Encouragement for Mothers

This week I hosted our young mothers' rosary group and we were blessed with two very special visitors. Two beautiful, joy-filled nuns from Miami, clad in their full habits, joined us because they are in town participating in the Holy Spirit Conference being held this weekend. What a blessing to be in the presence of these holy women who have dedicated their entire lives to Christ, and yet somehow I think they left my home feeling more blessed than us young mothers. After finishing our prayers, one of the nuns exclaimed how holy and precious it was for her to pray while watching our countless children playing and making all sorts of distracting sounds around us. She said, "This is proof that the Church is alive and growing, and this is the most beautiful, holy way for you mothers to be living your vocation---praying and taking care of your children at the same time!" I wish I could recall all of her sweet and profound words, but she truly gave all of us harried young mothers the words of encouragement that our souls so desperately needed: that the often tedious demands of motherhood are leading us to holiness when we live our vocation with purpose and joy!

Unlike these sweet nuns who are able to pray and praise God all day with few distractions, we mothers are able to pray and praise God by offering up our distractions as a joyful sacrifice. Nuns are able to serve God directly, but we mothers are able to serve God indirectly by serving our children and our spouse. I certainly have days when I long for the peace and tranquility of a convent where I could spend hours contemplating God's love for me and my love for Him. But it was nice to be reminded today that God has chosen my vocation of motherhood to be my path towards loving God and understanding His love for me. Being a mother is my path towards being a saint--if I but walk it as faithfully as I am able, seek forgiveness when I fall, and carry the crosses that come my way with joy. After all, as St. John Vianny said, "Our crosses are merely rungs on the ladder to heaven."

For more motherly encouragement, here is a great quote that I just came across this week:

There can be no doubt that the primary function and sublime mission of woman is motherhood, and, in accordance with the lofty goal which the Creator Himself has set in the order He has chosen, this dominates the life of woman intensively. Her very physical structure, her spiritual qualities, the richness of her sentiments, combine to make woman a mother, to such an extent that motherhood represents the ordinary way for woman to reach her true perfection and, at the same time, to achieve her double destiny--that on earth and that in heaven.

Pope Pius XII (1956)

Miracle of Life Reminder

Wow, it's been awhile since my last post. Sorry about that...although I'm quite certain none of my kind readers were pining for my next post :) To be totally honest, I simply have not been inspired to write anything, or didn't think anything in my tired head was worth sharing. My first trimester has me feeling so tired, queasy, and for lack of a more literary word...blah.

Yesterday, however, I had my first real appointment with my OB, which is news worth sharing. My OB is amazing and I feel so very blessed to be her patient. She spend over an hour with me, going over every detail of every pregnancy and miscarriage. She was so thorough and compassionate. I felt like I was her only patient on the schedule that day. She also made me feel like she totally had all my medical issues (my blood clotting disorders, low progesterone, Rh factor, etc) completely under control, which was so reassuring. She may even be "too concerned" with all my medical concerns, but that actually gives me hope that I'll get to hold this baby on this side of heaven this time. The OB wants me to have an ultrasound every 4 weeks (yay!), she has restricted all air travel (boo!), and instructed me to do leg exercises and walk a quarter of a mile every hour and a half if I take any road trips (that's going to make for a LONG road trip back to SD this summer!).

The best part of the appointment was having another ultrasound and seeing our little peanut happily bouncing around my womb. Seeing the racing heart beat and the little arms and legs dancing reminded me just what a miracle I am experiencing. The first trimester fatigue and nausea sometimes makes me loose sight of the joy and miracle of life. I tend to want to fast-forward these first 12 weeks rather than rejoice in every precious day I get to spend with this little life growing within me. How nice to be reminded of that simple, profound truth.

First Communion Bliss

How beautiful today was! The refrain from today's closing song at Mass summarizes Joseph's special day so well:

"I've received the living God,

and my heart is filled with joy!"

Truly, this mother's heart was bursting with joy, too, as she watched her first child receive his precious 1st Holy Communion, his living Savior, for the first time. It warmed my heart to watch Joseph prepare for this day for months, and I was so proud of how seriously he embraced this Sacrament. Joseph knew exactly Who he was receiving today and how significant this day is. He even asked to go to Confession yesterday so that he could receive Jesus with a completely clean heart! What child asks to go to Confession??? A child like Joseph does. I am so proud of the holy young man Joseph has become, and I pray he will continue on this path towards God his entire life. Today was a huge first step, the first of many towards heaven, I hope and pray. After Mass, we celebrated Joseph's special Sacrament by eating some donuts, and then Paul took all three boys on a male bonding adventure hiking in the mountains. I guess you could say it was a mountain-top day in many ways.

My Jesus, how beautiful You are! Thank You for all the blessings of today and all the blessings you have in store for our family. May all our children grow to love You as their Savior and friend, may they recognize Your Real Presence in Holy Communion, the gift of Yourself to us, and may our family one day enjoy heaven together with You for eternity. Amen.

Here is Joseph glowing after receiving Jesus

Here is Joseph and his 1st Communion class with Monsignor O'Neill

Doesn't he look like a priest in the making?

Settle down, Mom. I'm only 8 and I have years of discerning to do!

I'll close with a beautiful poem that came on a plaque that Joseph's godparent's gave him:

Joseph,

You take your place with all the saints

And sup with Him today.

He takes You in His loving arms

And listens as you pray.

He says that you're His little lamb

And He your Shepherd strong.

It's time for you to celebrate

And sing a special song.

Look in the Savior's loving face

And see Him smile at you.

For Jesus loves you this we know.

The Bible says it's true.

God bless you, Joseph, on your 1st Communion day and always!!!

Springtime in the Rockies...

...equals snow.

People normally equate Spring with rain showers, but if you live in the mountains, Spring simply means more snow. Yesterday, it snowed all day long (at times, it even resembled a blizzard!) I do love snow, but I am ready for some warmer weather and sunshine. In the deep words of John Denver, "Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy." I hope some sunshine is heading our way soon. In case you don't believe me about the snow, here's some proof:

Two Month Bump Shot

Today I am 8 weeks and counting!!! The baby must be growing because I am tired and nauseous ALL...THE...TIME. The nausea is no fun, but well worth it if I can hold a baby in my arms when the 9 months is over. Here's the 2 month shot of my growing belly. I think you'll actually be able see a little bump this time...perhaps. :)

Michael Jets to Seven

Our sweet Michael celebrated his seventh birthday with a jet theme (again). I think over the years our boys have had at least 5 jet-themed parties :) Truly, these boys do military dog-fighting procedures during every waking moment and even in their sleep. Is that normal??? Anyway, Michael actually got to celebrate his birthday twice this year. His real birthday landed the day after Easter, so we celebrated with Grandma Jean and Grandpa Dick who were visiting. And then we celebrated a week later with the boys in his class. Michael loves to be the center of attention, so both parties were a hit, especially because both of his birthday cakes were topped with some new die-cast airplanes for him to play with :) What more could a fly-boy want? At his second party, the boys made paper airplanes, ate cake and ice cream, and then played baseball in the backyard. It was the perfect party for a group of boisterous boys, and Michael went to sleep perfectly content. What more could this Mommy ask for? :) It's hard for me to believe that our only brown-eyed baby is seven! Before I know it, he'll be heading off to flight school...YIKES! :} Here are a few photos of the fun...

Michael with Birthday Cake #1

Michael with Birthday Cake #2

Michael with his classroom cronies

Michael with his new rollerblading helmet,

ready to burn some rubber on our sidewalks...

watch out neighbors!

Happy Birthday, my fly-boy!

I love you more than all the jets in the world!

He Has Risen Indeed!

JESUS INDEED HAS RISEN---and celebrate we did! Grandma Jean and Grandpa Dick came to celebrate Easter with us, and we had a wonderful time. We gave them a little tour of our town (stopping, of course, at the carousel for a spin and some ice cream), we attended a gorgeous Mass at the cathedral, we decorated Easter eggs and our Easter Lamb cake, we read books and played games, and we ate like royalty (thanks to Jean and Dick who did pretty much ALL of the cooking because I was too nauseous to be in the kitchen)! Despite the nausea, we all had a lovely time and we captured many of the highlights on camera...may these pictures bring you JOY and may the true meaning of Easter fill you with HOPE!

I think this photo creatively captures the true meaning of Easter: Jesus loved us so much that He died on the cross to save us from our sins...ALLELUIA!

A family photo at the Cathedral...I'm looking so happy because we successfully made it through a long and beautiful Mass with hardly any fussing from our 3-year-old :)

Birthday-Boy-Michael enjoying a trip to the carousel!

Dominic thoroughly enjoying his Cotton Candy icecream cone

Our boys with Grandma Jean and Grandpa Dick at the carousel

Grandma Jean helping the boys decorate their Easter eggs

Our Paschal Lamb cake---a tradition my grandmother started many moons ago back on the farm

Joseph reading the story of Easter

From our family to yours, HAPPY EASTER!