August_2011

So from last months excitement August looked promising for the Jewell's to be quite relaxed. Luckily the month started out that way. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

Rachel went to her checkups for baby and hung out with L. There was no change in the pregnancy besides the baby growing. Thee were several false alarms, and she was being monitored regularly by her doctor.Taylor was working and progressing considerably well with physical therapy.

One extremely exciting thing that happened was Rachel's best friend Lindy threw her a baby shower where she found out if she was having a boy or a girl. She had a wonderful time with her friends, and is very grateful to everyone that came. It was a blast!



 Turns out.......
brace yourselves everyone,........

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then hurricane Irene showed up.

All the surrounding counties had mandatory evacuations however ours was voluntary. Taylor decided that it would be best to head up north to Maryland to visit with family. So that Friday with everything packed we headed up the road the morning it was supposed to hit us. The destination to Rachel's parents house was reached with little to no problems. The next day the fun began, with the worst of the storm over our area and the tail winds hitting all over Virginia Beach where Taylor's family happens to live. With no power, bridges out and tress falling through homes and cars, Taylor;s grandparents found themselves stuck for a few days. Taylor and his father got right to planning on how to get to them and get them to Maryland safely, only to find it was not possible. Luckily all turned out to be fine.

With all the stress, the long drive and the extremely low pressure from the hurricane Rachel started feeling a bit of discomfort when she woke on Saturday morning. As the day progressed it only continued to get worse, by Saturday night Rachel was in some awful pain. When Sunday morning finally came Rachel, Taylor and L dressed for church and went on there way with Rachel in a bit more pain than the previous night. Throughout the service Rachel started having contractions. By the end of service it was time to go to the hospital.

Rachel's mom Maya, Taylor and Rachel got to the hospital at noon and Rachel was admitted to labor and delivery. She was dilated 3cm and making steady progress for a few hours. Rachel walked with Taylor and her mom, sat on a ball, walked, laid in bed and restarted the cycle for several hours. Eventually her doctor decided to break her water and with that the contractions came on rather quickly and quite strong. By eleven pm Rachel only wanted to push but she wasn't relaxed enough to dilate fully, so the epidural was ordered and by eleven-thirty it was administered and Taylor was finally allowed back in the room with her. Once Taylor was back with Rachel  it was time to push.

At eleven fifty-eight Connor  was welcomed into the world. He was 6lbs 8oz and 20 and 1/4 inches long. Taylor, Rachel and L were overjoyed to have C here at last.

   

Unfortunately he had a bit if a lung problem so he was sent to the NICU. After several days and x-rays it was determined that he had air outside his lung. (Doesn't that sound familiar? I think there is an echo here. Like father like son!) With oxygen and lots of love from us C was out of the NICU and 'home' after a week! Now he is healthy and well! He even had his first outing to the FSK Mall!

 

The next step was to make the LONG drive back home to NC!

We are truly blessed and have so much to be thankful for. All in all the Jewell's will never have just a quite relaxed day, never mind a month! But we are never bored, it's always exciting with us! Stay tuned to see how the big homecoming goes!

July_2011

Ah July the month of our Nations Independence. Filled with Cook outs, Flags flying, Beaches, Fireworks,  and pool parties.

Well for us Marylanders July means one of the greatest things in the whole world, CRAB FEAST!!!!!!!!!! Which the Jewell's proudly participated in at the Murray's. Since L was in Maryland already for her week with the Grandparents, Taylor and Rachel got the OK from their doctors to go to Maryland for one last road trip before the baby. It was a wonderful trip; the only downside was that L regressed drastically in her potty training. However Grandparents do spoil, and it happens sometimes.

This year for the Fourth Rachel's parents had Taylor's parents and their family over for crabs and a BBQ. Which was a combination celebration for Rachel's big birthday. (Well her last big memorable birthday at least, she's not so sure about turning 30.) Which meant LOTS of cake. So with everyone feasting on crabs, burgers, hot dogs and the works a Bean-bag toss game was underway, the day was a wonderful one.  Now what is the Fourth without fireworks? Um....... LAME! So The Murray's and Sara along with the Jewell's, (Taylor's Mother Michelle, Youngest Brother Ryan and the Middle Brother Brandon's girlfriend Kara) all headed down to Baker Park for the annual Firework Show. Luckily everyone came prepared with umbrellas because it pored. However driving up from North Carolina you better believe that we sat and watched the show. It was definitely worth sitting in the rain.

Upon the return from Maryland Taylor's youngest brother Ryan accompanied the crew. So now there was still help! Plus Ryan is a big guy so ALL the yard work was taken care of, which Rachel was ecstatic about, especially since Taylor had to be back at work. Not to mention that there was now an in house sitter for L when the last Harry Potter movie came out, which of course Rachel bought tickets for a month in advance, and she absolutely loved it. Though she was sad for it all to end she was happy she participated in the experience.

Taylor also decided to leave his crutches in Maryland for Glenn with his upcoming knee replacement. Taylor's father gave him a cane to use instead which Taylor jumped on in an instant. Taylor also decided, after a week of work, that he no longer needed to wear the Boot and wanted to wear regular shoes. The physical therapist cleared him to do this so he has made an enormous amount of progress in this month. However with Taylor's recovery Rachel's father Glenn underwent a knee replacement and is now on his path to recovery. The surgery went well and he is on the mend, and doing great. 

 Now the beginning of July has always been jam packed, with the forth holiday and Rachel's birthday. This year Taylor and L got Rachel the Nook Color from Barnes and Nobles. (Which mind you she had only been asking for for the past three years!) Her big 21 also consisted of a delicious Red Lobster dinner with the family where Rachel ordered her first Big Girl Drink (Strawberry Lobstercolada), which of course, given the pregnancy, Taylor had to drink; the evening came to a close with a gorgeous bouquet of Sunflowers from the in-laws. Since her parents threw the bash not much left for them to get her, but they always seem to sneak extra things in and she got to get a spa day. Anyone who knows Rachel knows how that went, so all in all Rachel had a great 21st Birthday.

   

Now the real excitement begins. . You see, Taylor and Rachel put their names in for a drawing to win a new 2011 Jeep Wrangler. They heard about the drawing thought one of their favorite radio stations, 95.1 WRNS. Since they were test driving the Jeeps anyway they thought why not. Well lucky them, on the way home Rachel's name was pulled as a qualifier for the give away. So the day after Rachel's birthday everyone went down to National Dodge Jeep Crystler for the give away in the form of a reverse raffle. After registering, receiving a number (70) and eating the lunch provided the elimination began. Rachel had not been so fidgety, nervous or continuously praying since Taylor came home from Afghanistan. With the eliminations going on for an hour and Rachel having a near anxiety attack every time they called a number in the seventies the time finally came for the final ten. The ten people left all went up and received a CD that would tell them if they were the winner or not. Rachel was the second person to get a CD so she was the second person to get in the Jeep and play the CD. The first person did not win, so it was Rachel's turn. She got in the Jeep with L and put the CD in the player, it played a heartbeat then......... CONGRATULATIONS YOUR A WINNER! Screaming, smiling and no sorry no baby, however people were a bit concerned, Rachel had won the Jeep. Thrilled was the only thing that could describe how Taylor and Rachel felt. They had won a new Jeep all paid for, taxes, tags, title, everything. With a new baby on the way and the last car totaled it was just what they needed. God answers prayers and that was more than enough proof for it all. This is the link to the web site if you care to check out the pictures. http://www.wrns.com/pages/10325524.php?

Since that was big excitement the rest of the month was pretty average. Taylor continued to make progress with his recovery, since his physical therapy continued to go well he started walking without the cane and did very well without it. At the present he doesn't need it at all. Rachel started her 'Nesting' phase of pregnancy, anticipating the big day. Still growing bigger and the baby healthy everything is on track. She even got her best friends, both photographers, to take some maternity photos since she didn't have any with L. They turned out great both Taylor and Rachel were so thankful and happy they got the opportunity to do them! This is the link to Lindy's Blog where you can contact her for photos if you are interested! http://2911photo.blogspot.com/

The next set of big news was that Taylor's younger brother (middle child) Brandon came home from his first deployment to Cuba, shortly after that he got engaged! Everyone is thrilled about that! As well as he bought his first car, priorities you know. Another engagement announcement was that Rachel's girlfriend  from childhood also got engaged! She was thrilled to hear the news; Sad she couldn't be there to celebrate with her best friend since eighth grade, but so happy for her!

For the rest of the summer the Jewell's hope to just enjoy peace and a slow pace. Lots of lounging at the pool, trips to the beach and ice cream are in the new future. Of course Rachel is anticipating the upcoming baby shower, since she will find out what the baby is, and will not leave Taylor alone about letting her see the finished room. It will never be a quite month but it will always be enjoyable.

Looking forward to a lazy (a very lazy) August.

May_2011

Well this month has definitely been on the exciting side. It has made us thankful that someone was watching over us. Not to mention the unyielding love and thanks for our wonderful family, good neighbors and great friends. Which we thank for all of your help, prayers and kind thoughts; with out you all we would be in bad shape.


The month started off as a regular month busy and filled with appointments and activities.  With  the new baby and Rachel being healthy, L doing exceptionally well and Taylor checked into his new unit and going to the range things were looking good. Little did we know it was about to get turned around.


The second week of this month was when our world went a little crazy.Taylor had gotten into a car accident on his way home from the rifle range at work. He doesn't quite remember what happened; the last thing he remembers is going through a major intersection about five miles away from where he crashed. He thinks he either fell asleep or passed out. The latter being the most likely because he hadn't eaten or hydrated much at all that day. Being such, he crossed a center lane and two opposing lanes of traffic. He hit a curb, making the car air born, then went head on into a power line/telephone pole. He was going 60MPH so the airbags deployed and now the car is deemed completely totaled. Luckily he came away with a broken ankle and a collapsed lung. He had a chest tube put in and had surgery on his ankle a few days after being admitted to a hospital in Wilmington. He got a helicopter ride which was a first for him, but not under the best circumstances. Despite all of this he is now totally fine! With only four days in the hospital and a few weeks at home he is well on the mend. His lung is completely healed and he is on the getting there with his ankle. He is now in a hard cast, which he chose lime green for,thank goodness everyone can see him coming.


Thankfully we have amazing families that took the time to come down and help out with L. Taylor's parents came for a few days and Rachel's dad relieved them. It was wonderful having them here to help. They were able to keep L at home ( 1 1/2 hours from the hospital) and bring her during the day so we could be with her. So not only did Rachel get to stay with Taylor the whole time but L was more than well cared for. It also helped that Rachel's dad was there when Taylor came home so that everyone could get used to things.


With all of that excitement it has brought us rapidly into June with follow up appointments, a traffic court date for an improper lane change, along with the rest of our usual routine. Stay tuned for next months update!