Calling all Inventors

If the iPhone had an app that could take your thoughts and turn them into a coherent blog post

this blog would have about ten posts a day.

But first I'd have to buy an iPhone.

Not Crazy

I used to think that couples who met online were a little crazy. Not a lot crazy, just a little crazy.

That was before I made "blog friends". Those blog friends became "facebook friends" and then a few of those facebook friends have turned into real life friends. Isn't that nuts?

Like last summer-when Hannah and I drove five hours to hang out with three women we had never actually met. So much fun. Not at all crazy.

And this past weekend I had the absolute honor of hanging out with Karen and her family while they welcomed sweet Hannah Clare into the world. Hannah and I arrive about an hour before baby Hannah was born. We hung out with Mary Grace (Karen's one year old) in the living room while mama labored in the tub. Although I didn't get a chance to see Karen during labor, I could definitely hear her :) And I got to hear that sweet little baby cry through the door. The cry that said, "I'm here! No more pain! It's over and I'm here!"

The whole experience confirmed that choosing natural birth is definitely not crazy. Karen was up, walking around, and getting up and down on her own within an hour of the birth. You would have never known she just had a baby. Love that quick recovery!

Then for the next three days I got to pretend I was a postpartum doula and cook, clean, and hopefully make Karen's life easier. And watch Hannah and Mary Grace become best friends.

So no, I don't think people who meet online are crazy. Unless Karen and I are crazy. She did have a homebirth after all. But no, I don't think that's crazy either.

Hannah Loves Our Lady

Hannah and Mary go back. Way, way back.

When we were trying to conceive we blessed my stomach with holy water from Our Lady of Lourdes and asked for her intercession in helping us have a baby. When we got pregnant, Ted blessed me and the baby every night and continued to ask Mary for her prayers. The Lourdes water came with us to the delivery room and now sits on Hannah's dresser as I type this.

So you can imagine my shock and sheer delight when Hannah "chose" Our Lady of Lourdes for her patron for 2012. At our New Year's retreat we passed a basket around the room filled with the names of over a hundred of saints. When we held the basket out to Hannah, she took her time and moved her hand from one piece of paper to the other before pulling one out of the basket. Our Lady of Lourdes-so beautifully fitting.

Just a month later, on her birthday, Hannah and I lit a candle in front of a statue of Mary at church and asked Mary to continue to intercede for her throughout this year. That very same day, when I picked Hannah up out of her crib after her nap she turned around and pointed to the picture of Mary and Jesus hanging above her crib. The picture, a framed canvas of Our Lady of the Streets, is from Rome and was given to us on our wedding day. It's been hanging over Hannah's crib for months, but she noticed it that day for the first time. She pointed to the picture, babbled a bit while looking at Mary, and smiled her shy, embarrassed smile before digging her head into my shoulder.

She met Mary.

Since then, I can ask Hannah, "Where's Mary?" and she will almost always find her. I'm always amazed that she knows just where Mary is because each image of Mary is different from the other.

She knows Our Lady of the Streets, the image above her bed.

She always finds Our Lady of Guadalupe, the magnet on our fridge.

In Mass she always points to the image of Mary on the misalette that resembles Our Lady of Chestahova.

At Mass, she can find the Mary statue instantly upon being asked.

And at the end of each day she  reaches for the Mary statue on her bookshelf when we tell her it's time to pray.

Successfully pointing to Mary is usually followed by a big grin and sometimes kisses for Our Lady. So cute.

Even though she recognizes Mary, Jesus is another story. When I realized this the other day I got worried for a second. "Oh no-she never points to Jesus when I ask her to! What kind of mother am I?" But I quickly figured out the reason for this. Although the many images of Mary look different, she's still a lovely lady with flowing robes. Jesus, on the other hand, looks completely different each time I ask her, "Where's Jesus?"

Sometimes He's a little baby, in Mary's arms. Other times He's a man with a beard and his own flowing gown. Other times He's naked on a cross. And sometimes He looks like a little round piece of bread or golden chalice of wine as I whisper in her ear, "That's Jesus," at the words of consecration.

So for a toddler, "Where's Jesus?" might take a little while longer than "Where's Mary". But that's quite alright. Because knowing His mother is the best thing you can do to know Him. If Hannah and Mary are tight, I know she'll introduce her to Jesus.

It's Mary's sole mission, to bring us to her Son.

Ahhhhh!

I feel like the only sane person in a room full of idiots.

“Covering birth control with no co-pays means college students will not have to choose between paying for tuition and books, or paying for basic health care like birth control.”

Does anyone actually believe that??? Seriously. Anyone. I want to meet these strange college students who go to their professor and say, "I'm sorry Professor, I couldn't afford the book for your class. I spent my last nine dollars on birth control at Target so I could have sex without consequences. If only the Catholic Church would pay for it! Then I would be able to afford a quality education!"

Obama has gone off the deep end. I hope his followers jump ship before they're dragged down into the absolute rotten stink that is his administration.

They are taking our freedom. And millions are cheering them on.

Quick Takes (34)

-1-

I shouldn't be typing this right now. I should be with Karen and Mary Grace waiting for their sweet Hannah to arrive. Karen should be in labor any second now (or next week...you know how babies are) and has asked me to drive down and help with Mary Grace during the birth. Did I say ask? I mean is graciously allowing me to be in her home during the most intimate time of their lives because I bugged her about it until she said yes. I cannot wait. She had a three day labor with Mary Grace. I really hope Hannah doesn't take that long...or come too quickly. I have a four hour drive and I don't want to miss it!

Little Hannah-we can't wait to meet you!

-2-

My own Hannah is stinking amazing. I am LOVING having a toddler. No pouting about her not being a baby-she is way too much fun for me to be pouting. I mean-look at this face. She is just so delightful.

-3-

We've been to the beach three times in the two and a half months we've lived in Florida. I just can't believe this is my life. Every time we go it feels like we're on vacation.

-4-

Speaking of beach-we need an umbrella! Any other beachies out there have one to suggest? 

-5-

I have a very exciting giveaway coming up. You should be on the edge of your seats. And it will simulaneously prove to the world that Hannah is the most adorable baby on the planet.

-6-

What? You contest my claim in #5?? Exhibit A:

 

I went to a weekend consignment event last weekend with the hopes of finding some cheap outside toys for Hannah. It's all she wants to do-I cannot keep this girl indoors. I have to spell the word because if she hears me say "outside" she runs to the door and whines until I take her out. Maybe the playhouse is actually for me-I needed another activity to do other than following her around watching her try to eat acorns and rolling in the leaves. I got the playhouse for 50 bucks! It would be $300 new. Oh how I love other people's stuff!

-7-

Please pray for Ted this weekend. He's going on a retreat at our new parish. Do you know what this means?? He's going to miss two full days of March Madness. I told him he could stop all of his other Lenten sacrifices-this alone is waaaay more than I'm doing. What a man-Jesus over basketball. I'm so blessed!

Oh the Internet

Is it just me or did the internet get bigger this week?

It's just me?

Oh.

I'm not sure why-but I'm suddenly very overwhelmed by the amount of information on the internet. I almost feel as if I'm suffocating but I can't turn it off. And most of what I'm reading is good. So good. So good in fact, I want to share it with the world. And I think that's my problem.

So much of my faith in humanity is being shattered by the people who are actually for this evil and oppressive HHS mandate. Real people! With real brains! And they just don't get it. I will read a great article or blog post that articulates what I'm thinking exactly and I want to share it with the world. I want to plaster it on my facebook page and singlehandedly force everyone single one of my friends to read it word for word. "Surely they will come to their senses if they read this," I think. "There's just no valid argument against this!"

But that's just not how it works. Yes we hear stories of how someone stumbled on a blog, read something amazing, and had their life changed as a result. But I'd venture to say that's not typical. Real change comes from relationships. It comes from seeing an example in someone day after day after day. And that's hard.

It's hard to know that people are so wrong and I can't do anything to make them realize that. I'm not just talking about the mandate (but that has brought the issue of birth control and the sacredness of human life to the forefront). I'm talking about everything. Women that completely misunderstand what it means to be a woman. Protestants that severely misunderstand what the Catholic Church really teaches. Mothers who don't understand what a gift each baby is, planned or unplanned.

I don't really know where I'm going with this.

I want so badly to convince people of the beauty and truth of goodness of the teachings of the Catholic Church. I want to refer them to every wonderful, perfectly written article I've read and have their hearts be transformed. I could link to probably two dozen great posts I've read just this week and hope that readers (especially those who disagree with me) would read them. But would it do any good?  I feel like my voice is drowning. Getting lost in the absolutely huge wealth of information out there. Can I really change hearts? Can I really be a witness to truth?

Sometimes I just want to argue with people. I want them to talk to me until they understand what they're missing. But people can't be won with arguments or conversations, although those certainly have their place. So how am I suppose to win them? How I do witness to facebook friends who are so lost and confused? How do I sort through the overwhelming number of blog posts and really take something away from it all? I feel like it's all just preaching to the choir. And I'm singing my heart out but there are so many around me who haven't joined in the song.

Ugh. It's so hard not to get discouraged. And overwhelmed. Come Holy Spirit. Veni Sancte Spiritus.

image credit

Verbatim

"dada"

"dog"

"done"

"duck"

Ok, so maybe this post isn't full of the funniest dang things to ever come out of a kid's mouth, but these words are HERS! My girl is talking. Mostly still repeating-but we definitely get spontaneous "dadas" a few times a day. She was allllll about the bilabials for the first 12 months of her life. M's and B's-that's all she would say. So was her first true word "mama"?? Nope-dad got to claim that prize.

Green for the Green-Cloth Napkins

As I've mentioned in my other Green for the Green posts, most of the "green" things that happen in this household are all about saving cash. Sometimes it's for moral reasons. Sometimes it's for our health. But nine times out of 10-it's the pennies that I'm trying to pinch. 

Cloth napkins fall squarely into that category. With a little bit of "saving the environment" thrown in there too.

One way I try to save money is to not buy things that are just going to be thrown away. Diapers Wet wipes. Napkins. Paper Towels. A bulk package of paper towels costs $12 at my local Walmart. Twelve bucks! And yeah-it's a lot of paper towels. But it's still too much money. And you can't buy the really cheap ones. No paper towel is better than than a crappy paper towel.

We had a collection of eight store-bought cloth napkins, but when Hannah started eating solids we quickly realized that wouldn't be enough. We had two rolls of paper towels still in the cabinet from our pre-cloth days. (We would use them occasionally to soak up the grease from bacon. We love our bacon.) But we soon found ourselves grabbing for a paper towel to wipe down Hannah's hands and face.

When we ran out of paper towels, I refused to buy more. I'm keeping my twelve bucks and spending it on something better, like more bacon. Thankyouverymuch!

I originally got the idea to start using cloth napkins from this frugal friend. Then I got the idea of making them myself from this crafty gal. And I got the idea to use old t-shirts that were destined for Goodwill from this creative genius.

I just cut up the old t-shirts with pinking sheers (to prevent fray-although jersey doesn't really fray anyway) and threw them in the drawer. And it took me less time than it took Hannah to take a crappy nap!

21 napkins.

0 dollars.

We still have the store bought ones for when company comes over. We're not total cheapos ;)

And you know what? We kinda like our bacon greasy.

Not No Baby

I'm not sure when it happened, but she's not a baby anymore. 

Babies don't try to jump off the sidewalk and into the leaves.

Babies don't get skinned knees. 

Her very first skinned knee. I think I took it harder than she did.

This girl?

This girl's tough.

She's not gonna let a little thing like a skinned knee get her down.

She got right back out there and tired again.

She's not no baby.