The Miracle of Life

It's amazing to me that one of God's greatest miracles happens every day and that average people like myself get the privilege to participate in it.

On Friday afternoon, my son came into the world.  It was a miracle and that's really the only way I know how to describe it.  It was both the hardest day of my life and the most beautiful.  Yes, I believe it was an even more beautiful day than the day Drew and I got married.  The amount of work that went into giving birth to Gabriel made the reward of holding him in my arms for the first time the most amazing moment of my life.  Drew and I both feel that the day was more special than our wedding, because it was the culmination of what happened that day as we covenanted together to become a family under God.

In any case... the last couple of days have been amazing, as well.  Although they have been rough at times (like when Gabriel slept only three hours one night and cried inconsolably the rest of the time), overall, it has been absolutely incredible.

Holding the precious bundle of joy that God gave us to raise...
feeling inexplicable love for a little person I have only just met...
staring into his beautiful face as he sleeps in my arms...
having him study my face with interest...
snuggling him close as I nurse him...
hearing him breathe and make baby noises...
seeing him calm down from crying as I swaddle him...
knowing that I am his main source of food, love, and care.

Motherhood is turning out to be so much more beautiful that I could ever have dreamed.

Surprise!

Things don't always turn out how you plan them.  However, often the best surprises are born when you least expect them. :)

On Tuesday afternoon of this week, I visited my chiropractor whom I have been seeing weekly during the last two months of my pregnancy.  After adjusting me and taking a "look" at Gabriel, he informed me that, while my body was ready for delivery, the baby was nice and happy where he was and probably wouldn't be born until Monday, maybe Tuesday.  On Thursday, my midwife told me the same thing at my weekly appointment.

With that in mind, and with a four-day weekend stretching in front of us, Drew booked two nights at the Gaylord Texan for us to have a little getaway before Gabriel's arrival.  Before checking in, we ate dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse, one of my favorite restaurants.  We got to the hotel and checked in around 8:30 and watched the end of the Office before turning in around 9:30.  It usually takes me a while to go to sleep, and being at the end of my pregnancy was not helping matters.  It was around 10:45 before I started drifting off.  Just then, my water broke!

I woke Drew up after making use of the toilet and we made the decision to make the drive home.  Fortunately, the hotel gave us a refund, since we'd only been checked in for like 3 hours.  We made it home at around 12:15 and went to bed.  By this time, I was tired and had no trouble falling asleep.  About two hours later, I woke up with my first contractions.

Around 7am, we headed in to the birthing center and Gabriel made his entrance into the world ten hours later at 5:16pm... one day before his due date.

Drew's four-day weekend is proving to be most valuable now!

The Past Two Months

This is terrible.  I can't believe I haven't updated about Baby in over two months.  Actually, I can.  March and April were absolutely crazy with school.  I could hardly focus on my last assignments, as I was looking forward to being finished and being able to devote all my time to preparing for Gabriel to arrive.  It was hard to care about Romeo and Juliet and Huckleberry Finn (the subjects of my final papers for two of my classes) knowing that in a few short weeks, I would be a mommy. :)

In any case, I finished up (and managed to pull all A's) and began working on projects around the house.  Some may call it nesting, but I'm not sure if I'm to that point yet.  With everything I've heard about nesting, I feel like it's random inspiration to do random projects around the house -- like organizing spices that you haven't touched in a year.  These projects have been on my plate for a looong time; I'm just forcing myself to do it before Baby's arrival, as I know my time afterwards will be... better spent. ;) But maybe I am nesting.  I don't know.

So far, I have cleaned out our closet and the guest closet (making room for all of Gabriel's stuff; that room will eventually be the nursery).  Both Drew and I had tons of clothes and shoes that we just didn't wear any more.  It was kind of unreal.  So, about four boxes and five large bags later, I made a couple runs to the good will.  It felt good to get all that stuff off of my hands!  I still have a box in my car and one in the closet... just in case I find anything else that needs to go.  I also finished all of the thank you cards from both of my baby showers and washed all of the new baby clothes/blankets and put them away in a nice, orderly fashion.  Five loads of baby laundry was a project in itself, needless to say.

My next project is either to reorganize the kitchen or the master bathroom, depending on my level of energy and commitment.  The kitchen is a huuge project, as I never really organized it when I got married.  I just kind of stuck stuff wherever it would fit and moved it around as I got more things.  It's a mess.  The bathroom cabinets are semi-organized... just junked out.  What I really need is to get shelves put in them (for some reason the builder didn't think to put those in?), but I doubt that'll happen before Baby.

So, that's been my life for the past two months.  Meanwhile, I'm getting bigger and more uncomfortable. I am also trying to take a 30 minute walk every day; apparently it helps to build the muscles that I'll need for labor/delivery.  It's incredibly hard, especially now that I'm starting to have PMS-like cramps nearly every day, but I know it'll be worth it.

One week and five days until my due date!

Be Her Freedom

This weekend, we had an amazing guest speaker at church--Christine Caine, from Hillsong Church in Australia.  She is staying this week to speak at the women's conference that I will be attending Thursday through Saturday and I am SO excited.  She shared a powerful message at the weekend services... prefaced by a video for a ministry that she supports:  The A21 Campaign.  I was in tears by the end of the video, which shares about sex trafficking.  The statistics were overwhelming.

The story struck home for me because it was about a young Bulgarian girl who was trapped in this world.  My fifteen-year-old cousin lives in Bulgaria.  All I could think about through the video was "What if that was her?"  But for the grace of God, protecting my family serving as missionaries in that country, it very well could be.

I plan to support this ministry first and foremost through prayer and fasting.  I also aim to raise awareness and to support this incredible ministry financially when I can.

The average age of victims is 14.
99% of victims are NOT rescued.
Be Her Freedom.

Easy Roast Beef

Last night, I made Drew’s favorite meal:  roast beef with mashed potatoes and baked asparagus.  It was pretty bangin’, if I do say so myself. ;) Anyway, the roast turned out so well that I thought I’d share my “secret family recipe.”  It’s apparently not as secret as my chocolate chip cookies.

In any case, this roast was originally perfected by Drew’s grandmother, who passed it down to her daughter-in-law (Drew’s mom, in case you weren’t following), who passed it down to me.  It’s incredibly simple and almost impossible to overcook; although admittedly, it does taste better when it’s tender (I would know—I left it in too long the first few times).

Start out with a good cut of round rump roast.  You will know it’s a good cut if there is a thick layer of fat on one side—the thicker the better!  (Mine is only mediocre in fat thickness, but meh.)  In order to prepare it for the oven, all you have to do is put salt and pepper on each side of the roast.  It helps to pat it into the meat.  It's kind of impossible to put too much pepper.  I always pepper conservatively because I don't like it, but Drew's mom puts a TON, and it always tastes amazing. :)

After you're done salting and peppering, stick the roast in a 9x13 and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour per pound.  This roast was two pounds, so I cooked it for a little under two hours.  Just so you know, a two pound roast for two people will result in LOTS of leftovers.  I would recommend getting a one to one-and-a-half pounder.  Honestly, I asked for one of those at Tom Thumb, but they gave me a two-pound rump.  Oh, well.  We like leftovers.

After it's done cooking, the roast needs to sit and "rest" for about twenty-thirty minutes, so I don't usually start making the side items until it's already out.  After it has rested, carve away and enjoy!

(As you can see from the picture, my roast flopped over and refused to cook fat-side up.  If this happens, don't panic.  I just flipped it to the other side half-way through cooking and everything turned out fine.)