Thanksgiving with the Fam

Today was Ben's first thanksgiving! We went to the Lawhead's house and Ben came ready to eat! He is the cutest little turkey that I know and there were plenty of people on hand to keep him occupied and happy. I am so thankful to have family and friends close by who love us, support us, and pray for us daily! Happy thanksgiving :)

Stone Family's First Thanksgiving with Ben


Stone Fam


Ben's First Place Setting


Mr. Blue Eyes


Ready for his first thanksgiving feast


Great-Uncle Jim and Ben


Ben is eyeing Great-Auntie's Dessert


Cousin Dr. Mike feeding Ben . . . gobble gobble


YEAH for Cousin Holly coming to visit as a suprise! What a treat!


Cousins Cassie and Jeffrey J hanging with Ben

You Have Mail

Ben was so excited to get mail from his great grandma and great grandpa today. It was his first ever Thanksgiving card and he just loves reading his mail :)

Our Cute Little Guy

Thankful for Family

On Wednesday night, Bryan Ben and I went to Bryan's moms house for an early Thanksgiving dinner. It was great to see family and spend time together. The food was great and so was the company.

Uncle Daniel and Ben


Grandma Emiko and Ben


Uncle Daniel feeding Ben

The Best Sound

The best sound ever is the sound of Ben laughing! Hope this brings a smile to your face.

Before you push play to watch this video, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and press pause on the music player)

Jumping Bean

Ben has recently gotten to the age where it is time to pull out some new toys we got from showers, friends and family. He is just learning so much, so fast these days. He has started trying to roll over and just loves to see lights and sounds. He also loves to stand up and bounce. So, Friday night I pulled out his doorway jumper and he was having a great time playing in it! Grandpa was swinging him, bouncing him and making him laugh and smile. I love to see him having fun and learning and playing with Grandpa.

Sick Little Guy

Well, I think that Ben has caught his first flu bug, poor guy. He has really not been feeling well and I feel so bad for him. I hate to see my little guy not feeling well. Please pray that he feels better soon and gets the rest that he needs to get better.



Also, please pray for Bryan as he is having some rough seas in Japan. In the next fews days they will be heading back to land and making thier way home. He is already delaye one more day and was expected, so please pray that he gets home safe and QUICKLY. I miss him so much and can not wait for him to get home. 2 weeks away is 14 days too long.

Hello from Japan

Today was the best day ever! Bryan actually got to use a satellite phone and call home. We have sure missed hearing his voice. It took everything I had not to start crying on the phone when I heard his voice. Bryan is my best friend and I miss him so much. After talking to Bryan for a little bit, I put him on speaker so that Ben could hear him and talk to him. Here is a picture of Ben grabbing my hand and pulling the phone closer to him when he hears his daddy on the phone. So cute!!!



What to wear when you've pooped over your whole outfit. And to think . . . we were not too long ago praying for messes like this. What were we thinking? LOL!

Sleep Tight Little One

Maybe I am biased but I just think that he is the cutest little boy!
But I am glad that he is sleeping at least, it is a rare thing to attain when Daddy is out of town :)

Ben Saying Hi to Daddy in Japan

Before you push play to watch this video, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and press pause on the music player)

And Now A Symphony By Ben

I LOVE my hats!!!

My Grandma recently made Ben 3 really cute hats and as you can see Ben just LOVES his new hats! YAY FOR HATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No Fun

Here is a picture of Ben missing his daddy.

After Nap Time

So Ben woke up with this crazy hair today and we just had to post it so daddy could see and get a laugh out of it like Aunt Staci and I did



Ben's "who tooted?" face. (for the record, it was him)

A Week Filled With New Arrivals

This week has been a very busy one in our family! We have welcomed two new members to our family this week. The first new little one arrived on Tuesday morning to my cousin and best friend Kirsten Miller (my dad's brother's daughter). I am so excited that Bryan and I get to go up in 2 weeks and visit them and see their newest member. He is just gorgeous, but who is surprised . . they make the cutest babies!

Ethan Miller (7 lbs 1 oz, 19 inches)


The other newest member arrived Friday and was welcomed by my cousin Brian Fryer and his girlfriend Dani. (my dad's sister's son) I got to go and take pics for them yesterday, she is a very sweet baby, very quiet with huge beautiful eyes and very soft pretty features.

Kiera Fryer (7 lbs, 20 inches)


With Bryan out of town, Ben has been lacking his "boy time" so when we went to see the new baby at the hospital yesterday he was thrilled to be able to hang out with "the guys". Our cousins Ryan, Brian, and Josh were all there to play with him and they had a great time. Ben really misses his daddy and can't wait for him to come home and play with him again :)

Ben and Cousin Josh


Cousin Brian (the new daddy) and Ben

Cousins Ryan and Josh with Ben


This last pic is of Ben holding his own bottle for the first time. He is not holding is by himself completely, but he held it like this the whole time that he ate and this is the first time that he has used both hands. What a big boy!

Ben holding his own bottle for the first time

A Note for my Daddy

TO MY DADDY!!!

I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH AND WISH THAT YOU WERE HOME WITH ME RIGHT NOW SO WE COULD PLAY AND LAUGH TOGETHER. I HAVE BEEN BUSY PLAYING WITH MY FRIENDS BUT NONE OF THEM ARE AS FUN AS YOU!!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND HOPE THAT YOU ARE SAFE!

LOVE YOU DADDY!
LOVE, BEN

PS. click on the pic to see it bigger. mommy made this pic big because she knows that you like it better that way :)

Thank Goodness for Great Friends

BIG SMILES WITH FRIENDS


MAKING FUNNY FACES


BENS FIRST CRUSH, HOLDING HANDS WITH LYRIC


3's COMPANY: Ben, Cadence, and Lyric


KICKING BACK


Since Bryan is out of town, on Wednesday night I went over to my friend Kelly's house for dinner. She made a wonderful pasta dish and salad and we let the kids play and hang around. It is so nice to have such great friends and support. Thanks Kelly, you're the best!!! Here are some pics from Wednesday night!

Ring the Alarms

Imagine trying to be the quietest you have ever been so that you do not wake up the baby who you finally got to sleep in the next room. You are trying to be perfectly quiet as you rush around the house to get a shower, breakfast, yourself and a baby packed for a work day and you need the baby to stay asleep so that you can get all this done. Then imagine that you finally get into the shower; you have shampoo in your hair and one leg shaved when all the sudden you hear the loudest shrieking sound ever so you rush out of the shower (hair still dripping with shampoo that is now running into your eyes) trying not to slip because you are not taking the time to dry off and you realize that your smoke detector is going off and it is at the top of the stairs so you can not reach it. Welcome to my morning!

So then the neighbor comes over (ecause he is a fireman)becuase he hears your smoke alarm going off so you throw on a robe, (with one leg shaved and shampoo still in your hair) to see who is pounding on your door. I was sooo embarrassed. So he gets it to turn off while I talk to his wife and all seems well. But wouldn't you know, that as soon as I get back in the shower the alarm starts going off again! ARGH!!!!

Then I get to work and realize that I have left my lesson plans and everything at home in my rush to get out of the house (with still only one leg shaved, because I was afraid to get back into the shower and have the alarm go off again.)So I try to call Bryan and see what he wants me to do about the smoke detector and I can not figure out calling to Japan (it is very confusing if you have never done it before) until finally our friend Nate helped me out and let me borrow his calling card. (thanks nate, you saved the day!) Then just as I figure it out, the bell rings and it is time to start school.

Finally at lunch, I get a hold of Bryan and tell him to call me back becuase it is cheaper that way, but by the time he get his calling card and calls me back (it takes a couple minutes to dial a foreign country), the lunch bell rings so I let my students in while I try to quickly figure out what Bryan wants me to do about the smoke detector and just then my principal walks up and sees me on the phone. Luckily she is the most understanding and supportive principal but still . . . could this day get any worse??????

Has it been two weeks yet? Can Bryan please come back home? I am so tired and it has only been 4 days. OH DEAR!!!!

Just One Year Ago

FROM THIS:




TO THIS! (IN JUST ONE YEAR)


I can not believe that it was just 1 year ago today that Bryan and I were sitting in the doctor's office waiting for our embryo transfer, broken from our struggle with infertility and praying that this round of IVF would be successful, that our dreams would finally come true, that our prayers would finally be answered, and that in 9 months we would be holding a baby of our very own!

Some people say that when you finally have that baby in your arms, you forget all about what you had to go through; but I haven't forgotten. I can still remember sitting in that room waiting for the doctor to come in and do the procedure. I remember Bryan holding my hand and gently tickling my face, knowing that I was nervous. I remember that he leaned down and put his face by mine and asked if I wanted to pray about it. I told him yes and I remember that he wispered a prayer in my ear for the child we wanted so badly and that my eyes welled up with tears wanting SO BAD for this to be MY TURN; wanting SO BAD for God to HEAR ME AND SAY YES. I still remember that day, and now I look back and I just want to shout: THANK YOU LORD FOR HEARING ME AND ANSWERING YES!

I am shocked by how much I can love something so small and so new. But more so, I am amazed that as much as we love Ben, our Heavenly Father loves us more, so much in fact, that he DIED for us! What a great, powerful, and unfathomable love!

I hope that Bryan and I can be great parents, that we always remember to look to the Lord for guidance, that we show God's love to Ben daily and that he grows up loving the Lord. I hope that we can honor the Lord through our family and I praise the Lord for our son!

Prayers for Daddy (and Mommy)

Bryan left for a trip to Japan for 2 weeks please pray for his saftey and health while he is gone. Please also pray for me while Bryan is gone and I am home with Ben.