How blessed

Emily's sister, Rebecca, came over on Saturday to meet Emma Claire and take pictures of my kids. How amazing is it to have two friends who love photography??!! She took some really, really good pictures of the three kids and I am having a hard time deciding which are my favorite! If you aren't too sick of seeing my children's pictures check out her site. Thank you, Rebecca. You did a fantastic job.

Emily has also scheduled meals to be brought over for the next few weeks. Thanks to all who are providing food for our family!! It is SUCH A BLESSING to us and especially to me not to have to worry about what I am going to feed my hungry bunch while nursing a baby, refereeing the two older kids, making sure my husband is taken care of, figuring out why the baby is crying, answering the phone, etc. THANK YOU!! We are very blessed.

Side note: Funny story about Parker-- When Grandma was still here we sat down to dinner one night at the kitchen table: Mark, Parker, Grandma, Maryn and I (before Emma arrived). Parker- "Where is Baby Pizza going to sit (as we had a full table with no more room)? We're toast!" Finally we figured out where he got that saying. Backyardigans episode with the Volcano Sisters which we had watched about every day for a week during his volcano obsession which is now morphing into a fireman obsession.

(p.s. The only way I am able to actually sit down and write this is because Emily just came to get Parker and Maryn to go play at her house with Cam and Tate. What a blessing!! Love you lots!)

Emma Slideshow

This is my first attempt at a slideshow. Hopefully it will work alright. So far things are going really well. Mark's mom, Mary Sue aka Grandma or Oo' Ma, was here for two weeks from our false alarm on the Thursday Luke was born until yesterday. She was able to be here for a week after Emma was born and was a huge help with the kids and stuff around the house. Mark is home with us this week which will be so nice. When he takes off work we are usually traveling so it will be good just to hang around here. I plan to do as much sleeping as possible!! Last night was the best night we've had. Emma went to bed around 10:30 and got up at 2:45 to eat, went back to bed at 3:30 and didn't get up again until 7:15!! Enjoy the pictures (and make lots of comments!!).

Before Baby Emma

These pictures were taken before Emma arrived. Parker took a sibling class to learn how to hold a baby, change a diaper (yeah, right!), and see a room at the hospital where he would come visit Mommy. Maryn and I have also been experimenting with her hair. She won't leave the bow in and her hair is so fine that the pigtails often fall out. If anyone has a suggestion on how to get them to stay in please let me know! I've never done a little girl's hair before!!

p.s. Baby Luke gets to come home today!!! He is back up to his birth weight and doing really well. Thank you for your prayers. I will steal some pictures from Sarah's blog as soon as she puts up some new ones.

more pictures

One of my great friends, Sharon, is an AMAZING photographer and she came to visit Emma Claire and me yesterday at the hospital along with some of my other really good friends. She posted some pictures of Emma on her website if you want to check them out.

Baby Pizza is Here!! It's a...

GIRL!!!

Welcome Emma Claire Ray!



Emma was born at 6:56pm on July 11, 2008. She weighed 8lbs. 10oz. and was 20.5 inches long. Baby and mommy are doing great!

Jennie will post later when she can.

Mark

Baby Luke

Still no baby here but there is a new one in Auburn, AL!! My sister-in-law Sarah was due almost exactly one month after me, August 10. Well, Luke Armistead Martin arrived 5 weeks early on Thursday, July 3rd. He weighed in at 4 pounds, 3 ounces and is 18 1/2 inches long. He is in the NICU still and will probably have to be in the hospital for 10 days to 2 weeks. Please pray that he will continue to do well, start breathing on his own soon, and be able to suck so they can take him off the feeding tube. Also pray that he has no more apneas (where they stop breathing briefly- only had one so far) so they don't have to send him to the hospital in Montgomery. Sarah is doing great!! She had him without an epidural (not by choice) and is my hero! Needless to say that has NOT made me decide to try it! I think she gets to go home today.

As far as we are concerned, Mary Sue arrived on Thursday when I thought I was going into labor which turned out to not be the real thing. You'd think I would know by now but Parker was having decels in his heart rate so they sent me to the hospital to be monitored which resulted in them breaking my water and Maryn was a thrilling ride in an ambulance at 3 am! So none of my labors have been normal- but what is a "normal" labor anyway? So here we are playing the waiting game. Each night I have really hard contractions that subside when I go to bed. I am getting more and more anxious for this baby to get here. I went to get my hair highlighted and cut yesterday so we're all set!! Thanks for all of your prayers for all of my family. Will let you know if anything exciting happens...