Blessings

 Here's Uncle Tony holding their new baby girl, Ember Dezzie Spratling.  She was born just 3 days shy of Father's Day, and 26 days shy of her July due date!  She surprised us all by making her arrival on Thursday, June 13, 2013. Henry and I were there to witness the entire FAST miracle that unfortunately Tony didn't make it in time to see.  More on that experience later. She's a healthy little sweetie-pie weighing in at 5 lbs 9 oz, and 18.5 inches in length.

 I love that Ember's middle name is Dezzie because Henry was born just 3 months prior and my dad's parents are Henry and Dezzie.

We have been so blessed.  Last year during my first trimester of pregnancy, I had some spotting and blood work revealed that we would most likely lose the baby.  When he survived into the second trimester, we were told that he will most likely live, but have Down's Syndrome.  Later ultrasounds revealed that he no longer showed signs of any abnormalities.  Then we was born in March a perfectly healthy baby boy.

For two months after his birth, I had four rounds of strep throat and feared I would need to remove my tonsils.  Stress levels rose when Eric was told he had 60 days left of work at Enterprise.  By the way, this was by no fault of his own as he is an excellent worker, but I won't go into that story.  The day after being told that, Eric had a job interview, and the next week he was offered the job.  So far he has been enjoying it, which is another huge blessing. With the job change, we were left without insurance for a couple months.  I was worried about taking care of my throat while on the temporary, but not very good, insurance I purchased to cover us until the coverage with the new company kicked in.  Thanks to prayers, my throat finally healed up.  I thought it never would without some major intervention!  I am so grateful for our family's current health.

I want to comment on Bre's latest blessing.  She went into labor at our home on a Thursday afternoon.  It was quite the surprise as she was over three weeks away from the due date.  Eric just happened to come home, thanks to his new schedule, just as we were contemplating taking Bre to the hospital to see if this was the real deal.  So he was able to watch all the kids while we went.  Tony was in Spokane for work meetings and left for home as soon as Bre called him.  I fed Henry and away we went to the hospital.  Ember came within 30 minutes of our arrival!  I am so grateful that Bre was at our home when it all went down because I don't think she would have been able to drive herself.  Plus, what would she have done with Lane?  I am grateful that Henry was fed because he spent the entire delivery on my hip and didn't make a peep.  I am happy that I could be there for Bre to have a familiar face, plus it was just really amazing to see my first birthing experience when I wasn't the one having the baby. Bre did awesome and the doctor arrived just in time to catch the baby.  Bre only pushed for 45 seconds and Ember was here!  They are all home now and doing well.

Finally, I want to do a quick comment on another blessing that has been on my mind lately.  My husband Eric has been so strong and helpful through this process of having a third child and then losing and finding a new job.  He is always serving the kids and I while at work and home and he never complains.  He does anything I ask of him.  He is a spiritual leader in our home.  I love that he helps us enjoy peaceful Sundays by playing his Mormon Tabernacle Choir station on Pandora =)  I  appreciate that he fasts and prays to know what's best for our family, and he can often be found listening to the scriptures and conference talks on his phone.  He's a great example to me of stepping it up and relying on the Lord when trials come. I love my man.  And by the way, Happy Father's Day!  Our kids adore him, even if he often plays the "bad cop" in our little "good cop/bad cop" scenario.