8 Months Already

Happy birthday to Edwin!!! I cannot believe he is eight months old already. Time sure flies when you're taking care of a sweet baby boy!

Edwin's New Trick

The other day, Auntie Katie was playing with Edwin....check out his new trick!!

Ridiculously Excited

Oh my gosh! There's a baby on the way!!!!!!!! No, not me. My friend Rachel (from work) is pregnant with a baby girl...due this Saturday. She called her boss this morning to give us the great news. Her water broke!! She and her husband are at the hospital now, and we're just waiting for updates. This is so exciting!!!! And here's something funny. Yesterday, we were in Myrtle Beach with David & Jenny before they had to fly home. I bought Rachel's baby an adorable Christmas outfit with the intention of giving it to her today. I kept thinking that somehow I wouldn't be able to give it to her. I'm so glad I was right!! Yes, I'm ridiculously excited, but babies are sooooooooo wonderful. I'm so happy for her. Yesterday was the only day I saw her get a little frustrated that she was still pregnant. And I can totally relate because I was the same way right before I had Edwin. Now I just hope that she has the baby before we all go home for the day :)

Vacation!!!!!!!

My vacation officially begins in 4 minutes. Yeeeeee Hawwww!!!!!!!!!

DAVID AND JENNY ARE COMING!!!!!!

Yay! It's finally Tuesday and DJ & Jenny will be arriving in NC today. Well.....they'll be arriving in South Carolina at 11:20pm, so they might not technically make it over the border to North Carolina until after midnight. But who cares? They'll be here soon. I'm so excited for them to see Edwin...he's changed so much since we were in MN in June. I'm sure we'll be busy for the next few days, so I'll say Happy Thanksgiving a little early. And to get you in the festive mood...here's a cartoon that came in an email today. I love it!

So Sleepy

I realized I haven't posted a picture in a long time...so here's one that I took Thursday morning before leaving for work. Edwin was sick for almost a week, but is thankfully feeling better now. He did a lot of sleeping!

Not Always Easy

Every morning, I get an email from proverbs31.org with a daily devotional. This Wednesday's devotional really hit home for me. Just the title alone says so much..."Uncomfortable Christianity." (I encourage everyone to read the actual devotional). Basically the author talks about how it's easy to settle into our comfort zones and not step out in faith everyday. I've found that I do this....even when it just comes to declaring my faith. It makes people uncomfortable, it's not easy for some people to talk about. I'm embarassed to admit that I used to think it was "uncool" to admit I believe in God. There are still certain people in my life that probably don't understand just how passionate I am about God, about His Son, although I'm trying my best to change that. I want to reflect my love of Christ not only through my words, but more importantly through my actions. But God doesn't promise that following Him will be easy.

Matthew 10:22 says "22All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. "

A lot of things have changed for me over the past year or so. By reading God's Word, I have grown much stronger in my faith. I truly feel like God has revealed His truth to me. I stand firm in my faith knowing that no matter what people throw at me, I can back it up with His Word. The way I see the world and everything in it has shifted. This has NOT been easy. But I can't focus on what others think of me...there's only one opinion I'm concerned about.

On Sunday, I'm going to be baptized as an adult. I am not great with words and I wish I could accurately express what this means to me. For the first time in my life, I have made a conscious decision to follow the Lord and I want to share that with everybody possible. Yes I've always believed in God, but this confirms a relationship with Him. This baptism is an expression of my faith, admitting my need for Christ and accepting His sacrifice for me. My desire is to walk with the Lord daily, to constantly seek His will and not my own. I am no longer afraid to tell people I am a Christian. One of my constant prayers is that all of my family and friends will one day be able to experience the same joy that He has brought to my life. Yes, it can be uncomfortable to follow Jesus Christ, but I can't imagine it any other way.

Just Two Things

My friend Audrey sent this to me in an email...so I thought it would be a fun idea for a blog post. Here goes:

Two names you go by:
1. Diana
2. Diana (Oh wait, that's the same as number 1)

Two things you are wearing right now
1. Skin
2. PJ's

Two things you would want (or have) in a relationship:
1. Love
2. Forgiveness

Two things you like to do:
1. Play with my baby
2. Sing along with the radio in my car at the top of my lungs

Two things you ate today:
1. Cough drops
2. Hamburger & fries from Front Street Brewery

Two people you last talked to:
1. Katie--giving me an update on Edwin
2. My hubby

Two things you're doing tomorrow:
1. Sleeping in because my wonderful sister is keeping Edwin overnight
2. Shopping for warm clothes for Edwin

Two longest car rides:
1. Wilmington, NC to Duluth Minnesota
2. I don't know...they all seem long

Two Favorite Holidays
1. Christmas
2. Halloween

Two favorite beverages.
1. COKE!!!!!
2. Another Coke

Two things about me! Things you may not have known.
1. I used to have my tongue pierced. Yes, I went through that phase.
2. I sometimes eat beef base from a spoon....weird, I know

Two places you have worked:
1. Chinese Combo King!
2. ADT Security Services

Two movies I would watch over and over:
1. The Wizard of Oz
2. Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Two places I have lived:
1. Duluth, MN
2. Akron, OH

Two of my favorite foods:
1. Jack's pizza
2. Chipotle. Mmmmm

Two places I'd rather be right now:
1. Asleep in bed
2. I'm pretty content with where I am

Our New Hangout

The Emergency Room has become our new hangout. Last Saturday (the 3rd) Ed went to the ER for severe abdominal pain...among other symptoms. Turns out he has an umbilical hernia. Then, just this past Friday night (the 9th), we went back to the ER because Ed was having such severe headaches and nausea. This is a big deal for him to go to the hospital because he absolutely hates them. The diagnosis? Rebound headaches from the pain medicine given the weekend before, as well as a side effects from the other medication they gave him. Lovely. But he's feeling better now, and that's what matters. Okay, two trips isn't really enough to consider the ER our new hangout......but I think three definitely qualifies. Edwin has been sick with the flu since Saturday. Vomiting, diarrhea, cough, stuffy nose,etc. My poor baby!!! His pediatrician's office was concerned about dehydration, so on Monday morning at 5am, we made our standard trip to the ER. Thankfully he did not have to get an IV and we were able to just take care of him back at home. He still isn't feeling the greatest, but at least he's not dehydrated. Now, on top of all that, I'm sick. Headache, fever, sore throat, stuffy head, etc. Let's all pray that Ed doesn't get it too!!!

Still Here

This will just be a quick post.....mostly because I love it when other people update their blogs, so I'm trying to return the favor. It's COLD here today!! Okay, maybe not in comparison to other places..such as Minnesota, but I am still cold. I think it's in the upper 30's or something like that. Anyway, we got back from our Ohio trip safe and sound. It was hard to say goodbye to Glenn and Jeanie, especially since we're not sure when we'll get to see them again. I really wish they'd move down here, but they have too many other family members up north. Maybe someday. We enjoyed Edwin's very first Halloween. He dressed up as a pumpkin!! Check out Katie's blog for pictures. I'll post some later too...but I don't have them on my computer right now. That's it for now. I told you it would be quick. Maybe tonight I can post some more. Have a great day!

Too Fancy For Me

I think I'm officially staying in the fanciest hotel I've ever stayed in. We came up to Cleveland tonight to see our friends Tom & Lauren (and their adorable boys Chase and Cole). Since we didn't want to have to drive all the way back to Akron tonight, we decided to stay in a hotel up here. For those of you who aren't familiar with Ohio, Cleveland is about 45 minutes from Akron. Anyway...Tom is the executive chef at the Marriott up here and he got us a room for the night. Not a big deal for him...but a big deal for me! Seriously. This room is so nice! It's got the most comfortable king size bed ever. Apparently their beds are so wonderful that you can now buy them. Yes. You can buy a hotel bed. It has sheets with more than a 150-thread count (in other words, they're super soft and not scratchy like normal hotel sheets)....an oversized down comforter....you get the picture. It's so fancy that there's even a real bath robe hanging in the closet. Oh yeah, and there's a coffee bar for my husband....and get this. They have stickers on the toilet paper. I thought that was hilarious. You know how they always fold the paper into a point? Well this place puts a fancy gold sticker with Marriott embossed on it. haha! Normally I probably wouldn't go into this much detail about a hotel room....but the one we stayed at for the last three nights doesn't even compare. And since my sweet exhausted baby boy is asleep in his pack 'n play, I just felt compelled to blog about it. Yup. I'm in my bath robe listening to K-love on my headphones, typing about our awesome room. Ooh, I almost forgot! Ed's friend Chris is the Sous Chef downstairs. He sent up a goodie basket for us....it's got all kinds of different drinks, trail mix, bananas, cereal for the morning, etc. I could get used to this! But alas. Our trip ends tomorrow. We're going back to Akron in the morning to hang out with his family some more. And tomorrow night around 7, we're taking off for North Carolina. Our goal is to have a repeat of our trip up here. You know, the trip when Edwin slept the whole way! I'll post lots of pictures once we get back home. I don't have to go back to work until Wednesday, so I'll have some time to recover. Have a great night!!

So Much to Catch Up On

Yup, it's been awhile since I've posted last. I kept meaning to do it...but everytime I thought I'd get around to it, something else came up. I'm sure I've used that excuse before! Anyway....there's a lot to catch up on. First of all, I'm typing this post from a hotel room in Akron, Ohio. Ed and I drove up here to visit his family since they haven't seen Edwin in about 6 months. Considering he's almost 7 months old....they've missed out on a lot. We left Wilmington last night around 9:30pm. Our original plan was to drive a little over halfway and then get a hotel room. We drove at night so that Edwin could sleep. Well.....when we finally got to the point that we wanted to call it quits, all of the hotel rooms were booked. That is, except for one hotel that was...let's just say..."nasty". And since they wanted to charge us $75 for about 5 hours, we said forget it. We kept on going and arrived in Akron around 9:00am. That's a long haul!! My dear sweet husband did the majority of the driving too. I managed to stay awake last night until just past Raleigh (2 hrs into the drive) and then conked out. At about 6:15 am, Ed finally threw in the towel and I took over the driving so he could sleep. Even though we were exhausted when we pulled into town, we couldn't make Grandma Jeanie wait any longer. A quick stop to Lowe's (where she works) to surprise her was quite fun. There were tears of course, but she was absolutely thrilled. After that, my prayers were answered when our hotel said we could have an early check-in. We napped for about 3 hours ....even Edwin slept!!.....and then made our rounds to see some more of the family. Back to Lowe's so Jeanie could show Edwin off...then to see Uncle Feets at his garage. We eventually ended up back at Jeanie & Glenn's house, where Grandma and Grandpa went crazy over our sweet little boy. I think we got back to the hotel around 8:00 for Edwin's bathtime. I watched last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy online (I brought the laptop & headphones) and Ed is still watching one of the Matrix movies on tv.

Wow. I think that's the most I've ever written in one post. But there's more!! Ed's magazine finally came out! I haven't seen the actual hard copy, but it's online. Coastal Carolina Dining pages 35, 48 & 49. I love the pictures!! Ed thinks that the one makes him look to cocky, but hey, he's the head chef! He should be proud of everything he's accomplished. I know I'm very proud of him. Check it out.

Ok, what else? Um....I'm off work for the next week, so that's pretty exciting. I'm still trying to decide what Edwin should be for his first Halloween. We have a bumble bee costume that was Anthony's.....but I call Edwin "punkin-head" (don't know where that came from) so I thought it would be cute if I dressed him like a pumpkin. Good thing I have a week to decide.

I could probably type all night. Now that I've had some sleep this afternoon...and it's only 9:30pm....I'm not sure what else to do. I can't read a book because we have all the lights off in the hotel room, trying to keep Edwin asleep. He's in his pack 'n play over by the bathroom. Let's keep our fingers crossed that he sleeps all night :)

Oh yeah! I remembered one more thing. Last week we took Edwin to Portrait Innovations to have his pictures taken. It was so much fun and the pics turned out great. We spent a little more (okay a lot more) than we originally planned, but we couldn't help it. One of the things included in the package was a cd of all the shots. These aren't the edited versions, but at least I can post some of them on here. Enjoy!! I'm probably going to watch another tv show online (abc.com rules!!). Later.