Good Job James

My sweet husband has been an excellent house-hubby for the past 8 months while he has been unemployed, but it is time for him to find a job. Don't get me wrong... I love having him get up with me in the morning before I go to work and my breakfast made fresh every morning. He makes me a cup of coffee to go (until I got pregnant, then it is no sugar added juice :). He packs my lunch and even has dinner ready when I get home. He does the laundry and a lot of the cleaning! I really love it, but this life was getting old and he really wants to go back to work.

That was a big part of the reason that we choose ATL, their strong job market. He has been so persistent in applying and following up with a huge list of companies and this week it paid off. He had many of them call him back because they had received 10-15 phone calls (every other day as to not bother them too much) and they realize that he will keep calling. Some of the return calls were to tell him that they don't have any openings, but 3 companies have granted him interviews. He went on one today and has one tomorrow and one on Monday. Thanks for your prayers! They are being answered....

You are a blessing to us!

Riding Bikes

There is really no excuse for how lazy I have been the last few weeks. So today on my day off, James and I spent some quality time together riding bikes. This is the Silver Comet Trail. It is about 50ish miles of lush, green, even grade, pleasure. The weather was perfect and the bug spray was handy, so we went 8 miles. I am so proud of myself. My legs are going to pay for it tomorrow, but we had fun.

Feels like home

This week was one of the first times that I felt like I really belonged at our new church. It is so difficult going from a large church where you know so many people to a place where not one person even looks familiar. Most are friendly, but that does not substitute for real relationships. Another journey of believing God for the things that He has promised just occurred to me this Sunday. Carlos was leading worship (something I was desperately missing). As I sang the words, my heart melted. "You give and take away... but my heart will still say, Blessed Be The Lord." How those words penetrated my heart. The tears are already welling in my eyes just thinking about it. For some reason this is the season of things taken away, but He is never far. We have never been hungry, we have never slept in the rain, but we have been alone and I have had to depend on something other than what is familiar. I run to my God for comfort and it hit me:

I am not alone.
He is not taking away.
He wants the best for me.
He always comes through. (not in my time, but in His own)
So I wait.... and cry (which the hormones aren't helping)
For my graceful God to show me where to go and how to grow.

Our Friends

When we moved to Atlanta we only know 2 couples here. We all went to the same church in Cali. We live with one and the other came for a visit. The Darley's: Chris and Martha, the twins, and baby. All the kids were here, eating chips, playing very passionately with cars and outside, and having a great time! It was a short visit, but they brought the baby, Anna Claire (a good southern name :P). I might be a little baby crazy right now and she has the cutest Cankels!

Mr. Fix It!!!

So I'm pretty new at this pregnancy thing. I don't have anything in common with NBA players(not all I suppose but ALOT!) when it comes to being a multiple father. But here I am about to be a father. Now I'm a typical guy. There's something wrong...fix it. Don't complain. Roll up your sleeve and get to work. So my wife and I are in the awesome nausea phase. Everything makes her sick (except pickles and salt). We have a new car...she has to drive with the windows down because it "stinks" in there. We currently have 12-15 air freshners in the glove box. Every few days I try a new one. We're on mango right now. Orange? Nope. Coconut? lasted 1 hour. Apple? Nada. It smells like a fruit stand when I get in but all she smells is something a bloodhound couldn't find. I just don't know what to do. Yesterday she told me I smelled like hotdogs. I hadn't eaten a hot dog in a week yet I smelled like one. Don't know what to do. We tried to have lunch Tuesday...she tells me to pick the place but my suggestions(just suggestions) made her sick. So I tell her to pick and she started to cry. How do I fix that? I am at a loss fellas. I need some FYI's. Some inside info. The DL. No doubt. I will say that my mother in law, who is great, sent me a book.



I'm hoping there is some sort of insight into what I can carry around to help a brotha out. I'll even wear a fanny pack full of remedies. A Batman utility belt. A roadside assistant kit. So what else does the WWW have to offer. Guys anything? Ladies too...but please don't give me the you just have to listen and be there. I already doing that. I'm looking for tangibles. Carry mints, saltines, febreeze, don't eat hotdogs, etc.

James is keeping busy

He made us a wonderful Korean dinner tonight. Yesterday when we were at the Korean store he said being there made him miss his family. It made me have a small tear.


He also did what he does bast. All this week James has been combing his very extensive (to put it mildly) DVD collection. He was helping Billy, the youth/childrens director at Buckhead, put together a photo montage of romantic classic movie clips for a married life night they are hosting at church. He was so excited to open the boxes that I had to snap these pictures to share with you the sickness. He loves his DVDs (which he even called his "Babies" at one point).

I have been slacking

I am sorry friends that it has been 5, wow, days since I have updated you on our lives. I worked all this week and had today off. Getting up early and having to really use my brain power has been making me so tired. Not to mention the nausea has kept me quiet, but today I caught up on some much needed sleep and spent some quality time with my sweet husband. Here is my official "before" picture. If you know me at all, posting this is very hard because I know that I do not have a flat and perfect stomach. And I am very sensitive about it. But in an effort of humility here it is.

We did get approved for insurance, Yeah! Just waiting on the packet of info to make the first MD visit. James is still looking for any job possibilities and God is giving me grace to accept His timing, which is obviously not my own. Thanks for your prayers!

I guess this means we are...

PREGNANT.

That is a very pink line. Don't worry I tried it about 3 times. It said this every time.

It is a bit of a surprise and I have not even gone to the doctor to get the confirmation blood work, but we are very excited!

Fun with the kids

It is weird to go from no kids to three in one day. James did a great job holding down the fort yesterday while I was at work, but today he needed me... to hold Sohaila down. She had a tick in her armpit. Yes, a tick. See that small black dot in her armpit....
I held her down and was the sweet encouraging nurse and James worked his miracles with the tweezers. He had already researched the best way to remove a tick on the internet before I even got up. So at 9am we began our adventures. He did a great job and we kept Rick the Tick in a plastic bag just in case something happens.

Then we had to make it all better and go to Chick-Fil-A. We Love chicken.

Mr. Mom

So I decided to be a servant and help out our host family. Heather and Carlos were in need of some quality time (hint, hint, wink, wink). So they left today to visit a friend out of town. Well being the gracious friend that I am, guess who gets to watch the kids today and tomorrow...me. Which by the way Alyssa is at work so the "dude" gets to be mom for a day. Nothing too crazy so far (knock on wood). A little crying but as soon as Enchanted started, the tears turned to song. (I'm starting to hate the Working Song by the way) Losiah decided that his food isn't good enough so Seanna was subject to drive by looting. When he did decide to eat his own he proceeds to take his peanut butter sandwich and use his shirt to scrape off the peanut butter (again) and lick his shirt clean. Those asians man. But he did go down for his nap without a protest (God is real, I'm telling you). Now I await, not knowing the adventure that lies ahead when the third one comes home from school in 2 short hours. Will she cry knowing mom and dad have left for a few days? Will she be indifferent...they're coming home and now I get to do things that I don't normally do because you know when the cats away the mice blah blah blah...? Will she torture her poor defenseless caretaker? Excited, sad, accepting, angry, happy? Sounds like the first five of the twelve steps doesn't it? How do you think it's going to go? Or went depending on your time of viewing of my humble posting.

PS Being the great husband that I am, I'm also getting up with the kiddos tomorrow (for those of you that know me, sleep is in my top three things to do list. One is connecting with God and the other is something that Alyssa doesn't like for me to talk about). I'm going to make breakfast and teach the girls about Saturday chores (raking, weeding, etc)...that doesn't sound like fun? That was what we did when I was a kid...that's not as fun as Saturday morning cartoons? I guess that does sound more fun...

Family time

Today was exciting for me. My uncle was in ATL on business, so he took us out to a great meal at the ever classic Waffle House. It was nice for me really to have a piece of home. We talked for about an hour before he had to go to his appointment. We talked about church, life and the most popular.... "so why did you move to Atlanta?" Not that I can blame anyone, but my only response is God told us to. Still waiting for more direction, but we will keep you in the loop.

This is the city I live in

So apparently we life in a very nice part of town. I have to admit that there are a lot of perfectly manicured yards around here. But you know that you really live in a nice part of town when the student drivers are in BMW's. smile. Thanks Carlos and Heather for the beautiful and safe surroundings! We are very blessed to have such generous friends that let us take up a huge piece of their home, driveway, fridge, bathrooms, living room, basement, lockers, and I could go on. Sharing is never very easy, but they are so joyful about it that it has really been easy! And we love their kids, who are hilarious, so that helps.

What is the DDS?

you asked great question. It is hard to find something like the DMV (a very general term, right?) when it does not exist in the phone book. Never fear Google is here. I love Google. Apparently the DDS is the Department of Driver Services and I visited them on Saturday. It was a wonderfully fast experience! I know, I was shocked too. I even got my DL before I left and the whole thing took less then 20 minutes. So I am now officially a Georgia Driver. It is so wired to not have the picture and birthday in the same place anymore. I wanted to include a real picture of my new drivers license, but James said that was not a good idea because it has all of my private information... bla bla bla... he is always right.

I saw a great movie

James took me out to the movies. He really wanted to see Iron Man, but being the incredible loving husband that he is- we saw Baby Mama. We both have not laughed that much in one movie in a very long time. I highly recommend it! If you have ever had or know someone who has had a baby this is going to be funny. Mom, you would even like it :).

What movies have you recently seen and loved?

Ahhh Krispy Kreme

Tonight we had to get our sweet fix. James and Heather really wanted some doughnuts and I am not one to refuse any of the sweeter pleasures in life. The kids were so excited. They pretty much have most of the same things out here that we do at home. EXCEPTIONS: no In-N-Out, or Miguels, or Del Taco.... just a few things that I am missing. This week at work I really started to get into my job description and it seems like it is going to be a good fit for me. I will try to post more about work later.