Miracles

After watching videos, especially like this one, and many more videos on the Operation Smile 

site, I've come to realize something.

I've been praying for a miracle.

For God to heal my baby.

I've been praying novenas, and rosaries and special mother's prayers.

Those are probably the things that have given me the grace to see what I've realized.

All these people in all the other countries, where many poor children have

cleft lips and palates, and wait in line with a ton of other children for a surgery that will change their lives.

A surgery that is described as "a miracle" by all who are able to receive it.

A surgery that is automatic here, in the United States.  

A surgery that my baby will have at only 3 months.

My baby won't have to wait years and  be mocked and shamed from school.

My baby won't have to wait all day with 100's of other children, 

only to find out that there's no more time or money for his/her surgery.

My baby will have his/her's mother's milk, pumped and given to him/her in special bottles, 

waiting there at the hospital for us to use.

Our baby won't die because there is no way for us to feed him/her

like so many cleft lip/palate babies in other countries.

We've already got our miracle.

We will witness our miracle with every surgery our baby is blessed enough to have.

We are part of God's miracle.

I cannot even contain all the excitement I feel 

that God would allow us to be a part of something so big.

Today

We had another ultrasound today.  

The baby is healthy and constantly moving, actually he/she got the hiccups...

You know that was an "awwwww" moment!

They were able to tell a little more this time. 

Our baby has a bilateral cleft lip and palate

We won't know how much of the palate is effected until birth.

I am happy to know ahead of time,

 I will not be nursing.

I can prepare myself (and get all my tears out now)
Like, I can barely talk to anyone today without tears streaming down my face.

We do have a cleft lip and palate cranial center here in our town, 

and I've heard wonderful things about one of the surgeons that is a 

wonderful Christian man, who goes to Guatemala often and does surgeries on children 

and is really good.

Just the fact that he volunteers his time and talent to do this tells me so much about him.

Our baby will have surgery around 3 months and then again around a year, 

and I'm unclear as to when the next surgery will be after that, 

yesterday, when talking with the cleft/palate nurse practitioner, 

she mentioned that there would need to be a surgery between 5 and 7 years for 

the adult teeth and something about using the child's hip bone and putting it in his/her mouth....

That was where I got information overload and well...

I just need to process this all first, then worry about the hip/mouth thing later!

The fluid around the kidney's was the same,

 which was great, because now that the baby is 

bigger, it is no longer a concern.

(although, they will check it again in 8 weeks with another level 2 ultrasound)

Just wanted to give you all an update.

Thank you for all your prayers, they are much appreciated.

Feast of the Archangels!

I have another ultrasound today to check the fluid around the baby's kidney's, on this 

beautiful feast day, the feast of the Archangels.

I am praying this novena for the baby
(and the St Therese Novena)

St's Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, pray for us.

We will have to make a devils food cake and pierce it with our sword toothpicks!

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

"180" Movie

My thoughts after watching this are Pray, pray, pray. If you do anything today, please watch this. This is so worth your time. I promise.

Book Club Tonight!

 This is the book we chose to read this time

So far, I, personally think, it's one of the most boring books I've ever read.

Christine is in book club...what do you think Christine?

I'm hoping it gets better.

I'm excited to hear what the other ladies think and what they got out of the first part of the book.

We'll be discussing it tonite at our home....

I'm sure the book will get better especially with everyone else's opinions and takes on the book.

 Picture this basement room with only the furniture, nothing on the walls, and the floor covered with blankets, 

bean bags, slippers and sweaters here and there, oh, and balls and doll clothes.

That would be the "before" 

I still need to bring in folding chairs and move back the air hockey table...
(click on the picture, you can see it a little better...above the tv, which gets no tv and is only used for video games, is a crucifix and a clock)

 I cleaned all yesterday afternoon.

This room is used for video game playing on the weekends, the kiddos are allowed 

1 hour each weekend day.  Daddy likes to play too, so once in a while, they get extra time with him.
Mommy has never played.
(and never will)
OK, I tried a racing game once and could not stay on the tracks.
Forget that.

I only spent $5 (on the candle) to make this room a little homier

I added flowers from around the yard and pictures I had not hung up yet

and a wreath a friend gave me for my birthday...

vacuumed the scraps of paper all over and dusted!
The girls wanted to know why we didn't do this sooner!

I hope it's homey enough for all the ladies...

Dreaming....

 Of thinner days....

Can anyone guess where this picture was taken?

There might be a prize...maybe a toy shark or something...

Sorry for the pictures of pictures...found these 2 last night and have been thinking,

no, dreaming, no, wondering...if I'll ever be thin again.

Do I Dare?

Do I even dare re-plant this plant I got for my birthday?  

I'm not good with houseplants

See the yellow leaf?

It's already dying

If I re-plant it, it might live maybe a month...is it even worth it?

Thankful Thursday (on Friday)

Thankful for St Therese paper dolls from a friend, whose daughter already cut out!

The girls played these all weekend!

 Thankful it's actually Friday!

After not so a great week at school....let's just say the older kiddos just aren't liking 

the more work thing, that the 2nd month of school brings.

We had to lay some ground rules and make a schedule.

I'm not that great at schedules...especially when I have to get up earlier.

 Thankful for girlies who love to play in the dirt...

 Thankful always thankful for cuteness...

 Thankful for fall Sedum growing....

 Thankful for babies who love babies and hugging and snuggling, 

I still rock this baby to sleep for her naps.

OK, she's not really a baby, she's 2 now...but, but, she's such a baby to all of us still! 

I can't resist, she loves it and she goes to sleep usually within 

5-10 minutes.  

She'll probably only be napping for another year or so....soaking all that love in while I can!

 Thankful for my favorite kitchen tool....the hamburger masher!!

My husband likes his hamburger mashed into smaller pieces,

 I grew up with bigger chunks of meat I guess and learned to do it that way.

I really like using this tool and he likes it too!

 Thankful I finally got a new can opener!!

After making chili a couple weeks ago, and opening all those cans of beans, 

I realized it probably was my opener that was bad, not opening the cans very good at all!

It's actually been like that for years.  Terrible, I know!

I looked in the store and new ones are only like $6.99!!

Now, my cans open very nicely.

Why didn't I do that sooner?

 Thankful my kiddos love these very healthy very quick and easy ramen noodle soup cup thingy's

Makes for a very quick lunch!

 Thankful....OK for more cuteness...

 Thankful for dried up hydrangeas that still look beautiful on the table...

 and 2 little blooms I found the other day and put in my window, a little bit of summer leftover...

 OK Thankful for a little more cuteness...

 Thankful for big brothers who love their baby sisters and 

baby sisters who love their big brothers!

 Thankful I got tired of no bangs and at a weak moment cut some!!

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!

Thankful they didn't turn out too bad!

 Thankful for this clay pot from Jedi's friend, John, what a sweetie to give this to me!!

 Thankful for our fall trees and for fall weather to enjoy...

 And since it's fall, Thankful my husband let me order some much needed HUGE maternity clothes online.

They came in yesterday.

I think I ordered a size too big, but it's hard to tell how big I'll be in December!!

 Thankful after taking the kiddos to Tae Kwon Do and getting out of the van,

 and stepping right on a scooter, 

(that was not put away)

(I admit it, my kids don't put their outside things away!!!  Their idea of putting it away is somewhere in the garage...hence the scooter right outside my van door)

I didn't break my leg!!!!

I actually cut my big toe (I have a really big big toe, I know)

on the bottom, really, really bad, there was blood everywhere, literally.

All that kept going through my head 

(besides the kiddos MUST clean this garage up this weekend)

was Thank God I didn't break my leg again. 

(I know, I shouldn't be wearing flip flops, but if I hadn't been, I figure I might have actually re-broken my leg)

Because the toe was open, it caught the scooter and ripped.

 Thankful Jedi is going to his first homeschool youth group meeting tonite!

They are going to make rosaries for the missions and have a huge bonfire and play outside games in the dark!

I made these bars found in my newest Taste of Home magazine

Make them like Rice Krispie treats,

 but use these ingredients

 and add 3 TBSP peanut butter to the marshmallows while melting them!

Perfect for fall...

 You thought I was kidding about all those appointments?

Here they are!!

(it's actually on 2 pages)

I have 32 to be exact starting Oct 3rd.

It actually doesn't get too bad til the week of Thanksgiving, then I will be there for 

3-4 appts/week, they combined some of them on the same days.

Thankful for these appointments, it is to monitor the baby and me and that is so important!!

It is so worth it.

 Thankful for perfect bananas!!!

with the cooler weather, the bananas are lasting a day or two longer!

Our local grocery store has them lined up right by the registers, so they are so tempting and 

I really love that they do that!

It's so much better than something else they could put there!

 Thankful for remnants of summer....

And Thankful for fall all around!

Thankful Thursdays

A time to remember to be thankful

A pause in the week for praise,

thanksgiving and thinking positively

in addition to the normal daily praise

we need to give God.

St Padre Pio, pray for us

Rosario, a longtime reader, has a Tupperware give away, visit her today!

God bless you, have a great weekend!!

We have church pictures tomorrow....trying to coordinate 7 people to look semi match.

I don't like to do the typical all jean people or all white shirt people...

so the 2 youngest are in rainbow shirt dress thingy's and the 2 oldest girls will be in purple 

and the rest will be in black.

We'll see how that goes!!!

Thankful this long post is over.

Pregnancy

I'm fat
I've gained way too much weight already (like 28 lbs and have a little over 3 months left)
My back hurts
I can't sleep
I have absolutely no energy, even to walk across the room, seems too much.
The stairs are breathtaking now.  (as in, they make me breathless to climb them)
My lap is disappearing
I have no winter prego clothes that fit me, last time I was pregnant in the winter, I was 60 lbs less
No nesting happening here, I'm too tired
I leak
Anyone else ever leak when pregnant?
Not just when I laugh, it just happens, I leak when I'm pregnant.
I gotta wear those little liners every day
I'm getting too big for, um, let's call it "nighttime romance"
I have around 30 appointments scheduled for the next 3 months and that's just for me,
that doesn't count dentist, eye doctor and doctor appts for the kiddos that I need to make
I'm tired of having low blood sugar all the time
I'm tired of the 8-10 testings I need to do every day and 5+ shots and adjusting my rising insulin every week
I'm trying so very hard to not worry about the future surgeries this baby is going to need
I'm trying to not worry about whether I will be able to nurse or not, no matter what, this baby will get mama's milk
Funny how this 9 months is the longest, hardest of all, yet, the first 9 months of that baby's life, will fly by!
Baby
Baby
Keep your eyes on the prize
It's that baby that keeps me going,
it's that baby that makes it all worth it.
It's that baby that makes us all forget all the pains of pregnancy.
This sweet, little, innocent soul, and his/her angel are with me all the time
and that makes me happy.
so very happy.
With every kick and pain, I'm reminded of something bigger than me
So very blessed and honored to accept God's glorious gift
So blessed indeed
So very blessed.

The good far outweighs the bad!!!  
The good is what keeps us going, isn't it?
I'm doing great everyone, really, I am!

Photo Contest

I decided to enter another photo contest!

These are so fun!

Photo contest hosted by Johanna Grace 

called

Sky, meet Earth

I actually took this picture last fall, 

The kiddos picked this picture of my many pictures,

 because that is our van in the background.

I couldn't decide which picture to enter

 and they had such a simple way of deciding,

I had to go with it!

Reflections...

Marble Painting!

 Well, Colette waited so patiently all week and did finally get to marble paint on Friday!!

She picked the colors....I knew she'd pick yellow with something, oh, what a surprise!

Yellow and pink.

(her favorite colors, in that order)

 First, dip the marbles in paint, as many as you want, we used like 5 I think...

 Then, place your paper inside a box, and drop the marbles in with a tweezers, and roll them around!

If you are nice big sister, you will then, show you little sister how it's done!!

And your beautiful artwork will brighten the house!

Thankful Thursday

 OK, I just looked at the clock and it's officially Friday...

but It's still Thursday in some parts of the country!

Thankful for magnets!!

I've been saving magnets since I was in high school--some of these are from my high school locker.

(it's not a collection, I just haven't thrown them away)

I have them in a box and take them out once in a while for the kiddos to play with, 

They do it for hours!

I have also been known to bring the box to the doctor's office and the kiddos

play magnets on that high seat/bed thingy that's always in the middle of the room, 

the doctor and nurses always get a kick out of that!

Hey, it keeps them busy!

 Look at Jedi and Ballerina Rosie at age 4 and 2!!  Awwwwwwww!

 Look at Jedi as a sweet little baby...

 Thankful Homeschool soccer has begun, and our Saturdays are full!

The girls love it!

Thankful that the above girl actually lived without having her leg guards and the right size cleats.

(we didn't know everything was too small til right before we left)

 9 &10 year olds

 7&8 year olds

 Thankful for boys who finish their jobs and school work every day in a 

very timely manner.

(this is an oldest child thing, right?)

 Thankful for babes who climb on everything, she has no fear...she climbs 

into the high chair in hopes I will feed her, she is a grazer and would love snack all the time.

 Sorry baby, no snack coming.

Look how positive and sure she is though that it is coming!

 Thankful for Barbara's granola recipe, although, mine got a little too brown,

the kiddos loved it.  

Thankful it wasn't burned.

 Thankful for this sweet little girl, oh, the joy you bring to everyone little one!

Why is she smiling?

 Money, money, money!!

Thankful our money counting every day occupies her all during math!

 Thankful you are still reading this post and letting me post some more cuteness.

 Thankful for newly painted toesies and jeans to wear in cooler weather...

for the babe, not me, that's another story....

 Thankful for good friends who sent us this Our Lady of Lourdes Mass card for our baby!

I just filled up with tears when I opened this up, what a lovely, perfect surprise!!

This good friend is actually Clay Rosary Girl's mama!!

I met her at a retreat about 17 years ago and we hit it off immediately and have been 

sisters in Christ ever since!

She sent me this beautiful prayer for our baby:

Heaven's Very Special Child

A meeting was held quite far from earth, 

It's time again for another birth.

Said the angels to the Lord above,

This child will need much love

His health may seem more slow,

Accomplishments he may not show.

And he'll require extra care.

From the folks he meets down there.

So let's be careful where he's sent.

We want his life to be content.

Please Lord find parents who, 

will do a special job for you.

They will not realize right away,

The leading role they're about to play.

But with this child sent from above,

comes stronger faith and richer love.

And soon they'll know the privilege given

in caring for this gift from heaven.

Their precious child so meek and mild,

In heaven's VERY SPECIAL CHILD

-Author unknown

Thankful for that prayer and also the Our Lady of Le Leche League prayers that 

Beautiful Melissa emailed to me.

I'm praying them every day and finding such peace in whatever happens.

 Clay Rosary Girl's mama also sent me this little baby and my little baby won't let go of it.

No one else can even touch it, it's her baby.

Thankful for babies who love babies

 Thankful for these beautiful birthday mums I got from a friend, now if Sweetie Pie would stop hitting them

maybe they will live!!

She just took a big  bump on the drive way, running and falling face first...

Thankful she only got a little scrape under her nose and nothing else and it did NOT 

slow her down, she was outside man!!

 Thankful all my children are very caring whenever anyone is hurt.

 Thankful for our children's automatic love for Our Lady.  

Thankful for this picture, it's my new favorite!

 My statue is almost 20 years old and her hands are a little scuffed up, here's Sweetie Pie

saying "Han, oh, han"

Brings tears to my eyes just typing this and looking back, on this day 

Our Lady of Sorrows

Thankful that this little girl still loves her mama, even though she has waited 

all week to marble paint.

I promise little one, we will tomorrow!!

Thankful for so many of you lovely women and men (Odie)

for your prayers and love you've sent my way this past week, I 

can feel the power of prayer and am walking on it.

Thankful Thursdays

A time to remember to be thankful

A pause in the week for praise,

thanksgiving and thinking positively

in addition to the normal daily praise

we need to give God.

Have a great weekend everyone!!