Heading to Randleman, NC

Last night I received a call from Jon Ferguson, the head pastor, of Forest Park Baptist church explaining that the search committee that we had been working with over the last month or so had narrowed down their selection to two people. We are one of those two and they have invited Lindsey and I to come down for the weekend of June 7-8 for them to meet us, do another interview, fellowship, and for me to preach to the youth and their families. We are so very excited about this opportunity and we are prayerfully seeking God's wisdom and discernment for the coming weekend. Please join us in celebrating God as our provider and praying for wisdom as we move through the next step in this process. While it's difficult to battle the nerves and the excitement, we both feel very blessed to have been selected for the interview and are now excited to see what God will do in the coming weeks. We'll keep you posted!

Healthy Baby Edwards!

We asked you all to pray last month for Matt's sister Leanne and her husband Sandy and their baby who is due in September... we wanted to update you guys that as of her OB appointment today, they said that the cysts at the base of the baby's brain (that the doctors were concerned were markers for Down Syndrome or Trisomy-18) have shrunken completely away! Thank you all so much for praying, and celebrating this great news with us! We are praying now that her symptoms of early labor will ease up, and that Mommy and Baby E will stay safe until full-term delivery in September! Praise God for answering our prayers, and for a Lord full of mercy that keeps us safe and healthy! Thank you all again for praying.

I Have a Maker

In searching for cute baby clothes, I discovered a onesie with the lyrics to an old praise song that I remember from back in the day at my childhood church. I loved the onesie and really loved rediscovering this amazing song, in light of this special time in our lives. It's unbelievable to think of God creating little fingers, toes, and ears on a baby that is only 3 inches long and 13 weeks "old," not to mention all the intricate veins and life systems that sustain the baby not only while it's in my womb and can share some of my resources (so to speak!) but also that will last him or her the rest of his/her entire life! I found the song on youtube so that you could hear it:



In searching for the song, I also found this incredible montage of ultrasound and fetoscopy images corresponding to the verses of Psalm 139. Praise the Lord for a healthy little baby that is being fearfully and wonderfully made inside me while I barely feel a thing!



I guess pregnancy never seems more like a miracle than when it's happening to you, and you realize you have basically no control over anything your body is doing in relation to creating this second life inside you. I can't imagine how people can not believe in an omnipotent and creative Creator, the architect of every kind of life, and I especially cannot believe how anyone could justify abortion by saying that life doesn't begin until delivery! I think of our little bean jumping and flipping on that first ultrasound, fully and obviously a completely formed baby... how could anyone say that's not life?! These both made me cry (yay hormones) and I hope you enjoy them!

Holiday Weekends Done Right!

Matt and I were so excited to have this whole Memorial Day weekend off together! We have had a blast deciding what to do (or not do) with our relaxing weekend. Matt started the holiday off right on Friday night when I came home from work around 8pm with a fresh-air summertime dinner at Bistro de Brogli waiting for me:
(please forgive the blurry photo... I was having issues and haven't used the "big" camera in awhile!)

This delicious dinner was a spur-of-the-moment plan by Matt to celebrate my new job (more on that in a minute) and just to say I love you! It included several of my favorite things: gerbera daisies, eating outside, salmon, mashed potatoes, pink lemonade, ella fitzgerald, candles, and twinkly lights! We even danced barefoot in the backyard for a few songs... I know, I know, cheesy romantics are we.
He even had fresh strawberries for strawberry shortcake after the sun went down! Yum!

Saturday morning was lazy... mowing the yard and PBJs for lunch... and we spent the later afternoon hanging out in Matt's Dad's garden with him, picking strawberries and roses, cutting coupons for a big grocery trip, and just hanging out in the gorgeous weather. Later in the evening the family met up at his sister's house to grill out steaks, corn on the cob, and deviled eggs (I could have eaten the whole plate!). Another classic summer meal! We shared baby-on-the-way talk and a great game of cards.

Sunday we actually got up on time for Sunday School before church, which is an accomplishment for us. We love our sleep! But we were well rewarded by seeing friends and hearing a great lesson from a new teacher about how arguments in marriage (and life, usually) are simply anger as a result of us not getting what we want. Also, we learned about honoring God with the motives we have for the things we pray and ask Him for (James 4:1-3). We were definitely glad we went. Then, we blind-sided my brother's family with an offer of lunch, and they came up with the great idea to take lunch as a picnic at the park! So we reinstated our tradition of Sunday afternoons at the park, but this time with family and we tried out Baileywick Park instead of our usual Falls Dam. Such a good idea! It had a great play area just Evan's size:
When did our baby nephew turn into such a brave big boy?
We girls got a chance to sit and talk babies while the boys played on the swings. We had a blast, but the sun got the better of us on this hot, sunny day! Matt and I swung by after the park to pick up our new (to us) crib for the baby... God has blessed us by sending us a barely-used crib in great condition for free from an extended family member! Then we headed out to our neighborhood pool. We had good intentions of grilling some very healthy chicken for dinner, but by the time we sat at the pool for an hour or two and smelled everyone's burgers grilling, we had to cave in! One quick trip to the grocery later, and we grilled our own burgers and turkey dogs on the back porch!

I'm excited that summer is finally here... warm weather, sunny days reading magazines on the back porch, lemonade, grilling out all your meals, longer nights, swimming, and sunshine! Time seems to be flying by, especially with the baby countdown on! Luckily, starting June 2nd, I'll have a bit more time to enjoy it... I'll be leaving Target and starting a new job as an office manager for a dental school! The best part is I'll be working days (no late nights or weekends anymore, hallelujah!) so I'll be home for dinner and be able to spend weekends with Matt. We are still in a waiting period with Matt's job possibilities, so I'm really happy to find a new job that I think will work really well until the baby gets here. After the baby comes, we'll reevaluate and go from there.

It's hard to imagine having such a great weekend and still getting to spend all of tomorrow together too! It's such a wonderful gift from God to spend time with my amazing husband and enjoy how our family dynamic is slowly changing with the approach of the two of us becoming the three of us!

Tolerating Tolerable Differences

Within the past year the following quote has come to my mind over and over like a bad 80's song or the craving for pizza or waffles at 3 am.

"In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity."

The quote is often attributed to Augustine, but it was written by Peter Meiderlin. The famous Puritan pastor, Richard Baxter adopted it as his personal motto and urged that Christians must "tolerate tolerable differences." For all you inquiring minds, more history on the quote is found here.

So in learning this quote I think about a terrible hobby I picked up when I first began attending college. One semester of Greek and theology and my head had swollen to hot-air-balloon-like proportions and I thought that perhaps God needed help passing judgment on the sins of others. I wasn't so concerned with the sins of the individual, because that would be altogether easy to dismiss and point out as blatantly wrong. Instead I chose the much larger target, the Church. Many around me had no problem joining in to point out the defects of the western world's version of worship of Jesus Christ. We picked on the pastors, the music, the Sunday dress, the day of worship, the style of preaching and teaching, theology, and if you were liberal or contorted scripture at all...you must have felt your ears burning because it wasn't just that we were talking about you, we were singeing you with our flaming arrows of disdain for your choices with shouts of what may be considered as down right hate. I'm sure you're asking yourselves, "Did he just say he hated other Christians?" Yep. And I wasn't alone as I walked that hideous road. I had your other future pastors with me and thinking back, we were shamefully wrong.

It's not that there aren't a myriad of things and people to pick on within every one of our denominations. There are literally hundreds of things that we can fight about, but the question is, should we? I just don't see that particular activity and pastime as helping anyone worship God, nor helping to bring anyone else to a place where they could know and thereby worship God. I'm not saying that there isn't obvious sinful behavior that God's Word doesn't blatantly say we should fight; it does. It just so happens that there are quite a few issues that were not deliberately addressed and we as fallen man have ripped each other to pieces over interpretations.

A recent Christianity Today book review of Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation held this fantastic quote:

"This kind of unexpected idolatry—the obsession with living in despair over what is wrong with the institutionalized church—creeps up on you (like most shifty little idols do). … Criticism becomes what we end up worshiping."

Thinking back on my college days and sitting around in dorm rooms and coffee shops berating invisible opponents for their silly misunderstandings of God's Word, we (I say we because there was more than just myself, but make no mistake I was actively present each time) were doing a greater disservice than those we attacked. Pious and bold, our impenitent hearts allowed great sin to spill forth of things that had little eternal significance. So why do I think of that now? Because we still do it. Not the same "we" from before, but the ubiquitous "we" that is found darkening the door of many a church on Sunday morning.

We have very little violence and the smallest of persecutions in our country at this time towards our faith. The grinding wheel that once honed and sharpened the flagbearers of our faith is not currently sharpening us, but we are dulled into atacking our weaker brothers. If I could ask Paul, Peter, John, Timothy, and Titus what we should do, I think they would urge me to boldly affirm the whole Gospel for the whole world, nothing more and nothing less. Then, they would tell me to “accept one another, just as Christ has accepted you” (Romans 15:7). If you read on in Paul's letter to the Romans, he clearly tells us what to do:

Romans 14:1-4 1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. [My empasis added]

Yes, we are to admonish and excercise judgment on our lesser brothers when God's clear and righteous truth is distorted or perverted. However, on the non-essentials there should be liberty. I hardly think Paul could be all things to all people without having a like-minded view. If you disgaree, I simly ask that you grant me one favor. Read Romans 15:1-16 and tell me what you think we should do when it's a non-essential issue?

Small Ministry Search Update

***Update: We had another interview today with another member from Forest Park Baptist Church. It went really well and we will find out soon if we are 1 of the 3 they will be bringing in for a final interview in person. The interviewer, a kind man named Sonny, seemed to imply that we were in that three, but we will have to wait and see what God has in store for us and continue to pray for wisdom for everyone involved in all of these ministry searches. It was exciting to get another call so quickly though!***

It isn't much as far as news goes, but I was reminded today that we had not updated everyone concerning our search in a while. We recently had a second interview with Forest Park Baptist Church in Randleman, NC and we're excited about all the possibilities God is putting in our lives. There has been no word from Beaumont, Texas in the past few weeks and we continue to submit resumes, fill out questionnaires, and pray for God's guidance in our search for a ministry for our family. Thank you for your prayers in our search! God is great and will provide!

Baby News!

We had our first full appointment with the OB doctor today and we have lots of exciting news about Baby B!!! First things first, we are both super healthy and progressing "completely normally" which is always good to hear! We knew coming into this appointment that we would get to hear the heartbeat by doppler but probably not have an ultrasound, since they usually only do one throughout the pregnancy unless there is a medical reason to do more. Knowing that there's only one, people typically save it until 18-22 weeks when you can find out the gender.

Well... after the internal exam, the doctor said that my uterus (I promise I'll try not to go into too much detail here!) was larger than she expected for what week they had calculated me on (11 weeks). Usually this means either the pregnancy is on a different week than they thought, or that it is growing faster because of twins (eek). So we got to do an ultrasound to confirm the age!

Ladies and Gentlemen... here is our first view of Baby Brogli!!!!
I did a little convenience labeling (you can click the picture and it will reload bigger) since nothing is worse than being presented with an ultrasound you are supposed to be excited over and then having absolutely no clue what you're looking at and which lump is really an arm or a foot. The dotted line through the middle is where they measured the length. Although we had been a little disappointed to not have had an ultrasound before now, it was really cool that the baby actually looked like a baby instead of a little bean sprout. We heard the heartbeat, and they measured that as well. We are so thankful the Lord has blessed us with a healthy baby!

The doctor did an internal ultrasound first, and that one was incredible!!! The baby was flipping all around, punching, jumping around like a little jack in the box, and even held up his/her hand to wave to us. We could see incredible detail on that one, such as fingers, toes, and even the little ears! The kind of excitement you feel to see your baby in there for the first time and to feel the reassurance that not only can you see it in there, but it's moving around and happy and healthy is indescribable! It really brings new meaning to the verse about being 'knit together in my mother's womb.,' and it's amazing how God puts all the little pieces together when the baby is still just around 3 inches long!

The doctor couldn't quite get the angle she needed for measuring the length (which is how they figure out the week, or gestational age) so we got to go to the official ultrasonographer as well! We waited a few minutes to get in with her since we were butting in around people who were actually scheduled for an appointment with her (we got to sit there and listen to other people shout "it's a boy!" and stuff like that... so exciting!) and she did the normal belly ultrasound for us, which is the picture above. I wish we'd gotten a print out of the internal one because it was so much more detailed, but we are so happy to have finally seen Baby B! Only about six more weeks and we'll be going back in for our turn to be shouting "it's a boy" or "it's a girl!"

The really crazy part of it today: the change in weeks (from 11 to 12) means we are a week further along, which means our due date changes! We are no longer due December 8th friends, we are due November 30th!!! I'm super excited, of course, because this is one day after my birthday... a baby for my birthday! So, our countdown has changed to reflect the week, and we are now under 200 days to go... amazing!

Baby Mama

Ok, not trying to start posting daily or anything of late (I don't think I have the discipline nor an interesting enough life for that) but I did want to share another quick movie review of sorts. We celebrated our weekend off of work together by pulling a movie double feature: Expelled on Friday night and Baby Mama for a fun Saturday matinee. It was not quite as funny as I expected, since it had the classic problem of a movie where all the funniest parts have been shown in the trailer so the movie itself is a tad bit of a let-down... but it was overall pretty clean and had a happy ending. If you look up the trailer for it you'll see my favorite part: the main character's sister (who already has kids) is trying to leave their parents house when her 4 year old holds up an arm with a brown smudge:

Mom: "is that chocolate or is that poop? Is that chocolate or is that poop?"

(Mom licks child's arm)

Mom: "it's chocolate."

Sister: "what if that had been poop!?!"

I wouldn't say I necessarily recommend it, but it wasn't too bad for a mindless comedy (especially if you are an Amy Poehler fan, I think she's great). But if you're really looking for a fun family movie that has an awesome story line and cast, go for Stardust instead. We loved it and would compare it to the great classic, The Princess Bride. It's already on DVD and can also be found at Broglibuster! Just call us and come on over!

(PS- In case you were wondering, Broglibuster refers to the large shelving in our living room that holds our ridiculous and diverse DVD collection, all ripe for the borrowing)

Expelled

Tonight we got the opportunity to go see "Expelled," a movie narrated by Ben Stein about the current status of Intelligent Design in the scientific world. It wasn't easy because I really wanted Lindsey to see it with me and between our mixed up work schedules and all of the good times that surround Lindsey's dad being in town these past two times, we had not taken the time to see it. So, tonight we finally got to see the movie and it was even better than I had hoped. The unique thing about the documentary was that aside from the presentation of the ideas themselves, the audience was allowed to watch the movie without facing any hypocrisy from the Intelligent Design side. They presented the facts, asked the questions, but not without admitting that they had a bias and so did the Evolutionary scientists. Lindsey and I both agreed that one of our favorite quotes from the documentary was when this wonderful ID professor proclaimed that "admitting our biases is the first step towards rational discussion, and I know I want that."

Obviously the scientists that were interviewed in the documentary had two opposing perspectives, but it was interesting to see how irrational some were while proclaiming the other side was the deluded one. The evolutionary scientists were discounting Intelligent Design because they associated it immediately with God and the Bible, not because it was an illogical theory. The ID professors merely wanted the professors to recognize that you cannot separate your own world view before working in the field of science, and that their own view that there is no God is tainting their work within science. The crazy views and interesting ideas that were presented throughout the film made this an excellent film that I wish all Christians would go see. The argument for God based off of Him being the "First Cause" of life/existence played a huge role in understanding the debate. I'd say "Go see this movie as quickly as your legs will carry you," but it is nearly too late. Due to the summer blockbusters coming out, the movie has quickly been replaced or removed from theaters. The Crossroads movie theater in Cary is the only one we could find within a 75 mile of Raleigh that was still showing it. It will soon be on video and I pray that each one of you will take the time to understand this issue that is eroding the minds of scientists, leading people to Atheism (as Richard Dawkins stated did for him), bringing about horrible conclusions when followed through (as was reported in the film), resulting in discriminatory job loss for ID-exploring scientists (who are not even necessarily believers), and ruining the concept of freedom of speech within the Academy and the educational system of the United States. Please watch it!

(PS- We will definitely be buying this movie for our own family collection as soon as it's available, so let us know if you miss it in the theaters... we'll let you "rent" it from Broglibuster!)

A busy, busy week!

I'm sitting here at the computer obsessively checking everyone else's blogs, so I thought I'd go ahead and update in case anyone is doing the same to ours...

This past week we had a great visit with my Dad and my Grannie, both in from Florida for a week for Dad's PhD graduation from Regent University in Virginia. We ended up throwing him a very last-minute reception/open-house of sorts at our house... with the invitation emailed out just about 4 days prior! We bought way too much food at Sam's (thanks to Grannie!), set it all out on the dining room table, moved chairs so that people could actually make their way through the house, and then I sat back and prayed that it would be a celebration worthy of Dad's accomplishment. Mom had planned to do this graduation as a real party, and an open house for all of their supporters, Dad's professors and friends, and family and friends too. I was so relieved that a good number were able to come, and our little house was packed nearly to the walls with friends celebrating Dad and all the hard work he has done! Congrats again, Dad!

Last weekend, the juxtaposition of celebrating my first Mother-to-be Day right along with it being the first Mother's Day without my own Mom certainly didn't escape my notice, but we also managed to have a very pleasant Mother's Day, and it was really nice to have Dad in town for that as well. I really enjoyed standing up in church to be recognized with all the other Mothers, with a hand on my little belly to acknowledge the presence of our wee one-to-be!
(Look how chubby those preggers cheeks have gotten already... and maybe a bit of a belly? Hopefully this is just a bad angle, since it doesn't look like it but I've only gained 5 pounds so far!)

Matt set the bar high for future Mother's Days by waking me with doughnuts for breakfast in bed, which was followed by church, a late lunch with Jason, Alisa, Evan and Dad, then dinner with Matt's parents, Leanne, Sandy, Ansley, and Sandy's Mom Laverne (who is very sweet and like a third grandmother to us). Jason and Alisa ended up bringing Evan back to our house for a little while to kill some time between lunch and small group, and we got to enjoy seeing Papa (Dad) introduce him to Dad's favorite candy, "silver bells."
What Papa didn't know is how quickly Evan could pop those little suckers right in his mouth after he discovered all they needed was to be unwrapped! But of course, this sweet boy is happy to share with his Papa too.

Now we are settling back into what passes for a routine around here, and I'm enjoying a bit of relaxation with a lighter week at work. The best part of that is getting to sleep in/nap a bit... pregnancy is still making me really tired easily, and I'm hoping maybe it will be possible to store up some rest for those late nights and early mornings once the baby does get here!

On that note, a bit of an update on Baby B... I'm still doing really well here at the end of the 10th week. Two more weeks and my first trimester is done! Unbelievable! It seems like just a week or two ago we were trying to think of fun and creative ways to tell everyone. I can feel I'm getting a bit of a belly already, but I think it will take awhile until I look actually pregnant, not just like I've had a few too many trips to Goodberry's. Still no morning sickness though, and the crazy hunger I've had seems to be calming down a bit, which I'm trying to use as a reason to eat a bit healthier (in other words, no more dinners of tater tots and then curly fries). The cravings for any kind of potatoes and Juicy Juice fruit punch are still going strong... and I literally dream at night about chicken and dumplings from Cracker Barrel with the little biscuits and jelly on the side... mmm. That one may have to happen soon.

Mother's Day Article and Thoughts

As Lindsey quickly approaches motherhood in our household, and with this day to celebrate mothers upon us, I'd like to share this article with you all. We've taken alot of flack over our decision to have Lindsey be a stay at home mom once our precious little one is born. It seems natural, even Biblical to do so, yet many don't understand. I was sent an article today written by a lady named Barabara Curtis (who has 12 children-3 of whom she adopted that have Down Syndrome) by a newsgroup I have subscribed to. I thought I'd share and say thank you to both of my Moms and the large amount of ladies in Lindsey and I's lives that have consistently tried to be "mom" to us by loving on us in the way that mothers see to know how. (Long article, but please read)

"The sun through the window was soothing, and the car was full of contentment. It had been a wonderful day and I was pleased with myself as a mother. Then from the back seat, I heard Zachary clear his throat, and in his deadpan four-year-old Eeyore voice ask, “Mom, when are you going to get a job?” “This is my job,” I said, somewhat amused and just a little edgy.
But homeward bound, as the kids fell asleep one by one and I was left alone with my thoughts, I began to see the beauty of Zach’s question: somehow – even though it could be hard work and even though I had my testy moments – my kids didn’t think of motherhood as a job.
And I decided that was a good thing – because it’s not really a job at all, but a calling. And callings just don’t look like jobs, because they require more of a person than a job requires.(emphasis added by Me) Which makes it hard for moms whose days are spent conquering mountains of laundry, creating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and kissing owies.
We live in a world where success is measured by progress – as recorded on report cards, sales reports, performance reviews, pay raises. And symbolized by ribbons, trophies, and merit badges. In our lifetimes, our husband and children will bring scores of these items home and make us proud. We’ll put them in scrapbooks, sew them on uniforms, frame and hang them up for all to see. But I don’t know of any special awards for teaching a child to tie her shoe or come to dinner when he’s called. No raises or praises when a mother drops everything to drive someone out for posterboard: “Your project’s due tomorrow? But it’s almost eight o’clock!”
Every day this goes on: everyday moms doing everyday things – sometimes struggling with feelings of inferiority or even worthlessness – just being obedient to their call.
But while motherhood can look easy – it’s certainly not rocket science, after all – the irony is this: while lots of important people in important places conduct lots of important business every day, the truly most important work in the whole world is really going on at home, where the CEO is mommy. And God is like an equal opportunity employer, giving every woman in the world – through birth and adoption – this wonderful, unequalled opportunity. guess if we got disgruntled enough from lack of appreciation, we could start a Mommy Power movement (the same seeds of discontent that began the feminist movement – only in a direction away from motherhood). We could have bumper stickers that say: If Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. We could sue people who put us down at parties and maybe even get a special mention as a protected minority not to be discriminated against. But that wouldn’t be very mommy-like, would it? Because there’s something about mommies that should be soft where others are hard, kind where others are cruel, patient where others can’t wait. We may not start out that way at all, but there’s absolutely nothing like motherhood to change anything about us that needs to be changed. At least, that’s how it’s been on my motherhood journey. I set out to make a home, to grow a family, and to help my children reach their potential. The most amazing thing is that while I was helping them reach theirs, God was helping me reach mine." Read the full article here.

Whew...long article, but thanks to those who read it!

I want to be a good Dad, but I know that as important as my job is as a Dad, (being a leader for my family and supporting Lindsey and our children emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially and probably a few other --"ally"s I can't think of off the top of my head), my job will pale in comparison to the role and responsibility of hers as a mother. To those that can work and maintain their motherly role(or must work in order to provide and live), I salute you. To those that are able and choose to stay at home I salute you too. I see the place of each, even though I can't think of too many mothers who would rather work than stay home with their babies if given the chance. Like the article above, I couldn't agre more that motherhood is not a job, but a calling. No "paid time off" there, unless you count kisses before nap time as a payment before a "vacation." I'm so excited that Lindsey was blessed with such a great mentor as a mother

and I'm proud to have been raised by a great mom too.

Thank you to all the mothers who read and it will be my prayer all day long that God will bless each of you for the sacrifices you've made, time you've taken, dreams you've set aside to raise us, and the joy you've imparted in raising up Godly children. Happy Mother's Day!

Random Musings...

Sometimes it's fun when you have a blog just to share some random thoughts about life/yourself that maybe you wouldn't ordinarily consider important enough to blog about. My high school friends and I used to do this all the time in our "online journals" (please join me in an eye-roll here) that we kept to keep up with each other once we left for college (never mind those archaic things called telephones) and it's actually quite fun.

I'm going to number them because I love lists.

1. Tonight Matt's Dad very sweetly and thoughtfully sent home a plate of catered food from work for me and the baby "to eat if we get hungry at midnight." Unfortunately, there seems to not ever be a time when I am NOT hungry, and the mashed potatoes on said plate didn't make it past 10:30 (it would have been earlier except that we had just come home from picking up my Dad at the airport).


2. Aforementioned mashed potatoes came after a dinner of mashed potatoes, gravy, and macaroni and cheese, and a snack of french fries. I kid you not. The Mexican food and Italian food cravings of last month have obviously been replaced by carb-loading. Despite how it may seem, it IS actually my goal NOT to gain 80 pounds during the course of this pregnancy.


3. Speaking of pregnancy, we finally watched the movie Juno for fun. Despite the screenplay having been written by a former stripper and the movie having a blatent disregard for mentioning any of the pitfalls/downsides/life-changing difficulties of teenage unwed pregnancy, it did have some hilarious one-liners, such as when Juno (the main character) at 8 months pregnant, describes herself as a "cautionary whale." Funny stuff.


4. Matt and I are just now starting to come down off the agony of a severe sunburn (as in, I was a bit concerned about possible sun poisoning Saturday night) on the lower back (Matt) and the shins (myself). It's all fun and games until you burst into tears because you bumped your shin on the edge of the coffee table (and I didn't even blame it on the pregnancy hormones. It really hurt that bad).


5. It is currently 17 minutes past one in the morning, and I am at this very moment seriously considering eating some Doritos. Please see #2 above regarding my dinner consumption and not gaining 80 pounds. And no, I'm not sleepy yet. Rest assured that I will be at a completely random time though, like 2pm tomorrow.


6. Someone sent us two entire boxes of Middle Eastern pastries in the mail today. I am elated to discover this is possible. I'm not sure what could be better than coming home to two boxes of pastry sitting and waiting for you on your front porch!


7. I had lunch with Matt at the mall today and accidentally ordered a salad with feta cheese on it. Again. Two months into it, you'd think I'd remember by now that feta cheese is on my no-no list. Luckily, I have the most awesome husband of all time who was willing to take the bullet for his yet-to-be-born child. I got to eat his plain salad with Ranch dressing and was very happy about it (the baby apparently loves Ranch dressing-I've been eating it on everything).


8. Sometimes it's really fun to read the blogs of people you barely knew in high school and have never spoken to or seen since then. Seems my stalker tendencies are still alive and kicking.


9. Also while at the mall, I had my wedding rings cleaned and talked about pregnancy with the 8 months pregnant lady at Helzburg diamonds. I felt much better about the feta cheese upon hearing that she had her hair highlighted AND ate deli meats before she knew she was pregnant.
   

I guess 9 is good enough as now I am too tired to think of a 10th worth sharing... there you have my random little thoughts for the day! Now all of you who write blogs should want to stay up past midnight and write whatever you are thinking. (ps- speaking of food, and aren't I always? I am still dreaming about the tartar sauce from my previous post. I don't even want the shrimp, just the tartar sauce. Ok, I do want the shrimp, but mostly just as an excuse to eat the sauce).

A Quick Babymoon?

When we found out I had a very rare Saturday off from Target scheduled for today (very rare!) , we decided to take a quick escape down to Topsail Island for some sunshine and seafood! We had gone there for a vacation on our first anniversary and had a really good time, so we wanted to recreate some of the fun, including a trip to a fabulous and cheap seafood restaurant we had found there.

We also decided to take Pontouf with us for a little extra adventure, since our little pup has never seen the ocean before! Topsail/Surf City is also the beach I've gone to with my Dean Grandparents for many years, so it's always fun to return to somewhere you've grown up going and see the ways it has and hasn't changed.
We had a blast watching Pontouf "swim" through water that was barely over her head, and even though it was really cold, I think it felt good to her, being a solid black little dog on a hot sunshiney day! She did great until she realized that the waves can hit you in the face and knock you over. We tried to convince her that that's part of the fun, but she wasn't so sure.
She kept trying to wipe the sand off of her face by rubbing her nose across it, and then passed out and slept, curled up in a little ball in my lap, the whole way home.

We took pbj sandwiches for lunch, and then the restaurant we had gone specifically planning to eat dinner at had actually closed since we were there last. The building is still there, but now it is a bait/tackle shop and raw seafood market. We were disappointed, but the owners recommended a place right across the street that worked out perfectly! The food was great, and normally I am a ketchup-only girl, but this place had the best tartar and cocktail sauces I've ever had! (Or maybe it's just the pregnant talking?)
Mmmmmm... fried shrimp, scallops, and okra! Are you hungry yet? We ate the whole thing!

We got there and back in 2 and a half hours each way with no traffic, and absolutely amazing weather. The best part though, was getting to spend an afternoon with no other thoughts on our minds but hanging out with our best friends, talking and reconnecting, soaking up the sunshine, and dozing in and out of reality while the waves crash! Being on the beach is one of my absolute favorite things in life, and there's nobody else I'd rather spend a day alone with:
Unfortunately, we did end up with a bit too much sun in some odd places (my shins, Matt's entire lower back and back of his legs) due to a not-careful-enough sunscreen application (totally my fault!) we did have a really, really great day. As we speak, poor Matt is spread out on his tummy directly under the ceiling fan with copious amounts of aloe gel slathered on his back. I think I'll go help him put on some more to say thanks for a fabulous trip!

Going Fishing!

In the Brogli family, we don't take a lot of vacations. The family occupations cover a whole range of possibilities for employment that include real estate agents, doctors, firefighters, railroad workers, engineers, construction workers, Wal-mart employees, factory workers, farmers, vetrinarians, but somewhere amidst all the hustle and bustle of life, we find the time to come together and fish once a year at a little place called Watts Bar, TN. Every year, 15 or more guys cram themselves into a deluxe hotel room at a fishing resort from the 60's and we play games like Hand and Foot (an addictive card game) and "who can snore the loudest" (my cousin Billy Laire usually wins that one). Usually Sandy goes with us, but this year, due to complications with work, he was unable to attend. He was missed on the trip and I always enjoy talking with him, but we understood that with his new job came some HUGE new responsibilities. It was also good to spend some time alone with my Poppa though. With the uncertainties of where we will be living this time next year, leaving my gainful employment with my parents, and the idea of not seeing him on a regular basis, it was awesome to go on the trip. I got to talk to him about being a dad (since I'm going to be one! Woo!), life on the farm, stories about life, fishing, being a Christian, and just being a man I'd be proud to know. He's an awesome teacher when I'm not being too proud or stubborn to listen to him. The trip is called a fishing trip, which I am AMAZING at, however, I am not so great at the catching part and the trip always turns out to be about a great deal more than fish.

We usually congregate and swap stories early in the morning before heading out while we all eat.

At the top is a picture of my 5lb White Perch. I caught a catfish that was also comparable and a 20lb Carp off the dock one day too. We primarily fish for Crappie, but catfish are the most fun to catch, because they put up the best fight. Of course, we eat what we catch and fish just tastes like fish once it's fried. You don't say, "mmmm, that was a delicious crappie."

The view on the way out of the cove the marina and resort are in early in the morning.

Me and my Dad before our drive back.

So that was my trip this past weekend! It was a lot of fun, but I'm SO glad to be home with my beautiful Lindsey and my happy-go-lucky little dog.