Hate Speech?

I don't like Public Displays of Affection at all, in any context. However, I've never received hundreds of comments attacking me for voicing my opinion, and elaborating on my experiences, on my blog.

This post by Stacy at Accepting Abundance, and the ridiculous comments it received, are a perfect example of how agreeing with Church teaching is now considered "Hate Speech" by many, while their own threats and profanity is apparently supposed to be appropriate.

I was a little nervous about leaving a comment on the post initially. After all, I'd rather not spend hours approving comments about how I'm an-evil-hate-mongering-horrible-mother for following Church teaching (and teaching my children about our faith) from whoever follows me home to my blog. Then I read the first few lines of this post and changed my mind.

And it got me thinking... At one point it was recognized that danger to a persons soul is far greater than any discomfort in this world. We don't really hear that any longer. And I imagine we'll hear it less if "hate speech" is defined in the way many would have it be defined.

When: "I think you are a wonderful, valuable person, loved by God, but I disagree with what you are doing and I believe it is a sin..." becomes hate speech, but a profanity laced rant including threats (that is the result of simply and quietly stating your religious beliefs) is seen as A-Okay, we have a huge problem. And I don't think that problem is going to be going away anytime soon.

If you have a moment say a quick prayer for the incredibly angry commentors on Stacy's blog (and for Stacy herself as she endures the onslaught). If nothing else I'm thankful that I found her blog today. But I'm sorry she's enduring all of this hatred... for simply and concisely stating her experience and her beliefs.

Accepting Abundance: Can't Even Go to the Park

Sadie, Mary and Praying

Sadie discovered a coloring book of the rosary yesterday that I had hidden away for a later date. She immediately began to plead her case for using the book and then asked for her blue crayon. After that she spent quite a while paging through the book and coloring Mary blue, followed by looking for Jesus and coloring him yellow or, in the nativity scene, red (one of her favorite colors).

This morning she found some pieces of cardboard that I'd opted not to use as backing for the shelves and I told her she could use them to draw on. A few minutes later I noticed that she'd drawn a large blue person like shape in the middle of the paper, surrounded by a line of little blue dots at the edge of the paper. If I hadn't seen the book yesterday I probably would have missed what she was drawing.

"Is that Mary with a rosary around the page?" I asked her.

"Yes!" She grinned enthusiastically and proudly showed the picture.

She was also quite shocked yesterday when we went on a walk and I suggested we say a rosary as we walked along. We usually say our family rosary together and so, after a few prayers Sadie began to frantically ask: "Where's Daddy?" When I told her he was at school she said: "Why are we praying?" I replied that God likes it when we pray and talk to Him and she smiled and covered her face and looked a little embarrassed.

I've even heard her praying on her own lately (two days ago she said a little prayer thanking God for Mae Bae and a long list of family members I couldn't entirely understand) and earlier in the week she told me, quite adamantly that she would be asking God to send her another sister.

I can't help but wonder what she's going to say next.

The Bed (and Ebates!)

I'm becoming a bigger and bigger Ebates fan every single time I receive an update on my Ebates balance! I discovered the site right before we moved, through one of my favorite bloggers, and decided that since there were so many odds and ends that I needed to buy for the move, and since I do most of my shopping online, it made sense to sign up. After all, what was the harm? It basically meant clicking through ebates to get to sites I already shop at, and by going through Ebates I would, theoretically, get cash back. You can even make certain motel reservations through the site (although the fact that Paul never knew where he'd be at night during the move hindered that part of my cash back scheme).

I was a tiny bit skeptical about how it would work, but figured that it couldn't hurt to try. And so far my experience has been pretty great. I spent the $10 gift card to Target that I got for signing up yesterday (on more shelves to assemble and organize of course) and have a balance of around $75 (a large part of that was the 50% back I got one day when I subscribed to Magnificat, which is not an inexpensive magazine, and which I'd wanted to receive for quite a while!). So I'm pretty thrilled with the site. And I'd been meaning to write a post about the "big purchase" that I bought through Ebates.

I'd been planning on getting Sadie a bed for over a year now. But there was always a reason to wait. First we moved in June 2010. Then came the next move on New Years 2011. And we knew we were moving to either Rome or one of like fifty other law schools (that's only a slight exaggeration), so it was easy to find excuses to put off the purchase.

After that we knew that we were moving to Florida and so I finally set a date for the big purchase: August 2011.

As Paul drove across the country with all of our belongings I compared prices on the bed that seemed like the best fit for the girls embarrassing toy/clothes collection and our ever limited storage space. I liked that it reminded me of the bed I'd had growing up (which also had three drawers across the bottom).

I was slightly annoyed when, after waiting a weekend to order the bed (so that it wouldn't be delivered to our apartment before Paul arrived), I found that the price on two of the websites I'd been looking at, mysteriously doubled from $150 to right around $300. In a panic I finally found the bed for the original price on Walmart and ordered it.

Grumpa assembled the bed during their visit and Sadie was thrilled when she realized that she had her very own big girl bed. I have had to remind her to leave room for herself when she "organizes" her stuffed animals and toys on it, but the drawers have been great. We did order a second big girl bed when we ordered Sadie's bed (in anticipation of Mae's eventual graduation from the crib, although that is still a ways off). Mae loves to sit next to the beds and open the drawers and select a toy and so far, despite her interest in the drawers we've (amazingly) had no pinched fingers.

Now if only all of the furniture for the master bedroom was assembled. But I guess for that to happen I have to stop buying shelving to hold the ridiculous number of books that somehow made their way onto the Uhaul...

The Search for a Bathing Suit...

Every summer the question arises. I dread it as I try to ignore that particular section in every store I walk into, knowing that I’m not going to find anything that fits my particular (and apparently peculiar) standards as I seek an answer. And yet I keep asking, making compromises and trying to find something that works for me…

What am I going to wear as a swimsuit?

The answer used to be easy. I have about a dozen string bikinis in various drawers that for some reason haven’t been tossed (it’s that whole, maybe I can find something useful for these very expensive, very small pieces of fabric, mentality). I was a lifeguard for eight years and pretty much lived at the pool March-October in college and spent a bit of time on weekends driving up and down the coast looking for surf spots. Few of the suits from those days come close to meeting the requirements I’m looking for these days.

It’s not that I think all bathing suits are inherently immodest. I see plenty of one pieces and takinis that seem perfect for the girls and women wearing them. But they don’t meet my personal standards for me these days (outfits can definitely vary with body type and fit) and so the search continues.

Earlier in the year I bought a dress, and was pretty thrilled with it. It’s the closest I’d come to finding what I was looking for since my modesty standards have shifted (it may be more accurate to say: have come into existence, since they were pretty non-existent before my conversion began about five years ago, as a topic that was completely off my radar).

The swim dress arrived and is very pretty in peacock blue. But there was still a compromise to be made, as there always seems to be with dresses these days. When I browsed the swim dresses I found they fell into the same categories most dresses in store fall into: they were either “long enough but too low cut” or “high enough in the chest, but too short.” I went with a longer swim dress with a halter top, hoping to be able to tie the halter shorter for more coverage. Alas, the built in cups prevent that, and I’ve yet to dare modify it on my own until I’ve experimented a bit more with sewing lyrca. I’ve worn it but I still felt self-conscious the entire time.

I don’t think my standards are ridiculous, although after walking down the beach in South West Florida they may well be… I’ve never seen so many teeny tiny suits on both men and women in my entire life! It totally shines new light, for me, on the subject of “modesty for men” that always comes up on the forums. Apparently it is a topic that could be addressed a little more…

Anyways, here’s what I’m looking for:

I dream of a suit that doesn’t have me constantly tugging because I feel like it’s too short and/or too low. It can be fitted, as is practical for swimming, but I can do without all the plunging lines and cutouts. It can be shorter than what I would regularly wear, because modesty is situational, but I’d like it to be mid-thigh length at least. And I’d really like a swim dress that couldn’t be mistaken for a negligee of some kind (which is kind of what the skirt on my peacock blue dress reminded me of when I tried it on).

Basically I’d like something better than the suit I wore yesterday, (which is from college and might be okay if it weren't too small... but all I could find as I was searching through boxes as the girls grew impatient...) and is the red skirt suit pictured, which had me asking my husband every five minutes if it looked “okay.” I’d like to be comfortable taking the girls to the water park and teaching Sadie how to swim without feeling like I’m showing way, way too much.

I had a fifty percent off coupon and ordered three yards of swimming knit fabric yesterday. I’m going to see what I can come up with. Whatever it is can’t possibly be worse than what I already have. And maybe I can come up with something cute that won’t stand out too much (another dream I have).

I know I can’t be alone in wishing for something different from what’s currently available, not only for modesty reasons, but also because showing everything God gave us isn’t always, or even isn’t usually, all that flattering. I’m ready for designers and stores to realize that less really is more… in more than one way!

Unfortunately the recent articles I’ve seen have implied that clothing is expected to be skimpier in the coming seasons for “economic” reasons. Oh well. It’s just one more reason to keep on sewing…

What do you do when swim season rolls around? Do you feel comfortable with the choices you have? If you don’t how have you dealt with it?

The Bae's Surprise

A while back I found a doll that I had been looking for, for Mae Bae. It was a baby Rapunzel doll. Mae Bae actually had a Rapunzel doll, but her sister has... borrowed... it... and when I saw the baby Rapunzel I thought this might be the perfect compromise. This afternoon Daddy presented Mae Bae with the doll. She was pretty excited.

At first we thought that it was the doll that she was so excited about... Then we realized...

...That it was actually Rapunzel's crown that Mae Bae was so taken with!

After removing the crown Mae Bae handed the doll over to Sadie, who was eager to brush her hair.

And of course Mae Bae kept the crown for herself... Now if only she could figure out a way to keep it on...

Sadie's Big Day

We weren't sure when we left the house this morning whether Sadie was actually going to be in a ballet class. We hoped that she was. I had called the school and left a message earlier in the week and the online schedule said that the class wasn't full, but no one had called us back to tell us whether or not there really was a place for her.

Paul took the registration form and payment information in while I waited in the car with the girls, formulating a plan. I had bathing suits and extra clothes for each of the girls in my bag, just in case the class was full. Maybe a trip to the beach would distract her from the disappointment (since all she's talked about all week was ballet).

Thankfully Paul gave me the thumbs up as he walked from the building. The class was in fact full, but they had decided their was room for one more. Sadie's sugar plum dreams would be coming true thanks to Daddy's charming personality.

Sadie and I sat in the lobby as other three year olds in pink leotards filed in. When it was time for the class, the teachers came out and had the girls line up. Sadie tried to convince me to come with her, but the rules were pretty clear: no parents in the dance room (along with many other rules in the thick packet...). One of the teachers came over and asked for Sadie's name and after a moments hesitation Sadie decided she would rather go to the ballet class than stay out with Mommy.

I sat and listened, not really concentrating on the words of the book I'd been reading (Emma). I half expected to hear screaming for Mommy, followed by Sadie being lead out. All I heard was laughter and music. When the half hour was nearly over I realized that a few of the other moms had just disappeared and went to stand near the door, where they had discovered a small window inside the dressing room where the class was visible. Sadie bounced around after one of the teachers with a huge smile on her face, doing a pretty good job of listening and following instructions.

Every time they were instructed to do anything, Sadie would bounce up and down in place for a moment and giggle, and would then follow the instruction. She was so incredibly excited! They had all the moms come in at the very end to do a "circle dance" where we all held hands and went around in a circle while the girls beamed with pride as they showed what they had learned: move to the right, move to the left, bend your knees and clap. They'd also worked a bit on "stop" and "go."

After class we stopped by Kohl's. I had a $10 off $10 coupon and we found a Dora soccer ball and a Dora bouncy ball that were on sale for $6 something and $4 something. In the end we paid $1.30 with tax for everything and now have two balls to take to the nearby park, which has soccer fields and basketball courts (and tennis courts, racket ball courts, a water park and a playground).

The girls were both pretty hungry by the time we left Kohl's and so we drove around until we spotted a Cici's. We'd never been to Cici's but had seen commercials back in California (and had always wondered where the Cici's was that they were advertising for since we'd never seen one!). Paul and I were both pretty impressed. It was $4.99 for all you can eat salad, soup, pizza and dessert (extra for drinks) for Paul and I. Both girls ate for free. We did get drinks for the girls (and for both of us!) which meant that the entire family ate for $17. Not bad for a special lunch out! If we bring sippy cups next time it would really be an affordable treat!

After lunch we took the girls to the water park near our house, which is basically a bunch of water spouts, and let the girls run wild. I wore a bathing suite this time (which is definitely inspiring another post... ugh... bathing suits... the summer time challenge...) and we had a blast.

Now we're home, resting for a couple hours before going to family movie night on campus (while Daddy, unfortunately, goes to work!). The movie is Tangled, and Sadie has her Rapunzel doll out and her princess dress on in anticipation of the event.

Mae Bae has been sitting in the middle of the living room in her red radio flyer wagon, pretty confident that she's discovered the best seat/play area in the house. Now if only the afternoon's torrential downpour would let up long enough for us to walk across campus for the movie...

We're definitely keeping busy this weekend! I'm ready for my nap! Unfortunately I think it's still a solid eight and a half hours away!

Going Latin...

In the last year I've noticed that finding a parish where attending Mass isn't a weekly near occasion of sin can be rather tough. I don't feel that my standards are unreasonable. They can pretty much be summed up by:

• I'd like to attend a parish where the priests don't feel the need to ad lib parts of the Mass to improve on it.
• We really wanted to find a place where the Our Father was said (or sung), word by word, without any additions to "improve" the way the prayer "fits the music."
• We were hoping for a place that was kid friendly and where the presence of a child, even a quiet child in their parent's arms, wasn't met with glares because said child has the potential to be noisy.

I have other, lesser requests, like that the tabernacle be in plain sight, in the middle of the church, and that the altar servers not be so completely sulky that one wonders if they're assisting in Mass or assisting in a state execution. But since wishing for all of these things may be asking for too much I try to simply dream of a place that meets the top three requirements.

As a result of our past experiences, I've been a bit nervous about attending Mass lately. Mae's "I want to be down right now" attitude hasn't helped. She's at that difficult phase during Mass that parents everywhere hope just to survive. The words: "this too shall pass" come to mind frequently when I'm baby wrangling in the narthex.

I was especially nervous when we walked into the oratory at the new quasi-parish we were thinking of attending (and now are going to be attending!) and it was so quiet that you could, quite literally have heard a pin drop. Now even on their best days, my children are much louder than a pin. Sadie has the potential to be entirely silent, but as I held Mae Bae I did wonder how I would survive the next hour. There were hardly any children in the building and only five minutes left until Mass began. I took a deep breath and prepared to pace in the back to keep Mae quiet.

Then they began to flood in. Families. They'd been waiting until the last possible moment (I imagine) to bring the little ones inside the silent building. There were at least a dozen families, most with toddlers, many with babies.

I had to take Mae out after about ten minutes, but found that there are speakers in the narthex so that anything I can hear in the church itself (the readings and the homily) I can hear sitting outside. And before very long I was joined by other parents who were trying to keep their little ones quiet.

It was also at this point that I realized that Mae Bae is actually pretty good at sitting still for her age. While she was noisier than I felt comfortable with her being while we were in the church itself, she did sit in my lap for the entire hour. There were definitely parents that had a more challenging hour, and I began to realize that the range of "normal" for a one year old seems to go from much quieter than Mae to much more rowdy. My main goal in the narthex was that Mae understand that she needed to stay on my lap during Mass. And while that wasn't the easiest goal, it wasn't the most difficult either and we survived.

As we drove home, both agreeing that this was most certainly our new parish home, I mentioned that it wasn't the Latin part of the Mass that is actually the main attraction to attending the Latin Mass for me. It's the ad orientem part. Paul was rather surprised by this and asked for an explanation. And here is my explanation:

I've seen so many Masses over the years (kind of funny since I only converted four years ago...) where the purpose of the Mass seems to be less about the Eucharist and more about the mentality that We are Church and that the Mass is about Us. It drives me crazy. And, in my opinion, it's from this sort of mentality that the idea that we can "improve" upon the liturgy in some way or another, arises.

When the priest is facing the altar it's really, really hard, to imagine that the Mass is all about the people attending. The message is clear. We are here because Christ is present in the Eucharist. We are celebrating this great gift, as he told us to.

And as Fr. Z pointed out in a recent post, we should remember towards whom the prayers are addressed.

I love the NO Mass. I really do. When it's done correctly (i.e. it follows the missal) it's beautiful. But the abuses that seem so common at so many of the Masses we've attended drive me crazy. And in an attempt not to go crazy and spend the entire Mass trying not to write blog posts in my head (definite near occasion of sin...) about the fact that the priest made up his own eucharistic prayer, or the words to the Our Father were changed yet again, we're going to start going to the Latin Mass, at least on Sundays (I find there are less "elaborations" during the week). I'd like us to attend a daily NO Mass at least once a week (and ideally more often) once Mae is through the "down, right now!" phase.

And that, in one rather long post, is how we decided on our new parish, despite the half hour commute!

The Ballet Slipper Walk

What a day! Here's my second attempt at writing about it. Hopefully blogger doesn't eat this one.

We woke up bright and early and because I was feeling pretty strong I loaded the girls into their red wagon and we headed out for our first walk since arriving in Florida. I had a plan. Sadie needed ballet slippers for the dance class she's going to be in and Paul had a busy couple of days coming up, so I thought I'd help out by walking to the nearest shoe store and getting the shoes without him. The car has been rather unreliable, and so I've been avoiding driving it on my own.

The shopping area that the shoe store is in is one we've been to and if you'd asked me before we set off I would have said that it was about three miles away. I should have gotten driving directions however. Had I, I would have found that it was six miles each way and would have decided that walking that distance while pulling sixty pounds of baby in a red wagon didn't constitute "taking it easy."

It was a pretty eventful walk (and aside from the lake it was fun). We were chased by geese (okay, now that I've done a little research I've found they were ducks... this duck actually... who knew that ducks could be so aggressive?). We saw a huge turtle. And when Mae saw a snowy egret she said "bird!" She also said "map!" yesterday.

I thought about turning back around mile four. But I kept thinking that the next light was the light the shopping center was at, and once I'd gone so far it seemed like a shame to turn around when we were so close to our goal. If I'd known I was still miles away, however, I would have turned back.

We made it to the store and text messaged Paul to ask him to call us. Once he'd picked us up and measured the distance home he declared it was certainly not in the realm of "taking it easy."

After we got home we laid blankets out on the balcony and read fairy tales, and we went down and met the neighbors (there were about twenty kids playing down in the street near the house!) and the girls ran around. Mae did have a run in a with a little boy who wanted to hug her, and who chased her around trying to hug her until she ran into a sign and fell down in tears. However the tears were greater still when I tried to pick her up (she would much rather be running around!) and so she was back down until Paul came and got us.

And that was our day. I basically have two rooms left to unpack, but I'm taking the night off and having a date night watching a moving about Padre Pio with Paul.

Here's to tomorrow's attempt at "taking it easy." I have a feeling I'll be more successful than I was today!

Dancing Shoes

I wrote an entire post about our eventful morning but blogger somehow ate it, leaving me with only two sentences. So instead here is a clip of the ballet slippers (and the little dancer) that were at the root of our eventful morning.

And if we aren't attacked by any more mean old geese today, I'll try to get the real post of the day up tonight!

Would You Let Your Husband Cut Your Hair?

If you read my blog much there's a good chance that you've noticed that my hair is pretty much never down. I could blame it on Mae Bae and her hair-pulling little hands, and that is partially true. However, the other half of the reason is that it's pretty unruly when it's dry and the effort required to make it behave involves the whole blow drying and curling iron routine, along with copious amounts of hair product. That sort of time consuming regimen just doesn't fit into my day. Besides, now that we're in Florida I'm not sure that even that routine could guarantee hair that stayed the way I would want it to for more than five minutes.

As a result I rely heavily on buns and braids.

I've been meaning to have Paul cut my hair for about six months now. He cut it some time after Mae Bae was born (so over a year ago), but since it's up in a bun from dawn until dusk I usually don't notice it. It was definitely well over due at this point, so when Paul got home from class today I found my sharpest scissors and handed them to him.

Here's the before picture:

I asked for three or four inches off. When I saw the first strands on the floor it looked like closer to six (and I was a little nervous). Then Sadie came in the room and her eyes turned into little round saucers. She ran to get her toy mop and spent the rest of the time trying to sneak around Paul to get at the hair while questioning Paul about what he was doing to Mommy's hair. We did tell her hair cuts could only be given my grown ups...

And now for the results:

And then...

I'm kidding. I've very happy with the results. My hair feels much healthier. And between the haircut I gave Paul yesterday and my haircut today, we saved about forty dollars.

Now I just need to get Paul to pencil in my haircuts a little more frequently. Maybe once every three months? It's definitely a change from college where I set up appointments to have my hair cut and colored (bright red) every four weeks!

And lastly, just for fun, I set up a survey on the side panel (you can answer in the comment section here too if you feel like it!). Would you ever consider letting your husband cut your hair? (and just as importantly) Would he consider giving it a try?

I'll admit I was pretty nervous the first time I handed Paul a pair of scissors and let him near my hair. But it's worked pretty well for us (I was already cutting his hair... If I hadn't I'm not sure I ever would have thought of it!).

Sadie did have her own response when I, teasingly, asked her if she wanted Daddy to cut her hair. It was an adamant: "No way!"

And later in the day when I had my migraine she came over and laid down next to me and said: "Don't worry Mommy..." followed by talking about Daddy cutting my hair and putting it in the trash. She apparently seemed to think that my not feeling good was directly related to the hair cut. She even went and found her sippie cup filled with milk and put it in my hand. So while she told me it looked "pretty" she remains a bit skeptical of the whole thing!

The Girls' Room

Today's project was the girls' room (it isn't quite finished!). If a mid-day migraine hadn't struck I might have finished it. As it is I'm only a couple boxes away (and wondering where I'll put the remainder!).

Here's Sadie's space. She's in love with maps at the moment and likes to sit and ask me questions about the maps. These two maps from Costco were a surprise I'd gotten a couple of months before the move and were a big hit. Sadie found the map boxes today in a corner, dragged them out and begged me to open them and show them to her. So they were one of the first things I put up!

Here's Mae's crib and Mae Bae's someday-when-she's-old-enough-not-to-roll bed. It has a matching owl bedspread too!

I liked this picture because you can see the layout of the beds. It is pretty snug in there!

Lastly here's a look at the closet. Paul was pretty shocked when he saw it. You see, we packed all the baby stuff when we moved, so that's everything from newborn through 6x sizes. I sorted them by size in the cubbies, so there's a newborn cubby, a 0-3 cubby, up all the way to the current sizes. At least we only have to buy clothes as Sadie grows now!

Ave!

Yesterday we decided to make the half hour drive out to the actual University (the law school is in a nearby town) to see it for the first time. Mae Bae's carseat was installed in this car on the night we went to the ER and I still haven't gotten around to going outside and wrestling it into a rear facing position with the new seatbelt latches we had to get for this car, so, for the drive out, she was forward facing...

Mae Bae cried for the first few minutes and then fell fast asleep. We were hoping the nap would make her a little less fussy when we stopped and it did... eventually. She just had to have a lunch time fuss first where she decided that nothing looked appetizing.

We arrived at Ave in time to have lunch (and have an hour before communion) at a great little smoothie place on campus (I'm a big fan of their barbeque flatbread sandwich now) and then we headed over to the front lawn to let the girls get their wiggles out before Mass started.

I was hoping we could wait as long as possible before we went in, because then there would be less time for the girls to get impatient before Mass started. I should have known the "getting the wiggles out" idea was pretty hopeless. They always have more wiggles. Always.

Sadie's pretty excited about her "hat." She told me she wanted to wear it when she was getting dressed and then said: "Where is it?" When I told her it was right out in the living room on the book case she replied: "Mommy put it away!"

Mae Bae is fearless. She headed out on her own. Daddy had the camera and the responsibility of chasing Mae Bae down if she got to close to the road.

Sadie is so protective of her sister. Mae Bae wanders off. And Sadie follows her. If Mae Bae went to near the edge of the grass Sadie would yell: "Mommy get Mae Bae!" She's definitely got the "we take care of our baby sister" idea down.

They had lot of fun running around, despite the heat. But they had all their lunchtime energy to burn off (and Sadie had a kid's fruit smoothy that seemed to give her extra energy!).

Sadie raced across the grass. I'm really surprised that her snood stayed put as well as it did, especially since she was wearing it pushed back so far!

And then it was time to go inside to Mass. Where we discovered that they both had lots of energy left. Thankfully, there were lots of other kids with the same energy level, so at least we didn't feel alone (particularly since Mae and I spent Mass in the narthex!).

Beautiful! The church isn't something I would have ever thought to design, but after seeing it in person I do really like it and the atmosphere and reverence is just amazing... which leads me to our next decision. We've decided to make the commute once a week for Mass. All the wonderful reasons deserve their own post, but we're pretty excited about our new parish home!

Baby Steps Towards Being Moved In...

We're just about to the halfway point when it comes to unpacking. The pictures are up in the living room, but they aren't up in the dining room (and the Last Supper is almost like a piece of furniture since it's so gigantic!) yet or in any of the other rooms. And the bedrooms and office still need a lot of work! But here are some "we're getting their" pictures. I will be so happy when I can finally post "we're moved in" pictures!

Here's the dining room:

The Living Room. I'm really excited about how big it is! Sadie and Mae love running back and forth!

The Living Room from another angle.

And from here you can see all the boxes in the hallway full of clothes and books...

Here's the storage closet in the kitchen:

Food!

An organized kitchen (where everything fits!)!

I worked on the kitchen for most of the afternoon so that we could have our first homemade meal (it was spaghetti, because after all the cleaning I was exhausted!). It's such a relief to have a place to prepare food and a place to eat at a clear table!

Daily Dose of Cuteness: Sisters!

Sadie and Mae ventured out onto our balcony yesterday (until I realized how many bee/wasp nests there were out there... so now we're waiting on a work order to take care of the problem) and I snapped some sister pictures in the red wagon. It seems the red wagon is the only way to get pictures of the two of them these days, because it's the only time they're both holding still at the same time!

Mae wasn't quite sure about all these Sadie cuddles!

Hugs!

A Kiss for Sadie!

More Kisses!

The Dress Journal

Today was the 225 day of my Year of Dresses (or at least, of my first year of dresses). I had fallen way behind on posting and so I went back slowly, day by day, posting each picture with it's matching date (because, with the exception of the one day where I didn't get out of my pjs after the third ER trip, I did manage to keep taking photos for the most part). They're all up now.

As I looked back over the pictures from the last month, it was rather odd. I could track what had happened each day, without knowing the actual dates, by the expressions in various pictures and the hospital bracelets that hadn't yet been removed (lots of "fake smiles" from my years of dance classes and performances!). Days 205-207 were the saddest to view because the pictures are just so happy, and now, with twenty/twenty hindsight I know what's coming.

Then again today was a bit of a sad day. For the most part everything has been normal. The two girls keep us all so busy that it's very easy to fall into a routine. Today, however, Sadie chatted quite a bit about the "new baby" finally telling me that she felt sad about the baby going to heaven. I told her that it's okay to feel sad. But seeing Sadie sad pretty much breaks my heart. And it has been a very stressful month for her with so many big changes.

Hopefully we'll be falling into a routine soon and life will be a little more normal for all of us (especially Sadie). Tomorrow we'll have a few extra distractions since we're planning on driving out to see the main campus and go to Mass at the chapel there (although we are planning on making the parish we found last week our parish). And distractions are a very good thing...

I promise to make an effort to be more upbeat tomorrow! We have been very blessed. I need to keep reminding myself of that fact!