Fravels: The Journey Continues...

Evan

2011-07-02T00:09:00.003-04:00

Evan is just fine but will be having surgery at the end of August. They say this will be harder on us than it will be on him. As tough as it will be to watch him go through this, we trust that God is with him and will be there beside him, protecting him, when we can't! So thankful for an otherwise healthy little boy and all that he brings to our family! A HUGE thank you, for your prayers for Evan!

Our prayer would be that God would bring peace to all the those children and their families that struggle with horrible disease and sickness everyday!

Thank you,

Josh & Mary

Not letting the "Fear of the Unknown" cripple me!

2011-06-27T15:33:00.010-04:00

An e-mail that I sent out to family regarding Evan.
I thought you might want to read exactly what it is we are going to be evulated for on thursday. Please keep us in your prayers thursday...there is no easy way to walk into this! It's downright terrifying to have to even consider that you might have to put your child through anything! Just ignoring it, has been the only way I/we have managed to get through the last 4 weeks without dwelling on the "what if's". Trying to stay as busy as possible this week to keep my mind off it.
Four weeks ago, I took Evan for his 18 month Dr appt. Well to get straight to the point, he has a condition called Hydrocele, and it basically means he has fluid on his testicle that should not be there. Although it is not always swollen or inflated, as it was that day, it could indicate an underlying problem or more commonly, the need for a surgical repair to close it. You can Google this, and come up with a whole bunch of stuff that will freak you out, but I wouldn't suggest doing it! The short end of it is that, as many as half of little boys are born with an opening that hasn't closed and it allows fluid to pass through, resulting in a fluid build up and a swollen testicle. Most will close up by a year, Evan's didn't. So, on June 30 @ 2:00 we are headed to Penn State Children's Hospital in Hershey to see a pediatric surgeon. (yep when I heard the Dr. say Evan followed by Pediatric surgeon in the same sentence, my heart felt like it was going to pop out of my chest too!!)
There is SO much information out there....but we are making a choice not to focus on ANY of it, until we see that Doctor in Hershey. We aren't even going to talk about it, until we know more! His Ped. assured this worried Mama that they will not do anything invasive or otherwise on that day. He is simply going in to be evaluated. We don't want to alarm anyone, but we just wanted to let you know so that you might be in prayer for Evan before we head to that appt. You can join with us by praying that the opening closes and that any/and all resulting issues or underlying problems, self correct before we get there!!! Please Lord let this be the case and let us close the book on this as quickly as possible!!! Also for Josh & I, or me in particular, to remain calm and not dwell on it!! It's scary to think about, that's why we aren't. We know that God is in control - just a little hard to stay calm when it's your child they are talking about!! Thank you Lord for entrusting us with Evan and for the joy that he brings into our lives!

Fall 2010

2010-10-17T13:13:00.005-04:00

Josh joined Evan and I for a hike today. We had a great time in the woods....Riley can hardley stand still long enough for the pictures. What another BEAUTIFUL fall day - LOVING this weather and don't want it to end!
On another note, teething is BRUTAL for Evan and making him feel just terrible - Poor baby!!

And here is the rest of my harvest for the year. I potted a few things to bring inside - mint, chives and I left my scallions and some of the bell and banana pepper plants up....maybe I can get a another week? We tore out the rest of the garden =( So sad to see summer go this year!!! Making sweet potato fries for supper tonight with my huge sweet potatoes! Notice Evan helping me.....Showing me his animal cracker...he pulls on my shirt when he needs another one!

Here we GO!!!!!!

2010-09-03T07:13:00.006-04:00

It has been a crazy couple months...but what else is new? Here were are ready to leave for vacation and NOW I find a few minutes to put it in writing. Ridiculous?

Anyway....before we broke ground last year, we went to OBX. This year, as we are wrapping things up...(hahaha) or living here at least, it feels like we are at least closing this chapter of the book and we are ending it with another trip to OBX (one of the best places on earth to relax, at least that we can afford). We are so ready to relax....I can't even begin to describe. Having our first child and building a house (and all the financial stress that involves), moving three times and put them all into a nine month 9 span...and what you get is an emotional hurricane! By the grace of God we pulled through this, still standing - barely, but humbled beyond belief. I could write forever about all this, but I won't. I will just say that God didn't just open one door for us.....he opened quite a few, all at once and continues opening them leading us down more paths then I ever imagined. It's nerve wracking - and I am trying to get better at just focusing on one day at a time.....but that is SO hard.

Since May we have got half the siding up on the house, all the interior doors and hardware on, cut up 12 cords of firewood to heat this joint, put all the porch columns and railing on the porch, and a host of other things that I can't even think about. Josh has been AMAZING this year and pushed though more than he thought he EVER could! I am deeply inspired by his motivation and his desire to give us a home here!

Evan learned to crawl, stand, feed himself, talk baby talk, PLAY, and he took his first step the day after he turned 9 months old. He is an amazing little person to and I cherish everyday with him!!! He has just been such a beautiful addition to our family and we are just so in love with him!

So here we go, in less than 24 hours...to spend our first week together as a family - I couldn't be any more ready then I am RIGHT NOW - I don't even care that I didn't pack yet!
Thank you God for giving us this time together!!!!!

May 26, 2010 - 6 Months Old

2010-05-26T10:54:00.004-04:00

Evan pulled himself to a stand for the first time....the day he turned 6 months old. Totally caught me off guard as I was trying to take pictures of him when he just stood up. The first time....he just fell right over. This is the 2nd time just a minute or two later. Once he realized that he could do it.....he just kept sitting down and then standing up again! So happy realizing that he was doing it by himself, I think. Really going to work on crawling now....we want him to crawl first!!
Daddy walked in just before he stood up the second time....so we both got to see it...and I just kept snapping pictures!!

We're Home!

2010-04-12T18:44:00.004-04:00

There are so many things I could say but I can't seem to figure out how to put the words together to make it, make sense! Maybe it's because I am still SO exhausted or possibly I am still just at a loss for the right words!

This is US the last few weeks
EXHAUSTED
Injured and sore - (but at least we kept his fingers)
Making it work
Thankful
Determined
Happy to be together under one roof.
Thank you Lord for blessing us!

March 21, 2010

2010-03-21T12:20:00.007-04:00

Moving right along....this week Josh installed the submarine....opps I mean a gas tank in the front yard. See picture above. I dropped it in the hole while he was sitting on it. Yep you read that right! To bad we didn't get a picture of that - the picture is just the dry fit.
He also put in the well pump and yesterday I watched our well water come pouring out. Had to see that to believe it! What a relief to finally have water! Yesterday he was working on digging our sewer trench to our pit, until the skid loader broke down. Opps! Have to wait till monday to finish that!
We pick up the kitchen on WEDNESDY.....yes this WEDNESDAY! No waiting a year and half for this one! Trying HARD not to think about it too much until then but getting more excited each day!
We put our porch furniture out on the porch this past week....that felt good! Gives me a place to sit and relax when I am up there with Evan.
Cleaning house like CRAZY...ridding the house of everything we don't want/need. Wow! When you move 3 times in 8 MONTHS...well you get it! It's got to be close to my heart to stay!
Gearing up for an exciting week ahead! Going for a walk with Evan and Riley today to enjoy this BEAUTIFUL weather! Yea for Spring!!

4 months old this week!

March 16, 2009 - Almost Home!

2010-03-16T11:12:00.004-04:00

WOW!! It has been a ridiculously CRAZY 13 days! We have gotten SO much accomplished and I feel extremely encouraged at this point! Spring is here, the sun is shining and we are almost home! Can't wait to get back to a more normal life....whatever that is!

In those last days we...

- loaded ALL the floor into the house (Thanks Alan, Brandon, Bryan & Brooke - We appreciated ALL your help with this!)
-Cleaned everything to get ready for paint - Thanks Dad! The three of us spent 3+ hours each with our own shop vac! Whew!
-Got a well drilled and hit water @ 40 ft. Yeah! Saved money with a shallow well and we've got PLENTY of water pressure! Thanks well drilling guys!
-Primed the whole house and painted the ceilings - Josh was there till 12:30 one night!
- Painted the whole house in 3 days - Thank you Dad for giving us a WHOLE day of your time and Jewel and Matt for bringing us supper and spending the evening painting with us! Thanks so much!
- Installed hardwood flooring in the 1st floor - Josh and I during our 4-day flooring marathon - 1500 sq ft. Couldn't move afterwards!

Josh is wrapping some things up this week, among other things he is getting a propane tank put in, putting in the well pump and hopefully we will pick up the base kitchen cabinets to put in end of this week! YEAH!!! I am hibernating at home with Evan and Riley for the next couple days! Catching up on bills, e-mail and continuing to pack up.
Thank goodness my Mom was able to take SUCH care of him while we were "hammering down" the last few weeks! We missed him so much during the day and we couldn't have done it without her help!!! Thanks so much Mom!!

February 28, 2010

2010-03-03T08:08:00.003-05:00

This was Sunday. In between holding up ductwork while Josh strapped it to the ceiling, I sat in here for a couple hours deliberating paint colors and trying desperately to find the strength to keep going! Seeing the drywall helped.
Trusting every day that He will continue providing....because that is the ONLY way we have gotten this far on this project!! Hanging on to the fact that next week we are painting!

Getting Closer....

2010-02-26T08:06:00.004-05:00

The house is insulated, the drywall is hung and being finished. Next weekend we will start painting, hopefully! The furnace is running and we are burning FREE wood to heat the whole house....and it's warm!! Yeah Josh! - he did all the HVAC in the house and hooked the furnace up this week! All the doors are in and the garage doors are on. We've got electrical outlets and lights. The kitchen is being built and the floor is ordered. Still working on my paint colors and mentally getting ready to start the moving process again for the 3 time in 9 months - This time not pregnant!! T-minus 30 days!
3 months old yesterday!

February 18, 2009

2010-02-18T10:19:00.006-05:00

WAY TO GO JOSH!!!!
Josh passed all his inspections this morning and the house is being insulated right now! They will be finished today and the drywall starts tomorrow morning! We have hired insulators and drywallers to complete these tasks - because, well it makes more sense! Josh has completed EVERYTHING up to this point however! Electric, framing, concrete, roofing, plumbing, HVAC - he was even the architect! I say WAY TO GO JOSH....because well he deserves to hear it! Evan and I are so proud of you!!
I am on the Internet and the phone everyday I'm not at the house, searching for the things we still need...trying to find them for rock bottom prices. This week I went down near Philadelphia to pick up the kitchen sink and I might head down again tomorrow to get our microwave. This weekend, probably going up to the Poconos to get some other materials as well. Trying to save money however we can!

The last few weeks have been a little crazy! Josh only got home after 12:00 last night trying to get ready for his inspections this morning. We have been working quite a bit to try and get to this point. I have been fortunate to be able to be there helping him over the last several weeks, which although exhausting, I have really enjoyed - Thanks Mom for helping us out with this!!

Evan is doing great - 12 Weeks old yesterday! Can hardly believe that! Pretty much sleeping through the night now!!! Yeah!! He is "talking" so much and he seems to discover something new everyday...yesterday it was his tongue. It's so funny to watch him realize that it is there. So glad that the only part he will know about this building process are the stories we will tell him! It still overwhelms me that all of this happened at once! God sure had us fooled on this one! Just trying to get through one day at a time and looking forward to spending time together as a family more often when we move in - still pushing for March 31st.

Loving the warmer weather today....hoping it keeps melting the snow - Have to get a crane up the driveway tomorrow!

February 3, 2010

2010-02-03T10:43:00.006-05:00

Evan is 10 weeks old today! It's amazing to look at how much he has changed in those 10 weeks. Among many other milestones, he now talks and smiles with us and it is so rewarding and exciting to interact with him everyday!! The miracle of life still surpasses my earthly understanding EVERY SINGLE TIME I think about it! WOW! We love him so much!

The house is coming right along and we are still trying to meet a move-in deadline of March 31st. Of course we will be moving in unfinished at this point but the most important things have to be completed for occupancy so we can manage without the rest - we've done without a kitchen and flooring in the whole house for over a year before, those MUST be done this time, so we are figuring we can go the distance without a few less crucial things. Evan will be bunking in our room for a little while.
Yesterday we finalized our kitchen and handed it over....what a relief to finally relinquish that responsibility to SOMEONE else! This past week Josh ran all the plumbing and heating, A/C lines in the whole house. WAY TO GO JOSH!! What a task! This week he is going to run the electric lines to all the rooms and also hooking up our furnace so we can start heating the place. Drywall shuld be started by the 15th if not before.

Josh is plugging away everyday...tirelessly. I think the end of a project is always the hardest and the most draining. No exception here and it's probably just going to get harder...just praying our way through! God is faithful and so far we have been blessed to continue! We believe that He wouldn't have brought us into this if He didn't intend on bringing us through it. The finish line in sight now...we're on the home stretch!

January 7, 2009

2010-01-07T14:16:00.003-05:00

This week Josh put our porch posts up and we are thrilled with the way they turned out looking! Just can't wait to sit out there this summer! Now we just have to find some railing so Evan doesn't just crawl right off the edge while we are out there. He also finished framing our master bathroom - it took some EXTRA time because he got pretty creative while he was building it. Anxious to see what that looks like when drywall goes up. He is ready to start running the plumbing and eletrical beginning of next week and we are looking to hang drywall by the end of Jan. begin of Feb. YEAH!!! I was busy planning Evan's new room last night....at ohh about 3am when I was feeding him. Can't wait to have fun decorating that!
This saturday...Josh and some friends are pouring concrete in our garage! Mind the fact that we are below freezing right now. Thank you SOO much guys! Josh has the whole garage tarped in plastic and insulated and we've got hay covering the ground. We will have heaters running all day! Just praying it all goes well and they can get it done without it freezing. Evan and I are going to make our way up there as they are finishing so that we can all three put our handprints down in that concrete and lay claim to our new home!

Pictures to follow....hopefully on sunday!

December 28, 2009 - House Update

2009-12-28T10:37:00.007-05:00

Yesterday we showed Evan where he is going to grow up and took a picture of ourselves in front of the house so that we can show him what we were doing when he was born. It was a pretty neat experience to all be there together!
Josh as been working tirelessly as usual...night and day trying to get this house done. Presently we have windows and doors installed, roof is done, interior walls have been framed, stairs are in and we have ELECTRIC - as of tomorrow! Soon we will start running electric and plumbing and he is working on figuring out our heating system right now. We are holding out for some nice sunny days...makes it a lot easier to work late - positive thinking as we head into the brutal winter months.
Here are some pictures from yesterday...

December 28, 2009

2009-12-28T08:39:00.008-05:00

In 5 weeks I have learned many things. I wrote them down so I don't forget them!

- Life is more complicated but also incredibly rewarding. I treasure our memories from the past more deeply then I ever thought I would. I am so glad we had those years together! I can't wait to make new memories as a family but I now view spending time with each other from a different perspective!

- Crying is NOTHING compared to screaming...the key is staying calm.

- I don't actually NEED as much sleep as I thought.

- Running out to get something QUICK...is more like taking a trip.

- When it's time to eat..you better be ready!

- Quiet(no matter when, where or how)is amazing! If you get a spare moment...make it worthwhile.

- Reminiscing good memories helps you pull through present struggles.

- There is no rhyme or reason...it's more like guess and check. You figure it out as you go...because it's up to you.

- Everyone will advise you...You know your child so use your own best judgement.

- There is no RIGHT way...Meet his needs, love him and take time to enjoy it.

- It is only temporary...and one day it will all be gone. You make the moments memorable.

- The ride is fast. The twists and turns are many. Sit down, strap in and hold on tight! Don't forget your camera.

December 5, 2009

2009-12-05T12:44:00.005-05:00

It's a Boy!!!

Evan Jacob Fravel
Born 11/25/09 5:32am
6lb 9oz. 201/4 in.

It has been an amazing 10 days since he came into our lives! I still look at him and can't believe he is our son! I am so grateful for him and for the joy that he has brought to our lives! Even at 3am when I feel like I can't take anymore, I look at his face and I know...Life is Good! Who needs sleep anyway?
Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Josh & Mary

November 23, 2009

2009-11-23T17:48:00.003-05:00

We had so much success this past week! Josh was able to get the roof of the house FINISHED!!! That allowed us to get our next inspection and draw from the bank to continue moving forward with this little project! So happy for that! YEAH!(imagine big, bold letters). This weekend Josh and I intstalled the first 9 windows in the house! It was exciting to see them go in...it makes it feel more real! Now we only have 28 more to go! Last saturday, we went to a building auction and found walnut hardwood flooring for less then the price of carpet....so we bought it all! Can't really go wrong with that!

We are so excited to have an END DATE in sight for this pregnancy! We are scheduled to be induced next Thursday morning!!!! So excited for this...but still hoping baby comes on it's own before then. Today the doctor said I am now 4 cm dilated and told me the head is REALLY low! "Well No Kidding!" That would explain a multitude of things we've got going on! The Dr. was excited that I have been able to get this far on my own...it should make labor go faster! Obviously! Just hoping that it doesn't take much to make me go into labor if I do make it to the induction day!
Happy to hear the baby today with a great heartbeat again and moving all over...apparently the stress of the contractions is solely just bothering me!! Just waiting for whatever comes next...

Mary

November, 18, 2009

2009-11-18T15:00:00.004-05:00

The porch and the roof are just about finished. Josh has had some help building the porch and putting on the rest of the shingles this week. Hoping to have this all wrapped up by tomorrow. Just love this porch already! This was the part of the house that we're the most excited about and put the most work into. We designed this space to utilize our needs as best as possible as we enjoy eating/relaxing outdoors and this space should give us the space to do that. The side is 10ft wide...and our intent is to put our patio furniture out here to sit and relax!
No baby as of yet! They took me off the medicine over 2 weeks ago and I dilated to 3cm and now here I sit. I have contractions and the whole nine yards every day but we can't seem to get it to move any farther. It has been a blessing in disguise...because while I have been just aching to deliver this baby we have been able to get the roof on the house. Fortunately this will allow us to have more time together as a "family" once the baby does arrive without the added pressure to get that part completed. They told me they will induce me at about 39 weeks due to the complications and pain that I have had thus far...I am really gonna do my best to hold them to that. I will be 38 weeks on Friday! And so the anticipation continues to build!

Novembr 11, 2009

2009-11-11T21:51:00.006-05:00

My amazing husband just came home from working at the new house....it's 10:00 again! He is there late every night.....tonight we was apparently roofing in the dark...after I asked him nicely NOT to roof in the dark! Ughhhh!
Anyway he shingled all day today and took some pictures for me before it got dark.
The house is really starting to come together now. The whole front and side of the house will get a porch roof yet...just in case you are wondering why that looks funny. He plans to have the rest of the roof shingled by the end of the weekend! We'll see though - I laid low today because he wants to go to the building auction tomorrow and the more I am up the more I keep contracting.

2009-11-09T19:08:00.002-05:00

I had a Dr. appt today and the Dr. said the baby looked great on the stress test during my contractions. Speaking of contractions....I had a lot this weekend/today and they have been getting more intense! They must have done something because this morning I was 3cm, effaced and the head is very low. I made a Dr. appt for next Monday but she said I will probably be back before then...Ahhh but then again who knows! I certainly can't figure this whole thing out! Just hoping I can continue moving forward with this at home and that it continues to go "easy" for me (using that term very lightly). Can't wait to meet this little one!

Josh has the roof sheeted and tar papered in. He was planning on stocking the shingles today and is working on closing up any loose ends to "dry in" the garage tonight! He will start to shingle tomorrow....unless something more "important" comes along! Last night he was there till 10:30ish getting ready for the masons today. He got them set up last night and they laid up the chimney and stuccoed it in 3 hours this morning. Moving right along here with this project! I will try to put a picture up later when he brings the camera home...He's still out there working tonight! So thankful for the BEAUTIFUL weather while we are getting all these exterior things accomplished!!

November 3, 2009 Framing the House

2009-11-03T19:20:00.012-05:00

Here are some pictures of the house as it was framed up today! Tomorrow the second story will go up and we may even have a roof over our heads by friday night!?!?! It's crazy to stand and watch all this happen...exciting at the same time! Josh was there this morning at 5:45 and is planning on working till 9:00 tonight to get ready for tomorrow....his perservance is a sight to see! A few more days of this though and we will be under roof...we are really just trying to get to that point before he needs to take any time off work!

Riley had a great time today as well as he found a mud puddle "stream" and throughly enjoyed himself. I didn't mind...he had fun and his little life is about to be turned upside down so I figured why not! Mud like this was a surefire bet for a bath at the car wash though...he definitely didn't enjoy that!

I also included some pictures of the front porch that was completed back on October 21st. We REALLY enjoy outdoor living...so we plan to spend a lot of time up here! This is our "baby" of the house and an area that we really put a lot of time/effort in to create it just the way we had dreamed it up!

More pictures later this week...

Mary

November 2, 2009

2009-11-02T20:58:00.002-05:00

I saw the Dr. again today and they took me off the medicine, off the bedrest and told me that I can resume normal activities. Yea! From this point on, if baby still decides he/she wants to make an early entrance then off we go! The waiting (and the discomfort) is driving me nuts, but we waited this long....and I am trying to keep it in perspective! Baby looked great again today in heartrate and activity. I see a doctor again on Wednesday so I will probably get to hear him/her again!

Josh is framing the house this week - It didn't happen last week, thank you rain! He framed the back wall of the house saturday, the front wall sunday and he and a friend stood up both walls today. Tonight he is framing the two side walls and tomorrow he's got a framing crew coming to stand those up and put the second floor on. Moving right along - roof trusses are scheduled for Thursday morning! Provided that a certain baby does not decide to arrive this week...our house should be framed up by the end of this week! Since I am off bedrest...I am headed there tomorrow to "help out". Just kidding...I am going to run errands and cook lunch! I will get some pictures of the house as well! So excited to be able to go back and be a part of this again!

Thank you again to everyone for your prayers in getting us through the last few weeks. We have a healthy baby waiting for us now...and we are quite anxious to find out the birthday!

Josh & Mary

October 30, 2009

2009-10-30T07:25:00.009-04:00

I saw the specialist yesterday and got more then expected when the Dr. came in and flashed a 4-D image on the screen...completely throwing me off guard and captavating my attention! I couldn't really concentrate on what he was saying after that! Had we known we were going to get to see this Josh would have certainly come with me...luckily my mom was there to share this experience and capture the first image of her grandchild too! After I wrapped my mind around the idea of what I was looking at, I was able to pull my mind together enough to ask the doctor some questions. He had all good news for me. The baby currently weighs 5.2 lbs which is normal and all organs/systems are functioning correctly. Heart was beating at 153 BPM. Should the baby come before term after my medicine is discontinued monday...there is no apparent reason that he/she will need any extra attention then a full term baby! Praise God! I will continue to have a weekly stress test until delivery because of the elevated level of amniotic fluid, but even that has decreased to a borderline level.
Once again today I turned down the opportunity to find out the sex of the baby - as much as I do want to know! I did see some hair on his/her head, tiny fingers and an amazingly cute little face that I can't wait touch! As we continue to revel at the life moving around inside of me...we can now visualize what he or she will look like! After three aganozing weeks, to know that the birth could be so close or so many weeks away yet is like torture - however I will try to be content and enjoy the time!

So I had to force myself to close my eyes last night and stop looking at the pictures so that I could go to sleep only to pick them back up again this morning and start staring again. I carried the pictures to breakfast with me this morning just so I could keep looking. How can it be possible that you can love something this much before you actually even see it? Words don't seem adequate!

October 26, 2009

2009-10-26T18:34:00.003-04:00

Boy or Girl?!? We still don't know but it's driving me crazy now! One of the nurses called baby a girl today - but I've had others that said him too and we've had the feeling of boy the whole time. The surprise in the delivery room is going to be incredible!!! I can't wait to find out! I've got clothes for each already packed in my suitcase and we have no preference either way! We just can't wait for that moment! I can hardly stand it anymore!

I had another Dr. appt today and it went well. The stress test showed the baby's heartbeat was good - right down the middle at 140! Dr. said, as of today they will stop this medicine next monday at 35 weeks and see what happens!!! I do have another Dr. appt. this Thursday with a high risk doctor though...so I guess he will get a say too! I am measuring at 3 weeks bigger then my due date every visit, due to the extra fluid so they can't get a good estimate on how big the baby is. Therefore I will get another long ultrasound on Thursday to measure and evalulate growth and development. We established during the hospital stay that the baby is bigger than normal for gestational age....anxious to see where we are at now! He/she was 4.1 lbs 3 weeks ago. I keep wondering if I was dated wrong??? Or do we just have a really big baby? Can't wait to have this test and see where we are at. With every day that comes and goes - I still can't believe we are having a BABY! I feel like I need to pinch myself all the time and I can't stop looking at my belly in the mirror cause I can't believe it's there. It all seems surreal! I keep waiting for it to really HIT me!

House update - Josh was working at the land till 2:00 last tuesday night, went to bed and got back up at 5:00 to pour concrete on the porch all day wedneday. His state after that was complete exhaustion! However, the porch is done and today everything was backfilled and regraded. Now our driveway up to the house isn't as steep. Josh will start framing our house this tuesday or wednedsay! I was able to go up a little bit today to see what's happening and I am just amazed. I still can't believe that all this is happening at once! I feel dizzy just thinking about it but it almost wouldn't be "us" unless we were doing something this crazy!?!?!

I will add another update if anything changes on thursday! I would add pictures of the house but Josh left with the camera this morning. We weren't expecting RAIN last night - thank you lovely weather report! So he ran out in a hurry this morning anticipating quite a mess at the new house! Oh Glorious Mud!

Josh, Mary and Baby Fravel

October 19, 2009

2009-10-19T20:34:00.003-04:00

My Dr. appt went great today! There were no surprises and no changes! Despite all the contractions/pain this week that made me think otherwise. He/she sure keeps me guessing! So one more week of the same - More meds, modified bedrest (basically just taking it easy), and a whole lot of contractions that lead no where but drive ya nuts! I equate what I feel like right now, to that of a bomb waiting to go off - but that being said I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING else in the world!

We can't wait to meet this baby...but we are living up the extra chance to get to get as much accomplished as we can before all we wanna do is sit and hold this little miracle! Although I am excited for the first glimpse of our child....what I can't wait for more than anything else is to see Josh's face when he holds our baby for the first time! So grateful that we will have that opportunity now that baby looks healthy! Thank you again to everyone for your prayers of love and support! We are so grateful that we have made it this far!

On another note, Josh is working like a mad man at the land - still there in the dark last night and tonight getting ready to pour concrete for our front porch on Wednesday. Looks like they will have GREAT weather! So bummed I can't help out this time. He is doing an amazing job with this house...and for the last 2 weeks working at it alone. He wanted so badly to share the progress with me today and begged me to come up. I reluctuntly let him put concrete boots on me (cause I can't bend over)and walked up onto the first floor to take in all that he has accomplished. His diligence is INSPIRING!
We are standing in the kitchen of our new house. We wanted to have something to show this child someday..."this is what your parents were doing around the time that you were born!" My concrete boots are the best!

October 13, 2009

2009-10-13T09:39:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I went to the Dr. and had a stress test done. Something that was supposed to take 30 minutes turned into a multi-hour ordeal as my child was being uncooperative. I have commented throughout this pregnancy at how active the baby is. That was clearly evident yesterday when they couldn't even get baby to settle down for a 4 minute stretch of time to measure a baseline heart rate. The Dr's and Nurses in the office seemed to get a good laugh out of it. Anyway because it failed the stress test, I had another ultrasound. During this ultrasound they were looking for evidence of the baby performing a series of movements within a time period, checked for any abnormalities and watched a cycle of baby "practicing breathing". We passed that with flying colors! Baby still looks very healthy and is just itching to get out here. I had another shot yesterday to slow down the contractions too. The Dr. said that 34 weeks is where we are trying to get to and then they will more or less let nature take over. Without going into details, all the "things" that precede labor have already happened so it's really up in the air. I have read that even after all this happens you can still go a couple weeks or labor can begin quickly. So we'll see - I'm just walking around on pins and needles. It's ironic though how this baby has us tiptoeing around it before it's even born.
Since last Monday we have learned a great deal about being flexible! We bought diapers - a lot of them, packed the suitcase for the hospital and started watching a childbirth video so we have some kind of idea what in the world we are doing! We never did make it to any classes and it's too late now!

I was taken back again this morning when another staff member from the school where I was working last Monday called to see how I was doing. The principal has kept in contact with me and has been letting everyone know of my progress.
What is amazing to me though all this is the amount of support that we have felt. The meals, the chauffeuring (thanks Mom), the calls of concern, e-mails and prayer have all been just so greatly appreciated. It has just been awesome to feel that support. Thank you everyone, for blessing us in this special way!

October 8, 2009

2009-10-08T09:34:00.004-04:00

We came home from the hospital last night around 6:00. It was just such a relief to be able to move further than 2 ft from the hospital bed again. Feels awkward to be walking around. Anyway I am on modified bedrest, which means I can move/walk around the house a bit but I need to be off my feet for the most part. The contractions are still VERY much there. I feel them pretty strong and everything is very tight and pretty uncomfortable all the time. I take the meds every 4 hours round the clock to try to keep the contractions from getting stronger, which would then cause me to dilate and go into full blown labor. I will have a stress test and see the dr. again on monday unless something happens before then. Until then I am just taking it easy (whatever that means). Only time will tell...Dr. said I could have it in a couple days or I could go to full term. So we will wait and take comfort in knowing that God is in control of the situation and he is taking care of this precious baby until we can!! Praise the Lord we have such a strong support system. We can't wait to show this baby how much they are loved!! Thank you to everyone! Love to you all!

Josh, Mary and Baby Fravel

October 7, 2009

2009-10-07T10:38:00.002-04:00

Finally got a good nights sleep on some sleep meds they gave me last night. Then they took me off the Magnesium Sulfate this morning at 7:30. Literally a few minutes later the contractions started up again and they were coming fast and pretty strong for just starting up. Trying Buterol for a couple hours until they can give me the Procardia safely. Just going hour by hour and see what happens today. We feel very encouraged and blessed by the fact that we know that the baby looks and sounds very healthy. Trying to just go with the flow and thank God for what we have been blessesd with! I will update when I know more...laying here for 45 hours so far..I need something to keep me busy! Thanks for all the support!
Mary

Oct 6 - Update

2009-10-06T16:41:00.004-04:00

I met with the High Risk doctor today and had two ultrasounds....Josh left to go back to the land so he wasn't able to see any of it. Bummer! Anyway the doctor was able to find out that the reason for my early contractions. There is an excess of amniotic fluid which is causing the muscle to expand and contract prematurely. He informed me that it explains why my girth is measuring "Big" (his words). Gee thanks so much!
The good news of the day is that the baby's chest and stomach look great. He said the ultrasound showed good evidence that the baby's sucking and swallowing reflexes are functioning properly at this point. This is excellent! Those reflexes need to be working properly to be discharged from the NICU. In general, he said the baby looks excellent overall! he other good hews of the day- the best news of the day is that the baby's weight is 4.l lbs. A whole 1 lb bigger than the average gestational weight for 32 weeks. We are still working on keeping the contractions down however...if it should come early we have a VERY positive outlook already!!!
At 8:00 tonight I also get my second steroid shot for the lungs. Great that we will have gotten both of those in and given them time to work. Then I come off the Magnesium and see what happens - hopefully they stop!
Thanks for all the prayers!

October 6, 2009

2009-10-06T09:34:00.003-04:00

One thing I know this beautiful morning is that we are blessed in ways I cannot imagine right now!
I will attempt to explain on 1 hour of sleep and type through the mangeled mess of cords, monitors and IV's spewing out everywhere.
Yesterday after lunch, while teaching 4th grade I started feeling "odd". Not sure what to do, I was coaxed into going to see the school nurse who informed me that what I was having contractions every minute. Josh came and took me to the hospital thinking we would be stopping at Lowes on the way home a of couple hours later. Slight change of plans! Basically the short end of the story is that I am here in the hospital till wed. night until fruther notice and will be on bedrest after that - Please pray for my sanity! I have had quite the array of medications and experiences over the last 18 hours....I won't go into details It's been uhhh...enlighting for what is to come. Basically, I am receiving steroids to help the baby's lungs mature and they are using magnesium to try to stop the contractions and "buy time" to give the steroids a chance to work on the lungs. The contractions just seem to keep coming though so we will just wait. I am waiting to meet with the NICU Dotors and the High Risk Maternal Doctors this morning. I guess they will figure out what the best course of action is going to be for my situation. I am currently 32 weeks - they are taking the Nov. 30th date now.
I am out of veins so that means that have to stop sticking me right?? Really, Everyone here has been AWESOME!

We have so much to be grateful for today! I am so glad WE are here! The baby has a great shot no matter what the outcome - but let's keep it in! Thank you for your prayers!
Mary

September 22,2009

2009-09-22T17:36:00.004-04:00

Today the garage went up and we also have a chimney now! The masons did it in one day! Looks great! Yesterday we spotaneously went to New Jersey to purchase the vinyl cedar shakes for the house. We found a GREAT deal on Craigslist and jumped on it right away! We were only 10 mintues from the beach so we drove over to see that while we were there too. Only got home at 11:00 last night!
We have a very BIG weekend ahead of us! We have some AWESOME friends that offered to help us pour 25 yards of concrete for our basement floor this saturday. They offered their time if we could make it work this weekend! Praise the Lord for good fiends! We need some good sunshine that day!
We are also moving this weekend! AGAIN! Not thrilled about this - just trying to roll with the punches! We had to push our moving day to Sunday and Monday instead of Saturday so it's going to be a LONG weekend! Don't know how much moving I will be able to do this time but I can't wait to get settled in to the new house and get ready for the BABY!

September 15, 2009

2009-09-15T15:41:00.004-04:00

Josh was at the land last night till after 10:00 digging out the footers for the garage in the dark. Today he poured the concrete for the garage footers and had a crane set the support beams on top of the Superior Walls. It looks like rain tomorrow so the masons will not be laying up the garage.

Our Mission Possible

2009-09-14T15:35:00.002-04:00

The past few months have been a blur for us as we have been moving at warp speed. Let me try to explain...
We have always been pretty ambitous risk-takers but it came to a dramatic climax this year at the end of March. After much dicussion between us we decided to make an offer on some land with the intention of building a house. Not really believing that the offer would be accepted we didn't set our hopes too high. So imagine our surprise when 2 days later it was accepted and then...surprise 30 minutes later I found out I was pregnant after nearly 2 years of infertility. A miracle in EVERY way! So it was by contract that we put our house up for sale just 2 days later. Amidst the effects of a recession, miraculously in just 2 months we sold our home(the one we built together just 5 years eariler). Amazing! So morning sickness aside we started packing. In July we moved into a house that we intended on renting till our house was finished however a few weeks after we moved in.....it went up for sale and was SOLD! So here we are again....moving. Next week in fact! See I told you it was a blur...and this is the short version!
My husband....being the go-getter in our family, is taking on the task of building this house. Yes you read that correctly! He is doing most of the work himself, contracting all of it and we plan to finish this little endeavor sometime next spring. It has been quite the experience and one that, Lord willing we will hopefully not be repeating!
At 28 weeks pregnant I am dealing with.....well you can probably just imagine!

All things aside - At the end of the day, we just feel happy to be together, no matter where we are! We feel incrediably blessed to be traveling down this road - hard as it may be at times, and it is, I can't imagine life any other way right now! Watch as we try to navigate our way through this incredible journey!