Pumpkins and Strawberries

Can you believe that I am 4 lbs 5 ozs. already. I am taking off with my bottle skills, so mommy and daddy can see the light at the end of the tunnel and are hoping to have me home by Turkey Day, but we are not quite sure. Please pray for that!

Here are some pictures of our sweet girl we took today! Emery is now 3 lbs. 13 ozs. Not much longer and she will be 4 lbs. We also got some interesting findings today. They think my doctor had my due date wrong and Emery was actually born at 26 weeks and not 28 weeks. Andrea figured this out based on her just acting more like a 33 weeker instead of a 35 weeker. This has a lot to do with her taking the bottle, and why she could really take or leave it right now because they usually do not start taking the bottle until 33-34 weeks which would mean we gave it to her at 30 weeks when they don't even know how to drink from a bottle yet. But of course Emery did... I mean she has deifed every other odd.. why not do it with the bottle to! So we are hoping that she really starts to pick it up this week and next and will be able to come home in 2 weeks as they originally said. She is doing great though and we are so very blessed. I have most of her nursery done and will post pics. just as soon as it is completely finished!

ELVIS IS IN THE BUILDING

Weekend Pictures

Big and Exciting Weekend

Emery and I had such an exciting weekend! My best friend from Texas flew in and her and my best friend Jacqueline and other great ladies threw me a baby shower honoring Miss Emery!
It was a truly wonderful and meaningful day. We had such yummy food and cakes, the decorations were darling and the gifts were amazing. We are so blessed and loved. Here are some of the gifts that I received. The rubber ducky picture is from my mom in law Mary. It was Michael's when he was a baby and she saved it all this time and gave it to Emery. As you can tell from the picture, it was very touching!
Angela made the blanket, diaper bag and brought the table and chair for Em all the way from Midland! You should see my living room, it looks like Christmas. Gifts are everywhere. We got so much stuff. I also was able to buy several things I needed with gift cards, and got her high chair etc.
I wish Mom and Sister could have been here, but I know I will see them soon!
I still have tons of thank you notes to do, so those of you who sent me sweet gifts-please don't think I forgot about it. I will hopefully get them done all next week!

Miss Emery had a fantastic weekend. She is 3lb 5oz now and growing. They have taken her heat off in her bed and are working towards her holding her body temperature which she is doing fabulous at (one of the criteria for going home). She took 17 cc's from her bottle (another criteria) and is still on a little flow of O2, but that soon will probably be off too soon (the last criteria). We are totally working towards her coming home. We were told maybe 2-3 at the most weeks left! Praise God! I am praying she is home by Turkey Day! All my friends got to see her thru the glass this weekend! They were amazed and Angela wanted to take her home to Midland. She is a love bug! Keep praying and we appreciate all of your love and support. I will post a new picture soon!

More pictures from the shower!

I had my eye exam today and everything was good. They just said that my eyes were premature, but everything is, so I guess that is good!
I am in a new nursery now because my staph test that they re-did came back as having it, so they are re-testing me again. Sure wish that they would just make a decision.
I am now 3lbs 1 oz. Mommy says that I am getting some meat on my bones and finally am growing a little butt crack and some cheeks.
My Uncle Matthew and Aunt Jennifer and Cousins got to see me today along with Emily.
Aunt Jennifer said that Alexis has dolls bigger than me. I think they were a little shocked at my small size, but they thought I was very cute!
I am going to be eating from the bottle 2X a day now instead of one, and they are going to feed me every 3 hours now instead of 2.
Mrs. Andrea (my nurse) said that I will probably only have to stay here for 2-3 more weeks. That made my mommy and daddy very happy. Mommy says that she is very ready for me to come home.
Please pray for my staph test to come back negative for MRSA-the kind they think I have that is not able to be treated with antibiotics. Also pray for continued strength for my mommy and daddy as they drive back and forth to visit me everyday.
Grandee is coming to see me at Thanksgiving. She will not believe how big I have gotten! I can't wait to see her!

As you can see from my picture today, I am growing. I weigh 2 lbs 12 ozs. They gave me back my O2 so that It will help me breath a little better as I get tired and forget to breath sometimes. Mommy says that is called apnea and is common in kiddos my size. They still have not gotten results back from my little staph swab they did, but as of yet, nothing has grown on the culture, so let's take that as some positive news. I am taking 16cc's of food now. That is a little over 6ozs. a day. Mommy saw and heard me cry for the first time to her yesterday and it made her cry too. She is such a sap!
She tells me all of the time that she wants to stick me in her purse and take me home, but she understands that I am in a great place being well taken care of. She just loves to kiss on my little head and I she knows that one day she will be able to kiss on me anytime she wants!
I love my daddy so much. Today when he held me, I fell right to sleep in his arms. I can just sense his gentle nature and know that he is the best daddy in the world!
Check out my little arms and legs and how chunky they are getting. Well, chunky for my size at least! How do you like my little dress? Aren't I adorable.

Sweet Emery has found her thumb!

Please pray for Emery. They had to give her another blood tranfusion yesterday and they did a swab of her nose and staph came up on it. They are going to test it more tomorrow to see if it truly is etc. We know that God can make this come back negative and that is what we are praying for. Emery looks much better today. She has looked kind of puny from not feeling good the past couple of days.

She is such a sweet pea and a true blessing.

Thank you so much for all of your continued prayers. We are blessed to have friends and family in our lives who hurt when we hurt, rejoice when we rejoice and pray continually! Thank you Lord for blessing us.

Happy One Month Birthday

My sweet Emery is 1 month old today! Mrs. Andrea (her primary nurse that you will hear me refer to quite often) made her a sweet sign for her incubator. She is wonderful!!! That is her in the one picture. We love her dearly! She loves Emery as if she is her own.
I can't believe that it has been a month already! In some ways it seems like just yesterday, but then again somedays it seems like forever. In all, it has been 6 weeks with the 12 days I was in the hospital and the 4 weeks since she has been born.
I am so thankful for her. What a sweet, sweet child. I can't wait until the day that we get to bring her home.
They say that she is doing so well that they don't think she will have to be in the hospital all 9 weeks, so we are keeping our fingers crossed!
Aunt Angela is coming for a baby shower on Nov. 4th. She is mommy's best friend from highschool. We can't wait to see her!
We had a great visit with Heather, Lukey, Janna and Robert. We are so excited that they were able to come and spend time. I am so excited Heather got to finally see Emery!

Bottle Time

I have been trying to take my meals from a bottle, but just once a day like this because it wears me out so much. As you can see, Mommy was feeding me tonight. I am very alert these days and I did very good on my bottle. I took almost all of my milk only leaving a little. I am such a big girl and mommy and daddy always tell me that they are very proud of me. I can do real good at drinking from the bottle.
The nurses have said that they don't think that I will have to stay here the full 9 weeks because I am doing so well. I know that it is because God has truly blessed our family and continues to make me grow stronger every day. Mommy and Daddy can't wait to have me home so they can love all over me!

Growing Like a Weed

I am growing like a weed. I am up to 2 lb and 4ozs now. I tried to drink from a bottle yesterday and took half of my milk! It was very exciting for Mommy, but a lot of hard work for me. I was worn out.

You can see from this picture that mommy took yesterday that I am getting bigger. I am even outgrowing my clothes if you can believe that. My favorite nurse Mrs. Andrea even had to put me in a bigger diaper because I am a pooper and the little ones are not holding it all. It is pretty funny when you think about it.

Interesting Week!

Well, it has surely been an interesting week. I went to the Dr. last Thurs. and my blood pressure was high. So she put me on some meds to try to get it down did some blood work for PreEclampsia and sent me home over the weekend to monitor it and told me to come back on Monday.
I went back yesterday and my blood pressure was still high and my test results came back not so good. My liver count was really elevated. So NO MORE WORK FOR ME!
She has put me on house arrest. I have to relax and rest as much as I can and get my blood pressure down.

So today was my first day at home. I slept in, painted my toe nails (yes, I can still see them, ha ha) and rested. I did have to go to a funeral because I was asked to sing with my praise team from church. The lady whose boss was killed in the Lexington Plane crash, her dad passed away. Please keep their family in your prayers.
So, now it is time to relax and take it easy. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who is willing to pick up the slack when I am not able to. He fixed me dinner and I hear him in there sweeping the kitchen. How did I get so lucky? He even took a late lunch to come over and support me and Sandy and the family at the funeral today.

In other news, I am getting very excited for my friend Angela to come in for my baby shower in a couple of weeks. She is coming in from Midland and her and my best bud Jac are going to throw me a show along with some other folks from church.
I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends!

I will keep you all posted on the progress of my relaxation! Somethings are a blessing in disquise!

Tough Week

This has been a really rough week.
We went to see Dr. Campbell this week and found out that Emery is "lagging behind" when it comes to her weight. She weighs 1 lb 3 oz. She should weigh close to 1 lb 8 oz. But he said that we are just going to keep an eye on it and it isn't something to be alarmed about at this point. Dr. Campbell also said that he thinks that I am going to have to have a C-Section due to the fibroid cyst that I have attached to my cervix. He doesnt want Emery's head to pass thru it, so he is going to suggest a c-section. I go see Dr. Karon on Thurs.

My cousin Ty passed away this past week on Tues. Please see my sisters blog for his obituary.
He was such a sweet guy and although he had many hurdles in life, he never acted as though he did. Now he is in Heaven with Dad! Please pray for my aunt Ennie, uncle Bob and cousin Tanner that they would come to know the Lord through this rough time.

I also found out this week and more than likely we are going to loose our contract at work and could quite possibly be out of a job come the end of Sept./Octoberish.
A company out of Lexington is in negotiations to take over the management of our facility and being that I work for Liberty Human Resources who has the current contract, there may not be a spot for me if they bring in their own crew.
I know that God is faithful and his mercy is everlasting and that he will continue to provide and bless Michael and I as we are uncertain what the future holds job wise!

Despite my bad week, God provided some incredible maternity clothes for me this week. My sisters friend Cindy sent me a box of clothes and they all but a few things fit. It was like Christmas!!!! I have so many outfits now between all the things she sent, Heather sent , Mom bought and Jennifer loaned me. I have been truly blessed!

Emery has been moving around so much lately. I love to feel that. It is such an incredible feeling. I am working on getting all her little Onsies and clothes washed and love to pull them out of the dryer. They are so small. I can't wait till she gets here so I can put her in them!

Hopefully this week will be a better week! Hope you all are doing good.

Cindy-what happened to your blog?

My thoughts and prayers go out to the many families affected by the plane crash this morning at Bluegrass Airport here in Lexington. 50 people on board and 1 survivor.
Please hold in your thoughts and prayers my singing partner at church Sandy Duff who's boss was on the flight-as she booked the flight for her boss.
There was 1 survivor who is in critical condition-the co-pilot.
The plane took off from the wrong runway and didnt have enough space to make it into the air.
Such a tragedy, and so close to home.
There was a couple who were married last night on the way to their honeymoon. A man who booked that early flight to spend more time with his kids and several promident Lexingtonians!
Please keep this area in your thoughts and prayers!!!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet sister! I hope that you have a great day tomorrow. I love this picture of us and remember that day we went to Dinosaur State Park.
We have been through a lot as sisters and I am glad that I have had you by my side!
I love you always and forever and appreciate you.
I hope your day is great! Emery and Michael say Happy Birthday too!
We love you tons!!!!!!

Recap of the Weekend

What a great weekend we had.
We went to Louisville with our friends J and Jacqueline and did some shopping for Emery. We registered for the shower and just had a great time.
I got so many cute things for her. I love consignment shopping. There is a great one there that Jac and I hit and got great things!
I had a wonderful birthday and got so many great things. Thanks everyone!
I am 26 weeks tomorrow! I can't belive it-6 Months already. She will be here before you know it and I can't wait!!!!!!!
Now I am going to start on her nursery real soon. I got her bedding ordered and need to clean the room out and get started on it. I want it to be a sweet dreamland for her.

I hope that Heather had a safe trip to Houston for Michelle's surgery. We prayed for all!
Well, short and sweet this time. Gotta run to church.

Sorry bloggers! I am a disgrace!
Not much going on to blog about. Busy week again.
I had my glucose test this week to see if I have gestational diabetes. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I will get the results on Monday.
We took the Highschool kids (well only 1 showed up) to a Christian street concert last night. It was really good. They blocked off the square and had tons of bands, food, merchandise.
We are taking them to the water park today. Please pray for our up and coming events. We don't have a whole lot of kids who are interested in things, but I know that God will work in that situation. We have new people who have come forward to help work with the youth and now no youth!
Please keep my cousin and Aunt in your prayers. Actually the whole family that they would come to know Jesus!!! My cousin's cancer came back in his stomach and the outlook doesn't look good. He is 40ish and has Prater Willy syndrome and she doesnt think that chemo or radiation will be an option because his poor little body can't handle it. That doesn't leave many more options!
But we have a God who is bigger than any disease or cancer and can heal him!!!
Please pray for my aunt for strength as she is pretty much dealing with this all on her own as my uncle and other cousin are of no help!
Well, I guess that is about it.
Miss Emery is doing good. Heartbeat was 140. Can't wait until she gets here!!!
We are still waiting on Aunt Heather's package to come in the mail so we can see what kinds of great stuff she got for us! Thanks Heather!!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

Yes it is! We had a great Dr. visit yesterday and we are having a girl. Michael felt it all along, I always thought it was going to be a boy. We are so very excited!!!!! Let the fun begin! We are still deciding on names, so we will keep you posted.

BOY or GIRL

Place your bets here! We go to the Dr. on Tues. to find out what baby Stone is. I still think it is a boy! I will keep you posted of course.
I am very excited to find out so we can start the nursery and buy things!

DALLAS...Luke's 2nd.....Family Time

We sure enjoyed our trip to Dallas! Thanks again to our family there for everything.
It was Lukey's 2nd b-day and I cannot believe it. It seems like he was just born.
We had a great time despite the 107 and 103 degree days we endured. I had forgotten what that heat felt like.
Here are some pictures for you to enjoy from our trip. It sure was good to see Cynthia and meet Baby Alexander too. What a little cutie pie!

Well, we fly to Dallas on Wed. morning! So excited to be going! Just not looking forward to the heat. It is so hot here today that I can't imagine what it is going to be like next week in Dallas.

It is always great to go to Dallas for a visit. It has been way too long since I have been there. Michael is not looking forward to the flying part, but is excited to go otherwise!
I can't wait to converse with Lukey and hang out with him and my family. I can't wait to take a dip in the pool (something I haven't done in I don't know how long).
I am excited to see Cynthia and Roland and meet baby Alexander! He is going to be such a cutie pie.

2 more days of work and then off on vacation! Gotta Love it!
I am 19 weeks tomorrow and feeling it! My belly is getting bigger and bigger everyday it seems.
I got my hair cut and highlighted yesterday! Sometimes you gotta just do that to make you feel a little sassy. So it is short and blonde again!

Well, that is about it, just trying to stay cool.
Oh ya, we were supposed to find out what baby Stone was this past Thurs, but Dr. Karon had an emergency C-Section that she had to do and we didn't get an ultrasound. Needless to say, It was a very disappointing day! We won't find out now until Aug. 1st when we go to Dr. Campbell our High Risk Dr. But we did hear the heartbeat (140) and baby Stone kicked when we did it and you could hear it. It was very cool. We are just excited that Baby is doing great!
It weighs 7 oz and is 6 inches long. Can you imagine!!!!
Can't wait to find out what it is though! I still think it is a boy. Grandee says that she thinks it would be neat to have a little granddaughter, but she doesn't care of course either way. Gigi says that she still thinks it is a boy. We will see, the verdict is still out! Will keep you updated for sure!

This is me a couple of weeks ago. I was 15 weeks.
I am 18 now and we go to the Dr. on Thurs. to hopefully find out what we are having. I hope that baby Stone cooperates so we can tell. We are very excited to find out what God has blessed us with!

We are really looking forward to our trip to Dallas and spending time with our family! Only 11 more days!!!!

It is like an inferno here today! 93 degrees! I am miserable.
It is days like these that I wish we had a pool to soak in.
This weekend was the 4th of July parade here in Crab Orachard. Last year J, Heather and Lukey and Mom were here and we had a great time. I missed them being here! I posted a picture from last years parade.
Things are good here. Just HOT!
We had a cook out last night at our friends house and we are going to go to another one on July 4th! The Lincoln County Fair is in town this coming week to, so too bad Yall arent here to go to the Demolition Derby with us too!
We are looking forward to our trip to Texas! Won't be long now!
We go back to the Dr. on the 13th, and hopefully we will be able to find out what Baby Stone is! Keep your fingers crossed! We are dying to know!
Michael's Diabetes is doing great. He has not had one regular soda since he found out that he has it. He has totally modified his diet and his sugars are down around 204ish. He is doing great. They put him on Glucophage so that should help too, but I am so proud of the hard work he has done!

Weddings and Christmas

Well, it was another busy weekend!
We had 2 weddings to go to...one Michael did the pictures and I did the sound for the wedding. The other we just attended. It was a couple from our church. It was an outdoor wedding (it rained all the way up to it), but it turned out lovely.
Today we had lunch with Matthew, Jennifer, Mary and the kiddos. Jennifer brought me the biggest box of maternity clothes! It was just like Christmas! There are so many things in there that I can wear! I am so gratful for them and for the clothes that Heather loaned me to wear and the ones that mom has found and sent!
We are looking forward to our visit to Texas in 3 weeks for Lukeys b-day! Of course Michael isn't looking forward to the plane ride, but once we are there, he will be fine!
We will get to stay for 5 days, so we will get some wonderful family time in! I am hoping that we know what we are having before we go home, so I can hit the great shopping that Dallas has!
We go back to the Dr. again in 3 weeks.
Michael was just diagnosed this week with Type 2 Diabetes (Cindy if you have any good Diabetic recipes, send them my way!)
We are really watching what he eats and modifying both of our lives as I am a prime candidate for it to and certainly don't want it! So please pray for him as giving up all the old habits is deeming to be very difficult for him!
Well, guess that is about it for now.

Coolest Picture Ever!

Today was amazing! Baby Stone is amazing! Motherhood is going to be amazing!
Check out the picture we got today from our ultra sound! How incredible is that. We are going to have to wait 3 more weeks until we go back to find out what it is, but how amazing is this picture! Perfect profile! Things were great, He said that everything is going along fabulous and the baby's heart is strong and 148 beats.
Days like today make it all worth it! Thanks Heather for the support last night when I didnt think that I could make it one more day! I love you dearly!

P.S. Notice the words- Profile and foot on the picture! To help ya out, the baby is straight up and down and facing the left!

Daddies

Leave me alone you Nazi's I don't feel good!
Guess I better update before I get kicked out of the blog club.
Went to the Dr. this week. 14 weeks, things are good. Baby Stone put his/her (sure will be glad when we find out what it is) hand up to it's face. It was soon cool. Very active too!
I hear that you are supposed to feel this big burst of energy in your second trimester, but so far, I don't. I feel like crap today.
I am in the stage where my regular clothes don't fit, but I don't fill out maternity clothes in the stomach all the way yet, very akward stage. Thanks Heather for the clothes you rummaged up and the book is awesome and for mom for sending them to me and for the shirt you sent too. I was in the rut of wearing the same thing. I sure don't feel very trendy anymore.
I go to my high risk OB on Monday. We should find out in the next 3 weeks what we are having.
Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there! Jason-thanks for being the wonderful dad you are to my Lukey. He loves you very much and I am thankful you are such a great dad. I love ya too, Mistah Walkah!
To my sweet hubby who is going to be the best father! I can't wait to see him hold our baby for the first time and just watch his heart melt. What a wonderful, gentle man that God has blessed me with and I can't wait to see how he will be as a daddy. He has gone to every Dr. Visit with me and I love to watch his little face when they do the ultrasounds. He gets the biggest smile on his face! I love you!
I pray for our friend Jimmy as this is his first Father's day without his father and for my friend Cynthia who is having a rough time right now with her daddy and the Alzheimers. Also for James' stepdad Dave who was in a motorcycle accident and is in ICU. I pray that he recovers soon.
Thanks to my mommy to, who was Mommy and Daddy as well. I love you dearly so much and miss you tons.
Well, I guess that is about all for now. chat at you soon!

Dishwasher, Sinus Infection, VBS

Sorry again for the long period of time between blogs!
Things are hectic right now.
I had a wonderful anniversary! I got a new dishwasher and beautiful flowers! I am so excited about my dishwasher!!!
I am blogging at 3:30 in the a.m. because I can't breath! I have a severe sinus infection! I never realized how when you are prego your immune system is so susseptible to everything. I am so completely miserable. I got some antibiotics, so I am hoping that they kick in and bring me some relief!
Michael and I go back to the Dr. on the 12th! I will be 14 weeks. Soon we will find out what the baby is. I am very excited about that!
This week has been VBS at church. Michael is the official photographer and my friend Jac and I have been doing the puppet shows. It is exciting to see kids so excited for the Lord!
I had Michael a b-day party cookout last weekend. It was so much fun. We had about 20 or so people. He is becoming quite the horseshoe player!
Work is busy. My boss got fired last Friday, so it is a little disorganized as of right now, but he needed to go, although I hate it for him and his family.
Can't think of much else, so I will wrap it up and see if I can lay my heady down and catch some Z's!

Anniversary II

Monday is our second anniversary! Happy Anniversary Sweetie! I love you so much and these have been the greatest 2 years! Just think, by next anniversary we will have our sweet baby Stone to celebrate with! Thanks for being a wonderfully sweet husband!

It has been a while. I am so super busy at work.
The morning sickness stage has hit the last 2 weeks and it is awful. It is all day. Please pray that my sickness subsides and for strength for Michael and I.

I had a good Mother's day. I got the Willow Tree Figureine of the pregnant woman from Heather and a very sweet card. They meant so much to me!
Michael made me the sweetest card. He is so tenderhearted and wonderful. I can't wait to see him with Baby Stone.
I wish I could have been there to celebrate it with Mom and my family.

Michael is very busy with his new role as Worship Leader at church. He has recruited me to be on the praise team, so that keeps us both busy.

That is about all, short and sweet today.
Thanks for all of your prayers thus far... keep em comin!

Baby Stone

Another exciting day in the Stone household. Baby Stone's heartbeat is strong as can be and beating oh so fast. Everything looks great. My blood pressure is right where it needs to be and I have only gained 1 pound.
Dr. Karon said everything is perfect thus far! Baby Stone was moving around a little too. What an amazing miracle! I can't wait to find out what we are having! I love Baby Stone so much already I can't imagine what it will be like when he or she gets here!

Week in review

Well, another week has come and gone.
Things here are going well. We have had an unusually wet and cold May thus far. Maybe we won't have a crazy hot summer... I will keep my fingers crossed.
Our weekend consisted of our friends J and Jac's son's birthday party at KC's Gymnastics. Man was it hard for me not to get back into my gymnastics mode and start doing it all over again. But I refrained. I didn't think a prego woman doing flips on the trampoline at a 2 and 3 year olds birthdays was oppropriate!
God has blessed Michael with a new endeavor. For the past several months Michael has been in charge of all the Powerpoint presentations for the sermons and songs etc. Plus he plays drums too in the worship band. Well, Vola our pastor has approached him and asked him to come on staff as the Music and Technology Leader.
It is such a blessing, and the extra income will take care of baby Stone's daycare needs.
God is so good!
On that account, I found a great daycare in the town that I work that we are going to check out for baby Stone. It is a WONDERFUL place. You have to have a code to get in and out and they have cameras so if you want to review the tapes of the day, you can. They have so many activities that they do. I guess that is why there is a 10 month waiting list.
Thank you for all your prayers for Lukey. I am sure you have all read my sister's blog on the process, but if not, he came out of his surgery great and is on the mend. Hopefully soon his meds will be gone and he will be back to his old self.
Please pray for my dear friends Annie and Mike. Their son Dillon is having surgery on his little man part as well, and we pray that God will place his hands upon him and guide the Dr's thru this.
Work is going good. Just very busy for both of us. I love my job though and am thankful that God brought me there.
Well, off to eat a bite and get ready to turn in for the night.
Cindy I miss ya and hope you had fun in Vegas.