Lucas Samuel, His Little Lamb!

Precious Me!

Lucas Samuel...Cute and Growing Everyday!

My first bath at home...okay so it wasn't my favorite new activity.

This is how I love to sleep...snug as a bug in a rug.

Mr. Bright Eyes! :)

My first walk (or ride :)

As my outfit says, I am "Dog-gone Cute!"

My First Outing to Potawatami Zoo

Me leaving the hospital

I had lots of visitors!

Aunt Ryann, Cousin Audriana, Uncle Ben & Me

Tito Orlando, Tita Rina & Yo

Grandpa & Grandma O'Connell & Me

My First Few Hours

First Born: Lucas Samuel Alvarez-O'Connell

Lucas Samuel was born on August 4, 2008 at 7:49am, weighing in at 7lbs. 14 oz. and 20 inches long.

Lucas is an answer to so many prayers and we thank God for his faithfulness through this whole process. We want to share with you the special meaning of his name.

Lucas: Bringer of light Samuel: God hears

We pray that he will truly be a bringer of light to this dark world and God definitely heard our prayers! Thank you for celebrating with us!

We also want to share with you the incredible testimony of God's blessing in Lucas' conception. If you haven't heard our testimony before. Please read on! :)

***Orlando and I had been patiently waiting on the Lord for about 2 years, hoping that at some point we would have the awesome privilege of being parents. During a class that I was taking last semester at ESEPA, one of my classmates shared on October 4^th about how he and his wife had had a difficult time getting pregnant with their second child. He talked of how after much waiting and trying many different "methods" to get pregnant, they felt the Lord telling them to just pray and wait on the Lord. Orlando and I had not done anything medically to try and get pregnant. We have just been doing "the normal." J However, I felt a strong nudging from the Lord that I needed to be more intentional about my praying and really seek the Lord and this blessing that he wanted to fulfill in us. That night I wrote out Psalms 127 & 128 in my journal along with a short prayer expressing my desire to fully trust in the Lord in this miracle and that I would give him complete glory knowing that he was the one who could open my womb.

The Lord has a great sense of humor and He never leaves us alone in our time of seeking. Two days later we attended a prayer and fasting time at our church with a few other leaders that we know well. The focus of the prayer time was praying for our children. All of the other individuals and couples had children of teenage years or older, so I just thought to myself, "Lord, is this from you?" During one of the dynamics we were to write down the names of our children and commit to praying for them daily. One of the ladies suggested that we write down names of children we would like to have. I did so, and once again we prayed, asking the Lord to fulfill this petition. That day many people realized our desire to have children and began praying with us.

Almost every Sunday someone would say at church, "Oh, I just know that you will return from the States with a baby!" Part of me was ecstatic at the thought and another part of me felt like a doubting Thomas or a laughing Sara. But, we continued to trust in the Lord and wait.

It may not always seem that the Lord is quick in answering or as tangible as this miracle was but within two to three weeks of having begun praying, I became pregnant! Now, this may sound like a simple process but we didn't know that we were pregnant until December 5^th. I did three home pregnancy tests but they all came out negative. I began to think that there might be something else wrong. However, after the advice from a friend at church, I went to have a blood test done. As I walked out of the clinic, results in hand, I opened the paper for the first time seeing the words "POSITIVA" on the page and began crying on the streets of Alajuela. It seemed so surreal and almost too good to be true. Orlando was with me sharing in the excitement and within the hour we had shared the news with my in-laws and brothers-in-law who were thrilled. We decided to wait until Christmas Eve to share it with my family in person. Again, it was a joyous occasion for all!