The Stone's: A Quick Catch Up...

Here's a quick catch-up on our lives this year. January started off with a big surprise. Rachael found out she was pregnant on January 2nd. Since we tried for so long with Payton and Rachael went on hormones to finally conceive, you can imagine our shock as we weren't even trying (yet)! Our surprise quickly turned into excitement as we knew this was God's doing, not ours.

Payton turned 15 months old in January and although he's still not walking, he LOVES to talk just like his brother. He says: hi, momma, dadda, bubba (Honour), doggie, book, Becca (our dog), yuck and yuckie, baby, ball, eat, bottle, all done and more (complete with sign launguage to accompany the word), and is attempting belly button (has yet to really get it but it's his FAVORITE body part right now--on everyone and anyone). It's SO cute when they start talking! He's our little parrot and has started imitating everything we say--even if it's just the syllables, not the sounds. He's a joy to have around and such a great baby. We are so blessed.

Honour is doing great. He's in 3rd grade now and has really excelled in his school work this year. We've had our moments, but his heart is to do what's right and we see him learning what right vs. wrong choices are with friends, school, homework, free time, etc... What an amazing thing to watch! Children learn and grow so quickly and we are so honored to have these 2 wonderful boys in our lives.

Tom is doing well. In December, we found him without a job overnight and, as stressed as we were, we knew God would take care of us. He is so faithful to always meet our needs. Tom ended up finding a job (working for the same company Rachael's brother does installing Comcast cable) about 5 days after his job had ended and although it's not his dream job, he's learning a lot and enjoys what he does (most days). We are blessed in this economy for him to have a job and are continually thankful for the provision we have.

Rachael is still doing daycare and enjoys it most days. The first trimester has really been different (and somewhat harder) this time so some days were harder than others, but she's starting to feel much better as she enters her 13th week. She's looking forward to feeling the second trimester "glow" and energy again. It's right around the corner, which is a huge relief for our whole family. In March of 2008, Rachael began a long process of starting her own business selling unique nursing covers for nursing moms. The actual nursing cover idea wasn't hers, but she made some LARGE improvements to one she had been given, thus birthing the Bumble Cover. She has found that she truly has a passion to see other moms have the freedom to nurse where they need to while enabling those moms to have the discreetness they desire, as that was her main struggle while nursing Payton. It's been such a learning adventure for us all, but one that we are glad we made. Rachael hopes to be able to grow her business this year more last thru her website (www.bumblecover.com) as well as online children's boutiques. She is currently sending out gift baskets to celebrities such as Jennifer Garner and Tori Spelling and has some upcoming opportunities that could greatly increase her product recognition. It's an exciting time in the Stone household and updates will be coming soon!