![Happy 4th Birthday, Jane Louise!]()
by Catherine | Feb 11, 2014 | Family
Dear Janie Boo,
You’re four years old! FOUR! Can you believe it?! Daddy and I can’t.
4 years ago, we were watching the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver from our hospital room with you
and now you’re a big preschooler!
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| Preschool Christmas sing-along |
Now, we get to watch the Olympics with you and your 2 little brothers!
I love so many things about you.
You are so friendly and outgoing, and you want to make friends wherever we go–the neighborhood park, grocery store, library, and most recently, with all of the subcontractors doing work on the house before we move.
You are very sensitive to other people’s feelings, and you are always the first to offer a hug, a tissue, or wipe away tears. A few months ago, Walt hurt himself, and he was very upset. You grabbed a tissue and dabbed his tears. “Here, buddy. It’s okay. Blow.”
You are quite the little mother to Baby Harry, too. You love to tell me what you think he needs–a bottle, a diaper, a toy, some snuggling, and you’re always the first volunteer to do it all. Sometimes, I wonder how your big heart fits into your tiny body!
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| Helping Harry eat some rice cereal |
You always want to know what’s happening and what we are doing next. Like your mama, you like knowing the plan, and you agree that the anticipation of an event is half the fun.
You love little surprises like picnics in the family room, donuts on Daddy’s post-call mornings, or unexpected visits to your favorite places. More than that, you like doing the surprising. When you hear Daddy come home, you get such a kick out of hiding and either waiting for him to find you or jumping out when you think he least expects it.
On the days when you take only a catnap, I love our new tradition of “quiet reading time.” You snuggle up right next to me on the couch, and we read our stories next to each other.
You and Monty are inseparable buddies these days, and I love how much you two love each other. On the days when you go to preschool or take your nap, your reunions afterward are so precious. I am so proud of you for teaching anxious Monty how to be a happy dog in our home.
If you could have it your way, our life would be a musical. Well, I suppose yours already is because you sing all day about anything and everything! You pluck away on the piano keys, making up your own songs. I hear you singing in the bathroom, while you’re getting dressed, when you greet Harry in the morning with a lullaby, or when you’re dancing around in one of your princess costumes or tutus. My girl, I love your ZEST for life.
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| Just a princess bouncing on a trampoline |
One of my favorite things about you is how easy it is for you to laugh–especially at yourself.
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| Laughing when I pointed out that you had put your pants on backwards. |
You have taught me to stop taking myself so seriously and refocus my priorities.
You are so innocently open to people and experiences, and it’s such a joy to watch you take in the world around you.
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| Fearless on your first day of preschool |
You’re so great at expressing how you are processing everything as it happens–what you’re hearing, thinking, smelling, feeling, touching, seeing. I imagine your preschool teacher will tell me and Daddy at conferences that she needs to redirect you back to the task at hand because you are so curious and focused on whatever has your attention. Don’t tell her, but I love your curiosity and intense focus on the task at hand.
One of my favorite parts of being your mama is watching your faith develop. I love how good you are about asking all of us to join you in prayer. If you stub your toe, you’re the first to say, “Let’s pray! Dear God, please help my toe to feel better. I love you. Amen.” Or, you’ll ask us to pray for you through tears. “Mommy, can you please pray for my toe?”
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| Advent 2011 |
One year ago on your birthday, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation from the papacy. Can you even imagine the Church without Pope Francis at the helm right now? I’ll think about that moment every year on your birthday. It taught me that we usually have absolutely no idea what God has in store for us, but we must have faith that they are “plans for good” (Jeremiah 29:11).
So, my dear, I want you to know that I don’t know exactly what God has in store for you, but I know that they are plans for good. You are such a precious blessing to our family, and I am so proud of the little lady you are becoming. I am so honored that God entrusted you to our family, Janie Boo. I pray that you will continue to learn to know, love, and serve Him, and I pray that our domestic church will continue to reveal His Love to you through every member of our family.
We love you so much, sweetie! Happy 4th Birthday! Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!
Love,
Mommy
![Small Success Thursday #6 (A day late!)]()
by Catherine | Feb 7, 2014 | Family
It’s been a whirlwind of a week, so I’m writing our “small successes” a day late. And, you know what? I’m going to call my small success #1 the fact that I don’t care that it’s late!
On to our other small successes for this week:
I’m gonna go ahead and call this the week of Harry successes because almost all of them are about him.
Even though I abandoned the baby books (for now), we remembered to capture Harry’s 5-month pictures in the laundry basket. By some miracle, I remembered to capture this pose and put all of the siblings’ pictures at 5 months side by side. Isn’t it incredible how much they look alike? (Left to right: Harry, Walt, and Jane)
My amazing brother and sister-in-law watched the kiddos for us overnight on Saturday. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves! We went to Mass, had a great dinner out at a delicious Italian restaurant (yay for coupon social sites!), and brought some dessert home. I think we fell asleep by 10:30, but that’s late for us, so, yay!
Apparently we have another big Thomas fan in the family. When Jane put this Thomas engine in Harry’s lap while I was cleaning up from lunch, he sat up! I’m sad to say that means we’re done with the bouncer, but Harry is happy as can be hanging out in his exersaucer instead.
Harry tried rice cereal for the first time, and he couldn’t get enough of it! Jane thought it was so funny, so she asked to help feed him. After each bite, he kept leaning forward for more, and he resisted letting go of the spoon. Let’s pray that means we’ll have another good eater in the family!
Using pipe cleaners and pony beads is helping to keep the kiddos engaged during family prayer time.
To help introduce the kids to Sacred Scripture, I introduced a “Memory Verse of the Week” on Monday. I’m using this Totally Tots site with a Bible verse for each letter of the Alphabet. The Bible verse for “A” is Psalm 17:8 “Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wing.”
I put the verses up on the fridge where we will see them often. The kids and I say the verse whenever we think of it. We did a simple apple craft to help cement the verse in our memory. I am putting the verses and the accompanying crafts into a binder with page protectors for each kid. I am adding in activities we do for that letter as well. The kids love them, and they are so excited to have their work put together in a binder.
My new blog site is coming along nicely, and I’m planning to launch it by the middle of next week. Philip has done such a great job helping me put it all together. The new site will make it easier for people to share posts, write comments, and subscribe. Stay tuned!
Oh, and this cuteness happened:
That’s a success, right? I know, my definition of “success” is so broad, and these posts are truly just weeks in review, but it’s my blog, and I’ll blog how I want to!
I’ve been blogging long enough that I have a post to re-share with some activities we did to help us get into the Olympic spirit. Here’s a link with some things we did during the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Your turn! What are your small successes from this week? Come on over to CatholicMom to share and join in the fun. If you’re using social media, use the hashtag #SmallSuccess. Have a great weekend!
![Small Success Thursday #5]()
by Catherine | Jan 30, 2014 | Family
Here are a few of our small successes from this week:
We’ve had a bunch of delicious meals this week. I shared the recipes here.
We made it to Mass EARLY!
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| Quick pic with Harry and Jane before Mass |
These two are the best of friends and get along great. Here’s Jane doodling in her tutu, tiara, and jewelry galore, and Walt’s looking through a Thomas yearbook. I love how he sits.
I’m learning to “get ‘r done” and not let “the perfect get in the way of the good.” I decided our deep freeze needed some organization so that we would actually access all of the food. I am using some old cardboard boxes that I labeled to separate our frozen packages of chicken breasts, ground beef, chicken thighs, soups, etc. It might not be pretty, but it gets the job done.
I’m making it a daily priority to get down on the ground and PLAY! The kids love our imaginary playtime together, and I do, too.
Despite having a household full of sick kiddos for a good portion of the week, everyone remained in good spirits–including me. Poor Harry had the worst of it. Here’s his sad sick face. You know it’s bad if Happy Harry is sad! The Nosefrida (The Snotsucker Nasal Aspirator) saved the day!
I’ve been able to have some regular prayer time in the afternoons while the kids nap. I fear Jane might be outgrowing her nap (NOOOOOOOO!), so afternoon naptime might turn into girl time & quiet reading together.
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| Working on Bible Timeline |
Harry rolled over from his back to his tummy! I was able to snap this picture seconds after it happened.
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| “Now what do I do, Mom?” |
I’m getting stuff packed up and moved out to our storage center. We decided to make it a color-coded move to make unloading easier when we get to our house. Black is for storage!
Philip and I went to our first appointment with a Catholic clinical psychologist. I didn’t know what to expect, but, wow! Everyone should go! I learned some really helpful strategies to manage my anger and uncover what’s going on between my ears. We also learned helpful insights into our communication styles and how to help one another.
Also, I’m pleased to report that my symptoms from postpartum depression are nearly gone! I’ve been off of the progesterone shots & pills for nearly two weeks, and I’ve been getting along well without them. Hopefully, my body will keep doing its thing and start producing the appropriate levels of hormones to keep things in balance. In the meantime, we are all so grateful for this time of healing. I owe a lot of it to our little saint. I’m so thankful for all of your prayers and sup
port, too! Thank you!
* * *
Your turn! What are your small successes from this week? Come on over to CatholicMom to share and join in the fun! If you’re using social media, use the hashtag #SmallSuccess.
!["My sister and my favorite saint"]()
by Catherine | Jan 24, 2014 | Faith, Family
The kids and I were watching EWTN’s footage of the March for Life on Wednesday.
I think about Thérèse often, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since watching the March for Life. All of the images of the unborn are painful reminders of the precious baby I never got to meet.
When we were watching the March, a young woman passed by the screen holding this image:
Jane said, “Mommy, what happened to that baby? Why is it bleeding?”
I explained that the light going through the baby’s arm made it look red, but that the baby was not bleeding. I showed her how a flashlight made the same thing happen to my fingers. I said that the picture was of a beautiful baby growing inside of her mommy’s tummy.
Jane thought about it for a few seconds. She put her little hand on my hand and said, “Mommy, you have two daughters. Thérèse is in heaven. She is my sister and my favorite saint!”
Woah, Holy Spirit! Thank You for teaching me through my children. I blinked through some tears, and I hugged Jane as best I could because I was feeding Harry. I said, “You’re right! We love Baby Thérèse in heaven, and she’s always praying for us. She loves you very much, too.”
Since that moment, I’ve been thinking almost nonstop about our little saint in heaven. I’ve realized that my postpartum depression started on the anniversary of my miscarriage. I’m still grieving the loss of our little baby. I desperately love our sweet little Harry, and I’ve received so much healing through his precious life, but he will never replace Thérèse.
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| My dear mother-in-law “gets it” and gave me this necklace for Christmas. All of our children’s initials are on it–including Thérèse. |
I wrote in a previous post that I was nervous about stopping my progesterone therapy for the postpartum depression. Since I stopped my shots and oral progesterone last week, I’ve had some good days and some bad days.
Since the March for Life on Wednesday, I’ve been asking our little saint, Therese, to intercede on behalf of our family. I kicked myself for not thinking to pray to her to help heal me from my postpartum depression. It brings me so much peace to know that our baby in heaven can help bring healing to our family on earth. It’s amazing to think that the baby I never got to hold can help me to be a better mother to the babies I am holding today.
St. Thérèse pray for us! I hope we’re making you proud!
![“My sister and my favorite saint”]()
by Catherine | Jan 24, 2014 | Faith, Family
The kids and I were watching EWTN’s footage of the March for Life on Wednesday.
I think about Thérèse often, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since watching the March for Life. All of the images of the unborn are painful reminders of the precious baby I never got to meet.
When we were watching the March, a young woman passed by the screen holding this image:
Jane said, “Mommy, what happened to that baby? Why is it bleeding?”
I explained that the light going through the baby’s arm made it look red, but that the baby was not bleeding. I showed her how a flashlight made the same thing happen to my fingers. I said that the picture was of a beautiful baby growing inside of her mommy’s tummy.
Jane thought about it for a few seconds. She put her little hand on my hand and said, “Mommy, you have two daughters. Thérèse is in heaven. She is my sister and my favorite saint!”
Woah, Holy Spirit! Thank You for teaching me through my children. I blinked through some tears, and I hugged Jane as best I could because I was feeding Harry. I said, “You’re right! We love Baby Thérèse in heaven, and she’s always praying for us. She loves you very much, too.”
Since that moment, I’ve been thinking almost nonstop about our little saint in heaven. I’ve realized that my postpartum depression started on the anniversary of my miscarriage. I’m still grieving the loss of our little baby. I desperately love our sweet little Harry, and I’ve received so much healing through his precious life, but he will never replace Thérèse.
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| My dear mother-in-law “gets it” and gave me this necklace for Christmas. All of our children’s initials are on it–including Thérèse. |
I wrote in a previous post that I was nervous about stopping my progesterone therapy for the postpartum depression. Since I stopped my shots and oral progesterone last week, I’ve had some good days and some bad days.
Since the March for Life on Wednesday, I’ve been asking our little saint, Therese, to intercede on behalf of our family. I kicked myself for not thinking to pray to her to help heal me from my postpartum depression. It brings me so much peace to know that our baby in heaven can help bring healing to our family on earth. It’s amazing to think that the baby I never got to hold can help me to be a better mother to the babies I am holding today.
St. Thérèse pray for us! I hope we’re making you proud!
![Small Success Thursday #4]()
by Catherine | Jan 23, 2014 | Family, Marriage, The Homefront
Here are a few of our small successes from this week. Per usual, it reads more like a week in review, but I consider another week a success! Besides, it’s my blog, and I’ll do it how I want! 🙂
Here we go:
I’m getting down on the ground and having more fun with the kids these days. Here’s a “shed castle” that Walt and I built together. He’s finally developing his own interests separate than Jane’s, and he’s constantly asking me, “Come and build a tower, Mommy!” or, “Come play cars with me, Mommy!”
There’s a lot more laughing around here, too. Jane decided she’d accessorize her Rody. She looks good, huh?
I’m getting better about letting the little things go. Jane found every single hair accessory she owns and threw them throughout the front living room. The floor was covered several minutes after I snapped this picture. When I asked her what she was doing, she informed me that she was “practicing to be a flower fairy.” She seems to think that she’s going to be a flower girl (aka “flower fairy”) someday, and she has big dreams of my little brother getting married in the near future. I let the hair accessories hang out on the floor, and I resisted the temptation to pick them up. I waited until after a morning play date, and I let Jane pick them up all by herself. This is “small” successes, right?
I’m enlisting the kids to help get the house spic and span. Walt loves dusting!
Philip and I went out to dinner at a great Spanish restaurant called España. (Hooray for LivingSocial!) Sipping on some sangria and eating the delicious tapas brought me back to my semester abroad in Salamanca. Those spaniards know how to live! Here are a few pics from our yummy date.
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| Either Philip has a knack for catching me at my most glamorous moments, or I didn’t want to stop eating the delicious food for a picture. |
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| Our drinks. Raspberry-infused mojito for me, red red wine for Philip |
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| Ceviche |
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| Croquetas |
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| Ohhhhhhhh, the mussels! |
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| Nom nom nom |
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| ¡PAELLA! |
The family rosary is such a part of our routine that Jane and Walt asked their babysitters to pray it with them when Philip and I went out. Yay for sweet Catholic high school girls that prayed with our children!
Adventures in home improvement continue before we list the house in a few weeks! We went to a carpet/flooring store last Saturday. I consider it a success that nobody had a meltdown, and we were able to get exactly what we were looking for at a great price.
Our parish had a fun Trivia Nite. Our team theme was “Words With Friends,” and we spelled out “GENIUSES.” We had a great time, and you wouldn’t believe how great all of the other teams’ themes and costumes were! Wow! We really need to step it up for next time. It was a fun night with friends.
I finished our “Circle Time” board. Here’s a post explaining how I made it and how we use it.
We had our monthly dinner with my side of the family on Sunday. At one point in the evening, we realized ALL 6 of us were in the same room without any of the in-laws and just a few of the babies. My brother said, “Woah! Look! It’s just us! When was the last time that happened?!” My parents and Philip came in to snap a few pics. It was fun to hang out with the original 6–even if it was just for a few minutes.
Harry is adored by his big sibs. Really, they can’t get enough of the guy. They’re incredibly gentle and sweet with him. Who knew the best part of their morning would be putting Minnie Mouse on Harry’s head and laughing hysterically?
He’s the happiest baby ever.
Your turn! What are your small successes from this week? Come on over to CatholicMom to join in the fun! If you’re using social media, be sure to use the hashtag #SmallSuccess.
