Milestones

This morning, given a choice of two shirts and two pairs of pants, Elijah picked out his own outfit.

He was very definite about the shirt, pointing to it right away.  It was probably the googly-eyes that did it.  He carried around both pairs of pants for a while, eventually holding these out at arms length away from the others.  It may not have been a clear signal of his wishes, but it was good enough for me. 

I am by no means a fashion expert or clothes horse, but I'm calling it a milestone, and I was proud of him.

Also, in big step news, we have set an end date for the use of pacifiers.  We have been severely restricting them to crib time only recently and we will make the jump to a pacifier free toddler on November 5.  I anticipate the first few days being very rocky, which is why I picked a Tuesday, it is Saturday for me and so I will be home at night the first two nights.  Pray for us.

Finally, today, Nathan and I are celebrating our seventh wedding anniversary.  The three of us are going to go out to dinner tonight.  I'm looking forward to it very much.  Nathan is also honoring the occasion by becoming as sick as he was on our wedding day.  If you were there, you may not have known, but Nathan had a  terrible cold/flu thing going on and we are getting a replay of that today.  Poor thing!

I wanted to have a video play with the last song we danced to at the wedding reception, but for some reason, I couldn't get it to embed here.  If you're curious, here  it is.

Sick Mama

My least favorite person showed up today.  I can't stand myself as a parent when I'm sick.  I get cranky and irritable and all my energy is gone.  Elijah is sick as well so we stayed home today and were annoyed with each other all day.

He got mad at me because I wouldn't let him out in the 50 degree weather while his little nose is running like a faucet.  And I have to say, I was less than pleased with the 20 minute nap he favored me with. 

I tried to be fun and engaging.  I built a crappy half-assed fort and sat on the floor with him reading books and playing with his puzzles.  But every time I had to stand up, my knees hurt a little more.  We ended up watching way, way more television than I am comfortable with Elijah seeing in one day. 

Unfortunately, when sick mama shows up, that's all I can make myself do.  Let's hope that bitch goes home soon.

Techno guru

Nathan has always been our technology guy.  When we run into problems with the computers (we each have one, our marriage works better that way,) he's always the one who comes in and fixes it.  He wires and enables my parents' system of surround sound, and TV, Roku box, and DVD player.

But a few weeks ago, we wandered into uncharted territory for him.  Since my laptop is just about to separate permanently into two sections,  decided I wanted a new portable computer, I wanted a tablet.  The initial conversation went something like this:

Me: I want an iPad.
Nathan: Why?  (Nathan doesn't like tablets.)
Me: They are easier to Skype on and the laptop is just about dead anyway.
Nathan: Okay, let's look for a non-Apple product. (Nathan really doesn't like Apple.)

We looked at an Amazon Kindle, and a Google Nexus, but eventually settled on the Microsoft Surface RT.

I love it because it comes with a baby version of Windows and Microsoft Office and can actually function like a small laptop but looks and acts like a tablet.
Nathan has used it on a preliminary basis and these days I'm the one answering his questions about how to do things.  I kind of love that too!

A Promise

On Eagle's Wings has always been one of my favorite hymns.  It was one of two songs I remembered moving from private to public school in second grade.  It makes me feel very blessed to be able to sing in Mass each weekend. 

Today it was our Communion hymn.  After receiving the Blessed Sacrament I stood sat in our pew towards the back of church holding Elijah and something about the words made me think of them as a promise.  The little toddler in my arms (who was amazingly well behaved at Mass today) has no idea yet what Our Lord and the Church has in store for him. 

And it struck me that the words of On Eagle's Wings are like instructions. 

"You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord, who abide in His shadow for life, say to the Lord 'my Refuge, my Rock in whom I trust...And He will raise you up on Eagle's Wings..." 

For the first time tonight, each verse sounded to me like the Lord renewing his promise that if we call on Him and trust in Him, then He will see us through.  As we sang, I looked at Elijah and kept thinking "It's a promise, it's a promise."

A Wednesday Saint

It's easy to believe that the progress of life and the contemporary belief that people should be allowed to do whatever they want makes it harder for us to lead saintly lives.  But, really men come to God in the same ways thoday that we always have--through prayer, thought, meditation, and learning.  This modern world of ours has created many people with the courage to lead saintly lives.

I've tried a couple times to begin a series highlighting modern saints.  I'm not sure quite what years to include in "modern" but I've already come up with a short list of saints and holy men and women to begin with.  If anyone can think of saints or holy people to include, please let me know.  I had a logo for this segment made up, but there were some problems with it, so give me a little time and I'll have that up here too.

So, here goes.  I've decided to start with my favorite saint.

St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe

January 8,1894-August 14,1941
Feast day--August 14

St. Maximilian was born in the Polish town of Zdunska Wola into a very devout family.  As a young boy he had a vision of Our Lady who presented him with two crowns, one red and one white.  She indicated the white crown symbolised purity and the other a martyr's death.  She asked the young saint which he would like.  He chose both. 

In 1907 he and his older brother Francis left for the Conventual Franciscan order in Lwow in modern Ukraine.  From there he was sent to Rome to study the faith and obtained doctorates in philosophy and theology.  Maximilian lived a life deeply devoted to the service of the Lord, Our Lady, and the Church.  While he was in Rome, he came across people protesting against the Church and the pope at the time, St. Pius X, and Benedict XV.  Out of compassion for these souls and with the help of other monks, he created an order known as  the Militia Immaculata, the Army of Mary.  The society works for the conversion of souls to the Church and greater devotion to Our Lady.

He founded a monestary at Niepokalanow in Poland, which become a large publishing house for religious newspapers and magazines.  There was also a radio channel, which St. Max used to broadcast his message to the world.  He also founded a monestary at Nagasaki, in Japan.  When the Nazis began their persecution of people who opposed them, and of Jews, the monestary at Niepokalanow sheltered the oppressed and published anti-Nazi materials.  For this, St. Max was taken captive by the Nazis and sent first to Pawiak prison and then transfered to Auschwitz.

A long-term tuburculosis patient, St. Max was in and out of the infirmary at Auschwitz while he was there.  He spent his time counseling people, having confessions in secret, and offering what comfort he could, even to the point of giving up his own food.

It was during one of his periods out of the infirmary when between one and three men escaped from his barrack and were not recovered.  In retaliation, the guards selected 10 people from his barrack to execute.  One of the men selected began saying "My wife, and my children, what will happen to them?"  St. Max heard this and walked to the officer making the selections.  He identified himself as a Polish priest and offered to die in place of the man with the family.  The official acqueised to the switch and St. Max was sent to the starvation bunker with the others selected.  He spent three weeks there leading people in prayers and songs.  He was the last survivor and eventually died by injection of carbolic acid. 

St. Max was canonized on October 10, 1982 by Bl. Pope John Paul II.  He is the patron saint against drug addictions, of drug addicts, families, imprisoned people, journalists, political prisoners, prisoners , pro-life movement, amateur radio. 

This is the Immacualta prayer, which St. Max composed.

O Immaculata, Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother, God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to you. I, (name), a repentant sinner, cast myself at your feet, humbly imploring you to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to yourself as your possession and property. Please make of me, of all my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death and eternity, whatever most pleases you.

If it pleases you, use all that I am and have without reserve, wholly to accomplish what was said of you: "She will crush your head," and "You alone have destroyed all heresies in the whole world." Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for introducing and increasing your glory to the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus help extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. For wherever you enter you obtain the grace of conversion and growth in holiness, since it is through your hands that all graces come to us from the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

V. Allow me to praise you, O Sacred Virgin

R. Give me strength against your enemies

Amen

 

Most information  comes from Wikipedia.

A Return

It looks like I needed to take a little break before I was ready to approach a new blog.  Things were all very much the same and also the same as what I had been reading on other Catholic "mommy blogs."  I got a little discouraged that I wasn't having original revelations about my faith or parenthood.

In the beginning it wasn't an intentional stop.  I just didn't have anything to say.  Then, I started thinking "Should I write about that?" and the answer I always came up with was "I'm not ready yet."  But now I feel ready.

Nothing much has changed. Things on our little patch of ground are pretty status quo right now, but that's okay.

So, before we jump in, here's a little update:

THIS GUY:

• 20 months old
• Cutting about 5 teeth at once
• Walking
• Eating with a spoon and making attempts at using a fork
• Says "Mama," "Dada," "Boppa" (Grandpa), "Poppa," "Bye-bye," "Yeah!," and any number of animal and machine sounds.  
• Much more interested in sounds than actual words.  If he hears a strange noise close by, he will try to mimic it. 
• Loves Thomas and VeggieTales also Baby Einstein, he is mesmerised by those puppets
•  Favorite foods--yogurt, almost any fruit, and eggs

He's something of a neighborhood celebrity.  He goes to daycare close by and the daycare lady, who I grew up with, has three boys.  Everytime we're all outside the boys all shout, "Hi, 'Lijah!."  We also have other neighbors and friends in the area who will stop and say "Hi, Elijah!" as we go for walks.

Nathan and I are mostly the same.  I'm working third shift now, which I don't enjoy as much as I used to because it means Elijah has to be at daycare two full days and one half day so I can get even a little sleep.  He seems to love daycare, lots of friends and things to do.

Remember this post from the old blog?  Well, it turns out all those times I said, "I'm going to England for my 30th birthday and only adopting a second child can stop that," God was laughing at me.  Nathan recently found out a good friend of his is getting married in China the month before my birthday next year.  And Nathan, of course wants to be there, and we can't afford both.  So, England will have to wait...maybe until 31.

Nathan has decided that for this big trip, he wants to lose some weight and I really could probably eat healthier, but to be perfectly honest, I have no idea how.  I eat all the fruits I can manage, I think and I really can't stand vegetables.  And my favorite foods are all things like pizza, cheesburgers, and bacon.  So if anyone has any advice, I'd love to hear it.

I've read quite a few books since I've been away, but few of them worth mentioning.  I'll try to update the booklist.  Also, I'm still refining the blog's appearance, so bear with me.

I think that's about it...nothing much else new going on around here.

I can't promise I'll be here every other day or I'll always have something ground breaking to say, and you'll probably see quite a few pictures of Elijah, but right now, that's really what life is about.

The Butterfly

If a one year old could have a favorite author, Elijah's would be Eric Carle.  He loves Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which are the only two Eric Carle books we have. 

When reading Caterpillar one night, we got to the end, read about the beautiful butterfly and our little blond boy started saying "Buh...buh...buh..." It was the first time he'd tried to say something without lots of prompting and repetition. 

He is so proud of his attempts to say the word "butterfly" that he wants to get right to it when we pick up that book.  He doesn't have the patience for all the pages and flips through fairly quickly.  So, Caterpillar has taken on a strange new form in our house.  It goes something like this:

"In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf.
He started to look for some food.
On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon. 
Now he wasn't hungry any more, and he wasn't a little caterpillar anymore.
He was a beautiful butterfly!" 

Followed by a very enthusiastic "buh, buh, buh!!"

I wish uploading video worked for me, it's much cuter to see!

The Great Dilemma

We've been really lucky so far to keep Elijah out of daycare.  Ever since I went back to work I've been on second shift and our dads who both work from home have been good enough to watch him for us.  It's been so nice knowing he's with family, well looked after, and loved.

It also created a pretty neat bond between him and the grandfathers.  Nathan's dad goes by "Pop Rice" with the grandkids and my dad is "Grandpa."  Elijah has tried to say those two words before most others.  He loves his grandmother's also, of course, but his grandfathers are his buddies.

We always knew we would not be able to impose on them forever, though.  And now my father-in-law is getting ready for planting season and my dad has his own things going on.  So it's time to start looking for daycare.  There are other reasons as well.  I try not to be, because everyone always says he'll do it when he wants, but I really am concerned about his not walking.  I'm hoping putting him with other kids closer to his age will encourage him to do what they are doing.

And I think he could use the socialization in general.  He needs to get to know other people than just Mama, Daddy, and his grandparents.

We are lucky that it won't be full time.  My 3-11 hours from Thursday to Monday mean he only has to be watched for about 3 hours 3 days a week.  Our parents, who actually do enjoy watching him, are going to alternate one day a week, so really, he only has to be in care two days a week.

Still, it bothers me to think of leaving him with someone who isn't family.  We don't know much about the world of day care.  What we do know is that we don't want him in a "center;" we'd rather he stayed with someone in a private residence who only watches a few other kids.  I thought about getting a babysitter or nanny to just come to our house, but then he wouldn't get the socialization.

Pray for us!

Order from Chaos

The blog isn't the only thing that's gotten a facelift in our lives lately.  For some reason I've felt a strong need to simplify just about everything.  I have never been much for housework and since we became parents my motto for house cleaning was "we can do it later, just play with Elijah."

That meant dishes were piling up, laundry wasn't getting done, and I don't even want to tell you how badly the floors needed sweeping.  Actually the dishes didn't usually make it a long time without getting done because my parents would do them when they came to watch Elijah on Thursdays.  While this was helpful, it made me feel like the world's worst wife and housekeeper.

Then, I came home to find they had not only done the dishes, but also swept the downstairs bathroom, which gets bad because it's also where the litter box is.  I knew it was time for a change.  That night I stood at the white board on our refrigerator and came up with a weekly chore list.  Each day of the week has one chore or one room to be cleaned, that way we only have to do one thing a day and everything gets cleaned every week.

Monday--dust and general pickup
Tuesday--bathrooms (sweep, clean fixtures, clean mirrors)
Wednesday--kitchen (dishes, countertops, sweep, take garbage out if necessary, clean out fridge monthly)
Thursday--sweep and vacuum (stairs and two main living areas)
Friday--laundry (either fold, or move it along in the machines)
Saturday--pay weekly bills, an work on Nathan's office

Okay, so Nathan's office is our one really really horribly messy room.  He doesn't care and I just do my best not to go in there (I say as I type this from his computer).  Also, Thursday usually means I sweep before work while Elijah is playing and Nathan is meant to vacuum after Elijah goes to bed, but he's been busy and sick so it hasn't been done.

And the laundry gets done throughout the week, Friday is just in case I get really behind.  So far, things have been going very well.  I also finally had enough of digging through the linen cabinet and not finding what I was looking for.  I bought two Sterillite bins and a little set of drawers and created a sense of order in there too.  I found a TON of toothbrushes and the pacifier thermometer I bought the first time Elijah got sick and lost as soon as I put it in the closet.

I also brought a new order to the kitchen so that all the food fits in the cabinets instead of crowding the counter and the book case I had my cookbooks in is now a shoe rack by the front door.

I'm quite proud of all my efforts.

 I love these cabinets above the stove.

To begin

This blog really isn't about holidays.

I've said this before, but we'll start with it.  That quote from St. Augustine is probably my favorite.  It reminds me, whenever I think of it, that the Resurrection of Christ was not a one time thing.  The Resurrection is for all time, for all people.  It is an ongoing event and condition about the world. 

It's like St. Augustine's version of St. Paul's "be in the world, not of the world."  This is something that I have been trying to do more and more lately.  I'm not entirely sure how successful I am from day to day, but I am working on keeping this thought as the central focus of my life in Christ and in the world.

For those of you who followed my other blog up to this point, you know my son is my first child and dearly loved.  But I'm finding different challenges in each new phase of parenting.  Mostly it's the whens and hows that confuse me. 

When, for example, will he start walking?--He's almost 15 months old and vocally opposes all our attempts to help him walk. 

How do I explain to him the vastness of God and His love?  It's almost an abstract concept in the way that it just is.  Because we always have it, how can you describe it to a young child?  I really don't remember what my parents said to me on the subject.

So these are the things I deal with day to day.

I work full time strange hours, I love my husband and son deeply, I do my best to keep a clean ordered house, I write as often as I can manage, and I try to live according to God's Will. 

It's been interesting so far.