sorry adam, i acidentally posted in this account!

happy new year!

you all have to forgive me for being MIA in the last month. i think i was enjoying the holiday way too much and did not want it to end. we had one of the best holidays i have ever had. adam was home almost 3 weeks, and Christmas was incredible watching it through the eyes of a child. (and my man was extra sweet this year in the gift giving area.)sooo... we are doing great.

i have had so many date nights and girls nights out. i just have to mention it b/c every girl needs to see Bride Wars. i think kate hudson and anne hathaway make the best movie together. i had to see it on opening night, b/c i was so excited.

and i have to let you know how sensitive my man can be, b/c he was trying so hard to not cry in the movie Marley and Me just after Christmas. i just did not think it was going to be that sad. but very funny at the same time.

while i am making recommendations for the new year... i have to share with you a book that is becoming a rock to me. Psalm 91. my dad believes so strongly in this book that he gave everyone a copy of their own at Christmas. i started reading it a few days after later.
the book takes you through the power of praying psalm 91 in the bible, sentence by sentence. oh my. i had never read the psalm in such a way. if you struggle with fear, like i do, then you need to read it asap.

here is a catch up story: one thing the Lord is trying to work on in my life is the issue of fear.this world is so evil! i freaked out in alot of ways when aj was born and i do not want to do that again with this new baby. it was only when i realized that my sweet aj was the Lord's first and then mine, was i able to chill out and release it all to the Lord. (i will explain this more some time) all this to say, i do not want to freak out again with the new little one's arrival. the Lord has working on me to do.
so , i read through the Psalm 91 once and then twice. then, i began praying the prayer of psalm 91 over adam, myself, and aj. later that first morning, i realized that i had not prayed it over my new baby. so, i made a mental note to begin praying it over baby. about an hour after the mental note, my doctor called to say that my down syndrome test came back positve. my thought"okay Lord, you really want to teach me". i went into shock mode and went straight to journalling and praying all by myself. two hours later, i felt the most incredible peace. i waited till adam got home to tell him, and later called my dad. peace. peace. the first thing adam said was "well, i feel like the Lord has prepared us if it is his will we have a special needs child". dad kept saying "i know your baby is fine".
(God is good and at work. i love this book)

and my baby is fine.praise the Lord. so far, baby looks good. i know what sex the baby is and some of you do and some of you do not. na na na na na.
this post became longer than i wanted, so i will share with you on the next day or next.

Its a........Girl????

Well, we went to the Dr. the other week (right after Christmas) and did an ultrasound. The umbilical cord was all in between the little legs and we could not see much at first. After quite a bit of manuevering....the Dr. got a pretty good shot from underneath....and it SEEMS as though it is a girl. However, I will note that the umbilical cord was still present between those little legs and could possibly be covering something else that might reveal the other sex. Regardless, Erin has been thinking its a girl since about week 10 and I have been scared of that realization for about that long. We go back next week for a big ultrasound/sonogram and should confirm one way or the other the sex.

What's Happening????

So Erin took our boy to the doctor yesterday for his 1 year check-up. She ran into Greer (one of my oldest friends) while there so I got to catch up with her (through Erin) a little bit. She has 3 little girls now and had the youngest (very new...just a couple of months) in to see Dr. Soapes as the little cutie was not feeling to well. O-daddy's appointment went pretty well. He looks healthy and got some more shots....which he did not appreciate one bit. He is still cranking out the inches as he is still in the 97th% but is way behind my weight at this age. Mom told me today that he is 4 lbs lighter than I was (sorry...can't give you the numbers as Erin could not remember the actual measurements)....but that could certainly be a good thing....as you really didn't know if I even had a neck at that age. There was just this chubby head sitting on a body. O-dawg does have a neck....and you can even see it.
We celebrated Big Boy's birthday on Saturday with all of our family...or as much as could come. We had a great time and he has lots of new toys. I must admit that my Black and Decker work station is his favorite at this point. It makes lots of noises and has tools that he can carry around (trying to keep them out of his mouth) and stuff. Dranny gave him a really nice horse to ride but he is too scared of it at this point to enjoy it. He got lots of blocks and loves to stack them already....and he has started looking at some of the books too (finally). Mom and Dad gave him a cool UGA jacket as well. I hope it snows sometime this break so we can get him all bundled up in it play outside. This first year went really fast. Guess what everyone says is true....I'll turn around tomorrow and be taking him to kindergarten...the next day he'll graduate from high school....and before long I'll be a granddad wondering where all the time went. Kinda scary. No, very scary.
Sooooo....on another note. Erin continues to be a bit sick....which is different than last time....which makes her suspect that there might be a little girl in her belly. I am scared to death of having girls.....but did always want to have one (if I must) in between two boys. I guess my feelings kind of changed when I found out how close our first two will be....as having two boys so close would be just great. They could be best buds and play on the same teams and all that stuff. I don't know anything about girls though (just ask Erin) so I might be raising a tom-boy.....although Erin will probably scoff at that possibility. The real issue is that girls are just so dang expensive. But I can't worry about all of that.....God will take care of us.

Thanksgiving Blues

So Erin wrote a pretty nice post on her blog about missing Israel during this time of year....and that is true for me all the time. That place is great....and if I thought I could scratch out a living over there I just might move my family there. It would be significanlty more dangerous, obviously, but nothing the Lord could not handle for us. He hasn't called me there yet, so staying put is what's on that agenda. So Thanksgiving was a bit of a downer this year as AJ has been sick pretty much the whole time. Erin's family was all over the place so we did not spend that time on Thursday with them that we normally do....and then Friday saw another break in tradition as my side of the family did not get together at my grandparent's house. If that was not a bummer enough.....the rains came in full force Friday night and continued through most of the UGA game on Saturday. That (and the temperature) kept Erin at home even though she was going to try to go with me for the first time this year. Turns out she didn't miss anything good....as the UGA defense really disappointed. Needing someone to blame, I found out that Erin did not put O-daddy's Knowshon jersey on for the game.....she failed with that for the Florida game as well.....so I will blame it all on her. It should not happen again. My dad has chosen to blame Coach Fabris and has stated that if he is not gone for next year.....Will and I will be paying for the season tickets if we want to keep them. I am not exactly sure where my part will come from....but its gonna happen one way or another. We can't give up those tickets at this point....not with all the issues that starting over would cause. $10,000 to get started on season tickets???? There is no way that could ever happen for Willie and I.....but it is about time we started paying for the tickets anyway....as we use 90% of them anyway. It stinks that Sat's game might be the last time I get to see Stafford and Moreno play live in Samford Stadium......but you never know what kind of decision they might make. I'd be suprised if they both stay....but if one does....I think its more likely they both will. Next year could be tough without those two......especially since we already are losing MoMass. Enough of this depressing info.....but I have nothing else to say today.
Editors note- I failed to mention that we did have a nice Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night at my parent's house with a good number of folks from my side of the family. It was a good 3 hours and O-daddy actually acted pretty normal during that time. Uncle Stephen and his kids were there...so that was really nice too.

Tough Times at Home

OK...so my wife is pregnant again and is feeling under the weather pretty much nonstop. So that should not be too big of a deal, right? Right...and its not that big of a deal. She has been having some wierd cravings or no appetite at all which has caused us to restructure our normal dinner routine. Mainly.....I now fix my own dinner. Also not too big of a deal, considering I did so for myself for years while a bachelor. I am trying to loose weight, however, and my diet of 10 years ago is not appropriate for such a plan. I could certainly cook better meals for myself, but I enjoy feeding my son dinner, and that is when Erin used to cook. I can't do both....and I want to give Erin a break from O-daddy....so I choose to feed him....and eat "whatever" each night. This is also a choice that I am willing to make and not complain about. Here is the real issue though- Big Boy got his first real runny nose a few days ago. Apparenlty my wife and I have both picked up whatever he is carrying and it has hit us with a vengence. I don't normally get sick....so its an adjustment for me....but manageable. Poor Erin however, is already nauseous from the pregnancy and stayed up most of the night last night coughing and blowing her nose. I feel so bad for her. She is feeling pretty bad overall though too, indicated by the fact that she told me (last night) we would likely have to adopt a 3rd child if we decide we want one.

Round 2

I am guessing that no one is checking this blog anymore....so it is safe for me to post that we are officially pregnant again. And of course, by "we" I mean "Erin" and that I have very little else to do with the process for the next 7 months or so. The baby is due June 10 and we have told a handfull of folks including our immediate family, some friends who we have recently spent time with, my baseball guys......OK so we've told quite a few people and some of you were left out. Sorry. Really, I am. Erin is kinda reluctant to let the world know that we are expecting again just yet....as we are not quite out of the 1st trimester. She is doing OK....but feeling very much the same as she did the first time around. She went back and checked her journals and said she is feeling exaclty the same...eating the same stuff (anyone ever heard of someone eating carrots and peanut butter together?....that's just wierd), etc.....so I'm hoping that means boy #2. Of course....if we have a girl at all....I want it in the middle....so I am a bit torn if I am being honest. However, if we can guarantee #2 boy will be as great as #1 boy was/is.....I am all for it. O-daddy is the greatest kid ever. Makes me kinda scared about what #2 will be like. Anyway, I am thinking about "Knowshon" being the name this time....for obvious reasons....but it is a worthless battle at this point.....as I ended up losing the battle for "Orantes" last time. Anyway....Just thought I'd let everyone know what was going on.....or let no one know...since no one is reading this but me. Either way....I am taking over this site again as Erin has her own to play with. Check back occasionally to get random updates and postings.

here we go

my new blogspot is www.ourabchome.blogspot.com. it is in the works, but take a peek and change your links.