Emily Marie Has Arrived!!

I'm sure you have all been anticipating the photos of our daughter, Emily, who was born this morning at 10:15AM. Holly was nervous about the operation, but she emerged with flying colors. She went in to the operating room a little before 10AM, and Emily saw the light by 10:15!
Without further delay, here are some photos!

Birth can be a scary and exciting time.

But once you get warmed up it's not so bad.

Cock your head to the left for this one - the happy parents with their 5-minute old miracle.

Our daughter is so precious - Holly and I are happier then we have ever been.

Emily showing off her two blue eyes.

Mommy and baby are doing great - just a little tired.

Our little miracle, warming under the heat lamp, just before her bath.

Another shot of the happy family.

4 generations - Clockwise Mema, Mommers, Mommy, and Emily.

For the record, Emily was born at 7 pounds and 19.5 inches long/tall. Holly and I feel so blessed by our Father in Heaven. Emily is truly a miracle sent from Heaven.

The Day Before Emily Comes!

It has been a long 2 and a half years waiting for this day to come, but tonight here we are just hours before our first child, Emily Marie, is going to enter our family! It is a moment that has been hard for me to put into words. There have been so many emotions along the way.....tears, joy, fright, nervousness, anxiousness, amazement, happiness and today (at least for me) a mixture of pure excitement and being scared out of my mind!
Micah has been the most amazing husband for me these past 3 years, and throughout this pregnancy he has truly been there for me every step of the way. Even though the last week has pretty much consisted of "honey, I am nervous again" and then him telling me how everything will be fine, and that once little Emily comes I will be so excited... and the speech continues - always the same, but always just as genuine of a reassurance as the first time I sought the reassurance!
It is so hard to believe that tomorrow at this time we will be sitting in the hospital holding our little baby girl! We have such a wonderful, loving and kind Heavenly Father who is truly there for us at the exact moment we need him.
We invited my parents up for dinner tonight and we also asked Keith (Dooders) if he would mind giving both Micah and I a priesthood blessing. The spirit in our living room was so strong tonight during both of those blessings that I truly felt that Heavenly Father was speaking directly to me and to Micah. I have a testimony of the power of the priesthood and I know that power is real and true and directly from our Heavenly Father. I am so blessed that Micah also holds and honors his priesthood and that Emily and I will be blessed to have that wonderful power in our home through Micah's worthiness and devotion to His Father in Heaven.
Tonight Micah and I had fun with our last photo shoot before Emily arrives! We took SO MANY pictures! Here are just a few that show us hours before becoming parents and meeting our first baby girl!

Me at 38 weeks and 6 days pregnant!

We can both still fit in the rocking chair together, but just barely!!

I LOVE My Micah!

Micah loves his two girls!!

Christmas Time with the Grays!!

We have had a really great Christmas Season this year! We have had the opportunity to make, and add to, some great traditions! I am sure this was able to happen in part because our little Emily is coming so very soon (In LESS THAN 2 DAYS!!) and I wanted to be prepared with presents and wrapping and decorating, and that opened up time for more fun times!

Micah and I typically try to make Christmas cookies together; however, we usually make about 3 kinds ~ well I guess this year we were feeling a little energized so we decided (with the help of the Christmas issue of the Family Circle magazine) to add 3 more kinds of cookies to our repertoire!! Were we CRAZY, probably, but it was still fun although our evening project turned into a full blown 2 day affair ~ that ended in a ride through the countryside making deliveries!!! Overall a really fun experience, and we both lived to tell the tale! Here are some pictures of our 2 day baking fest...........................

Me, rolling out dough for our Ginger Snowmen!!

Micah cutting the circles for the Lemon Raspberry Sandwiches ~ they turned out really nicely!! They looked just like the ones on the cover of the Family Circle!


Micah's favorite cookies of 2008~ The Christmas Trees, dipped in Chocolate and sprinkled with Powdered Sugar to give the Snowy Look!!

The Finished Lemon Raspberry Sandwiches ~ I would have taken the red eye out of this photo, but I thought his eyes matched the cookies pretty nicely!!

Micah posing with one of our lovely Ginger Snowmen!

The finished product ~ We made up 7 plates and delivered them to family and friends!!

We wanted to make sure that we had a chance to visit with my Dad and Jeannie this year before Christmas, so they had us up for another annual Mexican Christmas Feast ~ Tacos! We were lucky enough to also get to visit with Jessie and Avery (my beautiful sister and her daughter) and my little brother Tucker....whom we haven't seen maybe since last Christmas (bad, I know...we will definitely have to do better in 2009!). It was a fun evening....we had lots of time to chit chat and get caught up on life with everyone...the holidays are always a good time for that.

Here are a few pictures from our visit with them..............

Jessie and I in front of the tree! Gotta love sisters!

Me and my "big" little brother, Tucker!!

Tuck and I "Making a Memory" with my Dad!

I just love family photos! This one is priceless, as we all cover up the Christmas Tree!!

On Christmas Eve we always go over to Mommers' and Dooders' house at high noon for a Christmas Eve lunch. This tradition has definitely become one of my highlights of the Christmas Season. As my brothers and sister and I have all grown up and moved out of the house, it is nice to have these special times that allow all of us to get together and catch up on life. I think a big part of Christmas is being able to communicate with family members more intimately!

We always enjoy some good Christmas photos at Mommers and Dooders house! There is always yummy food, my mom sees to that, and it's always full of suprises. This year when we walked in we realized that they had the wall knocked down that seperates the kitchen from the living room. Now it is one open space! What a difference one home project can make! They did a great job heading up that project and keeping it "under wraps" until Christmas Eve! Thanks for a great day, love you both!

Here are some kodak moments from Christmas Eve Lunch.....

Mommers and Dooders pausing to have their picture taken!!

Micah and Harold (a good friend of my parents)....Harold LOVES to talk and Micah was his listening ear for the day!!
Me (38 weeks) and Jessie (28 weeks) posing for our last pregnancy picture together before Emily is born on Monday!!

Christmas morning we woke up around 7:30am and we headed straight for our stockings!!! The funnest part of Christmas morning, in my opinion!! Micah and I always have fun dawning our Santa Hats on Christmas Eve, wrapping the stocking stuffers, and then sneaking in to stuff the stockings with care before sitting down for some nice warm cookies and milk! Ahh the simple pleasures in life! We end the evening by reading the Christmas Story in Luke 2 and then praying together and off to bed while visions of sugar plums dance in our heads!

Here's Micah ~ waking up to a fun Christmas Stocking!
After we open our stockings we usually have a yummy breakfast, that is mostly prepared by Micah! (What a Great Husband I have!!!) and then we clean up in the kitchen and head back in to sit down by the tree and open the rest of our presents! There are always a few suprises on Christmas morning.....like this composition book that was given to me by Mommers and Dooders. The funny part is that it was a book that belonged to me, and apparently in 2003 I wrote on the front "My Personal Book of Quotes, Poems, Letters, Sayings and Drawings". And when I opened the book, you know what I found? NOTHING!! I didn't write one single thing in that book!! I think I laughed for a good 10 minutes! It was great! I can always count on Mommers and Dooders for a good laugh!
Here's a picture of Micah showing off his new level and this picture is living proof of just how level headed he is!! What a husband I've got! Totally willing to pose for a silly picture, knowing full well that his wife will most likely put it on the blog!! I love you Darling!!
Here I am with one of my favorite gifts! Micah bought this cute little newborn outfit for Emily! And I can hardly wait to see it on her cute little self!! Christmas morning at our house was really nice this year! We got to take our time and enjoy each other's company and dream about next Christmas with little Emily running around so excited she will hardly be able to see straight!! Life is about to change for us in a very big way and we couldn't be happier to be going through it together as best friends for eternity!! Families truly are together forever!!


We headed to Mema's house for a delicious Christmas Lunch! It was nice to get to see so many more members of my family! Everyone was happy and in good spirits. They even had a Christmas Sing-A-Long....Micah participated, I just stood back and kept the camera rolling! We also got to pose for a multitude of pictures in front of Mema's Christmas Tree. Enjoy!!

Mema and I posing for a photo, isn't she beautiful?

It's a 4 generation shot! Of course we will have some more soon, where you can actually see cute little Emily and she won't be hidden behind the belly!

We wanted to a photo of the husbands and wives that were at the lunch, so we have My Aunt Sweetie and Uncle Mike on the left, Me and Micah in the Middle and Mommers and Dooders on the right!!

And of course, last but certainly not least, Micah and I just 4 days before Emily's arrival!

3 Amazing Years!

Three years ago today I made the best decision of my life. I chose to marry my best friend, Micah Cordon, in the Washington D.C. Temple. It was a day that I will never forget. And the 3 years that we have been married since then have been no less than wonderful! It is the best thing to know that you have found your best friend and to know that you get to spend the rest of your life with them and in our case eternity!

Micah is such a wonderful man. We have been through a lot together in our 3 short years. We have gotten married, bought our first home, looked forward with great anticipation to adding children to our family, learned more about the importance of Heavenly Father's timing, went to India for a friend's wedding (an experience of a life time....I wouldn't have gone with anyone else!), went through the adoption process together, found out we were pregnant just one month after we were approved as an adoptive couple, gone through our first pregnancy together, and now in less than 2 weeks we are preparing to welcome our first child into our family!!

It has been amazing. And I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father who knew EXACTLY what I needed when He sent Micah into my life! He has been such a great example to me and I am grateful for the love and the friendship that we share! I am excited to take this next big journey with him too! He is going to be such a great dad to our little Emily! Happy 3rd Anniversary Darling, I love you TONS....not just a teensy:)

2005 ~Just Married...and SO EXCITED!!!

2005~Cutting the Cake at our Charlottesville Reception!!

2006~ Graduation Day...Old Dominion University (1 Day after our 1 year Annivesary!)

2006~We Spent our 1 year Anniversary in VA Beach, since it was so close to ODU and my graduation was the next day!!

2007 ~In Lieu of an "actual" anniversary trip, I flew out to spend a few days with Micah in Alaska as he finished up his 5 week business trip! We had a BLAST together! Turns out he only had to work for 1/2 of a day after I arrived and we got to play for the rest of the time!


2007 ~ One of our Play Days we decided to take a Sea Life Cruise in Seward, Alaska!


2007 ~And of course we can't forget India... another big trip of 2007! Here we are enjoying some coconut water!!!

2007~ Here we are in our Wedding Attire, all decked out for Raman & Vidhu's wedding!

2008~ Shortly after we found out we were having a baby!! We are so excited!

2008 ~ Here is the latest picture of us taken at Thanksgiving! Still happy, still in love and still excited about all that we have been through, all that we are going through, and all that we will get to go through together! Thanks for loving me the way that you do, Micah Cordon, my heart is yours for always!!

Pregnancy: The Good and the Not-So-Good Moments

As I was checking all of my "usual blogs" this morning, one of my pregnant friends had posted on the "Love/Hate Relationship" of her first pregnancy....it was very fun and inspiring to read. As I was reading I started thinking that I should do a similar post, since we are about 2 1/2 weeks away from the end of our first pregnancy right now.

So, here is what I have come up with as I have reflected over the past 8 1/2 months (starting with .............

The Not-So-Great Moments of Pregnancy:

* Even though I didn't throw up a lot, I was VERY nauseated for the first 12 weeks, so much so that some mornings I couldn't lift my head off the pillow without feeling like the whole room was spinning around me

* In the beginning I wasn't even able to eat chocolate because I would immediately get sick from any chocolate.....luckily that stage has past

* For those of you who know me, you know I made frequent trips to the ladies room pre-pregnancy, but believe it or not in the last several months those trips have doubled or maybe even tripled....so much so that as soon as I leave I feel like I could go back again!!

* My most recent "no-so-great" moment.....SWELLING!! My ankles have NEVER been so large...EVER!! I remember the first night I noticed it, I was getting ready for bed and I happened to look down at my feet (because they felt a little funny) and I had to blink a few times. I couldn't believe what I saw. At first I got scared and thought, "there is NO WAY those are my ankles, but as reality resurfaced Micah assured me that it was okay and that I just needed to get off of my feet:) He quickly helped me to bed after that...what a sweet husband I have!!

The Good Moments of Pregnancy:

* Overall, I honestly have LOVED being pregnant....not saying that I have loved all of the physical aspects, but I have LOVED being pregnant!

* Seeing my belly grow and knowing that our first child was growing and developing inside of me has been amazing ~ I really thought I wasn't going to be able to get pregnant and so this pregnancy has definitely been amazing for me!

* I remember when I first started to feel Emily move, it was the most amazing thing and now it is even better because Micah not only feels her but we can both see her moving too! It gets us so excited to see and play with her in just a few short weeks!

* I have had the best time getting Emily's room ready for her arrival, and I have had lots of great help doing it too! It has been so fun to see that room transform from a plain guest room to a room fit for a little princess...our little princess!

* It has also been great to see all of the little baby clothes that she has and to have the privilege to wash (and iron) all of them! It has been one of those "imagining the future" times in my life and also so hard to comprehend that in a few weeks she will be here to dress up!

* I am EXTREMELY looking forward to being her mommy! Sometimes it is a bit overwhelming because I know the tremendous responsibility that mothers have, but it is so comforting to know that I am not alone. I have a loving Heavenly Father who is willing to help me. All I have to remember is to get on my knees and ask! I also have Micah, who is such an amazing husband and support system....I waited a long time for him too, but it was worth every second. He is exactly who I need! He is so wonderful and he is going to be the best dad on the planet!! I love him so much!

Overall, life is an amazing adventure and we are excited to meet our little girl in just 17 days!!

15 Days 'Til Christmas!!!

Thanks to a friend of mine who wanted to know if we had our Christmas decorations up yet, I went home last night and snapped some pictures! Micah thought it was pretty funny that I was snapping pictures of all of these different decorations, but I told him they are almost all my favorites so I have to get them all!

I love this time of year! There is always a special spirit that blankets the world at Christmas time and I love to be able to feel it! We are looking forward to spending our 4th Christmas together this year! We have talked a little bit about traditions and what our traditions are. And since we are still relatively new at spending our Christmases together, we only have a few at this point (although I am sure we will have a few more next year when Emily will be here for her 1st Christmas!!).

So far our traditions include:

1) Making Cookies together a few Saturdays before Christmas to give to different friends and family - this is a really fun one! We both LOVE cookies and have come to use some family favorites each year (Christmas Ball Cookies, Chocolate Roly Polys, Peanut Butter cookies with Hershey Kisses are a few of our favorites!

2) Sending out Christmas Cards (We just started sending out cards last year that included a Christmas Picture and a letter ~ which is something I have always wanted to do! And we are FINALLY DOING IT!)

3) On Christmas Eve we put our Santa Hats on and wrap stocking stuffers for eachothers stockings and then we stuff the stockings and sit on the couch to enjoy our milk and cookies!

4) One of the last things we do on Christmas Eve before bed is read the Christmas story together in Luke! One of our best traditions, it really invites the Spirit into our home, which I love!



And of course we get to enjoy time with our friends and family each Christmas! We are so blessed. And this year we get to meet a new member of our family just a few days after Christmas, and we cannot adequately express our gratitude to our Heavenly Father for that great blessing! We have been waiting and praying for her to come for many Christmases past and now it is finally her turn!!!

Here are some pictures of our decorations, we are not much of interior decorators but we definitely have fun!!

I LOVE Snowmen, so you will see A LOT of snowman decorations!!!

Here is our Snow Man Countdown to Christmas! (He is a little bigger than we thought he would be, but that makes him more fun!)

Another fun Snowman on our Piano!

This little guy sits on the other end of our piano and he sings "Let it Snow."


Our Beautiful Christmas Tree ~ I really enjoy White Pines so Micah is content to help me pick one out for us each year!

We Hung our stockings this year....usually they sit on the couch!!
You have to dress up your speakers, you know:)

Our Newest Addition.....Our Nativity! It took us a few years to find one, but we finally found this one to start with from Precious Moments!

Another One of my Favorite Decorations! I made this a few years ago at a Relief Society Activity and it is been on our Tv ever since! Plus another fun snowman!! Seriously I think we have about 25 snowmen throughout our house!

Our Festive Kitchen Shelf!! It really works that our pans are red too!

A Christmas Present from Jessie and Tanner a couple years ago!

Merry Christmas to you all! We hope you have a joyous Holiday Season!!!