(picture by Cliff Ritchey, www.cliffritcheyart.com)

We are having such a blast with Soren. It seems that every emotion has a different sort of depth to it... joy, fear, gratitude, laughter... I love this picture because it shows Jeff's hands holding her up. It's to me almost like a symbol of a parent entrusting his or her child to the world. Soren celebrated her 1 month birthday on Sunday (I cried all the way through the singing of "Happy Birthday"). We also celebrated by Mom's birthday this weekend. There was great food, thoughtful gifts, much laughter, candles lit, and snowfall on the ground. Most importantly, we were all together. Mom seemed so happy and full of life as we were all able to be together as a family for the evening. I have been thinking about the way that my parents have entrusted me (and my siblings, and the same for Jeff's family) to the world. The fact that they let me travel to different countries growing up - and even worked long hours and saved pennies to send me! They let me go to Australia without them when I was 12. They let me ski. They let me go white water rafting. For Pete's sake, they let me out of the house. Having a daughter now, I understand in a totally new way what incredible trust and grace that must have taken. I understand how they must have relied on each other to give us over to life itself. People said we'd appreciate our parents in a new way and I get it now. It's not about appreciating that they changed a thousand dirty diapers and paid for college (although that's huge in itself); it's much more though. I appreciate that our parents were able to love us and set us free to explore life outside of our front porches. I appreciate that even with the anxiety that could have accompanied this beautiful choice, they chose to do it all again and have more kids! I had no idea how proud of them I'd ever be and how thankful for them I'd feel.

(top pic by Melissa Hanley, www.melissahanleyphotography.com)

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Right before Soren was born, Jeff and I went to see Jerry Seinfeld's new movie, "The Bee Movie". It was cute and clever. One of the things that really sparked my interest to see this movie was seeing Seinfeld interviewed by Oprah. Because I like him and what he had to say that day, I especially wanted to see his movie. He was accompanied by his wife. Oprah asked how they seem to have such a good marriage and asked if that was a lot of hard work. He responded saying, "What is it with everyone saying it's hard work? People who are lazy say marriage is hard work!" He went on to say that he loved the "general-around-ness" of his wife. He loved being in her presence and he wouldn't use the word work to describe effort in their marriage.

I have always felt that way as well about using the word "hard work" when it comes to love. I've felt that way with Jeff and I feel that way with Soren. So many people warned us about having kids - "it's hard work, but it's worth it". I always get a mental picture of an old-school calibrated balance scale. If you put enough work in, then things will cancel each other out and your scale will be even - half hard work and half happiness and you're level. In actuality, I have always found that love is more like the ocean. It's grand, it's majestic, it's deep, it's utterly inexplainable. It would be silly for me to describe my personal experience with the ocean as hard work, but I could say things like - "It's such hard work, you actually have to move your arms to stay above the water! I feel like I'm always kicking my feet! I have to breathe in between waves - ugh!" But, then I would miss that the ocean is HUGE. The water rushing over my arms and legs, the ability to move about in it, all of this is a gift. I would never even say enough hard work once you get in the ocean, and it's all worth it because the grandeur of the ocean so far outweighs any amount of effort, that it would be ridiculous. This time with Jeff and Soren has been like a beautiful trip to the ocean, and I'm enjoying the swim...

She's a chick rocker... "born to be loud"... she is making Jeff's drummer face in the 2nd pic!!!

What an awesome Thanksgiving we had today. Here's a pic of our little turkey...

We enjoyed time at our house and both of our families were here throughout the day. Here are some shots of us enjoying the day...

Much to be thankful for...

What an absolutely amazing few days we've had... Soren Michelle McLaughlin was born on Friday, Nov 16 at 4:37pm. She entered the world and rocked ours. :) She is beautiful! 8 lbs even, 22 inches (yes, she's super long with cute long legs and toes), cute chubby cheeks, and loads of dark hair. The day was amazing. Labor and delivery went very well. Sarah was in labor for about 12 hrs and was able to experience natural childbirth (no drugs or pain intervention) and was thankful for this incredible experience. Jeff was an awesome coach and partner in this! We were also accompanied by a doula (person who assists in labor for massage, relaxation, positions, etc.). Here is a pic of Soren yesterday (Nov 20)... aww....

Here are some more too... she loves sleeping on Daddy's chest, she watched her first Colts game in the hospital on Sunday (she kicks better than Vinateri right now... ouch), and there's one below immediately after her entry to the world. We've affectionately named her "Bruno" from that shot. Thank you for your prayers!

IT'S A GIRL!!! Soren Michelle McLaughlin was born on Friday, Nov 16 @ 4:37pm. More to come...

So, what have I been doing while I wait on baby??? (click to enlarge... wait, isn't that belly big enough???)

12 days until DUE DATE

We have officially 12 days until our due date... sooner? later? Only God knows! Here is a pic of me in the nursery this week. Still growing! :)

There's also a pic below of Jeff with Eliana last night - our new little baby friend. He has such a sweet way with her!

All I can say about the pic of my belly is "wowsers!"

Finally, there's a pic of Zan (my sis) and me celebrating our birthdays together this week. My 29th and her 21st. We're excited to have one more to join this birthday month!!! Zan and I have always enjoyed celebrating together. Here we are in matching jackets that Mom and Dad bought us. Mine doesn't quite fit around my belly...

Still waiting...

We have been getting everything ready- the room is there, my body feels there, our minds have turned toward baby. So, now we wait. :) (Here is Jeff getting the car seat together... he's a professional folks, don't try this at home...)

This time of waiting has actually been incredible. Last week I felt a weighty sense of loss about closing this chapter of it just being the two of us. I felt a sadness to let that go. I wondered "are we doing everything that we really want to do before baby comes"? In the last week I feel like we've really experienced the Lord's kindness in having amazing moments together. Because the doctor said "it" was coming soon, I stopped working a little earlier. Grace was amazing about embracing our family and working things out easily to support and accomodate this decision. Because my body has been a bit unpredictable with being dilated, having a couple of other things come up, and having a dropped baby, we've taken time to rest up. We've had time to watch movies at home and cook dinner. We've had time to see a movie, prepared the nursery, taken long walks... here are some pics of our almost 3 mile walk yesterday. (That seemed like a better idea than spicy fire sauce and taco bell to get things moving...)

I also feel excited about the way that a baby carries your love forward. I feel excited thinking that somehow God's design included 2 people in love helping to create life and the baby being evidence of that love. How amazing!

Here are some pix of our nursery (click any pic to enlarge) - other than needing a crib mattress and a couple of other things with that and collecting some of our around the world pix, we are pretty much all set! Yea!

3 weeks to go

Well, here I am...

3 weeks to go according to our due date, shorter according to Dr.R. For those of you who want these details, keep reading...

We had a great appointment on Friday morning. Honestly, it's the first time that I'd come in with some questions and with any discomfort. The rest of the pregnancy had been so great and I knew with some new significant changes, something was happening.

I hadn't gained any weight this time, but I'd definitely dropped. (There are about 25 stairs up to my office at church since it's on the balcony of the foyer and I'd been getting a little winded at the top with the new low pressure from the baby's dropping!) Between taking the 3 flights of stairs to the doctor's office (still trying to avoid having to take the elevator), getting up from the toilet after "giving my sample", trying to get my shoes, socks, and clothes off and put on my sheet, and getting up on the table for my exam, I was feeling a little overwhelmed by my body. Feeling like this is a real tension for me b/c I love the baby already and I love the experience, so I don't like to acknowledge that some days lately have been hard! I don't want to be ungrateful, you know?

Anyways... when the doctor came in, she could tell that I was a little overwhelmed and teary eyed and said she had a surprise for me. When we listened for the heartbeat, one of the nurse's recorded it. A few minutes later, they came in with a gift bag. It was a beautiful little stuffed bear that you squeeze in the belly and hear our baby's heartbeat - SO COOL! We've enjoyed showing it off - what a beautiful sound, a beautiful gift on many levels.

She started my exam by measuring and said that I'm all of a sudden measuring ahead of schedule. She continued to do the internal exam - I'm 2 cm dilated. This wouldn't be uncommon for my week and for a first baby, but I was also thinning and soft. She said I'm progressing fast and that's uncommon for a first baby - yea! She then told us that she didn't think there's any way we'd go to our due date. She thinks within 2 weeks from last Friday we'll have gone. Jeff was supposed to go out of town for a conference next week and all along she's said that's no big deal. This time she said, "unless it's earth-shattering for you to miss it, I wouldn't recommend going". So... we're really feeling like baby is coming soon now! She wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure that the baby is head down - it is. Great news. The baby was already practicing breathing patterns (preparing for life on earth with air, I suppose???) and they said this indicates that baby is getting ready to check out too. So, who knows? It's looking like we'll have this baby sooner than we thought! Keep checkin' back here...

Also... here is an "in progress" pic of our nursery...

Love,

J, S, & McBaby

Friends' Shower

Here are some pictures from a beautiful shower that Mandy Confer, a friend roommate from college, hosted for us. She is an awesome home maker!!! (Mandy is the one in the pic with long blond hair.) We prayed together, I gathered insight from other new young moms, we compared belly buttons as some of us are pregnant together. There were folks here that I know from college and high school. Thank you Mandy!

First Church Shower

Here are some pictures from a shower that my friends at First Church threw - Jennifer Stanley, Christina Smith, and Karen Daugherty. We had so much fun. The cake was SO incredibly cute! We, again, were so completely spoiled and got a lot of really practical gifts - even milk bags, diaper cream, and a nursing bra. ha ha. These are some great friends! We had time to pray together, take a group photo, and celebrate McBaby...

Couples Shower

Here are some shots from our couples shower a couple of weeks ago. The Smiths and the Daughertys hosted this at my parents house. We had such a blast with our friends - including dads, bros, and guys in our life! The first picture is when we received a quilt that Stephen (my bro) made for us. When my family celebrated Mother's Day this year, we were shopping together downtown and I showed "Uncle Stephen William" this quilt in a store that I really liked. He remembered and started working on it and gave it to us at our shower - awesome! He's the best brother! The other picture is during the "dress someone in a diaper" game. As you can see some look, uh, possibly functional and some look, uh, ridiculous. :)

Scharbrough/Haddix Shower

Here are a couple of pictures from a shower this week with my family. This is my cousin Katie and me - she is due 4 days before us. We make a cute and round pair of bookends, eh? We are only 3 1/2 weeks away!!! The cake and decor was all "sweet pea" - peas and polka dots. Super cute!

(pictures by www.melissahanleyphotography.com)

Here are some shots from one of my best friends, Melissa Hanley. We had such a great time with Melissa shooting these shots and feel thankful to have this part of our experience documented on film!!!

Anderson Shower

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Here are pictures from our first baby shower. We felt so incredibly loved, supported, and spoiled!!! It was a beautiful time together. The shower was for friends with whom I worked at Anderson Univ. and McLaughlin family friends too. The hostesses were Kimberly Majeski, Crystal Snyder, Jennifer (JJ) Wilson, and Debbie Sebastian. They held it at Madison Park Church of God in Anderson. We had an awesome brunch, I opened wonderful gifts, and then the women gathered around me and had a prayer time. I felt really honored. It made the reality of "BABY COMING SOON" very present also!

I have to say it was quite fun to re-open the presents with Jeff upon coming home. At one point he said while opening a gift, "a pack of three onesies? don't we already have three of these?"... we have much to learn...

What a day... today has been very relaxing and I have to be honest that I struggle with feeling a little guilty about that. I've worked for the last few weeks straight with no days off until now - working daily at Grace (which I love), working on the "off" weekends leading worship for conferences/playing concerts (which I also love), spent time working on the new CD (which, again, I love), and the list goes on and on. If I love all of this stuff, why feel troubled and why feel the need for a break?

For one, we're almost 6 weeks away and being pregnant can be physically taxing. I guess it has something to do with carrying another person around??? :) I love it... I also know that it requires more rest than I'm accustomed to. So, today, I declared Sabbath. I said "no" to things that are associated with work and "no" to things that would drain me and I said "yes" to things that fill me - this included lunch with a best friend, a bath, a pedicure, shopping for a few gifts for some gals that are throwing me a shower tomorrow, watching Oprah, cooking dinner, and writing on this blog. (I gave myself permission to write on the blog because I really enjoy it, although, I ruled out anything associated with work emails.)

What does this have to do with the baby and parenting and this blog? Everything. At church we've been doing a series on the idea of sustainable living. I've been thinking a lot about what we want to model for our children and a sustainable life is definitely one thing. It's not something that I can say that I honestly have right now. (...it's kinda hard to model something you don't do/have...)

This week I have been feeling very exhausted after multiple weeks of little to no down time. I decided that something needs to change. I'm writing about this not as someone who knows how to REST, but as someone on the journey who is trying to make a change.

The most important things in my life: time with Jeff, time with our beautiful family, time with our amazing friends, being plugged in to our church, cooking dinner, reading books, dreaming about baby. The least important things in my life: making lots of money, entertaining people for entertainment's sake, running around with a false sense of urgency. It's funny how easily my pace doesn't suggest that the most important things in my life really are.

Today is a change in the right direction - not because lunch at the Olive Garden is awesome or now my toes look good, but because I'm recognizing that if I stop, the world doesn't. It's good to recognize that you're really not that important in a way. How's that for honesty? It's good to recognize that just because I'm taking a break doesn't mean things will fall apart. It's good to recognize that the Creator of heaven and earth even took a break and who the heck am I to think I don't need one?

I want to model for our children that the most important thing in life is to be fully present. Today, I'm trying to make that change.

(photo by Melissa Hanley - www.melissahanleyphotography.com)

Man... that was a bad case of Mexican... ha ha... ahh! Can you believe we're having a baby? The reality is, er, very real now. :) I still am loving pregnancy. There are little things here and there that are tough - mainly leg cramps, but with enough bananas (potassium), calf massages (man, my hubby is AWESOME), and warm baths (relaxing on a number of levels), it's all good!

I'm 32 weeks now. It's getting very close. I've been thinking lately how much carrying a child is like the X-files. Yes, the X-files. I've never seen that actual show, but I mean the supernatural coming alive in a real tangible way - in a SCI-FI way. Watching my belly roll, feeling the baby's hiccups, and knowing that eyelids, hair, the brain, etc. are all forming is just such an extraordinary and WILD experience. It's hard for me to believe that this is how God made it to work. There are some things that I've done with my body - like the mini-marathon, tennis teams, showchoir, dance and gymnastics. I can think of times where I "pushed" my body and was proud when I crossed the finish line or won a match and thought that was cool to see what the body was capable of. But, nothing compares to this experience. I'm very aware lately that there are many that struggle with being able to get pregnant, and I cherish this experience and don't take it for granted b/c I know it is a true gift. I'm thankful that for some reason God allowed me to experience it...

Hi friends... here is a pic that my mom-in-law Tammy took at our last appt. It was so great to have her there with us and to all hear the heartbeat together! My mom joined us the appt before. It's so fun to experience this with our families. I was fortunate to get time with Stephen (my bro) this weekend and he was saying that he's getting so excited for the baby to come and we were talking about what he would be called - he's thinking full name for this exciting event... "Uncle Stephen William". :) I think it will be so cool to see our parents especially when the baby is born b/c it will be in a sense reliving a part of our own birth experience - what it was like when they were first parents. (... except for the fact that they will skip the discipline and move to the spoiling; grandparents should be renamed "de-programmers" from what I've seen in friends' lives...) I'm so thankful that we live nearby so much family and so many amazing friends for this experience. With the decision we went back and forth with to move, I really couldn't be happier that we were able to be here for this time. It's been absolutely amazing to have such awesome time with the people we love. I started my new position as a worship leader at Grace Community Church in Noblesville (http://www.gracecc.org/) 3 weeks ago - I LOVE it! The people are great - staff and congregation. I feel like this beautiful community has embraced our upcoming parenthood and loved us well in the process of joining them. It's exciting to meet the various childrens' pastors and know how our baby will be cared for with them in creative ways. More a little later...