Our little miracle is here!

Not sure how many people know this, but about nine months ago Joel was struggling with medical issues in which the doctor warned us that we may not be able to have any more children. He said there was a very small chance before Joel received further treatment where we may be able to conceive. Even though I wasn't sure that I wanted to go through the whole process of pregnancy again, I was very sad that the chances were slim. Of course I cried to a few family members and friends and it turned out that as the tears were flowing my little baby was forming in my belly!

 Fast Forward nine months later: Luke Alexander Stewart was born on July 15, 2012. He was 9lbs 14.4oz. We named him after my brother Luke and Joel's brother Alex. He is such a cutie and we are so blessed to have him in our family! Praise God for his blessings!

God is Faithful! Woot Woot!

First I want to thank you all for your prayers. It's been really cool to see God orchestrate things by putting the right people in our paths to help with this situation. We are happy to report that the doctor who declared Joel "fit for duty" gave him two extra months to put together a Med Board packet. This is great news and means that we don't have to abruptly leave or sell the house. Joel also finally got a referral that we have been waiting for to the Autonomic Clinic. We are just so thankful that things are falling into place. Please continue to pray for Joel's healing. Also pray for a concrete diagnosis which would help out a lot with the Med Board process. The doctor warned us that since Joel doesn't have a real diagnosis that we might not get medically discharged like we are hoping. We are just happy that we are at least on the right path! Thanks again friends for your prayers and support!

Update on the Stewart Family: Please join us in prayer for what's next!

So much has happened since my last post. About a year ago Joel was going through the medical discharge process for his shoulder in the Navy. He was misinformed by his detailer that if the med board declared Joel "fit for duty" that he would be deployed to Afghanistan, so she instructed him to write a resignation letter just in case. Since then Joel has become ill and has been depending on military healthcare to go to a numerous amount of doctors to figure out what is wrong with him. The med board process was discontinued a few months ago and Joel was put on limited duty so he could continue to go to doctors to seek a diagnosis. On Friday we were informed that a doctor looked at Joel's record and declared him "fit for duty" (although one look at Joel and you would know otherwise) and therefore the resignation letter is in effect (last day will be July 31st). It feels like a punch to the gut when you find out that you will have no income and your husband is still ill and won't have the access to the healthcare he has now. We are blessed though that the delivery of our baby will be covered by our health insurance since Baby Stewart is due July 12th. We contacted the Navy lawyer but he said that writing that letter made things near impossible to fight their decision for Joel to resign. Our only option is to find one of Joel's doctors to advocate for him and convince the doc who declared Joel "fit for duty" to change his mind, but if you have any idea of the egos in the military the chances of that happening seems super slim. Our goal was to be medically discharged from the Navy so that Joel could continue his treatment/healthcare. The benefits are much greater through the medical discharge process. Plus we would have time to figure out what's next. We only have two weeks to get this sorted out. Due to Joel's condition he would be unable to watch the kids. So if we are in fact forced to resign, then our best option seems to be to sell the house here in Mississippi and move in with our parents in Connecticut (til we get on our feet again). My mom would take care of the kids so I could work full-time. It's scary to think of all the things that would have to be done to make this happen especially since we will have a newborn in tow. We know God is faithful! We also believe in miracles and prayer, so we ask you, our friends and family, to pray for our situation. We pray specifically for direction and that if it's God's will for us to stay in the Navy that He will change the heart of the doctor who made this decision. If it's His will for us to move on and to depend on Him for provision rather than the benefits of the Navy then we pray that He will give Joel and I the strength to do everything necessary to move on. Most importantly we want Joel to be completely healed. Our fear is that he won't be able to receive the healthcare he needs and that his condition will get worse. Also it's tough going through all of this being pregnant and emotional. Please pray for strength for me because Joel is unable to do a lot and I just need the strength and energy to run after a toddler and do everyday activities! We appreciate your prayers and will keep you posted on what happens in the next few weeks! Thanks so much!

Reli Belly's Growth Report

It's amazing to see how quickly babies learn. In the last few weeks Reli started to crawl, she dances (bounces and bops) to hip hop music, she experiments with different octaves while talking to mommy, she clicks her tongue, and she loves to explore every inch of the living room. She is like a lil' tornado..I'm always busy cleaning up the aftermath. She is also an amazing traveler. We went to visit my mom in Connecticut because she was in the hospital for a few weeks and many people told me that they would fly with my baby any day and raved how cute and delightful she was. I'm a very proud mama!

Scam or No Scam that is the Question?

Today my mom and I were leaving a thrift store. In the corner of the parking lot in a pile of leaves I noticed a small pile of cash. I quickly picked up the bills and thought to myself "it's my lucky day". I started to count the money, facing all the bills in the same direction and realizing that it was way more than I suspected. I decided to put the pile of cash in my pocket and wait til I got to the car before I started to flaunt my new found loot for anyone to see. I felt an ounce of guilt. Although I found $111, I felt sad for the person who lost the money. I called my husband to tell him the news. He said that I should go back inside and ask if anyone had lost money but that I should not disclose how much I had found. I fed the baby and went back inside about fifteen minutes after I found the money. I asked the woman at the desk if anyone had claimed that they had lost some money. She said "no". Home free! I did my good deed and now I have lots of cash! "Not so fast" I thought to myself, I was compelled to ask more people if they had lost cash. One second later, ring-ring, lo and behold it's the woman who lost the money. I talked to her and she said that she lost about $50 but wasn't sure exactly how much she had lost. Then she said for me to leave the money there and she would get it later. I thought to myself, "Really? How do you not know if you lost $111 and why wouldn't she drop what she was doing to get her cash back right away? I reluctantly left all of the money. She wasn't as thankful as I thought she would be. The rest of the day I kept obsessing about different scenarios of how I was scammed and that someone probably saw me pick up the cash but didn't know the exact amount, waited til I went back inside, and called and claimed the money to be theirs. I just have to hope that wasn't the case and that I was just dealing with a woman who wasn't as grateful as I would have liked her to be. I mean I could have pocketed $60.00 and she wouldn't have even known. It's sad when you live in a world where you think everyone is scamming someone.

What is this World Coming to?

I was shopping with my baby and there was a sweet old man who came up to me and instantly struck up a conversation with me. He told me all about his grandkids and great-grandkids. We went our seperate ways and I continued to browse through the aisles. A little while later he approached me again. He said "I know your baby is too young, but is it okay if I give you candy?" He handed me a butterscotch and a Werthers candy. He later showed me that he had his coat pockets filled to the brim with butterscotch candy on one side and Werthers on the other side. I LOVE butterscotch, but with all the crazies running around these days I took the candy and quickly put it into my coat pocket. How sad is that? He was a sweet old grandpa who is probably so lonely that he strikes up conversations with random people and comes prepared with candy in his pockets for the kids he may encounter on his visit to the store, yet I am too scared to eat the candy, thinking it may be poisoned. I decided I will eventually eat the candy, but I have to make sure my husband is around. Still too paranoid.

Real Housewives

I hate to admit it, but being home all day I have been suckered into watching TV. Unfortunately we only get three channels here in Mississippi, so we don't have many options. The only show on at noon, that is somewhat interesting to me, is Real Housewives. I have recently become a full-time housewife and let me tell you it's a lot more work then going out with friends, drinking martinis, and hanging out in a hot tub. Come to my house and I will show you the life of a REAL housewife. I should have my own show, but the reality of it is who wants to watch someone scrape off dirty dishes, scrub out poop stains, and fold mounds of laundry? My hat goes off to all the REAL housewives out there! Kudos to you!