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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Wiggling Baby #2



It is unreal watching him move.  This video is pretty good, but I wish I caught him earlier because it was even better!  I don't see how anyone could deny the humanity and personhood of the unborn.  I think it is pretty clear that he is not just part of my body.  Let me assure you, I have no control of his crazy wiggling =D  One of my favorite parts of being pregnant is being able to watch him move.  It is SO cool!!

Nesting

There are only 6 days left until our son's due date.  I am in a nesting mood today.  It is nice to have some energy back, now that my cold is nearly gone.  Here are some pictures of our preparations for the baby:

I deep cleaned the kitchen today!

Here is a dresser/changing table that was given to up by one of my student's parents.  
It is perfect! =)

Baby has more clothes than I do!

Here are some of Baby's clothes next to his daddy's.  So cute! 
I know he is going to love Andrew very much!

Our bed with a co-sleeper on the other side.

Here is a better view of the co-sleeper.


We are ready for you Baby- come on out!!!

Holy Housewifery ~ Chapter 5, 8, & 9

Be prepared for a long post here.  I just thought I would sum up the final three chapters of the book in one post.  I have begun a new book already that I am really excited to share, so I need to finish up my thoughts on this one. =D


Chapter 5 ~ Water on the Knee is Good for the Brain

  • "The Church says: 'Let the glorious beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and direct the work of our hands for us... O do thou direct the work of our hands.'"
  • Ora et labora- "Pray and work"
  • Work "is our prayer, penance, therapy, a release for the intellect." 
  • For the love of God
  • This is the day which the Lord has made.  Let us work and be glad in it.
Since I have been at home more recently, this chapter was good for me to recognize how I can find holiness and meaning in the chores I have around the house.  This chapter made me think of St. Teresa of Avila who said "the Lord is also to be found among the pots and pans," in the midst of our daily duties and not only in church.  I will write more about this later in regard to the new book I am reading.

Chapter 8 ~ Sophia Loren vs. The Boy Scouts

  • "We have become so inured to the plethora of the ABZ Manual Of Love type sex instruction books that our minds are dulled."
  • "I come to talk to you about being sexy, full of sex, your sex.  I come to equate sexiness with womanliness, a state of being which takes in more than creativity in the bedroom.  A sexy woman exudes her womanliness at all times, when she presses pants, cleans chickens, pots a hyacinth, reads Stuart Little, bakes a cherry pie, or nags."
  • "The definitions of womanliness are as varied as those who wish them.  I feel that it is exemplified best in the valiant woman of the Proverbs, she who sheathed a supple steel in her apron scabbard and 'looked well to the paths of her house.'  Whatever your idea of the womanly woman, when you see her, you know her."
  • "Sexiness and holiness aren't such incompatible bedfellows; as a matter of fact, they should work pretty good together in bed.  But a sexy housewife needs a new image; or rather, she just needs an image... The sexy woman stereotype is usually the 'other' woman who indulges in dressing cheap, acting cheap, wearing false eyelashes and bosoms, and dallying with other women's husbands.  You never see her as the demure wife, saintly, faded and slightly starched..."
  • "How you accomplish this sexiness is up to you.  You've got to try a bit of this, some of that, something borrowed, something blue, even a rinse by Miss Clairol if you honestly believe that blondes have more fun."
  • "For most of us, our womanly potential has hardly been scratched."
  • "My own theory, not original, is that the sexiest woman is she who covers up the most."
  • In regard to the ever changing trends and fashions: "We should make our own judgements and not run lemming-like into the (New Breed) sea of fashionable ugliness."
  • "Being a woman every inch, or curve, of the way won't hinder your being holy.  It may even get you there faster."   
Chapter 9 ~ Anyone Who Goes Gathering Nuts in May is Crazy
(I'm actually not sure what this title has to do with the content of the chapter...)

  • Be honest about yourself.  "Your honesty will touch all the vital organs of your marriage."
  • "If you can acknowledge that there are times when you and your beloved are moons apart in understanding, there is a quicker bounce back from depression."
  • "Even if marriages are made in heaven, they are lived on earth and subject to the stresses of this world."
  • "We must accept the advice and pronouncements of friends with good grace, for most of them mean well, and then go about our own decisions."
  • "No matter how good friends are, they can never understand the mysterious alliance that is being enacted by you him, and God, simply because they see with their very specialized and limited view, as we all do.  We do not know the sins and sacrifices that go on in the inner city of that couple's community."

Sunday, April 26, 2009

I'm Sick

Yes, it is true... with only one and a half weeks until our baby's due date, I find myself in a miserable state. It began as a slight sore throat, but has now turned into complete nasal congestion. I pray I don't go into labor until this passes because I have no clue how I could manage any "deep breathing" at this point. Please keep us in your prayers! Thank you in advance.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Morning Reflections from an Eager Mother

My husband is so wonderful!  The last two mornings, I have not been able to sleep in much.  I think this is due to the nearing end of my pregnancy and a slight cold that I have been fighting for the last few days.  So this morning, I was up before Andrew and puttering around the house.  My thoughts drifted to something Andrew did for me a few weeks back that I wanted to share with you:
On Holy Saturday, the day after my last day of teaching, Andrew had a surprise planned for me.  It was almost ruined by my mom (it's ok Mom!) when she asked me the day before if "we were still planning on going to Fiesta together."  My response to her questions was that of confusion, and then she quickly followed up saying "oh wait, that's on Monday."  Still confused, I didn't push the subject further, and went away from the conversation thinking we may be going out to dinner on Monday.  
During the day on Saturday, Andrew and I did a lot of work cleaning the house and getting ready for Baby.  Andrew suggested that we go on a walk in the afternoon.  We always say we should do things like that, but hardly ever follow through on such ambitious plans as a "walk." Yet on this day, Andrew was determined.  He even took a shower before our "walk" and told me I should do my hair.  I was a little confused because I don't normally do my hair when I am going to exercise.  But to please my husband, I made myself presentable for our walk.  When he got out of the shower, he was in a rush to get outside.  So we left, and walked down the street.  He asked, "Where should we go?"  I said "Wherever you want to take me" (Something I would likely say, and he was counting on me saying it).   So he casually and seemingly randomly took me a certain way, and before I knew it we took a quick turn into the Fiesta parking lot.  It was then that I saw our friend Becky sitting in the restaurant, followed by a quick recognition of Tom, Carrie, and my parents.  
It turns out, Andrew had been planning the whole dinner as a congratulation dinner for me in honor of finishing teaching.  There were tons of clues, I should have guessed something was coming.  But I was honestly surprised.  

I wanted to tell this story because I think it is important to recognize and remember all the good things people do for us.  When I was a teen and before I was of dating age, I remember longing to love someone, other than my parents.  This love I longed for was a kind of love that did not use the other person are do kind things with ulterior motives.  A love that I think is well displayed in a book I am reading now called Redeeming Love (Read it! Read it!).  With our world the way it is, I couldn't imagine anyone loving me for who I was and not for what I could "do" for them in return.  

In our marriage so far, and in our time dating, I have felt true love from Andrew.  I love when he plans things for me and is excited to see my surprised face.  It makes me feel so valued and special.  His gifts are so clearly from his heart, and I never have felt that he gave in order to receive something from me.  Naturally, I want to reciprocate his loving actions, but I know he does not require me to do so.

This leads me to my final thought as the birth of our baby is quickly approaching: 

Andrew and I are a family, and our familial love is present with or without children.  It is important for us to remember that this child is joining our family- not creating it.  In the eyes of the world, people may not see a married couple as a "family," but they are.  Children are a blessed addition to the family.  This is a sentiment our friends Mike and Kristine shared on their blog before the birth of their daughter last year.  I held on to this thought because I thought it was so true.  I love being a family with Andrew and I feel that we do strive to live out the love I longed for as a teenager.

That being said, we are very eager for our son to come out!  We can hardly wait for this "addition" to make his presence known to the world.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Katelyn's Baby Shower

Last weekend we went up to Bellingham for our friend Katelyn's baby shower. Katelyn and I have been friends since high school. She was also one of my bridesmaids in our wedding. She is such a dear friend and I was thrilled to find out many months ago that she was also pregnant. Her baby boy, named Oliver, is due at the end of May. I thought she looked big, but after looking at the pictures of us together, Baby St.Hilaire is definitely getting big and droopy. Here are some pictures of our two boys meeting for the first time:




Monday, April 13, 2009

Our Wiggling Baby

Happy Easter!


We hope you have all had a holy Lent and blessed Easter! We went to the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday night. It was very beautiful! I love watching people enter the Church. Yesterday we went to Edmonds to be with my mom's side of the family. We have an annual tradition of going to the Pancake Haus for Easter breakfast. I am not sure how long we have been doing it, but I do remember holding my cousin Megan there when she was a baby- she is now 14. So it has been quite a while! After breakfast we went and put flowers on my grandpa's grave. He passed away at the beginning of Lent. I was very happy to see that many graves were adorned with flowers. It was a good day to think about our beloved deceased and pray for their resurrection with Christ.

After we prayed for Grandpa, we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house in North Bend. We had quite a delicious feast! I really love being with my family. =)

I went to confession on Good Friday. The line was very long and my feet were beginning to hurt after about twenty minutes of standing there. I prayed "Lord, I need a Simon of Cyrene to help me now." I'm not sure exactly what I meant, but Our Lord sure did! Not long after I prayed that, one of my friends who was about fifteen people in front of me came over and insisted on trading places in line. I still stood for probably an hour, but it would have been longer if she had not been so generous!

Friday also marked the last day of teaching for me this year. I am not sure at this point if/when I will go back to teaching. It depends a lot on our little boy and his future siblings. Our main priority is for me to stay at home and raise our children, as long as we can afford to do so. I do need to go back in the fall to do my student teaching internship at a public school. I will have to do that for three months, but then I will truly be done with my teaching program and certified!

This morning I find myself grappling to establish some sort of routine. This is a weird transition for me because I have been so busy for the last two years! I am excited to put more effort and love into being a wife, mother, and homemaker.

God bless you all!