It was a dark and stormy night...
I give up on ever trying to prepare for labor. Having now birthed three children, here's my advice for labor prep...don't count on it happening as planned. With all the great options of mood setting and background music for relaxing, I got to labor to a backdrop of tornado sirens. Brilliant. But don't worry, the sirens were frequently drowned out by the torrential rain pounding on the window, tree branches breaking, thunder rolling, walls shaking, and the wind screaming. Needless to say, it made for an exciting drive to the hospital.
At 2:20am on December 22, the cacophony of wind and rain sounding outside was completely silenced in my mind by the first cries of our newborn son. At 7 pounds 12 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long, Gabriel Muriithi made is grand debut. Muriithi (pronounced Mur-ay-thee) is after my Dad, Stan Granberg. Meaning shepherd, Muriithi is the African name my Dad went by during his ten years of mission work in Meru, Kenya. We want to honor him for his work for God's kingdom and for the example of a man of God that he is for our son.
A few hours after Gabriel's birth, and just a few miles down the road, those gathered at Ethos heard about a different Gabriel. 2,000 years ago the angel Gabriel announced peace to a people in turmoil, light to cities enveloped in darkness, and salvation to a dying world. Immanuel, God is with us. Glory! Our prayer for our son is that each year around his birthday, he hears this story and recognizes the power of the words spoken by the angel Gabriel.
And now, what you've all been waiting for...
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| Gabriel Muriithi |
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| First glimpse of baby brother |
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| Sydney is a very proud big sister. She loves the responsibility of helping with the baby always wants to hold his hand. |
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| Jade is absolutely enamored with Gabriel. Should could not pronounce his name for a long time and so called him "Bagel." She wants to be beside him, holding him, or on top of him pretty much all the time. Her normal stance now is holding out both arms and pulling her pointer fingers toward her in a gesture saying, "Let me hold him!!" |
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| Gabriel and his namesake |
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| Uncle Josh |
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| Going home outfit...when I first put him in it I said, "That just doesn't look right, my babies don't normally wear blue!" |
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| Got home just in time to enjoy a relaxing Christmas at home as a family of five! |
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
