Welcome to Advent!

I love Advent and not because of all the Christmas preparations, lights, carols, cards, etc; though I love those, too. Advent is such a wonderful time to celebrate our Catholic faith and share it with our children. So, we're pulling out our Advent wreath and for the first time this year, we'll be doing a Jesse tree. I've always wanted to, but I've never gotten myself organized enough to prepare all the ornaments ahead of time. But, then I found these great downloadable ornaments that all I have to do is cut out (now that's a level of craftiness that I can handle!) and there are also reflections to go with each one.

Enjoy this time with your children. Less than four weeks are left until Christmas!

New nephew

Here's our newest addition to the family, Payne Daniel, my brother's first born son. I was able to be there for the birth (via c-section) and it was a wonderful experience. This was the first time that I was the one in the waiting room rather than the one giving birth. I think being in the waiting room is more nerve wracking!


But, we are so thankful for little Payne. Our family has so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. We've had five new cousins born this year. Yes, it has been a very blessed year indeed!

What do you eat for lunch?

I'm trying to improve my eating habits lately. Since Gustin is now weaned, it's even more important that I make some changes or the extra pounds that breastfeeding kept at bay will start to pile on. I think I do a good job at breakfast and supper. My weak spots are lunch and sweet snacks. I know how to fix the eating sweet snacks issue (just don't!) but lunch is tough. I'm so busy preparing the kids' lunch, changing out laundry, cleaning up the present that the dog left on the carpet, etc, during the lunch hour that what I eat becomes an afterthought. An unhealthy, grab-what's-easy afterthought.

So, any suggestions of easy and healthy lunch ideas? I could really use some help.

Picture of the Day: You take what you can get

Sometimes two out of three isn't so bad. :)

Incredulous

Last night Gustin slept through the night for about the fifth time in his 18 months of life. And, he did so in his crib and not in our bed. Ahhh... what a great night.

This morning when Gustin woke up, Elizabeth followed me in to get him.

"What is Gustin doing in his crib?"

"He slept in there last night," I replied.

"Jonathan, Jonathan! Come here and look!" Elizabeth calls to her brother. "Guess where Gustin slept last night?" she asks him as she points to the crib.

"In his crib?" he responds, obviously extremely impressed.

"Without crying!?!"

Yes, it was quite a feat.

Some of my favorite out of focus pictures

It happens a lot. I download my pictures to the computer and anxiously open them up to see how those shots I just took turned out. I find the thumbnail of the shot that I'm most excited to see and click on it. It pops up full size on my monitor and . . . it's blurry.


I usually learn from these botched photos. I probably forgot to fire a test shot first and make sure all my settings were right. ISO setting, white balance, aperture, one or more of them was probably off.


But, sometimes I can't help but love the blurry photos, too. Even though imperfect, they still capture little personalities with amazing accuracy.


And memories, too. How else am I going to remember that Gustin learned to correctly identify where his mouth is when he was 17 1/2 months old? (Doesn't he look proud of himself in the picture above?)

I guess pictures are kind of like people. Imperfect as they may be, they are still precious.

FOCA petition

Have you heard of the Freedom of Choice Act? It's legislation that Obama promised to sign as soon as he enters office that would lift all restrictions on abortion.

To sign a petition to fight it an find out more information, click here.

h/t: Mary's Aggies

Meme time!

Sweet Christine tagged me for this Sweetheart Meme.

SWEETHEART TAG

The rules are posted at the beginning.Each person answers questions about their sweethearts.At the end of the post, the person then tags 6 people and posts their names; then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged.

What is your husband's name? Eric

How long have you guys been married? 8 1/2 years. Wow!

How long did you date? Dated for about 2 years. Engaged for about 6 months.

How old is he? 33

Who is taller? Me! There's a rule in our house. If he is barefoot, I'm not allowed to have shoes on.

Who can sing best? Eric. But, that doesn't mean he's good.

Who is smarter? Eric. He amazes me. He has an amazing grasp of basic concepts and the ability to apply them. For instance, if he can't remember the equation for a particular engineering problem, he'll just derive it from scratch. He can derive it faster than I can look it up in a textbook. It's really obnoxious. (just kidding!) Just for the record, though, I made the better grades. :)

Who does laundry? Me me me!

Who pays the bills? Me

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Moi

Who mows the lawn? Eric

Who cooks dinner? Me unless it involves slabs of meat and an open flame.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Hmmm... Not sure about that one. But, the more I think about it, I don't know if Eric ever admits he is wrong. :)

Who kissed who first? He kissed me.

Who wears the pants? Eric.

I know a lot of my fellow bloggers are very busy right now. So, I won't tag anyone specifically, but if you do this meme, please let me know so I can read your responses!

This will be a hard day

I've decided that I'm not going to watch the election coverage today. Too stressful. Instead, I'm going to pray and pray and pray. I pray that the Holy Spirit will move in the hearts of the voters. I pray that all the good people out there will stand up for the innocent who don't yet have a voice. I pray for the conversion of hearts. I pray that truth will not be stifled by hype and misdirected faith in a false hope. I pray that people will look to Christ as their savior and not to a mere man. I pray that all people will see evil for what it is and pursue good even if it isn't the easy or popular path.

I'm praying for a miracle.

Blessed Mother, pray for us!

O Lord, have mercy on us!

Picture of the Day: Happy Halloween

Fancy Nancy demonstrating her best curtsy.

Have a great day!

Picture of the Day: Little Dreamer

The Supportive Husband

Men and women are so different, as we all know. Last night was a prime example.

I started talking (more like babbling on and on) about something that had been on my mind for awhile. I've been debating if I want to try to lose a few more pounds or not. I'm at a healthy weight for my height already, but after three kids, there is a jiggly, gushy area around my middle that didn't use to be there. For months, I've been going back and forth, one week deciding that this gushiness is normal and I'm okay with it and I just have to get used to the new me, and the next week deciding that something really needs to be done about this situation and it's high time I lost these last 5-10 baby pounds. I'm really getting tired of this mental yo-yoing, and since I can't seem to make a decision and stick with it, I decided to appeal to my husband for some advice and perspective.

If I had chosen to talk to some girlfriends about this dilemma, I can imagine some of the feedback I would get.

"You look great just the way you are!"

"Give yourself a break, you've bore three children and your body has changed. It's perfectly normal."

"If you want to lose a few more pounds, go for it! But, only do it because it is what is best for you."

What Eric said was a classic example of the difference between men and women. He said:

"Well, you don't look bad."

Poor Eric. He knew right away that that didn't come out the way he intended, but he didn't know how to fix it. So, he followed that up with:

"It's not like I'm embarrassed to take you out in public or anything."

I couldn't help but laugh! I know my husband well enough to know that what he said, what he meant, and the way a female would interpret what he said are all very different things. For example...

What he said: You don't look bad.
What a female hears: But, you don't look that good either.
What he meant: You look beautiful just the way you are.

What he said: It's not like I'm embarrassed to take you out in public or anything.
What a female hears: But, if you pack on another pound or two, I may have to keep you locked away at home.
What he meant: I'm proud to show off my beautiful wife in public.

So, for the next half hour or so we came up with more examples of backhanded sort of compliments that then men in our lives use to try to be supportive.

"It's not like you're obese or anything."

"You don't jiggle that much."

"It's okay, you can buy new clothes in a larger size if you want to."

"If you didn't eat so much, you'd lose those extra pounds in no time!"

"Just don't look in the mirror any more."

I think I lost a pound or two just from all the laughing!

Picture of the Day: Slave labor

He spilled all of the water out of the dog's water bowl (again!), so I gave him a towel and told him to clean it up. He did!

I have a little secret...

It's something about my children that most people don't know. You see, my kids are most extraordinary. I know what you are thinking. All mothers think that their children are the most extraordinary in the world. But, I assure you that mine are truly exceptional. They are, in fact, superheros. And, I have the pictures to prove it. Jonathan and Elizabeth have the amazing gift of being able to run at supersonic speeds. Just the other night I had the camera out and was able to capture the proof of their amazing abilities. If you don't believe me, just see for yourself.


But, shhhh, don't tell anyone. We wouldn't want any unscrupulous individuals to find out about their abilities and then try to take advantage of them.

The Not-So-Fabulous Mom

We just got back from Elizabeth's gymnastics class and now we're home in a somewhat darkened house listening to the rain come down outside. I love days like these. Rainy days encourage me to slow down, to breathe, and to read and snuggle more with my kids.

As I said in my last post, these gymnastics classes are wonderful for my little girl. She's rather timid, not just socially, but physically as well. She will never be a dare devil! Gymnastics is encouraging her to speak up a little more as well as take some risks that she normally never would have done. It is so fun to watch her blossom.

During her hour long class, I try to keep Gustin contained and I can't help but to observe the other moms. Some watch their kids intently, some seem to be very busy with papers and planners, others make one call on their cell phone after another and some sit and chat with each other. They are all so different, except for one thing, they are all fabulous.

By fabulous I just mean that they are everything that I am not, namely perfectly put together. A Fabulous Mom's clothing is unwrinkled and fashionable, her toes are pedicured, her hair is perfectly cut, colored and styled, her makeup is impeccable and her accessories coordinate. Please don't think that I am saying that there is anything wrong with that, it's just that it's not me. Today I had my freely graying, slightly-damp-from-my-shower hair pulled back in a quick ponytail. I used wrinkle remover spray on my shirt to quickly try to smooth it out before I went out the door. I was wearing $5 flip flops though I did actually get a light application of makeup on before we left. I don't think there was anything wrong with that either. The way I was dressed suits my personality and aligns with my priorities.

So how come when I'm around Fabulous Moms, I start to feel insecure about my looks and my priorities?

Why do we mother's feel threatened just because someone else is doing something differently than us? It could be the way we discipline our children or how we show love for our spouse or the way we feed our families. We make choices that we think are best for us and our families, but then as soon as we see someone else doing it differently, we immediately question our decisions.

Maybe this tendency is a good thing. It makes us constantly reevaluate our choices and make sure that they do align with our priorities. But, it can also create anxiety, lack of confidence or can even pressure us into making choices that do not align with our priorities.

I guess these feelings are common when you live a counter cultural lifestyle. Being a practicing, orthodox Catholic stay-at-home mom is certainly not a lifestyle seen on TV or in the movies or even on my street in my neighborhood.

I don't know if there is a point to this long and rambling post. But, one thing I have realized as I have been writing it is that I am so thankful for blogging. Through blogging I don't feel so isolated as I struggle on a daily basis to be counter-cultural. On any given day I can connect with moms (both Fabulous and Not-So-Fabulous) all over the country and the world who live their faith. What a blessing.

My blogging has been a little light lately...

I don't know why, exactly. I guess we've been busy around here? We've entered the world of extracurricular activities and I'm having a bit of a hard time keeping up. But, I know that it will all just feel like it's normal soon. But, in the mean time we have a cub scout camp out this weekend that I need to make about four dozen cookies for.

Elizabeth started gymnastics classes once a week and it's been awesome for her! She actually speaks to her coaches! My shy girl is coming out of her shell!

Eric started his new job last week. I could go on and on about that. It's really been a dream come true for him and the most amazing gift from God, but the transition is also a little stressful. I'm not a big fan of change and now we changed employers & health insurance providers, we're now having to manage our own retirement funds, etc, etc.

This weekend I also have a baby shower for my first niece on my side of the family. And, I get to be the godmother! I can't express how excited I am about that!

Oh, I've really gotta run. School lunches need to be made. But, hopefully I'll be posting more around here again soon!

God bless you,

One step back

Elizabeth: Mommy, I had a little accident. Not a big one, only as big as a germ.

Picture of the Day: Soft Intensity

I love this photo. I'm finally learning a bit about how to do a good black & white conversion.

Elizabeth and I are having a "fancy" day. She got to buy a Fancy Nancy dress today because she went for 7 days straight without having an accident (whew! it's been a long time coming!). Then we made a cake (it's my birthday, 31 years old today!) and she's been clip clopping around the house in her new dress and her "up" shoes. We also watched Enchanted and sang along to the great songs. It's a good day!

Walk down memory lane

A friend of mine sent me an email yesterday that made me want to cry. Don't worry, it wasn't anything bad. She jsut found some old photos from about four years ago on her computer and sent them to me. This is one of them...

Isn't it just precious? This is Jonathan when he was two years old hugging his best friend at the time, Maddy. This photo was taken about a month before Elizabeth was born. Four years doesn't seem like all that long ago, but the time in my life when it was just me and Jonathan all day long does seem like a very long time ago. It's just so hard to remember what life was like without Elizabeth and Gustin in it.

But, at the same time, I remember lots of little details. I gave Jonathan the haircut that he has in this picture. The shirt he is wearing was a hand-me-down from friends. He would rarely give hugs at that age, but Maddy would give them to everyone and it looks like in this picture she had finally convinced him to give her one back. Oh, and it's hard to tell, but his eyes are still blue in this pic. They started changing to green when he was about two and a half. Isn't that weird? I never new that eyes could change colors in a child that old.

Sadly, Jonathan doesn't get to see Maddy very often anymore. The playgroup that they were a part of slowly fell apart as some families moved away and all of us started to have more kids. But, it was such a fun and rewarding part of our lives. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a similar playgroup for Elizabeth. So many of my friends have started working again, most of them part time, and very few kids we know are Elizabeth's age. Most of them are either significantly older or younger. I really wish Elizabeth had a close little group of 5 or 6 friends like Jonathan did. Sometimes I really feel badly that I haven't been able to provide her with more opportunity to play with kids her own age. :(

What about the rest of you moms? Do you remember back when it was just you and your first child? Doesn't it almost seem like another lifetime ago?

Outtakes

Remember when I got my new camera and I blogged that I was so excited that I would no longer have a need for portrait studios? I thought it would be so easy to snap my kids' yearly portraits when their birthdays role around. Well, Elizabeth turned 4 almost three months ago and I just did her portrait. And, I'm realizing, that getting a good portrait when you're not in a studio is hard! It's difficult to find the right light, background, and camera settings not to mention convincing my subject to actually look at the camera and smile at the same time. By the time we were done I had taken a couple hundred pictures and my favorite portrait of her is a picture that I took while goofing around over a month ago! But, we got some fun outtakes. Here are a few...

We have the grumpy face.
The stare-y eyed face.
The straining at a forced smile face.
And, of course, many, many sticking-out-the-tongue face.
There were a couple of decent ones. Not great, but okay. At least, I think the grandparents will be happy.

And, even with all the hassle, I still prefer it over a portrait studio. :)