Life Unexpected

2008-08-15T08:22:00.002-04:00

3 nights in a row of an adorable 5 week old waking only once?!? Say what?!?

GLORY TO GOD! We've been praying hard.

I never realized how precious sleep was to me. Ben and I found ourselves nearly drooling during a Sleep Number mattress commercial the other day...you know, the ones with all those happy people lounging on their fancy mattresses and sleeping all night. Jerks. :)

God has truly humbled us through parenthood. Basically what everyone has been telling us is true. It ain't easy. I hope I don't have to re-learn this lesson anytime soon. Nonetheless, God has been so faithful to not give us more than we can handle in one day. Grace, grace, grace....

Please continue to pray for us as we attempt to figure out parenthood. By the grace of God, we will make it with both us and Baby Gray unscathed.

Crying aside, Gray has been thriving...She was 8 lbs. 4 oz. at birth and a week ago at her 1 month appointment, she weighed at whopping 10 lbs. 7 oz! Go Gray go! She is in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. Gray's #1 favorite activity: breastfeeding. She's also beginning to smile some...and her gummy smile is terribly cute! I'll post pictures soon.

I'm amazed at how much I have needed to hear of other women's stories (or battles) with motherhood during the newborn period. Just hearing, "It does get better" has been like medicine to my soul. Please leave comments...

2008-07-25T09:30:00.003-04:00

Introducing Grayson Lan Gatling...we are calling her Gray. Lan is a family name from Taiwan (pronounced with a long "a" sound).

Our tremendous blessing, Baby Gray, was born on Saturday, July 12 at 2:01 pm after 14 hours of labor. (Not too bad for a first baby.) She was 8 lbs. 4 oz. (just like her mom when she was born) and 21 inches long. All I have to say is that labor is not for the faint of heart. Men, if you are fathers, go kiss your wives and thank them for delivering your baby. :)

Her pediatrician used a great euphemism when Gray was screaming her head off at her first appointment..."My she's opinionated!" Ha! I can see her father in her already. Just yesterday Ben was carrying her around the house and reading her the New Yorker. She was wide awake and taking in all the details of world politics at only 11 days old.

Gray is staying busy keeping mommy and daddy awake at night, and pretty much throughout the day. I currently have her in a sling--works wonders by the way--and she's sleeping soundly...ahhhh....I should probably be sleeping myself.

Please pray for us during this time of great transition. I know sleep will eventually come, but I'm feeling like I've been hit by a train.

In the meantime, we are enjoying our beautiful little girl. We are excited to see how God is going to use her in this world. We are praying for big things.

2008-06-29T13:21:00.004-04:00

Sweets?!? What sweets? :)

This picture of me at 37 weeks made me laugh out loud. What an awesome profile...I call it my torpedo angle.

PS...Like our rabbit ears? We're so high tech.

I anticipate this little girl making her entrance into the world sometime this week. Maybe I'll be wrong, but I just have this feeling...

Oh I nearly forgot to mention that Ben graduated on June 8th!

Here's the graduate showing off his M.A. in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. Congratulations, Ben!

2008-06-26T11:05:00.003-04:00

I am floored at how much this little girl is draining my energy right here at the end of pregnancy. It's way more than anything that happened in my first trimester.

Since stopping work, my mornings have typically gone something like this:

Wake up a little after 6 am when Ben gets up for work. I make us breakfast. Once he leaves, I try to check email, the news, etc. but usually end up back in bed by 9. I sleep until 10:30 or so, get up, make an enormous snack (fruit, yogurt, and granola is my current fetish) because every morning at this time I feel as though I haven't eaten in weeks. Then the rest of my day consists of some form of not resting. Even if I'm not doing anything productive, I still find myself pacing. By 3 or 4 pm, I'm done for the day. My legs feel like lead and I'm eyeing my bed again.

Yes, my life is thrilling, I know. :)

It's amazing what pregnancy does to you. What I'm wondering is how on earth women get through a second pregnancy with a toddler running around!

2008-06-19T11:26:00.002-04:00

I'm 50% effaced! What does that mean? Well, I asked my doctor the same thing. She said that that tells her that my body has begun to make changes in preparation for labor and that I will probably not go past my July 14 due date. In fact, she guesses I will go into labor even a little earlier than my due date. And that is GREAT by me! I'm dying to meet this little lady.

Oh and she is definitely head down, praise God!

2008-06-02T10:54:00.007-04:00

My friend, Jenelle threw a shower for me on Saturday. It was too much fun and I left feeling so blessed by these lovely ladies. Thanks, girls!

Oh, and here are a few pictures that I never posted from May 6, our 2nd anniversary.

And finally, a belly shot for Mom. Keep in mind that this was taken almost a month ago, so I have done some more...expanding.

By the way...yes, same shirt, different day. I'm truly getting the wear out of my maternity clothes. Who wants to spend lots of money of clothes you wear for a few months? I for one am SO EXCITED to get back into normal jeans. Lord willing. :)

2008-05-27T20:48:00.003-04:00

Summer, I'm so glad you are here! I made sweet tea today in celebration of your appearance here in Central Ohio.

Our doctor informed us today that Baby Gatling is head down! There is still a chance that she could turn, but things are getting a little crowded in there and she just can't manage her graceful flips anymore. Usually babies that are head down at this point (33 weeks) stay that way until the end. Woo hoo! All those sweet little bumps that I have felt for the past months have become intense pushes. Lately she has taken to pressing against the top of my pelvis and my rib cage at the same time. It feels so incredibly strange.

We have been crazy busy lately, mainly with moving into a house. We are really excited about having a place of our own where we are not sharing walls with our neighbors (who by the way were INSANE--quite literally--at our last place. Ah, the beauty of thin walls). The house has an awesome fenced in backyard and we definitely anticipate lots of barbeques this summer. We also have plans to plant a big garden soon. Bring on the homegrown tomatoes! Mmmm....

This week is my last official week of work. Next week I'll still be in the office, but I'm training the new guy taking my place. It shouldn't be TOO MUCH of a hassle considering the new guy is...Ben! That's right, Ben applied for my job as the Director of Volunteer Coordination (at an awesome non-profit that works with OSU international students called International Friendships) and got it. This job coincides so perfectly with his classes and teaching schedule next year. We could not have asked for a better situation. I was planning on still volunteering with International Friendships and now I can do just that AND see Ben during his work day. The fact that our office is nice and kid (or baby) friendly doesn't hurt either. Again, God is an amazing provider.

2008-05-14T14:37:00.003-04:00

I am truly sick of hearing ignorant, blatantly racist, Obama jokes.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/05/14/bojorquez.obama.tshirt.controversy.wsb

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051203014_pf.html

People are disappointing, that's for sure.

2008-05-08T12:30:00.002-04:00

I miss sleep...

And eating a meal without feeling miserable afterwards...

And unihibited breathing...

Man, oh man, am I feeling pregnant.

2008-05-05T12:14:00.005-04:00

Yesterday, Ben turned 26 years old! Without a doubt, this is going to be a big year considering all the changes coming up in his life. At 26 years of age, he will graduate with his M.A. in Persian (that's on June 8th), he will meet his first child (sometime around July 14th) and he will begin the Ph.D. program in Persian at Ohio State University (in September). He's going to be a busy man, but without a doubt he will handle it all with grace. I have so much confidence in the man I married. He's pretty darn wonderful and I love him. You should too. :)

Birthday breakfast...homemade cinnamon rolls. Mmmmm...

...Enjoying the best gifts that he could ever receive...books, of course.

...He wanted a Boston Cream Cake. He got it.

Happy Birthday, Ben!

And here I am at 30 weeks...getting rounder (EVERYWHERE) everyday. This pregnancy has been such a blessing. I was never really sick and I'm still feeling great and staying active. Just yesterday, we went on a 3 mile hike with our dog. Honestly, at this point it feels better to move rather than sit still. When I sit or lay down, it requires about a million strategically placed pillows and it's still just plain uncomfortable.

We're in the final stretch of this pregnancy and are staying busy preparing for our daughter's entrance into this world. We just hired a doula to help during labor. Her name is Amanda and she's great. You see, I really want to have an unmedicated labor and delivery. Unfortunately that's pretty difficult to do in a hospital setting where birth has been hyper-medicalized and it doesn't necessarily need to be. Don't get me wrong, we are very fortunate to have access to medical care and our obstetrician's very capable hands if a need should arise. I just don't want to assume that the birth of our baby is a high-risk emergency waiting to happen. With all that said, doulas are people trained to help women and their spouses during labor, particularly those who want to avoid medicated births. We are very excited to have found Amanda.

In addition to hiring a doula, we're going on a maternity tour of the hospital at the end of the month, and we're also going to be looking for a pediatrician soon. How wild does that sound??? I feel way to young for the word "pediatrician" to even come out of my mouth. Ha!

And before I leave, allow me to remind you that tomorrow's a big day for two reasons...

First, it's our 2 year anniversary. Yay! Second, it's the NC primary.

BE SURE TO VOTE!

2008-03-28T10:51:00.002-04:00

Please watch this. It will greatly improve your mood. Promise!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR4PQ30VkBk

2008-03-09T11:00:00.002-04:00

We'd like to think that our little girl is already cheering for Carolina. Last night, we were laying in bed watching the Carolina/Duke game on our laptop between us. Suddenly the baby started rhythmically, at rather frequent intervals, thumping the inside of my stomach. Perhaps she was saying, "U.....N.....C.....U-N-C!" Ben has never been prouder.

2008-03-08T15:00:00.002-05:00

16 inches of snow on the ground and counting.

Today, central Ohio is experiencing a little something called a blizzard. Our dog disappeared in the snow when we tried to walk her. We ended up having to plow a trail with our legs for Dakota to be able to walk.

I've never seen anything quite like this.

On the bright side, it is really pretty. I'll try to post some pictures soon.

2008-03-04T18:23:00.004-05:00

We were so excited about voting today...and hooray for living in a state where our vote matters! :) All eyes are on Ohio this evening. Bring it.

Be sure to vote in your state's primary! For all you North Carolinians, that's May 6th. Nice that it happens to be on our anniversary.

Go ahead. You can do it.

2008-02-27T14:18:00.004-05:00

Ben and I, and our parents all were predicting a boy. Surprise, surprise!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She is healthy, active, and adorable, of course. Oh man, motherhood is so real right now! I think Ben kind of loves that he is going to be surrounded by girls once July rolls around.

The grandmothers' immediate responses were something along the lines of, "I'm going to go broke buying for this little girl!"

2008-02-26T18:30:00.005-05:00

It's snowing. AGAIN. Our weather man is calling for temperatures in the teens. AGAIN. I will put long johns on under my clothes tomorrow. AGAIN.

Ohio.

I just realized that I haven't communicated our future plans to many of you. After much time spent seeking God, we have sensed Him telling us to stay here in Ohio a bit longer. Ben will finish his Master's in Persian this spring and has been admitted into OSU's Ph.D. program in Persian for the fall. We were both really looking forward to getting back to NC pretty soon, so this all came as a bit of a surprise to us. However, we truly do believe we are following God. Now we are waiting for all the pieces to come together. Ben has been looking for a job for months now and honestly it has been a frustrating season. So much of our life together has been so easy and charmed. We know that lives lived out in faith are not purposed to be easy and fun. You know it's kind of funny, but we both agree that we feel like spoiled children finally be told to wait and obey. We are definitely experiencing the growing pains of being stretched in our faith, but we know God is going to bring glory to Himself in the midst of it all. And for that we are excited. We have been and still are truly blessed children.

If you think about it, please pray that we would patiently wait on God to provide a job for Ben.

Last fall, I began a program that equips missionaries to become childbirth educators, doulas, and midwives. What a joy it has been to learn more about childbirth as I am preparing to experience it myself! I'm thrilled to someday use these skills with women both in the US and abroad.

Tomorrow's the big day! Boy or girl?!? Any guesses? Waiting for our appointment tomorrow is like waiting for Christmas morning to arrive when you are five.

Another belly shot. Unfortunately, my baggy shirt doesn't show too much in this picture, but when we were at church on Sunday, the day this was taken, I had many a tummy pat followed by, "You're showing!" I, of course, loved it.

Thanks for all the advice about sleeping. Yesterday I finally bought a body pillow and slept pretty soundly most of the night. Poor Ben gets crowded out of bed with that monster of a pillow.

2008-02-15T18:21:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Ben woke me up to a cupcake from my favorite bakery, some tasty chocolates, and a gift certificate to get a facial. Woo hoo!

I gave Ben a very Ben-like book. He loved it and proceeded to read me page after page of poetry. You see, it's a win-win situation.

For dinner we went to a restaurant called The Burgundy Room. There we had delicious tapas in a very cool part of town. We had a lovely Valentine's day. I hope you did too!

We are thinking the baby is going through a major growth spurt. My belly has popped out, seemingly overnight. I'm not joking here. People are beginning to notice that I'm pregnant. It's a little nerve-wracking when I'm talking to someone and their eyes drift down to my stomach. And then I wonder if they're thinking, "Too much Valentine chocolate for that girl!" I want to blurt out, "No, no...I'm pregnant."

I'm not sleeping much anymore and it stinks. I just can't manage to get comfortable sleeping on my side. I'm normally a back sleeper, but everything I'm reading says that's not a good idea during pregnancy. Something about it inhibiting circulation. Any pregnant or formerly pregnant women out there with any suggestions?

2008-02-11T20:37:00.000-05:00

At 17 weeks, it not much of a belly, but it's something! We figured we had better get accustomed to taking pictures. We'll find out if we're having a boy or a girl on February 27th. Unless, that is, we have a modest baby that decides to cross his/her legs during the ultrasound.

She has been throughout the US and Canada and now she will retire...in Mexico. She was just dying to say that she had seen all of North America.

We recently sold my old Jetta, Annie to a couple that will be sending her to Mexico for their family members' use. It's truly the end of an era.

Goodbye, Annie. I can't believe that after all of our travels (ah RT04, the memories...Kate My Mate I hope you haven't forgotten!) you are no longer with us. You will be missed. You served us well.

2008-01-29T19:37:00.000-05:00

Okay, for the two of you who still read our blog... :)

We're still here.

There are a lot of things that I'd love to write about and pictures that I'd like to post from our Christmas both in Raleigh and in Belize, but for now, I only have time to tell you about one of my new favorite things. (And no, I do not think that I'm Oprah.)

Like most Americans, you receive tons of catalogs and junk mail daily. It's wasteful and if you're like us, (and I do hope that you recycle) it all goes from your mailbox to your recycle bin. (Except for the Pottery Barn catalog which I dreamily browse through. But seriously, who can really afford anything from that store?) So what does one do to rid their mailbox of excess? One goes to http://www.catalogchoice.org/

It will make all your dreams come true.

2007-12-09T20:42:00.000-05:00

We received the baby's first gift from our dear friend, Jenelle! It was such a great surprise. Dakota thought the rattle was hers. Oh how her world is going to come crashing down in 7 months! Ben appeased her by getting her a bone from the grocery store today. She promptly ate it on our bed.

We went to Wild Lights at the Columbus Zoo last night. It was really incredible how many lights they put up. Everything is covered. I wish they showed up a bit better in this picture. As you can see, we had our first snow a few days ago.

We also hit up the outdoor ice skating rink, bringing me back to my middle school days that I rocked out at the Ice House in Cary. I even had someone to hold hands with for the "couple's skate." (Okay so there was no couple's skate. However, we did have Disney songs to serenade us and dozens of six year olds crashing at our feet.)

2007-11-30T17:27:00.000-05:00

Affirmative. That's a plus sign.

A baby Gatling will enter the world around July 14 of next year! Woo hoo!!! We are thrilled!

Ben and I have suspected that I was pregnant for weeks now (MAN it's hard to keep that kind of news quiet!) but we wanted to wait until the doctor confirmed it. We thought our visit to the doctor today would go something like this: "Yep your pregnant. Come back in 4 weeks." Shows how much we know. We were actually able to see our baby and hear his/her heartbeat! Incredible. It immediately brought tears to my eyes.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would out number the grains of sand." Psalm 139

Today was an amazing day to say the least. I feel so incredibly loved by the Lord

2007-10-23T15:55:00.000-04:00

4:27:50. Slowly but surely I finished the marathon. I ran the entire thing, only pausing long enough to guzzle water and Gatorade. By mile 20, my breathing was perfect and I wasn't cramping at all, but my left knee was hurting something fierce. I considered walking, but my pride (not necessarily a good thing) kept me moving. Like a senior citizen I trotted along.

My goal was to finish, but secretly I wanted to finish in under 4:30. It felt surreal to step over the finish line. I was elated...

...and I'll never do it again! It was fun, exhilarating, momentous...but I really don't think our bodies are made to run that far! Today, two days after the race, my legs are still screaming, "What the?!?!!!"

2007-10-20T20:37:00.000-04:00

In less than 12 hours...I will be running 26.2 miles. Ahhhhh!

2007-10-12T21:37:00.000-04:00

In one week, these are the shoes that I'm counting on to get me through 26.2 miles. Mizuno, don't fail me now.

Oh yes, and as I'm typing this, what are Ben and Surfer Dave up to? Hmmmm.........

2007-10-10T07:44:00.000-04:00

Dave will be here in two days and we have a dilemma. What do you do to entertain a California surfer boy in the great state of...Ohio? (Crickets chirping...oh and that was a cow that you just heard being tipped.)