Pregnancy update

i guess it's time to start chronicling the details of our first pregnancy. so far, brooke's had a pretty easy go of it. very little morning sickness. her appetite has definitely changed....she can barely finish a few bites of any meal. instead of her 3 main meals, she's now spreading out multiple little meals during the day. last night, she made a quick little turkey/cheese/triscuit snack for the drive into church.

her cravings are still SALTY! hardly any sweets right now. weirdest food combination craved thus far? hmm....she woke up from a nap a week or two back craving pickles, cottage cheese, and olives. that's not too crazy for her, but it was just funny that she woke up from the nap and instantly had to have that combination. :)

we got our first baby present from Brooke's brother and sis-in-law, Chad and Korie. she made a little houndstooth onesie (sp?) with a red "A" embroidered on the front. and, they gave us a little toboggan and booties with the Bama "A" on there. that kid's first words just might be "Roll" and "Tide". :)

thanks for the continued prayers on our behalf. we'll have another appt with the doctor on December 22nd.

***also, please keep the Gray family in your prayers. Brian and Kristy and their almost 3 year old daughter Helen were in a terrible car accident last week. their little girl Helen did not survive. Kristy is facing numerous surgeries to fix a broken back...the doctors are unsure if she'll be able to walk again. Brian fortunately had minimal injuries. please pray for their loss and their long road ahead.***

here is a link detailing how you can help. try this one if the other one didn't work.

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

Brooke and i are happy to tell the world that we're expecting our first baby in July 2010!!!



here is a quick 3 second video of our first ultrasound. if you look closely, you might see the heartbeat. it's a tiny little flicker near the bottom. :)



we told our families over Thanksgiving holidays this year. we surprised my parents with this picture frame that has all their grandkids and a picture of our ultrasound:



then we told Brooke's parents the next day:



needless to say, we are SUPER EXCITED!!! God has truly blessed us with this pregnancy. please keep us in your prayers!!!

little baby Williams will obviously take over this blog now. :) so check back often for updates!

Carpet Burn Reunion! (Part 2)

here's another one of our originals:

Carpet Burn Reunion!

our college band (Carpet Burn) got to play together again this past weekend. we hadn't performed in 10 years before that! not everyone could make it, but we had enough pieces (plus a "rent-a-bass") to pull it off.

thanks to Tim Ward for setting up the sound for all the bands. thanks to Joel Dilbeck for the invite to play.

here's a video of a song we wrote back in school called "Rain Falls".

what's next?

now that the Halloween party is over, we can begin demolishing the house again. :) i've gotten the old carpet up from the dining room, removed the carpet pad, pulled up all the staples and debris, and put the moisture barrier down. so it's all ready for hardwoods.

pretty soon, we'll also paint the master bedroom. we've got the paint, but just have to get it on the wall.

so we're making strides. Brooke is in Decatur for the month on another rotation, so i should get some stuff done.

thanks for checking in! i promise to keep more updates coming soon!

Halloween 2009

we had our 6th annual Halloween party last night. we had 35 people to show up! it could have been even bigger, but alot more people couldn't come this year.

here are some of the best pics:


Blackeyed P's


Green with Envy


Flintstones


Southerns


Kanye West and Taylor Swift

Kowabunga!!!

i saw this picture on BOL tonight:



i didn't get to see the 1st quarter of the Bama game today, but i want to know how this turned out.

DC pictures

Whirlwind Weekend in DC!!!

to catch everybody up to speed, Brooke has been in northern Virginia for the month of September for a pharmacy rotation with school. she got to fly home on Labor Day weekend, but will stay there until September 30th. so, i flew up there to spend the weekend with her.

while we were there, we had a little mini-vacation. i flew all day from B'ham to Charlotte, then onto Baltimore (much cheaper to fly in to there than Reagan Int'l in Washington). she and Lori Beth and Josh (her hosts for the month) picked me up at the airport, and we went to Camden Yards for a baseball game! it was the O's versus the Red Sox. i think over half the crowd was for Boston. but it was alot of fun to be at a new stadium, and to spend some time with Lori Beth and Josh. they are so great to let Brooke stay with them all month long!

we got a hotel in DC so we could be close to our sightseeing on Saturday. we slept in Saturday until 8:30ish, then hit the town. Brooke had mapped out our course. we stopped and got coffee at a coffee joint. we decided to walk instead of trying to catch the Metro. we got to the main touring area, which they call the National Mall. we decided to go to the farthest eastern end of the mall and work our way back, stopping to see what we wanted. it was stinkin' amazing! there aren't words to describe how amazing these monuments and buildings are. we took a bunch of photos, and i promise i'll post them here soon. we saw just about everything we wanted to see: Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, US Capital Building, Library of Congress, US Supreme Court, Air and Space Museum. we didn't make it across the river to see Arlington Nat'l Cemetary and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier....just too much to do and see in one short day. plus, we were absolutely EXHAUSTED by the end of the day. remember how i said we decided NOT to take the Metro? bad idea. i'm still sore today. :)

Sunday, we went to church with the brethren at Mt. Vernon church of Christ. they took us out for lunch after worship. they are so sweet and so nice. Brooke took me back to Baltimore that afternoon so i could fly home. it was tough to leave her again, but we've only got about 9 more days apart! :)

i'll do my best to post some pictures tonight (here and on FB). hope you enjoy!

ps....we stopped at a sports restaurant for lunch on Saturday afternoon (so i could catch a little bit of college football). and lo and behold, the Alabama game was on one of the TV's!!! in Washington DC!!! i was shocked, but thrilled to watch the entire 1st half!!! we won 53-7, and moved up to #3 in the AP and coaches polls.

"I'm not a dog person..."

i know this reflects poorly on us Bama fans, but this is too good!!!

another month, another post....

i won't waste your time apologizing for not blogging lately.

Brooke is in the great state of VA! she left Sept 1st at 6:45 AM AL time, and arrived at her temporary home-away-from-home at 6:45 PM AL time. if you're scoring at home, that's 12 hours of driving! fortunately, it went well. she didn't get too bored or worn out. she said it's a really pretty drive.

while in VA, she's staying with a friend of a friend. Brooke's friend from church (Kelly Key) was best friends with a girl named Lori Beth in high school. now, Lori Beth and her husband Josh live in Oakton, VA, which is like 20 miles from where Brooke's internship is in Alexandria, VA. Brooke had met Lori Beth a few times when she came to B'ham to visit Kelly. so she and her husband are graciously letting Brooke live with them for the month of September! they are sooooooo great to do that.

the first week there, Lori Beth's grandmother passed away. she and Josh were driving back to AL for the funeral, and they learned that Josh's grandmother also passed away. :( fortunately, they could combine the trips into one, but that's really tough to lose 2 grandparents so close together. please keep their family in your prayers.

so, we ended up flying Brooke home during Labor Day weekend. this wasn't originally planned, but she was going to be alone in VA (with Lori Beth and Josh gone) for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of a long Labor Day weekend. we had a great time. we spent the weekend at her parents' house. we got to go to skate night. and, Bama won big! :)

so i'm doing the bachelor thing. the house is a mess (sorry babe!). i'm working on home improvement projects to make the time go faster. i'm actually going to fly up to see Brooke next weekend (18th-20th). we're planning to tour DC. i can't wait to see her again.

hey brooke! i updated the blog!!!

my lovely wife has been beckoning me to update our blog. i have yet again become a slacker and fallen back on my posts. kinda like i tend to do on reading my Bible. here's to August resolutions!

so, alot has happened since our anniversary:

**i got to observe my Granddaddy's cataract surgery in Montgomery (thanks Dr. Swan!)
**we had our first 3-night VBS (versus our traditional all-day-Saturday VBS) that ended up being a success
**i went golfing with my in-laws in Decatur (me, Mr. Nicky, Chris, Brandon, Chad, and Cade). most importantly, i beat Chris. :)
**brooke and i took a vacation to Gulf Shores (thanks Jerry and Brenda!). Mark and JP came and stayed a few days with us at the condo....we literally laughed our faces off.
**i got a 2006 black Toyota Tundra that i have nicknamed "Rolando" (pictures will come soon)
**we had a birthday supper with my sister Kristi here in B'ham. her husband Scott surprised her with a birthday weekend getaway, and instantly raised the bar for the rest of us husbands. thanks Scott!
**i had the most unbelievable steak in my entire life. if you live in B'ham, find a way to go to Ocean and get the filet mignon. thanks Dr. Schaeffer!
**i became a part of history on Monday, August 3rd. our wonderful county (Jeffferson County, AL) has closed every branch office for car tag renewals except for the main courthouse downtown. this is a political push to strong-arm a new occupational tax. i stood in a line so long that i thought i was waiting to see Moses. after 3 hours of waiting (and moving only 20 yards in line), i decided to come another day for my new truck tag. next time you see a Jefferson County politician, shake their hand for the mess they've made. actually, just shake them.
**we are ALMOST done with the master bathroom. i know i've been saying that for weeks, but all i lack is rehanging the door and installing crown molding. it is entirely functional, though. and that's what counts.
**brooke had the month of July off from clinics. that's what enabled us to take a vacation and let her go to Maywood. now she's back on her rotation at the Poison Control center for the month of August. she'll be in Virginia for the entire month of September, so i'll be posting a signup list soon for who can bring me food. :)

so there's the scoop on our lives the past 6 weeks! i hope to get some pictures up soon. thanks for hanging with my inconsistencies.

Happy anniversary baby! i've got you on my mi-hind!

7 years ago today, i married the most wonderful woman alive. here are some of our best pictures together:

Time to catch up!!!

i am a terrible blogger. let's just get that out there in the open. it's not from laziness, and i can prove it with the following pictures and stories. but i am terribly sorry for slacking.

so, have you ever been cutting your grass on a beautiful sunny day, only to feel a drop of rain fall on your back? but then you realize, that there are ZERO clouds and you were standing under a tree. that's when the light bulb comes on and you realize that you just got pooped on by a bird. and this is what it looks like:



i had to take a picture b/c i knew Brooke wouldn't believe me. :) anyhoo, speaking of my amazing wife, she is stinkin' awesome. she started her 4th year of pharmacy school this month. her 4th year is entirely clinical....no tests or class. she is LOVING it so far. i'm so proud of her!

we recently finished our "Bama Room". my dad came up and helped get the chair rail back up. to celebrate the completion, Brooke got me my most coveted Alabama picture:



we're still trying to find the best place to hang it. meanwhile, brooke and i took a trip to the ATL for a Braves game. we had awesome seats in right field. if you're watching the game at home, just look right above the 390 sign in RF, just next to the Braves bullpen. we were on the 2nd row. the Braves lost 9-0 to the Rockies. Kris Medlin made his MLB debut. we were so close to Francoeur, i could have spit on him:



our annual Senior Member Appreciation Dinner (SMAD) was this past Saturday, June 6th. our theme this year was "Chinese Dinner Theater". we wrote a script and everything. it was so much fun, and the senior members seemed to really enjoy themselves. we are so blessed to have them! don't worry.....we hope to have a copy of the video on YouTube before too long. and i promise to provide a link. :) here is our couple shot:



and last, but certainly not least, we are soooooo close to being done with our master bathroom. remember how things looked before we started the remodel? how bout how things looked after everything got demolished? well, we have painted, laid floor tile and shower tile. i plan to grout Saturday afternoon. then, it's literally just a matter of moving the vanity and shower curtain and toilet in place. then we are D-O-N-E!!!!! that day, there will be much rejoicing.

here's a picture of the shower tiling. i had never done wall tiles before. we used "Rialto White" tiles from Lowe's. the floor tiles were from Mazer's. they are the large 18" tiles. we decided to add some accents to the white brick pattern. so, i cut the scrap pieces from the floor tiles into rounded 4" tiles to add some pizazz to the shower. i even cut some corner shelfs as well. it was stank-hard, but i'm very proud of how it looks.

The "Missing Link"?

brooke asked why i haven't posted anything recently. honestly, not much has been going on. my dad did come and help me work on the house last thursday. that guy is a machine! he worked really hard. thank you, daddyboy!

i took my stitches out friday night. that was interesting. i'll be keeping my goatee for a while until my chin completely heals.

one of my favorite websites recently is www.drudgereport.com. it's a news website that stays pretty current on the latest breaking news. i stumbled across this story, claiming to find the "missing link".

before you go any further, click on that link and read the story. i'll wait.






okay, welcome back. it's amazing to see the so-called "scientific" community clamor over this "discovery". they go as far as naming this the 8th wonder of the world. they laud this as a find that Darwin "would have been thrilled" to see. the gentleman in the video boasts, "people once asked where the link between humans and apes was....now we have it!"

this sounds like "Lucy" all over again. you remember Lucy, right? the latest proposed missing link that rocked the creationist view? fortunately, the truth came out, showing that this fossil was crammed into an evolutionary timescale that it couldn't possibly support, based on the facts.

it's amazing how all the media stories cram the evolution/Darwin view down our throats. they'll get one shred of data that might possibly support their view, and they run with it like it's iron-clad. you've probably seen plenty of shows on The History Channel to know that.

i'm afraid the media can be blamed greatly for evolutionary views and even the uber-popular global warming campaign. one of my favorite Michael Crichton books is "State of Fear". it highlights the agenda that ultra-environmentalists push.

so before you shudder from this earth-shattering discovery of a proposed missing link, realize that God has already told us the truth of where we came from. and realize that the majority of media members are likely atheists who would like nothing more than to spite Christians everywhere.

btw, this is just my crazy idea of how to explain why things look like there is an evolutionary pattern. bear with me:

according to Genesis 2:18-20, God tried to make a suitable helper for Adam. in my mind, He tried making a bird, but that didn't "suit" him.

then, He tried a cat, but that still wasn't good enough. then, a dog, but "man's best friend" wasn't a suitable helper.

then, He tried a chimpanzee. close, but still not right. then, maybe an orangutan. then, a gorilla.

so, maybe He kept making adjustments as He went, trying to make a suitable helper for Adam, until He decided to make Eve from one of his ribs.

so maybe that's why things seem to follow an evolutionary pattern, b/c God made things in a certain order or sequence as He was searching for a suitable helper for Adam.

clear as mud, right? :)

Hooray for stitches!

we had our championship game in our church basketball league last night. and wouldn't you know it, not even 30 seconds after getting in the game, i dove for a loose ball and split my chin open! fortunately, one of our team members is married to a nurse. she got me a large bandage so i could finish the game. but, we lost by 7.

so, after the game, i headed for the ER, where Brooke met me. 8 stitches later, i'm good as new!



i guess i'll be growing my goatee again until this heals! the ER doc was cool. i told him i was an O.D., and he sent me home with some of the suture scissors to take them out myself after a week.

100th post

well, i made it! i didn't think i could keep up with this for long. but i've done alright (i think so, at least).

i've slipped to about one post a week. plus, my Freaky Eye Fridays have been non-existent recently. that may please some of you.

so, for post #100, i thought i'd share one of my favorite pasttimes: watching funny cats.

don't give up on the video...it gets real good near the end.

and don't give up on my blogs! i promise i'll try to do better!

Brian McCann is blinded by the light...

...especially at night games. the reigning NL Silver Slugger recipient is mired in an awful slump after complaining of blurry vision in his surgically corrected left eye. you can read the full story here.

awesome video

did you see the A-Day game on ESPN this Saturday? if so, you probably saw this commercial for Alabama. if you're a Bama fan, you'll like it:




RTR

Baseball season is here!!!

brooke will probably make fun of me for this post, but i'm super-excited that baseball started Sunday night! i'm a big nerd and play fantasy baseball, so i'm obviously looking forward to that. but more importantly, i've always been a HUGE Braves fan.

one of my earliest memories of baseball as a kid was watching Sid Bream slide into home to help send the Braves to the World Series.

i idolized Dale Murphy as a kid. i even got my dad to call me "Dale" for a while.

the names Ken Oberkfell, Gerald Perry, and Rafael Belliard bring back nostalgia.

we used to drive up for Sunday afternoon games when we lived in Macon. we would buy the "cheap seats" in the upper deck, but we would move down behind home plate halfway through the game. this was back in the days of the blue Braves uniforms. i vividly remember one game where shortstop Andres Thomas hit a game-winning home run in extra innings. we were probably 10 rows behind home plate, and we watched it sail over the fence of Fulton County stadium.

so yeah, i'm excited. our tv will be tuned to Peachtree TV and Fox Sports South for the next 6 months. :)

Schaeffer Eye Center

here are a few ads that our practice is running on TV these days. i thought you would like to see a peek into my work life.

Happy Doctor's Day!!!

apparently, March 30th is national Doctor's Day. i didn't know that until i got a letter from a colleague wishing me "Happy Doctor's Day". so, if you see your doctor today, wish him/her a happy day.

i must apologize for the infrequency of postings. i freely admit that the main reason i have slacked recently is because i have been slacking on our house remodel. i've gotten so many different projects started that it has almost overwhelmed me. there are a few projects that i am almost done with, but my motivation has been absent. i think alot of it has to do with the cold weather.

anyhoo, i'm glad that Spring is on the way. i cut part of our yard for the first time Saturday. i quickly realized that i need to be in the market for a good riding lawn mower! that push-assist mower is nice, but our yard is not exactly flat. :)

Nephew, Dinners, Beards, and Trees

brooke's brother Brandon and his wife Cindy have welcomed their 3rd child into the world!!! Nick Hammond Pressnell. brooke got to go visit them just after he was born.





our senior members at church (50 years old and above) hosted a special dinner for us in early March. they wanted to serve us a dinner in return for the annual Senior Member Appreciation Dinner we always do for them. it was so much fun! the theme was "Back to the Future". so we all dressed up in 50's and 60's attire. they really outdid themselves!







for the past 2-3 months, i have worn a full beard. i don't know what really made me grow it, but i kept telling people that i had to grow it to keep warm this winter. this is by far the longest i've ever worn a beard, and today, it came off. i know you're excited, mom and dad! i had a little too much fun with the transitions, as you can see below:













i'm also trying out my green thumb a little. i've never been much of a gardner or planter, but i decided to plant a peach tree in our front yard. so far, it looks like it's taking well. i can definitely see the growth since it's been planted. it may be a few years before any peaches develop, but i think it will be a nice addition to our yard.

It's been a rough week...

i learned on Monday that my childhood best friend tragically passed away. after a long battle with bi-polar disorder, he took his own life Monday afternoon. today, brooke and i attended the funeral in Macon.

it's tough to comprehend what someone with severe bi-polar disorder experiences. i never saw any signs of the disease during our childhood years, but it apparently manifested itself soon thereafter. he had spent alot of his recent years "sowing his wild oats", but recently had returned to church and his first love. as recently as Sunday, he had recorded a prayer where he prayed for strength to live his life for God and for forgiveness of sins. when Monday came around, he apparently hit one of his severe lows and wasn't thinking clearly.

he was a faithful Christian who was a HUGE influence in who i have become. i'm so thankful that he is finally at peace. please keep the Sparrow family in your prayers.

Let it snow!!!

we woke up to a white world this morning! i got up and got my shower at 7:00 am like normal. i didn't even start to think about how it was supposed to snow overnight. brooke had said something about it maybe snowing, but in typical Williams fashion, i said, "i'll believe it when i see it!" well, i saw it!





at first, i just wanted to stand outside and watch the snow fall. then, i had to start walking around in it. then, i couldn't help myself.....i went inside and changed, and played in the snow like a kid! brooke and i had a snowball fight, and then we made a mini-snowman. yes, those are raisinets and a baby carrot for the nose.

we didn't have much trouble getting to church this morning. the roads were a little slushy in places, but not bad at all. our numbers were down at church (only 37 for bible class and 56 for worship), but it was still great. Randy Lyon was our fill-in preacher for Mel (he's at a Gospel Meeting today). he always does a good job. after church, we had a glorious snowball fight outside. way fun.

a big highlight this weekend was that Ben and Amy Boyd came back to visit! they were members with us at Shades Mountain for 4+ years while in pharmacy school. they have since moved back to Florida. this was their first time back to visit. it was so good to see them again!