cot. Yeah right. And the playground just seems like he has a thousand more opportunities to get hurt. But we tried to make the best of it. I brought him over to the toy area and started building a tower with him. Things were going great, or so I thought. As I stood up to leave, he suddenly burst into tears, screamed at the top of his lungs, and turned beet red. It wasn’t just the “I’m cranky” cry, oh no. It was the pitiful “please don’t leave me mommy” cry. Everything I’ve heard or read about this sort of thing says to make the goodbye short and sweet because drawing it out only makes it harder on the child. So I gave him a kiss, told him I would see him later, and then had to leave. I took one last glance back and he was holding out his arms towards the door with giant crocodile tears streaming down his face. Yup, that did it. I started crying. I just couldn’t help it. He’s never cried like that when I’ve dropped him off before.

And yes, I know this isn’t the end of the world. I know that he’s probably playing and laughing even as I write this. I know that he’s a kid, and he’ll get hurt, and the world will keep spinning. I know that he’s never alone, that God loves him even more than I do (is that possible??). But today was the hardest day I’ve had with being a working mommy. I’m not trying to pretend that being a stay-at-home mommy is easy, far from it. But just today, I wanted to be the one that was able to play with Edwin and take care of him, and snuggle him.

Daycare sucks (sometimes).

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Did He? Or Didn't He?

Anyone care to take a guess? Do you think Ed went to church this morning?????????















Ok.....I won't keep you in suspense any longer. YES!!! He went with me to church this morning. Yeeeeee Haw! Three years ago, if you had asked me if I even cared if Ed went to church, the answer would probably have been a couple of shrugged shoulders and a "eh, whatever". But as my faith grows, so does my sense of urgency for the people in this world who do not know the wonderful love of Jesus Christ. I just want everybody to experience the joy and peace that comes from being forgiven and from walking with God. So today meant more to me than I ever thought possible. You can go to the PC3 website (link on the right) to hear a recording of the message from today. Awesome awesome stuff. And God once again proved that His timing is way better than mine. The message today was all about the fear of God. Ha! He has a sense of humor too :)

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Congocast

A lot of you know that I attend Port City Community Church...and have for the past year and a few months. There are so many wonderful things going on at PC3 and I was able to participate in one of them tonight.

There's a project called Congocast that follows two young women (members of PC3) that sold everything they own to move to the Congo for a year and do mission work. Evan Vetter (my friend Jenny's hubby) and his team documented the year-long mission and have put together mini-podcasts...so far they're up to Episode 11. I am woefully inadequate when it comes to trying to explain all of this, so PLEASE just go to the website and check out the videos. They're each about 7 or 8 minutes long.

I have to admit, whenever I would see Congocast.org up on the screen at church announcing a new episode, I didn't give it much thought. A few months ago I had watched the first congocast, and yes I was intrigued, but inevitably, I got sucked back into my selfish world and went about my business. But today, I sat down and watched all eleven episodes in a row and my eyes were opened. Suddenly, I felt like everybody needed to see these....everybody needs to know what is going on over in Congo.

Over the past week, PC3 has been coordinating the Maombi Mission, a week of prayer for Congo. Tonight was a way to wrap it all up. One of the pastors from Congo was here to speak, there was music, and more prayer. This is one of those times when I really wish I could adequately describe the experience, but words fall short. But I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of it, and to feel God's presence as we prayed for healing in Congo.

This whole post sounded so much better in my head, but for some reason, the trip from brain to fingertips to computer gets all messed up. So again, go to Congocast.org to really get an idea of what the heck I'm talking about!!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Praise God and Hallelujah!!


Ed got his job!!! Yee haw! He starts Wednesday as the Assistant Dept Manager at Harris Teeter for the fresh foods department. I feel like a weight has been lifted from me. Please understand that I was not worried over the past two months. I have never once felt like we wouldn’t be able to get through this—I knew God had a plan. And today, God finally let us in (a tiny bit) on His plans for our family. These past couple of weeks have been really good for our relationship. Ed and I have never had this much time to spend together…and I know he has also loved being able to spend tons of time with Edwin. But he’s ready to get back to work. And I just know that the folks at Harris Teeter are going to be blown away by my husband. I truly think he is the hardest worker I have ever met. So thank you to everybody that has been praying for us, it is very much appreciated.

Now for those of you who know the whole story, you will remember that the day of Ed’s first interview, he said to me “If I get this job, I’ll start going to church with you.” I (gently) reminded him that God doesn’t make deals, but I’d be happy to hold him to it! Haha. Well today when Ed informed me that he got the job, I asked if he’d be going with me to church on Sunday. His answer? “We’ll see”. There was a little more to it, but I won’t bore you. So now your mission is to pray that Ed will stay true to his word. I’ll let you know how it goes!!