Archive for the ‘Pregnancy’ Category

I remember the day I met Kristen.  It was 8th grade, and I was trying out for the volleyball team.  Kristen was new to our school along with her twin sister Jennifer.  My first impression of Kristen wasn’t a good one. Although, in Junior High I was really involved with leadership, and sports, I tended to be a little on the shy side.  Can you believe it? Me, shy!  Yes, it’s true. Kristen rolls up, and she’s the exact opposite.  She was outgoing, assertive and bossy. She just rubbed me the wrong way. I was probably just jealous of her volleyball skills.  Well, first impressions are often wrong, and in this case I was.  She started hanging out with my good friend Meenakshi, and then soon we would all become very close.  Only after a few years in Redlands, Kristen moved to the OC, and I was so sad.  Kristen and Jennifer are the type of friends that would do anything for you, extremely loyal and so giving. We’ve all remained friends through the years, and I’m thankful for both these amazing women.  I love them so much.  Jenny is an amazing hostess, and as you can see from the photos, extremely creative. She had help from her good friend Raquel and Kristen’s mother-in-law Joy. This is Kristen and Craig’s first baby, and it’s a girl. We are so excited for them as they anxiously await their new little one next month.

Such a cool theme.

Sisters..so cute!

The food was great.

They had an entire craft table set up to make cute onesies and bibs for the baby.

Mama-to-be

Today I realized I’ve come a really long way.  Ten years ago, Jeff and I wanted to start a family.  We struggled with infertility for 8 years.  Each new friend that was pregnant made my heart ache.  The emotions of feeling happy for my friend, but at the same time feeling so incredibly sad that we weren’t able to have our own was overwhelming at times. If you’ve been there, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  And if  you haven’t, you can imagine the pain I felt.  Infertility is a loss, and  you walk through a very real grieving process.  Anger, depression, sadness, and emptiness were just a few of the emotions I felt throughout those 8 years.

I remember the day so clearly in 2006 when God began to take the pain away, and I shed my very last tear over not being able to get pregnant. “Enough is enough…I’m so tired of crying over this Lord, please take this pain away and heal my heart.”  It was only a few months later that we started down the long road towards foster/adoption and began a new journey.  Looking back I wouldn’t change my journey, my very own story for anything.  I realize that it was difficult, overwhelming and at times unbearable, but without these struggles I wouldn’t be the woman I am today, and we wouldn’t have the children that God has so graciously blessed us with.

Pregnancy photos make me smile.  Although I’ve never been pregnant  myself, I love how a woman carrying a child in her womb glows and smiles knowing that soon she will hold her child tenderly in her arms.  It’s a beautiful moment in time, that goes so fast.  One of my best friends came down to visit this weekend.  She recently moved up to the Bay area, and I’ve missed her so much. She was my co-worker for over 6 years, and a friend that walked beside me in my journey of infertility and adoption.  She’s the sweetest person you’ll ever meet, and will be such a loving mother.  I’m so happy for Lisa and her husband and can’t wait to meet her little man.