More pictures...

Here's some more pics of Emma...
Still haven't found the time to write the whole birth story, but will say that it was beautiful and fulfilling and very special to have her in our own home...
I am in the process of making a slideshow of the actual labor and birth, and will figure out a way to either post it or e-mail it to everyone....
but in the meantime, here she is...
(these pics are from week 1, I have to borrow Noelle's camera again to get some for now...)

So much for 3 weeks!

SHE'S HERE!!!

Emma Gabrielle was born on Monday, November 28th at 5:47 PM...
She weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long!

I will post details about the whole birth in a few days...We are just enjoying her too much right now...

But feel free to call us:
706-678-2954

Here is at least a teaser picture!!!















Love to everyone!!!

Jen and Tim

Less than 3 weeks to go!!!

I can't believe we're almost there! Everyone is so excited around here, especially Chloe... Although she doesn't understand why we can't tell her EXACTLY what day and time Emma will arrive!
The weather has been so wonderful lately, staying in the low 60's and then dropping at night...
We have been enjoying our fireplace...
Timmy had a friend over yesterday and they chopped a bunch of wood and stacked it perfectly. When his mother came to pick him up, he gestured largely toward the fireplace and wood stacked on the shelves around it and said, "Mom, we need to get one of these..." (Their family lives in a mobile home, and don't have a fireplace...)
It was so funny...
Anyway, thank you so much to those that have sent gifts for Emma, we truly appreciate every single thing...
God has really been providing in so many ways. He is so faithful.
I had a wonderful birthday last week also...
My son planned a surprise birthday party for me, he was so funny.
He conspired with a friend of mine and with Tim, and had a whole dinner planned at her house...
We had chicken parmesan and garlic bread, YUM!
And then a hot fudge cake, YUM, YUM!
Anyway, I felt very honored...
Well, I guess I'll write more another time...God Bless...
Jen

Registry Problems...

Babies-R-Us is having technical problems for the next few days, so to access our registry, you must have our registry number:

#86839316

Sorry for any inconvenience!
Love, Jen

Not too long now...

First of all, after much advice, prayer and deliberation......we have chosen a name!!!!

Drumroll, please...... (scroll down)

















We chose this name for several reasons:
For one thing, we wanted a very strong, but feminine first name that did NOT end in the "eeeeee" sound like Timmy, Nini, and Chloe.... ha, ha...
And we wanted the meaning of the name to have some significance...
The name EMMA means "all encompassing"
and GABRIELLE means "hero of God"
We also like to use family names as much as possible, and chose to honor my late cousin with our choice of Gabrielle. She was a special lady, and will be remembered for always...


I also thought some of you would enjoy seeing a scan of my baby shower invitations. My two best friends, Audrea and Noelle, are throwing it for me in November.
After getting advice from several people regarding the couthness of the following, I finally decided it was o.k. to post my registry info online, for those who would be interested in helping us get ready for little Emma.
We had kept some things from Chloe, but in 2003 when we had the mold insurance claim on our attic, most of what we had was ruined. We used the reimbursement money at the time to do other stuff around the house because we didn't think we would be having any more kids at that time....we were wrong :) ...
So, anyway, I have created online and in-store registries at Target and Babies-R-Us... here are the links:

http://www.target.com http://www.babiesrus.com
(make sure that you choose the Jennifer Bailey in Washington, GA)
Each site gives you a place to click on "baby registry" and then type in either mine or Tim's full name.

We really don't want anyone to feel obligated to buy us anything, but felt it was not in poor taste to let our needs be known for those who desire to.
We are so excited about this birth experience and meeting our newest little girl... We are planning on having a friend that is an excellent photographer attend the birth, so we hope to have some really incredible (modestly taken) birth pictures... Tim's mom and dad are going to try to be here around the due date, so we are so thrilled that they can be part of it all...

We can't wait to share the experience (through the blog) with all of you that can't be here...

Love to every one of you....

Jen and co.

Workin' on the house...

These are some photos from the work day that we
had a few weeks ago.





We had 4 or 5 guys from church come and help get the walls up in the attic room.













One friend rebuilt the stairs leading up to the room. They all worked so hard and we appreciated every bit of it.
The only mishap was when one window completely fell apart as they were "temporarily" removing it to get the drywall into the upstairs.... So, now we have to find a window....
Par for the course....






Sheetrock is all up! Next we mudded and sanded... That took a whole week!











Is this a tired man or what?







We have just last night finished sanding the floors and are getting ready to start staining and applying poly tonight.
We are actually staying with our friends, Jon and Noelle for the week, because we are doing all the upstairs floors....
We ran into all kinds of snags with the rental floor sander and our stubborn old varnished floors in the other rooms, and big stairs, so we finally decided to just paint the floors in those 2 rooms, but do the stain in the new room...
We are soooo exhausted....
I will probably add some new pics in the next few days as we progress closer....

Building a Fire According to Chloe...

Chloe was a big help to Daddy as he made the first fire of the season... Well, I'll let her explain....
(Click on blue play button below...)

Random Chloe Quote:

As we pulled into a parking space the other day:
"Mommy, can I uckle-buck myself?"
Translation for those who may not have children and are not familiar with this language:
"Mommy, can I unbuckle myself?"
:)

just another day...

i realize that i haven't written in awhile, but things have been kinda crazy around here. we had a unexpected visit this past weekend from tim's brother paul. he is the one who made it through katrina in new orleans. he came late friday night and stayed until tuesday. we had a great visit and enjoyed his famous black beans and rice... yum.
anyway, i had a shocker this morning from my two older children. they had secretly asked their father to wake them up when he left for work at 5 AM, and they completed all their school for the day, before i even woke up! i came downstairs as they were starting to watch a movie and was very close to getting on their case, when they started giggling and admitted their scheme...
i was quite flabbergasted. so here we sit, watching "the incredibles" at 10:30 in the morning!
pretty funny movie for any who haven't seen it...
tim has been working like crazy on our upstairs re-construction project...
we are trying to finish out our walk-in attic to make another bedroom... we have all been sharing rooms for too long...and with the new one coming in december, we REALLY need some space!
we are aiming to be done by the end of october...we'll see...
anyway, all is well around here...hope you all are blessed and healthy and happy...

mom's appointment with dr. hudson...

we got some great news today!
mom had gone earlier in the week for current CAT and PET scans to check on the cancerous activity that we have been treating with mild chemo for about a year now.
doc walked in and said that they were both clear!
she shows no tumors on the CAT and no "activity" (as they call it) on the PET...
she couldn't stop smiling all day...
thank you for praying, those of you that have been... :)
keep it up...

WE FOUND THEM!!!

Tonight, as I once again dialed Chuck's cell phone, as I have done probably a hundred times over the past week, a man's voice answered!
I was stunned, and said "WHO IS THIS?"
He answered, "This is Chuck, WHO is THIS?"
I then proceeded to burst into tears and could hardly get the words out to say that it was me and that we have been so worried!
He and Flora were diverted in their evacuation attempt and made it to a hotel in Hattiesburg and got the LAST room...
They have been without power until last night, and phone until today.
They are making plans to head to Texas to temporarily stay with Chuck's sisters in Dallas and Austin...
They want to stay on the west side of LA so that they can head back when possible to retrieve belongings and check on job situation.
According to Chuck, though, they are not particularly interested in staying in New Orleans after that... go figure... :)
That's all we know for now...
Thank you all for your prayers, and just so you know...
I love each and every one of you with all my heart and I am so glad that you are part of our lives!
(unless of course, you are just some random person that I've never met that stumbled upon my blog... ha, ha)

Missing family members in LA

Well, I haven't written anything lately because we have been very involved with trying to locate Tim's sister Flora and her husband Chuck...
They live in New Orleans, but as of last Sunday, were evacuating to Mississippi, where Chuck's mother has a home. We have not heard from them at all, and are very worried... The area that they went to was devastated...
Many family members and friends of the family are scouring the internet "lists" of survivors, but we have not had any luck...
We have filed missing persons reports with the Coast Guard, Red Cross, Salvation Army and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
Please pray for their safety and for us, the whole Bailey clan, to have wisdom on how to proceed...
The Bell south phone system is completely out of commission in that particular area code, and the cell towers are not working either, evidently...
We are praying about when it would be prudent, if at all, to just head down there and check hospitals and shelters ourselves... although, just the sheer cost, considering the gas prices, is insane...
The waiting has been very difficult... but,
We know that they are in the Lord's hands regardless...
Thank you so much for your prayers and support...

my back...

please pray for me...
I was stretching the other day and evidently yanked my sacrum (upper part of tailbone, in the middle of pelvis) out of it's place. It has been quite painful. I have been to two different chiropractors and have not found permanent relief yet. I am still functioning fairly normal, just trying to ignore the pain, except when I move in certain ways, then it pinches the sciatic nerve, which is excruciating for that moment.
thanks for your prayers...
jen

School starts today!

As I sit here typing, Timmy is "attempting" to write out his vocab words...He just gets distracted so easily... Nicole is almost done with hers...and Chloe has colored and traced on her little worksheets, and got tired of all that coloring real quick... I am looking forward to including her in our unit studies for history, science, geography and bible...
We went to the "big" library in Athens on Friday and got a massive amount of books to be used for the unit studies...We are going to be working on U.S. History, starting with the Founding Fathers in History, Oceans and Hurricanes and so forth with Science, U.S. Geography and then World in Geography, and we will chronologically work our way through the Old Testament for Bible...
We have a membership to an online DVD rental thing that is like Netflix, but more educationally oriented...It is called "Family Pass". We have gotten some really neat DVD's through them.
It really works well as a supplement to the unit studies, and also the curriculum-based subjects... Here's the website if anyone cares....http://www.familypass.com
Anyway, I'm going to try to scan one of Chloe's pages now...
Gotta go....

baby bailey first photo!

is this cool or what?
thought you would all enjoy seeing this...
this was the 3-D picture...
so cute...

well, we made a decision...

We have decided to have a home birth with this little one... We have prayed much, researched much, thought much, and finally decided.
We met with the midwife (whom I have known for about 2 years) on Saturday, and hired her...
one of our concerns had been financial, because a homebirth is not covered on insurance or medicaid here in Georgia. So, we would be paying out of pocket for this decision.
Well, God blessed us again....she (the midwife) knows how much I love to paint and so she offered to barter the cost of the birth for me doing some traditional and decorative painting in her home! Is that awesome or what??? Between that and all the other blessings that are pouring our way, God is just blowing our minds... It is truly amazing what happens when you are obedient to what He has said...
Anyway, I have posted a link to a really neat article about homebirth for any who would have questions... It is very informative, but also a neat story... I will put it here:
http://www.spiritofchange.org/fa050604c.shtml
and also put it in my links section to the right...
For the record, I am not actually familiar with the magazine that this article came from, it was photocopied into the homebirth planner that the midwife gave us...so I guess I should have a disclaimer stating that the views (other than this particular article, of course) expressed at "spirit of change magazine" do not neccessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Bailey's... :)
We are very excited about this decision and are feverishly working on the house and all of it's projects, to be ready for December.
We will keep everyone updated on the progress, maybe even some before and after photos...maybe....
Well, better go.... time for feeding at the "zoo"...

And next up to bat....

Timmy played on the Yankees this year and then was chosen for the
ALL-STARS team, which basically means he was in the top twelve of the league. I will have some pictures of the ALL-STARS game later when I develop the film...
Anyway, He loves baseball and is really, really good at it...(I'm not biased, really, really...)

School is near...

It has been a long week....
We are trying to get ready to start the school year...
I attended a homeschool expo in Atlanta with a friend on Saturday, and because of another financial gift last week, was able to purchase some of the kids supplies and books for this year. That was a tremendous blessing. I am really looking forward to this school year with them. I think I am really starting to see their individual learning styles more clearly and I am really going to encourage them to pursue the things that they enjoy and are good at...
Timmy is so good at math... He really loves the challenge and is such a spatial thinker. I wonder if he will end up in some type of architecture or engineering work...
Nicole on the other hand is totally the opposite... She hates math, but loves to write, draw, sing, paint, etc... I am going to push her into the creative arts...although she doesn't need much pushing... :)
I am interested to see what direction Chloe will go. She seems to be a mixture of both... She is extremely artistic..I am hoping to scan some of her drawings soon, and post them. They are very interesting...some impressionistic and some abstract, and some quite real...
Anyway, that's all about school and kids for now...
Love to all.

Girl Names Anyone?

Would love some suggestions for girl names, if anyone would like to comment! And when I say anyone, I shudder... thinking of the quite amusing man who sits at his computer day and night thinking of witty things to write on my blog... :) I wonder what names HE will come up with... We'll see...
And by the way, Mr. WiseGuy, for the record, Paula Alana is out of the question... :0 ha!

Just click on the comments link under this post, and leave your ideas!

"AND THE GENDER IS......."

I had my midwife appointment yesterday afternoon and had my ultrasound! The technician was new so it ended up being a really long process! Anyway, the consensus in the room was that...














It is another GIRL!
I called Tim and told him I wanted to surprise everyone when I got home. I went and bought a small girl onesie and pink socks and wrapped it up in a white box and white ribbon.
I made them all sit on the couch and then asked each of them what they thought it was. EVERYONE has been saying BOY so far, with ONE exception....Chloe...She has sworn all along that it is a girl. (She even said the other day that when she was saying goodnight to the baby, she "maginated" that the baby said "I'm a girl!")
Anyway, it turns out she was right!
Of course, there are false positives on girl ID's in sonograms, but I think that it is right...
Well, I have to go now, and pick up my van for the second time, and hopefully it's really fixed this time...
Spread the good news!

hardee har har...

anyone up for a good laugh should take a look at some of the "anonymous"
comments after my posts...
i wonder who could be writing them...hmmmm.... :)
someone maybe west of Georgia, east of Texas, and south of well, everything but Florida...hmmmm.... :)
someone who would sooner move to Alaska than grow a GARDEN!!!... hmmmm.... :)
someone who obviously spends way to much time thinking of witty jokes to write on the computer...hmmmm... :)

love you bud...and love to laugh.... :)

a hot summer day...

Well, the kids and I just spent 2 hours cleaning, hosing, washing, bleaching, squeegeeing, and flibberhanging the front porch! What a mess... But then I cleaned out their blow-up pool and let them play for awhile.







Watching them scream and jump and spray brought back some humorous rememberances of being 6 or 7 and filling the big outside garbage cans with water on a hot summer day! Did anyone else do this? :)
Just found out Tim has to work tomorrow, for the 3rd Saturday in a row! This is good because the money is really helpful, but golly we sure do miss him around here.
Please pray that he would be physically and emotionally strengthened through all this!
Also, I went yesterday to pick up our van (1&!/2 hour drive) and halfway home it started having trouble again! I had to drive all the way back and leave it again!! I just thank God for the warranty that we still have on the transmission!
Anyway, in the meantime they gave my another loaner (a car this time, for better gas mileage).
Well, kids are hungry for lunch and so am I, so I better get back to being mommy...
Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!! If not, well, go jump in a kiddie pool...or better yet, fill up a trash can with water and take a dip!!!! :)

Consider the Lilies...

"For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!
And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life's span?
If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith!
And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying.
For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.
But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.
Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Luke 12:22-34

speechless me... (yeah right!)

I haven't written for a few days because I have genuinely been speechless! God has directly and very explicitely let us know how much He is watching over us. He has provided some amazing miracles, including a brand new vaccuum cleaner delivered anonymously to our doorstep! Is that cool or what?
We, Tim and I, have finally been really being obedient with submitting our finances to Him, and really listening...and at first it seemed that everything went wrong, but rather than give up, we continued to trust Him (for a change) and, well, ......WOW! It is so cool to see how one couples obedience to wait on Him and another couples obedience to step out in faith and give could so bless BOTH couples, and their families and God too...
We are so pumped right now... can you tell :)
You know, I think that He is waiting sometimes to bless us and let us know these things (that He is our provider) and we are so quick to go out and "charge it" or "borrow it" or even "beg for it" and we don't give Him time to answer HIS way!
I am so grateful that we are going through this hard time, because it is teaching me more than I have learned in probably my whole life, about provision...
Tim works so hard for our family and it makes me so sad to think that for the past 11 years, I have not truly appreciated each and every dollar that comes into this home... I thought I did, but until these past few weeks I don't think I really understood.
It feels so good for both of us to have this change of perspective...
God IS our provider, always...

What do YOU appreciate?

I picked green tomatoes from my friend's garden yesterday, and that's what we had for dinner tonight! Fried green tomatoes, a southern staple! :) I am really learning to cook with what I have. On the one hand it is hard not knowing whether the bills will get paid, or when the next trip to the grocery store will be, but on the other hand it is so exciting to fully depend on God, really, for all our provision right now! It truly makes you appreciate things like never before..
Things that I appreciate today are:
friend's green tomatoes
friend's green peppers, cucumbers, squash and corn
friend's restaurants (Jeremy's Place :) )
homeade banana bread
the $1.73 in our mantle money jar...
credit counseling
hot water
cool air
friend's encouraging phone calls and emails...
healthy children
feeling baby move inside
the library
footrubs
friend's maternity clothes
friend's vacuum cleaner
ford's loaner van
this computer!! (gift from relative)
silly dog for entertainment
friend's hugs
bedtime

to be continued...

Akin Ford comes through...

We got a call yesterday from Akin Ford and the lady said that they felt so bad about not having looked at the van yet (there are 6 vehicles ahead of ours for service, evidently) that she would get us a loaner even though they technically didn't have any available until the 18th. So I had a friend drive me to Winder to pick it up this morning. Thank you Lord.

Cursed or blessed?

I'm not sure how good I'm gonna be at this...(inhale)
Well, let's see, we have had a rough, crazy week! But then again that almost sounds normal.
Our borrowed dryer broke again, our borrowed vacuum broke, our van left us stranded in Athens, and we had some financial mishaps with the bank....yuck! What a week.
So is life. But God is faithful, He got us to Timmy's All Star game BEFORE the van broke, I was fairly caught up on the laundry and have a close friend letting me use her dryer 'til we fix it, we happen to have a back-up vacuum ( a dust buster with a stick on the end, as I told the kids and watched them laugh) that somewhat, and I use that word loosely, picked up the dust and dog hair that seems to appear so quickly and thouroughly, and as far as the money goes, well , things aren't great, but it is very obvious that God is trying to teach us some things and they are hard, but bottom line is, things could be so much worse.
Whew....(exhale)
Really, we are o.k. and trusting God more than ever, and we know that we are so blessed.
So are you...

Later that day...

Well, we just went to see my best friend's new baby and he is sooo adorable. I was able to be at the birth and it was incredible. Watching a live birth is like nothing you can even imagine. The raw power that a woman exerts, pushing out it's own young is so primal, but yet so graceful...
She was a beautiful laborer, which I know seems like an oxymoron, but really doesn't have to be. I was so proud of her and so honored to be there. I held her 12 year old daughter during the whole thing, and explained everything that was happening. When little Noah came out, I think SHE was holding ME!! Wow.....
Anyway, Tim and I are leaving for a much needed night out, so I better get ready....Hasta Luego...

Sunday Afternoon July 3rd

Well, we are home from church and the choas begins. The fight over chocolate chip cookies leftover from yesterday is getting old! But Chloe's LEGO doggie makes up for the frustration...
Baby on the way is 17 weeks now and I "might" be feeling some movement. Pretty exciting.
Gotta go fix lunch for the clan now...

summers junior prom 2005 

tim and timmy, memorial day 2004 

chloe and her pawpaw, august 2004 

nicole in myrtle beach, august of 2004 

chloe, fall of 2004 

chloe with brennah and maggie 

nini and nana on nana's birthday 2004