So excited! :)

Knowing that Chris and I are expecting a boy has made this pregnancy even more real to me. I can't help but wonder so much about this little dude.

Will he have blonde or brown hair?
Will he take after Chris' weight and height? (9 pound baby...)
Will he have Chris' wild imagination? (I hope so)
What will his laugh sound like?
What will his smile look like?

Every time I watch television or walk around and see a baby boy, I can't help but get lost in thought. As each day passes, I get closer to meeting this little man and getting some of my answers (I know some I will have to wait for even longer).

What a blessing this is! I cannot wait to meet James!

Every Two Years

I realized a while ago that at about every two years, something significant has happened to Chris and me in our relationahip.

December, 2003: Chris and I met at Berry College.
October, 2005: Chris proposed; we were engaged to be married!
May, 2007: We get married!!! :)
July, 2009: We will welcome our son into the world.

I wonder what 2011 will bring...?

It's a Tallywhacker!

While the phrase "It's a Tallywhacker!" is a slightly jarring way to announce the sex of a child, such is the manner in which our veteran ultra-sound technician chose to announce our baby's gender. It was funny and memorable.

So without further ado, I present to you James Randolph Edwards:



Can't wait to be a Daddy!!
Chris

Peanut Update!

Well, I am officially, as of today, entering into the last week of the first trimester!

I had my doctor's appointment on Monday, and, being a first time Mommy-to-be, I had a little scare. For the next few appointments, the doctor is going to introduce himself or herself, shake my hand, whip out what I am assuming is a hand-held version of an ultra-sound machine, find my sweet baby's heartbeat, tell me I'm still pregnant, and send me on my merry way.

Well, Peanut, apparently, did not cooperate with us on Monday. The doctor could not find the baby's heartbeat with the little hand-held ultra sound machine! That scared me, but the doctor and nurses assured me that it was perfectly normal for that to happen. They shoved me into a real ultra-sound room, and the millisecond we found Peanut, Peanut was moving up and down. It was SO awesome to watch the baby move-- I laughed. The doctor smiled at me and told me that if the baby is moving, then, obviously, it is alive and well. We tracked down a heartbeat, took a quick (but blurry) snapshot, and called it a day.


If you look closely (I know it is super blurry-- the goal of this ultrasound was not to get a picture, but it turned out to be a perk!), you can see the face; you just have to look down-- Peanut is hanging out upside down! :)

I have been really blessed to not be very sick. I have extremely random food aversions: I cannot eat ranch dressing or any creamy dressing on a salad, I cannot eat cereal when it is too soppy (so I have decreaed the amount of milk I put in it), and Mexican does not appeal to me the way it used to. I have been extremely tired, though that is nothing new for me. I have taken advantage of this break to just nap and sleep in. My back also occasionaly hurts, but I keep quiet about that because most people just tell me it is going to get worse. I have also had some pretty messed up dreams! I have only gained about two pounds so far, and I think that is simply because I had a weigh-in right after Christmas! My momma got me a work out video that is safe for pregnancy, and I cannot wait to get started on it.

I have procrastinated on packing long enough-- Chris and I are heading out of town for 5 days to North Carolina and Tennessee. We are SO excited! It's our Christmas present to each other.

2009 is looking to be really good for this little family, and I hope it brings many joys and blessings to all of us! :)

Happy New Year!

Peanut

I don't really know how to "break" this news in a creative way, so, since pictures can say a thousand words, I'll let this picture tell you our news:





We are pregnant! :) World, meet "Peanut McGee" Edwards. (the name will change... can you guess who selected it?:) )

Come July 8, 2009, Chris and I will have a new addition to our family.


"The Lord has been so good to me
I will on him depend
And every day, where'er I be
I will His truth defend."

I know WE can make it.

Some days, like today, when I am at school for 12 hours straight, planning and preparing lessons, I often wonder how, in the future, I will be able to handle being both a mother and a teacher, balancing the responsibilities of home and work.

But then I walk in the house after my husband's day off from work to find:
- neglected clean laundry folded up on a made bed
- a load of laundry being cleaned
- swept deck
- dinner made and ready to eat
- vacuumed floor
- organized mail
- clean floors

And, somehow, I know we can make it. It is a team effort.

Chris,

I am SO thankful to have you as a husband. You do more than pull your weight around here to help keep our house a clean home. You are understanding of my long hours and the extreme demand of my job. You take care of me. I don't deserve this! I love you so much.

We're here, I promise!

Chris and I are around and very well at this point... just super busy! :)

After missing one week of school, I have had to play catch-up. It has been stressful for a variety of reasons. At school, you cannot change due dates or slow down your work to catch up. It just keeps on going. This nine weeks, we are starting with a very complicated essay, and it has been stressful on the students and on the teachers. Persuasive writing is the hardest type, and that is what we are starting with! I had to re-plan and start from scratch this week, and I hope to see a breakthrough coming real soon. I am also in charge of redelivering and teaching teachers a SENTEO reomote assessment product and Differentiated Instruction, and, of course, SENTEO decided not to work for just 7th grade...

I have had a lot of hugs, thoughts, and support from that wonderful school, though, and I am so thankful to be a part of the MCMS family. We are the best!

Chris missed a whole week when his work does not have a bereavement policy for in-laws. Whoops! The good news is that his boss is super understanding and told Chris that if it was his wife, he wouldn't have even bothered calling in!

On top of this catching up and making up for missed time, we found a house to rent. So, in our spare (not free!) time, we are cleaning up and packing up here, and cleaning up the fixing up the new house we are moving to in three weeks (first weekend of October). We are really excited because it is a nice house in a nice area, and we have been looking for it for a long time.

I just wanted to post so everyone knew we were alive and well...

I need to grade some papers now and continue in my game of catch up!