ITS A BOY!

So, whats been going on. Let me see, well alot. On the 3rd of March we went in for our 20 week ultrasound, and we found out that Levi was on his way to us. It was so fund to find out because we had spent all this time trying to figure out how we wanted to spell the name Mackenzi for a girl...which in the long run, was a waste of time (for now). Some day, but not now-were having a sweet little baby boy. During the ultrasound, we saw all his lil' fingers and toes (he has all 20) YAY-and his heart was strong and had all his organs and limbs, but the doctor did find one small thing wrong. He had two tiny white spots in his heart which are generally known as calcium deposits. All my prenatal tests game back fine for diseases and such, but it could still be a marker for something. The doctor seemed to be very unconcerned with it, he said it could be nothing or could be something as minor as a shorter pinky on one hand, or a toe that was spaced out further than the other (that doesnt bother me really at all as long as he's healthy). Still there is always a cause for concern for baby, so Thursday I'm going to a specialist, and I'm nervous, but I have faith baby Levi is just fine. I still ask for prayers from everybody-always could use that. Matthew is still preparing to be new daddy. I watch him everyday reading his books and constantly asking if Levi is kicking. He loves to tickle my belly and get Levi roused up-and he usually awakes! HAHA!-I love him, and I just know he is gonna be a GREAT DAD! He's so excited. I have gained about 16 pounds so far, I know I know, sounds like alot, but the doctor said that was fine. I eat quite healthy actually. Yes i get the occasional craving for fries and chocolate, but its in moderation, never hurt anybody! I actually crave cobblers all the time. Last night I dove into some red raspberry cobbler and practically ate 10 spoonfuls-it was delish. Well Im 21 weeks and four days, almost there...I'm so excited to see what happens in our life with the addition of Levi..I just know its going to be AMAZING.

Ill post about what the doctor says about Levi later this week after the doc.

Be Blessed,
Katie and Matthew

effects of being pregnant..

I am 19 wks and 4 days and couldnt be happier all except for the fact my back aches and my legs are painful and every day is going by so slow, but other than that-its awesome! LOL-Im feeling baby move and groove all over the place and it feels like butterflyes in your stomach! I love it, but sometimes, when I'm trying to sleep, it becomes strange because I cant get settled. This week has been crazy still for me and Matthew, still searching for jobs and praying to get through each month, but we are making it and thats what we care for, but still a job would be delightful to have! (prayers)

We are begining to do registering at some stores for baby-but really all we are gonna need is clothing and diapers!!! Our inlaws pretty much took care of all the other things! Thank God for them!

Well here is a pic of me and the growing belly!

Im out-Katie <3

Lots of NEW news

Well where do I begin.? WERE PREGNANT! I just had to get that out there!! We are 18 weeks and 4 days to be exact, and still truckin'. Feeling those kicks too now! Wow-thats just the tip of the iceburg too. So, last time I wrote I had just recently found my birth mother after 20 years, and I believe I was also pretty upset about every body having babies and blah blah blah and all that jazz, which I must say was selfish and wrong. Matthew and I were in a bad place, in other words we were just down right depressed and felt as tho everything was everybody else's fault but our own. We hated where we lived, we hated that God took away our two pregnancies, (thats who we blamed) and we just didnt want to hear anything anybody had to say. Around November, we started to decide on what we wanted to do immediately to make ourselves happy and start over. We felt if we could just get out of Ashe County and live anywhere else, we could be happy. We always knew we liked the beach, but not just any beach, a place where we both came for many summers, and was still a small but active little place. So this brings us to Morehead City, NC. (Some people would know it better as Emerald Isle) Now, how we got here, it just nutty and fast paced! By this point I had just found out I was 6 weeks pregnant and we knew, it we were going, we needed the money and soon. We were behind two months on rent as it was and we just had the unemployment coming it, which wasnt much. Matthew decided it we were gonna be able to do this, we needed to sell his truck, because that was all we had of value. We took it to the used car lot and got a couple thousand, payed our landlord the back rent, and saved for two weeks and packed up our moving truck and hit the road on December 6th. Matthew, the turtle, our baby (in my belly ), and I were headed for a new start and this time we were putting our faith in God completely. We put our stuff in a storage facility and stayed in a little po-dunk hotel, very cheap, for a week until my Father in Law-who we are blessed to have, let us stay in his beach house for the remainder of December. We had to be out by the first of January, have a place to rent and everything! We didnt know if we could do it. Some how 3 days before Christmas, we found some nice apartments and payed our deposit and moved in! It was crazy-WE ARE LIVING AT THE BEACH! So here we are 2 months later-no we havent found any jobs yet-but we are seriously working on that! Matthew has several app's out for everything he could possibly work as- CNA, Phlebotomist, Landscaper...ext.. what hasnt he done!? LOL-and me, well Im showing and I know people arent supposed to descriminate because your pregnant when applying for jobs, but trust me THEY DO! I continue to try though-my UI runs out soon, which I didnt know would happen-and Matthew hopes to get a job soon or atleast an extension again until he does, and tomorrow- I apply for a job at Dunkin Donuts-yes! you read right!-pathetic but a job with an imcome and maybe-just maybe ill get that job-and hey-free doughnuts! RIGHT! Gotta look at the upside of things-!
So I guess God is working in His small ways...I know He is..he has blessed us with a healthy pregnancy, and He is also keeping us hopeful-thats all we can do-Put our faith in Him, and we cant go wrong.

The baby is due in July somewhere around the 17th (yeah right like any baby comes on their due date? ) and we have given names for boy and girl. Levi Seth if its a boy and MaKenzi Grace for a girl-who knows? We find out in two weeks. We have also decided that my brother in law Troy and his wife Kristen will be the God parents!! He will also have lots of aunts and uncles and grandparents and cousins-surrounded by lots of love, and thats whats important. I also want to thank out loud Troy and Kristen for their continued love,support and prayers..because with out them, we would not have had the hope we did. ( other people too, Troy and Kristen just knew alot more than others) :)
Thats it for now I guess, other than my fingers are throbing.
Much Love to all and God's Blessings

Matthew and Katie

Exciting News

I know I havent written in a while but I have been lingering on exciting news that I recieved on Sept. 8th. If you dont know already I had been adopted in 1989 and had always wanted to meet the women who brought me into this world, and raised me for the first two years of my life. I had been on a long search that had lasted for around 5 years now..about two weeks ago, I began to get discourraged that I would never find her. I had such little information I thought that I would give it one last shot..because I was so tired and frustrated, I said one last prayer to God about this situation and said "if it is in your will for me and my birthmother to be reunited, then let it be." I looked over at my husband and said to him "i think I have come to the realization that I will never find 'Lisa'. He said I should give it a long search tommorow, and then just leave it in God's hands. So the next morning I got up really early on Tuesday, Sept 8th and gathered up the little info I had with me which was: Her name-Lisa Cioto which was her maiden name, and I had her social security number and where her and her mother and father had once lived while I was young. I went on all kinds of websites and even googled her name..Finally I went on a search engine and looked for anybody with that last name and the place where they might be living which was King, NC. I found the names, Donna and Frank Cioto..and they lived in King, NC. I supposed that they may be my grandparents because those were the only names that showed up. But I could not get contact with them without putting up some money for the real info like phone numbers and such. Around 3:00 I went on youtube and poured out my story and discussed the info on th video and told everything I knew as a last resourt hoping that somebody might see the video and know something. Then I watched a video where a guy had posted a vid about finding his birthmother on facebook..I watched it and was soo amazed..I thought "well everybody is on facebook now a days..I will look up her name.." I found no Lisa Cioto, but I looked up the last name anyways, without lisa and found somebody (the only one with that last name mind you) and proceeded to write a message and ask him if he knew somebody named Lisa Cioto..he messaged me back a few minutes later and said "yes! I do, she is my cousin and she lives in NC, why do you ask?" I wrote back and only gave him little info such as that I was adopted and looking for my birthmother..he messaged me back and said that he was calling some relatives to see if it might be her..he messaged back again and said "FACT: Lisa did have a child in 1987 named Katherine that she gave up for adoption!!" I freaked and said OMG-I can not believe this..after many messages and finding out that the Donna and Frank I had searched were Lisa's parents in fact!! He called Donna and told her to contact Lisa and tell her, and it was my birthmother..and she really wanted to talk to me, he said she burst into tears and had been waiting on me for a long time. I found out that her name was no longer Cioto, instead she was married to my birthfather, and kept his last name, even tho they were devorced after the adoption, and was already remarried, in hopes that it would be easier for me to find her. I found that she had been hoping i would find her since I was 18. So much information was exchanged through these last weeks by phone and letter, and my mom told me why I was given up (which will be explained in another post soon) and we just cried and cried and cried and have spoken every day since. It was the most amazing blessing I have ever recieved. The good thing is is that she lives in Morhead City, NC only 6 hours from me, and we found out that I probably have passed her by many times, because my father in law has a beach house just 20 minutes away from there. I know where she lives and everything. I guess I wanted to share all of this becuase I found that prayer does work and God answers when He sees most fit, and that you should never give up on finding somebody or anything that you want to do or see or find, you just never know.
I will be sharing more on this soon. I feel that this whole thing is like story straight out of the Lifetime movies..I cant wait to share with you how it came to be of my birthparents and the whole story of how I was adopted..it is amazing and very sad. I will also be letting you know what happens after next week when I meet her, and the half sister that I have too!!

God Bless and prayers for miracles :-)
Katie<3

to be honest...

There are some things that HONESTLY make me mad..and rather than be fake about it and deny when I am asked I will plainly just tell the truth about it. Recently I have seen the show on MTV "im 16 and pregnant" Ill tell you what makes me just so mad inside. I see these young kids get pregnant and didnt even want the kid (which they should know better than to not use protection-hello?) and they have the child..yet here I am sitting with my husband praying all the time that God will bless US with a child someday. How are they blessed with a child and Im not..just saying, and Im probably not the only one who feels this way. Another thing that makes me mad is people who lay some smack talk on MY religion (and others) when they know NOTHING about it. Like, Im a christian and I dont knock on other peoples Gods and spirits, because I know nothing about it. For people to sit there and say that God does not exist, well prove it, and another thing, what is the harm in believeing anyways, if and when the earth dwells away, what have you lost in not believing (if God doesnt come, which HE WILL)-you have lost nothing. That just makes me mad. Another think that makes me mad is the economy (who isnt) but back in the old days when this happened in the 30's I think it was, the President (sorry I do not support ours now) provided jobs for the unemployed, which they may not have payed very much, but they sure had people working for their families, unlike today! Well, thats all for now, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask, Im on a mission to not be a liar anymore when somebody asked me my opinion even if it makes them angry-trust me-Ill just tell you straight up what I think! Sorry-just felt like saying this today!

finding the light through the dark..

We are Matthew and Katie Staley. We live in a small town in North Carolina where nothing is going on, and hardly anything ever happens. We both grew up here, and are still stuck here. We both are collecting unemployment, and desperatly searching for jobs in a jobless county. My husband Matthew is in school right now for Phelbotomy (which is a blessing that it is free for him), and I am hoping when he is done, to go to Cosmotology school, which is my passion. We have went through many tough breaks, and rarely CATCH a break. We got married very young, but were determined to prove everybody wrong, we were sooo in love, and we are and are still together. A year and a half later we were suprised to find out that we were pregnant, and were excited afterwards and knew we were going to have a baby, later on we found out that I had misscarried. Though it was heartbreaking we got through it and moved on sometime later, we thought maybe it just wasnt the right time, and God had a plan for the next time. We then only had one income in the household and I was on the move again trying to find a job. I found a job at a daycare and fell in love with the children and wanted one very badly, our house just felt empty. A few months later we were very excited when we again found out I was pregnant this year in February. This time we were mentally prepared, but not totally financially prepared, but our family helped up push through. We were soo thankful to God for blessing us with another pregnancy and had high hopes that a little baby was about to enter our lives..but yet again in April we lost the baby..and this time..it was seriously a difficult time for Matthew and I. I had to have surgery to remove the fetus and had never been put to sleep and was scared. Now the crib, and all the clothes sit in a room, gathering dust, and so did our hearts. For a long time, up until recently we both became very depressed in our faith in God . We were both raised in families who taught us that with God all things are possible, and some how we had forgotten that. We have started to attend church more often and have decided there is nothing we can do by ourselves. We have put our faith in God completly and wholely and hope-someday-that we will be blessed with our miracle, and that He will lead us to a life that is full and abundant, and soon will guide us into the light through the darkness.