Maverick Joel

We're having a boy, Maverick Joel, due January 28th. He is so cute, he kept his legs crossed for the longest time and the technician kept making me turn on either side to get him to move. his profile already has Ryan's cute little nose but I know it's probably too soon to tell who he'll look like. I feel much better-only sick once every 2 weeks so I'm not complaining. Except now I have heartburn but I'll take that over throwing up any day. I'm busy teaching, grading and sleeping and Ryan has been putting in some hard work at the lab as usual. We think he'll graduate next August.

Ready for the First Trimester to be OVER

Nothing new to update except that I feel horrible and have a new admiration for all the mommies in the world that have had to endure morning sickness (which I still don't understand why it's called 'morning' because mine lasts all day!) I'm ready for this part to be over with and am praying mine doesn't last into week 22 like some family members (yikes!!) Also, this nice man at the pharmacy today said "erica, are you with child?" and pointed to my tummy which would normally be a sweet thing to say except I'm only 8 weeks and it's probably just fat he's pointing at. But all I crave at night is potatoes and toast which is probably adding to my midsection. But I just cheer myself up my looking at baby furniture online when i'm not working. Okay, off to bed!

We're pregnant!!

I was feeling constantly nauseous and tired the second week of June in San Antonio at my conference. Thursday, Aunt Diana jokingly asked if I needed a EPT to which I laughed off and then meditated on for an hour before stopping at a Walgreens on my way to the conference to purchase one. I then had to participate in a 6 hour seminar all day long among 300 strangers keeping the news to myself. (besides telling sisters, mom, and husband on phone breaks) A week later, Ryan and I were in the doctor's office with a sonogram picture of our 7 week old baby!! We're scared, surprised, nervous and most of all EXCITED about our future baby! She/he is due on February 3rd. If he's a boy his name will be Maverick Joel and a girl will be Vada Michelle.

We had a wonderful time! Thankyou so much to everyone who came out to the wedding. Here is a link to our photos
http://images.wisch.org/weddings/erica_ryan/

We recommend guests to stay at the Radisson. You can go to their website by clicking on the picture to the the lower right. The rooms are very nice and it is within walking distance to the Aquarium. We tried to book a block of rooms but it turned out to be cheaper for everyone if they just individually went online or called to book a room. They run around $85 a night if you book 2 nights.
We just mailed out invitations this past week so everyone should have one by now. If you did not receive one please let us know! We can be a little unorganized with things and we don't want to leave anyone out. We did not include RSVP's in the invitations, don't worry about responding! Also kids are of course welcome to the wedding AND reception. We love kids and we really want them to enjoy the aquarium.
We look forward to seeing everyone down in Corpus in a few weeks. If you have any questions for us please feel free to call!

A precious gift from God

In Genesis 1 and 2, God talks about all of his splendid creation. The earth and its light and darkness. The sky that shines so blue when the sun is out. The other stars, like the sun, that light up the night sky. And the inhabitants on the earth. All of the plants and the animals. From the smallest organisms known as prokaryotes to eukaryotes; some of which are nearly too great to behold.
God brought all of these amazing animals to Adam to give the creatures a name. Adam must have been a busy man naming all the animals and I'm sure it brought him much joy knowing that God loved him enough to give him such responsibility. However, at the conclusion of Adam's task, God realized that Adam was alone. Specifically, the Lord said that for Adam, "no suitable helper was found." So the Lord caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and took one of Adam's ribs, part of his own being, to create a woman.
When Adam awoke, the scriptures say that he said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman , for she was taken out of man." This is what the Scripture accounts, but I'm pretty sure when Adam woke up he probably gasped in amazement as he had never seen something so beautiful before. After a five minute, jaw-dropping, stunned silence, Adam probably mumbled these words.
And so it is for the rest of mankind. When a man finds his other half, and I will argue his better half, he truly knows the way that Adam felt at the first site of a woman.
I believe that this is God's second greatest gift in life. His greatest gift is obviously His Son. The perfect Savior who became our sinless sacrifice to cover up all our sins of past, present, and future. But even after salvation, life can bring some unexpected circumstances that leave us bewildered, reeling, possibly even crushed. We know that the Lord will always see us through our circumstances, but it sure is wonderful for me to think that in exactly three months I will be able to have rest in the Lord and a helpmate that is tangible. Often times, we need to have someone there to hold, to listen to our problems; basically somebody to carry out the Lord's comfort in a real way in our lives. I look forward to having this helpmate in Erica.

Ryan

Ryan...
Ryan grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska and of course is a Huskers fan (Go Big Red). He graduated from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri with a Bachelor's in chemistry and started working on his PhD in Chemistry at Texas A & M in the fall of 2005. He plans on finishing by May 2010. He swam in high school and for two years in college. Besides being with Erica, he enjoys fishing, watching football, reading his Bible, playing with kids and spending time with his (and Erica's) church family at Hope.

Erica...
Erica grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. She graduated from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas with a Bachelor's in Christian Ministry in May 2006. She moved to College Station after graduation to live with her sister, Jessica and get prerequisites for Pharmacy School. She is currently working at Kroger Pharmacy as a pharmacy technician and still working on her pre-reqs. Other than spending time with Ryan, she enjoys studying, reading, talking to her mom on the phone and spending time with her (and Ryan's) church family.

How They Met...
Ryan's roomate, Luke, and Erica's sister, Jessica were in the same department at A&M. Luke invited Jessica to a Friday night Bible study at their house. The next week Jessica brought Erica with her to the Bible study and Erica met Ryan at his house! The next Sunday Erica went with the boys to their church and met the whole church family at Hope. The preacher and his wife, Rudy and Lena, invited Erica, Ryan and a few others to their house for a meal and games. Ryan was stranded without a car and Erica gave him a ride home. That night, Cara and Mike, friends from church invited Erica to dinner with them at Rosa's with Ryan and the other college kids. Cara and Mike's daughter, Regan (the flower girl) sat on Ryan's lap the whole time talking and playing with Ryan as Erica watched in admiration. Erica and Ryan spent more time together with Luke, Pam, Kazuki and other friends from church for the next couple of weeks. For spring break, Ryan drove down to Corpus and met Erica and her family that Thursday and spent the weekend at their lakehouse with Pam and Luke . Erica and Ryan drove back up to College Station together and spent the whole time talking. The next Sunday Ryan and Erica watched a movie with Luke and Pam at the boy's house. After Erica finally got the nerve to grab Ryan's hand during the movie, Ryan got up to let the cat out the front door much to Erica's shock and horror. Luckily when he came back down to sit next to her he put his arm around her and the two knew they were more than friends. Ryan took Erica out on their first date to Erica's favorite restaurant, Pei Wei, that following Tuesday. He was so nervous on the date that he forgot to check his shirt from the pile of laundry and ended up pulling a wadded up sock from his sleeve as they were walking back to his truck after dinner.

The Proposal...
Ryan told Erica he wanted to take her out to celebrate her new job at the pharmacy. They waited until the weekend, on August 9th. He showed up in the same black collared shirt he had worn on their first date and Erica noticed something bunched up in his sleeve. She laughed as she unbuttoned it and pulled out a wadded up sock. Inside the sock was a special note saying he was very proud of her getting the new job and wanted to take her out. Another sock with a note was waiting for her in the truck saying how important she was to him. Half way through their dinner he handed her another note saying he loved her more than Pei Wei's Orange Chicken which says a lot! After dinner, another sock was in the truck asking her to go with him to her favorite park where they spent the fourth of July with the Bittner family-Washington on the Brazos State Park. They drove out to the beautiful park right before sunset and walked down a nature path they had gone on back in July. When they got to a pretty pond, Ryan pulled out a piece of paper with Genesis 2:18, 20-25 and Malachi 2:15. He then recited Ephesians 5:25-27 and got down on one knee. (Erica was crying at this point) He reached in his pocket and pulled out another sock. Inside was a box with a diamond ring. He opened it up and asked her to marry him! She, of course, said yes!