Engagement Pictures

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BabyBeat Fetal Doppler Giveaway!

Attention all my dear pregnant mommy friends!!!

 Chari at Take Time To Smell The Rose is giving away a BabyBeat Fetal-doppler that you can use at home to listen to your baby's heartbeat! This is so perfect because there just seem to be soooo many pregnant ladies out there right now! I would just love to spend time each evening with Paul and Lil' Man listening to our Jelly Bean's heartbeat. I know you and your families would enjoy it too.

I love that Baby Beat also offers recordable dopplers so you can keep a recording of your little one's heartbeat and send it to proud grandparents.

Take a moment to check out both Chari's blog and the Baby Beat website!

Happy Feast of St. Juan Diego friend's! I am making sombrero cookies today in his honor. Are you doing anything special?

Your thoughts on family time...

Last night after dinner my husband and I took turns reading to Lil' Man and then, after his bath, he ran around in his pjs with so much stinkin' energy that I just wanted to plug myself in to him and share some of that same charge!

Paul and I were discussing how nice it is to have family reading time, but Lil' Man want the same 5 books read over and over and it does become slightly monotonous for Paul and I. We were trying to think of other activities we could do together as a family, but its hard because most of the games or ideas we had were just too difficult to get a two year old to go along with. We go hiking and to the park, but evening home are going to become more frequent the bigger I get and the colder Wisconsin becomes! I was thinking about some of the Montessori learning methods, but I am not yet an aficionado on said methods.

After we watched our crazy child "dance" (aka jumping, rolling, bouncing) to a toddler cd, Paul pulled out a remote control helicopter/spaceship thing and let Lil' Man chase that around trying to knock it out of the air. It was fun and cute and I managed to get some fun video footage of my boys playing together.

Soooo, does anyone have any thoughts on evening family activities with a two year old??? I will take any ideas!

In other news, we just discovered that BOTH of our dogs (both of whom my parents have been watching since we can't have them in our apartment) are pregnant!!!! Anyone want a puppy for Christmas (maybe Epiphany)??? Just figured that it couldn't hurt to ask!

Enjoy your Friday and have a wonderful weekend! We are looking forward to our town's Christmas parade on Saturday (who ever heard of a "Christmas" parade before thanksgiving?!?!). :-)

It's the Holiday Season!

Which means that it is time for me to get my Christmas cards printed and ready to mail out after Thanksgiving! Crazy as it seems Thanksgiving is next week and Advent will soon be upon us! I always try (and rarely succeed) to have all gifts and cards taken care of before Advent begins, so I can focus on what's truly important- preparing my heart and my family to once again to receive Christ and celebrate His sacrifice for us.

This year I am using Shutterfly to print all of my Christmas cards for the first time. I have made a lot of photobooks using Shutterfly and just love how they turned out! I love cards with family picture on them and now that we have an adorable toddler underfoot we seems to have hundreds of precious poses to choose from. The only hard part is limiting the number of pictures to just my favorite "card worthy" ones. The great thing about Shutterfly is that I really don't have to limit the number of picture I can use by many. They have great cards that can have multiple images such as this one:

 

Or this one:

 

You can check out their beautiful photo card collection here: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery

Last year my brother gave my husband and I a canvas print of our wedding picture. It was one of the most special gifts! Consider giving an impossible to shop for Dad a canvas portrait of his family. The ideas are endless!
http://www.shutterfly.com/home-decor/canvas-wall-art
My brother will be getting a family photo calendar from us this year to remind him of his family since he is living far away.
http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

And for those bloggers out there, Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010 !!!

Hope you are as inspired as I am!

Wordless Wednesday- 20 Weeks!

Tired.

I apologize that I pretty much stink at blogging these days. I have thoughts to share, creativity to express, pictures of all the fall adventures my men and I have been having. What I don't have is energy or time. And when I have one or both of those to important elements, they get used for exciting things like housework.

I was so tired today because I didn't go to sleep until 3 am (indigestion+back/muscle pain=insomnia) that I felt the way I imagine it must feel like to be "hung over" (something I have never had to actually experience- PRAISE GOD!). And then I felt guilty all day because I've needed Paul so much recently to help me with Lil' Man and to take care me that I know he is feeling torn between work and home. Sheesh.

We did have a wonderful weekend. The week will be equally wonderful, but crazy busy. Prayers are appreciated. We will be off to California Friday morning, but home by Monday night. Tomorrow is a huge Catholic Charities event that I'm excited to attend and Wednesday I am hosting a large dinner party. All good. All exciting. But pray that God gives this preggo body a little extra steam. And that Lil' Man survives Friday's journey that will include 7 hours in the car and 4 and a half on an airplane, a time change for two days and then Friday's journey in reverse on Monday. Guardian Angels be with us!


I do hope to be a better blogger soon. Don't give up on me yet, friends. May God bless everyone as the joyful and hectic holiday season quickly approaches!

The Mission Theme (Ennio Morricone)

Soooo, I had the Theme from the Mission as one of the many songs in my playlist at the bottom of my blog. Recently it was playing the song from James Bond or Mission Impossible instead of  The Mission Theme. SO NOT COOL! It was driving me crazy so I went in and took the song off my playlist.

I must report that you will now be hearing a mix of Christmas music in with my regular selections. I am sorry. I hope it doesn't drive anyone crazy, but I love Christmas music! I control my self by only listening to it in private during the year or only listening publicly after Halloween. I know, I know, but there are very few "Thanksgiving" songs, so what's the big deal???

Anyway, if you haven't seen The Mission or heard its soundtrack, I highly recommend them (fyi: It is not a movie for the faint of heart and be sure to watch it before having the entire family view.)!

Enjoy!

Mommy Mocktails!!!

Know a pregnant mom who could use a pick me up? Here's an idea!

Virgin Cocktails!

Since the beginning of my pregnancy I've had a hard time keeping anything down, especially water or any other fluid. Slowly, I have gotten better, but I still am having a hard time drinking. Early on water tasted bitter and now I just don't feel like drinking it. Adding slices of lemon or lime has helped, but...and all the teas I normally enjoy I can't have and I've been craving soda more than normal.


Interesting Fact: I've read that green tea inhibits cells growth, making it great for cancer patients and, obviously, bad for growing babies! They also say that green tea blocks folic acid which is especially important to the baby's development during the first trimester.

I made a decision that if I make drinking a festive occasion, similar to how I feel about sitting down to a soothing cup of tea, it may be easier for me to drink more. I started small by picking up a bottle of cranberry juice, a bottle of lemon-lime soda (caffeine free), and a lime. Through out the day I would drink a "mocktail" of 1/4 cup soda, 3/4 cranberry and a twist of lime. It helped!

When I went to visit my pregnant friend, Diana of the Lake of Shining Waters , on my way to Tennessee, I brought along two martini glasses, cream of coconut, frozen strawberries, pineapple, cherries and assortment of other goodies for us to try inventing something tasty.

First we tried just blending pineapple and coconut for a pina colada. We thought it was good, but Diana's - husband thought it was lacking and said he'd stick to the alcohol-enhanced version. We added in some strawberries and we were quite pleased with the result!

When I got home to our farm, I went through my bookcase and found a book called Salvatore Calabrese's Virgin Cocktails. I have been enjoying all the pictures of luscious fruit and funky looking drinks. There is even a tasty looking recipe for virgin eggnog- just in time for the holidays! The book includes drinks entitled Cantaloupe Caper, Coconut Grove, Forest Fizz, Island Surfer and Lean Machine (Which this pregnant stomach can't handle the thought of! It is a combo of carrot, spinach, celery and parsley.).

Since I have begun guzzling grapefruit juice (I've always liked it, but baby seems to enjoy it too!), I am fond of the Coconut Grove. Here it is if you'd like to try it!

Salvatore Calabrese's Coconut Grove

3oz pineapple juice

1 2/3 oz coconut cream

1 2/3 fresh pink grapefruit juice

garnish- segment of grapefruit and spiral of orange

Place ingredients in blender with a scoop of crushed ice. Blend for 10 seconds and pour into a tumbler. Garnish with a thin segment of grapefruit and a spiral of orange. Serve with a straw.

If you are looking for a gift for a pregnant friend, you can consider getting a book of non-alcoholic drinks and adding them to a basket with some ingredients and a couple of cocktail glasses. Some women may have trouble with fruits and veggies during the first trimester, but many (not all!) are able to handle them better by their 4th month. This is a great way to sneak healthy things into the diet!

Feel free to share any other inspired  ideas!

God bless and don't forget to pray for the Poor Souls today and to get out and VOTE!!!

A Very Important Reminder

I am leaving in the morning to visit my dear friend, "Diana of the Lake of Shining Water". After visiting with she and her family for a few days, Paul will meet me at their home and we will head down to Tennessee for an exciting couple of days with my family. I can't wait!!! It will be our first time home since our big move.

I won't be blogging until I get home, so I thought I would direct you to one of my previous post that I feel I personally needed to be reminded of once again (Oh my weakness! Lord help me to be a better wife, mother, friend and Your daughter.).

You can link to it HERE 

The whole mouse thing sounds much worse than it was now that I read that post again, but the marriage stuff is something that is a very important reminder to me, especially now that I have a two year old underfoot and I spend most of my day having toddler level conversations.

Hope you find it to be a helpful reminder too. Have a great week, friends!

Fostering & Other Fun Thoughts

Hubby and I both managed to wake up early this morning and we were able to enjoy the luxury of sitting in bed together each doing our morning prayers in peace and quiet. Bliss!

I'm attempting to pack up summer clothes, pack things that are taking up much needed room in our apartment and prepare for visiting our house in Tennessee for the weekend. Unforeseen circumstances are making packing impossible right now, so I decided to take advantage of this time to enjoy a steamy mug of coconut tea that Paul and I brought home from our last trip to the BAHAMAS and a coconut crunch donut. Have I ever mentioned that I'm obsessed with coconut??? I know it won't be long until its so cold here that I will be longing to be back on a white sandy beach, but for now I'm enjoying the fall weather and enjoying the memories of a warm, wonderful time spent with my dear husband.

This picture was on our Christmas card last year. We drove all over the island on our moped to find that banner!

Anyway, I thought I'd share a little bit about how Lil' Man came into our life. Since before Paul and I were married we had discussed adoption. After we lost our first baby and then struggled for the next two years with fertility issues, we realized that adoption might be our only option to start a family of our own.

We honestly hadn't thought a lot about foster care. We knew that we wanted a permanent family and we knew other families who had become foster parents in hopes of adoption only to have the children placed back in the home after they had been told that it would be almost impossible for the child to go back to their birth family. It was emotionally difficult to give back a child whom they had hoped would be part of their family forever. They were able to see the blessings and graces that came from their time with the child[ren], but it is still difficult.

We also knew a family who has blessed many children's lives by taking them into their home in a strictly temporary situation. But, Paul and I realized, that at least for now, that wasn't what God was calling us to do.

Paul and I knew that we couldn't start a family while we were still trucking, so our first step was for Paul to quit trucking. We hoped that not being on the road would be less stressful on our bodies and maybe God would allow us to get pregnant. Our new job situation was wonderful, but our salary would only be a quarter of what we were making before, so we knew that we wouldn't be able to meet the "USCIS Income Requirements" for the type of adoptions that we were looking into.

We had several people call us at different times to tell us that there had been a baby saved from abortion and the mother was now looking to choose a couple to adopt her baby. Both times this happened we prayed and discerned that those children were not "our" children. It was kind of strange since we were almost desperately wanting to adopt, but in those moments we just knew that God had a different plan for us.

We knew that in God's time he would provide the finances and would lead us to the child he was calling us to help. Our only real concern was that we knew we wanted a large family and we knew that most children in foster care and in orphanages have been sexually abused. We were concerned about the physical and emotional damage that had been done. Many children who have had such experiences abuse other children, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally. Very young children who have been abused act out things with themselves and with other children with out even realizing what they are doing. Trying to protect and keep all of the children safe and healthy can be very difficult despite even the best efforts of a parent.

There were just so many things to take in to consideration. Put we knew that God had put a desire on our heart so strongly that He had a reason and He would share it with us when we were ready. We just had to be open.

I can't go into a lot of specifics about our situation, but the basics story is that a week after Paul gave his two week notice we got a call that a mutual aquaintence was being deployed for an extended period of time and need a place for Lil' Man to stay during that time. There was no social work involved, etc. (there were some legal papers to be signed and taken care of, but it was very different than a "typical" foster care situation". It was God just saying, "The timing is right, if you are open to My Will you can recieve an incredible blessing that will change your life!"

Unlike previous calls we had recieve, Paul and I both knew that if it worked out it was totally God's Will and we were completely ready for this to happen. We found out a few days later that it probably wasn't going to happen and, though disappointed, took it in stride and knew God had a plan- looking at so many negative pregnancy test will helps you cope with those moments!!!

A few weeks later, on our wedding anniversary, Paul and I were out at lunch with friends when a recieved a call from a familiar number. I stepped outside to take the call in private and was told that Lil' Man would be coming to live with us for at least 6 months, if we were still open.

I walked back in, sat down at the table and began to cry when I told my husband that we were getting a baby! My heart was pounding so hard and it was honestly one of the most incredible feelings. We knew that it was only a temporary situation, but for as long as it lasted we would be able to love a child and bring him closer to God. It was the greatest wedding anniversary gift ever!

A week later we were able to meet our Lil' Man at a park and it was love at first sight. Days later he came home with us and our life has never been so blessed, so joyful, so crazy and so messy!!!! It's perfect.

About 1 month and 1 week after Lil' Man came into our home, God gave us our second miracle baby! Every night Lil' Man prays for "his new baby!" and asks to see him or her (while trying to pull up my shirt enough to look in my belly button!

Only God knows what is in store for this crazy little family of ours, but for now we are enjoying every second we have together. Please pray for us and for God's Will to be done in all of our lives.

Also, my apologies to those who are interested in how an "actual" foster care process takes places. I must say that I am grateful that I don't know, but I do wish I were able to answer your questions. If God is putting that desire on your heart, He will also put the resources in your hands. I am praying for everyone who is going through the process fostering and/or learning about it. It can be a blessing to both children and families.

A Fallen Warrior

Today was the funeral of a thirteen year old boy who was my student and whose family I've been close to for many years. Noxah was in a Little League game 15 months ago when he collapsed and was taken to the hospital. They discovered that he had leukemia. After battling these many months, Noxah went to God this past Saturday surrounded by his family, friends and priest.

Please pray for his family. He has young siblings and I can only imagine his parents grief. He was a dear, sweet boy and I am sure he is now interceding for us all.

If you would like to read more about this little warrior and see his picture you can go HERE

God bless those who He calls to suffer for His Name sake.

Eternal rest grant unto Noxah, O Lord! And let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and all the souls of the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen

Day One: It's a long way to Gitchi Gummi

We packed and left early Friday morning for our trip to the Porcupine Mountains on Lake Superior. I was losing my breakfast only minutes before we left our house, so I was worried about how the drive would go. I managed to survive the entire way thanks to prayers and a lot of Tums. We enjoyed a beautiful picnic lunch on a lake in Michigan on the way up and we were very surprised that it had warmed up to 81 degrees even that far North!

A fun post-lunch photo with Nee-Gaw-Nee-Gaw-Bow in Wakefield, MI!

It was a long drive with Lil' Man not napping as much as I would have liked. The girls that were riding with us were saints for patiently handing toys and snacks to him and having him shake them awake when they would try to nap!

When we arrived at the Porcupine Mountains we split up. Paul, Lil' Man and I took the less steep 3 mile trail to Mirror Lake where we were all staying for the next three days. The ranger informed us that we weren't allowed to take the stroller with us (later we found signs that said no motorized wheeled vehicles and I think the woman had misunderstood that it was just a stroller- oh well!), so we had to coax Lil' Man into walking as much as we could.  Not a fun task!

Like Linus from Peanuts, Lil' Man carried his blankie the entire time. After he tripped and scrapped an elbow and his arm, Paul had to carrying him for at least 2 and a half mile along with his 55+lbs pack. Lil' Man is not so little! He currently weighs somewhere over 35 lbs. and had all his weight on Paul's neck, so Paul got him to sit on top of the pack!

 

Lil' Man enjoyed his throne (for the most part!) and was fascinated by the chipmunks!

I wasn't really as prepared as I should have been. In my mind, three miles is nothing and I really didn't think I'd have any trouble, but with my pack and being pregnant I really had to be careful. Even relatively mild inclines left me drained and puffing, so I stopped a lot to make sure I was getting enough oxygen to the baby. When we got to a difficult area, my wonderful hubby insisted on carrying both of our packs! The man is a saint! He had to carry mine across his his chest. He is hard-core. :)

It was such a relief to arrive at our cabin. It was so cute and well off the main path (unlike the two other cabins on the lake). We couldn't believe how nice it was for a rustic cabin! There was a bunk bed, beautiful wooden table with benches and a chair, a wood stove with a supply of firewood, a hatchet, bow saw, buckets, and pots for cooking. We had packed in all those things (well, not the firewood) not knowing that their would be anything in the cabin. It even came with a canoe, paddles and plenty of life jackets- even a tiny one for Lil' Man! 

After unpacking, we paddled out onto the lake to find the rest of our group. We didn't know where they would be, so we just enjoyed paddling until we found several of the girls filtering water out of the lake for dinner.

I wonder how they got the name "Mirror Lake"????  : )

After catching up with the rest of the staff from camp, we paddled back to our cabin to pick up a few things. Paul ran up to the cabin while Lil' Man and I sat in the canoe waiting. Lil' Man had been sitting near the back with Paul and I was in the front. As I looked at the lake, Lil' Man and I chatted about the colors and the water. Before I knew what was happening, I felt the boat rock and turned just in time to see Lil' Man falling into two inches of mucky water that our canoe was sunk into. His feet were still in the canoe, but everything else was wet and covered in old leaves. It was sad and hysterical all at the same time. I took him back to the cabin to change him and find Paul. Paul took this video clip.

The highlight of the entire weekend, in my opinion, was when Paul, Lil' Man and I left the staff camp after dinner to head back to our cabin. There was a new moon on Friday night. It was an inky, pitch black and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Floating in the lake with out a single thing to take away from the celestial view made it the most breathtaking sight I have seen since Paul and I were working on Sequoia Lake in California. The Milky Way was indescribable. The entire night sky looked like the photographs you see in an astronomy book. 

It felt as though we were in the nursery rhyme about Winken, Blinken and Nod because not only were the stars dazzling above us, but it felt as though we were floating through them! The lake was mirroring the heavens! Every so often a huge fish would leap out of the lake startling the stillness and causing the stars to float about in chaos. We drifted in awe on the lake for so long that Lil' Man fell asleep (he swayed this way and that before plopping backwards!).

It is moments like those that make you feel the awesomeness of the power of God. I feel sorry for those who only see a breathtaking sight and have no one to thank for it.

Off to the mountains we go!

The camp staff (including Paul, Lil' Man and myself) are going on a retreat up north along the Boundary Waters at Porcupine Mountain State Park tomorrow. We will be hitting the road after breakfast at 6am, so we have been doing all of our packing this evening.

This will be our first back country camping experience with Lil' Man. We are blessed to be staying in a rustic cabin on the water, but it will be a several mile hike with gear (winter clothes, food, cooking supplies, sleeping bags, etc.) into the cabin, so we can't bring the pack-n-play and other things Lil' Man is used to having at bedtime.

I've never had to think about packing in and out disposable diapers. Paul's boss was saying that we'd need ziploc bags for the diapers to keep the scent from attracting bears and other critters. Lil' Man has never slept on the floor or in a bunk, so it will be interesting to see how bedtimes go and I've pretty much realized that naps just aren't going to happen!

We have taken him camping (with the pack-n-play and a car full of supplies) and he LOVES it! I am looking forward to an exciting weekend with unique challenges. Any suggestions?

The other special treat that hopefully won't last the weekend, is that my morning sickness had almost completely gone away for several days, but is slowly creeping back. Is that normal? I was great for several day, spent a few hours for the following three days feeling queasy at times and then threw up once yeasterday and a couple times today. Yuck. Its amazing how a few days with out can erase the memory of the yuckiness until it comes back and then all you can think is, "How did I manage to forget this so quickly?".  I'm praying that labor will turn into a far distant memory very quickly afterward.

Sooooooo, I was sitting on the couch feeling yucky and Paul was packing my bag for me and he calls out for me to try it on to make sure the weight is okay. I had a sudden flash of Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride toppling over backwards as her fiancee puts a large backpack on her. Hmmmm!

Luckily, I didn't topple!

So here I am sporting my pack and my mini-baby bump. All I have to add is my Tums and ziploc bags in case I get sick and need them to keep from feeding the fishies in Gitchi (Big) Gummi (Water)!

Paul, taking his pack for a test drive.

Lil' Man watching Paul packing. Lil' Man had just pulled off all his clothes and was running around the house doing a diaper streak!

Anyway, we'll be back in a few days. Hopefully with lots of beautiful pictures and wonderful memories. When we are back and I have some time, I will be blogging about fostering ;) and a few other fun things. Please pray for our adventures!

God bless, friends!

Eternal Song Family in the News

By the way friends, I never posted that an article was run in the Rhode Island Catholic about Paul and I this past summer. Someone mentioned that I should share the link in case anyone wanted to check out the article, so read all about it HERE .

Many thanks to Laura Kilgus from the RI Catholic for this beautiful article and for being such a wonderful and amazing person. I pray that people will find the article inspiring.

A little bit of trucking fun:

This is a picture of me making Christmas dinner (hamburgers with mushrooms) for Paul and I last year at a truck stop in Virginia. It was pouring rain outside, but we were warm, cozy and happy to be together inside. : )

It is so funny to think about how much our lives have changed since last May when we stopped trucking.

This year we will spend our first Christmas at home since we've been married. We will have a loving two year old with us to experience the joy and magic of Christ's birthday. And I will be over 5 months pregnant and waddling around like Mrs. Claus! God is so good!

Good night and God bless, friends!

My Papa

Paul and I are getting ready to head up into the mountains this weekend for a staff retreat. When we get home we will have two weeks before we head back down south to visit my family and our farm and I am just sooo excited!

I was skimming through some pictures from last autumn and I found this picture of my dearest papa taking a little cat nap! It made me homesick, so I just had to share it and ask for my readers to send up a quick prayer for my wonderful father who still doesn't fully know the love of God.

Half asleep, but smiling anyway!

I "splurged" the other day and bought the most adorable onesie that says, "I love my Grandpa!". I say that I splurged because I spent all of 5 cents on it. I love the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop! and I love my baby's grandpa!