7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

You might remember when I made this quilt blanket tube for Mae and she was so very not impressed.  I'd used lots of different fabrics and textures and was absolutely sure she'd love it because she loves wrapping herself in blankets and she was like... "No way.  Get that thing away from me."

So for a while, before Paul picked up a weather proofing door thingy (yup, I have no idea what it's called... It's one of those things that goes under the door and opens and closes with it so it doesn't feel like an icy wind is coming under the front door all the time) it was rolled up in front of the front door to stop drafts.  Sadie used it.  She'd love to wrap up in it and snuggle.

The other day Sadie climbed into it and Mae glanced over and suddenly... bam.  She actually paid attention to what it was for.  And suddenly she was a fan:

--- 2 ---

Sadie's becoming quite the little photographer.  She snapped this one the other day, which was nice because these days when I snap a picture of Patrick it's usually of him charging over to attempt to take the camera away from me:

--- 3 ---

This picture is from the What I Wore Sunday When I Almost Got to Go To Mass edition.

Sigh.  I almost wrote a post about in on Sunday but then it was just too frustrating and I had too much to do.

So on Sunday we had that Severe Weather Warning along with most of the Mid-West and I wasn't about to walk to Mass with the kids in the storm (although at that point it was mostly high winds).  I decided we'd just suck it up and take the kids to the 6pm Mass, even if it meant standing outside with screaming the whole entire time, because at least we would have tried.

I made dinner early and got the kids bundled up and dressed just as the storm began to hit.  And Paul went out to get the car and we were both smiling about how we were actually running early for once and the kids didn't seem to be as cranky as they usually are at 6 with bedtime (for certain little people) rapidly approaching and then... the van wouldn't start.  I had started to worry by the time Paul came in and shrugged and told me the news.

And we actually talked about walking but decided that with a severe weather warning and words like "lightening" and "tornado" being used to describe the possibilities it probably wasn't the best parenting idea.

But I did have Paul snap this picture (when we were still "running early") of my new dress.  This was one of my $7 Thred Up dresses.  Since I've been talking about my online thrifting experiences so much I thought I'd show you something I actually got for myself!

It was a little bit big, mostly because all the busy-ness around here has me shrinking again and I hadn't yet realized that apparently I'd dropped a size, but I still really like it.  And it's a wrap dress so it has a lot of potential for working with a lot of up and down weight fluctuations, which is always a plus!

--- 4 ---

Have you read JoAnna's blog and followed her son Peter's progress as he's gone through cast after cast to correct his club feet?  I've been amazed at how dramatic the difference has been in such a short amount of time from the casting as she's documented it on her blog.

This morning she's asking for prayers as he goes in for surgery and I wanted to pass the prayer request on to all of you!

--- 5 ---

When I first heard of Reece's Rainbow and some of my friends began talking about international adoption (particularly of children with disabilities), the story of a little girl who was 8 years old and 9 lbs stood out in my mind.

Yesterday a few of my friends posted an update to that story on facebook and it had me smiling all morning.  I wanted to share it here.  Definitely scroll to the bottom to see the amazing transformation that can occur when a loving family adopts a child.

--- 6 ---

I made three more ornaments for the Jesse Tree last night and I have to say I love felt.  I love how forgiving it is and how fun it looks when it's done.  And now my mind is bursting with kid's felt decorating ideas...

--- 7 ---

Two meetings down, one to go.  Today's the final meeting of the week. Our case worker will be arriving at 9:30, which will mean Mae will be doing her therapy, Sadie will be doing school and Patch will hopefully be asleep.  I'm hoping that when the meetings over we'll have some ideas on how to proceed with testing for speech and occupational therapy.

It would be super, super awesome if we could get at least the testing set up during Paul's Christmas break (which is rapidly approaching).  But we'll see.  I have no idea how long the wait for testing is or if the wait is just for getting in to see someone (and I'm not sure if getting a prescription to go to the University's pediatric center would by-pass that wait).

Lot's to find out!  In a couple hours we should at least have some answers!  

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Our Jesse Tree: Take Two

I wasn't going to do a Jesse Tree this year.  I just wasn't.  We've done it for the last two years and last year a certain some-bunny stole many of the ornaments, and I kept thinking I would find them somewhere, because they have to be here in the living room (don't they?!??!!?) but even after taking apart the couch to vacuum there are still missing ornaments.

A sane person would just sew up a few replacements.  

But me?  Oh no, the little crafty-crafting part of my brain is like:  "I have an idea!  Let's make a big one!  But let's make it bigger and better!  Let's make it spectacular!"

That's crazy talk. The sane part of my brain argues.  The last tree was six feet tall.  Bigger than six feet tall?!?!?!

The Old Tree

Because apparently I like to torture myself with ever grander pre-Advent scheming.

You don't have time for this.  The thinking part of my brain argues.  You don't!  It shouts.  

Okay, okay, the crafting part of my brain agrees.  The crafting part of my brain knows better than to argue.  It just sneaks around and does what it wants.  

And then it's midnight and I'm sitting at the sewing machine watching Hulu  and suddenly I have a pile of felt growing in the corner.

"Are you making a Bible?"  Sadie says as she sees it.

"A Jesse Tree?"  Paul raises his eyebrows.  "Is that from a kit?"

Which I will take as a huge complement.  Because it's not from a kit, I just sort of cut it out and slapped it together... and it's making me feel pretty good about my sewing speed (that I'm actually getting faster after four(ish) years of sewing), because two years ago when I made the ornaments each one took hours and now I can easily whip one up in less than an hour.  And so here it is.  It is bigger, because each square is about eight inches across instead of three.  

Here is the Jesse "Tree" that I'm not making (Oh, and it's not exactly a tree.  Because trees get climbed and pulled down in our house.  But I'll have more on exactly what my non-tree Jesse Tree is when it's done!):

With the sneaky crafting part of my brain apparently in charge I'm sure there will be more posts on my progress soon!

Mae: An Update and a New Vest

I didn't expect this little sewing project to take quite as much time as it did.  If I'd been told it would take as much time as making three or four princess dresses I wouldn't have believed it.  But it ended up being quite the undertaking, although I couldn't be happier with the result and Mae loves it more than she's ever loved  princess dress... but first here's an explanation for why I made it.

The vest pictured below is a weighted vest.  It has about three pounds of rice in it.  It's comfy and squishy and because there's a strip of stretchy fabric in the back it feels like it's wrapping Mae in a hug.  When she sees it she quickly takes of whatever cardigan she's wearing (which is akin to removing her boots in that normally it just doesn't happen) and puts up her arms to put it on.  When she's had enough she comes over and lets us know she's ready to take it off.

She will likely get one when she starts OT too, but when that will happen is still up in the air.    

One of these days we will get in to have an OT (occupational therapy) and ST (speech therapy) evaluation.  The autism center that it's supposed to be happening at was supposed to open in November (actually it was apparently supposed to open in July), but then the open date was moved back to January and now it's been pushed again to March.  The OT seems to be what everyone is worried about, because she really could have benefited from being in it like two months (or two years) ago... 

I'm meeting with our case worker on Friday morning to talk about options (it's a typically busy week altogether with 3 meetings and 6 days of therapy), one of which is that her pediatrician has said she'll write a prescription for it if the center doesn't work out.  Every time I hear the words occupational and speech therapy though, they're accompanies by the words "waiting list" so I have no idea when the evaluations or subsequent therapies will actually happen.  

So I made her a vest out of the fabric that was left over when Nani made her a dress:

One of the therapist said she was certain that there were a lot of parents that would want to buy these (locally) but I'll have to figure out a way to seriously cut down production time if I'm going to consider it.  Because the 20 plus hours it took to make this definitely wouldn't work if it took that long to make every single vest.

Next on my list is a weighted blanket!  I have a feeling that won't take nearly as long to complete!

I hope!

Cam's Thanksgiving Recipe #2: An Easy Cranberry Sauce

Homemade cranberries are one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes and I have to say that after making them for the first time I was shocked at how easy they are to whip up.  And they're just so pretty.

Here's my recipe for this year:

12 oz fresh cranberries (washed and picked over)
1/2 cup honey
1 cup water

Combine the water and the cranberries and bring them to a boil.  Boil for about a minute until the berries begin to split open and then remove them from heat and stir in the honey.  Put the berries in a bowl and refrigerate.

And because cranberries just seem to get better over a couple of days I'll be making this recipe on Tuesday and putting it in the fridge for Thanksgiving Day!

Making a List, Checking it Twice: Christmas Presents for the Kids

I've been going back and forth debating going with 100% homemade Christmas presents again this year or with buying presents since spending 80 hours making gifts when I could be sewing for my shop probably isn't the best financial choice and doesn't totally make sense, even if it is fun and satisfying when all is done.  

Besides, I could do without the late night sewing stress of I-have-to-finish-this-doll-and-that-dress-or-I-won't-have-anything-to-give-them worries.  So, while I am still planning on making a few presents I purchased a few gifts that I've been thinking about buying over the course of the last year.  

It's an added plus that supporting every single one of these businesses makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

And I'm now done with my Christmas shopping for the year.  I still have major crafting plans, so I guess that kind of balances out (and several of these gifts are actually fabric kits to make the presents shown)!  

My goal when I started out, was finding three gifts for each of the kids.  I'm counting the holy cards as stocking stuffers and not one of the three!   I had an idea of what I wanted to spent (kind of), which I'll talk about a bit at the end.  Without further ado, here are the results of Christmas Shopping 2013 in our house: 

Sadie's Gifts

A lovely little chaplet from Roses for Mary

A doll making set from Saint Anne Studio

Our Lady of Lourdes by Shining Light Dolls
Purchased at The Catholic Company

Holy Cards by Portraits of Saints

Maggie's Gifts

Our Lady of Knock by Shining Light Dolls
Purchased at the Catholic Company

Our Lady of Guadalupe by Shining Light Dolls
Purchased at the Catholic Company

My First Book of Girl Saints by Magnetic Catholic

Holy Cards by Portraits of Saints

Patrick's Gifts

Baby Jesus Doll Kit by Saint Anne Studio

My First Book of Boy Saints by Magnetic Catholic

Our Lady of Czestochowa by Shining Light Dolls
from The Catholic Company

Holy Cards by Portraits of Saints

I went a little over budget, but not by too much.  My goal was to stay under $90 and my the final price tag was $121 (still not bad for all three!), but I'm still pretty excited to have supported small businesses and found the perfect presents for the holidays this year for our bunnies!

Now to get back to my Advent planning.

Cam's Thanksgiving Recipe #1: My Gluten and Dairy Free Stuffing

I've been playing with Thanksgiving recipes since just after Halloween.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and while I know that my family would be okay with pretty much anything I love making all the recipes I remember growing up and serving up a feast.

For the last few years I've pretty much had my recipes for the big day hammered out.  Now that we've removed pretty much all the grains from our diet (along with dairy and a lot of other things) I've had to get creative.  Mae's reaction to that tiny bit of wheat she had on Patrick's birthday drove home that there would be no bending on the diet restrictions. 

I knew that I could make the cranberries and the turkey would be easy, but the stuffing had me brainstorming.

Here's the recipe that I came up with.  If you decide to try it you may want to experiment with the spices a bit, since I tend to be heavy handed when it comes to adding spices.

 A look at my plans for Thanksgivings past...

One of the best things about this recipe is that it seems to me that it is actually much tastier the second day after making it.  So I'm planning on making it (and the pumpkin pies) the day before Thanksgiving, the cranberry sauce will be finished a couple of days before to big day, the key lime pie is already in the freezer, and as a result this Thanksgiving will likely be my most relaxing since I've been married and cooking, baring any disasters (although I'm a little mixed about how I feel about that because I kind of love rushing around the kitchen on Thanksgiving day too!).

I'm still brainstorming a green bean recipe.  I'm a big fan of a traditional green bean casserole.  Since so many of the ingredients are off limits I have a feeling it will be something involving green beans, bacon and honey (or maybe it will be something totally different once I start cooking!).

Anyways, enough rambling about my other Thanksgiving ideas, here is my Thanksgiving stuffing.  I haven't yet tried it cooked in the bird, and am planning on making it in a separate dish this year.

I find that whenever I use sage and thyme together I feel like it's thanksgiving in my kitchen and so those were two of the ingredients I knew I was going to use when I began building this recipe:

4 stalks celery, diced

1 yellow onion, diced

1 purple onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

10 white mushrooms, diced

1 green apple, diced

1 red apple, diced

1 cup pecans

½ lb ground pork

¾ quart chicken stock

1 tbs Thyme + about 1 tsp

1 tbs Sage + about 1 tsp

1 tbs Rosemary + about 1 tsp

1 tbs Tarragon 

1 tsp Celery Seed

1 tsp Parsley

1 tsp Salt + about 1 tsp

1 tbs Onion Powder + about 1 tsp

1 tbs Garlic Powder + about 1 tsp

½ cup honey

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (or whatever your baking your turkey at if you do end up making this on Thanksgiving!).

Mix the celery, onions, garlic, mushroom and apples and put them in a baking dish.  Top with the pecans and then drizzle the honey over the pecans. Allow to sit while you cook the pork.

Cook the pork on the stove top, draining off the fat and seasoning it with thyme, sage, rosemary, salt, onion powder and garlic powder (I alloted the "+ about 1 tsp" for this part with the first measurement on the list going into the main recipe, but would suggest doing this part to taste).  When the pork is done combine it with the rest of the ingredients, mixing in the honey covered pecans and adding the rest of the spices and salt (you can vary this! I tend to add a lot of spices to everything that I make!).  Pour in the chicken stock until the dish is not quite covered (I then patted it with a spoon to pack everything down into the stock).

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  Reheat the next day in the oven before it's time to eat and enjoy!  

"This is Autism"

Earlier tonight I saw these words:

Last Monday, Autism Speaks told the world that autism is: . . . living in despair . . . fear of the future . . .exhausted, broken parents. . . lost, helpless, burdensome children. . .  a national emergencyIf that's not what autism is to you, join us on Monday November 18th for the "This is Autism" flashblog.

And I wondered if, as the parent of a child who was diagnosed less than two months ago, I really knew enough to say anything at all.  But at the same time I remembered how I first felt when I ventured out into the great big online world of autism information and how frightening it was and how utterly different much of what I read was from my experience and in that moment I knew that I had to say something.  Besides, I couldn't help but think of those blogs that I stumbled upon that filled me with hope each time I read them.  So I went back, all of 68 days to bring you our little experience of Autism:

Sixty-eight days ago we found ourselves plunged into the world of autism when our pediatrician first told me that she was 100% certain that Mae was on the spectrum.  Since then I've written about our amazingly quick journey as appointment after appointment fell into place.  Sometimes I feel as though we've hurtled through the weeks and things are finally slowing down to a somewhat normal pace.  In some ways it feels like our lives have been transformed in the span of a season.

I still clearly remember those first hours, which were, after all, not that long ago, when I first came home and began to search for answers about the diagnosis we had received.

Autism.  I'm not sure that there's anything that the doctor could have said that would have been more frightening (short of a life threatening disease).  I knew nothing.  I knew stereotypes.  I knew that it was something that happened to other people, but not to us.  She made eye contact when she was a baby I remember thinking.  She hit all her milestones when she was tiny.  

But something was obviously going on.  I knew enough to know that it was beyond my scope of knowledge and skill to help her.  I remember sitting there, a smile frozen on my face as the doctor said those very words while Mae attempted to destroy the her stethoscope.  Earlier the doctor said had something like: "These things are expensive but they're great to give to kids because they're basically indestructible" and then I watched as Mae popped off the ear piece.  

Autism.  It felt like our lives had suddenly changed drastically.  It felt as though I was inside a snow globe and someone was picking it up and shaking it with all their might.  I was fine as long as I was busy, as long as I was moving, moving, moving, because I knew that if I stopped for a second I might drown in the waves of my own thoughts.  

I clung to the memory of the status updates that a certain friend on facebook would post.  She'd share brilliant words from her autistic teenage son.  And I began to heed the warnings of friends who told me that there was a lot of bad stuff out there about autism and that you really had to be careful what you got into.

Still it was inevitable that I would venture out to see what there was to find.  After all, how many of us, in this age of instant information, can resist perusing this information which we have at our finger tips, especially when we're so desperate to know what we're getting ourselves into.  It's like when your little one has a rash and you know you probably shouldn't start googling but you do and suddenly you're convinced that the toddler probably has spinal meningitis and that you should have been rushing to the ER ten minutes ago.  

Except that as I began reading some of the big websites about Autism I felt myself instantly rejecting it. No, the portrait that they were painting wasn't of my daughter or my family.  The little girl who curled up beside me and loved to snuggle on the couch in the mornings, my daring little ball of energy who was always up for a challenge, who's bravery never failed to amaze me, wasn't broken or damaged or diseased.  

And a cure?  I felt my stomach twist as I thought of what that could mean.  What would a cure look like?  While I would be grateful if we could throw open the doors of communication and suddenly have long conversations, where Mae could tell me her thoughts, would a "cure" take away that unassailable joy with which she sees the world?  Because while I want to help her I don't want to change who she is and as I learn more and more about autism it's become clearer and clearer that it is very much a part of who she is.

So I closed those websites and began reading the blogs and books of parents and autistic men and women who'd walked this road that we were setting out on, who'd come through the initial shock and who, while certainly facing struggles weren't crippled by hardship as other sites had suggested was the inevitable fate in this world without a "cure."  

These past 68 days have been life changing because I now understand a little bit more about this amazing little girl who I'm honored to have as a daughter.  As she's being given the tools she needs to communicate more and more clearly I find myself in awe of what she's achieves on a daily basis.  Pointing to three shapes and saying "star, moon, triangle" as she identifies each one may not seem like a huge deal to most parents, but to a mom who was used to not hearing her three year old say a single word for weeks at a time, they feel like a major triumph and have every person in the room cheering while Mae beams proudly at her accomplishment.  

As I wrote this post I wondered if there were really any words that I could say that could truly capture what autism means in this house.  It is no longer the frightening life sentence that it seemed like when I first heard the words.  I'm not certain I can really capture what comes to mind what I think of when I hear the word autism, but my thoughts kept settling on the cliche "a pictures worth a thousand words" and so I thought that it where I would end.  With a few pictures that I hope will ease some of the fears and misconceptions that so many people have about the diagnosis that set us on the path to beginning to truly communicate with and help our daughter:

Patrick the Always Hungry Baby and Upcoming Thanksgiving Recipes

Well... this was kind of like "trying..."

One of these days Patrick is going to realize that he can feed himself.  I had hope for a moment yesterday when he picked up a piece of egg and brought it to his mouth.  Then he paused, smiled and held his hand out to offer it to Paul.  When Paul shook his head and said "no thanks buddy, you can have it" Patrick promptly threw it on the ground.  But I guess that's closer to eating something from his own little hands than immediately throwing every little piece of food that touches his tray onto the ground so... baby steps.

On the other hand I'm fairly convinced that he must be going through a growth spirt and is making up for living on milk up until this point by wanting to eat everything he can see.  He even "found" a banana that had belonged to one of his sisters (who knows if it was stolen or abandoned, as I found out today at lunch that everything on Mae's plate looks better than anything else on the table to him) and brought it over for Paul to feed to him.  Pumpkin pie beat out avocado as his clear favorite for the day (so far).

I'm still kind of amazed that he weighed 22 lbs and got all his calories from nursing and was perfectly happy that way.  But I'm also glad that he's at least accepting food now so that I don't have to worry quite so much about being his only source of food.

In totally unrelated Patrick news (which I shared on the blog facebook page yesterday, but just have to share again here because the cuteness was just too much) Mae was having a rough time yesterday afternoon and was crying inconsolably in the middle of the dining room.  Patrick came charging over with a wipe in his hand and climbed up onto her lap.  Then he turned towards her and started to dab at her eyes with the wipe.

It was possibly one of the cutest moments I've ever witnessed in my entire life.

He was also walking around the house this morning carrying a yellow bouncy ball.  He would take two or three steps and then set the ball down (it's huge) to steady himself and then he'd take another two or three steps while looking around proudly.

And because this post is already random stream of consciousness I'll let everyone in on the kind-of-forming plan I've been mulling over as I've been hard at work in the kitchen.  I've been experimenting for about a month now, attempting to come up with new versions of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes that are okay for Mae.

Last Year's Thanksgiving (minus the Turkey)
Every single one of the dishes shown would
have something in it Mae can't have...

So far I've got the recipes for the Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce (I love making cranberry sauce) and pumpkin pie down (the kids were pretty thrilled when I announced that they could have pumpkin pie for lunch... but this pumpkin pie is so incredibly healthy I thought, why not?).

I made key lime pie today too, and decided it will actually be on the table Thanksgiving day alongside the pumpkin (since it lives in the freezer anyways).  And I'm experimenting with different types of homemade cream soda (today I made cranberry and I'm hoping it's a hit).  I'm still working on a few more dishes, but I am planning on posting the recipes I've come up with this next week (am I that organized?  I hope I'm that organized!).

That's the latest here.  From what I can gather from Weather.com the storm is supposed to hit in about an hour... right before we leave for our attempt at Mass with the entire family.  I let the talk of "severe" weather scare me out of walking this morning (I did see the top of our compost thing-y get ripped of this afternoon, so it is mighty windy out there).  I'm hoping they surprise me by falling asleep on the way there... and staying asleep through Mass.  What do you think the chances of that are?  1 in 1000?

Here's hoping for an utterly uneventful outing!

Sadie's Saturday Morning Nun Talk (in which I go off on a tangent)

Okay, so there isn't any actual talking about nuns in this post, and about ten sentences in I wander off on a tangent and start rambling... but it starts out with a cute Sadie moment that kind of fits my Saturday morning topic:

Last night I had to run upstairs to help deal with a mini-disaster and I asked Sadie to keep an eye on Patrick for a moment.  He was still strapped into his high chair, having suddenly decided that food is wonderful and that he needs to make up for all those months of refusing it, and so she skipped over next to him as I told her I'd be right back as soon as I could.  As I left I heard her say to Patrick in a serious little voice:

"Now Patrick, you know you can talk to Jesus all the time!"

And then she was rambling on in a voice I couldn't quite hear as I went up the stairs.

I love watching the different relationships between Patrick and Sadie and Patrick and Maggie.  Sadie acts like the perfect little mother, ready to swoop in to keep Patrick out of any "trouble" that she imagines that he's getting into.  I have to tell her that she isn't quite big enough to carry him yet about a half dozen times a day (although I think she's finally getting it) because she would very, very much like to lug him around the house.

Maggie and Patrick, on the other hand, are partners in crime.  They're basically inseparable.

If Patrick wasn't so insistent Maggie likely would have been perfectly happy to go along playing by herself, in her own little world during much of her play time time.  But Patrick would have none of that.  He has followed her around the house since he was able to scoot.  He wants to do everything that she does.  And he won't accept being ignored.

The relationship that has developed, from tolerating him to being the best of buddies, which is pretty amazing.  Yesterday I peeked my head out of the kitchen while making dinner only to see Maggie giggling and hugging him.  A few minutes later I saw him climb over her to get to the kitchen door, while she giggled hysterically.

And as I watch them together I can't help but be grateful that Patrick arrived before Maggie's diagnosis. I think if it were the other way around I would have worried far more about how she would react to him.  I know I would have spent months and months agonizing over the dynamic of adding a new baby... when there was really nothing to worry about.  Instead Mae's been blessed with the playmate that she never asked for, but that she most definitely needed and the resulting friendship amazes me!

7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

As winter temperatures have arrived here in Michigan I've decided to offer a coupon for my quilt store, Mae Bae's!  It's for 10% off and will be active this weekend (meaning there are quilts for less than $50!).  Take a look if your looking for something snuggly and soft for someone small this winter!

The code is Winter10 .  Just copy it into the coupon code section for 10% off your entire order!

The proceeds will go towards things like keeping the heat on (I'm closing my eyes when I open the gas bill already!) and buying Mae's crazy expensive supplements!

A snapshot of what you can find in my shop!

--- 2 ---

A long time ago, when I first opened my snood shop, I ordered a yard of some beautiful delicate lace.  When it arrived I was almost afraid to touch it.  I took a tiny piece and made it into a headband, but I was afraid to attempt a snood.  I put it away with my other fabric and packed it from California to Florida and finally to Michigan.

Recently I came across it and decided to turn it into a snood.  After a few years of sewing silk and lace almost every day it was far less intimidating.  And it was transformed into one of my favorite snoods ever (which I think will be perfect for advent!):

--- 3 ---

Back when I was a brand new baby blogger I remember stumbling across Tiffany's blog and beginning to follow it. She writes at Life of a Catholic Librarian and if you haven't been to her blog it's definitely worth a visit.  She talks about everything from being a mom to her love of dance to being a librarian.  Now she and Cristina, who's blog I've only just discovered (and I'm glad to have found it!), are hosting an Advent Veiling Project.

So for those of you who are curious about covering during Mass, or who are already passionate about it (or are anywhere in between) check out what they're working on!

Sadie approves...

--- 4 ---

Patrick is stubbornly resisting my instance that he "stay a baby" and he just keeps getting bigger and bigger.  He measured in at 22 lbs and 31 inches at his last doctor's appointment and he took three steps yesterday less than one week after his first birthday.  At the moment he's in love with playing ball and handing books to me and saying "Thank-eee.  Thank-eee.  Thank-eee Daddy."

--- 5 ---

Maggie, not to be outdone by her talking baby brother, said: "Roll ball! Roll! Roll!" and "Open!  Open!  Open!" yesterday.  She also added "More, more, more!" after crumbling up the apricot scone in her hands and dropping it on the floor.  Despite the words, I didn't hand over more scones for crumbling!

--- 6 ---

Another Thred-Up box arrived in the mail yesterday.  I had store credit that I used to get the bunnies some warm winter clothes... and a dress!

Sadie's Tinkerbell dress was less than $4 shipped and shows why I'm such a fan of this site... and since you get $10 off your first order, if you search (and have a bit of luck) you might just find a couple dresses like this for free (my first order was $2.99 shipped):

And two dresses arrived for me too!  Trying them on might be it's very own post...

--- 7 ---

For the first time since May every order that's come in has shipped!  I have a feeling (okay, hope) that a rush will be coming in before Christmas, so now is a great time to shop because I'm going to try to ship everything as quickly so I can stay ahead of the holiday rush!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

"Rationalizations" (in which I talk about the Awesomeness of my Husband)

A long time ago I received a comment on a post where I was talking about the difficulties of attending Mass on my own with the kids that simply said something like:  "And where was your husband during all of this?"

I kind of shook my head when I read it, because in the post I'd explained exactly why he wasn't able to attend with me.  I've actually mentioned it just about every time I've talked about this particular struggle for that very reason, but it still comes up (in a more polite, curious sort of way most of the time, which I don't mind) and so I thought I'd devote a post to this particular subject, so that anyone who's wondered and hasn't asked can have their curiosity sated.

I'm actually considering making a FAQ page up at the top, where I can throw the answers to such burning questions (which come up more often than others) such as "Why don't you attend Mass as a family?" and "Do you force your daughter to wear dresses?"

I know, I know, some of you are probably thinking "Don't do it!  This doesn't even deserve a response!" because I get that response quite a bit too (maybe in direct proportion to the other comments?)... but it's come up quite a bit and so I thought I might as well address it.  And I also thought I'd write it because every time I've that sort of comment pop up on my screen I've felt like defending my husband since apparently my words haven't sufficiently expressed just how awesome he is and the commenter has somehow missed it.

Here it is, for anyone who's wondered and missed it the other times I've explained, the answer to:  "Why are you alone with your kids at Mass?!?!?!"

My husband is pretty amazing.  He gets up early with the kids on weekday mornings and gives me a chance to get dressed, write a quick blog post (when there's time, which unfortunately has been less and less often lately) and get dressed.  Then he hurries upstairs and gets ready for his day while I get Sadie ready for school and Mae ready for therapy.

He rushes out the door, usually before the therapists arrive at 9 and heads over to the law school.  On days when his schedule allows, he comes home for dinner and to help out at bath time.  After that the little kids go straight to bed. And while I finish cleaning the house he heads back to the library (or an open room in the law school after the library closes) and studies until... oh, I don't know... one or two in the morning.  Then he comes home and sleeps for somewhere around four hours before he gets up and does it again.

Starting on Friday there's an extra twist.  He gets up and goes to class.  Then he comes home at lunch time and we eat a quick lunch before heading out to do any errands that need to be done for the week.  This is my time out of the house.  I've been known to drag my heels to make it last longer... because I know that when we get home he's going to be studying.  Some weeks, if he's very, very lucky, he squeezes in a nap before his shift as a doorman begins at 7pm.

He heads out of the house to get to work at around 6, because finding parking around the brewery that he works at can be crazy and it can be hard to tell exactly how bad it's going to be so close to the university and fraternity houses on a Friday night.  He stands out in the cold and checks ID for hours.  After closing time they have to clean the place, which usually brings him to around 3 or 4 in the morning, depending on how well the football team did and how bad the mess made in the aftermath of the celebration was.

He pretty much repeats this on Saturday, getting up at around 9 after a few hours of sleep, and fitting in a full day before heading back out to work.  As often as not he finally gets home and gets to bed at around 4 am.

Now I know this next part may be hard for some people that haven't been around a child with our particular brand of special needs to understand, but Mae is particular about the Mass we go to.  We have one choice.  9 am.  9 am gives me about a 50% chance of things going smoothly.  And when she acts up at the 9 am Mass it's what I would call "moderate" (and what most parents would likely call "severe").

If we go to a later Mass it's like an hour of the worst experience of my entire life (slight exaggeration).  I have stood outside the cathedral while she screamed, an ear splitting sound, for an entire hour.  At any other Mass, when we walk in the door there is a 95% chance that she will scream the entire time while I sway and walk and hold her outside.  So if we're going to go, 9 am it is.

I guess I could begrudge Paul the sleep he gets on Sunday morning.  I could insist he get up and watch Patrick and Mae while I go to Mass with Sadie.  After all, he gets four-ish hours on plenty of other mornings... shouldn't he tough it out on 28 hours of sleep a week?  I try to let him get a solid eight hours on Sundays, but as often as not, he doesn't.

And so I have rejected the oft suggested "leave the kids with him and go by yourself."

You see, by Sunday morning he is so exhausted that he is virtually dead to the world.  I can (and have) stood next to him and shouted his name and he sleeps soundly through it.  On Sunday, the week of not sleeping while working and studying and going to school have finally caught up with him.  And if you know a little bit about Mae you can probably understand that the level of supervision she requires at all times is more than being sound asleep on the couch offers.

I've seen him try to stay awake in this state and have only learned that he can fall asleep while sitting up perfectly straight.  So, the answer to that question is a definite no.  After all, Maggie and Patrick are not appropriate baby sitters for each other by any stretch of the imagination.

Don't worry.  I'm not blowing off Mass altogether.  I do plan on going on those days when I'm not limping (a ruptured vertebrae at L5-S1 can make baby wrangling a bit tougher...), and when no one's having a "bad day."

To be honest, these days I don't drive anywhere with all three kids by myself because the logistics of getting Maggie and Patrick into their car seats make that pretty much impossible.  When you have someone bent on escaping and another child that has to be held until they're in their car seat, logistics that I'm certain other parents take for granted become a bit more tricky.  That's one reason that we generally walk everywhere (and because Paul usually has the car so he's not biking home in the ice at 2 in the morning).

I guess on those "bad days" I'll just be grateful that the Church herself has been a bit more understanding than many on this particular topic... and I'll allow her to guide me, thankful for the merciful understanding that sometimes caring for another makes fulfilling that very serious obligation an impossibility (yes, I know it's serious).  

To answer that other question I receive on this topic:  Yes, my husband is Catholic and does go to Mass.  He's absolutely the person who brought me home to the Catholic Church.  He has a Master's in theology and is serious about his faith.  And he does go to Mass on Sundays... but it's a Mass (night time) that is absolutely an impossibility with two of our three (believe me, we've tried more than once).

So there you have it.  I know some people will say that it's a rationalization (I've already heard that this week!) and will believe that I'm absolutely wrong for occasionally admitting that every bone in my body hurts and that I just can't do it.  Some people will think that it can't possibly be that bad... and those people have likely never tried to take a child who's struggling with processing the world and communicating with even those closest to them, to a place where they're expected to be silent for rougly 90 minutes.

Deep down somewhere I hope that there is some virtue in discovering this weakness which has caused me to realize my own limitations and be grateful for the chance to see the world through this new lens of understanding.