21 Weeks Down....19 To Go!!!

So this week I'm feeling bigger than ever :)  I am taking the iron pills and doing well with them.  No problems thus far, so that's great!  This weekend I get to get my first prenatal massage ever courtesy of my wonderful Aunt Patti!  She read my post about my sciatic nerve and said she has a great masseuse who is willing to work on me!!!  I'm so stoked and will fully enjoy my hour and a half massage on Saturday afternoon!  Other than that, I have officially sworn off ladders till this pregnancy is done, I'm having issues bending over, and the midnight pee sessions have begun!  On with the belly pics :)

Here I am with Josie Bell in my Belly.  I'm guessing this was a pretty unevenful week except for the fact that I was in my super stretchy pants by this point...yay for lycra :)

Here I am with Sammy Lynn in my belly....not super stretchy pants, but she was probably wanting me to wear them...I could tell because she was kicking my waistband all day! As a matter of fact, so is kicking that same waistband right now as I type this post :)

On a side note, I was carrying Joey to the mailbox today because I was in sort of a hurry..any who, she was mainly on my belly because as you can see I'm kind of all belly.....anyway, Sam totally kicked Joey in the booty!  It was funny because Joey felt it and said "hey".  It was a powerful kick!!!  I think Joey thought I was getting her :)  Maybe Sam's going to be a soccer player :)

On with the Baby Center update:

How your baby's growing (21 Weeks):

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long —the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

My New Best Friends.....

So I got a call from my doctor yesterday and after some blood work they decided that little Sam has made me anemic just like her big sister did :(  She said my blood count was low and considering what happened when Joey was born, I needed to go on Iron ASAP!

 If you don't recall what happened with Joey's birth, basically I ended up having to have a c-section for various reasons, and once they cut me open and such, I lost a lot of blood :(  I looked so pale and felt light headed and the even offered me a blood transfusion to help me get some color and vigor back.  I didn't want to have a blood transfusion unless they told me I HAD to have a blood transfusion.  I guess it wasn't bad enough, so they just put me on some heavy duty iron pills to get the blood back to normal.

Anyway, I guess my blood count is low enough this time that they want me on slow release iron twice a day until the baby comes.  As a result, these 2 things are my new best friends until we meet miss Sam, and maybe even after that...I'm not sure!

Coming On The Clouds With Fire.....*Updated*

So as mentioned before, we are doing a study which starts this week in church on Revelation.  I am super stoked!  The imagery and truth in this book of the Bible is intriguing and powerful!  In Rev 1:7 it reads:

"Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen."

Today I was catching up on some of my favorite blogs, and I came across some amazing pictures.......They reminded me of a song that I actually had to plug my ears and sing just so I could remember the words.  Bret walked in and caught me during this process, kinda embarrassing, but I digress.  The song is called Hosanna.  It always brings me to my feet when played at church.  When I have the privilege of singing this song for our congregation, my nerves melt away, and I loose myself in the lyrics.  The are amazing.  The first line of the song reminds me of this picture painted in Revelation 1:7...it goes like this I see the King of Glory coming on the clouds with fire. The whole earth shakes, the whole earth shakes.......Which leads me to the amazing photos found today.....If this isn't as close to Jesus coming on the clouds with fire without him actually coming on the clouds with fire, I don't know what is!  Feast your eyes on these beauties and enjoy!

(Found on The Pioneer Woman's Blog)

(Found on The Pioneer Woman's Blog)

(Found on The Pioneer Woman's Blog)

(Found on The Pioneer Woman's Blog)

Amazing right???  The rest of the song is just as good as the 1st few lines, so I've put the video of the song below andwritten the words out for you below....Please read these lyrics, and enjoy, it is truly one of my favorite songs!

I see the King of Glory, coming on the clouds with fire

The whole earth shakes, the whole earth shakes.

I see His love and mercy washing over all our sin.

The people sing, the people sing

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest

I see a generation rising up to take their place

With selfless faith, with selfless faith.

I see a near revival, stirring as we pray and seek

We're on our knees, we're on our knees

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks yours

Everything I am for your Kingdom's cause

As I walk from earth into eternity

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest

Man, those last few verses are another blog in and of themselves with what's going on in Haiti, and all over our world.  We are so blesses to live in a place where devastation isn't lurking at our doorstep at all times!

20 Weeks and 20 To go :)

1/2 way there, but it could really be less though because Joey came on her own at 38 weeks :)  I keep having these nightmares of my water breaking while I'm at work and then my friend Akirb has to take me to the hospital...we can't get a hold of Johnny...H. E. double hockey sticks breaks loose, and well, you get the picture!  I'm sure that won't happen and if it does, I guess I will deal!

Anywho, as far as how I'm feeling at the 1/2 way mark, I feel good!  I feel big, but good :)  My right leg is starting to cramp up and throb at times like if I've been standing or sitting too long...the doc told me my sciatic nerve was involved.  She said that a prenatal massage might help or that if it doesn't work I may have to do physical therapy.  I'm so not down for physical therapy...not because I have something against it, but because it costs money!!!  Oh well, hopefully the heating pad and some good old fashioned rest will do the trick :)  On with the belly pics of the week.

Here I am with JoJo....I felt huge!  On the caption of this picture I talked about being 1/2 way done, but that I might be more than 1/2 way because of friends who had mainly delivered at 38 or 39 weeks!  I think that's what the face was all about too...I was scared of the unknown :)  18 weeks later, Joey was here :)

Here I am with Sam :)  It's so much fun to call her by name!!!  Anyway, I know that I am at least 1/2 way done, and it feels great...hence the smile on my face :)

Now on with the Baby Center news:

How your baby's growing (20 Weeks):

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)

He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

AHHHHHH....It's Pink!

In honor of our little girls, I have changed my blog background to PINK!!!  For those of you who know me, this is a big step!  So enjoy it while it lasts people, not too sure how long I can take it!!

Thanks for all the congrats on Miss Samantha (Sam) Lynn!  We are so incredibly blessed and yesterday was a huge reminder of that! Thank you God for entrusting us with one of your own precious creations!  We are forever grateful!

It's a.....

GIRL!!!!  Today we had our sonogram and found out that our little Stout Seed # 2 is a girl!  It is always amazing to see everything in a sonogram...we got to see her heart with all 4 chambers, her brain, her 2 kidneys, her stomach filled with liquid meaning that she is swallowing, her femur, her hands, her feet, her spine and more!  She's like a little person in there...mainly because she is a little person in there :)  Once all her measurements were taken, we found out she is measuring at 19 weeks and 4 days old, and I am at 19 weeks and 5 days, so she is right on track!  Here are some of the pics from the sono...

This is Samantha Lynn's sweet (and freaky) looking face.  Her eye is right under the letter E in FACE, and her forehead is on the right, her hand is on the upper left and her chest is on the left...you get the picture!

Here's her sweet little foot.  She was moving around a lot, and we got a good shot of these piggies!!  I think it already looks like she has Johnny's feet...just like Joey :)  I guess we will see!

And this one's for Uncle Stewie :)  The doc said we might have an Aggie on our hands...LOL...anywho, that's her hand and you can see her nose by her thumb and her mouth just to the left of that.  Her elbow is below her chin and her shoulder is all the way on the left side of the picture!

Joey and Johnny were both able to come to the sonogram today thanks to Mr. Martin Luther King Jr.!  Jo did great and got mad when daddy was in her way and she couldn't see the baby!

After the sono, I had an OB check up...I weighed in at 105 lbs, and again, I guess my pee sample was good enough not to say anything as well as my heart rate because I didn't hear a word about either!  The doc hung out with us for about 2.5 seconds, said everything looked good and sent me to get my blood drawn.  By the way, the lady who draws blood at our doc is AWESOME!!!  I never feel it!

So people have been asking, are you glad it's a girl or did you want a boy??  I will tell you that growing up I wanted 4 boys and NO girls.  Now I can't imagine anything else and there are so many reliefs now that we know our little Sam will be here in June instead of a little boy!  I'm a list person, so here's my "Why I'm excited Sam's a girl" list:

*Since we already have a girl, we know what to do with a girl!  No having to learn about boys :)

*Since the girls b-days (Joey Apr 23, and Sam June 2) won't be too far apart, we are hoping that all Joey's hand me downs will be in the right season and we won't have to buy too many new things!

*Since Sam is a girl, we don't have to do anything to the nursery!  No painting...YAY!!

* Joey and Sam may fight when they are young, but get to be best buddies like me and my sister when they grow out of it :)

*I hear girls are easier to potty train!!!

*I also love the boy name for a girl thing we have going on, and don't worry, if we have more girls, we have more names that will work, just you wait and see!!

The list could go on and on, and it would be just as long if Sam had been a boy, but we are thrilled that she is who she is, and that God is molding her into the little lady He wants her to be!  We are stoked to say the least, and can't wait to meet Sam in 20 or less weeks!!  We are 1/2 way done!!!

In 12 Hours......

In 12 short hours we will know if Stout Seed # 2 is a boy or a girl (pending the baby cooperates :)!  I am so excited I could just burst!  If you are the prayin' type, and I hope you are...please pray for our doc visit tomorrow.  I'm excited to see how Stout Seed # 2 is developing, get it's measurements, and see it's goodies :)  I will let y'all know as soon as we know!

Oh and on a fun side note, my friend Cari analyzes handwriting and says that it's going to be a boy based on a handwriting sample I sent her the other day!  She was right with our daughter Joey, so we will see tomorrow if she's done it again!

On another fun side note, my SIL Becky is great at feeling the baby vibes and she has been getting "girl" vibes from the beginning with SS#2...she was also right with Joey, will she be right again??  I guess both Cari and Becky have a 50/50 chance, so we shall see!

What's your guess??

19 Weeks and 21 More To Go!!!

Wow, so it's week 19 and I feel huge already!  In the baby center update it says "Think you're big now? You'll start growing even faster in the weeks to come."  Yikes!!!  I'm feeling great for the most part.  I am having to sleep on my left side so that my right leg doesn't fall asleep :)  The baby is kicking and moving a lot more than Joey did!  In fact, when I pick Joey up, Stout Seed # 2 kicks my belly....I guess SS2 is already wanting all of the attention!  This should be interesting :)  On with the belly pics....

Here I am at 19 weeks with Joey in my belly...you can tell by the decorations on the banister that it was around Christmas time :)  I remember thinking about our savior Jesus who was born and how crazy it must have been for Mary to be going through the same process I was going through.  She didn't have the books, the internet, and on top of that, she had to deal with the fact that people thought she had cheated on her fiance.  Amazing!

Here I am with Stout Seed # 2!  Wow, that belly is huge!!!  Man am I glad to not have braces this time around!  I feel like I look a little bit older this time!  Johnny said he thinks my belly button is already starting to poke out...I will have you know that's the angle of the picture and not my belly button sticking out :)  I will let you know when the button pops officially!

Here's the news from Baby Center:

How your baby's growing (Week 19):

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

Wishful Wednesday!!!

This week's topic from Kelsey over at the Seattle Smith's:

'I wish' .... I had the startup funds to build that company I have always dreamt about, and it would be _____!

Kelsey wants hear all those entrepreneur ides this Wednesday :)  Here's mine......

'I wish' .... I had the startup funds to build that company I have always dreamt about, and I would be a stay at home mom & blog researcher/writer!

  I would need the start up funds so that we could live while my blog was getting out there :) I know this isn't something that requires a store front, but I just love surfing the web finding new fun blogs! How cool would it be if that was your job to find new and innovative bloggers and expose them through your own blog!  I could totally do that during Joey's nap time and throughout the day if only I could find someone to pay me to do that and I got insurance along with the job, wouldn't that be great??  A girl can always wish!!

The End is Coming......

We are about to start a series at church called "The Apocalypse". It's a study on the entire book of Revelation and I am so completely stoked I can't even contain it! Jan has been planing the music/drama/video clips and such for this series along with help from many others. Here's Jan's most recent entry
from her blog (hope you don't mind me using this Jan :) that got me even more excited about this upcoming series...It's thought provoking and gives great insight on what we can expect over the 10 week series.....

We (McKinney Fellowship) are getting ready to begin a series called The Apocalypse which is a study of the entire book of Revelation. So, I am waist deep in planning services for that series. What a book to foster creative ideas for services!! I am loving it. (If you are a McFBC'r, just a heads up... You won't want to miss any of the 10 weeks! You never know what you're gonna get.)

Today I am working on the service for Revelation 4 & 5, which is the description of the Throne room in heaven and the worship that goes on there. What a scene that is. The colors, the sounds, the creatures, the worship. AMAZING! Here is an excerpt.


Rev. 4:2-8
2At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!


If you have never read the rest of those 2 chapters, I encourage you to do so. I really never tire of reading them over and over. It gives me such hope for what is to come.

As I was reading and looking for music written from the verses in these chapters it occurred to me afresh that this is not a scene that was made up by John or something that will take place in the future. It is happening right now. 24/7/365 All the time these creatures with wings and eyes all over themselves and the elders with their crowns and the thunder and lightening and sea of glass making all of this envelop those in it... it is happening right now, as you are reading this and will continue to repeat itself after you finish. Over and over and over and over into infinity.

The are songs that we sing in church on occasion that are written from the words found here. Agnus Dei, Revelation Song, Holy Holy Holy, and several more. All of these songs always seem to "just work" when we sing them. People engage, they worship. Why is that? What is it about these songs that enable people to worship more fully than with some other songs? Want my theory? (Sorry if you said "no", it's my blog - you're going to get it anyway.) I believe they work because we are joining with heaven in worship of the Holy God that is already going on, has always gone on and will always go on . For just a moment in time, it is on earth as it is in heaven. What a thought that is. I almost can't wrap my mind around it.

I so long for the day I can be in that place forever. Worshipping with every ounce of all I am . So for now, I settle for getting as close to that as I can as often as I can for as long as I can. How about you? When is the last time you entered in to the throne room and spent so time casting your crowns down and worshipping your maker? Join me - won't you? Click here, close you eyes and just worship!

I mean are you kidding me, I am so excited I kinda want to pee a little....that's right folks, I said pee a little! Check out this video teaser of the series and let me know if you want any info on it, it's gonna rock!!!

What's In a Name Part II.......

Warning...long post, but super fun if you ask me :)


So I remember doing this post with Stout Seed # 1.  We were about to have our sonogram to find out what our little seedling had morphed in to, and it was time to discuss names ever since!  Re reading this post was super fun!  I remember the night Johnny and I found out we were preggo with Joey and talking about names THAT night for our little seedling!  No worries about what could or might happen along the way, we knew that this seed God had blessed us with was our first baby and it would have a name by golly!


Skip a year or so once Joey was here and around her 9 month birthday, I was getting the itch to "try for another kiddo".  For obvious reasons Johnny was on board.  It took us quite some time to get here, but the Lord has blessed and entrusted us with one of His creations, and next Monday we get to find out what our little Stout Seed # 2 is!  I couldn't be more excited and the closer we get to the sono date, and the more I feel this little seedling move and groove in my belly, I just don't know how people don't find out what they are having!  Anywho, as far as names go for Stout Seed # 2...remember that itch at Joey's 9 month bday???  Well, I've been dreaming up names and running them by Johnny ever since :)  So these have been in the works for over a year, and we are set!!!!  Here goes....


For our boys name, we are recycling the name that would have been Joey's!  We have tried other names, and we just love this one because it has tons of meaning to us!  For those of ya'll just catching the news the boy's name will be....Carl Bauer Stout...we will call him Bauer, or Carl or CB (not sure yet :)!! Carl comes from 2 men in Johnny's life and my own. Carl is the name of Johnny's favorite Grandad. He remembers playing catch in the house with his Grandad, breaking stuff, then his Grandad would glue it back together so the kids wouldn't get in trouble! He was always ready, willing and able to get on the floor and play with the kids, and from the stories I've heard, just a phenominal man! If you have been to our home, you have seen the bright orange crushed velvet chair in our living room. This was Carl's, and is not leaving our house anytime soon! The Carl in my life is also known as Bigman. He is legally my stepdad, but so much more to myself and our family! He is fun, artistic, amazing with his hands, and can fix most problems from life issues to the garbage disposal. He is definately a Jack of All Trades. My sister and I met Carl before our mom did, and we introduced them not knowing what the future held, but man are we glad it happened! The result has been a great dad and role model! Johnny loves Bigman because he can make any situation funny :) Onto the name Bauer...From the time Johnny's best friend Cory named his son Easton (a popular hockey brand) Johnny called dibs on the name Bauer (another popular hockey brand). We were kind of joking around, but now love the name and will actually call him by Bauer if it's a boy! Johnny is super excited about nailing a Bauer hockey stick to the wall if it is a boy! 


No on to the girl's name...Samantha Lynn Stout....as you can tell from our first child (Josephine "Joey" Leigh Stout) we like boy names for girls!  I have always loved the name Sam and have wanted to name one of my children Sam since I was a little girl..not too little though, because at one point in my life I WAS NOT having kids....oh well, times have a changed :)  We do not have any profound meaning for the name other than the fact that I just love it, and it hasn't been vetoed by Johnny!  I did do a little research though and found out that Samantha means "Listener of God", so that's not too shabby...we could all do a little more listening to God!  As for the middle name, it is my sister Vicky's middle name!  I have always loved it and wanted to use it for one of my kiddos....when I married into Johnny's family I found out that not only does Vicky bare that name, but Johnny's mother and all 3 of his sister's also have the middle name...the only difference is the spelling.  Johnny's family spells it with an "e" on the end and my sister does not.   I love my sister so much and if you haven't met this woman, then you are missing out!  She is the most supportive person you will ever meet.  She is kind, loving, caring, smart, witty, and so much more. I thank God everyday for her!!  I thought it was so weird hearing stories about sibling fights between my friends and their siblings...Vicky and I never fought, and if we did, I have forgotten it!  I know that if we do have a daughter and she gains even a fraction of Vicky's essence, we will be so lucky!  My Mother In Law who also has the middle name Lynne is amazing and I love how she has accepted me into her family with open arms.  I truly feel like a "Stout" and know that she is a huge part of that!  She loves Joey so much and you can see Joey light up when we are going to Grandma's!  My SILs who also have the middle name Lynne are so much fun too, each with their own personalities and each with something to bring to the table!  Amy is super loving and compassionate, Becky is fun loving and carefree, and Jackie has a quick wit and totally lights up a room!  Man, if we have a girl, she sure has a lot to live up to in that tiny middle name of hers :)


So long story long, that is where our child's name comes from, whether it's a boy or girl, these are our names and we are sticken to em...what do you think of the names, and what do you think the baby will be?????

18 Weeks and 22 To Go :)

So I got to go visit my friend Jeaneen today and see her cute little 23 week old belly bump :)  It was so tiny!  I look back at the pics of Joey in my belly and remember thinking I was so big...until now!  This new baby is out of control!!!  Here's the evidence...

Here is me with my cute little belly when JoJo was residing inside....I went ahead and wore the same pants in the new pic, not on purpose, but it does show a good comparison....

Woah Nelly!!!!!  This thing is huge!  I can't believe how different I'm carrying this baby too....it seems much lower than Joey!  I'm not looking at the camera because I'm too busy looking at my big old belly in disbelief!  I still have 22 weeks to go...yikes!!!

On with the Baby Center Update:

How your baby's growing:

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

And there you have it folks!  We get to find out what our baby is on MLK day!  I am so stoked to see this little bell pepper and find out what he or she is and to start calling him or her by name!

Christmas Up North :)

So this weekend we had our final Christmas celebration at my Dad and Bea's house in Pottsborro!  Joey got way more than she needed, and we had a great time!  I don't have my camera as mentioned in the last post, so you will have to deal with the non personal web pics I was able to find!

Joey got a new outfit from her Aunt Tammy...it's pink and brown and will be super cute for the Summer!

From Papa Ray and Grandma, she got a barn that sings and rotates and more....here it is...

It's really cool, and really loud...thanks Papa Ray and Grandma :)

She also got some pretty clothes and some great movies!  Among them were...

She also got Benji, and the story of Joseph!

We had a great time with the family for sure!  Can't wait til next year when our Stout family of 3 is a family of 4!!!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!!