The Best Anniversary Present EVER!

Ted and I are celebrating our two year anniversary today!  Well, we're actually in two separate states. But we celebrated yesterday. Last year we really went all out with our anniversary. We spent the weekend in Birmingham in a fancy hotel, attended the EWTN Family Celebration, and splurged on a super nice meal. This year, as we were driving home from Mass one day, we passed a local burger joint that Ted hasn't been to. I told him he needed to go sometime and he said, "Maybe for our anniversary!". "Great idea!" I said.

When my mom got wind of that plan she took matters into her own hands and sent us a gift card to our favorite restaurant as an anniversary gift. Thanks mom!

We had a wonderful evening and even splurged on an appetizer!! (Woah!)

It never fails that a stranger taking our picture will cut Ted's head off...

Two years ago today I stood on the alter and held back tears as the priest asked us if we would be open to children. I didn't cry at any other point in the day, but the thought of bringing a life into this world with the man standing in front me was overwhelming. Overwhelmingly beautiful and terrifying. Even on my wedding day, the happiest day of my life, infertility was in the back of my mind. I was already scared and knew we had a battle in front of us.

We had a really easy time picking out the prayers for the Mass (you get about 4 different options on a half dozen prayers or so for Catholic weddings). We just picked whichever one mentioned children the most!

Other parts of the Mass were extremely special to us too. We included a litany of our favorite saints in the Eucharistic Prayer. And in addition to presenting Mary with flowers and asking for her intercession, we also went across the sanctuary and prayed before St. Joseph, offering him a lily of course, and asking for his prayers as the patron saint of families.

I also loved picking out the readings! What a special honor!  For the first reading we chose Sirach: 1-4, 13-16, a passage about the happiness a good wife can bring. The second reading was from Romans 8: 31-35, 37-39 "If God is for us, who can be against us?.....Nothing can separate us from the love of God." But our Gospel was really special. It was from Matthew 6: 25-34.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is life not more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field. which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do no worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

When Ted and I got married, I was still in grad school. He had a summer job that was coming to a close and had no idea what he would do next. We had no health insurance, a little bit of savings, and a very small one bedroom apartment that we were determined to fit a baby into.

Yet, we weren't worried. We had no reason to be. We knew that God was calling us to marriage. We knew it was supposed to happen on that exact day and time. We knew He would take care of us and we trusted Him. But we also knew that life would get harder and our problems would get bigger. We knew it was be easy to fall, to lose that trust in God that we had at the alter. That's why we chose that Gospel reading-to remind us not to worry when times got rough. To trust in Him more than we trusted in ourselves and in each other. To trust that He would heal my body and give us the blessing of a child.

Last year on our anniversary we asked every priest we came in contact with (which was a lot-EWTN is very holy!) to pray for us to be able to have children. (When we told Fr. Wade Menezes we were celebrating our anniversary,  he thought we meant dating! He didn't think we looked old enough to be married! Another priest thought we were brother and sister and was just sure that we came with our parents! And here we were asking for prayers that we got pregnant!) I was just getting started with Creighton after becoming increasingly frustrated with the approach of my traditional doctor. We had a wonderful anniversary, but it was bittersweet. We had already hoped there would be a child in our arms and it looked as if it was still a long ways away, if it was even possible at all.

Another whole year later and one of us is still in grad school (thank God it's not me this time!), the other actually has a full-time job. We've upgraded to a modest sized two-bedroom apartment but still don't have room for a baby. And despite draining that bit of savings on infertility treatments, we're making it.

This year, I have a tiny little life growing inside of me. I celebrated our anniversary with a pink lemonade instead of the fancy, expensive drink I had last year. There's three of us this year-the way it should be.

God has outdone Himself with goodness for me and Ted in the last two years. We don't deserve it, but we're beyond grateful.

God even gave me the most incredible anniversary present I could ever imagine. For the first time today, I felt our little miracle move!!!

I was sitting at my desk on hold during a phone call. I felt a little tickle on my stomach, just below my belly button. I moved my shirt to try to get it to go away. I felt it a second time and moved my shirt again. But then I realized that it didn't matter what I did-the feeling was coming from beneath my skin, not on top of it! It felt (just as everyone describes) like teeny, tiny little bubbles skating across the underside of my skin. It only lasted a second-but I'm positive that's what it was. It was like nothing I've ever felt before. I texted Ted and told him that the baby gave us an anniversary present! Then I just sat there and cried. I've cried three more times today re-telling the story. And I'm crying now just writing about it. So.so.so.incredibly.grateful.

Ted, I love you with everything I have and every part of my being. Thank for choosing me to be your wife and the mother of your child. We have been given the ultimate gift in you as the leader of this family. I am eternally grateful.

Love, Kaitlin and the Bean