30

In honor of my 30th birthday today, you get 30 random thoughts from me. Lucky you!

1. The last time I blogged was 10/9 which is Marc's birthday. Tonight is my birthday. Didn't happen on purpose! And both days were pretty awful, actually. :) The kids are being extra "loving" to us lately and helping us learn how to be more patient and gracious. But I couldn't imagine life without them.
2. My newest daughter knows that I am home from work at night and will NOT let Marc do anything for her. She is a little mom-crazy. And Mom is a little Emily-crazy, too.
3. It's a good thing that I'm using the "numbered bullets" setting in Blogger, because I'm honestly not sure if I could even count to 30 coherently. Lack of sleep, anyone?
4. Hey, I didn't say that these would be "awesome" thoughts from me...just random. Your luck is growing by the minute!
5. I borrowed 5 books from the library on Monday. I still haven't finished reading the 1 book I started a month ago. Not like me at all. I miss reading and all those fun things I did before I had a baby.
6. I have the absolutely most wonderful husband on this planet. I am so proud he's mine...(we celebrated 11 years of marriage in between the last post & this one).
7. I'm suddenly getting worried that this is going to be really boring for you, the reader. I mean, I can come up with 30 things to say, but it's looking bad. Really bad.
8. I might start talking about work and how I'm finally feeling settled in my job.
9. Or about how I have no friends outside of work in this state. But I think that's a good thing because I don't really have time for friends right now. My poor children don't even get my "best." Someday, kids. I will sleep again, promise.
10. 10 is twice the age of my son Z who turned 5 last Friday. He is 41 lbs and 46 inches tall. Thank God for His infinite wisdom in making babies SMALL. Can all moms around the world say, "yes and amen?"
11. Raise your hand if you immediately thought of a song by Hillsongs in the late 1990's.
12. Raise your hand again if you still sing that song in church.
13. Okay, put your hands down. It's starting to smell in here.
14. Hardy-har-har-har. I'm actually starting to crack myself up laughing. You know it's getting bad now...are you still with me? "You know you're my friends if..."
15. ...you understand my true feelings for brownies and all things caramel. And add them together, well...you'll have to pardon this brief interruption for a moment while *insert quiet elevator music* ok I'm back. No, there's nothing on my face--chocolate, you say? Not me.
16. I don't know if I'm going to make it through this little exercise. Maybe I'll start thinking of things that happened during the age of the # I'm typing on. Does that make sense? No? Ok, well, when I was 16 I...moved to AL (halfway across the world it felt like), met a whole bunch of new, life-long friends, had my first and only car accident (in which I actually hit the car of the fire chief who showed up on the doorstep of my new house the following Monday because I told him I didn't know if we still had insurance because we were in the process of moving and my parents were in the middle of the USA driving the rest of my siblings & stuff down to AL from PA and the cop asked me where I lived & I said "see that Residence Inn behind you?" and then he said "who do you stay with" and I said "my brother" and he said "how old is he" and I said "15" and it just keeps getting better. So that's why the fire chief showed up at my house on Monday. And yes, it WAS really fun to create that superman, run-on sentence. Thanks for asking.
17. This is the year I fell in love with my husband. Only he didn't know it for a while. God told me I was going to marry him and I said, "Him? are you sure?" Not because he was awful but because he had chosen not to date any girls in order to focus on God his senior year. Talk about your Godly foundations. This is also the year that Marc *informed* me we were going to get married. I said "how about asking me?" and he said, "yeah, we'll get to that later." LOL And the ride never ends...
18. If you're counting, this is the year I got married. Although I was only 3 weeks from my 19th birthday so that makes it all better, right? I don't regret marrying young except that we were young and penniless. Not the best financial start but God knew what was what. And He still does. This was also the year Marc got me opal earrings and opal necklace for my 18th birthday. My favorite jewelry still.
19. I got my wisdom teeth removed at 19. Yeah, not as exciting as the rest of it. My Nana (great grandmother) passed away and went to be with Jesus this year. She was 102, I think? Or 103. I'm not sure, but she was old. And the sweetest thing you ever saw. Wish I had her prayer beads...now that I think about it.
20. This was the year of Y2K. Ha ha ha now THAT's funny to think about! Y2K...snort.
21. We moved to northern AL this year. I worked for an OB-GYN doctor in Huntsville. Huntsville Hospital has the best cafeteria I've ever seen. Marc & I still talk about it. That makes us weird, I know. But I don't care.
22. Rockford IL was the new homestead this year. We lived with the sweetest retired couple, Frank and Loretta. They opened their home to us and were so gracious to try to remember what it felt like to be our age. We tried to imagine what 70 and 84 felt like, but I'm sure they were better at it than we were. They lived in an older home with cobblestone streets. A factory nearby did some sort of metal stamping or something strange where this big machine hit the ground a hundred times a day and made the house shake. I would be lying in bed so still and the bed would move. A little freaky, yes.
23. Moved again but only across town this time. A sweet farmhouse that is now Wind Ridge Herb Farm. The picture under the "events" tab is where we had our first lawn swing. The wind blew over that swing about once a week and eventually the field creatures ate the swing cushions. But it was the best. The picture under the "gardens" tab was our front lawn, but it was just grass then. One of our favorite houses ever.
24. We lost our first little baby this year...definitely a hard year. But God was good, and He is gracious.
25. Wow, we're getting super close to 30. Finally! This year I got mad at God because of #24 and then 2 days later found out I was pregnant. With my favorite son Zachary. What a blessing he is...I also spent 7 weeks on bedrest and gained 61 pounds, which took me 2 full years to lose.
26. This year is very much a blur. I know we went to Las Vegas to visit Marc's sister and family for the summer. Never do that, ok? LV is not for summer touristing, I promise. 98 degrees at 7 am in July is not my idea of fun.
27. I hope we never have to relive this year ever again. 3 miscarriages, a move from hell (not an exaggeration and from which I think my father in law will never recover). And I think I may never look my age...while being a Rock Star!
28. A great year. I had my first daughter and saved lots of money on groceries by using coupons. Did a lot of traveling to see family this year.
29. Moved to West Virginia...started a new job...the rest is a blur.
30. Which brings us to now. I'm going to celebrate by watching a little TV, eating some fresh raspberries my wonderful husband bought me, and switching out my purse to the new one I just got for my birthday.

Thanks for indulging me...hope you enjoyed! Good thing I don't have a birthday for another year, right? :)

Sweet Emily

You're three weeks old already...my last little newborn. So far, the easiest of all my babies. Your face is still new to me; as I nurse you, we stare at each other like newlyweds. Who are you? you seem to ask...and yet, we both know.

So fearfully and wonderfully made; His ways are perfect. I can see that in all its glory as you wiggle in protest when I change your diaper. Your personality starts to show itself in bits and pieces as we figure you out. This dance we do with you in the middle of the night--exhausting but I wouldn't have it any other way.

People tell me I will hold you in my arms longer because you're my last. I think they're right. Your hair sticks up in the middle as it starts to curl--will you have the curls your Dad hoped for when you were just a glimpse of the sweet one you have become? Your dark eyes--will they change as you grow? I can't wait to find out, yet still I say to the night "slow down; I'm not ready to begin another day, still soaking in the beauty of this one."

My belly ached just a month ago; now, my arms ache as you love to be held while you sleep. It's a new pain but filled with more pleasure than I dreamed possible.

Sweet girl, I am so blessed to be yours forever...

It's a non-exciting post. Don't get your hopes up.

Little bit is chilling with her dad (he takes the 1st shift of the night), and I'm a little awake since I had 2 naps today. Don't be a hater, because I didn't get to fall asleep until 2 am and was awakened 3 times before 6:30 am. :)

I've had so much free space in my mind the last few weeks...I spend most of the day either feeding my newborn or feeding myself so I can feed my newborn! I love having more time to think and ponder things--more time for small prayers and meditating on a verse, and more time for pondering my life over the last year. This time last year, we had just moved in to our new apartment. It was a little crazy. I didn't blog much about it because I was trying to focus on the positive, but let's just say things were interesting. :)

I feel like there is so much the Lord has shown us over the past year, and yet SO much more I could have/should have learned. So much more to learn and I hope I never stop wanting to learn. It would have been so easy for us to just quit and move in with parents for awhile because of how much we struggled this first year in WV, but I'm glad we didn't. (I'm sure that our parents reading this are glad too!) We would have been happy to live with parents, don't get me wrong, but I don't think we would have learned everything we did by taking that road.

The biggest thing I learned is that the growing never ends. Either I'm growing in the right direction, or the wrong one, but always growing. Last year, I thought, "Oh, I've learned contentment now...the past 2 years have really taught me something! Let's move on to another topic now, Lord." Guess the joke's on me--we're still learning contentment, LOL. How does that Scripture go? "But godliness with contentment is great gain." For real.

I learned how to be married again...like that kind of married where you're both home at night at the same time and you sleep in the bed at the same time again (because he used to work nights so I slept alone...don't let your imagination run away with you, now). :) Let me tell you, it was weird at first. But now I can't imagine how we made it through those 2 long years of Marc working 2 jobs and crazy hours. It was all God, for sure.

I learned that the world doesn't end if you have to put your dreams on hold awhile. My kids survived me not being home, and they actually flourished more with Marc this last year than I think they would have with me. It has given Marc's body time to heal and rest, and he has really connected with the 2 oldest. I'm sure he's dreading me going back to work in November, but I think he'll do great with Emily. Hopefully she continues to be a sweet baby!

This isn't really an awesome post, but you'll have to grant me a few "non-exciting" posts for awhile until I get my blogging back. It's been so long since I've written anything besides a professional email for work...I almost forget how. Maybe I'll be able to re-cultivate my blogging abilities while I'm on leave. We'll see how little Emily does!

Ok, well, I'm off to bed now. Don't want to waste too much of this precious time that I could be spending in sleep!

What you've missed...

I can't believe I skipped September...I miss blogging so much, but if I have to pick between sleep and family time vs. blogging, sleep/family will win every time. :)

This is the kids' "first day of school 2010" picture. One of the best pictures they have ever taken together. Zachary is in preschool again--he misses the Kindergarten cutoff by a few months due to his November birthday. He goes 3 days a week (half days) and just loves it. Kenna is in 2 yr old "preschool," which is really more like a "parents day out" program. She goes once a week, on Tuesdays. They go to the same preschool--we feel really blessed to have found this school and it's super close to our house, which is always a plus!

My last pregnancy picture, taken at 35 weeks. I always forget to take that "last picture" before delivery. Must be the contractions... :)

And...here she is! This was taken at 1 week old. It's a little blurry but oh-so-cute and I just had to post it. Emily Jayne...she was 7 lb 4 oz and 19 inches long. Born on Friday, Sept 17th (2 1/2 wks early).

I had another c-section (my 3rd and last) after going into labor all on our own at 37 weeks 4 days. Guess my babies just like to be early! It was quite the crazy day in the hospital--there was a massive thunderstorm the night before and the nurses said whenever the air pressure changes like that so drastically, they get a lot of women in labor all at once. They originally told me that morning that if I indeed continued to labor and deliver that day, I would end up recovering in the triage room because they did not have any available beds for me. Crazy!! This is not a small hospital, either...

I started having regular contractions about 5 pm on Thursday night which continued throughout the night, getting stronger when I moved around. I went to the hospital about 9:30 Friday morning and had more contractions :) until they decided to go ahead with my c-section about 4:30 pm. A few emergencies and 4 hours later, she was born. It was a long 4 hours, I'll tell you that!

I had the best hospital stay and the best recovery of all 3 surgeries--I feel really thankful and blessed. Just look at these cuties!

We went home 40 hours after surgery, and are having a great, sleepless few weeks together. :) In all seriousness, Emily is a pretty calm baby and sleeps as decently as you can expect a newborn to sleep. I am home from work on maternity leave until Nov 1st, and Marc is a stay at home dad, so we are all together as a new family of five. It's pretty great since we can take shifts with the kids, and my recovery is going SO well. I haven't had any pain meds at all (even advil) in several days and am finding the whole experience a little hard to believe compared to my other 2 c-sections. Nothing like the power of prayer--thanks to all who have prayed.

Emily had her 2 week checkup today and is doing great. She weighs 7 lb 7 oz today and her dr said she's gaining weight wonderfully. Zachary absolutely adores her; Kenna "mostly" does. :) The day we brought her home from the hospital she said loudly, "I don't like that...I don't want that!" No shyness there...but now she loves her "baby Emmy" as long as Mommy isn't nursing her. We're getting there!

Mostly we love having 3 kids--the transition has not been anywhere near what going from 1 to 2 kids was. We had Nana (Marc's mom) here for the first week to help us, and oh, what a help she was!! I don't think we could have done this well without her. We've had a few days this past week with some whiny older kids and fussy babies when we think, "where are the grandparents?" LOL But overall we're loving this new experience.

Maybe I'll be able to post more while I'm off work. I get pretty fast at typing with one hand while feeding Emily. :) Excited about this fall and all the great things ahead!

33 weeks

Well, I promised some pictures--here they are!


These two have stolen my heart...I know I'll miraculously have room for another very soon, but it's hard to imagine! This was from one of our many "chocolate chip pancake Saturdays."


Kenna telling me "Mommy, I pretty!" She had found this dark green (thankfully washable) marker and done this all in the 3 minutes it took me to realize she was being very quiet. :) She keeps us busy, that's for sure!

Me and Emily, 33 weeks today. My staff and a few others at work surprised me with a baby shower today--I honestly had no clue. Not sure I deserved a baby shower for my third baby, but I feel super blessed and we got some really cute stuff for Emily, too!

I know it's hard to imagine the size of it, but trust me, that belly is not small. At least I'm mostly belly, right? :)

Last but not least, baby Emily! This was a 3D taken at 27 weeks, so about 6 weeks ago. But doesn't she have a sweet face? She has the same chin as my other 2 kids

Well, it's 9 pm. I should be balancing my checkbook right now, but after balancing other people's accounts all day, I just don't feel like it. I'll probably veg out to some Food Network or HGTV and then head to bed. It's a very exciting night here at the Stone house!

Summer

Where did it go? Sadly this blog has been neglected. How depressing is it that I didn't even know my background wasn't showing up anymore? :)

I really miss the time I used to have to ponder life & archive my thoughts. Lately, I'm just thankful I get to eat 3 meals a day and fall into bed every night!

A few updates:

Pregnancy

I am 32 weeks pregnant now (well on Monday I will be--it just sounds better!). Baby Emily is moving like crazy. Although I vaguely remember this stage, it always seems like "my other babies never moved this much!" But then again, I do remember thinking that when I was pregnant with Kenna--so I'm pretty sure it's just my memory and that all babies move that much. Her full name is Emily Jayne. Marc picked it out & I love it too. I told him I was too busy to think about baby names, which I'm sure sounds ridiculous, but it's really true. After thinking all day at work, the last thing I wanted to do was come home and think hard about a possible baby name! Anyway..

I am scheduled for my c-section on Monday, 9/27, unless I go into labor earlier. It's hard to believe that I can actually say "next month I am having a baby." And yet, I am so grateful to know that there is an end in sight! No complications this time around, except a little hiccup--at 28 weeks I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. So far it's been mild, I can control it mostly with my diet, and other than the fact that I nightly mourn my ice cream, cookies, donuts, pizza.....I'm doing great. Hee hee At least I'm keeping my weight gain under control, right?

50 days and counting.


Family

Marc got a part time job, ironically for the same hospital I work for. It feels weird to work at the same place, but we're never there at the same time. He works weekend nights, every other weekend. It works out well because he loves the quiet at night and I'm home those weekends to watch the kids while he gets some sleep. All in all a good arrangement that is allowing us to pay off a little more of our debt....which is always a good thing!

Zachary's adjusted fairly well to being out of school--something I was definitely concerned about. It helps tremendously that we have a nice big pool in our apartment complex; Marc & kids visit a few times a week as the weather allows, & I've even managed to join them several times. He is "almost 5" as he likes to say and is counting down the days until school starts next month and he can celebrate his 5th birthday to "be as old as Grant" (his friend at school). He was a ring bearer in my sister's wedding a few months ago and LOVED his tuxedo. Seriously, he cried when we told him we had to give it back to the Bridal shop! It was a highlight for me, watching him enjoy something so much. He writes his name and can even sight read several words and sound a few words out. I'll bet he'll be reading by this time next year--he loves words. He is still the ultimate flip-flop lover, and cries when we make him wear sneakers if it's raining. He would wear them in the snow if we let him!

Kenna Boo has grown about 3 inches in the last 3 months. She's not my baby anymore, and definitely looks and acts like a 2 yr old (her birthday is 1 month away). She has beautiful hair and is finally enjoying me putting it in pigtails. Necklaces, bracelets, purses, shoes...she loves all the girly stuff and says "pretty, Daddy!"--but at the same time, won't hesitate to dig in the dirt & mud outside. She is desperately trying to be "like Bubba" in pretty much every way. Monkey see...Monkey do. Her vocabulary has really grown over the last few months, and we're enjoying hearing all her new words. "Nuggles" is one of her favorite words and she is not shy about requesting nuggles. She even knows how to use nuggles to her advantage and will pretend she wants nuggles just to sit in your lap to eat what you're eating or play at the computer. Reading is also a favorite activity and we're at the "read every book 600 times in a day" stage. Fun. :)

And me...well, I'm here. I was re-reading a few posts before starting this one, and I read the post about manna. What's interesting is that my Bible study today was about manna--basically how the Israelites were crying out to the Lord for answers and provision. He sent them manna and they said "what is it?" They wanted food but didn't expect that kind of food, you know? The study was challenging us to think about what ways we might be experiencing that in our own lives. I was thinking back to this time last year and how we were desperate for change (Marc's work, finances, etc). And yet we never thought He'd answer the way He did...and in lots of ways we're still figuring it out and saying "what is it?" I'm trying to focus more on thankfulness and God's provision. He knows and understands how each minute of each day fits into His master plan--I'm excited to think that one day I'll know how all this fits in!

I promise I'll post a few pictures soon. I've got some sweet ones of Emily (3D/4D) and a few others of the kids I need to put up. It's been too long since I did that. Hope this post finds you all well, and I also hope that I get to post again before my baby is born!

Peace.

Stirring

It's this feeling I get inside sometimes. A swishing of the soul and a churning of the thoughts. I wonder more...ponder more...sigh more.

A restlessness in me. What is it, Lord?

"Be still, and know that I am God."

"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength."

"The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made."

"Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always."

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

On the evening of the first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you!' After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, 'Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.' And with that he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'

And so, I breathe. And I receive the Holy Spirit. My Comforter, my Counselor, my Teacher, my Guide.

My heart stirs and speaks the truth: "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever--do not abandon the works of your hands. O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discren my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, O Lord...Where can I go from your Spirit?...If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast."