Happy Birthday Edwin! (a day late…)

This was literally the first picture ever taken of Edwin. He was cute even when he was just seconds old!!

My reaction - pure awe!

A little male bonding time...

Yesterday (March 30, 2009) was Edwin’s second birthday!!! Since we don’t have internet at home, this post is a day late, but it just means we can extend the celebration, right?

It’s so cliché to say “time flies” or “they grow up so fast,” but clichés make it into our vocabulary for a reason. These past two years truly have gone by in a flash. I can remember the moment when I realized I was in labor; I can remember stopping for a protein shake at Gold’s Gym on the way to the hospital (I couldn’t stomach anything else!); I can remember the exact instant when I laid eyes on my baby for the very first time. It’s like it JUST HAPPENED! So how is it that two years have already passed?

For those of you who don’t have the pleasure of being around my little man on a daily basis, let me just tell you a little bit about him. Edwin has a TON of energy and keeps Ed & I on our toes. He loves to play outside, especially now that daddy lets him help with yard work. He also loves to help vacuum and “fold” laundry. Hmm, do you think those traits will stick around into the teen years? Elmo is still Edwin’s favorite character which is evidenced by the explosion of all things Elmo in our house. (Elmo couch, Elmo kitchen, Elmo flashlight, Elmo books, etc.) When he isn’t busy getting into everything, Edwin loves to read – or at least have mommy read to him. I actually have Hippos Go Berserk memorized! One hippo all alone, calls two hippos on the phone….sorry, I’ll stop. Edwin loves his big cousin Anthony, also pronounced An-na-nee and cries when he can’t see him. My boy loves to sleep and is usually very good about bedtime. His vocabulary is always expanding and he’s recently started the two-word sentences. I think he follows the typical boy pattern and excels at the gross motor skills and is now starting to catch up in the talking arena.

I could go on and on! I think I’ll just sum it up by saying that Edwin Dewey Boso II is a very special, unique, crazy, sweetheart of a little boy and I’m so grateful that God felt Ed & I were worthy of taking care of him. I saw a book title the other day that said “I was a really good mom before I had kids,” and that’s how I feel most days. It’s hard to figure out if you’re doing the right thing, if you’re teaching them at the appropriate age level, if you’re too hard on them, too soft on them, etc. But I’ll never doubt my love for Edwin and I think that’s a great place to start.

On Sunday, we had a party for Edwin at Simply Play. It was simply amazing!!! Basically, it’s one giant play room where the kids can do whatever they want! We all liked it so much that I’ll probably have his 3^rd birthday party there too. It was so nice to have everything in one place and best of all I didn’t have to chase after Edwin telling him NO every two minutes. I have the bestest sister in the whole wide world and she graciously took pictures for me. You can go over to her blog or you can email me and I’ll send you the password for her website.

FYI

FYI:

A corporate enviornment with only cube walls to separate smells is not the ideal place for a preggo lady to be. Especially when the heightened sense of smell just kicked in. Come on people, let's consider something a little less disgusting for lunch tomorrow. Mm K?

New Addition

For those of you who aren't on Facebook...and don't work with me....I have big news...



We are PREGNANT!!!! I just took the test yesterday and had it confirmed by my doctor this morning...but we are due November 21st with Baby #2!!!!!!!!



(I'll post more later, just wanted to throw this out there!)

Marriage Vows - another look?

Every week, I tune in to New Spring Church for the latest sermon, usually delivered by Perry Noble. For the past few weeks, they've been doing a series on marriage called iwantanewmarriage.com. You can go to their website and either listen or watch the series...I guarantee it will be more beneficial to your marriage than watching Sex in the City or The Bachelor! Anyway, on the first day of the series, they showed this video clip - it's only a few minutes long....take a look and let me know what you think :)

Farewell Tico

Yesterday was a very sad day. Tico, our 12-year old German Shepherd, died. I can't even remember when we first noticed it, but he had a tumor on his back leg that eventually got the best of him. By the end, he was only walking on 3 legs, and the 4th leg was just a mess (for lack of a better term).

I don't even know what to say. Before yesterday, I heard about people losing pets and how upset they got, but I never understood why. Well that's because I've never lost one before. I was shocked at how much I cried...and how much I still want to cry even now just typing this. Being almost 100 lbs, Tico was a huge presence in our household, both physically and otherwise. He was Ed's dog long before I came into the picture, so to imagine one without the other is really strange. When I lived in Ohio, there were plenty of nights that Ed was working when I only had "my boys" as company (we also have another huge dog named Goliath). When we brought Edwin home from the hospital, Tico was the big brother protector trying to figure out who this little creature was making strange noises. I always felt safe with him around.

So as hard as this is for me, I can't even fathom what it's like for Ed. When you hear the phrase "a man and his dog", that's Ed & Tico for sure. Tico was the one constant in Ed's life...and I know they loved each other very much.

Speaking of love...I just have to think that God gives us dogs (and other pets) as tiny glimpses into His love for us. No matter what we do, no matter what we look like, no matter what we screw up...that love remains constant. Maybe that's why this is so hard...because a tangible daily reminder of perfect love has been taken away. Not that I can't see or feel God's love in so many other ways...this was just so sweet. Tico was so sweet...

Katie came down to our house on February 15th to take some pictures of Ed & Tico. We knew he didn't have long and wanted to capture his sweet face. So thank you Katie for taking these - we'll treasure them always.

Bestest Video EVER!!

I took this short video last night...and the more I watch it, the more I love it!! Enjoy :)

Moving?!?!?!

When Ed and I first moved back to North Carolina from Ohio, we bought a house halfway between Wilmington (where I work) and Myrtle Beach (where he used to work). Most of you know this…but I feel it’s a good way to start this post…so bear with me.

Last spring, Ed decided to change careers…he was tired of never being home, working late hours, etc…so he quit cooking in Myrtle Beach and became a manager in the Fresh Foods dept at Harris Teeter in Leland. Immediately after he started the new position, images of moving closer to Wilmington started swimming in my head. I started talking about it, I started selling our house in my head...I even asked people if they knew anyone that wanted to buy in our area! But Ed wasn’t as thrilled about this prospect and essentially told me to cool it. So I did. I stopped wishing for something else, and instead was content with the home we had, and resigned myself to driving 45 minutes to and from work (and church) all week long. It wasn’t so bad.

Last week, however, Ed and I were talking about grown-up stuff. You know…money, babies…stuff like that (and no, I’m not pregnant Ashley!). Suddenly he says, we need to sell our house and move to Leland. I thought he was messing with me, but nope! He’s ready to move!!!!!!!!! Can I get an amen??!!!

So…now images of moving closer to Wilmington are once again swimming in my head, but this time, it might actually happen! We want to move to Leland mainly because Ed works there, Edwin goes to daycare there, and I work just minutes from there. Plus, the taxes are way lower than New Hanover County. Anybody want to buy a house?? Or know someone who might? Here’s my little attempt at a sales pitch:

It's a 4bedroom/2bath house on 0.67 acres with a fenced in back-yard. It's bugging me because I can't remember the exact sq feet, but I think around 1500? We have a small front porch, but the back deck extends the length of the house. The master bedroom has a big walk-in closet, the master bath has double sinks, a stand-up shower, and a garden tub. The living room, dining room, and kitchen are all open....there's tons of counter space and a big pantry (for all of our grocery game winnings! haha). There's a laundry room, sliding doors leading out to the back deck.... We have central air/heat…um…what else?

I’ve already talked to a few people about realtor referrals…I’ve gotten quite a few names actually. Our first step is to sell a bunch of stuff that is taking up too much room in our house. And I think all of my tv-watching might finally pay off! When we still had cable, I loved watching the shows on HGTV or TLC or Discovery where they’d set up the home for selling (I think it’s called staging?). Anyway, I know that we need to take down all personal stuff, re-paint the rooms to look more neutral, basically detach ourselves from the home. I think I’ve already done that. Hee hee. Don’t get me wrong…I truly love our house. If it were possible (and not expensive), I’d just as soon pick the darn thing up and plop in down in Leland. But that’s not an option here, and I don’t feel like going all Wizard of Oz or anything.

Whew! Ok, here’s where you, my two or three blog readers, come in. Do you have any tips, hints, recommendations for selling a home? This is our first house, so we don’t have any experience in this crazy real estate world. Also, please pray for us. I want to keep a level head about all this…and I want to do God’s will. (I’ll admit, I’m hoping His will includes us in a new home in short order!) But I have a feeling I’m going to be learning some patience!

Better late than never

I had intended to write a big long blog post about the past week's events....but now I just don't want to go into everything.

Here's the bullet-point version:

• Wednesday 21st: Ed found out his dad, Larry, had a heart attack and was in ICU
• Thursday 22nd: Ed, Edwin, and I left our house headed for Ohio at 8pm
• Found out at 11pm that his dad had passed away
• Arrived in Ohio at 8am Friday 23rd - Ed was able to go to the hospital to say his goodbyes

I hate that it all sounds so cold, but a blog for me isn't the place to talk about something like this. I personally didn't know his dad all that well, but I know that if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have my husband or my son. For that, I'm eternally grateful. And I'm sad that Ed is sad.

One thing I will say though is this: If you ever doubted why Ed & I decided to do Financial Peace University, if you ever wondered why it's a big deal to budget, if you ever thought it was a waste of time...let me just tell you something. When we made the decision to drop everything and go to Ohio, we weren't sure what that would mean. Ed could possibly miss out on several days' pay. A hotel could get expensive, gas could cost a lot, who knew how long we'd be gone? But you know what? We were able to drop everything with no financial worries. We used our emergency fund to reserve a hotel (got a great deal on Priceline by the way!), we paid cash for everything...and when we got back, we replenished the emergency fund. No additional credit card debt, no wondering how we'd pay for everything. It wasn't an easy trip, but at least the money part was "easy".

On another note, it was soooooooooooooo nice to see Jeanie and Glenn! Obviously the circumstances of our trip weren't the best, but we made it work. They were thrilled to see Edwin, and it was even more fun because he remembered them this time. Edwin also got to play in the snow for the first time. Yes, we got some in Wilmington last week, but that doesn't count...we barely had a dusting at our house. I have much more that I could say... but again, this doesn't seem to be the right place for it... Enjoy a couple of videos instead :) Oh yeah, and if you want to see pictures, you can check me out on facebook!

Mighty to Save...Hillsong

...lyrics to a song that I love...and I'm trying to remind myself of this...

Everyone needs compassion
A love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me

Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

My Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of Salvation
He rose & conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

So take me as
You find me
All my fears & failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender (I surrender)

My Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of Salvation
He rose & conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

Shine Your light &
Let the whole world see
We're singing
For the glory
Of the risen King
Jesus

You're the Savior
You can move the mountains
Lord
You are mighty to save
You are mighty to save
Forever
Author of Salvation
You rose & conquered the grave
Yes You conquered the grave

God's Hand

A miracle.

I'm sure by now most people have heard about the US Airways flight that went down this afternoon in the Hudson River. There's still a lot of chaos surrounding the crash, and I'm sure they'll be investigating it for a long time to come. All I have to say is that God's hand must have been all over that plane today. It's an absolute miracle that every person got off that plane safely.

Thank you Jesus. Thank you for being merciful, thank you that those people have another day on this earth. I pray that all of us will take this chance to realize how fleeting this life is - and we need to know what eternity holds for us...

A miracle!

The Baby Mullet Had to Go!

Business in the front

Party in the back!!

After the haircut, dinner, bathtime, and new pj's. SOOOO Cute!

I don't have time to write much, but the pictures should say it all. Edwin was in desperate need of a haircut....so last night we took him to this super cute place called Cuttin' Up. They had tons of stuff to keep him occupied while we waited, including a table & chairs for coloring, and a huge pirate ship that was also a slide! For the actual cut, Edwin sat in a car that made noise...Pappy & Ed kept him distracted (the lollipop didn't hurt either) because it took awhile. He had so much hair!!!!! Anyway, my baby looks so much older now....and I'm in love with the cut!! They did a great job and I'll definitely be taking him back there in the future. Enjoy the pics!

In No Particular Order

As I've mentioned before, I get mighty frustrated with posting pics on blogger. So....I tried my hardest to get these in some sort of order... Enjoy!

Isn't this mug great? My friend Misty made it for me. She owns "Stuck on Words". You should definitely click on the link and check out her website. We also had customized ornaments made this year (but I can't figure out how to get a good picture of them).

Edwin was helping daddy with the tree

Experimenting with new textures :)

Waiting patiently for daddy...

Yes, we're busted. We have a boxed, pre-lit tree. But let me tell you, this thing is a breeze to put up and take down!! And as you can see, it's not too heavy. Edwin felt the need to push the box around the living room. (This was a couple of weeks before Christmas).

I took this picture first thing on Christmas morning. My baby is so cute!!

Every time I tried to get a picture of him in his santa hat, he crouched down to mimic me!

The day after Christmas...Edwin was wearing his new superman pjs from Auntie Katie, sitting on his new Elmo couch from mommy & daddy. He insisted on sitting on his couch to have his bottle...such a big boy!

Here is is looking dapper in his new clothes

My boys make me so happy :)

When my brother David & his wife Jenny were here, we took Edwin & Anthony to Monkey Joes. Unfortunately, they've changed the rules since the last time we were there. The only way an adult can "jump" is if they're supervising a child under 4. So Ed & my brother took turns supervising Edwin. My little guy loved this slide!!!

He wasn't so sure about the toddler area though...

Anthony & Edwin

Can I get a smile...please???

Uncle Dave & Edwin

These were just a few pictures I took on my own camera. I admit, I got a little lazy this year and just enjoyed the moments instead of feeling compelled to snap pics every five seconds. But hopefully Katie will post some of her awesome photography skills soon :)