Introducing the Newest McDaniel

Welcome baby Drew! Here's some fun facts about Drew and his delivery because I know some of you are going to want to know - feel free to skip if it doesn't interest you:

• I labored with Drew the longest - 25 hours.  I didn't progress from 4:17am until 10pm even though I was having lots of painful contractions/back labor because he was in the posterior/"sunny side up" position.
• I was sent home once, almost twice, because of the lack of progression.
• Even though I have many fears related to needles/pain/medical stuff, I felt the most positive and empowered throughout this labor after meeting up with an amazing doula, Leah Garner, and having a private 3 hour lesson with her about coping with labor.
• I had 2 mantras that I would say when contractions came - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (from Philippians 4:13) and "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you." (from Psalm 56:3).
• Curtis was a rock-star support person - giving me massages, helping with various laboring positions, and reminding me of the mantras when I couldn't!
• I have had each child delivered by someone different - Anna and Kate were delivered by male OBs and this time, midwife Sherah Albright.
• I pushed for only 16 minutes with Drew!  45 minutes with Anna, 30 minutes with Kate.  Each time it has gotten quicker!
• We had 3 RUF students take care of Anna and Kate until Papa arrived and took over.  Thank you to Sabrina, Tana, and Sarah!
• Huge shout-out to Papa (Curtis's dad) for caring for Anna and Kate for over 2 days until we came back from the hospital! He did so much to serve our family and we can't thank him enough!
• We decided to decorate his nursery with a superhero theme. Ironically, the new movie, Avengers: Infinity War, moved up their opening date to be the same day as my due date! We thought that was pretty neat!
• We were slightly nervous about what Prince William and Kate Middleton were going to name their son (born a day after Drew), hoping that they didn't name him Andrew! 
• We have decided that this child will complete our family, but I was so concerned that he wasn't actually a boy that I had a hard time getting rid of all my girls' clothes until he was born! (I only had one ultrasound for this whole pregnancy.)

As for his name, we had decided we wanted to name him after an apostle because they point others to Jesus (Matthew and Luke were 2 other top contenders). What we liked about Andrew was that he was one of the first apostles to be called by Jesus and he immediately shared the good news with his brother Peter (John 1:40-42), who was pretty foundational in the church. We pray that Jesus would be so precious to our Drew that he would bring others to Jesus also. Curtis was chosen as his middle name after both sides of our families. My maiden name is Curtis and Curtis is the third, named after his grandfather and father.

One special story to share about how God has already been using Drew to point people to Jesus -- yes, he was on his way into the world and already God was at work in and through him! I was preparing to get the epidural and I was really nervous about it. Curtis and I have always read Psalm 56 whenever I am having my blood taken, getting a shot/IV, or the epidural.  Well, the anesthesiologist had me in a position that made it pretty difficult for me to the read the Bible so Curtis had to just read it for me. After Drew was born, the anesthesiologist actually tracked us down and asked us what version of the Bible (ESV) Curtis was reading. He shared that he had a hard time reading and understanding his version at home, but he could understand what Curtis was reading and wanted to get the ESV. Curtis also decided to recommend a particular study Bible to him that would give him notes to help him as he read. He was so appreciative and shared with us that he had never been interested in reading the Bible, but there was something about his time with us, giving me the epidural, that changed his mind.  We are praising God that he used Drew's arrival to point this anesthesiologist to Jesus! We are praying that he does get the Bible and God uses it for His glory!

It's crazy, but here we are now already a week later with this handsome little man!

I think this one makes him look strong and mighty! :)

If you've made it this far, thank you for rejoicing with us! The girls are smitten with him and we have had a ball getting to know this little guy.

Kate is 3!

On March 18, Kate turned 3! Since we'd already had her birthday party and celebrated at Chick-Fil-A, we kept it pretty low-key.

We sang to her with candles in the pancakes.

She enjoyed opening her gifts!

She especially loves these Trolls figurines and her tiara.

Oh yes, and this owl backpack!

After church, we had more singing to the birthday girl. Anna and Kate have had us singing to them for their birthdays for the past month!

Kate has started having these funny reactions, she's so silly! We're so thankful for this beautiful girl that God has placed in our care. She brings so much joy to us and we can't imagine life without her!

An Extraordinary Visit!

For those of you that have been following my blog for years, I'm sure you've heard about my dear friend, Mrs. Warren.  She and her husband are missionaries in Ukraine and we rarely get to see each other these past few years. Besides a quick visit with them last May on our way to RUF Summer Conference, I don't think I had spent any time with her since we moved from Savannah! It was such a blessing to have her squeeze in a quick trip to Indiana while she is in the States.

We didn't get too many pictures of just the 2 of us on the visit, but apparently we like to take pictures in front of Chick-Fil-A restaurants!

A lot of our time together included preparing for our baby's arrival! She helped me to wash all sorts of little boy clothes, narrow down the homecoming outfit for our son from the hospital, and even cooked some freezer meals.  It was a huge help and I am so thankful for the ways she served me and our family.

Anna took this picture while we made freezer meals :)

She also got to spend time getting to know our daughters better, which she called "Little Margarets." Here are some of the highlights below: 

She brought this purple nailpolish and painted their nails (and mine too)!

Anna taught her "The Chicken Dance"


Anna and Kate loved brushing her hair


They spent their quiet time coloring with her

She bought them some of their new favorite beanie boo clips!

It was nice to share life with her. She gave Curtis and I the opportunity to go out with friends and she tagged along for our bi-monthly mom's group that I organize.  Here were a few cute pictures of Anna with some of her buds:

Kate's birthday was just about to happen and she had requested going to Chick-Fil-A for her birthday.  Since her birthday was on a Sunday, we went a little early and had Mrs. Warren join in the fun!

We learned that the way to get Kate to enjoy being sung was with ice cream, not cake!

Anna had a great time too, she just really likes making goofy faces these days

Before she left, I got to spend some one-on-one time with her, much like old times when she would come and visit me when I was in college. We went to my favorite coffee shop where we were able to catch up and connect. It was so refreshing! She and I were able to spend time praying for one another and just enjoying each other's presence.  The time together went by so quickly, but I wouldn't have traded that for anything!