Baby bird on porch

Major Storm last night

The winds were horrible, had to be at least 75 mph! Our power went out last night and then finally returned around 4 today. I am so used to sleeping with a fan so last night was very very hot and I didn't get much sleep at all. I am hoping for a better sleep tonight.

I feel so bad for the people who have suffered from this storm. Lives lost it's so sad. It was a very strange storm for sure!

Carl Fell and hit his head :(

My poor Carl faught a cement floor and lost!

Sewing Class 101

Finished 3 out of 5 skirts for Rebecca!

We have a date!

Cassia Rose Merrell is scheduled to arrive on August 9, 2012! We are so excited!

Poor Buddy!

Carl Slammed his fingersCarl Slammed his fingers

in the screen door, however Mr Pinky got it the worst!

And Yes! He screamed!

Dr. Visit

I went for my visit and all went well. I asked her to check me, as many of the contractions are becoming painful, and I was concerned perhaps maybe I was a little dilated. Sure enough, 1cm. However cervix is thick and high still so she is not concerned at this time.
 I told her of my extreme fatigue and she increase my iron to daily dosage verses 3xs a week. She said hopefully it will bring more energy for me.
I am scheduled for a 2 week visit and then drop to once a week! The count down is really on! I do have another schedule sonogram to monitor lil' miss Cassia's size. I still have sugar in my urine. It could signal I am Gestational Diabetic. So I assume that is why they are checking her size again. It's so close now. Wow!

Dr. gave me the go ahead to travel this weekend. We are going to do a youth camp in Millers Creek NC. I plan to rest as much as possible. I am hoping for a great Youth Camp!

33 Weeks!

Oh my we are inching closer and closer! I am doing well over all. I am having a lot of fatigue, but with just the fact of being pregnant that is usual, however, my iron is low as well. Something I have never had to deal with before. I feel very drained. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow or if I recline in my chair...poof gone, out like a light.

The Braxton Hicks contractions are getting stronger, and some really are uncomfortable. I will be telling them about those, I may need to be checked out.

My pelvis is actually doing better. I am very surprised at this. However, I welcome the relief! :)

My next Dr visit is on Thursday, I should know after that my c-section date! Yay! Also I will either drop to every 2 weeks for my visits or 1 week. That lets you know we are really headed to delivery day soon!

I wonder what she will look like. Everyone in the house thinks she will look like Carl. I hope she does. :) I wonder what she will weigh since they claim she is a lil fatty already because she measures 2 weeks ahead of schedule. We won't have to wonder much longer will we!?

32 weeks!

wow, the count down is on! So hard to believe we are in the last few weeks. Baby stuff is everywhere! Literally! Unbelievable for sure. I feel good. Pelvis is hanging in there. Yesterday I had a pretty good day. Not sure yet what today holds, seems like it may be a bit more sore. Cassia is moving as I type. She wiggles a good bit.

My iron is still low. it is supposed to be 12 and mine is like 9.5 I think. So I dunno what is up with that. I am taking iron, and eating iron rich foods but it's not coming up yet. I will discuss it with the Dr when I go back.

My heartburn is now controlled with a pill. So I have cut way back on the tums! I go through more than a bottle of tums a week unless I take the antacid pill, which is safe to do. :) No reflux yet. which is good!

Well, I need to get house work done, but can't if I sit here all day. :) Have a great day my friends and family!

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My Stove Room

While gone to shower Jasper carpeted Stove room.
 It looks so much better!! Carl's bed is in there for now.
Carl's room will begin being framed within the next 2 weeks!

Baby Shower!!

Renee did an excellent job on my cake!

Opening Gifts

Jackie's list from one of the games

Gail opening gift from Game she won!

Granny Powers, Gail, Missy, Sis Hedrick

Opening Gifts again!

Looking at the cute stuff

Bella Grace wearing a bow!

Cute Dress

Playing a Game

So many cute dresses!

Candice, Jessi, Lori, And Missy

Awww look at all the goodies! That is Sienna in the back ground :)

Bella Grace wants the shoes!

Having a good laugh at something!

Brittany and JJ bought this!

Sarah opening her prize

The Cake!

Jessi, Lori, Missy, Annabelle, Candice and Tammy

Oh wee! Another dress!

Cutting the cake

Bibs!

Look at those bloomers

A second Boppy

A beautifully hand made blanket with matching booties. Notice my face,
I was close to tears because the woman that made this
lost her baby shortly after I had lost mine a year ago. Her pregnancy was far advanced
it has been hard on her and I know that this took a lot for her to make.

Still cutting cake

The Gift Table

Gabbing lol

This Is Jackie, My new daughter in laws mom!

Always Obey GOD!!

Zachary & Sister, Katelyn

I wanted to share this with you all. It has been really amazing! Our church has a missions work in Africa. We have entered into the Rift Valley where the Masai are located. They have done child sacrifices for many generations. Since the Lord opened the door for our Pastor to go in, they have come to Christ by the HUNDREDS! On his last trip in just 2 weeks ago the Witch Drs killed someone in protest to the people turning to Christ and are trying to scare our Pastor. He said he must return even if it costs him his life. 

Sunday night, my DH, Jasper, felt led to have all the children in our church anointed and prayed for. He said that he felt that the witch Drs were going to be trying to come against our children in retaliation. A spiritual warfare. So we lined them up and prayed. Each child anointed. 

Yesterday, one of the Mothers called me to say that she was very thankful DH had obeyed God because her 4 year old son had accidentally swallowed a decorative gem stone, the flat kind you put in tanks or flower pots etc... It became lodged in his throat and cut his airway completely off. She said he had a terrified look in his eyes and was grabbing his chest. Somehow he managed to do a hard swallow and it went down. She believed that the prayer the night before is what saved his life. I did too!

Then today she calls me again and says you will not believe this.... We were in Walmart doing some shopping and all of a sudden Zachary turns color, has tears running and has grabbed his throat, his air way totally blocked....AGAIN! The stone had never went completely down as once thought and somehow became lodged again. So she grabbed him up, takes him in the bathroom trying to get it up and again he manages to swallow it down. 

This is when it gets amazing.....

A man walks up as they come out of the bathroom asking did something just happen to him. she says yes, and hje proceeds to pull fruit from his cart and says here let him eat this so that it will push that down.....Uh, she never told him what happened.....he seemed to know and began telling them what to do if it came up again. Okay, so they go to leave. This guy had a cart FULL of food, but when they saw him in just a few minutes going out the door he had NOTHING with him.  

I said to her, sounds like "Angels unaware" to me. She agreed! She got to crying and praising God...it was something! 

At the Drs, they did an xray, and the rock is now in his stomach. The Nurse said Mrs Powers,  your son got a miracle today! She said it several times, and so Sarah began to share the Africa situation and the fact DH felt led to pray. The nurse began to cry and said I am so glad I can be a part of seeing this miracle. 

Then the nurse says...Powers, Powers....Hey, we just bought a car from your Pastor for our son! 

I thought that was just amazing how God brought all that together. 

We need to always be obedient to the spirit of God. I shutter to think what would have been the out come had my DH not yielded to the moving of God. It has been a real eye opener! One preacher we knew many years ago said the first voice you hear telling you to do something is God, the one trying to talk you out of it is Satan. He said always listen to the first voice. 

I want to be obedient to the spirit of God, now more than ever!

God bless, hope you enjoyed hearing what God did for little Zachary!

31 Weeks!

It's hard to believe it's getting closer to the time of arrival of our baby girl. Cassia is definitely growing! I can tell she is running out of room in her comfy little place she has called home since day 1 of her creation.

Last night she had moved into a position that put a lot of pressure on the right side of my pelvis. It was very uncomfortable and I had gone to the grocery store to pick some things we needed up. I scared the cashier because as I was swiping my card I was saying owe owe owe...she stops and just looks like uh oh...lol I told her it was okay she was just in a weird position and it was not the greatest. :)

This week I have been getting things in the mail for Cassia from my sister Linda. It has made everything "real" now. Even Jasper had a grin on his face. The count down is on 8 weeks left!

I have a goal this week to get the stove room emptied of all the boxes and set up and carpeted. We were going to use vinyl but Jasper says he gets carpet so easy from the job he works that it would be easy to replace when tracked. So as soon as I can get that ready he will carpet it. I made some progress yesterday. It was noticeable too. I am hoping to make more progress today. :)
Having just 8 weeks to complete my list of to do's I feel a little stressed. I have a feeling I have less than 8 weeks. Not because she might come early, but because I think I will be out of commission from the pelvic pain.
So I need to work as fast as my waddling self can work. lol Moving during pregnancy is awful for sure! I do not recommend it to anyone.

We are gearing up for our first room addition. Carl is in need of a bedroom. Though it will be small it will be his own room. It should not take too long to get dried in. Jasper and Samuel will build that. Then, later we will build a kitchen and living room and turn current living room into master bedroom with a bathroom. At that time Carl will get the old master bedroom and Cassia will get Carl's small room. It will make a total of 7 bedrooms when completed! I love being married to a jack of all trades! We save thousands on labor charges!

Well I hear everyone beginning to stir, so I will close this for now. I am taking Samuel shopping today. :)

Belly moving

Baby moving

My Dr Visit Yesterday/30 weeks!

The visit went well. Cassia measured larger still but in the normal range. They said her tummy is fat. But no masses. That is good. So she is doing very well and is at this time head down, but not settled into the pelvic cavity yet. So that means she can crawl around and move into different positions still.

My pelvis was a whole other conversation. Dr is convinced that I separated my pelvis again. Here is a diagram of the pelvis and a link to help you understand what I am referring too.

# 5 is where my problem is at.

You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pubic_symphysis

She also stated that when I had Rebecca and my pelvis broke, that the bone grew back "vertically" I need to ask her about that again when I go back so I can fully understand that one. Regardless, my days of natural childbirth are over. Trust me after 4 natural births I am fine with that...lol! C-section is hard but after a week you feel pretty good, just like in a natural childbirth. I purchased a belt to help me in recovery. It helps hold belly in. I needed that last time. I used a pillow instead. The belt will hold me better.

Ustream link to Wedding!

Click here to view the wedding!

It's been busy

Wow a wedding can make for a crazy time. Our rehearsal snack/dinner hit a snag that I should have thought about. However, pregnancy fog must have blinded my thought process...lol I was heading to town on Friday morning to buy what we needed for the dinner after rehearsal and went to the fellowship hall. Just going to stop in and see how dinner for the wedding was coming along, it never occurred they were already decorating!! I nearly had a stroke, we had to find somewhere else quickly to have a dinner! Thank the Lord it only took 20 minutes and we were set to use another building on the grounds. So I continued to run my errands and took things to the house and to the building. Then Samuel and I began to set up the tables and chairs. I forgot about a puddle of water that was beside the door and I slipped and fell. The actual fall or landing did not hurt, but the splits that it put me in on the way down killed my poor damaged pelvis. I was in horrible pain by that night and nearly crying with every move. Saturday, the day of the wedding God really helped me! I felt so good! Then today, the pain was back. At least the Lord helped me with the wedding. The main thing is Cassia is fine! She has been moving around kicking.

The wedding was beautiful and JJ and Brittany are headed to Hawaii as I type this! I can't wait to hear about the trip when they return.

JJ got married!

It was such a beautiful day! JJ and Brittany are heading to Hawaii! Praying for traveling grace and God's hand of protection while they are away.

FWD:

My boys!

FWD:

Fellowshiphall Decorated for JJ's Wedding