THE EDWARDS HAVE MOVED...

Yes, we have moved out of our beloved condo in Okemos Michigan back to Chelsea. Chris has graduated and he is on the job search...My parents are moving to Romania with a nice empty house that needs to be occupied...so we are helping them as much as they are helping us. We have been here almost 2 weeks now and Carter is adapting himself quite nicely. He is now a master of the stairs, plays fetch w/ the dog's bone and is feeding the dog quite nicely, and he is doing great in his new bedroom. It has been a great transition for us and a blessing that we have such a nice place to stay.

The job search is hard right now...as we all know how horrible the economy is these days. The competition is high and the jobs are low. Yet, Chris is applying to several jobs daily. We have faith that something will work out in the Lord's time. I just wish I knew when that would be so I could relax a little. Honestly, we feel very blessed. I have a great job and I am able to provide for us during this transition period. Plus Chris gets some "special" one-on-one daddy time with Carter. (Chris likes to call it Daddy Day Care!) They have a lot of fun together. I always giggle when I come home to see what NEW thing daddy has taught our little guy. You should see Carter's football drills and touchdown dance. Are we brainwashing him? He loves it!

Carter turned 20 months on Saturday Feb 7th. My little peanut is 4 months away from being 2. It is going by so fast. Jamie my brother turned 23 today. Carter had to call his uncle and wish him a happy birthday. I think the only word Jamie could understand from his voicemail message was "HAPPY". It was the thought that counts. We are doing great and happy here in Michigan. We will see where the wind blows us and where Heavenly Father needs us to be. Only time will tell. But for now...we love being in Nana's House. Maybe we will get to stay here the whole 3 years they are in Romania...we will see what happens. We will keep you all posted.

CONGRATULATIONS TO CHRISTOPHER J EDWARDS...

This post is dedicated to Christopher J Edwards...He graduated from MSU Graduate school right before the Holidays. It was a crazy busy time and I did not take the time to CONGRATULATE him here on the BLOG. Carter and I are so proud of him. He has worked so hard and has done so well. After so many long hours and long nights he is officially DONE. We are officially no longer students. One year shy of 30. Wahoo...

WAY TO GO CHRIS/DAD! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Love Hil & Carter

Christmas Eve Traditions

Uncle Darby (Mom's brother),Jamie, Jon & Becca and My family all went to Nana's and Pepa's for Christmas Eve. As usual Nana amde her famous sugar cookies (Thanks Teri Harris) and we had our traditional decorating contest. Carter even enjoyed eating sugary foods (rarely happens) as he decorated his "egg-free" sugar cookies. Thanks to a product that I love called "Ener-G" we can make about any baked good that is "egg-free" Jon dressed up as Santa and Carter was scared at first but after we all sat on his lap he didn't think it was "too" bad! Still not happy about it.

Everyone tells me or Becca that we look alike. I see it in this picture. She is so cute pregnant and we can't wait till their little girl comes in March.

We had a great time and laughed and giggled all night. Next year we will have to find a new location as Mom and Dad will likely be spending the Holidays in Romania. We will see. We had a great Holiday season and what a time to reflect on the Savior. Christmas Morning we read the Christmas story to little Carter and he kept saying "Jesus" (only we understand that one). I can't wait to teach him all about our Savior. He is learning so much already. We hope that everyone also had a great Holiday season.

Happy "Sunshining" Holidays

We were lucky enough to travel with the MSU Spartan Football Team to Orlando Florida for the Capital One Bowl Game. We left December 25th and came home on January 2nd. It was BEAUTIFUL and so hard to come back to the COLD Tundra. It was a nice break from work, bulky coats and snow boots. Carter loved everything about Florida...No shoes...no nap schedule...swimming...and LOTS of Sunshine!

(These were just a few of his many unscheduled naps. I did enjoy his cuddly naps in the hotel beds. I was just as tired if not more tired than he was. As Chris found us below.) We spent 2 days at Sea World, and 1 day between Disney World and Epcott Center. This 19 month old has been to Disney twice in less than 2 years of life-THANKS MSU. (Too bad he won't remember it) We played at the pool and shopped till we dropped. We went to the game OF COURSE and were sad of the outcome, but still WHAT AN EXPERIENCE.

My parents, sister and Nikolas her son as well as Jameson my brother all came down to Florida for a few days while we were there. It was nice to share this exciting time with them too. Carter played his little heart out with his cousin Nikolas and the two of them wrestled/tackled (as Carter calls it) quite a bit. Carter is all boy all the time.

Seaworld was so much fun. You can buy one pass and get the next day free. So that is just what we did. He loved the whale and dolphin show and all the animals. But his favorite of all time was the "ELMO" show. He was glued to watching all those Sesame Street characters. I was tickled to watch his eyes as they all sang and danced. I felt I was at "Sesame Street Live" It was great.

Carter was cheering for Elmo as he came out. Doesn't he look excited?!!

(This was at the Shamu "Miracle" Show. It was amazing!) Disney World and Epcot were crazy busy this time of year. We still did enjoy seeing some of the characters, riding some rides and seeing some shows. Carter took it all in and just watched all the people going by his stroller. He loved all the shows and rides especially "Safari Jungle" he started making the elephant noises when he saw the elephants.
This was the "Finding Nemo" Ride at Epcot. Dad and Emily excited as always.Carter was exhausted (note: no socks-no shoes-and pacifier) by the end of Disney so watched the Character Parade on Dad's shoulders.
We attended luncheons put on by Florida Citrus Sports and ESPN, Pep-Rallys w/the players and coaches, and of course the MSU vs Georgia Game on January 1st. It was fun to be there and Carter represented the team well. I saw the first 1/2 of the game and then Carter took a nap in his stroller the second half so I checked the score as fans were coming in and out. I got stopped several times asking me if they could take pictures of Carter. They loved the "Eye Black". It was just too bad we didn't pull out the WIN. We will see what comes next year. We are proud of you SPARTANS-Go Green!

(Niko, Emily, Carter and I at the MSU PepRally. Carter is up top w/ Jessie, he liked being up so high and didn't want to come back to his momma. Look for Javon Ringer (very bottom) to be in the NFL draft.)

We had a much needed and much enjoyed vacation. It was wonderful to spend time together as a family and to be in the warm climate. The flight home was long but Carter enjoyed it w/ his headphones check him out.

My Baby is 18 Months

Been a while since I have updated you all on the Edwards Family Happening. We have been SO busy! (to say the least) As I sit here tonight Chris is still at work and it is 9:23pm and he got there at 8am. That is just the beginning. Today was the 6th day in a row that I worked. Thankfully I am off tomorrow, but I am dreading Thursday when I have to make the 45 min drive to the hospital again.

I do not mean to complain, We have just been extremely busy and this mom is tired. On the bright-side...from the 24th until January 5th I am off work. We will be heading down to Florida for Capital One Bowl Game where the Michigan State University Football team will face Georgia. So the pay off for Chris' long hours is worth it in the end. We just miss our daddy when he is gone!

Just some updates on some recent happenings: Thanksgiving was spent at Chris' families. Thanksgiving morning Carter went bowling for the first time. He had fun running down the lanes and playing w/ his cousins. Carter Also enjoyed some whipped cream on this special occassion. Since he has the egg allergy there weren't many options for desserts, but he was JUST FINE eating the whipped cream as you can see.

Carter has discovered the snow and loves playing in it. When ever he sees it he yells at the top of his lungs "NOOOOOOO" At first I thought he was just saying NO, because that is a regular word he likes to use. But when I listened to the tone in his voice I realized what he meant was SNOW.
We Also has been preparing him for Santa and Christmas. He has learned how to say santa and snowman. He looks at santa and knows what he looks like. I thought this was very cute until we were at the playplace in the middle of the mall and a man was sitting across the play place who just happened to have a white beard, wearing a green vest and red shirt with a big round belly. Carter took one look at him and YELLED "SANTA!" I had to laugh because the resemblance was so close, however this man was watching his grandson play and he was not trying to be santa at all!!! I giggled about that one for days.

Carter turned 18 months on Dec 7th (and is in nursery). It seemed like that day and ever since, he has grown up si much. It seemed like it happened overnight. He is doing some interesting things and definitely has an opinion and wants to be heard. Here are a few things from Carter's world....

-Dr's appointment Dec 10th weighed in at 22lbs 3/4 ounces, 32-3/4" long, and head circumference 18". 15%tile for wt and 50%tile for Ht.

-He has learned so many words now that I cannot name them all. Each day is a new word. Yesterday he said "Todle" for TURTLE, Chris is trying to get him to say Hospital it usually comes out as "os-bi-ble" or something like that. Also when I ask Carter, "Where is Daddy?" He responds very quickly "Fooball". Carter is putting 2 words together and gets his point across very well.

-He is climbing everything, including the pack-n-play at the babysitter. The other day he climbed up the computer desk. He truly is a monkey.

-He has also learned how to take off his own pants and does so when he wants. We try to stay away from elastic bands just for that reason.

-He is almost ready for the potty training. The baby sitter who has a son that will be 2 in January just broke her son and he is wearing big-boy pants and Carter watches him using the potty. So Carter asks to use the potty and pulls at his diaper. I let him sit on the potty and usually he just "holds" himself, but he is interested. The goal is after vacation and holidays we will be on that potty!!! I think he can get it! I will keep my fingers crossed.

-Carter is going to nursery now that he is 18 months...his first day was great. He left my side without even looking back. When we left church he was asleep before we even left the parking lot! He was pooped, but mom was happy. No more wrestling, for now!

-He loves to watch "Elmo's World" and "Little Einsteins" as much as I am anti watching television, sometimes that is the only way I get dinner made and on the table.

Gosh, I could gush about Carter all night long, but I won't bore you. He just makes me melt and giggle, while other moments he has so much energy I don't know what to do with him. He is just so curious and determined.

Last pic I will include is one of Carter and Chris looking at a Tiffany's catalog. Chris is starting him young! I had to laugh but he insisted on having daddy read this book to him that night.

We will keep everyone posted on our Florida vacation and job opportunities for Chris. Yes, Chris defends this Thursday and then he will officially be done w/ his master's degree!!! Yeah, we are so excited. We are on the job search, so hopefully something will come soo.