Leah Christy

Yes...that is the name of our baby girl...unless we decide to change it :) Deciding what this girl's name has probably been about the hardest decision Edgar and I have made as a married couple. We just couldn't decide on the first name. The middle name, however, took little discussion (mainly because I said it HAD to be that :) )

On October 8 it will be 5 years since my friend, Christy, died. I can't believe it has been five years. Ever since she went home to be with Jesus I have known that my first daughter would share her name somehow.

Christy was one of the most amazing girls I have ever known. We met my first year at Liberty-she was two doors down from me, but we didn't actually meet until we were both in RA training together. We went through training together, and had SO much fun. We connected so quickly and knew we would be RA partners the next year together. I truly believe God brought her into my life at that moment for a reason. I had begun to just live a 'pretend' Christian life. Not that I wasn't a Christian, of course, but I had begun to do what I was 'suppose to' without a heart for God. You couldn't do that around Christy. She was so sold out for God. I had never experienced anything like it. She lived as if God was her lifeline-her EVERYTHING. She REALLY lived it, and loved God with her whole being. Because of her amazing love for God, she had the most unbelievable love for people that I had ever seen. She loved 'the unlovable'...and I think many times because of her love-and the love of Christ that she showed, the 'unlovable' became lovable. We became friends, and I became a better person. She made me want to serve God. She was the type of person that made you want to sell all of your earthly possessions and move to India and serve orphans the rest of your life. Her insight into scripture was always unique and inspiring, and her 'heroes' were people like Rich Mullins, Jim Elliott and Amy Carmichael. She changed my life.

She was also SO MUCH FUN to be around. We used to do the most amazing skits for hall meeting-all of which she came up with. Skits in which I (very literally) ate peanut butter out of her armpit, super glued 'Vulcan ears' to my ears (yeah...super glue causes chemical burns...I don't rec. it...) and spit chewed up Cheeze-It's into a napkin, pretending it was ear wax. We used to go to thrift stores to intentionally find ugly clothes to wear to class. That year I was her RA partner I was not the most attractively dressed, but I had some of the best times of my life.

We used to meet with the SLD's (Spiritual Live Directors) once a week and had such sweet times together. Those meeting helped shape my walk with Christ.

After she graduated we kept in contact. We used to head up to her house and hang out on our breaks. One break in particular, we decided to go camping...just the four girls (Me, Christy, and the 2 SLD's). Unfortunately, the place we wanted to go was still quite covered in snow. We decided we were gonna do it anyway. So we climbed through the snow with all of our gear, up a mountain...at dusk. It was dark by the time we got to the shelter at the top, and FREEZING. We had seen Wild Cat tracks on the way up which helped us speed up a bit...those things will attack anything. On the top of the mountain in the (very uninsulated) shelter we got our sleeping bags out, and huddled in them and basically shivered violently all night. The wind was blowing up over the mountain SO hard, we were sure we were going to blow right over. We read the entire book of Matthew to help calm our fears...On the way down the mountain the next morning, we were exhausted. We hadn't slept, we were FREEZING, and hungry. We went to 'Tudor's Biscuit World' for breakfast and as soon as we walked in a couple of 'mountain men' (seriously, the best way to describe them...) looked at us and asked us where we had been. We told them, and they started laughing...then told us we were lucky we weren't dead. Lovely. That ended our week-long camping trip. We stayed at Christy's parent's house the rest of the week where it was warm.

We also took a week the next summer and went camping in Colorado. What an amazing trip...We drove all over Colorado seeing beautiful places. We went hiking every day and had so much time just hanging out and talking. (This time we did take some guys with us...the 'four girl' thing didn't work so well apparently :) Her dad came too...we needed someone that knew what they were doing...)

After that I saw her about twice a year, but each time was so much fun, and always encouraging. Our last trip together was to go to our friend, Amanda's wedding. It was a VERY spur of the moment, last minute trip. I remember sitting with her the night before Amanda's wedding, listening to Amanda's friends give her marriage advice. It was a good night. The wedding was beautiful. Then we met up with her husband, and she headed for home, and I headed for home. That was the last time I saw her.

We talked a lot on the phone. She took several trips to India ministering to orphans. I loved hearing her stories. We talked a lot about things in my life-it was wonderful to have a listening ear. I remember when Edgar & I were just friends I was talking about him to her, and she said "I like him...I like him a lot. I think you guys should get together." To which I laughed, and said I didn't think that was in our future...little did I know, right?! :)

She has a beautiful daughter. She was a very special miracle. Christy had had 3 miscarriages-all of which were terribly hard for her. When Brooklyn was born one of Christy's greatest prayers had been answered. I loved hearing the joy in her voice. She loved that little girl so much. I feel so sad that Brooklyn only knew her mom for a few short years. I pray for that little girl a lot, and hope she has the same joy and spirit her mother had.

Christy's life wasn't a very easy life at times. She had Ulcerative Colitis and was very sick quite often, but in every challenge she ever faced she loved God.

Though this post has been long, I feel like it is only a small picture of how much she meant to me. I miss her. I think of her a lot. I Especially through this pregnancy. I pray that our little girl will love Jesus as much as my dear friend did.

And that is why her middle name is Christy.

Can't wait...

...to meet her!

Misc....

I know...I have been terrible about updating lately. It's not like nothing has been going on...I just am never in the mood to post once Eli goes to bed...I just want to watch TV...or maybe go to bed :) But with our baby set to arrive 34 hours from now (holy smokes!) I figured I'd get this caught up in one post...one post that should be 4, but I'm gonna sum it up in one :)

My Mother-in-Law & Krista threw a shower for me. This is the cake Krista made...gorgeous, as usual.
The 'crew' that came :) Thanks, Carly, for the bunny ears :)

I made some cookies for a baby shower...and attended that shower. It was for my friend who was due a day after my scheduled C-Section...but she beat me to it. Her little boy is already home-can't wait to meet him!

Katie turned FOUR! I can't believe how fast she's grown up! It seems like just yesterday I was taking bagels to Krista in the hospital and meeting this little girl! Katie had a 'Hello Kitty' birthday party-it was SO cute. Krista made this cake too...along with cookies, and a TON of other stuff. Seriously...she needs to be a party planner...

Eli enjoyed the balloons. He had so much fun at the party-we all did!
I've been busy getting things ready for me to take some time off from a few things-like Sunday School and the Algebra II class I teach. It really took longer than I thought to get the stuff set up for a sub...why is it that taking time off is harder than actually just doing it yourself? :) I am VERY glad to have a few weeks off, though, so it was worth it. We've also been trying to get the house ready for our baby girl. Edgar miraculously finished the baby's room. I am SO proud of him. It was something we didn't think would get done, but he worked incredibly hard to get it finished. It looks so pretty. I still have a few things to do in it-like hanging up pictures and decorating a little more...and making a quilt for the bed, but the crib is set up, and her 'stuff' is in the room. I know...I should have pictures...but I don't. I'll get some later and be sure to post it. It's really beautiful. Thank you Edgar!!!!

And lastly, I will leave you with a little video of Eli giving his cousin, Isaac, a kiss :) They were giving each other kisses-it was super cute-but they stopped after I got the camera out...of course.

I may or may not post again before the baby arrives...we'll see. Mom arrives in an hour, and we have a fun day planned tomorrow, so I just might bring the camera with us :)

Prayers

I have about 3 different blog entries I should be doing, but I'm not :) I had to share this, though...

Tonight as I was putting Eli to bed, he had this little smile as we walked to his room. When we got into his room, and he was in bed, he whispered "Prayers?", and I said, "Yes, Eli, we're going to say our prayers." He got a bigger smile on his face, and listened so sweetly as I prayed for him. And then he went to sleep.

I love that his daddy (who usually puts him to bed) prays with him every night. I love praying with him on the few nights I put him to bed. And I REALLY love that ELI loves prayer time.

A Cool(er) evening

Today was a fairly uneventful day. I did manage to clean my refrigerator...it had been a while. When Edgar got home we had dinner, and then we walked to the park. It has been a VERY long time since I've been there...it's been too hot, or I've been too lazy...not sure which. Probably a bit of both :) Edgar has taken Eli quite a few times in the last couple of months, so he hasn't been completely denied park fun :) Edgar and Eli practicing his shapes. Eli can now correctly identify a square, oval, circle, triangle and a star. That's my boy :)
I was impressed with increased climbing ability-last time I went with him he needed help to get on the teeter-totter.

Daddy's always game for a fun ride :)

He was all over the park.

He likes going down the BIG slide.

Right before he went down. I was going to take a picture of him actually going down, but on his way down his shoe got caught on the slide and he flipped over and went the rest of the way head first. Pretty glad he didn't go over the edge...He was fine :)

Learning how to use the exercise equipment at the park.

Daddy showin' him how it's done!

I love this picture :) He loves the swing. As he was singing, he was going through all of the names he knew...We was saying 'Bem, Bem, Bem, Bem (ya, that's Ben), Carly, Carly, Carly, Carly, Grampa, Grampa, Grampa, Grampa, Eggar, Eggar, Eggar, Eggar (ya...he calls his dad 'Eggar' from time to time...) pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin (Funny story...Jennifer always calls Eli 'Pumkin' and the other day, Eli called Jennifer 'pumkin'...so I think that's his way of saying Jennifer's name. I think we should ALL call Jennifer 'Pumkin'...)' It was pretty cute. We have been working on learning his cousin's names. I showed him pictures of my mom & dad and he right away said 'Grampa & Gramma', so he's got those down :)

We headed for home where Eli took a nap and then we read a zillion books, and then he went to bed. Now we're watching 'The Big Bang Theory'...yeah...we're dorks.

A Family Weekend

Believe it or not, this weekend was our last free weekend before baby girl arrives. There is a lot going on in the next few weeks! SO, we decided we would take this weekend and spend a family weekend together-no work allowed :) We had thought about going somewhere this weekend, but decided it would be easier to just stay at home and hang out.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to the zoo. Me & my little boy :)

Someone came by and snapped a picture of us just before we headed in. We actually picked the best day to go. It was cloudy, and much cooler than it had been (ya know...upper 80's instead of lower 90's...). I thought there was a chance I would be miserably hot, but it honestly wasn't too bad.

This picture is for Jennifer. She loves frogs so much...

Eli LOVED the sting ray tank. The came right up and let Eli touch them. The ones at the Aquarium aren't quite that friendly.

I have a video of him playing with them, but I STILL haven't figured out how to view videos from the new camera on the computer...one of many things I need to figure out :)

I thought this picture of Eli was hilarious.

He loved the fish...which is funny, because he's been kind of 'over' the Aquarium lately. Apparently he liked these fish better.

There was a water area for the kids. Eli didn't play in it much to begin with...

...he went to the petting zoo first...or what should be called the 'goat zoo', cuz that's all there was.

Somehow I think a goat wouldn't take too kindly to someone pulling his tail...

This was taken right after this goat tried to take a bite of Edgar's shirt...

Eli did leave the goats and couldn't resist getting soaked.

He loves the water :)

After Eli got a change of clothes we went to look at more animals. You can get right up to the giraffes. We didn't buy the (overpriced) crackers to feed them, but we took advantage of them thinking we had one :)

Can YOU touch your nose with your tongue?

This picture is for Jennifer too...not sure if this was the baby you once often photographed...but it was the smallest one there-not so small anymore!

A little snack break :) At this point I was a little jealous that he had a stroller and I was still walking...I'm sure it was good for me :)

After the zoo we went home. Eli took a nap while we watched TV...ahhhhhh...I love sitting on the couch doing nothing! After Eli got up we went to Babie's R Us and got our double stroller. I'm pretty excited about this. Hopefully it will be a good fit for us. It runs really smooth and it fits the car seat. Eli loved it, and didn't want to get out. Now I just need to start running again...

I actually put $.50 in this...it was pretty lame, but Eli seemed to like it. He's kind of on a Sesame Street kick lately...well...he likes Elmo, Grover & Cookie Monster...we don't even really watch the show, but he has several books with Sesame Street characters in it, so he enjoys them.

After that we went to the mall looking for some good walking sandals for me. Found a pair...for $130.00...ugh. No, we did NOT buy them...We ate dinner in the food court and headed for home.

After putting Eli to bed we watched 7 (yes 7) episodes of 'The Big Bang Theory'. Jennifer's brother let us borrow the first season. Holy smokes, that show is funny.

Today was church-we actually were able to sit in the service since there was no Sunday School today. It's been a while since we've been able to do that, it seems. It was a really good service. We went to Chili's for lunch afterwards (finally used my birthday gift card from Eric & Leilani!) then to Sams, then home...where we watched 4 more episodes of 'The Big Bang Theory'. Eli got up, we went to Joannes (bought another pattern and more fabric...I'm obsessed...), went to Petsmart where Eli had just about as much fun as he did at the zoo...then to Hhgregg.

Phew! It was a great, relaxing weekend. After Eli went to bed Edgar did have to log in for a while, but it was WONDERFUL to have him all to ourselves this weekend :) Eli LOVES hanging out with his daddy, so some undistracted time is always wonderful. I LOVE hanging out with him too :)

Now, the weekend is over, and a busy week is ahead...back to real life, right?! :)

Eat Mor Chikin

Friday I was suppose to watch a friend's kid, but he was sick :( so Eli and I headed to Chick-Fil-a to play with some friends. This was the morning after the shower, so I was TIRED. I figured the morning would go easier if I didn't have to entertain Eli...nice mom, right? :) He had fun playing with some friends while I sat lazily and watched. We ate lunch and then went outside to the play area. Fortunately it was an overcast day, so it wasn't completely unbearable. Still very hot, but it was alright...I couldn't believe how high Eli climbed-he's never even gone more than one step before!
He had a lot of fun climbing around.

This little boy brought some play dinosaurs-Eli LOVED playing with them...so afterwards we headed to Target and got one for him :)

We only spent about 30 minutes outside...that's all this pregnant mommy could handle. It was fun talking to the other moms, though...and Eli had loads of fun, so it was worth it!