more pictures

The Marrone's!!!

FCAT - "favorite cool aunt Tara"

Rachel with her cousins


my dear friend Kimberly - i love you

wedding pics and more

Constance & baby Rachel

Kim & Me - "south side"

Uncle Matthew and Rachel

precious Eli & Jordan

Daddy & Tara - such a beautiful bride

normalcy has arrived!!

Well we just sent my sister and her new husband Jeremy on their way to their honeymoon, all my family went back home and i think things will be back to normal for a little bit. This has been a crazy but amazing past 3 weeks. Learning to be a mother, seeing my sister and best friend get married and spending time with lots of precious family....it has been so much fun, tiring but fun!!!

Thank you for all of you that have been praying for us and Rachel. We are walking in the grace and love of God. Other than some congestion and a little cough, Rachel is doing great and we are enjoying every moment with her (even the ones at 3:00 a.m. - ha). She is gaining weight and was 7 lbs. and 2 oz. this past Tuesday. We see the doctor on Monday the 17th for a check up and we will keep you posted.

thanks again for praying - we love you all and look forward to you being a part of little Rachel's life! Here are some sweet pictures of our precious little daughter and a look inside our crazy last couple weeks.


this is her "going to the bathroom face" if you know what i mean - too cute!

Four generations! We love you grandma Diana & great grandma Peggy

She can sleep in any position like her mom

I can't believe we caught her with such a great smile....she loves her daddy!

more photos!

daddy's little princess.

"what are these huge things in front of my face"?

sleeping so soundly in mommy & daddy's bed


My first bath - I don't think I like this to much!
i just wanted to share a few more photos with you guys. These are actually from my camera so they are alittle better quality. Can't wait for her to meet all of you people that are so special to us!

love you all - Stephen, Tandra & Rachel Avery

our new precious daughter

Our daughter finally blessed us with her presence this past Tuesday Oct. 14th at 12:53 a.m. She weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz. and is 20 1/2 inches long. She is perfect!!!

I am sorry I am just now posting these, i will be sure to write soon about the "whole adventure" of delivering this precious little life. Words can't really explain the joy and overwhelming emotions of Rachel Avery being here. Can't wait for all of you to meet her!

she really loves this little warm womb of mine!!

Ha! tricked you. This is us with baby John Graves a while back. Soon this will be our little girl though!!

I haven't sent an update in a while so i thought i would fill you guys in! Since my last doctor's appointment nothing has changed too much. I have still been having good contractions on and off and we have been walking, resting, sitting on the exercise ball and eating of course. Thankfully i have been able to be home resting and "nesting". My husband has gone above and beyond during these last 4 weeks (yes, I said 4 weeks) by cooking for me and just serving me and loving me! Thank you Jesus for giving Him to me - I really can't imagine doing life without him.

Since we passed our due date this last Monday we have been even more anxious to get our little girl here but we know it's in Jesus' hands. Dr. Hutcheson said that I had not dilated any further than before so I am at a 4 for sure and possibly 4.5 or 5. She had been super patient and encouraging by not pushing us to prematurely bring Rachel into the world, and is just super sweet about the whole process. At our last appointment (last Monday) she asked if she could break my water on the 16th if Rachel has not arrived yet.....we both felt fine with that so that is the next step.

We are praying and believing that God will bring her before then because it is our desire that this process be as natural as possible. So....please be praying and agreeing with us about that. I know you all have been praying and standing with us and we are so grateful!

We will be reporting back soon with some pictures of our precious daughter. Love you all

yesterday's doctor update

the first words out of my doctor's mouth were "I can't believe you are still pregnant". She then proceeded to check my and told me that I have definitely progressed, even if it was just a little bit. I am dilated to a 5 now and am 85 to 90% effaced. (which is the percentage of how much my cervix is thinned out) So needless to say she sent me home without an explanation of why this baby is not here yet. When we are without explanation in life that normally means it can only be Jesus doing what He wants to do for a divine reason! My blood pressure and everything else looked great! So praise Jesus it was some sort of progression! Until next time!!