Parenthood

Well again, it's been a while, but Joel and I have been very occupied. I'll get into the best part of the last month in a minute but first just wanted to exclaim once again how God has been faithful to us. Throughout May and the first couple weeks of June we had been trying to work in the last of our support-raising travels and phone calls before things were to get extra busy. Even when we had a week where we weren't able to make as many calls, we reached our support weekly goals by what could've only been God's grace. We are at about 60% of our monthly support now which is a far cry from our 100% goal but also a leap from where we were earlier in the spring. While we try and put our gratitude into words and feelings, Joel and I have been marveling at how we've been taken care of and provided for through family, friends and other means and growing together in our faith through that. We were even able to make one last trip to Ohio for memorial day weekend to visit Joel's parents and all of his siblings with our nephews and nieces before I had to stay put in State College for upcoming labor and delivery.

Marie wearing one of my maternity shirts



JJ and Gracie playing on the obstacle course built by Aunt Jess and Uncle Joel

Which brings me to my favorite part of the last 3 weeks; TJ! Here's a run-down of how his birthday went (Thursday, June 17th):

11am doctor appointment to get my weekly check-up. At this point I had already learned that I was dilated 4cm and 100% effaced, but hadn't felt any contractions or anything so I figured I'd hear the same news. To both Joel and my surprise the doctor gave me an examination and said "you're 6cm dilated and his head is right there; time to go get your water broken and have your baby!" I imagine they wanted to break my water for the baby's sake since he was so close to being out in the world anyways.

12pm we came home, ate lunch (I still was not in pain at this point) and prayed as we tried to imagine what it would be like to have our little TJ quicker than we anticipated. We checked into the hospital at about 12:30.

After a million health-related questions and about an hour or so of waiting around (still, no pain for me) the doctor came in and broke my water for me. After about 15/20 minutes I felt my first contraction. It hurt a lot but I'd had worse stomach aches in the past so I thought "if this is how bad it is I can get through it". Then it got way worse. Since I was already at 6cm but had had no pain, all of a sudden I felt my "pain scale" rise from zero, to about a 6 to a definite 10. The contractions were so sudden and painful that I couldn't relax in between them which wasn't letting TJ move down any more. About an hour or so later I reached 7cm and was asked if I'd like an epidural to which I might have screamed "yes!". After the anesthesiologist administered the epidural (Thank GOD for him and thank GOD for epidurals!) my pain went back to zero and I felt pretty much nothing except some pressure during the rest of labor. We watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (original version) and I had to ask Joel when I was having contractions...way better.

At 6pm I had reached 10cm and the doctor told me it was time to push. She left the room and while she got what she needed the attending nurse suggested I try to start pushing. I gave one push and she immediately had to yell for me to stop because TJ was starting to appear and the doc wasn't there to catch him! Thankfully the doctor showed up right after and together with Joel right beside me I started to push. Three pushes later and Joel had to tell me, "He's here, he's out!" I didn't even feel him come out except for the amazing relief I felt over my abdomen as my stomach shrank back down and pounds and pounds of baby and fluid left me.

So, at 6:07pm TJ was born! He was amazing from the start. I even had a minute of him being quiet so I could welcome him into the world. He seemed a little like a stranger then, and man it was mind-blowing seeing what I had been carrying for 9 months all of a sudden there and in our care. He was tested for reflexes and looks and things and scored above average and he's been a pretty laid-back cuddly boy ever since. We love him so much and have been enjoying showing him off even in the midst of exhaustion and my healing process (which is going very very well).
Joel, TJ and I moments after he entered the world.

TJ and me (the shiny stuff around his eyes was to help prevent infection)

Thank you all so so SO much for your prayers and for your help as we get settled in our home and as a family for the first time. I know it's because of your prayers that I had such a blessed labor and delivery and I am so so thankful. I can only hope next time will be as easy (we'll see!). We've had friends in state college from our staff team to our bible study stop in to welcome TJ and even bring us meals so we don't have to cook and it's been an added blessing at Joel works to get the house set up and I get on TJ's schedule for now. It's been great to see both my parents and Joel's parents too as they bring help, guidance and furniture! Thanks to everyone. If there's anything else I can ask it would be to continue to pray for us as we learn about parenthood through trial and error, and for our support as we try to get back on that schedule. We've been so blessed and can't wait to share more with you soon! Next on the agenda, we'll be traveling the entire month of August. The house owners are staying here the whole month which means we visit grandparents in Rome and in Aurora during the month and doing some support raising trips in between. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your summers (I can't believe it's already half over!) and hope to update you again soon!

Love,
Jenn, Joel and TJ!
TJ with Joel and the men he was named after: Jared on the left and Tom on the right

Adventures in 4 and 5

Hello family and friends!

I hope the months of April and May have been kind for you. Sorry for my lack-of-updating as we continue to put travel, support raising and travel recovery before a lot of blogging and updates. Although I love getting updates from other people so I should prioritize! We have been doing a slew of different things both in State College and beyond lately...including getting increasingly more excited for baby Shib's arrival into the world! The baby shower count between February and the present is officially THREE and God has provided everything necessary for baby and more I think. Plus it's been great fun hanging out with the Shibatas, the Spitzers and New Hampshire friends during those times. We are blessed to be able to look at the friends and family we've been given and are just in awe of everybody's generosity in gifts, support and prayer. We've spent the last couple of months thinking of that and being encouraged through all the transition we still continue to work through.

The month of April was spent in anticipation as we prayed with our housemates and friends Tom and Joanna. They were in the process of looking to buy their first house and wanted to ideally put an offer and get it accepted by the 30th to take advantage of the $8000 government gift. I don't really understand it, but I figure that's a pretty nice deal for now and we were hoping along with Tom and Joanna that God would answer that prayer. As most of you may know, He totally did! And they'll be moving in mid-June to a house only a few hundred yards away from us! Another way God provided through this; Joel, baby and I get to stay in our current awesome house! Almost time to decorate the baby's own room and we're getting pretty excited. It's so neat to watch how God provides even if we are in need or if tragedy strikes.

May has been a mix of the usual duties and transition for us but also getting to hang out with more Penn State students and Staff. It's been a great blessing learning how fun and genuine our staff team here at Penn State is while getting more of a heart for the ministry here in State College. Some of these students are among the most driven I've ever seen as they lead others at Penn State and reach out to those who need it the most. I'm really looking forward to working with them once we are able to report to campus.

Jeff walking at his graduation.

Another treat was being able to visit with the Spitzer/Sanocki family in Saratoga, NY for my brother Jeff's graduation from college! Although the day was freezing and raining we were so proud to see Jeff walk and hear his name called as a graduate of St. Rose! He was so thankful and I felt humbled to see such gratitude in him as he welcomed and thanked everyone for coming. I felt so much like he was an adult it made me feel old! Great to see him done there as I'm sure he'd agree. Pray for him that he finds a job sooner rather than later either in the police force or something more specific and taylored to his desire to "not work behind a desk".

The view from our hotel room at Cape Cod.

From Saratoga, Joel and I traveled to Cape Cod (Falmouth) for a night to celebrate ONE YEAR or marriage! Already a year...who'd have thunk!? It's gone be so so fast. It was a great getaway. We spend the afternoon and night at an Inn on the beach (by the way, go to the Cape in the offseason if you want no crowds, cheaper prices and the same beauty) and shopped for the foods we had on our honeymoon last year in Aruba. We also re-read our marriage vows to each other which was a really special moment and a great reminder of what we have committed ourselves to. Thanks to Tim Henderson for sending those along to celebrate our "paper" anniversary. (apparently there's a theme for each anniversary, like paper or flowers or wood or lots of other things I'd have never thought of)

Finally we made our way up to NH after a delicious breakfast of eggs benedict over crab cakes provided by our new favorite breakfast place "crabapples" in Falmouth (run of course by the amazing Goulet family...we got to see our friend Pat there too which was an added blessing!). I forget what Joel got, but those crabcakes won't leave my memory for a while. Spending the week in NH was so much fun. We were able to see almost everyone we've been missing since the move to State College (between the two of us). It went by so fast that by yesterday (Sunday) I wasn't ready to leave! It allowed us to look again at how we've been provided for since the big move and how thankful we are to still have such a strong support system in the Northeast. It was great seeing everyone else getting ready for changes in life, taking steps of faith and/or continuing to grow. So much fun...thanks so much to the always awesome Vinnie for letting us stay with him and to the beautiful Danielle for planning such a lovely baby shower. We both had an amazing time and can't wait until the next visit (which at this point we have no idea when that will be).

New Hampshire friends!

Which leaves us where we are now... thinking about the future which is about to do a 180 very soon! I mentally have not grasped having baby shibbs on the outside of me yet. I'm just trying to make it to the delivery room and then am trying to trust God from there. Joel is ready to hold baby and see what he/she looks like and interact with him/her. However we each feel I think it's safe to say we're excited and maybe a little anxious (on my end) for the next couple of months and the transition to parenthood. Thanks for all your prayers as we continue to try and trust God for all of the above. It's been an amazing year of journeying together and I'm sure it will continue to get more amazing with every passing day. We're hoping this month to do our last couple short trips support raising before it's time to stick around state college waiting for baby to arrive. By the way, where anyone got the idea for a stork is beyond me...

Love to you all and I hope the coming of summer is encouraging to everyone!!
-Jenn, Joel and baby Shibbs

Travels and developments

Hi everyone!

Joel and I have been steadily getting used to living in State College by now and are so thankful for all God has provided for us here. Living with Tom and Joanna Sperlich has been excellent and a way for us to automatically have fellowship since we live under the same roof! Plus, Tom and Jo are LOST fans, which is something we routinely watch together on Tuesday nights:-)

We've been searching for a church family to get connected with too which has been encouraging. There are so many great churches in this area and I think we've narrowed the search down to three. It's hard to pick though because of how great they all are! We have been attending State College Evangelical Free church more frequently and have even joined a life group (bible study) that meets every other week which works well with our traveling and support-raising schedule. It's a great group of mostly young married couples but also including two great single guys and a 1 and a half year old (so adorable!). Dinner, sharing, reading and deep discussion followed by prayer is always a good time and Joel and I feel so blessed to have been accepted so quickly into this group of friends.

We also just came back from a week of travel near the Pittsburgh area where Joel grew up which was an additional blessing for us. Joel had the opportunity to deliver all three sermons at his home church in Murrysville AND got to share with the congregation about our ministry with Campus Crusade! He did an excellent job speaking and we made some great support connections within the church...praise God! We also got to share at a Wednesday night dinner at Joel's brother James's church in Gibsonia which also led to great connections that we're hoping will help with our financial support as well. Plus we got to spend the whole week with Jess, Joel's sister in Monroeville! It was such a treat to stay with her and visit with James, Jaclyn and our nephew and niece (JJ and Gracie) AND we even got a visit from George and Judith! We're excited to go back again later this month for a baby shower (the ladies are throwing one for me!), even more family (Peg, Jon, Marie and Joey!) and Jaclyn's 30th! We'll hopefully make some more connections at that point too as far as support-raising goes.

The other thing that's on our mind a lot besides support is the fact that I'm already 5 and a half months pregnant!! I can't believe it's already almost Spring and that there's a big baby belly growing in front of me! We have been so blessed by friends and family checking in, sending gifts and planning showers. We've made plans for a shower later this month, one in Rome, NY in April with the Spitzer's and one as we visit NEW HAMPSHIRE in May! Please pray everything keeps going well with the pregnancy so that we can actually make these travels. I'm really looking forward to visiting and praying that we also make some significant connections with churches and individuals that would like to join our support team in those areas. We'll probably be staying in Rome and in NH for at least a week at a time! After the NH trip I'll probably not want to travel any longer seeing as how the baby is due the beginning of July.

Here's something else to look forward to: mom and dad Spitzer are coming to visit the weekend of March 15th! We're so happy that we have plenty of space so they can stay with us and we're looking forward to seeing them:-) Mom wants to make gioza (sp?) - Japanese pot-stickers pretty much - sounds yummy!

I'll have Joel post a picture after lunch, which it looks like it's about that time...and if I don't eat I get tired these days! In conclusion then, I hope everyone is doing well, resting when they can, getting spring cleaning under way and having peace in situations that are hard. One thing we've both been learning lately is how important it is to be thankful for all that God has provided for us both now and in the past. It's easy when things aren't moving at our speed to get impatient and discouraged, but when we remember God's faithfulness and love it brings a lot of peace to heart and mind. That is my prayer for all of you, now enjoy lunch!

Love,
Jenn (and Joel and baby!)

ps. and no, we are not finding out the gender of baby Shibata until it's arrival!

New Place in State College

Hi all, it's about time we updated you on holidays and the big move from NH to State College PA! Our Christmas travels and visits were a blast. We got to spend time with Joel's parents and siblings with the nieces and nephews for Christmas which was a little more exciting with a 3-year old, 2-year old, 1-year old and baby opening presents. I watched Joel run around with the two oldest and got tired just watching them! It was the start of lots of food, snacks, cookies and more food as well as some great quality time with Joel's family. After our visit in Ohio we said goodbye and headed to Rome, NY to have a 2nd Christmas with my parents and brother on the way home. That visit was also filled with yummy food, good time and my family and some rest in between travels.
Once we made it back to NH it was time to start packing for the big move from NH to PA (yep, moving in less than a week and hadn't started packing). We spent the week packing but also visiting with friends from New Hampshire as well as went to a wedding of one of our UNH student friends that was a huge blast! Congrats again Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Plummer! It was great to see everyone we wanted to see in the month before moving, although we will miss (and already do) NH and those friends dearly. The day we moved our stuff into the moving truck was one of the smoothest days ever. Joel with the help of 3 other strong men-friends took all of our boxes and furniture down 3 flights to the basement of our building in about 45 minutes and had time for doughnuts and coffee before the moving truck arrived and other friends showed up to transport our things to the truck. I think the loading and organizing took 30 minutes...I was so impressed! We packed up our pet gecko, King Julian, last and after more goodbyes headed off to our new home in State College!
Since we've arrived we've unpacked (Joel, Tom our new housemate and Tom's cousin with Joanna's help took about 30 minutes to unload the truck) we've just been trying to organize stuff as well as organize our support-raising schedule as well as adjusting to life in State College. We live in a great family neighborhood with Tom and Joanna, our friends who are also on staff with Crusade here. You'd never guess that right down the road are huge shopping centers and a mall. I've never lived close to a mall...I hear since State College is pretty much in the middle of nowhere it's got to be more self-sustained than most cities. One thing I've noticed so far is the portion-sizes of meals are a tad larger here and I think the "new england clam chowder" must just be Campbell's soup.
Joel's mending from the cold he finally got after everything that's been going on and I'm trying not to crave control but to trust God in a new and uncomfortable place for me. It is lovely here though and one thing that's been a blessing is visiting the medical center we'll be going to from here on out in the pregnancy. I felt completely comfortable there and we got to hear the baby's heart beat for the first time! It definitely makes it real hearing that let me tell you (by the way it was healthy and normal).

Well that's the way our story goes so far. We'll be sure to post once we get more comfortable here, or at least when find something crazy that I've never seen before here in PA. Until then, stay content and rested and healthy! Enjoy the inside pics of the new house!

Our kitchen we share with Tom and Joanna

Our living room shared with Tom and Joanna

Our basement living room

Our bedroom opposite of our living room

King Julian (our gecko) happy in the new home

First Baby Pic

Here's the first ultra sound of our baby. We're scheduled for another ultra sound session on the Monday of Christmas week.

big photo

Hey all,

Thanks for those of you who read my email and checked out or exciting blog! I have gotten a couple comments about the picture being ridiculously large, which I agree with! I've been trying to figure it out but I figure mostly Joel will be the one working on that;-) Thanks again friends! Stay warm, it's been a white out here in NH since we woke up!

Love,
Jenn

The holidays

Hello again and still trying to figure out this blog thing. As of now I don't think I've told anyone about our blog because I forgot about it for a few weeks:-p Not used to blogging I guess. Anyway, we are very much looking forward to moving down to Penn State as well as Joel's completion at his full-time job here in Durham. It's a bittersweet time because although we're excited for what lies ahead we will miss this area so much! It just snowed the first time here the other day and it was gorgeous outside. I also got to visit the ocean for probably the last time in what will be quite a while. It's crazy what you notice in an every-day place once you're about to leave it.

In other news I'm finally out of my flu-like state and now am just tired from just being pregnant all the time. It's so strange how weak I feel after walking down the street to the grocery store and back! I guess that's normal though. I'm looking forward to when I can work out regularly and longer than 20 minutes again. In the meantime, I'm just trying to find joy during my hormonal lows. Thankfully the holiday season is a great reminder of why we should be thankful and joyful for Jesus coming in human form to liberate us, and Joel has been a joy to me as well. I hope once people are able to read this they know how much we love and appreciate them, and that I don't start treating this like a journal. It could get a bit awkward after that.

Merry Christmas, Christ has come!
Jenn