Welcome to the world Rebekah Kenan Patel

Our sweet Rebekah made her debut into the world last Saturday, February 21st (on her due date!) at 11:26 am. She joined us after 6 short (well, the last 3 hours seemed long and hard :)) hours of labor and I have never been so glad in all of my life to see that baby's face!

Here are a few pictures of the day!

She weighed 8 pounds and 7 ounces and was 19 inches long.

Just after her arrival!
Just in case you don't believe that I produced an 8 1/2 pound baby(apparently they round up the weight).

Wide eyed and ready to meet the world!

My parents with all of the girls!

Vimal's mom holding Rebekah - Anna giving her a kiss (just one of hundreds, I might add)

Me and Carla - my unofficial labor coach and photographer

Sweet Rebekah - all clean and fresh!

My sweet husband with two of his girls

Rachel and Daddy holding Rebekah for the first time!

Family of Five!

Notice all of the pink!


Thank you for celebrating with us as God has added to our family!

If I have a chance, I'll post more about my labor later.

Baby Update...

She's on her way! I meant to do a quick update last night (Friday the 20th) but forgot.

At my Doctor's appt. yesterday I was 3-4 centimeters dialated and about 70% effaced and I haven't been feeling well the last couple of days so I figured it would be soon, but you can never be too sure about these things.

So, my contractions started a couple of hours ago...to be continued!

A Beautiful Life

Less than a week ago, a friend of mine died of cancer. Knowing what I know about her now, I really didn't know her nearly as well as I wish that I had.



After reading her obituary and attending her memorial service I think I saw so much more of who she really was - a true follower of Christ. Her life and death have inspired me in a way that I haven't been inspired in a long time. She seemed to live life that made Christ evident and all who encountered her also encountered Christ. I want my life to be like that.



I seem get caught up in so many temporal things and the tasks of daily living that I don't seem to reflect Christ moment by moment like I desire. Kristi's life has encouraged me once again to live for Christ in the moment by moment and daily "grind" of life. I have always desired that but I just tend to drift so easily into my own little world and get caught up in things that aren't really important in life.

Kristi really set an example in the way she loved her husband, her boys and those around her. She modeled what it truly means to live for Christ in the little things. I am so thankful to have known her and really believe she is leaving behind a legacy in her short 30 years that most of us only dream about. To exeplify Christ in such a way is most definately a Beautiful life.

A star patient!

Rachel finally had her first dentist visit and she was a star patient! She seemed so mature and I was so proud of her. And her dentist said that he usually sees cavities in 60% of his patients and she didn't have any or any indication of any! So, we were of course very excited about that. Here are a few pics.

Rachel checking out her teeth in the little mirror.

Getting her teeth cleaned

Getting her teeth x-rayed!

Belly pic and baby update

So, this isn't the greatest picture but I thought I would post one since so many of you have asked to see a belly pic! This was taken 2 weeks before my due date (2/21).

Nothing new with the baby. My last OB visit (2/13 - 1 week and 1 day before my due date). I was one centimeter dialated, no real change in my cervix but the baby is in position -2. My doctor said the baby's position was the most important info on how things will progress and he says he thinks I'll have a quick labor. But, I informed him that Anna was low 6 weeks before my due date and that didn't really help move things along any faster :) So, while a quick labor would be nice, I'm not expecting it! Only time will tell how things go. My next visit is 2/20 so I'll report back then! I'm assuming I'll be around to my due date or later and maybe get caught up on a few more blogs before the baby comes!

New Glasses!

Our sweet little Rachel just got glasses a couple of weeks ago...doesn't she look so cute??

After a few incidents - we realized that she needed to see the eye doctor. The main reason for the glasses now is because she has an astigmatism in both eyes but one is significantly worse than the other so the glasses are to help with this.

And, although they are not indestructable, we can replace them as many times as we need to the first year! Good news for us!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day

Love,

Rachel and Anna

Sad Day

I know I haven't mentioned this in my blog lately (mainly because I haven't been blogging much!) but I have emailed or personally told many of you about my friend, Kristi.

Kristi, who was a young mother of three, went home to be with the Lord today after a short battle with cancer. She found out last fall, shortly after the birth of her third son that she had stage 4 bone cancer (which had originated in her breast). She loved the Lord and her family and was an encouragement to all who knew her. She will be greatly missed by so many.

Please pray for her husband, Chuck and their sons, Cade, Mason and Zane and for her parents and family during this time. I know it will be hard adjustment for all as they will miss her so much!

Although it such a sad time, the fact that she is in Heaven now makes me have Hope. She is now pain free and worshipping our Savior and for her - it can't get any better than that! Thank you, Lord for the assurance we have in you during times like these.

Terms of Endearment

Here is a recent conversation that I had with Rachel - It was so sweet and endearing tha I couldn't pass up sharing it. Vimal was out of town and we were talking on the phone and Rachel heard him call me "Babe" right before we hung up and here is what ensued.


Rachel: “Why does he call you ‘Babe’ “? (referring to Daddy when he was telling me bye on the phone)
Me: “Well, that is a Term of Endearment”
Rachel: “What is a term of Endearment?”
Me: “hmm, when Daddy calls you something, does he always call you Rachel?”
Rachel: “No, sometimes he calls me ‘Snickerpoodle’, hee hee”
Me: "That is a term of Endearment, when someone calls you a sweet name because you are special to them, that is why Daddy calls me ‘Babe’.”
Rachel: “Babe isn’t a term of endearment, ‘Mommy’ is a term of Endearment”

My heart just melted...it may seem that she didn't understand - but really - what better term of endearment could I be called by my sweet daugther?