Daybook for today.

Outside my window... snow and clouds. My answers to this first question are getting pretty monotonous.

I am thinking... about when Thomas was born, six years ago today. He was my first homebirthed baby. It started out as a difficult labor because he was posterior, but then he turned and everything happened amazingly fast after that. February 24, 2004 was Mardi Gras, so we celebrated his birth with beads and King Cake. I asked him this morning what it feels like to be six; his answer, "about the same as five."

I am thankful for... Mary having fewer and fewer "accidents". I strongly dislike potty training, so it's a relief to have the process done... until next time.

From the kitchen... Last night we made 15-bean soup, and it was wonderful. It soaked and then cooked over wood heat for a day and a half before it was ready, but well worth the weight. I didn't use their packets of "seasoning" but just salt and pepper. The only problem was that the giant lima beans really were giant, and they somewhat resembled grubs. I ate them anyway; it is Lent afterall.

I am wearing... blue jeans and a green t-shirt.

I am going... to work in less than an hour. It's snowing pretty heavily, so I bet it will be a quiet night.

I am reading... a daily devotional booklet called "One Bread, One Body" from Presentation Ministries. I'm also still reading St. Faustina's diary.

I am hoping... I remember to bring home coffee tonight; we are almost out.

I am hearing... the usual household noise.

Around the house... big improvment, if you ask me. I'm spending about half an hour to an hour in a room, just doing whatever I feel needs to be done in there. Maybe by Easter I'll have most of my spring cleaning done.

One of my favorite things... stretching sore muscles. I went for a walk/jog outside on Monday, and it gave me a decent pair of shin splints.

A few plans for the rest of the week: I already mentioned I work tonight. Tomorrow I will do laundry, cook a couple of meals and make sure the kids do their chores, spend some time cleaning the bathroom, do my exercise, have two people over for "choir practice" in the afternoon, and work in the evening. Friday will be mostly the same as Thursday, but I will spend my cleaning time in our bedroom. I'm not sure whether we will try to run some errands Saturday morning or not, but we have Mass in the late afternoon and then we are going to have dinner at some friends' house. Sunday I work in the afternoon, and I plan to do as little as possible in the morning.

That's all I have time for right now; with all the interruptions this took "forever". I'm not even going to check for spelling or typos. ;-) God bless!

courtesy of The Simple Woman's Daybook

Daybook for Today

Outside my window... snow, sun, and temperatures that are almost above freezing

I am thinking... These days it is difficult to think of anything except the baby in my belly... especially when s/he is tickling me with little jabs and kicks.

I am thankful for... the season of Lent and the opportunity to grow closer to Jesus.

From the kitchen... Robert made the most awesome King Cake day before yesterday from Mardi Gras. We can't stop talking about how good it was. :o)

I am wearing... sweats today- dark blue sweatpants and a light blue hoodie

I am creating... a plan that will get our home and entire life more organized and again running smoothly. Really. I mean it this time. Honey, why are you laughing?

I am going... to permanently banish stuffed animals from the house.

I am reading... Saint Faustina's Diary; actually I'm only starting it today. I've never read the entire thing cover to cover, but maybe I'll be able to this time.

I am hoping... spring will not be too much longer. Fat chance.

I am hearing... Joseph, Daniel and Mary are in the kitchen eating apples. The boys are coming up with silly phrases for Mary to repeat. "Batman likes cantaloupe" sounds completely adorable coming from her.

Around the house... I just started my Lenten cleaning project yesterday; I don't want to look around too closely yet.

One of my favorite things... my darling, precious, wonderful, handsome, kind, loving and completely lovable husband.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Maybe I should start doing these posts earlier in the week, LOL! Tomorrow I work; Saturday we have errands and Mass; Sunday I work in the morning and then we will celebrate Thomas' birthday a few days early. I also plan to keep up on meals, laundry, daily chores, exercise, and my little house-cleaning project. I figure that will be enough to keep me busy.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing.



God bless!

courtesy of The Simple Woman's Daybook

The Baby Gianna Story

I want to share a link to a week-long series being published at Creative Minority Report, one of the few Catholic news-and-views kind of blog that I visit almost daily.

The Baby Gianna Story, part I

The parts are linked one into the next. It is heartbreaking, but so important for stories like this to be told. I warn you to have tissues handy, and I wouldn't suggest reading this from work or a public computer unless you want everyone around wondering what is wrong with you.

Tonight is Mardi Gras. I pray for all of us to have a blessed and fruitful Lenten season.

Half-Baked Baby

This weekend, Baby and I reached the half-way point. Here's the latest picture of us:

My visit with the midwife on Saturday went well. One of the lovely things about her... she comes to me, even on weekends. :-) My blood pressure is staying nice and low, fundus is measuring 23 cm, and I've gained about 13 pounds so far. We couldn't get a good listen to Baby's heartbeat because s/he was rolling around too much. We're talking a lot about whether we think Baby is a boy or girl, and discussing names. I think we've decided a girl's name, and I'm 99% positive we've decided a boy's name. But, since it is always subject to change, we're not telling until it is official. ;-)

That's all the update for now, Happy St. Valentine's Day! God bless!

Sweet

Is it just pregnancy hormones, or is this a really sweet commercial?



It makes me think that there must still be a lot of people out there in the world who believe in family: love, marriage, and babies. And for some reason that makes me all teary-eyed.

Make sure you hug your precious ones today. God bless!

Good Morning!

We had a pretty good weekend, especially welcome after having a rough day on Friday. It was over too quickly, though.

On Saturday we ran some errands in the morning, went to Mass in the afternoon, and had friends over in the evening. That night we met a milestone for this pregnancy- Baby was moving around strong enough for Chuck to feel it, too. Baby is moving more and more every day; it is so much fun to feel those little kicks and jabs and imagine what position s/he is in.

We had a quiet Sunday morning. I had to work in the afternoon. Since it was Super Bowl Sunday (which I wouldn't have known before getting to work if Dad hadn't mentioned it) I expected to be busy for most of the shift... and I was! But even after kick-off time, people kept coming in. Usually being so busy makes the time fly by, but not last night. I guess I was anxious to get home. I'm already looking forward to next Sunday; it will be my weekend off!

We don't have too much planned for this week, although I have a feeling we will manage to stay busy nonetheless. My next visit with the midwife should be on Saturday, so that's another reason to look forward to next weekend. That's all the update for now... I hope all of you have a beautiful week!

God Bless!

Daybook for today...

Outside my window... clouds in the sky and snow on the ground, a typical February morning.
I am thinking... we really should be able to get breakfast cooked, eaten, and cleaned up earlier.
I am thankful for... God's patience with me.
From the learning rooms... may not seem to be much, but the children are all reading, writing, and drawing- working on their own things these days with a bit of Mom-imposed math drill here and there.
From the kitchen... a simple stove-top rice pudding for breakfast, and I'm craving a smoothie.
I am wearing... my 'mom' uniform- comfy pants, yesterday's t-shirt, a quilted flannel. I'll have to clean up before going to work this afternoon.
I am creating... a new human being- how awesome is that!?
I am going... to have to learn to just accept things as they are and make the best of them- usually I'm pretty good at this, but it isn't always easy.
I am reading... a paperback novel called Dear John that my boss gave me. I am so not into romance novels, but this one is clean and I feel obligated to read it in case she asks.
I am hoping... spring comes early this year.
I am hearing... Robert clunking around dishes in the kitchen, Thomas teasing Mary over an ice cream bucket lid (I have no idea why), Raechel humming to herself, Joseph humming a conflicting tune to himself, and the dog taking a drink so slurpy you would think she just crossed the Gobi Desert and not the living room.
Around the house... too much clutter waiting for me to take care of "someday" when I have a minute. I'm not looking!
One of my favorite things... still planning that awesome smoothie I'm wanting for lunch.
A few plans for the rest of the week: This week is almost over, and as far as I know we don't have anything unusual going on for the weekend.

God bless!

courtesy of The Simple Woman's Daybook

Here We Grow

It occurred to me that through all my pregnancies, I have exactly three "belly shots". This time around I plan to take pictures regularly, every few weeks at least. This first picture is Baby 'n me three weeks ago, at about 15 weeks...



Next picture is this weekend, at about 18 weeks (not quite 4 months).

The pictures look a little odd because I'm twisting to photograph myself in the mirror. Still, as you can see, I'm carrying quite high so far. I can't remember if that means a boy or girl, according to the old wives. ;-) The e-mails I receive say that at this point Baby is about the length of a bell pepper (5 1/2 inches) and weighing somewhere around 5 ounces. I first felt movement about a week and a half ago, and by now I'm feeling Baby saying "hi" a couple of times a day. I just love being pregnant! (Well, now that I'm over the first trimester I can say I love it!)

Everybody has been doing well... Chuck did end up getting sick on the night of his birthday and into the next day, but that was the end of it. God bless!