Daddy getting ready to change his son's diaper. He's so good about it. Dan, who has never changed a diaper in his life, took quite naturally the position as soon as Elias was born. It's amazing to see him so relaxed when he holds a crying baby. He has so much fun with him.


I needed a walk last night, so we bundled little Eli up and hit the sidewalk. Dan insisted on carrying him as opposed to putting him in the stroller, and since Eli is still too small, we aren't able to use the Baby Bjorn just yet. He absolutely loved the walk. He was awake for half of it, content just to be held by Daddy and hear our voices as we talked and the movement of us walking in the crisp evening air. About halfway through, he fell into a deep sleep which lasted for quite awhile.


These are just some cute pictures I took last night. I'm constantly taking pictures. I realized yesterday that I wasn't in any of them since I'm always the one taking them! So here is one of me. Not the best, but at least it's something.

I know most of you have been eagerly awaiting pictures of Elias and I just haven't had a lot of time to post them. The pictures are easier to post then to write about how everything is going.

Here are some pix of him today after his first shower ever. He was great...absolutely adorable. He actually really loved the shower! I had this adorable puppy dog robe that we wrapped him up in. Shortly thereafter, he fell fast asleep in his crib. So cute.

Every night gets better. Last night, I only woke up once to feed him. He doesn't like sleeping in the crib at night. I think it's b/c he wants to be close and the crib is so big for him now. I put him in his car seat last night and he slept better than ever. It allows me to rock him to sleep too without having to worry about putting him down and waking him up. I think we'll go with that for a little while. We'll see how it goes.

Mom is here for the week. I don't know what I'll do when she's gone. My sisters, Angela and Tiffany, are coming down for the weekend. They can't wait to see their nephew. Eli's Uncle Tim and Aunt Melissa (also his godparents) are flying into Albany next weekend to see him, so Dan and I will drive up there for a couple days. So at least we'll have events to keep us busy for a little while still.

I'll continue to post pictures as I get them. He really is so cute.

Jonathan Elias Simrak

Jonathan Elias Simrak came into the world at 7:02pm on February 16, 2006. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was absolutely perfect. We are all three doing well.

My Valentine

As I was leaving the Sorensens house last evening after dropping off dinner, I got a call from my dear husband on his way home from work asking if we had enough money in the grocery budget to grab a light dinner at the Drafting Room in Springhouse, PA. After assuring him that we certainly had enough for Drafting Room Nachos (the best nachos I've ever come across), we decided to meet there.

As I watched my dashing Italian husband walk across the room to our table for two, I self-consciously realized that he was still in his nice work clothes, complete with tie and shiny shoes, while I, his 10-month pregnant wife, was wearing excercize pants and his Las Vegas t-shirt. Nevermined the fact that I didn't have conditioner in the shower this morning, so my hair was especially poofy. I quickly forgot (as I hope he did) when he leaned over to give me a kiss and handed me a card he had made for me.

On the front of the card was a blurred outline of a woman in a wedding dress, very much like mine. Behind her were the words of Abe Lincoln: he had sung these lyrics in his sister's wedding when he was a boy.

The woman was not made from one of the bones in the man's head in order to make it possible for her to lord it over him, nor was she made from one of the bones in his foot in order to enable him to trample and crush her. On the contrary, she was made from one of the bones in his side, so that they might share life together in mutual protection and concern and love and care.

We walk side-by-side, hand-in-hand, with Christ in the center. We are enabled to love each other so deeply and so strongly because of Christ's foundation. Valentine's Day this year marked one-and-a-half years of marriage for us. As Dan pointed out, it's been fast, but great. I don't know where I'd be without the blessing of having him as my husband.

A Valentine's Baby?

Well, my faithful friends, while I would like the day to be today, I would think it a bit gay (excuse the expression) to have a son born on V-day. Cute for a girl, but not so much for the boy. Thus, the waiting game continues. I have had absolutely no desire to update the blog unless I could announce the arrival of our dear son, Elias. But alas, I felt the need to do it anyway lest I lose my viewers and get emails and phone calls asking if it's happened yet. May I just say that it gets rather exhausting to keep telling people that we have not had the baby yet? Mostly because everyone's eager to know and we're more than eager for it to be done with. And still it hasn't happened.

My due date came and went last Sunday with no exciting news from the Gregson-Simrak clan. HOWEVER, Becky called me bright and early that morning to say, "Well, Geniene, it looks like February 12th is a good day to have a baby." (I happened to think so too, but no avail for me.) I was overjoyed with her. She had been waiting for 6 days since her due date, Monday the 6th. She delivered a 9 lb, 1 oz bundle of pink girly girl at 7:35 that evening. Naturally, it occurred on the second day of the biggest snow storm in recent history. Her name: Abigail Elisabeth Sorensen. What's even better is that she did it without any medication whatsoever. Her first out of three children. That's definitely something to aspire to. My mother delivered 5 children w/o medication and I admire her for it.

As my dad pointed out, inspite of his own eagerness and anticipation of the impending birth of his first grandchild, there is reason to rejoice. Just in December, we all thought that Elias would come early and that his health was in jeapardy. How sad it would be if I wasn't able to carry babies to full-term! Although I was dilating early, they were able to stop it. Now he doesn't want to leave the dark, close security of the rapidly shrinking space between my pelvis and rib cage! We can rest in the fact that carrying other babies shouldn't be too worrisome for me and that Elias is a healthy, perfectly-sized bundle of joy (we hope) who will light up our life once he decides to join us. He has already begun to bring us joy, even though we wait with baited breath and eager anticipation for his arrival.

It's not easy living life in limbo. I suppose I should just relax and enjoy the time I have to myself to rest and get things done that I wouldn't otherwise have the chance to do. I've been contracting regularly for several days now (more intense than previous weeks). His head is as low as is possible. I'm effaced about 80% and as of yesterday, a good 1 cm dilated. It sounds like I'm progressing and I know that the time is drawing near. It could be tonight, it could be next Wednesday when they induce me. Hopefully, it won't come to that. I'd like this to be as natural as possible. Please pray with us that when the time comes (hopefully it will be very soon), Eli's birth will be smooth and complication-free.

Thanks for your concern and your enthusiastic interest. I really do appreciate it.

Yo' Baby!

For those of you who are faithfully checking in to see if you should welcome Eli into the world, the answer is still an emphatic not yet.

This new experience of being pregnant for the first time has caused me to reflect on a lot of new ideas and even re-think previously thought through ideas about myself and my future. Nothing could have prepared me for the whirlwind of emotions when I looked at the home pregnancy test and saw that it was positive! Even after years of someday wanting children of my own and thinking how "glamorous" (?!) it must be to be a mother, I was in shock. Sure I suspected I was pregnant, which led me to take the test in the first place, but I was still in shock. I seriously must have looked from the test to the box and back at the test again to make sure I was seeing correctly for a full minute (minutes can be really long in some situations) before asking Dan to come in the bathroom to look at it. He confirmed that it was positive. Then it wasn't just me who was going through the whirlwind of emotions. Our whole lives had to change drastically from that day forward. We were back to the drawing board. Like I said, nothing could prepare us for pregnancy, even though we knew there was a strong possibiilty. But not once did we wish our little unborn child to go away. Sure we wished a lot of things to go away, like nausea, hormonal mood swings, exhaustion, pain and the uprooted plans, but we have loved this child from before conception.

All growing up, I've dreamed at various times of being a mother and what it would be like for me. Since I did so much babysitting, daycare, and preschool teaching, I thought it would just come naturally for me. Now, I'm not so sure. How can I be ready for the next 20 years of caring well for someone so dependant on his parents? How will I know the right decisions to make when it comes to discipline and loving him? How do show him our dependancy on Christ and live out the gospel everyday, not only to him, but as Jack Miller once said, "Preach the gospel to yourself everyday." I thought about how much I would love my children and what it would be like when they called me "Mommy" or came to me for comfort. But now that I have my own son inside me, and I can feel him moving around, I think how much more precious Eli is to me than all the previously thought of scenarios of me with my children. You see, in all my dreams growing up, there was never the father to consider. Sure he was there, but he was a vague outline of someone I didn't yet know. He wasn't real. What makes Eli more precious to me now is that he is a part of Dan and a part of me. He is real. He is moving inside me and he recognizes both our voices. He knows his parents. He is fully made up of the intricacies of my beloved husband and me. He is the best gift God has given us. He is a pure miracle.

Reflections on a Rainy Day

Well, although I have mixed feelings about not having gone into labor yet, I am glad that Eli hasn't come for the sheer reason of Dan's ability to go on the Senior High Youth Retreat. I know he's been wanting to go and as a leader and friend to many of the kids, his presence was desired. He's on his way home as I sit here and write this now.

I had a very nice weekend with Maremy (Mary and Jeremy, my sister and brother-in-law). Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous in Roslyn, so Mary and I took a walk in the cemetery near their home basking in the glorious sunshine. If today was nearly as pleasant as yesterday was, we would be doing the same thing again. But as it is, it's a gloomy rainy day; perfect for staying in, resting or getting things done around the house.

I still have two weeks to go, and while on some days, I am more than eager to go into labor and have it done with, there are days when I am glad he hasn't come into the world. The silence and solitude can be restorative. However, after a while, the "restorative silence and solitude" can turn into lonliness and restlessness. Still, my arms ache to hold our little son and to see his big wide-set eyes looking up at me recognizing my voice and being comforted by my presence. I am learning what it means when they talk about the bond between mother and child. I think I will learn it even greater when I see him and hold him.

I was talking with Tiffany, my youngest sister, the other day about the relationship between mother and daughter and how one will never need her mother like she did when she was a child until she gets pregnant with her own child. Then, all of a sudden, the bond between mother and daughter strengthens more than it's ever been before. After relaying this comment to Mom, she kind of chuckled and said, "Whatever it takes." I'm sure that's not the most comforting thing I've told Mom. I think a lot of it has to do with my perception. A young man once told his parents, "You know, the older I get, the smarter you guys get." In actuality, I suppose with age, the parents are getting wiser. But the things the boy remembers his parents saying when he was a child suddenly begin to make sense. His parents aren't wiser now because he suddenly gets it. He is becoming wiser and realizing that his parents aren't so bad after all. Personally, I've always been one to think, I can handle it. But now that I'm about to become a mother, I realize that, although I believe in the providence of God to plan these things according to what I can handle and His perfect plan, I may not be able to handle this on my own as easily as I once thought. My one desire: that my Mom lived closer.

The New Rebel

I like what GK Chesterton has to say on this point:

The new rebel is a skeptic and will not entirely trust anything. He has no loyalty; therefore, he can never be really a revolutionist. And the fact that he doubts everything really gets in his way when he wants to denounce anything. For all denunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind and the modern revolutionist doubts not only the institution he denounces, but the doctrine by which he denounces it. Thus, he writes one book complaining that imperial oppression insults the purity of women, and then he writes another book, a novel, in which he insults it himself. He curses the Sultan because Christian girls lose their virginity, and then curses Mrs. Grundy because they keep it. As a politician he will cry out that war is a waste of life, and then as a philosopher that all life is a waste of time. A Russion pessimist will denounce a policeman for killing a peasant, and then prove by the highest philosophical principles that the peasant ought to have killed himself. A man denounces marriage as a lie and then denounces aristocratic profligates for treating it as a lie. He calls a flag a bauble and then blames the oppressors of Poland or Ireland because they take away that bauble. The man of this school goes first to a political meeting, where he complains that savages are treated as if they were beasts. Then he takes his hat and umbrella and goes to a scientific meeting where he proves that they practically are beasts. In short, the modern revolutionist, being an infinite skeptic, is always engaged in undermining his own mind. In his book on politics he attacks men for trampling on morality, and in his book on ethics he attacks morality for trampling on men. Therefore the modern man in revolt has become practically useless for all purposes of revolt. By rebelling against everything he has lost his right to rebel agains anything.

This life's dim windows

“This life's dim windows of the soul
Distorts the heavens from pole to pole
And leads you to believe a lie
When you see with, not through, the eye.”
-William Blake

I apologize that this post has nothing to do with anything that we have posted up to date, but I just couldn't help myself. In our news section, there's a link to a news story which I affectionately refer to as Racist Soup. The jist of the article is that homeless Jews and Muslims are being discrimanted against by soup kitchens in Europe who offer free pork soup.
Now maybe it's because a few people in the world would consider me a traditionalist, but isn't it rather sad that someone who is trying to help is being reprimanded for not being diverse enough? Politicians are saying that they must end the disbursement of "Racist Soup." Why not end the hate and the stupidity and commend these individuals for doing something about the problem.
This is just about as stupid as prison inmates demanding Cable TV. Gen and I don't have cable and we have jobs and are productive members of society.
How pathetic a time we live, in which we fail to see this life with our Conscience, the way God intended, but with our Eyes.
I say if I offer you something for free, take it or don't take it, but do not dare tell me what I should offer. Where's the sense of gratitude? My parents taught me when I was young to say thank you and show gratitude. When is this "modern" world going to catch up?

My Dear Pregnant Husband

Bare Belly

This post is for you, Autumn.
I hope no one is offended by this picture of me and my growing belly. This was taken on the 18th, before he dropped. Eli is still hanging on although he continues to drop and leave me in pain as my body adjusts to the separation of joints and as muscles and ligaments loosen to allow him through. Every day, we wonder if today is the day. And every night, we go to bed wondering if tonight is the night. But still he holds on. He's waiting for the perfect birthday. (His Mommy hopes that it's before Lincoln's birthday.)

Wendi's Shower

As I mentioned in a previous post, there are three of us in our Home Fellowship that are pregnant and due in February. Becky, Wendi, and myself. Becky is due on the 6th, I'm due on the 12th (Lincoln's birthday), and Wendi is due on the 22nd (Washington's birthday). It's a race to see who will deliver first. It's fun to have others to go through the excitement and anticipation of a new baby with me. Becky will be delivering her third child, her only girl, at this point. For Wendi and me, it's our first time and they are both boys.

Wendi's mom is an extremely crafty and artistic woman. My mother would love her. She caters for teas and sews and embroiders and makes all sorts of fun things. When she threw a shower for Wendi, everything was perfect and delicious. I wished I'd thought to take a picture of her tea cup and tea pot collection. My mom collects them too. Wanda said she had 200 tea cups! There was quite an assortment.

Getting Ready For Baby

I finally made it into work to gather my things, say my goodbyes (knowing that I'll still be in touch), and finish up some things that were left undone since my sudden and unexpected departure. I was lucky enough to have come on a "Town Meeting" Day, which is an office-wide meeting to discuss items of relative importance. On those days, the whole office (those who can make it) enjoys lunch together which usually includes heckling at one another (all in good fun). We've had some very interesting conversations around the tables on these days. It's always something to look forward to. We're often joined by missionaries who are either departing to the field, arriving from the field, or just visiting. On this day in particular, Chrissy Ludlum was with us as she had just been accepted to start support-raising to go to Ireland for five years. Luke Herron was departing for an 8-month stint with the Irish Team.

My dear friends from the World Harvest Mission Sending Center were kind enough to make me a "Diaper Cake." Non-edible. (See below.) It was decorated with toys and other fun baby things. It was adorable!




I thought I would include this picture of Eli's dresser. I thought it was cute.


Since the shower, things have had to move around a bit. We're getting rid of our bassinet since we have no place to keep it and we don't really need it since we have the pack 'n play up in our bedroom now. Those things are real lifesavers, I tell you what. Whoever invented it -- or I suppose perfected an already existing invention -- is probably making a killing.

On Saturday, my sister, mother, and mother-in-law threw me a baby shower. It was great. I seriously had so much fun. Many worlds collided (in a good way) as friends and family all got together for lunch and a good time.


Look at all those gifts! I absolutely was blown away at the generosity of so many people. We are one blessed couple, that's all I have to say. And we owe it to no one but the Lord. It's only through Him that others are able and inspired to give like they have been doing. We have some great friends.


My sister, Mary, holding our cousin, Laura's son, Luca, with our cousin from the other side of the family, Brooke, next to her. I'm so glad that aunts and cousins from both sides of the family could be there, coming from PA, NJ, VA and NY.


Cousin Laura and Aunt Janet

Here are more pictures of our Gregson Christmas.


No need for words...


Mom and Dad (aka Nana and Papa)


...getting ready for grandparenthood.


Dan is such a ham.


"Geniene, act excited."

A Very Gregson Christmas

Because I was in the hospital up until Christmas Eve getting treated for kidney stones and injected with steroids as my body had started to dialate, we, obviously, didn't make it to upstate New York to spend Christmas Day with my family. On Tuesday, however, they all came to us - including my brother Tim and his wife, Melissa from Aurora, IL. We had a great time together as we always do. Christmas really is the best time of the year...at least when family is nearby. Here are some completely wacky and some not-so-wacky pictures of the Gregson Christmas.

The score of Stainers' Crucifixion


I think I'll take this one into the delivery room with me and laugh my baby right out of me.


The lovely fair maiden, Tiffany.


Scary....

Becky's Shower

On Monday night, we threw my good friend Becky Sorensen a surprise baby shower. This will be her third child, but first girl. (Lord willing the ultrasound tech wasn't mistaken!) We are all so excited for her. We held the party at Linda Scotto's house. Becky thought she was doing a Pampered Chef party, but as it turned out, instead of raking in the big bucks we all would have spent on kitchen items, she received baby girl things! Here are some of the pictures of the evening.




I actually had a better picture of Jill, Chrissie, and Sheila, but I thought this one was funny. (Ha! They didn't actually think I'd put it up!)

There are three of us in our Home Fellowship who are pregnant and are due in February. This is a picture of us at Wendi's house on the 16th of December. The one following is of the three of us at Linda's house on Monday night. Notice how much bigger we all are?

Nesting

This is the result of hard work on Tuesday. I finally figured out the puzzle that is now our nursery. It needed to accomodate guests (hence the futon) and the baby. It's tight, but it works. We still need wall hangings to absorb noise and create a more comfortable atmosphere. I noticed while I was in there that everything echoes. The poor baby will scream when he hears his own cry bounce off the walls!


As you might have read in a previous post, Dan's co-workers threw him a surprise Baby Shower. One of the gifts we received was the most adorable pair of cowboy boots.



A couple months ago, while out shopping for Christmas presents, we ran across a hook with the letter "E" on it. It was just a couple bucks and it was perfect for Elias.

We are more than excited for this little guy to join our lives. He will be a handful, we know it, but he will be a joy, nonetheless.

Gen's Words...

Dan is showing me how to navigate through this blog stuff so that I can keep it up-to-date. So far, I think I have the basics down. I hope to be diligent in this to keep our friends and family updated. I can't wait to take pictures of little Elias and post them for all to see.

This Thursday, I should be off bedrest. But to be honest, I've taken the liberty to consider this week "close enough." I've finally finished the nursery!! I'll try to upload a picture and post it tomorrow. It was quite difficult to fit everything in the smallish room as we have to keep our futon in there for guests. We have family and friends coming into town this weekend and someone will need to stay with us, so I'm thankful that I got it done today. I really didn't think I'd get it done...EVER.

I eat anitpasta twice just because she is so nice.

Making pasta at Christmas-time is our one and only Christmas tradition. Can a tradition be made after doing it twice? Maybe next year, Elias can help...

Current Happenstance

Seeing as how I started this site to keep people current on what's going on, I figured it was probably time to write about our happenings.

Last Thursday the good people of Simpson Senior Services under the leadership of my boss, Allison, threw a baby shower for me. This being a total suprise to me was partial orchestrated by the beautiful Geniene Simrak.

Among the treasures that were given were a pair of cowboy boots for Elias and a Dragon puppet. I can't wait till he and I can play together. He can be the cowboy and I'll be the dragon and Geniene can be the fair Maiden.

Well thank you to my friends at Simpson Senior Services and God bless.

Great News!

If you have been to this site in the very recent future you would have noticed the addition of a "great news" section. This is not designed to be news that will change your outlook on life or even give you warm fuzzies. The idea is that you will see some of bizarre subjects that are making headlines in the year 2005. Take this article for example. A guy and his broad write up a list of mandatory functions that each must adhere to before they get married of their prenups and then he divorces her in secret. Now if I had Gen sign a prenup that she was to polish my shoes and iron my shirts and wash my car, she would have given me the peace sign while the door closed behind her.

Maybe my problem is that I'm attributing this apparently not-so-commonsense to people that have none. Now it is true that she and I do have God and we have love and we are living for God and that changes our perspective but I think even if she wasn't a believer that getting her to sign a prenup would be like trying to fit a sea lion into my pocket.

Anywhoo, enjoy the news and if theres something funny that I'm missing let me know.

Peace, love and carrot juice,

Dan

So long 2005

So here we are in the year 2006. 2005 is now a thing of last year. Soon enough we will start to hear kids mention how things are, "So 2005!" For those of us who are older I will translate. That's lame! Who knows, they are probably right. But whatever.
The real issue of January is that of the New Years Resolution. Of which, I have none, nor do I have a desire to make one. I would and I'm sure Gen would too but for the fact that we are going to have a baby in a month and we don't think that New Years Resolutions are really all that hip any more. You know what? New Years Resolutions are way to 2005. If they weren't then maybe we'd be interested.
Last year we made our resolutions and well we've been there and done that and we are moving on.
So I guess you could say that we have resolved to move on from 2005. But please don't put it that way cause then we are right back where we don't want to be.
Anywhoo. God bless and hope you have a great new year.