Welcoming Damian Gabriel!

I just wanted to quickly post a picture of my beautiful son, Damian Gabriel.

He was born Tuesday, April 12th  and weighed 8 pounds 11ounces. I was in labor with out any pain medication for 36 hours, but his head was cocked in a bad position, so they tried to manually rotate him (still with out any meds) three times before rushing me in for an emergency c-section.  

He was well worth the effort!

May your Easter be filled with blessings! Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever! Alleluia!

The End Is In Sight!

Paul and my life since last May has been such a roller coaster! I have been reflecting on all God has done and the ways he has blessed our lives since last spring.

To recap:

May 2010- We finished trucking and celebrated our second wedding anniversary.

June- Lil' Man came in to our life and we accepted the job at Camp Gray.

This was taken days after Lil' Man came to live with us.

This was taken a few weeks ago. He's grown so quickly!!!

July- We spent with family in TN. I turned 30. We packed and moved.

Riding Sunset at home on our farm in Tennessee.

 August- We moved to camp and that weekend we discovered that I was pregnant-

 Pregnant with this Lil' Monkey!

Over the following months, baby and I both grew...

and grew...

AND GREW!

Now the ticker on this blog says that I am 10 days from my due date! Baby is almost here!!!

It's crazy that I have been pregnant the entire time we've lived here at camp. And that the only people here that know what I'm like when I'm not a hormonal pregnant lady are my dear hubby and my wonderful cousin. Life is so wild!

My little angel could come any day now and I am so excited to know who he or she is, see if he/she has Paul's red hair or my blue eyes and to snuggle and smell the incredible new baby smell that we all love so much. I also feel unprepared in many ways and anxious, but I know God has everything in control.

I'm not going to lie, I am ready to feel "normal" again. Not to feel like I'm going to be sick if I eat one thing as opposed to another. Not to have to sleep on the couch while my husband sleeps below me on the floor because its the only way he can be near me and I can sleep (sort of). Not to worry that I am going to collapse if I am standing for 30 minutes cooking dinner. All the small crosses that I am willing to accept, but will be grateful to no longer have to bear.

I am such a baby, but I can't wait to have my mom here to take care of me. Doesn't that seem wrong? As I physically am about to become a mother (spiritually God has blessed me with my angels in heaven and with Lil' Man) all I want is my mommy!!! My mom is so wonderful and makes experiencing things so much more joyful. I know that my excitement will only be more fueled by hers. Plus, she will make sure I am eating well and staying away from things like the brownies that gave me the heartburn that has kept me up writing until this ungodly hour!


I am anxious for spring to truly be here, to get outside and enjoy my little ones in the sunshine! I've been in a slight funk after we had a enough warm weather to melt almost everything and to go outside with out a coat, but then we had two days of rain and we woke yesterday to a world of white. Again. At least mud is no longer being tracked in my house- only small puddles of melting snow! :)

Ahh, the roller coaster of emotional ups and downs! I will enjoy each day of anticipation. I love that our baby will be born so soon before Easter. I seems so fitting to feel pain and anxiousness about a certain loss and yet to know that it will all end with the greatest joy and celebrating. I just love Lent!

Pray that God gives me the strength to carry my crosses better and with a joyful, willing heart.

A blessed Lent to you all!

My Tilly's Baptism

As I posted earlier, I was asked to be Godmother to my cousin's daughter. She was made clean and became a member of the church on October 24th. I have never seen a baby so happy to have her soul become as white as snow!

Thank you, Jesus, for another beautiful soul!

The Sacraficial Love of a Mother

Hello! Sorry for the "blog-vacation", but sometimes I have to step away from the computer and live a little :)


Last night, I was sharing about my cousin, who found out when she was two month pregnant that she has breast cancer, to a friend and I thought about St. Gianna.



I have been to Magenta Italy and visited the tomb of St. Gianna. I even have a niece who is named after this wonderful woman. A simple woman who was a wife, mother and doctor. I'm sure that she would have never imagined the inspiration her life would be to the world. She did the most natural thing that mothers do- she sacraficed herself for her child. Gianna sacraficed everything for her child. She gave her own life so that her daughter would live.

My cousin, Bre, has fought this cancer that has been attacking her body and she has given birth to a beautiful baby girl. I admire both these women so much! The week I lost my own little angel, Paul Joshua, was when my cousin found out about the cancer. We prayed to both my P.J. and St. Gianna for her healing and the protection for both mama and baby. Now we are continuing to pray for Bre's healing. I ask that you join us in praying for her.

I love these picture of Bre and her miracle baby. Please check out the website that was created for them. There are great pictures at the bottom of the page. http://www.brestrong.giving.officelive.com/

Also, if you do not know much about St. Gianna, look her up. There are beautiful books and dvds about her. I loved reading the book of love letters that she wrote to her husband before they were married.

While engaged to Pietro Molla, Gianna wrote to him while reflecting on their vocation to marriage: “With God’s help and blessing, we will do all we can to make our new family a little cenacle where Jesus will reign over all our affections, desires and actions. … We will be working with God in His creation; in this way we can give Him children who will love Him and serve Him”.

Love it!!!!!

PRAYER COMPOSED BY SAINT GIANNA

Jesus, I promised You to submit myself to all that You permit to befall me, make me only know Your will. My most sweet Jesus, infinitely merciful God, most tender Father of souls, and in a particular way of the most weak, most miserable, most infirm which You carry with special tenderness between Your divine arms, I come to You to ask You, through the love and merits of Your Sacred Heart, the grace to comprehend and to do always Your holy will, the grace to confide in You, the grace to rest securely through time and eternity in Your loving divine arms."

SOURCE: Una Santa Della Quotidianita

St. Gianna, pray for us!