To Nap Again....Someday

When my Anna was born, I swore that when she was born I also delivered my ability to take a nap.  It was gone—I would be exhausted but could not sleep because I could not settle my mind down.  Well, with my third pregancy, the ability to nap has returned.  But what I have noticed is that this is not a good thing because I typically wake up grumpier than before I took the nap.  ????  But, the fatigue makes it hard to resist getting a quick nap if I have the opportunity.

Today, I had the kids all day.  We had a laid back morning and met my husband for lunch.  When they went down for their nap (or “quiet time” in Cecilia’s case as I cannot remember the last time she napped regularly…), I laid down for just a little bit and woke up in a terrible mood.  I always feel bad for my kids when this happens and look for an opportunity to diffuse the situation.  Today:  trip to Trader Joe’s!

I love this store.  The strong love that I have for this store is driven by the fact that it is a short walk from my house.  It gives me the chance to load up the kids in a double stroller and take a walk, get some dinner, and get the kids free stickers.  It’s amazing what some sun, fresh air, and exercise can do for your mood.  Which is why I had the patience to color eggs with the girls after dinner. 

Coloring eggs is all that Cecilia has been able to talk about for WEEKS so I mustered up the courage to let go of my analness for a period of time and let them color it up.  It was not disappointing. 

Adding the final touches.  The stickers should make them extra fun to remove the shell.

I worried about doing it because the only person who will eat a hard boiled egg in this house is me.  No worries now because my brother will be utilizing them for an incredibly unhealthy but tasty treat for us on Easter.  My understanding is it involves deviled eggs and bacon made in cup form…

From A Square To A Circle

When we told people that we were pregnant with Anna, we received a lot of “you must be crazy!” looks.  I didn’t really understand why until I Anna reached the same age as Cecilia was when I got pregnant (they are 16.5 months apart).  So, on Christmas Eve, when that invisible line turned blue again, I was hesitant to tell many people.  Now that we are out of the first trimester and things are going well and I don’t feel like I will be sick FOREVER, the excitement has really set in.  Here is a pic* taken of our little peanut 6 weeks ago:

It always amazes me when I see that ultrasound the first time.  Since it is still early in the pregnancy, other than feeling terrible, there are not any other signs of pregnancy.  You are not showing, can’t feel the baby move, but you are always aware that there is this little baby growing inside of you.  And then, BAM!, there they are on the screen with their precious heart beating away.  I know this is baby #3 for us, but I still got tears in my eyes.  I don’t think that it is something that you become immune to.  I also breathed a sigh of relief that there was only one baby…. 

So here we go again!  Baby #3 is due to enter the world September 4^th and we couldn’t be happier to have another set of tiny feet running around our house and to have our family of 4 rounded out to a family of 5.  We are truly blessed!

*My husband says that our ultrasound pictures always look like a mysterious ship wreck, not a baby.  It is clearer on the screen, but my doctor was kind enough to label the different parts of the “ship” in hopes that we could at least make out part of the baby.  J 

Sometimes Even I Can't Keep My Mouth Shut

I don’t voice my opinion much about controversial things—it’s not that I DON’T have an opinion…..ahem….strong opinion about most issues—I’m just not a person who enjoys personal attacks about my opinions.  But, every once in a while, something comes up that even I can’t keep my mouth shut about.  Recently, there have been two.

1. Susan B. Komen no longer awarding grants to Planned Parenthood

So, what has me all fired up about this is how political people are treating it—the biggest offender being PP themselves.  I think that the emotionally charged people really need to look at why—I mean REALLY why—they made this decision.  This article is pretty good.  Hint:  it was not political and I’m guessing that PP is not the only organization to stop receiving grants from them.  Did you know that PP does not even offer mamograms?  If PP is really about helping women, they should have made a regretful statement regarding this severed relationship instead of trying to destroy Komen—an organization that has spent over $1.9 BILLion dollars in breast cancer treatment and research. 

2. HHS Mandate

This really bothers me because it is widely ignored by the media.  The issue here isn’t about whether sterilizations and contraceptives are right or not—it’s about religious liberty.  It’s no mystery that the Catholic church does not believe in sterilization, contraception, and various abortifacient drugs.  You don’t have to agree with it, like it, but you have to agree that it within the church’s right to not supplement it.  Jews don’t eat pork—would we force them to serve it because people have a right to pork?  These Catholic institutions are not saying that they will not employ those who chose to use birth control—they are saying that they cannot and will not supplement it. 

To give you an idea, as of today, almost 80% of the dioceses in the country have spoken out against the HHS mandate.  That's solidarity--you can't even find that during election time.

If the government feels that it is ok to take away religious liberty on this issue, where does it end?  Sign this petition.  It’s the right thing to do.

If you're interested in a good overview on the issue, on of my favorite Catholic bloggers wrote an open letter to Obama which covers a lot of the aspects. 

Here’s To the Next Generation of Girls

I’m not sure what it is about being female, but we are inherently caddy.  Maybe it’s because we grow up always comparing ourselves to others and, therefore, must find fault in others to feel better about ourselves.  But, something happened the other day that just shocked me. 

We were at one of our favorite play places when I noticed this group of preschool/kindergarten age girls.  Two girls stood out because they were obviously the queen bees.  It wasn’t long before another little girl was complaining to her mom, “they are being mean to me and won’t play with me.”  And I thought “what?  When did little girls get so mean?"  Long story short, it wasn’t long before this girl was “accepted” into their group and SHE was being mean to other little girls (who had enough sense to not care.) 

As often happens, this got me thinking about what I want for my girls.  I’m sure that I’m not different from most parents out there.  Here is just a sample of my long list:

1. Confidence.  In whom they are and what they can do.  I want them to understand that they may not be the best at everything but, at the same time, know that they can do anything that they put their minds to.
2. Respect for others.  This is something that I work on continuously with our girls.  When they play together or when we are at playgroup, they have to share, wait their turn, and be mindful of those around them.  I hope that, as they get older, they will (begrudgingly at times) understand that, even if they don’t like someone or they’re not “cool” that they still have to show them respect.  If they don’t understand, you better believe that, when I can, I will be there to remind them.
3. A family that they can count on.  When I was younger, even when my siblings and I fought and made fun of each other, we always knew that we still had each others’ backs.  You gonna mess with my little brothers?  Well, then you’re going to mess with us and we’re not girls that are afraid to hit boys!  I want my kids to count on each other and build each other up even when others are tearing them down.
4. Pride in what they do—to understand that their work is a direct reflection of what they put into it.
5. Entitlement does not exist.  You are not entitled to a grade, you earn it.  You are not entitled to certain clothes, you work to achieve them.  You are not entitled to a car, you work for it.  Etc, etc. 

Our girls are still young, so I’m not sure how we will achieve all of this or if we will.  You just kind of do the best as these things come up.  I won’t shelter them because that is just delaying the inevitable.  Do I want my girls to get picked on?  No way.  Will they?  For sure.  But they will know that they can always come home and get plenty of love from their mom and that I will be here to build them back up when others tear them down. 

But, wouldn’t it be awesome if, as moms, we were resolved to not be backbiters ourselves?  That our kids would see us as people that were respectful to all people regardless of who they are?  If we lead by example, will our kids take note?  Isn’t it worth trying to raise a generation of girls who build each other up instead of tearing each other down?  I, for one, am going to try.

Our Christmas Card

I don't do Christmas cards.  It's not that I am opposed to them--I just can't get myself organized enough to even buy/order the cards.  I can't imagine actually sitting down, addressing, and mailing them too!  But, this year, I did my part--I made a very amatuer christmas video, compiling pictures taken throughout 2011.  I should have themed it "together" because that was just what this year was--nothing fancy, just being together.  And it has been awesome. 

So, those of you who aren't sick of constantly seeing my family, enjoy!

Ready or Not...

Yes, it’s that time of year again.  The Christmas season has been fun this year because Cecilia is excited about everything Christmas.  Our Christmas tree is on ALL DAY long because she insists on looking at the lights, she makes me make detours in the store just to see the Christmas trees, and she enjoys playing with our Nativity scene.  And, Anna is fun to watch because she idolizes her sister which means that she get excited about anything that Cecilia does.  It also means that you can hear “The tree is for looking not for touching,” followed by, “Cecilia, do not touch,” followed by, “Cecilia stop…..I said stop!” throughout the day.  But, who can blame her—our tree is pretty:

Yep, that’s live.  We went Christmas tree "hunting" together this year….at the church down the street.  This tree is compliments of the St. Francis Knights of Columbus.

In order to start introducing the story of Christ into Christmas, I decided to do a Jesse tree this year.  It’s been moderately successful in that Cecilia really enjoys putting the different symbol ornaments on the tree and she understands that it is about Jesus.  For 2 years old, I can’t ask for more.  I’m just hoping it sticks and as she gets excited for it every year, she soaks up more. 

And, of course, there is the snow!  It’s snowed a few times already this year.  I’m not a huge fan of snow, but the girls get so excited that I can’t resist bundling them up and taking them outside.  I even try to overlook the fact that Cecilia just enjoys EATING the snow.  Here are my little snow bunnies enjoying the snow:

She still has a little tear below her eye from the faceplant that she did prior to the picture.

Cecilia getting a snack....

Time For a Brain Cleanse

I was travelling for work recently and was in need of a book.  So, I do what I typically do which is hit the airport bookstore in hopes of finding a mildly entertaining book that would require little effort to read.  I had it narrowed down between “The Help” and “One Day.”  I had heard good things about “The Help,” but worrying that it might be too deep for an airplane ride, I opted for “One Day.”  Also, I should mention that it had Anne Hathoway on the cover which later will be my husband’s only reason as to why I considered the book at all.

See, the Anne Hathoway thing is this—it’s not that I really, really like her.  It’s just that she makes a decent airplane movie.  I would never sit down an voluntarily watch her movies but there is just something about being 30,000 ft in the air with 8 hours to kill that makes her movies mildly entertaining to me and, yes, mindless.

 

I ended up reading maybe three whole chapters on my trip.  I opted to do work instead….it was that bad.  The story idea was a little cliché and the characters really annoyed me.  I actually felt bad for them and there was just something about the Emma character and her life that made me feel dirty.  Not in a moral way—in a physical-living-in-filth-and-not-taking-a-shower-way.  I don’t even know why.  But, here’s the thing that confuses my husband to this day:  I actually FINISHED the book.  It didn’t get any better and I’m pretty sure that I rolled my eyes through most of the book.  I’m not sure why I did but it may have something to do with the $15 that I spent on it and the thought that, since it was a “New York Times Bestseller”, it HAD to get better.  Wrong.

As I studied the cover later, I realized what should have been one of many clues that this wasn’t for me.  All of the rave reviews on the cover were from tabloid-type publications, including a great 5 stars from People Magazine.  I should really spend more time picking up these small details.  Well, it’s not a total loss—on my next trip through Detroit Metro, I will be turning it back in and getting half of my money back.  In the mean time, I have decided to do a brain cleanse and read some classical literature.  Nothing too heavy, just some Jane Austen.  I feel better already.