Williams Christmas in ABQ!

We had a lovely, peaceful Christmas here in our cozy apartment in Albuquerque. Things had been quite chaotic leading up to Christmas with all of our traveling that staying home and just being "us" was exactly what we needed! Our Christmas celebrations began with going to church on Christmas Eve. We both really enjoyed this service. Pastor Wayne talked about how to "identify a Christian". He spoke how "Christians" are known by how they display the fruits of the spirit. Unfortunately, he also had to apologize for most of us who say we are "Christians" but then don't show or bear that fruit in our life. It was convicting! I especially like how he went through each fruit of the spirit and defined what it means. For example he defined patience as the divine ability to graciously forebear people who get on your nerves. Do we all need to hear that at Christmas or what? How many times do we secretly want to run over the people in the Wal-Mart aisle who are blocking the whole aisle and taking five minutes to peruse the different box stuffing options? How many times do we want to yell at the guy who steals your parking space in the mall parking lot after you have waited five minutes for it? I know families look forward to Christmas all year and then sadly when it comes and you are with your family in a condensed space for more than an hour those people that are so special can suddenly become "annoying." I know everyone who reads this blog always has a gracious response in these circumstances, but it was convicting to me! Do people know me by my patience? Does my family know me by my patience? Does my husband know me by my patience?

Ouch...I'm not so sure.

After the service we then went to IHOP. Last year Adam and I were visiting his best friend in Tyler, Texas and drove back to Houston on Christmas Eve. We got really hungry and stopped by IHOP for dinner. We had these amazing pumpkin pancakes that we both have been thinking about all year since then!

Unfortunately, upon looking at the menu and ordering our pumpkin pancakes...

we found out they had run out! There were no pumpkin pancakes at IHOP!

We then settled for omelette's and berry pancakes. I'm not going to lie. My omelet made me a little sick and I could only eat half of it. We are currently re-thinking if we want IHOP to be a family tradition on Christmas Eve...we'll keep you posted:). We then came home to our decorated apartment! These are the lights Adam hung up!

These are our stockings. Both our parents had given us stockings last year so we decided to hang them all up even though there are only two of us currently...someday there will be four we hope. :-)

This is our nativity set that we received as a wedding gift last year...what a great gift!

This is our little tree sitting on our kitchen table. It looks large in this photo but don't be fooled, it is only three feet tall.
This is Adam on Christmas morning. Poor thing was tired as he woke up at six AM to take the cinnamon roll dough out of the fridge for me! I love you baby!

This is our finished product of our cinnamon rolls. Only half of them have icing because Adam doesn't like icing...I know weird....I just go with it.

I got the recipe from my good friend Kelly Dunn so I can't take credit for it but they were delicious! Here is the recipe if you want to make them:

Dough:

1 pckg. active dry east

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup luke warm milk

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter softened

1 t salt

1 egg

4 cups flour

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 T milk

1/2 t vanilla

(double this recipe for 13x9) pan

Dissolve yeast in H20

Stir in milk, sugar, butter, salt, egg, and 2 cups flour

Beat until smooth-5 minutes

Stir in the rest of the flour

Kneed for 5 minutes

Place in fridge over night

Roll dough into rectangle

Spread with melted or softened butter and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon

Roll into log and cut into sections

Bake in buttered 13x9 pan at 375 degrees fir 25-30 minutes

Top with glaze!

We ate our rolls with pumpkin lattes! We have an espresso machine and buy lots of pumpkin creamer during the holiday season...so good!This was our little tree with our stockings! Me and my stocking...I got lots of socks which is great because all my socks were falling apart and my toes were COLD!Here is Adam with his stocking! He was excited to get Madagascar the movie! We then read the Christmas story to Baby "J" in his baby Bible and then read it in the normal Bible for us.

We then went to our friend's - the Bassetts - house. We had a huge Christmas lunch with turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and more!Our good friends the Dunns were there too. They are from Vermont and have lived here just about the same time as us. We enjoyed bonding together as friends since we were all away from our families. I brought this spinach salad. Here is the recipe:

Dressing:

5 slices bacon

1 T minced shallot

1 t minced garlic

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 T Dijon mustard

1-2 t honey to taste

kosher salt and pepper to taste

Salad:

1/2 lb. fresh baby spinach

6 ounces thinly sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

To make vinaigrette, in skillet cook bacon. Discard all but two tablespoons of fat. Crumble bacon on salad when done.

In remaining fat, saute shallot, and garlic. Whisk in vinegar, mustard, honey, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat.

Combine salad ingredients together and then toss with dressing.

I really liked the salad but the dressing was slightly too strong for me. A little amount of dressing goes a LONG way on this salad. I think if I make it again I would put in half as much of minced onion.

We stayed at the Bassetts for the afternoon and then came home and rested a bit. We then went over to the Dunns for games and dessert. I brought these Christmas meatballs. I really liked them. I got the recipe from good friend Meg Wallace. Here it is:

1 (16 0z) can whole-berry cranberry sauce

3/4 cups ketchup

1/2 cup beef broth

3 T brown sugar

2 T minced onion

2 t cider vinegar

Mix all ingredients and pour over browned frozen meatballs, or make home-made meatballs. I left it in the crock pot all day.

For dessert at the Dunns we brought an old family favorite of the Tune household-Cherry Cheese Pie. I didn't get a photo of it until it had already been eaten...oops. It looks better whole:).

Here is the recipe: It is from my momma:)

Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese softened

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 t vanilla

Blend this until smooth and refrigerate in crust over night or for several hours

Make graham cracker crust-cooking in oven

Top with cherry pie filling

This is so easy and so good! Adam actually made the crust and did a GREAT job. Christmas Eve I was cooking a bunch and he asked if he could help. I told him that he could make the crust. His eyes got so big! I could have asked him to solve global warming and he would be like "okay, I'll get on it," but baking put him totally out of his comfort zone! He was a trooper though and did it with love. I have to say it was a great crust!

Adam doesn't like things too sweet. I think when I make this again I may top it with fresh strawberries instead of canned cherries to reduce the amount of sugar. I love it but it is a pie you have to eat in small amounts because it is SWEET!

After game night, we came home and fell into our beds. It was a great Christmas! We are so blessed to have each other, have sweet, great friends, have wonderful families even if weren't with them, and to have a loving and living Savior!

Silly Commercials

This post is about a very annoying, silly commercial. Before I elaborate on it though, it must be known that it is snowing HARD in Albuquerque RIGHT NOW! It just started about twenty minutes ago. I'm ecstatic!

Moving on, there is this little thing called the Bender Ball that has a commercial that has come on television three times in the last hour. This incredibly fit young woman says happily to the camera "I love my abdominals. I love my tummy. I love my abdominals." Really, is this necessary? I will be 35 weeks pregnant on Monday. I don't even think my skin can stretch more. I tried to do some abdominal exercises with my exercise ball the other day just to see if I have any Abs. I was able to do it, but then Baby "J" started freaking out and I was scared I was damaging my baby or ripping the interior of my body and decided to not try that again until after Baby "J" comes!

I just don't think people who make these "I love my tummy" commercials think about the pregnant women of the world who can't even sit up straight out of bed. We have to do the awkward roll around the tummy and have your husband push you out of bed move. How insensitive can the media be these days:).

Cathing up!

The photos aren't actually in order but they show what I'm going to be catching you guys up on. Adam and I have been busy! We went to College Station for his work, then to Houston For T- Day (the above photo shows my sis Anna with cousin Havannah on T Day), then to Orlando as Adam had a conference and we enjoyed ourselves at Sea World. Then, I returned to Houston for a Baby Shower my precious Momma and Melinad Dericek gave me, and then to College Station again for Amanda Price's wedding...yes, I was a bridesmaid prego and all:).

It was SO GOOD to see family and friends but we were ready to come home. When we came home we returned to SNOW (rotate your head to the left to see above photo of our apartment complex covered in snow)! I also returned to a decorated apartment as Adam decorated when he was in ABQ without me. I promise photos will be posted of our decorations. I am going to do a full documentary on our Christmas Day...no worries, you will see our little, decorated apartment. Since we have been back we have been catching up on things, sorting through Baby J's things, and getting Christmas stuff done. I know this post is a bit of a teaser, but now you know what you will be filled in on! I'm off to watch a movie with my hubby and eat a bit of Ben and Jerry's because....well, Baby "J" needs calcium (I know Mom, leafy plants have calcium too. No worries, I eat salad as well).

Emily

Hubby Look Alike

My gorgeous hubby
Adam Williams and father of
Baby "J":


Eric Benet:
R&B singer and
Halle Berry's ex-hubby:

I had heard of Eric Benet but I had never seen him. Knowing the names of singers has never been my strongpoint. Knowing the names and faces of R&B singers is pretty much impossible for me. Today I saw him on TV and immediately sent Adam and e-mail asking if this is how he would look without dreads. Apparently, Adam has known for awhile that he looked like Eric Benet, but it was all knew to me. I have never seen my handsome husband (besides highschool photos) without dreads. I am way excited to have a better idea of how he would look. I have a hottie husband!

Update On The Belly...

This is Adam and with one of our favorite baby's Kai. How cute are they? Adam is actually really good with Kai. When we hang out I think Kai prefers Adam...so sad!

This is us just before one of our date nights. We went to a Sandia dinner in Santa Fe and listened to a scientist who was on one of the apollo missions. It was really interesting and we got to get dressed up:).

Here is a full view of the belly...I told you it was big!

This is us at the Wallaces for the OU v. A&M game. Yes, the Aggies got slaughtered, but Adam and I were still supporting our Alma Matter. I even pulled out a college shirt and pulled it over my belly. I was just excited I got it on!

We had to teach the Wallaces how to whoop. I think we scared them a little bit!

I haven't done a good job of updating belly photos. Although I have truly failed at updating at all, I must let ya'll know it is an impossible task. Every single day my belly is BIGGER...scary. Baby J is growing and developing on schedule it seems. He has started kicking like crazy, normally at night when I'm trying to sleep. It has made me lose sleep, but I can't say I mind too much. I love knowing he is active and moving!

Adam and I are packing and getting everything ready to leave for a bit for the holidays. We will be in Houston, College Station, and Orlando. We are able to combine Adam's work with Thanksgiving, family and friends, and even a wedding! I don't have time to update now, but I'll update when we return!

Enjoy the photos!

Nesting....Oh My!

I've heard about the whole nesting instinct that comes over pregnant moms. I always thought that would be a good experience of pregnancy. Your house would get really clean and your husband's tummy would be full with great food, even more than normal:). Well, I think it has begun.

The problem for me is it began simultaneously with the mood swings. I have heard about pregnant people crying a lot and how they can be really emotional. I had secretly wondered if this was just an excuse for uncomfortable, hungry women to get moody. I can honestly say I hadn't felt my emotional state had really changed much. I didn't find myself wanting to cry or suddenly getting emotional with Adam.

Well, it all changed. Please pray for Adam. He did so great and went through my first MAJOR mood swing and nesting instinct craze all at once. Being that I work quite a lot now, it is really important for me to get cooking, grocery shopping, cleaning, and chores done on my off days. Well, that is a lot to do in one day. I had Wednesday off and had decided in my mind I wanted to get all those things done. My day started calmly until around four when I had just finished dinner, our weekly must of pumpkin bread, and a few chores but NONE of the mandatory cleaning (in my head at least). I then looked around the house and realized not only did it need to be cleaned, but I found it repulsive. I felt like it was the most unorganized space ever. I then could barely clean because I went into a state of shock of how unorganized my home was. My thought progressed from "Wow, I need to re-organize our shoes" to "Baby J can't come home to a house like this!!" I went into panic mode.

Adam arrive happily from work to a wife on her knees cleaning out the bottom of the book shelf...you know the way back parts that are never seen. It didn't take him long to notice I was distressed. When he asked me why, my eyes filled with almost tears as I read off a list of things I had just decided our "cluttered" home needed. You see, Baby J would just not be a happy, loved baby unless we had some greenery! Adam was quick to see I was being nonsensical. When he pointed out to me that really greenery was not a "must" right now, the full on tears came streaming in!

Thank goodness I have a loving, PATIENT husband. He didn't make fun of me (although now he would). He just held me in his arms and had me talk to him about the "clutter". I then told him I hated small things. I wanted every "small" thing from our house removed. I decided it was clutter, and it had to be gone. I don't know how Adam kept from full out just laughing at me. We then spent the rest of the evening organizing together. He even organized the bottom shelf of the pantry...every girl knows that is a must before a new baby arrives!

Today is another cleaning day for me but at least I'm not emotional. I just hope this emotional state passes quickly because I'm the first to admit I was crazy the other day! Who would of thought greenery could be a tearful topic!

Thanks Adam for being so patient! I love you!!

Baby J Baby J!

It occurred to me that I have referred to Baby Williams as Baby J in previous blog posts and never explained myself. No "J" is not the name of Baby Williams, but it is his nickname for now. Adam and I finally decided on a name. Picking out a boy's name was much harder than I imagined. I guess growing up with girls something happened to where I only like girl names. It took us quite a bit to come up with a selection of boy names I liked for us to pick from.

That said, it has been picked and is at the tip of my tongue! I want to scream it as loud as i can. Oh wait, maybe I will being that none of you can hear me:). Adam and I have decided to keep Baby J's name under wraps until he is born. Then we will present to you Baby Williams with his name! I am horrible at keeping anything under wraps. I am way too open and loud to keep things to myself so this is difficult for me.

We are revealing that his name starts with a J and ends with an H and is from the Bible. Feel free to make your guesses! We will neither be able to confirm nor deny any of the names, but when Baby J is born and his name revealed, the winner will win the satisfaction of knowing they guessed the right name!

I am getting quite attached to calling this sweet baby "Baby J". I think I'm going to have a problem calling him his real name when he is born. I'm going to have to get over that as we can't someday have an eighteen year old son being called "Baby J" by his momma!

Happy Guessing!

D-Now Weekend!

This last weekend I left Adam instead of the other way around. Fret not dear friends! There was no fight! Our marriage is doing just fine:). I was a leader for the 10th grade girls at Disciple Now Weekend at our church. I have been a student at this numerous times in high school and have such great memories of it, but this was my first time to do anything with the youth here in ABQ.

I would like to make a SHOUT OUT to all my cypress girls because doing D- Now made me think of ya'll!!! I love Jenn, Claire, Sally, Lindsee, and the plethora of you other sweet girls! It would be fun to be a sophomore girl again JUST for a day so we could all hang out again. On another note, I am just fine being passed the confusing age of fifteen and dealing with high school boys and taking chemistry.

I was a little nervous about the weekend because I didn't know any of my girls. God blessed me so much because I got the absolute sweetest group of girls possible. I thought our group sessions would be like pulling teeth to get them to open up to me and to each other. Man, was I wrong. We had the opposite problem of not having time to get through all the questions because everyone had something to share. I love the vulnerability of these girls. My heart went out to them as they shared about real problems such as being made fun of at school for being virgins, liking school, or being nice to people. Everyone has to face this to a certain extent in public school, but I can honestly say I never faced the type of persecution these girls faced. I wanted to lay my hands on them and zap them with all the wisdom I have learned since high school. I wanted them desperately to not make as many stupid decisions as I did. I was only with them a weekend and I don't know if I had time to impart much to them besides my goofiness, but God worked in them. They all were drawn closer to him after the weekend, and it was such a blessing to watch!

After the weekend, I was TIRED. I wish there was another word to adequately describe how tired I was. D-Weekend reminded me that I'm not in high school anymore. I need sleep!! Baby J needs sleep! My husband needs me to sleep!

One of the games we played was a couch scavenger hunt where we transported a random couch all around ABQ and took photos with it at different locations. Well, I was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and had my hair in a ponytail just like I always did in high school. Being around all the youngness, I was feeling pretty young. Later that night a slide show was made of all our photos. At first I couldn't find myself in any of the photos. Then I realized....I am the goofy looking pregnant lady! I so don't look like I'm in high school! It was a humbling experience:)

On another note, each and everyone can be praying that Adam and I would know if we are called to youth ministry. They need more leaders and both of us were told that we are needed. Please pray for our guidance and wisdom!

Hot Cocoa Anyone?

Today it's cold! I mean COLD! The type of cold where in the morning peeling back the sheet and the heavenly warm, down comforter is like throwing ice water on my face. I ask Adam every morning if he can please just stay in bed with me, and we could keep each other warm all day. Everyday he says he has to go to work. He gets up around six and then around 6:45 when I have finally just recovered the warmth lost from Adam getting out of bed, it is time to get ready for school. This morning after creeping out of bed. I do creep. Adam says I look like ET...you know, the alien. I was so ready to go to work. I was awake, my hair was fixed, and the bed had already grown cold so work better call!! Well, they didn't. That is why I'm sitting here curled up in a blanket reporting about the cold weather:).

As much as getting out of bed is truly a traumatic experience for me, I LOVE the cold! I am about to put chili in the crockpot for dinner, I plan on having at least one cup of hot cocoa today, and Adam looks so handsome in sweaters:). Now that it is cold there is a whole new bunch of cold weather recipes I need to try. I feel like cold weather makes me a better wife. When it is so hott, I struggle still making yummy meals or doing anything in the kitchen for too long.

I apologize to those in Texas who are not experiencing cold weather and quite frankly won't for a long time. We have a guest bedroom/Baby Williams' room. Come visit and we can make warm soup together!!

Belly Shots!

I don't know why it is so hard to get a photo of my tummy! I thought about it all the time but it was always when Adam was at work. Whenever he was home, neither one of us would remember to photo my belly! So I hope ya'll enjoy! I feel like the photo doesn't show how big I am! I feel huge! We have glass mirrors in our dining area, and I'll be walking around the house and turn and see the mirror and jump with a gasp in shock at my protruding belly! Adam always says "Em, your pregnant. Calm down". We will keep you updated with photos as I grow daily...it is crazy!

On another note, I have finally started substitute teaching!!! I was so tired of always getting up and ready in the AM and then not getting called. I was ready for the change!

I have worked so far with 8th and 2nd graders. I wasn't sure about middle school as I have never worked with middle schoolers. They weren't as awkward as I imagined. I actually really enjoyed them! I had to definitely be strict Mrs. Williams as they were ready to get out of doing their work as soon as possible. My favorite question was "are you you married?" When I responded indeed I was I heard them whispering "She is old enough to get married?" I thought can't they tell I'm old enough to be married and pregnant!?

Second grade so far is my favorite! They just want to please! Although as far as substitute teaching, 2nd grade is much more work, I just loved them. My favorite comment from them was "Mrs. Williams you smell like bubble gum". I guess it is a good smell because I had about three children trying to get unusually close to me to smell me all day!

Enjoy the belly shots sweet friends!

ERW

Thanks...

I have to say thanks to everybody who left a message or called on my Birthday. I had such a good day. I have to say a big thanks to my hubby! He was amazing. I don't have time to explain as I'm about to fall asleep right now I'm so tired. This week has been so good but incredibly BUSY. Adam and I just haven't stopped, and it is all weighing down on me at this exact moment. Before I shower and get ready for bed I want to post the video Adam made for me THIS year. He is so creative! He started making me videos when we were dating. I loved them and the tradition stuck.

Thanks Adam for being amazing!

HAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY, MY LOVE!!!

Good morning all! I would like to invite everyone to join me in celebrating the birth of my lovely and wonderful wife! 24 years ago today, the Lord blessed this Earth with a precious, beautiful, and wonderful gift...MY WIFE! So, if you have a few minutes today, take some time to drop her a note...pray for her...or even give her a call! But, if nothing else, please join me in saying...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!

Here's to a lifetime of sharing birthdays together...

ADW

(Here's a little something I made for Emily's 23rd birthday last year...)

Hunger Pains..

Okay I need all you lovely women who have been with child before to confirm if my body is normal or if indeed I'm a freak.

I am five months pregnant and I thought I had gone through all the stages. I went through the puking stage, the eww food is gross stage, the oh my gosh my pantry smells stage, the food is okay stage, the I can cook again stage, and the food is just fine in fact I want Chik-Fil-A stage. I thought I would just stay in this stage for the next half of my pregnancy.

Although, I still dream about Chik-Fil- every week I am in a whole new stage. I hope this present stage is fleeting because frankly it could get expensive. I am in the I'm starving stage! I'm starving all the time. I wake up early in the morning to get ready in case I get called to substitute teach and eat breakfast. My stomach always feels slightly upset because after all it has been in bed for aproximately eight hours without any food...horrible. Then after waiting by the phone and not being called, I try to go back to sleep for about an hour. Then when I wake up my stomach has the horrible hunger pains AGAIN. So then I need another breakfast type snack. Then I tell you not even two hours later the hunger pains are back and they can make me cranky.

This all started yesterday. When I think about yesterday, I think about a blurr of being hungry. I ate more than I usually do, I was definitely not starving. Does this mean the baby is growing really fast and taking all my food? Does this go away? I want to stop being hungry! Help!

Pumpkin, Cookies, and Sweaters....oh joy!

I absolutelly LOVE the fall. I love it.

In Texas we didn't experience it until ....November? I'm not sure exactly when we experienced it but it is coming earlier here! I am absolutely thrilled.

Don't get me wrong, it isn't here yet. My poor mom came yesterday to spend the afternoon/evening here before flying to Las Vegas for the Deeper Still Conference with Beth Moore and Kay Author. I picked her up in my little red hombre which has a broken airconditioner. She had a light jacket on and I think she was pretty hott! She didn't complain though, but I was sad she hadn't come the day before which was cool and windy all day. We had a great, short visit. She saw our apartment, and I got to try Jenn's Zuchinni Manicotti out on her since my momma is a vegetarian. I struggle to like the food I cook, but it was pretty tasty:). All I have to say is Jenn's home-made creamy italian dressing was AMAZING. I could write a whole blog about it...but let's get back to fall:).

The nights here are starting to get cool and windy. We haven't used the airconditioner for weeks! At night we have the windows open and Adam I turn on the ceiling fan and a portable fan we have by the bed. I get to wrap up in my comforter and be nice and toasty while my nose sticks out and gets cold....I love it! I think Adam is freezing, but he is getting used to it:). I tell him I'll keep him warm but he says I steal his heat...highly unlikely:).

To top of the feeling of fall coming, I stopped by Starbucks today and ....drumroll....they have the pumpkin spiced latte! That pretty much means it's fall. I'm totally in the mood to make oatmeal cookies and pull out out my box of sweaters! I'm not sure exactly why fall makes me want to bake, but it does! Nothing sounds better to me than warm oatmeal cookies on a windy fall day with a spiced pupmkin latte.

I welcome fall!

Thinking in blue....

Today was a big day for us.

Today we had the big ultra sound where they check the baby's organs and "parts" and tell us the sex! I have been so excited all week about this day!

Adam met me me at the office and the nurse began the ultrasound. At first I was worried we were having an anorexic child. It looked so skinny! I was then informed if it was chubby now I would be in for trouble! I sighed a big sigh of relief each time the nurse would say something like "beautiful spine!" or "wonderful heart beat!". Our baby Williams seems to be a very active, healthy baby BOY! I couldn't believe it!

But then again I had to...the picture was crystal clear that this baby is a BOY! Being from a family of four girls and one boy, I had secretly hoped to have a boy first but figured my chances were low. Adam and I are just thrilled about Baby BOY Williams!

I am 18 weeks pregnant and due Feb. 1st. However, Baby Boy Williams seems to be growing fast as he is already about the size of a 20 week old...aye aye aye. I blame Adam for that. He already seems to have Adam's active personality as he would not stay in the same place. He also had Adam's long fingers. Most of you know, I LOVE my husband's hands. He has a pair of the most handsome hands I have ever seen. It thrilled my heart to see those same long fingers on the baby!

The nurse kept poking him in the head trying to get him to move his head so she could look at his brain. He REALLY did not want to do this. He would actually swat his hand over his face when poked at as if he was so annoyed. I could have died laughing. Someone may have a stubborn streak....from his father of course:)

Happy Labor Day!

Yay for three day weekends! Adam and I have had a ball hanging out this weekend. It has included shopping, soft pretzels at the mall (yumm), watching The Office (we are renting all the seasons), and much organizing and cleaning. I actually don't have a ton to say. I'm very bad at writing short little posts and very good at writing epic ones. According to Sally, I'm not very good at keeping everyone updated...so here is an attempt to be better:).

On Friday Adam and I babysat for some dear friends of ours. Matt and Meg Wallace were some of our first friends here in ABQ and continue to be some of our closest. Matt is the young marrieds pastor at our church Hoffmantown Church. Meg is his adorable wife who has just been a ray of sunshine to me from the moment I met her. They have a two year old Kate and a three month old Malachi. Well, on Friday Adam and I tried out our parenting skills and babysat so the Wallaces could have a hot date. Chi had never been left alone and I was honored to be his first babysitter! Things went okay. The kids are still alive and did all the normal things like have their bottles, take baths, and go to bed! I must say I was impressed with Adam. He was basically in charge of Kate while I watched Chi. He is absolutely great with her. The above picture is of he and Kate at a church cook out. She asked him to sit down so he did. He basically does anything she asks him to do. He is a sucker for girls:)

I would also like to announce that I officially have a baby bump! In my opinion, it is a BIG baby bump. I have been in that stage for a while now where people who don't know me just think I'm constipated or drink a lot of beer. I have had this little "gut" which I thought screamed pregnant but everyone else just laughed at it. Now people actually reach for my belly and acknowledge that I'm not just chubby... there is a baby in there! It all happened this week. My belly was growing like crazy every single day. I was actually worried because I was having all sorts of pain which I guess is just from everything having to stretch FAST. I even have pulled out some maternity clothes! I also bought my first maternity pants...elastic waste band and all. Pictures will be posted soon!

Okay...gotta run and finish the Labor Day organizing of the Williams' household which has begun!

Ready for Home Again...

I have to apologize because recently I have been a plain awful blog updater. Since Nicaragua things have been crazy (in the good way) and haven't stopped. Well, now they are calming down, and I have quite a few updates to make.

We were home from Nicaragua barely a week doing laundry, organizing, and going to Dr. appointments when I left for San Diego and Adam left for Colorado. Adam plays on a club ultimate Frisbee team here in the ABQ. They are a really good team and very serious about their tournaments. We have already driven to Tulsa, Oklahoma for a tournament where we had a wonderful visit with my cousins Vanessa and DJ Clay and their fam!

Adam was gone for the weekend then had to put in a few days of work (being that we just took vacation in Nicaragua, his days of days were low) and then we met mid week in CA. We had a semi-family reunion. All my immediate family except poor Sarah (Sarah had to take nursing school finals) were there, including Stacy and Jose who rented a house right by the beach. All my immediate family stayed in the beach house! It is amazing my whole family can fit anywhere! We would spend our days at the pool or the beach and then at night a different person would cook. Different family members from San Diego (where we have a plethora) would come each afternoon/evening.

It was such a great time to see everyone and relax except I think we need another week to hang out individually with everybody! I hate cold water, but I loved the beach. My nephew Mathew and cousin Noah would say "Come, get crashed by the waves dude". I laughed at them until I joined them and surely did get crashed by the waves. I would get drug on the bottom of the ocean with my head in the sand. But it was absolutely a blast!

A huge highlight was just seeing all the "babies" as I call them. Some of them are babies, some of them haven't been babies for many years now, but they are all the "babies" to me. In the house we had my nephews Mathew and Jacob who are my brother's sons, Francesca T. my brother's little girl, and Olivia and Francesca who are my sister Stacy's kids. They were always together having a ball and usually quite a few CA cousins were with them. It reminded me of when I was a kid and all the Thanksgivings at our house. There was a whole big group of us cousins that just ran around and played all day everyday at the barn or in the pool...it is fun to see a younger group doing the same thing! Why can't we do that anymore? Why don't we wake up and jump in the pool and play games all day? Kids really are better at having fun!

After CA, Adam and I came home for about another week. It was catch up week for me. Again...I did a lot more laundry. I also had a few job interviews and spent a lot of time filing out applications. I also shopped at Trader Joes for the first time! I hear about it constantly and about how cheap and healthy it is so I went ahead and tried it! Well, my results found it to be a much better shopping experience. The only problem was even though it is much cheaper then a Whole Foods, I still spent much MORE than I do at Walmart. They had most everything I needed but not all, so then after shopping there I still had to go to Walmart and Smith's to get all the groceries. I have to say the food was good but it can't beat Walmart prices. We have decided to keep shopping at Walmart for our basics and then go to Trader Joes or Whole Foods for meat, bagels, and bread. Meat in general can gross me out. I think it is worth paying more for. Bagels....well, I just really love some good fresh bagels, and Adam was a huge fan of the fresh bread. Well, at least until I get my wheat cracker and can start making it from scratch...mmmm, that gets me hungry just thinking about it! More on that later!

Then this last Friday we got up to leave by car at 6 AM to drive to Dallas. Adam had another ultimate tournament. It was also a special trip because my best friend/cousin Danica Brown is back from India and is in Dallas! We stayed with my Aunt Elaine and Dani and I would hang out in the morning while Adam played and then go see him in the afternoon. His team did really well! They were undefeated the first day but lost their first game the second day. The team only had seven players, which is how many one needs to play, so they didn't have people trading in and out to put in fresh legs. I was quite amazed they did as well as they did. It was HOTT! I was sitting under the tent, drinking water, and thought I was going to faint. I hope this is just because I am pregnant. I have NEVER been that sensitive to heat my whole life and grew up in Houston....does it get hotter?

We all had a great time! Aunt Elaine was a champ and put up with all the stinky Frisbee boys coming back over to her house where they watched the Olympics and then went swimming. My time with Dani was so precious! I missed that girl more than words can describe and seeing her was just surreal. I also got to see two other very special people! My old roomy Ms. Sarah Leininger lives in Dallas so we met for some Chipotle. I love Chipotle. I had it twice while in Dallas because they don't have it here in ABQ, and I think it is some of my favorite food in the world! Sarah and I talked and talked and it felt so good to see her beautiful face! I also go to see Ms. Tiffany, a very close wrangler friend of mine. Our time was short as she had to get to the airport, but so special! I am so thankful for this weekend and this time I got to see such precious faces! It makes my heart happy and fills me with joy!

Yesterday Adam and I got back in the car and made the ten hour drive back home. I don't mind long car rides with Adam. We are able to talk and talk and play the question game until neither of us can think of any more questions. When we got home we just crashed. Both of us were exhausted! We are ready for some time at home with no travels for a bit. I am ready to start having people over for dinner again, really CLEAN this house, and catch up with sweet friends here. God is so good and we are making relationships. As much as I have loved our travels, I have missed people HERE in ABQ. That is such an answer to prayer that we have people to miss!

More on the job situation later....hugs and kisses!

Six Months and Counting...

Today is a very special day us.

Adam and I were married six months ago today!

I just can't believe we are already at out half anniversary!

I know many of you more "mature" married couples have been married for decades and are laughing at us celebrating our half anniversary.

I say why not celebrate the gift of marriage as often as possible?

I actually have to confess in this instance it was my Adam who reminded me on Monday "Em, our six month anniversary is Friday. Get excited!" I acted excited and tried to to not let it show that if he had not reminded me, I probably would have realized this...umm...maybe tomorrow. It is not that I don't think it is is incredibly important, I'm just not much of a counter. Recently we have been very busy so I was also slightly surprised August was already upon us!

Plus the last six months have just flown! It is hard to believe it has already been half a year. Immediately after getting married we moved to ABQ, went on our honeymoon (whoop!), began unpacking our first "home", Adam started a new job, found a new church, and just a few short months later, became the future parents of our "pumpkin" as we call the baby. It has been a little crazy but filled with such amazing experiences for us.

It is funny to think that six months ago today at this exact time I was in a hotel room with my girls doing makeup and hair and absolutely filled with excitement about that day! Okay, I was a little scared to death...but in the good kind of way. I was probably also blowing my nose. I came down with a terrible cold a few days before the wedding. It was just one of those things one doesn't plan and that is rather inconvenient, but later really just makes you laugh. After my makeup was done, I was told to try not to blow my nose for the rest of the day. Oh my....how difficult! Adam married me and loved me sick an all!!! Now, every time I get a cold I'm reminded of our wedding, and it makes me smile!

Being that this much has happened in the first six months, I can't wait until we have years under our belt and so many more stories to share! I can honestly say, I love marriage. I always tell my single friends, "I am so pro marriage!". Seriously, it has made me grow so much as a person and as a Christian. God made marriage to be beautiful, and it makes me so sad when I hear people (sometimes even Christians) speaking of marriage like it is a weight or an annoyance. I know I am still a newbie, and there are so many experiences ahead I have yet to experience, but what is more beautiful than having a man want to love you like Christ loves the church? Adam teaches me everyday about love. He does such a good job of loving me! I see him striving to love me everyday and in new ways. I don't know how I got this blessed to have the husband I do. I certainly don't deserve him one bit.

Our next anniversary update will be in six months and the pumpkin will be born! I know I'm only just starting to learn what God has to teach me about love. I'll update you the on what I have learned!

Happy Half Anniversary Adam! I love you and am excited about growing old with you!

Missions in Nicaragua - 2008

Hey everyone! Well, let us apologize for how long it has taken me to get this post up…hopefully, after reading about our adventure, you’ll understand why I needed a little bit of time to digest it all!

The most difficult part about good story is deciding where to begin…so, here we go!

Before we left the country, we were able to spend about a day in Houston with Emily’s family. It was a good time for her to reconnect with them and it was a good chance for me to repack our stuff since we left ABQ in a quite a mad rush. Then, after a phone call or two back and forth with our team from Fredonia Hill, we went to sleep dreaming of all that God was going to do during this trip…and, the Bible doesn’t say that He’s capable of doing “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20) for nothing. We had NO idea the ride for us that He had planned.

DAY ONE: Team Williams (Emily, Adam, and Baby Williams, aka li’l Pumpkin) woke up at the crack of dawn to make sure we could get on our 9am international flight…and, oddly enough, we met the rest of our team for the first time zigzagging through the security line! Since our compadres from Fredonia Hill Baptist Church (in Nacogdoches, TX) had to drive an ADDITIONAL 2 hours just to get to the airport, they were all understandably tired. It was an exciting time in the airport, however, since it was the first chance that Team Williams got to know the kiddos from Fredonia Hill…oh, and I do mean kiddos! Our team consisted of 5 kids from the Fred Hill youth group, their youth pastor (B.J.), the official “team mom” (Mindy), and George – guru of all things related to Operation GO: Nicaragua. In the mix of kids, you had your super goofy guy (Jeff), your super funny guy (Brian), the quiet-until-you-play-her-in-cards girl (Alli), the fun-to-mess-with-girl (Katie), and the fun-to-mess-with-girl’s-friend/sidekick (Emberlen). All of these kids were SO EXCITED about missions – that in and of itself was a Day One Blessing! All of them had done some kind of missions before, but the extent of international experience was border towns in Mexico. For some, in addition to this being the first time REALLY out of the country, it was their first time on an airplane. Despite some nerves, anxieties, and flat out fear, everyone boarded the plane and we had an uneventful flight down south.

Praise God…the flight went ok, no one got sick or scared and everyone seemed excited about the adventure set before us. Shoot…the TEN of us got off the plane, through customs, AND got all of our luggage in about a 15 minute span (now, if you’ve never flown overseas, you won’t truly appreciate that last sentence…but, WOW!). After that, we met up with Loren (the husband of the husband and wife team that lead Operation GO: Nicaragua), Callie and Stephen (2 of the 5 summer missionaries), and headed on our way to lunch. Well, even though Team Williams had remembered how crazy the driving was in Managua (I kinda misses those crazy driving days from last summer!), the kiddos from Fred Hill were an odd mix of scared and fascinated. Fifteen minutes or so into our adventure through the heart of downtown Managua, God decided to teach us all a lesson in spiritual warfare and the reality of being in the mission field…and it’s a lesson we will not soon forget.

For now, I don’t want to go into any specific details so that we can protect those who were directly involved and those who might be tangentially effected. While the specifics of the incident don’t necessarily matter (if you have our number, call us and we’ll tell you in person, we just don’t want to post it), what matters is the reality of what career missionaries deal with probably much more so than the rest of us…spiritual warfare. That day, God made the spiritual battle real, He put flesh on it, and He made it sting right at our very hearts. In this single attack, the Enemy was trying to destroy a powerful missions project in Nicaragua and damage other missions efforts in South American. How? He was attacking the missions FAMILY. You see, our dear friend Lydia (with whom I was summer missionary in Nicaragua last summer) was in Peru as a summer missionary and suffered through a terrible ordeal because Satan knows God is using her as a powerful force to spread the Gospel. Satan must have thought the same thing about what was happening in Nicaragua…but we, as believers, know that Christ has already defeated evil – once and for all – by His death, burial, and resurrection. Thank you Father for reminding those of us on the trip of your power, grace, mercy, and love. (NOTE: I have to take a moment to brag on my wife. Her natural, God-given gifts of compassion and comforting people who are hurting were perfectly suited to match the needs of the moment! It warmed my heart to see my beautiful bride use her talents to glorify God – and comfort a sister in need – in a crisis situation. I love you Emily!!!)

That afternoon, after the initial incident, our team ended up at the IMB’s Guest House. Everyone had been shaken by the events of the day – the youth were digesting their rude-welcome to foreign missions, the adults were trying to figure out how to explain things to the youth, and Team Williams was hurting for those involved. But, through this time of confusion, anxiety, uneasiness, and even fear, God worked a miracle. God began a work in all of our hearts that day to prepare us for what He had planned. Isn’t it amazing how His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9).

DAY TWO: The next day was a low-key day of rest, reflection, and team-building. Basically, in His infinite wisdom, God allowed all of us to more completely process the incident; help folks most affected by it to reflect on and deal with some other spiritual issues; and gave our small team a chance to spend some time getting to know each other better. We had some sweet time of fellowship…and though some of us were chomping at the bit to get out and start distributing the Gospel, God blessed this day to make us a more cohesive unit, ready to seek His plan and spread His glory. It was, for me, a HUGE blessing because I got to know see how missions-minded God has made the kiddos from Fred Hill. I also got to learn first-hand how to seek God in the face of immediate and potentially devastating circumstances. Spiritual warfare, when it puts on flesh, makes it absolutely clear that life is not about US and what WE can do, but rather life is about submitting to Him to see what HE will do.

DAY THREE: We woke up to a beautiful morning, and finally hit the road! We spent the day driving out to Las Communidades de Los Pimones – a set of small, rural, mountainside (and mountain-top) villages just northwest of Matagalpa and San Ramon (if you’re looking for it on a map, it’s in the north-central mountains of Nicaragua). Fourish hours, lots of bumps, a few bruises, and quite a bit of four-wheel driving later, we arrived at our home for the next few days. We settled in, set up our cots, made some dinner, enjoyed the sunset, and then spent an evening reflecting on a wonderful devotional led by Cody on spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6). The evening ended with all of us spending time with the Lord and listening to some praise and worship music – it was a great way to continue (for me at least) to let God work on our hearts in preparation for the next few days.

DAYS FOUR & FIVE: HALLELUJAH! We finally made it into the field, we were finally able to become the beautiful feet who spread the good news (Romans 10:15)! Now, typically what happens is that Loren and/or Karen will work with the US team leader and the local Nicaraguan pastor to split us (both the US team and local Nica believers) into small groups of 6-8 and tell us which group will distribute to which area of the community. Well, due to our previous incident and some other events out of our control, neither Loren nor Karen were able to come with us to Los Pimones! That left the summer missionaries (Cody – who is fluent in speak Spanish; Stephen – who is a work horse; and Hakim – who is the pirate) and me to run the show! Ha…God has such a sense of humor! We ended up splitting into 3 groups – Cody was the translator for one group; Emily was the translator for another group; and yes, YOURS TRULY was the translator for the last group! I know both Cody and Emily did a MUCH better job translating than I did, but God got the job done through me!

Even in just the hiking portion of our trip, God was able to reveal to some of our team just how much MORE we are able to do, even physically, when we stop trying to do it all on our own and we trust in His strength. On mission, when you really get to deny yourself and focus on Him, you see SO MANY BLESSINGS each and every day! Such blessings weren’t contained to just my group, folks in Emily’s group came back proclaiming how good God was to support them and help them finish after each hard day of hiking. (NOTE: I'm really proud of how far my wife and baby-mama hiked!!! After what I saw in Nicaragua, I think she's ready for Everest!)

And alas, after hiking the mountains of Los Pimones for two days…our ministry was completed! Even though we did not get to minister to the larger numbers of people that I am used to (my first trip here in Spring 2006 we handed out thousands of Gospels!), it was a blessing to continue to be faithful to the great commission to reach the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:19-20). We were able to share the Jesus Film with about 200 people from Los Pimones – and at least one person got saved! Hallelujah! I know God is going to continue working in those communities through a strong church in nearby Matagalpa.

It truly is amazing how quickly God can meld our hearts with His when we serve Him! Even after only two days in Los Pimones, none of us wanted to leave! We grew attached to the wonderfully kind local believers that worked with us, the gracious homes we where we were able to share the Good News, and the absolute splendor of God’s creation! Here are just a few pictures that will hopefully begin to convey what is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful locales in Nicaragua…

The rest of the trip was basically a day of recuperation and site-seeing. It was really good for Emily and I to spend some time with Loren and Karen…we really do miss them! We got to share with them about newlywed life and swap married-life stories and what not. For Emily and I, it was an extra special time of reconnecting with some folks who were indirectly involved in the creation of Team Williams! And, of course, they were both excited about their first missions grandbaby…man, EVERYONE’s going crazy for this kid!

The highlight of the trip, at least for me, was a very special ceremony that we (Loren, Karen, and the summer missionaries) put on for the high school students. In short, we had a sort of “Young Missionaries Commissioning Service.” While Loren read some scripture and began to talk about what it means to be on career missions and spread the Kingdom of God, the four summer missionaries and I each washed the feet of and prayed over one of the high school students. Loren explained to the students what it truly means when Paul says “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news” (Romans 10:15) and encouraged them with some stories from his own missions experience. It was a beautiful time of pray, fellowship, and allowing the Holy Spirit to move in all of our hearts. It is a moment in the mission field that will always be on my heart and a great set of memories that I will never forget.

So, what else can I say…we had a FANTASTIC trip. God is amazing and even though Emily and I had been on this trip before and “knew” what to expect, God still stretched and shaped us further than I ever could have imagined. We get to see spiritual warfare in its basest form…and we experienced God’s faithfulness in ways like never before. I am excited to see how much more my life changes as I learn to walk – and learn to lead our family to walk – in closer intimacy with our Lord and Savior.

And so, to Erle...Kathy...Saltamontes...BriON...Alli G...Bejota...Uncle George...Stephen/Billy/Cid...Dr. Cody...Hakim the Pirate...Poppa Loren...Mama Karen…

From Team Williams...Thanks for a great trip.

See...what had happened was...

Hey Everybody!

Well, yes we are alive...yes we are doing fine...and yes there will be a blog post about our missions trip to Nicaragua coming soon! And by soon, I mean tonight...I have to wait until tonight so I can include pictures - which is a must!

Anyhow, the past two weeks have been really good for us. It has also been very busy, which is why there has been NO activity on our blog. That should change, though, as Emily and I begin to work back into a "normal" routine. Let's see...work is starting to pick up for me...we are close to finding some really neat job opportunities for Emily...and we are starting to make some real friends that actually want to hang out with us...and Baby (aka "Pumpkin") Williams is healthy and growing away!

Well, we miss everyone...and I promise to get the epic tale our trip to Nicaragua out sometime tonight.

After that, I'm off to Cali to meet up with my wife who is attending her family's reunion. Miss you guys!!!

ADW

The Power of Prayer

Hey all!!!

Thanks for the prayers...they have been heard!!! But, Satan's attacks are coming...hard, fast, and frequent! Praise the Lord...we (our team from Texas, the summer missionaries, and the Dickey's) have come through unscathed, but that is just making the Enemy mad. The Lord is WORKING IN MIGHTY WAYS and have something H-U-G-E planned for us this week.

Please, please, please, PLEASE be praying that God's Word will reach farther and beyond what our feeble minds can understand. I am excited about the great things that God is going to do this week. We will ALL come back changed forever at the wonderful, miraculous work that God is waiting to do.

Please pray...prayer is powerful...and we need it!

We love you all...
ADW

Team Williams is Going to Nicaragua!!!

"For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for 'WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.' How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, 'HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!'"

And, so we're off! (This is Adam by the way...I'm in no way as talented at blogging as my PHENOMENAL wife, but since she is getting ready for bed, I figure I'd give it a try!!!)

Emily and I are excited about this opportunity...it kind of brings our relationship full circle. We will be "leavin', on a jet plane" tomorrow (Saturday) morning for Nicaragua to work with our dear friends Loren and Karen Dickey who run the "Operation: GO" ministry for the International Missions Board. Emily and I are tagging along with a group from Fredonia Hill Baptist Church in Nacogdoches, TX...a great church with wonderful people that I got to work with last year during my time as a summer missionary in Nicaragua.

So, the "full circle" bit...in the spring of 2006, Emily and I both went on Living Hope Baptist Church's (first ever!) mission trip to Nicaragua. We had never met before, had never heard of each other before, and we not interested in anything more than friendship. Long story short...God had other plans! So, although not your stereotypical, Hollywoodized-version of romance, we are returning NOT to the place where we first fell in love, but to the place that God began to intertwine our hearts together. [Enter sappy "ahhhhh" sound from our female readers here]

So, as I said, Emily has been to Nicaragua once before, and I have been three times - once with Emily, again the next Spring Break, and then the summer after I finished grad school. Operation: GO stands for "Gospel Outreach," and its premise is to saturate a village/area/country with the gospel. Yep, that's right...I'm talkin' about door-to-door, in your face, even if we speak different languages type evangelism. Each day, we will be walking in groups of 3 or 4 (gringos and local Nicaraguan believers) going to each and every door/person we see and handing them a book of Luke. During each conversation, we will invite them to central location where we will show them VeggieTales and the Jesus Film (both en espanol, por supuesto!!!). Each night after the film, a local pastor will give a short message and alter call. It really is quite an amazing experience...

Anyhow, as with any trip/project/endeavor that is focused on spreading the loving compassion and truth and eternal life that lies in Christ Jesus, this trip for us has been mired in spiritual battle almost from the beginning. I don't have time to go into ALL of it, but the clearest sign of this is that Emily (who is carrying Baby Williams) has been experiencing her worst bout of sickness/nausea THIS WEEK. It got SO bad, that we were seriously considering having her stay stateside. But, our God is so good, so powerful, and so in love with us, that He has provided us with several ways of controlling her nausea and really has given us peace that she is supposed to go. Exciting stuff, huh!??!

Well, since you're reading this you are either a friend who cares about us or it was Divine Intervention that you stumbled upon our blog talking about missions (this is where the Holy Spirit does His thing in your life...some friendly advice...LISTEN!). In either case, Emily and I would ask that you pray for us (and our team and Nicaragua) this week. OK, here are some specifics:

• Pray for team unity - we've all never met before!!!
  
• Pray for each team member: George M. (team leader), Mindy L., Kathy L., Alli G., Brian F., Jeffrey A., B.J. M, Emberlen B., and us.
• Pray for Loren & Karen Dickey - they have each had some physical setbacks the past few weeks (she had a nasty parasite and he separated his bicep from his elbow)
• Pray for Emily, especially her nausea. She is SO GIFTED in Spanish and has been looking forward to this for some time. Pray that she gets the right balance of food, sleep and medicine to help her ministry.
• Pray for me, that I would have wisdom in how to help my lovely bride accomplish our joint desire to see Nicaragua reached for the Kingdom of God
• Pray for physical stamina for the team...it's HOT in Central America
• Pray for BOLDNESS for each of us, that each of us would allow God to speak to us and stretch us in ways that bring Him in glory (for example...pray that I would step WAY out of my comfort and speak more Spanish that is "required")
• Pray for softened hears among the Nicaraguans to whom we will be witnessing
• Pray for the local Nicaraguan church with whom we will be working...they are SO inspiring with their hearts to serve the Lord
• Pray that each of us (yes, even you, our dear readers) would grow closer to God, learn how to communicate with Him more intimately, and have our lives RADICALLY changed for the furthering of His kingdom

Thanks again for your prayers!!! We know we go with a POWERFUL team of prayer warriors. We are excited to see what God does this week...

Dios Le Bendiga! (God Bless You!)

ADW

Happy Birthday My Love

Today is such a special day.

Today twenty-six years ago my love, Adam David Williams was born into this world!!
I feel an extra need to really celebrate his birth.
You see with my birthday, I like to celebrate the whole week. Well, I like to celebrate the whole month, but I just can’t get people to do that.

But not my Adam.
He would rather not celebrate at all. He doesn’t really think it is that special.
How can he not think it is special? Today is the birthday of the most amazing man I have ever met!

Who wants to help me celebrate?

I’m not over exaggerating when I say he is the most amazing man I have ever met. It is true, and he gets more amazing every day!
Today on his birthday morning he spent it patting my back as I threw up his birthday breakfast. Then he spent the next ten minutes before leaving making sure I was okay. I was sad. I wanted to baby him on his birthday morning.

But that isn’t all. I love Birthday Eves. I think everyone should celebrate their Birthday Eve and then at 12 Am burst into song. This was my plan. Well, I threw up the Birthday Eve dinner. Adam offered to clean it up! Wow….how amazing is he? Of course I wouldn’t let him. Throw up is gross not matter who’s it is but your own is way less gross than someone else’s. I firmly believe all that are able should clean up their own throw up (I’m going to have to tell the baby this). After that incident, I was feeling awful. Adam helped me finish making his birthday breakfast (his favorite thing in the world…pumpkin bread). That totally breaks the rules. One should not have to help bake their own birthday breakfast. But he did.

Those are just his last few example of amazing-ness. The list goes on. However, recently most of them have to do something with throw up which is just a gross topic to talk about. I can tell all of you are slightly uncomfortable. But if throw up was this wonderful, pretty thing than Adam wouldn’t be nearly as amazing for always dealing with it.

I love you Adam! I am so blessed that you were born! You are an amazing husband, and I can’t wait to see you be an amazing father! My life is so blessed because you are in it! I am ecstatic to continue to celebrate a life of birthdays with you!

WHOOP for My Love Adam. You are so worth getting excited about!